The author is a columnist and culture critic with China Daily
Shortly after I finished last week's X-Ray column, titled The (r)evolution of an internet celebrity, it became instantly outdated. The twists have come on so inexorably that it may even turn into a serial melodrama.
Far from the magisterial tone of authoritative pronouncements, internet memes have a way of sneaking into public consciousness without a hint of pomp or prediction. They may be exaggerated, yet they often convey a sense of self-deprecation that strikes a chord with the public.
Insiders say there's a silver lining to stagnant box office takes in 2016. Box office takes for China's film industry remained stagnant in 2016, but most industry insiders see it as a blessing in disguise.
Cash-rich Chinese investors are increasingly visible on the international screen.
Sitting down to a hotpot dinner at Xing'an is to eat like an ethnic Yao, which is nothing like what you'll experience in a big-city restaurant.
Netizens have responded enthusiastically to President Xi Jinping's New Year's address, equally impressed by the content and inspirational phrasing of the speech, during which he said that "only hard work will make dreams come true".
A Shanghai Pudong district court sentenced two Chinese companies to pay 1.35 million yuan ($194,500) to two Hollywood studios on Thursday for infringing on their copyrighted material.
China's movie industry this year may not have seen the enviable growth rate of the recent past, but the past 12 months are seen by many as a good year for quality offerings - and for diversity as well. Not in the Hollywood sense, but in the kind of fare seen on the nation's big screens. Here are the top picks by China Daily's film critic Raymond Zhou.
My friend Zeng Jian recently posted an article railing against one component of the celebrity entourage, i.e. the publicity person and his or her fastidiousness with which reporters' questions are vetted.
British actor Colin Firth dwells on the virtue of restraint in a wide-ranging conversation with Raymond Zhou on the art of acting.
With an unusual display of riches, a medical professional calls into question public attitudes toward wealth and the need for better pay for his profession.
In the age of internet, even a token gesture of giving 1 yuan or forwarding a post will require a certain familiarity with journalistic ethics of properly vetting and double-checking things.