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How a factory error in China created a viral “crying horse” Lunar New Year trend

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How a factory error in China created a viral “crying horse” Lunar New Year trend


Do not turn that frown upside down. A horse plush toy has gone viral in China thanks to a serendipitous mistake by a factory worker. 

The mouths on a batch of the toys were mistakenly sewn on the wrong way around, creating a small army of sad-faced “crying” toys that have captured hearts as a mascot for the Lunar New Year. 

The horses were designed as happy-faced toys to mark the upcoming holiday on February 17, the start of the Year of the Horse in the Chinese zodiac.

A customer who received the defective product decided to keep it, posted about it online, and from there, the “crying horse” found fame.

A buyer uses their hand to estimate the size of a “crying horse” plush toy, Jan. 11, 2026, in Yiwu, Zhejiang, China.

Dong Yixin/China News Service/VCG via Getty


The “crying horse” hashtag had been used on Douyin, China’s domestic version of TikTok, more than 200 million times by Wednesday, and garnered more than 100 million views as a trending topic on the Chinese social media platform Weibo.

The horse’s forlorn expression appears to have resonated with Chinese social media users, who’ve been bringing the plush toy to work and school to express discontent with a relentless work culture.

The toy is red, an auspicious color in Chinese culture, and its body is decorated with a golden embroidery wishing owners to “get rich quickly.” One of the toys costs 25 Chinese yuan, or about $4, according to Chinese media reports

The toy is available in both the frowning, and the original smiling version, and many people have taken to buying them as a pair.

CORRECTION / CHINA-LUNAR-NEW YEAR

A woman holds a happy horse toy and a “crying horse” toy, the latter of which went viral after a factory production mistake, ahead of the upcoming Lunar New Year of the Horse, which begins on Feb. 17, at the Yiwu wholesale market in Yiwu, eastern China’s Zhejiang province, Feb. 4, 2026.

Jade GAO/AFP/Getty


“People joked that the crying horse is how you look at work, while the smiling one is how you look after work,” Zhang Huoqing, the store owner who first sold the toy, told the Reuters news agency. Zhang’s store is located in Yiwu, home to China’s largest wholesale market for small commodities. 

Since it took off online, customers from South Africa, Spain, Russia and South America have visited the store to buy the popular, if accidental hit toy, Zhang has told Chinese media. Both domestic and overseas demand has required her to add over 10 production lines and create around 20,000 units a day, according to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.

“The crying horse’s expression shows feelings of injustice, defiance and stubbornness that reflect the true feelings of most working ‘niu ma’ today,” commented a Sichuan-based Weibo user, using a term meaning “ox and horse” that references people who are overworked in their jobs. “And it looks quite cute, which is why it has created such an explosive reaction.”



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Lola Tung recalls ‘really special’ moment with Hudson Williams

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Lola Tung recalls ‘really special’ moment with Hudson Williams


Lola Tung recalls ‘really special’ moment with Hudson Williams

Lola Tung recalls some “really special” moments she spent with the new heartthrob in town, Hudson Williams.

Back in February The Summer I Turned Pretty and the Heated Rivalry stars attended the Gold House’s Lunar New Year Celebration in New York City.

They were spotted hitting the dance floor together at the event, sending their fans into a frenzy. Their admirers quickly ship both the actors after the interaction.

And now the 23-year-old model and actress is spilling the beans about how the two ended up on the dance floor.

“Well, there’s something really special I think, about… ‘Cause I met Hudson, and then I met Yerin Ha also at that party, and it feels like when you have a similar experience, where… I mean, they’re having crazy experiences right now,” she said.

“I mean, Hudson‘s experience is like, I can’t even imagine that… but it’s that thing of like, you almost instantly have this connection of like, ‘Hi, are you okay?’” she added of how their instant friendship began. “Like, ‘How are you feeling? Are you tired, do you need anything? Do you just wanna like dance and have a good time?’ ‘Cause it’s hard to do that sometimes.”

“And with Hudson too, I was like, ‘I wanna dance, do you wanna dance?’ And he was like, ‘Yeah, let’s dance!’” the actress, who played Isabel “Belly” Conklin in the hit Amazon Prime Video series, recounted. “But like I do appreciate that he was like, ‘Let’s just have a good time. Let’s have a moment.’”

“Even though it like, ya know, is online, and people take their phones out and stuff, it’s like we were having a good time, ya know? And we kind of were like, ‘Everybody dance with us, come on!’” she told Variety during a recent interview for her new movie Forbidden Fruits.

Interestingly, at the event, Lola reunited with her on-screen brother, Sean Kaufman, from The Summer I Turned Pretty.





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Celine Dion to return to live stage, but there’s a problem

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Celine Dion to return to live stage, but there’s a problem


Celine Dion to return to live stage, but there’s a problem

Celine Dion is set to confirm her long-awaited return to live performance today, her 58th birthday, with a residency in Paris this autumn. 

But her ongoing battle with a rare neurological disorder means she may have to perform while seated.

The Canadian icon, who has not done a full concert since March 2020, will announce a ten-show run at Paris’s La Defense Arena, one of Europe’s largest indoor venues with a capacity of 45,000. 

She is set to perform two shows a week, but health concerns surrounding her Stiff-Person Syndrome, a condition that causes severe muscle rigidity and violent spasms, have led insurers to impose strict conditions on the run.

“To insure the gigs, Celine and team have agreed to non-negotiable terms including a performance limit and regular medical checks right up until the final show,” a source said.

The possibility of performing from a chair would put Dion in the company of other music icons who have made similar adaptations in recent years.

Ozzy Osbourne performed seated on a throne at Black Sabbath’s farewell concert last summer, and Phil Collins sat throughout Genesis’s final tour in 2021.

Dion has been open about her determination to get back on stage despite everything her condition has put her through. 

In her 2024 Prime Video documentary I Am: Celine Dion, she was unambiguous about what performing means to her. “If I can’t run, I’ll walk. If I can’t walk, I’ll crawl. I miss it so much,” she said.

Since stepping away from touring, she has made only two brief public appearances, at the Paris Olympics opening ceremony in 2024 and at a fashion show the same year. 

The announcement marks the most significant step yet in her return.





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Crude oil on track for record monthly leap amid widening Middle East conflict

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Crude oil on track for record monthly leap amid widening Middle East conflict


3D-printed oil barrels and an oil pump jack appear in this illustration taken March 2, 2026. — Reuters
  • Iran conflict escalates, Houthis launch attacks on Israel.
  • Analysts flag concerns over Saudi exports from Red Sea.
  • Iran accuses US of ground assault plans amid offers of talks.

 Oil prices extended gains on Monday, with Brent headed ‌for a record monthly rise, after Yemeni Houthis launched their first attacks on Israel over the weekend, widening the US-Israel war with Iran in the Middle East.

Brent crude futures jumped $3.09, or 2.74%, to $115.66 a barrel ​by 2353 GMT after settling 4.2% higher on Friday.

US West Texas Intermediate was at $102.56 ​a barrel, up $2.92, or 2.93%, following a 5.5% gain in the previous ⁠session.

Brent has soared 59% this month, the steepest monthly jump, exceeding gains seen during the 1990 ​Gulf War, after the Iran conflict effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, a conduit for a ​fifth of the world’s oil and gas supplies.

The war, launched on February 28 with US and Israeli strikes on Iran, has spread across the Middle East, with Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis on Saturday launching their first attacks on ​Israel since the start of the conflict, raising concern about shipping lanes around the Arabian ​Peninsula and the Red Sea.

“The conflict is no longer concentrated in the Persian Gulf and around the Strait ‌of ⁠Hormuz, but now extends into the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb — one of the world’s most crucial chokepoints for crude and refined product flows,” JP Morgan analysts led by Natasha Kaneva said in a note.

Saudi crude exports redirected from the Strait of Hormuz to the Yanbu ​port in the Red ​Sea reached 4.658 ⁠million barrels per day last week, data from analytics firm Kpler showed.

If exports from Yanbu were disrupted, Saudi oil would need to pivot toward ​Egypt’s Suez-Mediterranean (SUMED) pipeline to the Mediterranean, JP Morgan analysts said.

Attacks in ​the region ⁠escalated over the weekend and damaged Oman’s Salalah terminal despite efforts to start ceasefire talks.

Iran said it was ready to respond to a US ground attack, accusing Washington on Sunday of preparing a land assault ⁠even ​as it sought negotiations.

Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said ​they had covered possible ways to bring an early and permanent end to the war in the region as well ​as potential US-Iran talks in Islamabad.





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