Latest of the weird and wonderful stories and pop culture updates from China.

2. As students head back to school and moon cakes flood kitchen
tables, Luan Dun serves stories that sizzled the summer.
From a sexy tofu making robot to a man that creates the
weather, this issue of Luan Dun covers the weird and wonderful
happenings of China from August to September.
Our feature designer this month is Deer Cl, who was inspired
by the all outlandish stories in society. To extend this concept,
this issue of Luan Dun is designed with a comic book theme to
enhance the dramatic stories of culture and society.

3. Since June 2009, Luan Dun has served as the
eye that compiles and celebrates the weird and
wonderful in China. This vision could have never
come to life if it wasn’t for the Princess Planner,
Charinee Chairasmisak.
As founder and editor of Luan Dun, Charinee has
led the effort in providing a window into Chinese
culture. She’s surprised us, made us laugh and
challenged our way of thinking by showcasing
the unconventional stories of China.
In many ways, Luan Dun represents the values
of Wieden+Kennedy Shanghai. We dig deep
and take the road less traveled in order to find
perspectives that are interesting and relevant to
people and culture.
So Charinee, although you might hate the fact
that we have created this page for you (or maybe
not) we want to wish you all the best with your
next adventure. And although Luan Dun will
never be the same without you, we’ll try our best
to make you proud and keep your legacy going.
#CCsays.

5. After winning gold in the 100m freestyle event during
the 2015 FINA World Championships, 22-year old
Ning Ze Tao quickly rose as a hot topic on Chinese
social media due to his recent victory and dashing
good looks.
Overnight, female netizens in China expressed their
love for Ning by sharing photoshopped posts of
themselves with him on their social media. Jiang Xin,
a famous Chinese actress, joined the craze by posting
her own photos with Ning on Weibo, accompanied by
the hashtag #Ning’s Girlfriend”.

6. With divorce rates on the rise,
a Chengdu based company called
Luo Rong, has emerged to prevent
couples misfortunes by helping
married men get rid of their
mistresses.
Equipped with a team of lawyers and
psychological consultants, Luo Rong
has had an impressive 80% success
rate with their clients.
Pending the complexity of the case,
prices start at 10,000RMB and can
get as high as 120,000RMB, which
in grand scheme of things, is a small
price to pay when compared to an
ugly divorce settlement.

7. You’re most likely familiar with the
world renowned Madame Tussauds
Wax Museum. But what about the
famous one in Huaying? A curator
based out of Sichuan has started
their own interpretation of the wax
museum, by appointing professors
from the Chinese Academy of Fine
Arts, to design wax models that
resemble famous celebrities.
The problem though is that none
of the celebrities actually look like
who they’re supposed to, which has
started a craze on China social media.
Netizens have renamed the museum
as the “Farmer's Fashion Museum”,
as reference to the farmhouse
fashion the wax models are dressed
in. The museum publicly admitted
that their wax models don’t exactly
resemble the beautiful celebrities, but
it hasn’t stopped them from attracting
visitors.

8. A tofu pudding store in Luzhou, has recently gone viral due
to their newest employee, a life sized super model-looking
robot. Built by the store owner Mr. Zhou, a 70 year-old retired
engineer, the robot was originally built to help tackle the
laborious process of making tofu pudding.
However, what started as an effort to bring convenience to
production has in turn evolved into an effective marketing
promotion for his business. The popularity of the robot has now
created new commercial opportunities for Mr. Zhou, as he is
planning to put “Tofu Hottie” into mass production.

9. Whoever said, “you can’t control
the weather," obviously never met
the Cloud Man from Zhengzhou.
The Cloud Man, a named bestowed
by Chinese netizens, has been
attracting many visitors to his
makeshift cloud shows.
How does he do it? Well, he has
cleverly designed a machine that
creates “clouds” by combining a
mixture of constringent gas and
epispastic liquid, which allows
the clouds to rise high into the
sky. What started as a hobby has
evolved into quite the lucrative
business model, with reports stating
that these makeshift cloud shows
earn more than 10,000RMB a day.

10. The Cairo Declaration , is a recent film
produced by a film studio closely tied with
the People's Liberation Army. The basis of
the film was to mark the 70th anniversary
of the end of World War II by putting focus
on the events that led up to the signing of
the Cairo Declaration.
After the release of its key movie
promotion posters, netizens unmercifully
mocked the makers of the film for
distorting the historical accuracy of the
story. Their criticism was driven by the
glorifying of Mao Zedong’s role at the
summit, when in actuality he was never
there. This created quite a stir on social
media, as many people felt that the film
makers were misleading history.
The online community quickly reacted
by creating their own version of the
poster featuring celebrities such as Jay
Chow and Jackie Chan, and politicians
such as Barack Obama to show their
dissatisfaction to what had been done.

11. In China, every parent wishes for their son or
daughter to be in a stable relationship once
they reach a certain age. In fact, for many
who are over the age of twenty-five, finding
a marriage partner becomes a constant
pressure levied by family members. But as
with all problems come solutions.
Introducing the “Rent a Partner” function
built onto the immensely popular app,
WeChat. The new function now allows
singles who are lonely or in need of avoiding
parental lectures, to simply rent a temporary
boyfriend/girlfriend. Of course, the platform
works both ways as you can rent yourself out
to earn some extra dollars.
The platform offers different types of girls/
boys from different regions. Each person
has a complete profile, with photos, region,
job, provided services, hourly/daily pay and
available times. There are also various price
ranges, so you can find the person who is
most suitable for your requirements.

13. A way to describe a person who is acts and thinks like
a little princess.
“You are being such a
‘xiao gong ju’ right now.”
“Megan is such a ‘xiao
gong ju’, her desk looks
like a Disney movie.”
“Don’t be such a ‘xiao
gong ju’, carry your purse
yourself.”
Example:
Mega pop star, Jay Chou, publicly admitted that he had princess dreams, as
his wedding ceremony was held in castle to mimic the fairytale story of a prince
marrying a princess.

15. EASON CHAN: GETTING READY
Getting Ready is Eason Chan’s latest Cantonese
album. The album title is inspired by his quote
“The process of getting ready allows one to
look forward to something and it’s an important
process for me.”
Known as the “King of Asian Pop”, Eason Chan
is a skilled guitarist, violinist, and a pianist with
strong vocal skills. Having been in the music
industry for nearly 20 years, Getting Ready
continues to delight listeners with his unique
voice and brooding instrumental arrangements.

16. LI JIAN: LI JIAN
Li Jian, known for combining poetry
into his folk music, released his latest
self titled album. It is a collection of
poetry from his travels between 2011-
2015, as a reflection of the tiny things
in life.
Li has never been drawn to the
glamour of show business. He is
reserved in his public appearances
and always keeps a low profile. This
became apparent when he appeared
in the popular TV show called “I Am A
Singer”, where singers of the previous
generation return to battle against
each other. He continues to stay true
to himself, and the latest album is
proof of his attitude towards fame and
success.

17. XI YU HU YANG
I COME FROM
HEAVENLY MOUNTAIN
Xi Yu Hu Yang is a pop musician from
Xinjiang, China’s autonomous region
where majority of the Uyghur ethnicity live.
His music is inspired from his love and
appreciation of his hometown, as it is a
perfect harmony of folk and rock music.
I Come From Heavenly Mountain, is a
celebration of his return to the music
scene. He chooses 13 selected tracks from
previous albums, which he believes are the
best representation of his music.

19. Monster Hunt is a 3D fantasy comedy adventure film directed by
Raman Hui. After just two weeks of the films release, Monster
Hunt became the highest-grossing Chinese film of all time.
MONSTER HUNT
The film takes place in medieval China, and centers around Huba, an offspring of a human
father and a monster mother, who is threatened by both humans and monsters alike.
Due to the high film production quality, Huba surpassed Baymax (Big Hero 6) as China’s
favorite character. His popularity was so immense, that Huba signed a ‘career contract’ with
Edko Film Limited, where Huba is allowed to appear in commercials and other sponsorships
outside of the movie.

20. CUG: King of Heroes is probably the best animated film produced in China
to date.
Based on the Chinese novel Journey to The West written during 16th
century, the movie tells the story of the Monkey King being rescued by
a 7-year old Monk named Tang. The animation follows their adventures
together and through this we learn more about Chinese culture and history.
Besides being on par with Hollywood’s animation quality, the movie
reignited people’s interest in Journey to The West , which is becoming less
and less relevant to the younger generation in China.

21. Based on the real-life story of
popular Chinese cartoonist Xiang
Yao, the movie is an adaptation
of a series of her comics.
Most of Xiang's comic books are
focused on teenage love, weight
loss, life as a single woman, and
her idol, Michael Jackson. She
chronicled her darkest hours
towards the end of her books.
In 2011, a life changing event
o c c u r r e d w h e n s h e w a s
diagnosed with cancer. However,
she didn’t give up drawing and
began posting comics strips of
herself online, which attracted
millions of fans including top tier
celebrities. In May, her comic Go
Away Mr. Tumor was published.
Unfortunately, Xiang passed
away in November of the same
year.

22. THE JOURNEY OF FLOWER
Recomposed from a popular online novel written by Fresh
Guoguo, the series is a costume piece centered around
fantasy and magic.
The main character Hua Qiangu, is an unlucky orphan who
looks for a chance to learn magic after the death of her
parents. Bai Zihua, an experienced immortal takes her on
as his only disciple. Hua falls in love with her master but
doesn’t reveal her true feelings towards the end. The multi-
episodic series tells a story of the relationship between a
master and a disciple.
The trailer dubbed in both Chinese and English were
released in Cannes 2014, and received a overwhelming
positive response.

23. Life is full of drama, what’s better
than literally living it?
Xiao Ka Xiu is the latest hot app
that’s rocking Chinese youth. An
advanced version of Dubmash,
Xiao Ka Xiu allows you to create
short videos of yourself while being
dubbed with famous movie lines.
It became even more popular when
celebrities started using the app
to outdo each other with an iconic
Chinese movie line.

24. We interviewed Jamie Qing, a Xiao Ka Xiu user about her
experience with the app, and here’s what she has to say:
How do you find out about Xiao Ka Xiu?
I found this app on Weibo because a lot of famous
celebrities were using it to mimic popular movie lines
What attracted you to use it?
I was attracted to the app because my WeChat moments
was flooded with friends sharing their own videos. I thought
it was a fun idea so I decided to join the party.
How many videos have you created?
I’ve only created a few, but I use the app because I enjoy
watching other user generated videos.
What is your favorite video?
My favorite videos are the ones that mimic Jing Xing, a
Chinese talk show host.
Why do you think this app is popular for Chinese youth?
Two reasons, the first reason is that video social is
becoming a new trend in China, because it allows people
to not just write but show their dynamic side. The second
reason is the new generation, like myself, is scared about
missing out on what’s cool.

25. Editor:
David Lin
Writers:
Charinee Chairasmisak
Carina Huang
Designer:
Deer CL