For many in the West, 2016 will be remembered for Trump, Brexit, terrorism in Europe and an absurd number of pop culture deaths, from Bowie to Muhammad Ali. By comparison, China had an unusually quiet year. Nonetheless, there were still a few goings-on in the world's most populous country.
In our 2016 Year in Review series, we recap the best (and worst) of China's year in the worlds of technology, social media, sport, fashion, food, arts and more.
Whether pro-China, anti-China or simply just in-China, here are China's most evil villains, enemies, frenemies and archnemeses of 2016.
10. Bobby Brown
When NBA player Bobby Brown recently posted an image of his own signature scribbled on the Great Wall, netizens were not amused. "Are you proud of your carving?" one user asked him on Weibo. “This is a part of world heritage, not the toilet of your home.”
9. Wang Sicong and His Dog
Over the Mid-Autumn holiday, Coco the Dog shared photos to her 1.9 million followers on Weibo—yep, she's got her own verified account—flaunting her eight brand new black and rose gold iPhone 7s. The dog, a female Alaskan malamute, belongs to Wang Sicong, the son of China's richest man, billionaire Wang Jianlin. Wang Sicong made headlines himself earlier this year after blowing RMB2.5 million at a KTV in Beijing. But Wanda investors needn't worry — he's not interested in inherting daddy's empire.
8. Ma Rong
Actor Wang Baoqiang broke the internet by posting plans to divorce his wife on Weibo. The Lost in Thailand star accused wife Ma Rong of adultery, “destroying the family,” and hiding and transferring property. The plot thickened when Ma filed a defamation case against him. According to Weibo, 97 percent of netizens were Team Wang.
7. Rodrigo Duterte
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte made efforts this year to rekindle the country's long-lost friendship with China. In a speech to business leaders and government officials, Duterte announced his friend breakup from Obama—whom he recently called a 'son of a [insert not very nice word here]' a few weeks ago—and said he'd be separating from the United States. Duterte has also been making headlines around the world for indiscriminately executing drug users in his country.
6. Passport Scribbler
A Chinese woman traveling to Vietnam received an unpleasant surprise when border staff at Ho Chi Minh City's Tan Son Nhat International Airport scribbled "F*ck you" on two of her passport pages. The offensive scrawlings appeared on pages that feature a Chinese map with the nine-dash line — a point of contention between the two countries with regards to claims in the South China Sea.
5. Nordstrom
US fashion retailer Nordstrom came under fire this year for selling a hoodie depicting the Nanjing Massacre.The "Happiness" hoodie drew massive outrage from customers online for using imagery from a film that depicts the violent Nanjing Massacre of 1937, in which Japanese soldiers raped and murdered hundreds of thousands of Chinese people during World War II.The item was subsequently removed from sale.
4. Racist Daimler Exec
Rainer Gartner, head of Daimler Trucks and Buses (China) Ltd., became enraged with a Chinese driver over a parking space in Beijing’s Shunyi District. During the incident, Gartner allegedly yelled "I have been in China one year already; the first thing I learned here is: All you Chinese are bastards." He was demoted over the remarks.
3. 'The Saddest Zoo in the World'
The Grandview Mall in Guangzhou mall has drawn a fair bit of criticism in regards to its Ocean World aquarium, which some have referred to as “one of the saddest zoos in the world.” Ocean World’s arctic exhibit is said to house 500 species – some of which are endangered. Calls for a boycott came from both netizens and animal rights activists and were triggered by video footage that shows the facility’s lone polar bear living in deplorable conditions. It was later announced that the polar bear would be reunited with his parents, but some feared that Pizza would return after renovations on the mall were completed. The mall is set to expand despite outcry, but authorities have indicated they won't tolerate it.
2. Mack Horton
Australian swimmer called Chinese competitor Sun Yang a "drug cheat" at the 2016 Rio Olympics this year, drawing ire from netizens around the country. One Chinese user on Twitter called Horton’s action “disgusting,” another called him a “racist,” and a Weibo user wrote that he hopes Horton would be “killed by a local kangaroo.”
1. Donald Trump
U.S. President Elect Donald Trump (a phrase we never thought we'd have to write) has had some "nasty" words for China this year, and he's getting pushback. China's richest man, Wang Jianlin, warned Trump that jobs were at risk should Sino-US relations turn sour. China's Vice Foreign Minister, Liu Zhenmin, gave Trump a science lesson in response to a 2012 claim that "the concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese." We fear this is just the tip of the iceberg.
For more 2016 Year in Review coverage, click here.
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