Chinese Skating News, Pt. 4: Fresh Noodles for Milan 2026

[otisgear]

I'm on Team Zheng Xun as well! Please let the Harbin dance team rise!!

Also just want to clarify that Boyang and S/H share the same (terrible) manager/management company (who also manage Shen/Zhao) but Wang/Liu is signed to a different company. W/L's managers used to be from the entertainment industry and it's quite apparent that they use a lot of c-ent fandom tactics like shipbaiting, posting stuff to play to their shippers when they're obviously not a couple. As @raruki mentioned they've engaged in some really dirty marketing which really leaves a bad taste. S/H has gotten so much paid bashing it's ridiculous, there's always weird comments under S/H videos saying how W/L is better and it's ALWAYS in the same format/style. It's obvious that W/L bought likes and fans, their supertalk randomly gained ten thousand followers in the middle of December, and there are also paid accounts that falsely advertise them as olympic champions ?. And all of their so-called 'fans' are second only to the crazy Chinese fanyus ☠. Their results aren't holding up right now so ho hum... may the Harbin teams give them a run for their money!

 

[otisgear]

Sina Visitor System

Seems like there's an interview with S/H out.

Lovely in-depth interview! But seriously who bets half of their annual salary in a single bet

 

[On My Own]

And all of their so-called 'fans' are second only to the crazy Chinese fanyus ☠.

Did you notice how W/L are the only ones ?? just somehow happen to not have a problem with Whereas, they spend weeks bashing the rest of team china, and when some of their posts about S/H or Boyang get deleted, they start shrieking about how their "management company has manipulated public opinion" Now, after 4CC and also after Jin withdrew from the GP in October, they experienced serious pushback for their bs from many who don't watch skating - this is "Chinese nationalism" at work, in their minds Well, it's Chinese nationalism I loved watching both times.

I don't think I'd say W/L bought fans and likes, it's clearly their team. That being said, yes, they do have a different management team from S/H, JBY, and S/Z, and I don't know why, I guess.

Oh also, not on topic, but the Anna/Sasha/Kamila chinese fanwars are the things second to "?️ fans vs the world".

 

[otisgear]

Did you notice how W/L are the only ones ?? just somehow happen to not have a problem with Whereas, they spend weeks bashing the rest of team china, and when some of their posts about S/H or Boyang get deleted, they start shrieking about how their "management company has manipulated public opinion" Now, after 4CC and also after Jin withdrew from the GP in October, they experienced serious pushback for their bs from many who don't watch skating - this is "Chinese nationalism" at work, in their minds Well, it's Chinese nationalism I loved watching both times.

I don't think I'd say W/L bought fans and likes, it's clearly their team. That being said, yes, they do have a different management team from S/H, JBY, and S/Z, and I don't know why, I guess.

Lol idk what's the deal with ??, they're too much cray to keep up with. But with regards to W/L they're clearly on board with what their team is doing, everything obviously has to be approved by them and they've chosen to go the entertainment route to make more $$$. They're under a different management company simply because they chose to sign with this one, commercial affairs are very much the athlete's own decisions, the national team may have some influence on some of the skaters but they definitely don't have total control or anything. W/L are also from team Jilin instead of Harbin like most of the rest of the national team...

 

[On My Own]

They're under a different management company simply because they chose to sign with this one, commercial affairs are very much the athlete's own decisions, the national team may have some influence on some of the skaters but they definitely don't have total control or anything.

Well, if true, then I do hope S/H and Boyang switch to something better. It's all fun and games to talk about it, until you notice how much trash they spew directly into their mentions a lot of the times. A better manager will at least take action.

This probably sounds strange to the others here. I think it's common to take civil action against rumour mongerers on chinese sns. And I believe it's common to pay bots to scrub crap written about celebrities, a lot of cpop and kpop fans do it using their own money for their idols.

 

[otisgear]

Well, if true, then I do hope S/H and Boyang switch to something better. It's all fun and games to talk about it, until you notice how much trash they spew directly into their mentions a lot of the times. A better manager will at least take action.

This probably sounds strange to the others here. I think it's common to take civil action against rumour mongerers on chinese sns. And I believe it's common to pay bots to scrub crap written about celebrities, a lot of cpop and kpop fans do it using their own money for their idols.

S/H and Boyang fans have been yelling at them to switch management companies for forever ?
The whole cpop/kpop fandom behaviour thing is crazy and I hope they stay the hell away from athletes who don't want to engage in this sort of stuff.

(btw did you hear about the tea that W/L tried to undercut S/H on an endorsement deal... with all the shenanigans W/L's team has been doing I'm not surprised at all that S/H and W/L's relationship appears to be increasingly frigid especially since the olympics...)

 

[raruki]

As @raruki mentioned they've engaged in some really dirty marketing which really leaves a bad taste.

Not only did their company buy paid posters everywhere to keep bashing SUI/HAN， but they also bought trending topics and tags on Weibo to target SUI/HAN, when Sui pushed the mascot on the ice in the Exhibition, for heavily smearing SUI for her behavior. Their company is very dirty and tries to use those dirty tactics usually can be seen in C-POP or K-POP industries and fandoms to put down the “rival”.

 

[On My Own]

S/H and Boyang fans have been yelling at them to switch management companies for forever ?

Well, until now, I think they probably didn't because they're busy with sort retirement/recovery respectively. Also, I guess because they got a lot of mileage after the Olympics, which might be what matters more to them (in which case who am I to complain too much haha). But yeah, at least Jin, since he's competing. That can't be healthy for more years. But then, he's in Canada, so what's being said in China might matter a lot less. Also an athlete, so other things to focus on.

(btw did you hear about the tea that W/L tried to undercut S/H on an endorsement deal... with all the shenanigans W/L's team has been doing I'm not surprised at all that S/H and W/L's relationship appears to be increasingly frigid especially since the olympics...)

Nope, didn't hear, but I do notice they're the ones who interact with the rest of team china the least. I don't really read much into it, though, I think the rest are all closer because they're all from Harbin, and all were training in China until Jin broke away as well.

Not only did their company buy paid posters everywhere to keep bashing SUI/HAN， but they also bought trending topics and ta to tags on Weibo to target SUI/HAN, when Sui pushed the mascot on the ice in the Exhibition, for heavily smearing SUI for her behaviors. Their company is very dirty and tries to use those dirty tactics usually can be seen in C-POP or K-POP industries and fandoms to put down the “rival”.

Ohhh, THAT'S where ?? got it from! This made it on to twitter a few times, now I know the origin.

ETA: OH also, it's technically Team Jilin and Team Heilongjiang, just that most Heilongjiang skaters are from Harbin. Chen Yudong is from Qiqihar, but used to train in Harbin as well, before he and Jin moved to Beijing.

 

[raruki]

btw did you hear about the tea that W/L tried to undercut S/H on an endorsement deal...

Lol, The Estee Lauder commercial.
I heard that their agent tried very hard to convince Estee Lauder to have them in their commercial by cutting the prices very low. But Estee Lauder didn’t give a shit to them.

 

[otisgear]

Not only did their company buy paid posters everywhere to keep bashing SUI/HAN， but they also bought trending topics and tags on Weibo to target SUI/HAN, when Sui pushed the mascot on the ice in the Exhibition, for heavily smearing SUI for her behavior. Their company is very dirty and tries to use those dirty tactics usually can be seen in C-POP or K-POP industries and fandoms to put down the “rival”.

I witnessed this first hand on Chinese social media and it's so gross. I know it's typical entertainment industry tactics but it's soooo dumb to go after your teammate who are 1) not even your direct competitor and 2) in terms of achievements/medals are light years ahead in every aspect. This is all going to fall apart for them eventually (it kinda already has)

 

[raruki]

I witnessed this first hand on Chinese social media and it's so gross. I know it's typical entertainment industry tactics but it's soooo dumb to go after your teammate who are 1) not even your direct competitor and 2) in terms of achievements/medals are light years ahead in every aspect. This is all going to fall apart for them eventually (it kinda already has)

Not surprised at all, W/L’s agency is usually specialized in C-POP. They just put their “experience” into practice. Dark and dirty as always.

 

[raruki]

Dear Dave， Chen Lu has never been in any governing roles ever in Chinese figure skating since she retired.
Your sources are not credible.

 

[Yyzskater]

How does the Chinese Federation expect to entice any foreign skaters to skate for them if they are so ineffective? People change federations so they can get opportunities. But it seems that giving their skaters opportunities is one of their problems

 

[On My Own]

Dear Dave， Chen Lu has never been in any governing roles ever in Chinese figure skating since she retired.
Your sources are not credible.

?? What happened?

 

[raruki]

?? What happened?

He accused Chen Lu of inviting Volosozhar and Dr. Shvetsky to China and helping the evil Eteri quad to promote Xenon gas in Chinese figure skating, but called her “the president of the Chinese figure skating federation”.

 

[On My Own]

What is Xenos gas? ?

 

[raruki]

What is Xenos gas? ?

Sorry for the typo, Xenon gas.

 

[On My Own]

I just gave it a brief listen. He said "age controversies were scrubbed". Well, they did get removed from wikipedia, but anyone can edit it? ? It's probably still there in the history of the edits (they usually have an excuse to remove it if it's unsourced). But then, I don't know where he's getting the info about the chinese website with that information being scrubbed during the time though...

EDIT:

He accused Chen Lu of inviting Volosozhar and Dr. Shvetsky to China and helping the evil Eteri quad to promote Xenon gas in Chinese figure skating, but called her “the president of the Chinese figure skating federation”.

He did call Chen Lu the president, so that's incorrect from him. However, he said something along the lines of Dr Shvestky wanting to present findings of Xenon gas pioneer to Chinese medical students, and that Chen Lu and her husband were there. He said it more like "hmm, hmm, suspicious", instead of a direct accusation.

And added that Xenon gas wasn't banned at the time, but there are no tests to detect it (not sure of how true this is). Also, wow, very old: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-28970855 Are there still no tests?? Won't claim any expertise in the field, but this seems to say something different: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25462364/

It did strike me that he didn't always give dates for the Chinese skaters, or even names. Think he named all the Russians. Named Sui/Han and Zhang/Zhang for the age controversies. No names for the Chinese who apparently took pills for weight loss and supplements (even in the description, in case it was hard to pronounce), we only know they were women/girls and that Meagan Duhamel apparently knows one of them had her age falsified. At least when he says "Alena Kostornaia", we know approximately when.

 

[On My Own]

Oh, this old article is still on Zhang Hao's wikipedia, by the way! https://www.espn.com/olympics/figureskating/news/story?id=6120559

Yan Han is the other one I remember https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yan_Han_(figure_skater)#Age_controversy

 

[otisgear]

Zheng Xun and Li/Wang have boarded their flight to Canada, phew! Fingers crossed everything goes well for them at Junior Worlds

 

[Karen-W]

Zheng Xun and Li/Wang have boarded their flight to Canada, phew! Fingers crossed everything goes well for them at Junior Worlds

Fantastic news! Hopefully this means they'll at least be available to compete at Worlds should Wang/Liu not be healthy enough.

 

[otisgear]

Fantastic news! Hopefully this means they'll at least be available to compete at Worlds should Wang/Liu not be healthy enough.

Chen/Xing (the other Zheng Xun team that won Nationals ahead of Li/Wang but have aged out of juniors) also have their minimums for Worlds so hopefully they'll list both Zheng Xun teams as subs

 

[aliona22]

What is the latest on Peng/Jin? Is there any chance they will be at worlds or are they going to miss this whole season?

 

[Karen-W]

What is the latest on Peng/Jin? Is there any chance they will be at worlds or are they going to miss this whole season?

I'd say their chances of being at Worlds are about 10%.

 

[otisgear]

What is the latest on Peng/Jin? Is there any chance they will be at worlds or are they going to miss this whole season?

No official word but it's looking unlikely because it doesn't appear like they've been training together at all... Peng Cheng has been training with the Beijing team but Jin hasn't been seen. Weirdly, Wang Lei (formerly of Wang/Wang) is also back training with the Beijing team?? I thought he retired a while back. What does this mean

 

[Gris]

What is the latest on Peng/Jin? Is there any chance they will be at worlds or are they going to miss this whole season?

Yang Jin said in an interview in early February that he wouldn't be able to compete this season due to injury. (Please see my post #416 in this thread)

And now Worlds are in 4 weeks and I don't think they're even practicing together. I'd be very, very surprised to see them compete.

 

[On My Own]

What does this mean

Jin Yang decides to be a full time parent to 奶冻？

ETA: Or Peng Cheng wants to keep fit in the meantime, while he's not recovered. Wang Lei might be helping her with the muscle memory and pairs elements.

 

[otisgear]

Jin Yang decides to be a full time parent to 奶冻？

ETA: Or Peng Cheng wants to keep fit in the meantime, while he's not recovered. Wang Lei might be helping her with the muscle memory and pairs elements.

So...the thing that made me ? was a comment in the video of the Beijing team training. I think the guy who posted it is the Beijing team trainer. One of the comments asked "is Wang Lei making a comeback?" and the guy replied "he's working on it"....

Edit: This is the video I'm talking about

 

[On My Own]

So...the thing that made me ? was a comment in the video of the Beijing team training. I think the guy who posted it is the Beijing team trainer. One of the comments asked "is Wang Lei making a comeback?" and the guy replied "he's working on it"....

Edit: This is the video I'm talking about

God imagine putting yourself through that for figure skating. Also, is that Beverly? Forgot what she looks like. But apparently so. Does she have Worlds MTS?

Yeah, I found the comment. Not sure if I interpret it as the coach being anything more than cheeky though. But I guess we'll see. I think the retirement rumour was specifically Jin Yang, not Peng Cheng, but seems strange she'd go for someone even older than Yang, though.

 

[otisgear]

God imagine putting yourself through that for figure skating. Also, is that Beverly? Forgot what she looks like. But apparently so. Does she have Worlds MTS?

Yeah, I found the comment. Not sure if I interpret it as the coach being anything more than cheeky though. But I guess we'll see. I think the retirement rumour was specifically Jin Yang, not Peng Cheng, but seems strange she'd go for someone even older than Yang, though.

Yep that's Beverly and she's the only Chinese woman with mins for Worlds I think? (someone correct me if I'm wrong) Idk if she plans on going to Worlds but at least she's back training.

I think it's a bit strange for someone like Wang Lei to go full on in terms of training like this if he's retired/semi-retired or just coming back to help out for a bit. I guess if Jin Yang is done and Peng Cheng wants to keep going Wang Lei kinda makes sense? He's old but I really can't think of any other age appropriate pairs man who has experience at the elite level.