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Top 10 Chinese Internet Searches in 2014 Are Not What You’d Expect

Posted: 12/17/2014 3:47 pm

love apartmentWith all of the year-end lists rolling out this month, it isn’t difficult to get an idea of the stories that captivated audiences in 2014. Google’s 2014 global list of top searches is led by big news events such as “Robin Williams” (who passed away this year), the “World Cup”, and “Ebola”.

China’s list, though, has many scratching their heads. Even the China Daily has asked its readers, “Can you trust this list?” While the list has been widely covered by media, no sources are mentioned in any of the reports.

The list certainly includes a few understandable searches, such as “Malaysian Airlines 370″, and “World Cup” but as for the rest, well, you be the judge:

love apartment1. iPartment 4

This is the fourth season of the show with a title better understood as “Love Apartment”, a sitcom that has been criticized for plagiarizing jokes from Friends.The show is noteworthy for the rare inclusion of a Japanese character, albeit in the “Ross” role.

You can watch all 24 episodes of iPartment 4 online here.

malaysia airlines mh370 china family2. Malaysian Airlines 370

The mystery of this missing airplane continues to draw attention in China, which had the highest number of passengers on board the doomed flight.

cool running everyday mobile phone game app3. Cool Running Everyday

Third in the series of “Everyday” games offered by Tencent, Cool Running Everyday is a mobile phone video game in the “endless runner” genre that features colorfully-coiffed anime characters in their search for more gold coins.

a hero tv drama4. A Hero

More directly translated as “A Generation of Ambition and Ruthlessness”, A Hero is a television drama based on a novel set during the roaring twenties. The story features the familiar motivations of either making it rich, or getting revenge.

You can watch the show online here or here.

world cup5. World Cup

Despite not qualifying, China was nevertheless still game to look it up online.

iphone 6 line up china6. iPhone 6

Interest in the iPhone was so strong in China that consumers were willing to pay top dollar for bootlegs due to the domestic release date being weeks behind the rest of the world.

may december romance tv drama7. May December Love

Traditions get tested in this family drama in which the Gu family patriarch doesn’t approve of his daughter’s finance who is—get this—an older man.

Watch the show online here or here.

sing my song tv reality singing competition8. Sing My Song

While the generic Chinese title of this show means that netizens could have been searching online for “nice Chinese songs”, they were likely looking up this reality TV singing competition that features the best astonished reactions from celebrity judges.

Watch the show online here.

divorce lawyers tv show9. Divorce Lawyers

It’s a TV show about divorce lawyers. Watch to see how they maintain harmony in the face of cultural traditions, or at least for the Playboy bunny outfit seen above.

Watch the show online here.

2048 mobile phone game10. 2048

Not to be confused with Wong Kar-wai’s film 2046, 2048 is a numeric-based mobile phone puzzle game. At least it isn’t lining up three colors in a row.

Photos: QQ, qq1234, mz6, ruian888, fengsung, 969g, zynews, tieba, iFeng, baiducontent, i4, sina

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