For many in the West, 2016 will be remembered for Trump, Brexit, terrorism in Europe and an absurd number of pop culture deaths, from Bowie to Muhammad Ali. By comparison, China had an unusually quiet year. Nonetheless, there were still a few goings-on in the world's most populous country.
In our 2016 Year in Review series, we recap the best (and worst) of China's year in the worlds of technology, social media, sport, fashion, food, arts and more.
A look back at the year in Chinese lifestyle trends. Upvote your favorites to help them move to the top of the rankings!
1. Mobile payments
The market for mobile payments exploded in China in 2016, and is now nearly equal to that of mobile internet. Alipay and Tencent own 55.4 percent and 32.1 percent of total market share, respectively. Apple Pay also launched earlier this year, and UnionPay announced plans to begin its service in 2017.
2. Bike-sharing apps
Curious why everyone is suddenly riding around on the same silver and orange bike? Welcome to the age of Mobike: the world’s first station-less bike share service. An ‘Uber-like’ concept but for bikes, Mobike lets you pick up a bicycle anywhere, rent it for just RMB1 per half hour and drop it off wherever you end up (as long as it’s within Mobike’s designated zone). Similar services such as Ofo (yellow bikes) and Xiaomingdanche (blue bikes) started popping up around Shanghai in late 2016.
3. KOLs and Live-streaming
As if showing the world their beautiful outfits on WeChat Moments wasn’t enough, everyone from A-list celebs like Fan Bingbing to fashion bloggers are now live-streaming their fabulous lives in realtime. Expect more collaborations between these KOLs and major fashion labels in 2017, as more viewers means more dolla.
4.Shop (Online) ‘til You Drop
Online retailers of all shapes and sizes jumped on the November 11 Singles’ Day (now better known as China’s Black Friday) bandwagon. It was another record-smashing year for Alibaba, who made RMB120.7 billion in sales across its ecommerce platforms – a 32 percent increase from 2015. You, however, are still single.
5. Fried Chicken and Ice Cream Collide with Fashion
Magnum and KFC don’t usually have much to do with fashion, but this year they collaborated with designers Leaf Xia and CJ Yao for two runway shows at Shanghai Fashion Week. Elements of both brands were incorporated into the collections, which included handbags inspired by the KFC family bucket.
6. A Year of Challenges
How skinny is skinny? This year, Chinese netizens attempted to answer this question with the help of some unexpected props. If you’re able to cover your waist with a sheet of A4 paper, or if you can cover your knees with an iPhone 6S, then congratulations, you’re slim enough to impress your fellow Weibo users.
7. Disney anything
Shanghai Disney Resort opened in June, and chances are you've probably been looking at pictures of the park on your friends' WeChat moments since it opened. Fans of Mickey, Minnie and their friends from the Marvel franchise or Star Wars can now show support by wearing their favorite characters. Seriously, you really don't need to have a pretty face and perfectly ripped body of Chris Evans to be Captain America.
8. Donald Trump Masks in High Demand
A factory in Shenzhen struggled to keep up with surging demand for Donald Trump masks after his stunning victory in the US presidential election. A rival factory in Zhejiang also reported receiving over half-a-million orders for President-elect masks in November. Keep that in mind for Halloween 2017.
9. Full-body Facekinis
The 'burkini' has made a lot of headlines this year after its appearance in the Rio Olympics and the controversial decision to ban it on French beaches. But did you know that an enterprising designer in Qingdao has also created a suit that is quite similar to the burkini? Yep, to celebrate the sixth edition of the infamous 'Facekini,' Zhang Shifan has created special Peking Opera-themed body suits with matching Facekinis, because a plain old Facekini is just sooooo 2012. Can you say 'Upgrade'?
10. Air Jordan pollution masks
A 34-year-old Beijinger is gaining global attention for sewing pieces of shoes into pollution masks. Since starting the project in early 2014, Wang Zhijun has produced almost 20 unique masks. Each takes between two and five days to hand-sew.
Did we miss any notable inventions? Let us know in the comments.
For more 2016 Year in Review coverage, click "Read more" below.