Robots go head-to-head and show off their martial arts 'skills' with some questionable punches and kicks
The competitors wore jerseys and headgear and launched punches and kicks in the direction of their opponent.
Watch the video above to see the 'battle' in Hangzhou, Zhejiang and the moment that made the crowd giggle.
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The Independent
4 hours ago
- The Independent
Labubu not the first toy craze, and certainly won't be the last
Pop Mart has struck it rich. The Chinese company that caters to toy connoisseurs and influencers said this week that it expects profit for the first six months of this year to jump by at least 350% compared with the prior-year period, largely because of its smash hit plush toy, the Labubu. Pop Mart joins a small list of companies that have tapped into the zeitgeist, drawing in millions of buyers who, for one reason or another, simply must get their hands on a toy or gadget of the moment. But what makes the Labubu a must-have, or any toy for that matter, is a decades-old question that toy makers have yet to figure out. Here's a look at some of the most popular toys over the years. Cabbage Patch Kids Cabbage Patch Kids began as chubby-faced dolls with yarn hair that came with adoption papers. During the 1980s the dolls were so popular that parents waited in long lines at stores trying to get a hold of them. More than 90 million Cabbage Patch Kids were sold worldwide during their heyday. Cabbage Patch Kids, which were created by Xavier Roberts and initially sold by Coleco, were relaunched in 2004, looking to take part in the successful return of other popular 1980s toys including Strawberry Shortcake, Care Bears and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. A Cabbage Patch Kid museum named BabyLand General Hospital still exists in Cleveland, Georgia. The dolls entered the National Toy Hall of Fame in 2023. Beanie Baby Beanie Babies captivated consumers in the mid-1990s. The cuddly $5 toys were under-stuffed for maximum hug-ability, stamped with cute names on their Ty Inc. tags, and given limited edition runs. Many people collected, traded and sold the toys with the hopes that their value would just keep going up at the dawn of the e-commerce age. It made some people money, and the founder, Ty Warner, a billionaire in three years. In 2014 Warner learned that he would not go to prison for hiding at least $25 million from U.S. tax authorities and instead received two years' probation. Warner, one of the highest profile figures snared in a federal investigation of Americans using Swiss bank accounts to avoid U.S. taxes, had pleaded guilty to a single count of tax evasion. Tamagotchi Looking for a pet without the real-life responsibilities? Well then the Tamagotchi electronic pet from Bandai was for you. Consumers were hooked on the egg-shaped plastic toy that first launched in Japan in 1996 and became a craze worldwide in the late 1990s and 2000s. Users were tasked with taking care of their virtual pet by pressing buttons that simulate feeding, disciplining and playing with the critter on screen. If a Tamagotchi is neglected, it dies. In 2013 Tamagotchi was reborn as a mobile app, duplicating the experience of the plastic handheld toy. The toy was inducted into the World Video Game Hall of Fame in May. Fidget Spinner Fidget spinners — the 3-inch twirling gadgets that took over classrooms and cubicles — were all the rage in 2017. The toy was considered somewhat of an outlier at the time, given that it wasn't made by a major company, timed for the holiday season, or promoted in TV commercials. Fidget spinners were more easily found at gas stations or 7-Eleven than at big toy chains. Fidget spinners had been around for years, mostly used by kids with autism or attention disorders to help them concentrate, but they became more popular after being featured on social media. While hot toys are often made by one company, fidget spinners were made by numerous manufacturers, mostly in China. The toys were marketed as a concentration aid but became so popular among children that many schools started banning them, saying that they were a distraction. Labubu The Labubu, by artist and illustrator Kasing Lung, first appeared as monsters with pointed ears and pointy teeth in three picture books inspired by Nordic mythology in 2015. In 2019 Lung struck a deal with Pop Mart, a company that caters to toy connoisseurs and influencers, to sell Labubu figurines. But it wasn't until Pop Mart started selling Labubu plush toys on key rings in 2023 that the toothy monsters suddenly seemed to be everywhere, including in the hands of Rihanna, Kim Kardashian and NBA star Dillon Brooks. K-pop singer Lisa of Blackpink began posting images of hers for her more than 100 million followers on Instagram and on TikTok, where Labubu pandemonium has broken out. Labubu has been a bonanza for Pop Mart. Its revenue more than doubled in 2024 to 13.04 billion yuan ($1.81 billion), thanks in part to its elvish monster. Revenue from Pop Mart's plush toys soared more than 1,200% in 2024, nearly 22% of its overall revenue, according to the company's annual report.
BreakingNews.ie
9 hours ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Emma Chung: How anyone can make Chinese food easily at home
It was Shanghainese spring onion oil noodles that catapulted Emma Chung to TikTok success four years ago. 'It's a fragrant oil that you make by frying spring onions and mixed with noodles, it's really easy! It's five ingredients in the whole dish,' says the now Hong Kong-based chef and content creator. 'I just casually posted, not even telling anyone.' Advertisement Chung, 28, who posts under @ had spent her life in food already though, working as a recipe developer for a food box company and teaching at London's School Of Wok. With Hong Kong parentage, she moved to Shanghai at the age of five. 'So I actually lived more in Shanghai than I did in Hong Kong, however I've always felt really tied to my Cantonese roots, to my Hong Kong family.' (Emma Chung/PA) Her food is heavily influenced by both areas. 'They're really different,' says Chung. 'I would say Shanghainese food is a little bit sweeter overall, we use more dark soy sauce, so dishes tend to have that dark brown colour. Because it gets quite cold in the winter, it's heartier than Cantonese food, it's quite filling, you've got braised meats, delicious noodles and rice dishes. 'In Hong Kong, dishes are lighter in flavour, a lot of seafood, dishes are often steamed.' Advertisement Chung remembers her grandmother ('the best cook I've known') rustling up all her meals on a small electric stove in a tiny kitchen, with tools hung everywhere and meat drying at the windows. 'The dish I miss the most when I'm away from home is her stir-fried greens. I also really remember her doing a whole steamed fish in a massive wok. They'd be 20 of us [eating] in this tiny flat and this boiling hot dish of steamed fish coming out.' Chung's debut cookbook, Easy Chinese Food Anyone Can Make, aims to prove that forgoing your local takeaway in favour of home cooking is a lot more simple and accessible than you might think. Think easy weeknight dinners like ketchup prawns, to takeaway classics like sweet and sour pork and beef chow fun, and sticky mango rice for pudding. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Emma Chung (@ So what's her advice for beginners to the cuisine at home? Get four basics in your pantry According to Chung, all you need is a light soy sauce, a dark soy sauce, sesame oil and oyster sauce. 'A light soy sauce is going to be very salty, it adds a bit of seasoning. Dark soy sauce gives it that lovely golden brown colour – when we think of a really delicious stir-fry noodle that has a dark brown colour, that's what's giving it its colour. Sesame oil has a really delicious nutty taste. Advertisement 'Oyster or mushroom sauce [for a plant-based alternative], they taste really similar, adds a nice salty taste to your food that's different to a light soy sauce. From those few basic sauces, you can make so many different types of dishes, says Chung. 'When I go to my grandmother's kitchen, when I look at her pantry, she's literally got four large bottles.' Stop buying packet supermarket stir-fry sauces 'It's just a mixture of sesame oil, light or dark soy, maybe sugar, maybe a few other things to make it taste a little bit better. I would say if you just had those basic ingredients yourself, it's going to taste a lot better, a lot fresher, and probably be a lot healthier than when you buy those packaged ingredients with things that you don't even know what's in it – same as if you were buying like a jar of pasta sauce from the aisles. 'Start with a little bit [of each thing] and you can always add a little bit more.' Advertisement It's likely to work out cheaper in the long-run too. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Emma Chung (@ Start with fried rice – but don't over-stir A Chinese fried rice dish is usually made of 'the most basic of ingredients', says Chung, 'some maybe you already have at home – it's an amazing way to transform a very simple ingredient, or leftovers. 'I always have lots of different things lying around the fridge, like a half-chopped courgette, or like the end of a spring onion. It's a great way to use what you already have and transform it into something that tastes really different. 'If you get that technique right (you don't necessarily need a wok), it can go from a kind of average fried rice to really, really good fried rice.' Advertisement Chung, who taught at London's School of Wok for many years, says the pan needs to be very hot – and not to mix it around too much. 'I've taught many fried rice dishes. Almost every class had some kind of fried rice. What I saw all the time were just people constantly mixing it, and when you mix it so much, it's almost like you're breaking the grains of the rice. And so that's why it gets wet and a little bit mushy.' 'With risotto, they encourage you to continually stir it because you want to break up the grains of rice, you want to kind of release some of that starch. But in the fried rice, that's not what you want. So I would say actually the best tip is to actually not do so much and just let it cook in the pan.' Make your own dumplings – with minimal pleats Chinese dumplings or wontons are easier to make than we might think, says Chung. 'Making any type of dough, whether you're baking or making pasta, can seem daunting. But I think once you try it a few times, and then you get familiar with how the dough feels – it becomes really easy.' In Chinese restaurants you'll see wontons with many pleats, she notes, but that's just 'a plus'. 'The most basic dumpling, when you go to dumpling stalls in Shanghai, they're doing the most basic fold because they have to make a hundred a day. They're not going to bother sitting there making 10, 12, 14 pleats on each dumpling, they're just squeezing it, sealing it shut and then moving on to the next one.' Her best tip for filling dumplings is to cook a little bit to taste it, before putting the rest of the mixture inside. 'Like you would if you were making meatballs at home to make sure the seasoning is right. Just cook off a small bit.' Chop everything before you start cooking 'With Chinese food, everything happens quite quickly. Often, things are being stir-fried within 10-15 minutes. So I would say, make sure you have everything that you need ready and measured out right by you for the very beginning. And if you need garlic, ginger, spring onions or peppers, have that all already chopped.' (Ebury/PA) Easy Chinese Food Anyone Can Make by Emma Chung is published in hardback by Ebury Press. Photography by Ola Available July 24th.
The Independent
10 hours ago
- The Independent
The eye-watering profit Labubu maker expects to make from trend
Chinese toymaker Pop Mart anticipates a significant profit increase of at least 350 per cent and a revenue jump of around 200 per cent for the first half of the year, driven by the immense popularity of its Labubu dolls. The fang-toothed plush toys gained widespread global demand after celebrities like Blackpink 's Lisa and Rihanna were seen with them, contributing to Pop Mart's valuation reaching $40bn (£31.6bn). Originally created by artist Kasing Lung in 2015, Labubu figurines were first sold by Pop Mart in 2019, with their popularity soaring after plush keyring versions were introduced in 2023 and gained visibility on TikTok. Labubu dolls, typically priced around $40 (£30), are sold in limited quantities via 'blind boxes', a marketing strategy that has faced criticism for potentially encouraging compulsive buying. The high demand has led to rare Labubus reselling for over $1,000 (£745) and a life−sized figure fetching $1.08m yuan ($150,000 or £111,800) at auction, prompting Pop Mart to issue guides on verifying authenticity and to scale up production.
