Beijing director Zhang Neixian arrested! A phrase “105-year-old beast” angered Xi Jinping? Dilireba’s appearance drastically changed, self‑reducing salary what happened? Li Qiang wanted, stars collectively demand wages (Old Beijing Teahouse / Episode 1681 / 2026/07/10)
The main content of this episode includes: The People's Court of Yining City, Xinjiang, mistakenly issued a wanted notice for a person named Li Qiang who shares the same name as the Premier; Beijing independent film director Zhang Neixian was taken away by police for mocking the authorities on social media, sparking overseas concern; the Chinese entertainment and film industry is in a comprehensive depression, with Feng Xiaogang's new film "Catching Spies" performing poorly at the box office, and the lead cast of Stephen Chow's new film "Shaolin Women's Soccer" collectively lowering their salaries; numerous celebrities and low-level industry workers have faced production crews and variety shows running away with unpaid wages, leading to a "collective wage demand" storm.
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This is incredible, Liu Zhuo, Xiao Qiangzi. My clansman Li Qiang, your brother Qiang, has been put on a wanted list. Are you having a nightmare? Wake up and stop talking nonsense. If you don't believe me, I'll show you the picture. Whoa, there's even a picture as proof. What do you think? A tea friend from Xinjiang hurriedly sent a reward notice with a screenshot, saying, "Brothers, it's a big deal, Brother Qiang, Li Qiang, has been wanted by the People's Court of Yining City, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region." I'll ask timidly, is this Li Qiang the tea friend mentioned the same Li Qiang, the lackey of Xi Jinping? The tea friend was speechless and posted the reward notice from the Yining City People's Court: Person subject to enforcement Li Qiang, ID number 654101 blah blah, enforcement target 67,150 RMB, case number Xin 4002 Min Chu No. 3807, reward amount unknown. This Li Qiang looks tall and mighty. Just looking at the one-inch passport photo, one can tell that Li Qiang's physique is not ordinary. Even Xi the Steamed Bun's sidekick Li Qiang would admit, "How can my soft-persimmon self compare to him?" The other Li Qiang thinks to himself, "I better have my secretary inquire if this long-lost uncle or brother of mine, who shares my name, just failed to pay his phone bill and became a deadbeat debtor wanted by the whole internet." How frustrating. Maybe he poked the CCP in the lungs with some remark and was convicted for his speech—a crime of speech. It's fortunate he shares the name with the vase Premier; the Cyberspace Administration of China doesn't dare to forward the wanted notice casually, as it might trigger associations that the Xi family army is a criminal gang. Better cover it up with a leaf. If they don't cover it up, rebels might really take copies of the wanted notice to scare the vase Premier Li Qiang.
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To pick up where we left off, the wanted notice for Li Qiang was a hilarious misunderstanding, but the CCP is now truly rolling up its sleeves and getting to work on arresting people. They are really making arrests, and they are doing it with great fanfare right in Beijing, the heart of the imperial city. Who did they catch? None other than Zhang Peng, a well-known independent film director who, despite being inside the Great Firewall, insists on speaking out from outside it. He is the independent filmmaker Zhang Neixian; Zhang Peng is his real name. His underground independent films include "Unemployed Youth," "Strawberry 100%," and "Those Days of Being Idle," among others. In recent years, he shifted to creating talk shows, commenting on Chinese current affairs with humor and satire on YouTube outside the Great Firewall, amassing nearly 50,000 subscribers. I have noticed his programs becoming increasingly popular. Zhang Neixian also posted on X, frequently lashing out at the CCP's internet police and Little Pinks. The Xi Jinping authorities arrested Zhang Neixian on July 1st. It has been 10 days, and there has been no public reporting within the Great Firewall; the arrest process was particularly eerie. According to a notice from Zhang Neixian's family on the YouTube community today, around 11:00 PM Beijing time on July 1st, several police officers broke into Zhang's home on the Tsinghua University campus and took him away in handcuffs. The family has now received a "Detention Notice" issued by the Haidian Branch of the Beijing Public Security Bureau, citing the charge of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble," and he is being held at the Haidian District Detention Center in Beijing. You might ask, what did he do to get arrested on the night of such a sensitive date as July 1st? Don't even ask. Early on July 1st Beijing time—it was still June 30th here in the US—Zhang Neixian posted on Twitter: "If a beast can live to be 105, it is no longer a beast, but a bunch of XXX things." He was too brave, calling out a 105-year-old beast to the CCP right in Beijing, which is why he attracted a swarm of Little Pinks to curse at him in the comments. Subsequently, Zhang Neixian posted again: "I am here in Beijing, resisting the CCP right on the spot. Are you angry? Come and arrest me." He was too careless; why bother arguing with Little Pinks? They are just working on sewing machines to earn points for sentence reduction; they were looking for you anyway. Later, Zhang Neixian posted another message: "I often say in my show, you Little Pinks from small counties, first, you haven't received a proper education, and second, you haven't seen the world. If you want to find me, at least get your Beijing entry permit first. Watch my show more to broaden your horizons." When you have a direct conflict with bad guys, the CCP easily unleashes its dogs. Zhang Neixian's family says he has been taken away for over 8 days with no news. The family is outside the Great Firewall, and there is very little they can do. If any netizens are willing to help, please assist in forwarding relevant information or passing it to media friends you know. I see that the Taiwanese anti-CCP influencer Ba Jiong and the Canadian independent media personality Gongzi Chen have already paid attention to Zhang Neixian's arrest, and outlets like New Tang Dynasty and The Epoch Times have also reported on it. Doing anything anti-CCP in the CCP's den of Beijing carries enormous risks, let alone when Zhang Neixian is so candid. Let's take a look at Zhang Neixian's art of lashing out—it's impressive. If I were inside the Great Firewall, I couldn't do it. One netizen said, "Regardless of what he said, his stage name alone is enough to constitute 'picking quarrels and provoking trouble.' Isn't 'Neixian' just a 'cry' (nahan) that has been gagged? Remove the 'mouth' (kou) from 'na' and you get 'nei'; remove the 'mouth' (kou) from 'han' and you get 'xian.' Zhang Neixian comes from 'Nahan' (Call to Arms/Outcry)—Zhang Nahan, opening his mouth to shout and speak out bravely." Tea friends, please move your fingers to like and support this independent director, independent media personality, and brave warrior who has a conscience and a sense of justice. Additionally, let's conduct a poll: Do you think it is worth advocating for Director Zhang Neixian's form of satirical art to resist the CCP inside the Great Firewall? Here are the options: 1. It is worth advocating; 2. It is not worth advocating; 3. The spirit is commendable, but it is best to use safer methods; 4. As long as it is anti-CCP, all forms are good. Please type the number in the comment section immediately.
In the dark, there is a will of heaven. Less than a year after Yu Menglong's miserable failure, the Chinese entertainment industry has undergone earth-shaking changes. "Collapsed" is the keyword of the year; "miserable" and "cold" are the buzzwords—it has truly gone cold. On the surface, it is caused by being replaced by AI, but the underlying tone is economic depression, and there is another factor that cannot be ignored: "You ban, we ban entertainment." Let's talk about it specifically. Take the top-tier celebrities in the Chinese entertainment industry: the golden age is gone forever. Just look at Feng Xiaogang's recent film "Catch the Spies," released on June 19th. It has been over 20 days, and the cumulative box office is only about 110 million yuan, and it is said to have already been pulled from theaters. According to the standard way the box office cake is sliced, theaters take over 50 million, the production side takes over 30 million, and the rest is for others to split—there isn't much left. It is said that the cost of "Catch the Spies" was 300 million. The promised salaries for Hu Ge and Lei Jiayin alone total over 60 million. They are dreaming; now there is less than 30 million left in total, and it can't all go to them. Ah, they say it's over 60 million, but in reality, most of that money is based on the assumption of a successful box office split. According to current full-scale projections, if the box office hits 130 million, they should be burning incense, so the split revenue might be approximately zero. If they force Hu Ge and Lei Jiayin to work for nothing and they insist on maliciously demanding unpaid wages, they can only go to Han Hong to save face. Director Xiaogang has long since sat in first class on a plane and flown straight to Los Angeles, slipping away. He left the Party-state to squat and stare at that pathetic box office, feeling frustrated, leaving only Han Hong to save face in the wind.
To look at it from another angle, as top-tier stars, Dilraba Dilmurat and Lay Zhang are much smarter. What does that mean? For Stephen Chow's new film "Shaolin Women's Soccer," these two proactively lowered their salaries. Ah, Dilraba and Lay Zhang, such popular A-list stars, proactively lowering their own salaries—they were especially proactive. The confidence in the entertainment industry has collapsed to such a degree; I happen to know that for this film, Dilraba gained 16 jin (8 kg) in weight, cut her hair short, and intentionally tanned her skin. Why would they still proactively lower their pay? What's wrong with lowering pay? It's good enough that they aren't performing for free; as long as it covers the costs, it's a bargain. They caught the Star (Stephen Chow) off guard; the surprise and helplessness came a bit suddenly. You have to think about this carefully. It's not easy to get a role, especially in a Stephen Chow film. You absolutely cannot miss the opportunity. After all, when a grain of sand from the era falls on your head, it leaves a huge bump. Let's talk about this new film. Since "The New King of Comedy" in 2019, this is Stephen Chow's return to theaters as a director after a 7-year hiatus. On July 6, the Star broke convention again. With almost "zero trailers and zero posters" beforehand, he directly announced that his self-written, self-directed, and self-produced new masterpiece "Shaolin Women's Soccer" would be released in mainland China on July 11. A surprise attack without any notice—Stephen Chow is certainly confident and ruthless. According to the official announcement, the total production budget for "Shaolin Women's Soccer" is 380 million RMB, the most expensive film in the Star's directing career to date; it is definitely a major production. The allocation of the film's funds is particularly clear: "heavy on production, light on salaries." What does that mean? Half of the budget is used for special effects. That much? Yes. The second largest investment is in real-scene construction and filming hardware, with a total investment of about 70 million, which is also quite a lot. Actor salaries rank third, with a total amount of only 57 million RMB—not even as much as Hu Ge and Lei Jiayin combined. Being "more" is useless; those were just empty checks written by Feng Xiaogang for them. Oh right, that ship has sailed. The key is the proportion: the actor salary share for "Shaolin Women's Soccer" is only 15%, far lower than the conventional 40%-60% share in the domestic film and television industry. Is it really that different? Domestic films usually give 60% to actors. Could it be that Stephen Chow's appeal is limitless, and actors are willing to lower their own value? It's possible. Of course, the biggest factor should be related to the collapse of the CCP's economy and the bleak environment of the film and television industry. Everything is seeing price cuts. Anyway, the lead actors, including Zhang Xiaofei, Dilraba, and Lay Zhang, all proactively lowered their salaries this time, breaking the past convention where a single top-tier actor's salary alone would exceed 50 million. This time, the total is only 57 million. The entertainment bubble economy has burst. It is said that according to industry standards, a film's box office needs to reach more than three times the production cost to cover all expenses and achieve profitability. With a production cost of 380 million, the break-even point for "Shaolin Women's Soccer" must reach over 1.1 billion RMB. My god, they have to sell that much? That's a high bar. The Chinese people are strapped for cash; this time, it's a test of whether the common people will give the Star some face. It's so nerve-wracking.
However, having said that, although the top-tier stars' salaries have plummeted, at least they have work to do. Ordinary actors are miserable, basically lying flat, and extras are directly unemployed—the Hunger Games have begun. Right now, young stars who have just debuted and aren't famous yet are delivering food, setting up street stalls, accompanying people on mountain hikes, and livestreaming to sell goods. It is said that some are even boiling tea eggs to sell. Stripped of their halos and walking the streets without makeup, all industries are depressed and in a mess. At the Weibo Movie Night on June 14, actor Dong Zijian's acceptance speech made the audience break down. Look here, he almost said it directly: "I am now a flexible worker." Actually, it's about the same. A novice in the entertainment industry might ask weakly, "Is Dong Zijian very popular? It's normal for small actors to have no work, right?" Small actors? Look at what the entertainment editor says. I am ignorant again: a Tokyo International Film Festival Best Actor winner, the son of gold-medal agent Wang Jinghua—with this double halo, even he has no work. The "20-billion-box-office man" has been turned into a "slow-employment, light-employment, light-entrepreneurship, self-employed economic worker" by the "Steamed Bun" (Xi Jinping) reversing the car. Is it miserable? Tears are streaming down. It is said that there is an constantly updated "actor unemployment list" circulating online, specifically tracking the "gap" time for entertainment stars after their last film wrapped up. It's heartbreaking and frustrating. As of April this year, the star with the longest "gap" in the table hasn't been on set for nearly 900 days. Even top-tier costume drama star Liu Yuning hasn't been on set for over 500 days. It really is fate; in the entertainment industry, yesterday everyone was a spectator, today everyone is hitting a brick wall. The days of "settling the score" have begun.
Recently, a sudden storm of "celebrities collectively demanding unpaid wages" has swept through Weibo's trending topics, successfully and thoroughly tearing away the last fig leaf of the CCP's entertainment industry—it's all fig leaves everywhere. It turns out that the glamorous stars and artists are now living in a mess, especially with film crews running away, variety show production teams suffering from broken capital chains and defaulting on wages, and being collectively exploited by capital becoming the new normal. The sky has completely collapsed in the domestic entertainment industry. Although the domestic entertainment industry has its own miseries, the sight of celebrities staging "migrant worker-style" wage demands still shocked many people. The domestic entertainment stars have also begun their long journey of demanding wages, and I will search up and down with malice, so hungry that their eyes are glowing blue, wanting to put anything they see into their mouths. You don't want this claw anymore? Oh, I refuse, I still need it to direct the way. Oh, almost got bitten, you say it's a pitfall, right? In the early hours of July 9, artist Zhao Pinlin posted a real-name public demand for unpaid wages from the director of the variety show "100% Singer," nicknamed "Yang Yang Yang." A real demand for wages, asking for over 100,000 yuan in recording fees—not a huge amount—as well as money his friend lent to the director; there's even a triangular debt involved. The wage demand post stated that the director "Yang Yang Yang" had long used the excuse of a broken capital chain to delay payment, with the debt dragging on from last year until now. "I participated in the recording of two seasons of this variety show and cooperated with the program's promotional live streams many times, but the remuneration has never been settled." What to do? It seems the landlord Yang Yang Yang really has no surplus grain. If you have no surplus grain, the actors can't take it. Let's see how little Zhao live-streamed his grievances. Look here, over 100,000 yuan for more than a year, patience has reached its limit. Sigh, it's truly depressing. After Zhao Pinlin posted his text and video demanding wages, other artists who participated in this variety show also spoke out one after another; they were all bursting with frustration. Actor Guo Tao said, "I have been considering our relationship and urging for payment privately, but now I realize that a large number of peers are also being owed money; we are all victims." I've heard of people dining and dashing before, but now that the party-state's economy has collapsed, they've started filming "dine and dash" variety shows. The incident fermented rapidly, and the topic #Multiple Artists Speak Out to Demand Debts# rushed to the top of Weibo's trending list. Afterward, many variety show regulars and even first-generation talent show idols forwarded the posts and joined the fray. My god, the whole industry is poised and ready. Artists exposed that behind some hit variety shows led by certain platforms, there are also scandals of large-scale arrears in artist appearance fees, makeup artist remuneration, and even travel expenses. Other artists participating in the variety show also successively voiced their support for Zhao Pinlin. There, it's directly shut down and left unfinished. It seems the entertainment industry has truly collapsed. As of 6:00 PM on the 9th, the program director @Yang Yang Yang A Yang Yang and the program @100% Singer Battle Season have not yet responded, burying their heads in the sand; silence speaks louder than words. In addition, another variety show by director Yang Yang Yang, "Open for Business," was also exposed to be in trouble and completely unfinished. On July 4, the studio of participating artist Liu Ye took the lead in issuing a statement announcing that due to the partner's failure to fulfill contractual payment obligations, they would no longer participate in any subsequent recording work for the variety show "Open for Business," an emergency stop-loss. Immediately after, on July 8, @Yang Yang Yang A Yang Yang posted a statement on Weibo saying that due to the broken capital chain of the project, it could not support the subsequent recording of the program, and the "Open for Business" program stopped recording, directly lying flat. Under the rule of the Emperor of Unfinished Projects, besides the work of leaving things unfinished advancing by leaps and bounds, nothing else is not left unfinished. From an empathetic perspective, it is estimated that all the Yang Yang Yangs are strapped for cash and have nothing left; they are probably being owed balances by someone else too. That is to say, the party-state's economy is collapsing, and the "great situation" is getting worse by the day, especially for variety shows, all because the capital tycoons and "sugar daddies" behind these shows are either real estate crocodiles, internet tech giants, or bosses of new energy vehicle companies. No matter who you are, under the heavy acceleration of the Chief Accelerator Xi Jinping, these people have been summoned for talks one after another, cleaned up, or subjected to "overseas fishing," and now they are likely to have no surplus grain at home, successively bursting with debt and running away. Running away, leaving behind a pile of unfinished variety shows and artists in various costumes maliciously demanding wages. This scene is too ironic; it's ridiculous and makes one feel physically uncomfortable.
What we see now is entertainers in the CCP-ruled country engaging in rights defense and demanding unpaid wages online. But what about those we don't see? The camera assistants who work 16 hours a day on set, carrying dozens of kilograms of equipment, squatting on the ground eating cold boxed lunches, or the extras waiting in the cold wind to play a corpse? Ah, and those clothing assistants and makeup artists who stay up all night altering costumes for stars—where can they go to demand their wages? Even if they tried, they wouldn't make it to the Weibo trending list; they just have to swallow their grievances. The problem is, they are human beings too. They have parents to support, children to care for, and unemployed spouses who need to eat. It is too difficult. Even though it might just be a few thousand or tens of thousands of yuan owed, that money is their rent for next month, their children's milk powder money, or life-saving money for sick relatives in the hospital. A single penny can defeat a hero. When the tide of the era's collapse rolls in, no one is spared. Migrant workers are demanding unpaid wages at construction sites, workers are demanding them at the gates of factories that have gone bankrupt, and sanitation workers, bus drivers, actors, and production staff are all demanding overdue pay. It is a nationwide game of chess; the "shadow of collective mass wage arrears" has become like a plague of indiscriminate attacks, looming over millions of ordinary people. Everyone is a beast of burden, and celebrities are just better-dressed beasts of burden. The well-known influencer Gaze has something to say, and every word is a gem; I give him a like. In the eyes of the CCP, the days of the celebrity beasts of burden grazing are over. The benevolent folks at the Cyberspace Administration of China raise their hands and bring down the blade—ah, slash—and the video is 404'd. The Party has a soft heart and can't bear to see people suffer, so they delete it all to keep things quiet. Ah
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