Fan Zhendong's Swift Move: Table Tennis Star Sparks Buzz with Taylor Swift Tribute
A recent social media frenzy has been sparked by table tennis star Fan Zhendong's birthday wishes for his friend Lin Yunru, but what's got Weibo users abuzz is that he dedicated a song by Taylor Swift, also known as "Mei Mei" in Chinese, to the celebration.
18 August 2024
The hashtag #FanZhendongCelebratesLinYunruBirthdayWithMeiMei has been trending on Weibo, with many users expressing their amusement and surprise at Fan's move. One user joked, "Haha, even when celebrating someone's birthday, Fan Zhendong doesn't forget to promote Mei Mei! Looks like he's been to her concert with Lin Yunru too." Another user quipped, "Every day, he's been dragging these few people out to create buzz, but Fan Zhendong and Pan Zhanle have both said they don't want to get involved in the 'rice circle' (a Chinese term referring to the world of celebrity fandom)! They haven't even shown their faces since returning from Paris, but they're still all over the hot searches. What's going on, is 'traffic' the new currency?"
Some users have expressed frustration at the constant stream of trivial news stories about Fan, with one user commenting, "Lately, the non-stop hot searches about Fan Zhendong have made me wonder if they've fired someone and are trying to compensate by going all out with the traffic!" Another user chimed in, "Haha, it feels like Fan Zhendong has memorized all of Mei Mei's song lyrics and just spouts them out on cue!"
However, not all users are buying into the hype. One user sarcastically remarked, "It's always some weird news story or another that makes it to the hot searches. Fan Zhendong and Sun Yingsha take turns being on the hot search list – without Fan, wouldn't the traffic KPIs be affected?" This user went on to bring up the ongoing issue of ticketing for an unrelated event, asking, "When will the WTT ticket issue be resolved?"
Meanwhile, one of the most-liked comments under a post about the incident from a user named "FAN" simply read, "One blink of an eye and you're 23 / But I'm feeling 22" – a tongue-in-cheek reference to Taylor Swift's hit song, which garnered over 14,000 likes and 1,794 comments.
It's unclear what prompted Fan Zhendong's sudden enthusiasm for Taylor Swift, but one thing is certain: the attention-grabbing move has certainly livened up the Weibo feeds of Chinese netizens, who are never ones to shy away from a good dose of celebrity gossip and intrigue. As one user joked, "Looks like 'traffic' is the password to being famous these days – they're going all out to grab our attention, aren't they?"
