Intro for January 15, 2025

Dear Gossips,    

This week, a pop culture twist that no one could have predicted: is China becoming a pop culture super power in the west? First, let me put it in the most simple terms – China has enjoyed its own independent star system for a long time. After decades of investment in domestic entertainment infrastructure, China has its own robust movie and television business making it that much more difficult, on top of censorship etc, for Hollywood to break through and reach the huge Chinese market. 

Hengdian is known as China’s Hollywood, the world’s “largest film and television space” with hundreds of independent shooting locations, including recreations of historical palaces and other structures for costume dramas which are, typically, more popular with the home audience than modern dramas. I am constantly trying to keep up with all the C-dramas in my feed and even with a subscription to Viki it’s not enough because there are still, at least, three other Chinese streaming platforms that I don’t subscribe to. Just last week, two new Chinese costume dramas started broadcasting and I’m already behind on the one I was already watching – which is 40 episodes long!

And that’s just movies and television. There’s also China’s extremely active social media network, which is the biggest social media market in the world. They don’t need Facebook and Twitter etc etc because they have WeChat and Weibo. Douyin is the Chinese equivalent of TikTok, owned by the same company. And then, of course, there’s Xiaohongshu (XHS), which is making headlines this week under its English name, RedNote. With TikTok’s uncertain future in the west, XHS has exploded in popularity with TikTok users migrating in huge numbers to the platform and “discovering” Chinese culture. Wonder how long it’ll be before people figure out that toxicity also exists on Chinese social media the way it is in the west in 3…2…

And now Taylor Swift might be entering the chat. As noted above, western artists don’t often hit in China but Taylor is quite popular there, and she’s performed there. Back in 2014, on the Red Tour, Taylor did a show in Shanghai. This was at an arena, just before she got so big that she moved up to fill stadiums. Licencing in China is a complicated and expensive process. One of the reasons – there are many and this is really just a topline overview of the situation – western artists rarely include tour stops in China is because of the logistical and financial challenges with securing licences and other permits and visas etc etc with government agencies. There are, of course, always exceptions. 

Taylor Swift is certainly an exception. Or could be an exception. Local media is reporting that Shanghai city authorities have met with members of Taylor’s team to discuss the possibility of her holding a concert or a series of concerts there. And, naturally, there are major money opportunities for everyone involved. We’ve seen that Taylor is her own economy who can boost the economies of the cities she visits. That’s why China is interested. And of course for Taylor, on top of ticket sales, think of all that merch and the elusive billion dollar Chinese market. 

It wasn’t too long ago that western brands doing business in China or courting the Chinese market were criticised. That China was the enemy. And now, in 2025, you threaten to take away TikTok and suddenly… hundreds of thousands, if not more, American social media users are all about a Chinese social media platform, potentially smoothing the way for Taylor Swift to take over China on a less bumpy road. Is she a wizard? Did this timing work in her favour too? 

Yours in gossip,

Lainey