Ever since the Internet has spread like wildfire in China, people have become famous through the Internet, sometimes unintentionally. In Chinese netizen-speak, this is known as being “red” (more of a reference to fire or vibrance than the usual Communist connotation) which can be translated as being “hot,” or maybe “the rage.” Now that 2009 is coming to an end (also the year where the number of Internet users in China has surpassed the US population), there are various tallies on who the “hottest” Internet celebrities are. It doesn’t seem there has been any sort of official vote yet, but there seems to be a general consensus among all the forums and websites who the “red” people are. I chose 11 that seem to appear in all the lists and show the variety. If you want to see the original Chinese sites, check out this and this.

The point of this post is not to necessarily be an official ranking, but to give you an idea of the grassroots nature of how Internet fame is manifest in China, the disproportionate emphasis placed on pretty girls, and the seemingly complete randomness of who becomes “red.”

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Jang Nara is a very popular Korean singer and actress. She also sings in Chinese and is known there by her Chinese transliteration name (张娜拉 Zhang Nala).

[East Daily] Recently Jang Nara said in a television program “Every time when I am short of money I will always go to China to make more!” This remark was immediately bombarded by the netizens. They threatened to blacklist her. Today evening (12^th), Jang Nara posted an announcement in her blog, apologizing for such remarks.

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[Sohu] I am sure many people all want to do this: sneak behind Liu Xiang while he is not prepared, hug him with your open arms. On 25^th of October during the warm-up before the game, a man did just that, bear hugged Liu Xiang from behind. Liu Xiang was not happy and pushed him away. When this video was posted on the Internet, it immediately attracted netizens’ attentions.

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[Netease] Sichuan Satellite TV’s “World Friends of Laughter” (天下笑友会) in a program called “who is the next Xiao Shenyang” (谁是下一个小沈阳), program host Da Bing (大兵) and a man named “Lollipop”( 棒棒糖) in a comedy act ridiculed famous band BEYOND ceased member Wong Ka Kui (黄家驹) with insulting words.  Netizens and fans of BEYOND fiercely protested and demanded the TV station to openly apologize. On 30^th of September Sichuan Satellite TV station posted the statement on their official website, apologized to the public.

» » » » Continue reading ‘Sichuan TV Station openly Apologized for “Insulting deceased BEYOND band member Wong Ka Kui”’

Women’s beauty should not be intimidating, but beautiful women make men lose self-control. Beautiful women flaunting their intractable personality, is not passive beauty, but charm that can destroy men’s rationality. Often, when beautiful women formed into a group, they will intimidate men with great pressure. This article from Netease tells us the top ten cities in China where you can find the most beautiful women.

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From NetEase: CFP reported on June 26, Nanjing many fans gathered in front of 1912 plaza to pay tribute to the sudden death of superstar Michael Jackson. Fans played Jackson’s music, lit candles and prayed for their idol in silent.

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From NetEase Blog by Zhang Yanbin (臧彦彬):

This morning heard the news of Michael Jackson’s death I felt sorrow and regret. This world lost a great musician.

Jackson is the representative of an era. He represented a prosperous era, this era is irreplaceable. I feel very lucky to be the one who first officially introduced Jackson’s music to people of China in 1994.

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From BBC:

Singapore media said that the Chinese martial art star Jet Li (李连杰) has been naturalized in Singapore, and also purchased a mansion cost of nearly 20 million Singaporean dollars (14 million U.S. dollars).

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From NetEast
Chongqing Times Reports on April 25: Recently, the great international film "Horsemen” has been released in China Taiwan region. Chinese actress Ziyi ZHANG（章子怡）developing her career in Hollywood plays an important role in the film. Stacks of her "Sexy Photos" in the film "Horsemen" are bold undisguised.

» » » » Continue reading ‘Ziyi ZHANG （章子怡）Kneels for Foreigner and Takes Piles of Sexy Photos in Her New Film, Accused of Disgracing China’

From Chinese News:

April 20 Hong Kong’s “Ming Bao Daily News” reports that the day before yesterday in the Boao Forum for Asia in Hainan Jackie Chan says Hong Kong and Taiwan “are too chaotic because there is too much freedom”. He thinks “Chinese people needs to be controlled, otherwise they will do whatever they want.” These comments draw much criticized remarks. Netizens accused him being too offensive. Many even stop seeing his movies and buying products he indorses to protest.

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Chinese designer Zhao Bandi (赵半狄) held his fashion show “China, a Nation of Pandas” in Paris, March 20, 2009. In his Panda themed designs he presented 33 Chinese social classes and social issues. These subjects include “corrupted government official”, “city management”, “beggar”, “mistress”, “escort girl”…

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NetEast Entertainment, April 6 Reports: According to the latest news by Taiwan ETTV, it is reported that the singer A Sang (阿桑) who sang the "Lonely in singing" and "Leaves" died at 8:30 am on April 6 at Xindian Ciji Hospital, suffering from the end-stage of breast cancer since October last year. She was only 34 years old.

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From QQ

China Daily Net Global Online News: Chinese President Jintao HU（胡锦涛）and U.S. President Barack Obama met for the first time face-to-face in London on April. 1^st. The leaders exchanged views on the issues concerning Sino-US relations, international financial crisis and other international and regional matters of common concern between two countries. Barack Obama has already accepted the invitation made by Jintao HU, and he will visit China in second half of this year.

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Source NetEast: 1 2 3 4

April 1^st is Leslie Cheung’s sixth death anniversary. Fans from all over the world held various memorial services to pay their tributes to this Hong Kong pop star “big brother” (Leslie’s nick name) on his sixth death anniversary. On April 1^st, 2003, Leslie Cheung leaped to his death from the top floor of Mandarin Oriental Hotel after suffering from depression. Every year since then his fans held memorial service activities in front of the hotel.

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From NetEase

Actress Yu LEE, who had performed in “Romance in the Rain”, “A Chinese Ghost Story” and many other TV dramas, died of a lymphoma illness at Beijing Union Medical College Hospital. She was 33 years old.

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