Tag Archives: Tencent

Gov’t meddling in Chinese soccer, Pt 28: tattoo ban

You may have heard by now about China’s ban on tattoos, first announced in January when “hip-hop elements” were deemed no longer suitable for TV, and now scrubbed from soccer, too (as detailed below). But though this forms part of a wider campaign, Chinese football has seen the government get involved all too often. 

Continue reading Gov’t meddling in Chinese soccer, Pt 28: tattoo ban

Nanjing Youth Olympics: worth the fuss?

With the Nanjing Youth Olympic Games (YOG) drawing to a close earlier this week after receiving little to none global attention, the few people who were watching have been debating the merits of the spectacle. In general, those who were there appear to have been won over by the Chinese penchant for ‘Bigger is Better’, while those who weren’t were more than happy to pile on.

Nanjing YOG1 Continue reading Nanjing Youth Olympics: worth the fuss?

The World Cup with Chinese characteristics

China won’t be playing in Brazil – they have appeared at a World Cup just once and failed to score a goal – but millions will stay up late to watch the games – starting this Friday at 4 am when Croatia kicks off against the host nation in São Paulo. Here are 10 things in this year’s World Cup with a Chinese connection.  Continue reading The World Cup with Chinese characteristics

Weekly Wrap: Beckham, Pacquiao, Liverpool, Asian Cup & ATP

Pac-Man, Zou Shiming have early start in Macau

Manny Pacquiao takes on Brandon Rios in Macau at around lunchtime on Sunday China time (to ensure a prime-time Saturday evening audience in the US). There was lots of talk from the Manny camp about how this one is for the Philippines given the recent typhoon, but that will all be forgotten when the bell goes. There was also a predictably entertaining build-up with trainers from each side getting into it in the gym – in other words, typical pre-bout stuff.

ImageTop Rank promoter Bob Arum said he expects around 200 million homes in China to tune in to see the main event, which, as usual, is way, way beyond the realms of reality. Continue reading Weekly Wrap: Beckham, Pacquiao, Liverpool, Asian Cup & ATP

Neymar to join Messi in small screen venture

This Bloomberg article from yesterday highlighted Tencent’s huge stock market gain – the most in half a year – after a 35% increase in revenue from desktop games and WeChat messaging, while noting that Lionel Messi was hired to promoted WeChat earlier this year. What it failed to mention is that Messi’s Barcelona teammate Neymar has just agreed to join forces off the pitch as well as on it, by becoming another international face of WeChat, known as Weixin (way-SHEEN) in China.

Continue reading Neymar to join Messi in small screen venture

Weekly Wrap: Man Utd, Messi and China’s next big thing

Sina Weibo welcomes Manchester United

Manchester United finally – finally – have an official Sina Weibo page here after a shocking lack of presence here, filled largely by fan pages. For years, the powers that be at Old Trafford were arrogant enough to think that everyone would simply go to the team’s homepage, and the club has now also launched a Twitter page for the first time (@ManUtd). The site now has more than 100,000 followers (though always take Sina Weibo numbers with a sack of salt), as compared to close to four times that amount on Twitter. Nothing of particular note is up yet on the Weibo site – so far just a few pictures and headlines from their Asian Tour – but at least it’s a step in the right direction in trying to connect with Chinese fans.

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Continue reading Weekly Wrap: Man Utd, Messi and China’s next big thing