29 m. ago US singer marries sultan, Singaporean Chinese ‘least attractive’: 8 viral stories in 2025

Catch up on some of SCMP’s trendiest stories this year. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. 79-year-old influencer lost 30kg and has bone density of a 20-year-old. How? Joan MacDonald is an unlikely influencer. At nearly 80 years of age, she has garnered 2 million followers on Instagram since she began posting on the platform almost a decade ago. During that time, she has transformed her life and her health. Now she helps others to embrace ageing with...

Politics

21 h. ago Chinese rookie cop resembles Taiwan actor Eddie Peng goes viral, attracts 1 million likes

A Shanghai police officer who looks uncannily like the famous Taiwan actor Eddie Peng Yu-yan has trended on social media. A video clip of the officer, who only joined the force quite recently, has racked up over one million likes. Officer Gu Chenhan, who is in his early 20s, patrols underground stations across Shanghai accompanied by a police dog nicknamed Fries, according to a report by Shanghai TV. Gu first attracted attention in September 2023 when, as a police university student, he was sent...

Events

21 h. ago Chinese rookie cop resembling Taiwan actor Eddie Peng goes viral, attracts 1 million likes

A Shanghai police officer who looks uncannily like the famous Taiwan actor Eddie Peng Yu-yan has trended on social media. A video clip of the officer, who only joined the force quite recently, has racked up over one million likes. Officer Gu Chenhan, who is in his early 20s, patrols underground stations across Shanghai accompanied by a police dog nicknamed Fries, according to a report by Shanghai TV. Gu first attracted attention in September 2023 when, as a police university student, he was sent...

Events

2 w. ago Are Singaporean Chinese the ‘least attractive’? Viral image ignites debate

A widely shared image on social media depicting colour sketches of men from different regions in China has ignited debate on the physical appearance of Singaporean Chinese based on their ancestry, with online users concluding they are the least attractive of the gene pool. But psychotherapists say perceptions of beauty might be warped by media and celebrity culture, warning against the normalisation of conversations centred on physical appearance. The discussion was prompted by drawings of male...

Politics

2 w. ago Are Singaporean Chinese the ‘least attractive’? Viral image stirs debate

A widely shared image on social media depicting colour sketches of men from different regions in China has stirred debate on the physical appearance of Singaporean Chinese based on their ancestry, with online users concluding they are the least attractive of the gene pool. But psychotherapists say perceptions of beauty might be warped by media and celebrity culture, warning against the normalisation of conversations centred on physical appearance. The discussion was prompted by drawings of male...

Politics

2 w. ago China boy, 14, acts like ancient scholar, turns bedroom into museum of artefacts

A 14-year-old Chinese boy who turned his bedroom into a small history museum and spoke like an ancient scholar has attracted an army of followers online. The secondary school student from central China’s Henan province, Xie Zhaoyutong, loves ancient Chinese history and literature and has filled his bedroom with his antique collections. A recent video of Xie passionately introducing his collections went viral online. It attracted 837,000 likes and 40,000 comments. Xie collects pottery, china,...

Politics