The Land Rover Woman Controversy Explained 🚗💥

Dear reader,

One can become a meme overnight. There are many people who could tell you all about it, from the Subway Judge to the Train Tyrant. This week, it’s ‘Land Rover Woman’ who has become the latest addition to the Chinese Lexicon of Viral Incidents.

The incident, which we detailed in our recent article, occurred on August 28. In short: a woman in a white Range Rover, complete with a Chanel logo, became enraged when another driver refused to yield as she attempted to force her way into traffic while driving in the wrong direction. In the middle of a congested road, she exited her vehicle and caused a scene. She screamed, pointed, kicked the other car, and ultimately yanked open the driver’s door of the man who blocked her path, proceeding to hit him in the face. She then drove off (see video here).

Land Rover Woman during the incident.

The man, blood dripping from his nose, remained calm and did not retaliate, explaining afterward that he chose not to strike back because his children were in the back seat. The woman, identified as 36-year-old Wang from Qingdao’s Laoshan district, was subsequently handed 10 days of administrative detention and fined 1,000 yuan (approximately $140).

As footage of the incident went viral on Chinese social media, it sparked widespread debate.

The man, later revealed to be a former member of the military, spoke to reporters a day after the altercation, stating that it had left him not only physically hurt but also mentally distressed. He announced that he was preparing to take legal action against the woman and would not accept mediation.

The man, Lin, received overwhelming support from Chinese netizens, who saw the situation as an injustice on multiple levels.

Gender Dynamics

The woman physically assaulted the man, who chose not to defend himself—not because he couldn’t, but because of social norms, his responsibilities as a father, and his background in the military.

This dynamic has triggered discussions about the double standards in how aggression is viewed depending on gender and how a “real man” (真汉子) would and should respond in such a situation.

Some commenters suggested that the man “lost face” by being hit by a woman without fighting back, especially given his military background. Others argued the opposite, saying his restraint proved he truly was a “real man.” Regardless, both perspectives agree that Chinese societal norms put the man in an unfair, vulnerable position.

Social Privilege

A major factor in the controversy revolves around social privilege. The woman’s entitled behavior—saying “So what if I hit you?” (“打你怎么了”)—and her driving a luxury 1.3 million yuan ($180,000) Range Rover with a Chanel logo contrasted sharply with Lin, a decommissioned soldier running a local guesthouse who was simply traveling with his children.

Many netizens saw this as a clear example of social class injustice, a power imbalance between a wealthy woman and a working-class man. Wang’s sense of entitlement allowed her to believe she could act violently without facing real consequences. The outrage was further amplified by Lin’s former military service, a profession meant to protect others, making the incident feel even more unjust.

Legal Disparities

Perhaps the biggest point of contention in the Land Rover Woman controversy is the perceived leniency of the punishment. The woman received 10 days of administrative detention and a small fine, but many netizens feel her actions amount to disorderly behavior (“picking quarrels and provoking trouble” 寻衅滋事罪), which has seen far harsher penalties in cases with less public impact.

The light sentence is viewed by many as a failure of the legal system to adequately address the severity of the incident, especially given the public nature of the attack and its broader social implications.

This has led to people seeking justice in their own ways. Some people started calling the Qingdao city hotline, directly expressing concerns to local authorities that the sentence given to ‘Land Rover Woman’ is too lenient. Others took matters into their own hands through digital vigilantism, attempting to track Wang’s whereabouts to ensure she was being properly detained. Earlier this week, her license plate went viral, with livestreamers filming her car as it was spotted in the streets.

Beyond the “Karen” Meme

As this incident has sparked online conversations about fairness and accountability, ‘Land Rover Woman’ has also become an internet meme.

With her black face mask, summer hat, long hair and white dress, she has become a recognizable figure, embodying the kind of woman everyone loves to hate. She’s poppping up in various photoshopped images and AI-generated videos. Even car stickers have been made featuring her image alongside the now infamous quote, “So what if I hit you?””(1)

Various “Land Rover Woman” AI-generated images published on Xiaohongsu.

Car sticker “So What If I Hit You?”

‘Land Rover Woman’ is more than just the Chinese equivalent of the American “Karen” meme, which depicts a stereotypically entitled, middle-aged white woman who often complains or picks fights. Land Rover Woman is not just entitled and rich, she also embodies netizens’ frustration over what they see as an imbalance in how justice is applied across gender and social class.

‘Film poster’ published on Weibo: “逆行的血案“: “The Bloody Wrong-Way Incident”

Turning her into a meme has become a form of social critique. By making Land Rover Woman part of China’s larger digital discourse, it has also become a way for netizens to seek justice. For Wang, becoming an internet meme and a target of public outrage is likely to have a far greater impact on her daily life than a ten-day detention.

Miranda Barnes contributed to the compilation and interpretation of some topics featured in this newsletter. Ruixin Zhang has authored the ‘What’s Noteworthy’ section.

Personal Note: I’ll be traveling in China for the upcoming two weeks, so you might receive the next newsletter just a bit later than usual. However, rest assured, I’ll return with fresh insights. Not long ago, I wrote about the ‘robotaxi revolution’ in Wuhan, which is now the world’s largest city for driverless taxis. I’ll be heading there to explore the latest AI trends and see the developments for myself. Have any specific questions about robotaxis? Let me know!

Best,

Manya Koetse

(@manyapan)

(^1) AI images from Xiaohongshu by AI老白, 忙到七点的麻辣香锅, 视野洞见PPT. Car sticker images by 小文分享.

Closer look at the featured stories

The Paralympic File | Following China’s golden success at the 2024 Paris Olympics, the spotlight now shifts to the Paralympics (残奥会), running from August 28 to September 8, 2024. While not as widely followed as the Olympics, the Paralympics still garnered significant attention on Chinese social media, where many athletes are celebrated not so much as national heroes, but as champions of their home regions.

Road Rage | What possessed the female driver of a Land Rover to drive against traffic, cut in line, and assault another driver? This incident has dominated trending topics on Chinese social media over the past week—not just because of the woman’s behavior, but also because of how the victim responded and the legal fallout. See article, video link included.

Bump in the Road | A viral court case in China has sparked debate after a female employee was fired shortly after announcing her pregnancy. While the company cited “poor performance,” the courts ruled in her favor. The case highlights the ongoing issue of pregnancy discrimination in Chinese workplaces, but also reveals the mixed feelings people have about women who may be seen as taking advantage of the system.

🛑 Edible Oil Scandal Update & Goji Controversy

On August 25, China’s State Council Food Safety Office, alongside several other government agencies, released the results of their investigation into a cooking oil scandal that shocked the nation earlier this year. The scandal involved edible oil being transported in tankers that had previously carried chemicals and waste, raising serious food safety concerns. The investigation uncovered multiple violations of food safety laws across Hebei, Tianjin, Inner Mongolia, and Shaanxi, including failures to properly clean tankers before transporting food products and attempts to cover up these actions. Nationwide inspections reportedly have not found similar issues in other regions so far. The government has since imposed significant penalties, including a $400,000 fine on Sinograin Oil and a total of $1.1 million in fines on six other logistics and edible oil companies. Additionally, criminal charges have been filed against two drivers involved in the illegal activities.

While people are still concerned about the safety of their cooking oil, another food safety controversy has popped up again. CCTV-2 recently exposed that some merchants in Gansu have been illegally using industrial sulfur to fumigate goji berries to enhance their appearance and boost profits. Industrial sulfur, which contains high levels of arsenic, is not approved for food processing. Though the berries may look appealing, they are toxic, further fueling netizens’ fears about hidden dangers in other food products.

💍 Huang Zitao’s Three Years of Mourning

Chinese celebrity Huang Zitao (黄子韬) has been the center of attention lately. The former EXO member recently announced his engagement to fellow singer Xu Yiyang (徐艺洋). Both artists appeared on the reality show Dare Or Not, where Huang’s proposal to Xu was featured in the final episode. The couple had publicly confirmed their relationship in July, following years of dating rumors.

It has now come to light that Huang Zitao allegedly chose to observe a three-year mourning period in honor of his late father before announcing any major personal news. After the mourning period ended, he began preparing to publicly share his relationship and marriage plans. Huang’s father unexpectedly passed away in 2020, and the revelation about Huang observing a mourning period has sparked conversations about upholding traditional family values. However, some skeptical voices suggest that Huang is only using filial piety as a way to explain why he previously denied being in a relationship.

🙏 Man Killed at Gaomi Nightmarket

A shocking incident took place on August 28th in Gaomi (高密), a county-level city in eastern China’s Shandong Province. Videos shared online captured how a seemingly minor argument between two men at a night market escalated into a horrifying tragedy.

Initially, the altercation seemed minor, as a man argued with a market vendor who was there with his wife and child. However, the situation took a tragic turn when the man suddenly grabbed a large knife and fatally attacked the vendor in front of his family and numerous bystanders. The man was decapitated in the attack. Police have urged people to stop sharing videos of the incident. The attacker, a 36-year-old local, has been detained. Social media discussions have largely centered on the idea that the crime occurred in a moment of uncontrollable rage. While one life was lost and another family devastated, the lives of the wife and young son, who witnessed the horrific killing of their husband and dad, will be forever changed.

 🐸 From Eyelid Surgery to Sad Frog

“How am I supposed to face people looking like this?” The story of a certain Ms. Yuan from Guiyang went top trending on Weibo recently. The Chinese woman spent 20,000 yuan ($2820) on a double eyelid surgery, a procedure that creates a crease in the upper eyelid to give the appearance of larger, more defined eyes – it’s very popular among women in East Asia for cosmetic reasons. However, in this case, the procedure turned out differently than expected.

The procedure was poorly executed and had created an overly wide crease, which gave the woman’s eyes a somewhat exaggerated, bulging appearance. “I look like a sad frog,” the woman told reporters. She made the news after filing an official complaint about the wide crease. The topic became popular because the “Sad frog” is a well-known online meme, but others also took this news as a warning: be careful about choosing a reputable clinic for cosmetic surgeries.

⚽ 0-7 Soccer Match Between China and Japan

One Weibo hashtag about China’s national soccer team losing 0-7 to Japan in the third round of the 2026 World Cup Asian qualifiers garnered over 360 million views in a single day on Thursday (#国足0比7日本#). Regardless of what is said about the spirit of sports, soccer inevitably gets dragged into the political arena, and in the case of China versus Japan, this match is particularly sensitive for Chinese audiences, bringing up associations of national pride linked to historical conflicts and more recent geopolitical tensions. Perhaps losing wasn’t the biggest issue, but losing with a 0-7 score—the biggest-ever loss to Japan in Chinese soccer—certainly was.

On Weibo, many found the outcome of the match unacceptable, not just because it was against Japan, but because they felt China’s overall performance was disappointing and ill-prepared for Japan’s attacking strategies. All things considered, 0-7 isn’t too bad—there was a trending match in 2014 during the Beijing Cup between Haidian and Fangshan junior teams that ended with a 47-0 score.

Small News with Big Impact

An unusual plea recently appeared on Weibo as several South Korean accounts urgently called for help. Using translation tools, these women reached out to Chinese netizens, raising awareness and seeking support to combat the sexual exploitation of girls and women in South Korea related to the ongoing “Deepfake Room” scandal.

The deepfake scandal centers around online chat groups where AI was used to generate countless pornographic images by manipulating real photos of South Korean female students and schoolgirls, all without their consent. These images were then shared in Telegram chatrooms, some with thousands of members—one reportedly had 220,000 participants. The scandal has ignited national outrage, with growing calls for stricter regulations on apps like Telegram and harsher punishments for those involved.

These posts quickly gained significant attention on Chinese social media, sparking discussions about similar issues in China, such as the widespread problem of men secretly filming women with hidden cameras in places like dressing rooms and public transport, with the footage often shared online. Many Chinese netizens voiced their support, urging East Asian women to stand together and protect each other from such threats.

The Latest Buzz in Arts & Pop Culture

The success of the Chinese game Black Myth: Wukong (黑神话悟空) continues to snowball, becoming a true national sensation. Officially released on August 20 after years in development, the game has exceeded all expectations. Within an hour of its release, it topped Steam’s “Most Played” list, with over 2 million concurrent players.

According to recent data, the game, based on the classic Chinese tale Journey to the West, has been selling around 400,000 copies per day on the American gaming platform Steam over the past two weeks, with no signs of slowing down.

Chinese brands and tourism sites are also benefiting from the success of Black Myth: Wukong, China’s first major ‘AAA’ blockbuster game. The Luckin Coffee chain collaborated with the game to launch a special drink and merchandise. The collaboration drew huge crowds, and the merchandise sold out nationwide in seconds, reportedly almost crashing Luckin’s system. Various scenic sites in Shanxi that appear in the game, from temples to gorges, have also seen a significant boost in tourism.

Best Reads from the Archive

In light of the Land Rover Woman controversy, our archive pick this week takes us back to a popular story from September 2018. A female passenger’s refusal to give up her seat on a high-speed train ignited a wave of reactions on Chinese social media. Dubbed the “High-Speed Train Tyrant Woman” (#高铁霸座女#), her rude behavior quickly went viral. Netizens drew comparisons to a similar incident involving a male passenger earlier that year, sparking a flood of memes featuring the two “train tyrants.”

Armless Flying Fish | Our Weibo word of the week is 无臂飞鱼 (wú bì fēi yú), which translates to ‘Armless Flying Fish.’

During the Paralympics, some Chinese athletes have been nicknamed “Armless Flying Fish” by Chinese netizens and media to metaphorically describe their extraordinary ability to “fly” underwater despite their disabilities.

The athlete currently receiving the most attention with this nickname is Para swimmer Guo Jincheng (郭金城), who won five medals, including three gold, at the Paris 2024 Paralympics. The 23-year-old from Hebei Province lost both arms in an accident at the age of five. Since joining the swim team at age 12, Guo has trained nearly every day, focusing not only on body strength but also on breathing techniques to help him swim longer without needing to come up for air.

Another Chinese para athlete, Lu Dong (卢冬), has also been dubbed the ‘Armless Flying Fish’ for her incredible speed in the water despite her disability. At 32, Lu continues to excel—having already won numerous medals throughout her career.

Para swimmer Yuan Weiyi (袁伟译) is another athlete who has earned the “Armless Flying Fish” nickname for transcending boundaries and winning multiple medals over the course of his career.

The original ‘Armless Flying Fish’ is Chinese swimmer Zheng Tao (郑涛), who set a world record by winning four gold medals at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics. Zheng lost his arms due to an electric shock when he was a child but did not let this prevent him from achieving remarkable success.