Upcoming China eating contests
China eating challenges
Must Share News reports Chinese mukbang celebrity Pan Xiaoting passed away while livestreaming on July 14. She would attempt to eat up to 10kg (22 pounds) in sessions that could last up to 10 hours. According to the autopsy, mass amounts of undigested food was found in her stomach. (Via HardwareZone forum)
Sixth Tone has an article about the resurgence of Chinese big-eating videos despite a law passed in 2021 prohibiting content promoting excessive eating or food waste.
CNN reports that a authorities in Yibin, China are investigating if a restaurant offering a 108 dumpling challenge is in violation of a law enacted in 2021 against food waste.
A restaurant in Shenzhen was fined for holding a noodle eating challenge. In China it is now illegal for restaurants to promote behavior resulting in food waste
The BBC has an article about a Chinese live streamer known as Mr. Kang claiming that he was banned from Handadi Seafood BBQ Buffet in Changsha for eating too much.
Mothership.sg reports Chinese mukbang star Sun Yi Xuan passed away from cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 19. He was known for livestreaming his high calorie meals on the Kuaishou app, on which he had over 500,000 followers.
Mukbang videos and other binge eating live streams have been banned in Guandong province in South China. In August, the Chinese government depreciated the consumption of oversized meals, but stopped short of an outright prohibition.
Shine.cn on big eating video deprecation
Shine.cn has an article about the deprecation of big eating videos on Chinese streaming platforms which mentions the passing of a host in Shenyang, Liaoning Province just before he was to broadcast himself eating a large bowl of pork belly in June. Some Chinese big eaters have rebranded, with @大胃mini (big stomach mini) changing her ID to @梨涡少女mini (dimple girl mini). The article calls into question the authenticity of some of the videos:
In reality, the body simply cannot handle extreme quantities of food every day. To keep viewers, hosts must cheat, either throwing up after the show, or cutting scenes where they spit out food they’ve chewed, making viewers believe they have actually eaten everything.
Loyal followers are very defensive when questions are raised about unusual eating habits, saying their favorite hosts are just “born that way†and there are frequent quarrels with others who question the authenticity of videos.
update Aug 22 The BBC also has an article about the decline of eating videos.
update Aug 24 The New York Times has an article.
Chinese social media platforms to depreciate big eating videos
update Aug 15 China Digital Times has posted what they claim is a leak of the mandate from the government to streaming platforms to terminate big eating videos.
Global Times reports that Chinese social media platforms will depreciate big eating videos in an effort to reduce food waste:
A spokesperson from the public relations department of short-video platform Douyin told the Global Times on Thursday that the platform has taken measures to rectify livestreaming eating shows.
The spokesperson said that when users search for key terms such as “eating show” or “competitive eater”, they will be informed to value food, and the platform will penalize those behind such videos.
Other video platforms including Kuaishou and Douyu made similar statements, promising to strengthen content reviews.
TechNode has a video (mostly subtitled) about Chinese "Big Stomach Queen" Mini. update Technode has posted an article about Mini.
Nextshark has an article about Chinese competitive eater Mi Zijun. She recently ate 4kg (8.8 pounds) of rice to win an eating contest held in Hangzhou.
SmartShanghai has an interview with Chinese food challenger 大胃mini, who claims to have eaten a 17.5kg (38.5 pound) lamb. Her channel on Bilibili has over a million fans. She also has a youtube channel.
Forbes has an article about Chinese billionaire Wan Long which calls him the owner of Nathan's Famous due to his holdings of Smithfield Foods. (I think that Smithfield is just the manufacturer for Nathan's which remains American owned). The BBC has a long article about conditions in the Smithfield meatpacking plant in Sioux Falls, SD which became the top coronavirus site in the entire country after 644 cases were detected in connection with the facility. A Nathan's consumer boycott appears to be developing due to its relationship with Smithfield.
ViralTab.com has an article about 18 year old competitive eater Wang Wenwen from Xianyang City, China, who fears she might be unable to find a boyfriend due to the cost of her meals. (video)
Daily Mail has a report on a pepper eating contest held in Yichun, China where the competitors were immersed in a hot spring filled with the vegetable to be consumed. Yi Huan ate 20 peppers in a minute to win the contest and received a gold bar and title of "Chilli Queen".
Buzzfeed has an interview with television presenter An-Qi, from Zhejiang, China. A video of her quickly defeating her male co-host has received over 3 million views on twitter.
SCMP.com has an article about female competitive eater Hu Tongton from Heilongjiang, China.
NDTV has an article about a chilli eating contest in Ningxiang, Hunan, China requiring participants to sit in giant tubs filled with peppers. A man named Su ate 15 peppers in 1 minute to win the contest.
Daily Motion has a video of a recent noodle eating contest in Wuhan, China where a 53 year old woman ate 400g (.88 pounds) of noodles in 8 seconds.
Shanghaiist reports that a 53 year old woman from Wuhan province surnamed Luo ate 400g of noodles (0.88 pounds) in 8 seconds to win a contest, a pace of 3kg (6.6 lbs) per minute. Emmanuel, a 21 year old from Tojo, was the runner up with a time of 24 seconds. (original Chinese article).
A woman billed as "Super Eater Mizijun" ate 4kg (9 pounds) of rice to win a contest in Hangzhou, China. update Shanghaiist has a blog entry and video with a link to her Chinese social media page with 500K subscribers.
Manila.coconuts.com reports that some Chinese consider Yuka Kinoshita's recent video where she ate bananas as an insult to their country. One viewer theorized that the 137 bananas Yuka ate was intended to be a reference to the Chinese population of 1.37 billion.
Hangzhou, China held an eating contest where competitors ate hot peppers while sitting in ice buckets.
Daily Mail reports Chinese competitve eater Pan Yizhong ate 36 boiled eggs and a box of mealworms at Shiniuzhai Geopark in Hunan, China to promote the opening of a 984 foot glass-bottomed pedestrian suspension bridge, billed as the longest in the world.
The Daily Mail has an article about Li Yongzhi of Shawoli, China, who reportedly eats up to 5.5 pounds of chilli peppers daily.
Loading ...