Cities across China are replacing commercial and celebrity advertising on public screens with giant portraits of scientists. The trend started in Shandong province in August 2026, when shopping malls in Heze and Zibo voluntarily gave up prime advertising space to display posters honoring the country’s scientific pioneers.
The displays have since spread to cities including Zhengzhou, Hangzhou, Chongqing, and Jinan, appearing in metro stations, airports, and shopping centers. Featured scientists include rocket scientist Qian Xuesen, nuclear physicist Deng Jiaxian, agricultural scientist Yuan Longping, known for developing hybrid rice, and Tu Youyou, China’s first Nobel laureate in medicine for her malaria treatment research. Each portrait is shown alongside the scientist’s name and a short account of their contribution to the country.
The campaign is meant to give scientists the kind of public recognition usually reserved for celebrities, with some posters describing them as society’s “top stars.” The goal is to encourage young people to see scientists as role models worth admiring, tying into China’s wider push to raise the profile of science and technology.
The initiative has drawn attention outside China too, with commentators in other countries contrasting the scientist displays with public billboards elsewhere that remain dominated by politicians and entertainers.
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Everyone talks about Russian propaganda bots, but they forget China does it too. They do public perception (this post) and brand perception (lately, their ev's).
To be fair if their EV's were allowed to be sold in the US it would collapse the economy.
14k USD- it buys you a small family sized hatch back . Minimlist interior, self driving features, decent range for trips around the city and commuting. Is it fantastic..nope. But you can finance it for a couple hundred bucks a month. 15k usd currently gets you a used car pushing 100k miles.
30-45k USD- Gets you a brand new either performance sedan or a luxury SUV. Fast, huge range, interiors that compete with BMW / Mercedes. full self driving, absolutely perfect cars. Zero reason to spend anymore.
60k and above- cars and suvs that now compete with the flagship luxury cars. Mind blowing 0-60 times, the ultimate in tech and luxury. Their German brand competition are priced 3X or more. And in most criteria...the Chinese car is nicer.
It costs about US$1k per car for a manufacturer to ship cars on a RoRo from China to a west coast port like Vancouver.
The Dolphin is going to sell for around C$30k. That's about $21,300 US. In China the same car is between $19k and $24k depending on options. The exact price and options for Canada are not known yet, it could be a bit higher. In Australia they sell for C$28k.
So, the difference between China and Canada prices for the Dolphin is not so bad. BYD has to set up an entire network in Canada, including service centers, parts, etc etc etc. And Canada has around 40m people vs well over 1b in China. Economies of scale. And there is still a 6.1% tariff which is part of the price too.
Overall it's still a decent deal. A Tesla Model 3 (which basically no one in Canada wants to buy anymore for rather obvious reasons) ranges from $40k to $75k depending on model and options.
Because the Chinese EV market is completely over saturated and selling at practically zero margin to stay afloat. Most of them will be completely gone in a few years and once the industry consolidates the remaining Chinese automakers will lift prices to get margin back. Already seeing with Chinese retail chains as their retail market is a bloodbath.
One of the reasons why China can sell EV at a super cheap price is that China exploits rare earth metals mined in the most environmentally damaging way in Northern and Northeastern Myanmar, leaving social, political, and environmental collapse there. I am from Burma/Myanmar and it is surprising that not many are talking about it.
Remember how redditors complain about Walmart opening new shop in a community, pricing out everyone, and then jacking up the price after the competition died? Remember how it is so evil and need to be stopped?
Don't forget, America's also pretty good at propaganda.
I have no idea, how good, effective, or real this scientist superstar campaign is... but I think the concept is resonating with reddit voters because of how vapid and depressing celebrity culture has become under free-market capitalism.
I don't think it's a new idea. Going back to the 80s Canada had ads on TV promoting individuals from various walks of life who made contributions to society.
I've never in my life seen a post themed like this one relating to America, so I have no idea what their supposed propaganda is supposed to look like. The news out of America has been a constant clown fiesta for the past decade and then some.
"American children purchase kevlar backpacks to protect from school shooters" doesn't exactly resonate the same as "China makes scientists the new celebrities".
EDIT: To people saying American media, completely fair point, though I don't think that has been an effective form of propaganda for America for at least a decade. We're a bit past the era where every piece of American media is them saving the day from evil easterners.
A thing that’s is widely brought up about America is how it has zero issue airing their dirty laundry. Other countries will go to pretty great lengths to keep their problems to themselves while my local radio station does a guess the Florida man segment every day. It’s also a big favor that the US is at the end of the day a massive country with a huge global impact on day to day life. So its doings have a larger impact on the world at large compared to smaller countries.
I love how every counter to this comment has been stuff that is in fact widely talked about and known.
This is simply not true, the dirtiest laundry is never aired in public, only leaked (Snowden, Abu gharib, etc).
However because there society in the US is built on individualism, you cannot fully prevent individual leaks, only manage them.
And there is no country in the entire world that is better at managing propaganda than the United States. A country like China does lots of propaganda, but it is done directly. It is easy to see it. However in the US it does done using indirect means.
Think about how AIPAC has been able to shape public opinion in the US on Israel despite committing atrocities for literally decades by controlling "soft levers" to influence people's opinions.
If you have not already, I would strongly suggest reading the book propaganda by Edward Bernays.
Except when it is leaked it is aired out in public. That is the thing you are missing. Very few countries have had the freedom of press that the US has (at least up until the last decade).
Your own post even backs up this assertion, as does this entire Reddit post. The US has freedom of speech and open platforms where foreign countries can easily push their own propaganda.
Also I think a lot of people construe propaganda and doing good things as a form of propaganda. USAID is US propaganda, but it achieves its propaganda goals (well before it was destroyed by Russian backed meddlers like Musk and his crew of _literal children of Russian intelligence agents) by doing actual productive things and helping people.
China has attempted similar things with their investments in Africa, but they do appear far more self-serving than US Aid programs (because they are usually built explicitly around resource extraction in those countries).
The press is commonly referred to as "the fourth branch" in American politics, it's an integral part of the political system. Saying leaks don't count is insanely reductive. Leaks count because they happen and people aren't stripped of press clearance, let alone executed like they might be in China.
America is built around airing out its dirty laundry and keeping people accountable. That institution is being subverted right now, but historically America is 1000x more transparent than China. We don't even know China's death toll from Covid ffs.
I'm Swiss, but we mostly watch American TV shows when i was young. The first time I saw a Japanese anime where the Americans were the bad guys, I was about 13. I was super confused at first, because in everything I knew the Americans were always the good guys and everyone else was the bad guys. And I'm not even American.
The reality is any major state power is going to use propaganda to some extent in order to influence its citizens. And there is going to be a nuance to it all on whether it’s for sinister or benevolent purposes.
Two things can be right at the same time. The idolization of scientists is overall positive while, at the same time, the Chinese state is still a sinister organization that should be treated with the utmost suspicion.
Before it was videos of "villagers" making something from scratch to make it look like they spend days and days perfecting some pottery or wine or something.
Or showing off buildings or tech that seems exaggerated.
Its bots. Harvard clocked the "50 cent army" (what they get called in China) at over 2 million fake accounts in 2017. Can't imagine how many there are now.
I will never understand propaganda. What’s the point of making a good impression if nothing has actually changed? Just do better and let word of mouth take its course.
I guess with the Russia bots taking a hit, the Chinese bots are rising to the top. In regards to the US, Russian propaganda is aimed at supporting Republicans and overall division; meanwhile Chinese propaganda is aimed at improving US citizen sentiment of China. Russia targets all age groups but China particularly targets the youth.
And it works really well. This AI bullshit having 24K+ upvotes is crazy.
The AI image sucks. It's just random person in a lab coat with generic science background. The design could be better for the real one, but at least it gives information about the scientist.
This is why I get pissed off when people lie about the right. There are more than enough true things to say to make them look bad, and lying just discredits those.
Karma farming bots is one explanation
Counterpropaganda bots are another (i.e. links like yours shows that this is real, but if the first contact with this piece is an AI generated image, people will dismiss it as completely fabricated)
Regardless of the reasoning, we shouldn't allow posts like these, I think it's malicious regardless of which side the OP is taking
Where I live it's all billboards about Jesus and anti abortion. It's like living in 1890. China is tap-dancing on top of all other modern countries right now.
Tencent bought at least a 10% share of reddit. Reddit is illegal in China but whatever.
I worked for a company that was looking for investment money and met with Tencent. They said point blank they as part of the deal all of their US employees could not criticize China on their own social media pages. Though discussion was quickly shut down because apparently 2.5 mill investment was too low, they were looking at 10 mill deals at least, and were more in the business of buying companies outright if they fell below that.
10 minutes ago this post was at around 1500 upvotes. Now it’s suddenly at 21k. You’d think they’d at least attempt to make this slop look kind of organic…
You’re not the only one. Far from the only one. And I’m tired of it. American social media companies can’t operate in China because they want to have the system be open, but China takes advantage of the fact that western laws are different and they have their fucking social media companies operating here spreading their propaganda.
What? The US and its companies would love to be able to operate in the Chinese market. It has a population of 1.4 billion. That is like the easiest trade of all time and US companies would happily take Chinese competition to access their market. In fact, you'd be surprised how many products and services are altered to cater to Chinese requirements despite being a Western product.
Yes. As a Chinese, I’ve seen this kind of propaganda since I was a kid and everyone has already gotten used to it. To the point that no one pays attention to them unless needed. It’s interesting to see how it made its way here and people new to it are buying it.
It's a "choose your dystopia" adventure. either marketing that constantly tries to nickel and dime you by selling everything or propaganda that pushes you to work as hard as you can to instills pressure represent your country.
When scientists occupy the most visible spaces, they become tangible role models, showing that success can mean discovery and contribution to the greater good.
It also shows that your culture respects knowledge and innovation.
And strengthens the pipeline for future talent in critical fields like EVs, batteries, and robotics.
There was an old show called Sliders that had a world like this and idolized scientists. Then I think they went ahead and had the science guys in some sort of athletic competition…which defeated the message
I just came back from Beijing last month and this is greatly over exaggerated. If anything, you'd see some posters. Maybe billboards of soldiers though.
Reddit thinks that astroturfing is something that only happens on grandma's facebook, and their galaxy brains cannot be manipulated by foreign actors, therefore everything on reddit is mostly true and honest.
Meanwhile reddit has some of the most mature fleshed out avenues for people/institutions looking to have their agenda pushed. If you are reading this and genuinely think the endless glazing of China is organic, realize that smart people recognize when they have been had, and dumb people deny it.
I’m gonna laugh when what almost happened to TikTok actually happens to Reddit. This shit is filled with Chinese bots and I wouldn’t be surprised if eventually something along the lines of forcing the app to shut down is an eventuality
propaganda post, uses AI pictures instead of the actual posters (it really is a thing in some chinese provinces but its not common and they don't have skyscraper sized posters), bots posting about how china is going to be the next world power. like who the fuck even thinks this way? preemptive bootlicking of the abstract idea that someone else will control your life.
I'm amazed that "Cities across China" did it while at the same time it was impossible to actually take a picture of it, but resort to an AI generated image. Not even saying it is definitely fake, but people should be way more skeptic of such a post.
Completely exaggerated. It's not untrue but it's one city that started doing this and a few other cities followed suite. There's still plenty of celebrity billboards. I guess it's better than nothing but ultimately it's whatever
LOL. Oh shucks so perfect no other utopian closer than China. So amazing, people are soooo respected and their human rights are all covered and protected and freedom of speech and religion. WoOow! :) lol
As much as I love movies, music, and sports I feel society overvalues celebrities in those fields way too much like they’re out there saving or improving people’s lives like doctors or scientists are. Like I’ll send Jude Law and his family to the shadow realm if it means better medical treatments and less pollution. The arts are super important tho, just not as important as the cure to cancer or net-zero emissions energy sources
The Chinese thing all of their imperialist oppression is good and people like to eat that up. They've been militarily occupying Tibet for decades to "civilize them". That's literally their excuse.
Just don't ask them about the sweat shop, the tobacco industry or the teenager boost camp that torture you for playing video game more than 3 hours a day.
And the industry of organ harvest, online prostitution, gambling site and the funding for Myanmar junta, human trafficking in Cambodia
I'm in China as a expat, they did welcome economical migrants, I cannot begin to tell you how many stupid people are teaching at schools doing ESL, who just half-assed their undergraduate degree and come here and now earn 24,000rmb a month plus benefits.
I'm not crapping on china, I think elevating Doctors, Scientist, researchers .etc to celebrity status is I think much more healthier than giving Kim Kardashian the prise for shaking her ass.
As an ESL teacher in the EU for over a decade, the ESL teaching game is full of the dumbest most unqualified people i've ever seen. It's not unique to Asia.
They have a fertility crises. Until 2100 their population will decrease to 700 million from 1,4 billion, if they dont welcome "economic migrants".
If their population decreases this much, china will have a hard time. 1/3rd of their gdp is real estate, which will crumble.
They'll never have a huge influx of economic migrants (especially skilled labor) unless they adopt more policies to either accept English, or proliferate Mandarin globally. Neither of which I think are extremely likely, the former due to Han nationalism and the latter due to difficulty and overall niche uses of the language.
you are right about their upcoming world dominance. What you forgot to mention is that this world will look like an dystopian Borg Planet with billions of cheap meat-proxies, serving an autocratic elite.
Call me naive, but I still have a glimpse of hope for "the west". At least some of us still have a different vision for our collective future. China is not even pretending wanting to go towards freedom, liberty, human dignity and peace...
but yeah, it's not going well rn...
I'm not going to to dismiss this because this is true. But underneath the good they have done for their society, they have also done irreparable damage and horrifying crimes against others. The genocide of the Uyghurs is still ongoing, they still fuck around in international waters and the national waters of other sovereign nations to harass fishing boats, and they are still a brutal dictatorship who at best harrases dissenters and at worst disappears them.
But yes, it is possible to recognize many of the good things that they have done while also acknowledging how horrible of a nation they still are because of the oppression they willingly perform. And much of the good things they do is simply for propaganda reasons, to make people forget about the genocide they're currently practicing, and their war mongering in the oceans and seas of southeast asia.
Hope for the future from China.... that is an illusion and a bad one at that.
Reddit is inundated with Chinese propaganda it is fricking nuts, some major global problems are fueled by China but these posts seem to make China look.... fantastic, glorious and the epitome of civilization (aka bullshit)
(also 6.5k upvotes within 40 min is utter, fucking bullshit,
19k in 2 hours.... sure)
But I mean, it’s real the poster were put up. It’s not a fake story. Yes it’s absolutely propaganda, but the propaganda is directed at the Chinese people. It messages them that science and progress should come over indulgence in sick frivolism. This is not a bad message.
Have you ever actually visited china? Spoken to chinese people?
You’d find that most of what you actually know about china is equally fueled by western propaganda itself. It certainly isn’t utopia. But china is actually making a lot of forward progress in areas that are a complete fantasy for most western nations.
It is possible to both acknowledge the good and to keep talking about the bad.
I’ve spoken with many Chinese people in my job. And yeah, they recognize they are inundated with a lot of propaganda. It’s been that way for decades. They view as part of life that they can’t change.
The difference is they’re smart enough to see it. Americans on the other hand, are dumb enough to think that they this is not clear propaganda
Just like everything else in modern society, people have taken extreme positions on both ends, with yourself included.
As someone who lives in the West but goes to China annually, the truth is somewhere in-between with a lot of nuances. Nothing in life is black or white, but people seem to refuse to accept that fact and hold strong beliefs about things they know nothing about.
I've heard some stories from people that have recently been to China. I don't think we understand what they are doing over there. The pace of development since COVID is something we can't comprehend. They are building entire systems from schools to hospitals to develop future scientists. And then entire networks that support advanced factories.
We're fucked because we are fighting over billionaire scraps.
This is some propaganda slop that foreigners are eating up. I'm in Shanghai and haven't seen a single time this happened. Also, if it was true, do you think they'd use an AI picture to announced it? You all have been karma farmed.
It seems to be true according to Global Times : https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202609/1369560.shtml
In any case as a psychiatrist, I think it is more inspiring indeed because it is not celebrities, influencers or entertainers that will find a cure to save your children from a severe pathology, find new way to produce energy, improve your way of communicating or commuting, protecting endangered species, exploring the universe and its secrets. Cosmonauts, scientists, engineers, physicians, technicians, teachers, nurses, firefighters could be an inspiring role model for future generations.
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