What is the Chinese internet talking about?
ChineseBuzz explains the latest Chinese slang, memes and pop-culture trends in plain English — with pinyin, example sentences and the cultural story behind each term. 17 terms and growing.
Latest terms
Slang吃谷chī gǔ
ACG fandom slang for buying, collecting, and displaying character merchandise, especially badges, cards, acrylic stands, and plushies.
Phrases情绪价值qíng xù jià zhí
The comfort, validation, fun, and sense of being cared for that someone or something gives you emotionally.
Culture断亲duàn qīn
The growing phenomenon of young Chinese cutting off or quietly dropping contact with extended relatives — skipping reunions, ignoring the group chat, letting cousin ties lapse.
Slang松弛感sōngchí gǎn
Effortless, unbothered ease — the aspirational quality of staying calm and unhurried when things go wrong, or of a style that looks beautifully un-forced.
Phrases草台班子cǎotái bānzi
A slapdash, amateurish operation held together with duct tape — now used to say that every organization, however prestigious, is secretly improvising.
Slang偷感tōu gǎn
The self-conscious urge to do things furtively — working out, job hunting, even existing — as if any observed effort would be embarrassing; 'doing everything like you're stealing'.
Slang淡人dàn rén
A low-reactivity person: emotionally muted, hard to excite, replies 'ok' to everything — the opposite of a 浓人 (nóng rén), an intense, expressive person.
Slang班味bān wèi
The unmistakable aura of a worn-down office worker — dull eyes, wrinkled shirt, gray complexion — that clings to you once you've started working and is famously hard to wash off.