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China shut down a humor app. Now there’s a new one.
Pipi Xia emerges months after authorities shut down Bytedance’s Neihan Duanzi
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This article originally appeared on ABACUS
For nearly four months, China’s tight-knit community of Duanyous -- or friends of jokes -- were without a home.
Since the country’s media watchdog told Bytedance to shut down a humor app in April, the most dedicated of its 17 million users have struggled to find a place to share funny videos with each other.
Then this month, they discovered something new. Or rather, a new app with a different name that feels vaguely familiar.
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Pipi Xia is now available for download on various Chinese app stores. Just like the now-dead Neihan Duanzi, Pipi Xia gives you an endless feed of light-hearted clips and gifs -- sort of like the harmless jokes and satire you would find on the friendlier parts of Reddit.
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News of the Pipi Xia app spread quickly among Duanyous, who are calling on each other to “go home.” In the comment section under a song about Neihan Duanzi on NetEase Music, one user said, “Duanzi never dies. It’s been resurrected” and “Pipi Xia, this is real.”
Others claimed they are able to log in with their old Neihan Duanzi usernames, and found that their comments and saved posts have been preserved. Unconfirmed reports also say former Duanzi users were greeted with a message in Pipi Xia that says, “You are the nth golden shrimp to return to the new home.”
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