Is the breakout success of cult animation ‘Niu Lai’ the start of an anti-AI slop movement?

Over the past decade, Chinese animation has made a triumphant name for itself on the world stage. Powered by hefty budgets and top-notch visual effects, recent blockbusters like Chang’an (2023), Deep Sea (2023) and the Ne Zha franchise (2019-2025) have proven China’s capacity to deliver world-class motion pictures that translate complex, 5,000-year-old folklore for global audiences. So, how did a low-tech, low-budget, borderline-troll production that wasn’t even available nationwide suddenly hijack the cultural conversation?

Enter Niu Lai—variously translated as Here Comes the Cow or The Arrival of the Ox.

The 86-minute feature, ostensibly about a timid calf embarking on a sprawling dream sequence alongside the skylark Yunque and a leopard named Baola, was created by a mother-and-son duo over five years.

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Chef of China (一饭封神 / Yi Fan Feng Shen), originally titled The Divine Dish, is widely regarded as mainland China’s unofficial counterpart to Netflix’s hit reality series Culinary Class Wars, though it is not a licensed adaptation.

Conceived to spotlight Chinese chefs amid an industry downturn, the show’s inaugural season aired from July to September 2025. It brought together one hundred contestants, both established masters and rising talents, to battle through competitions, challenges and eliminations until only one champion remained. Anchored by the storytelling philosophy that “every dish tells a story”, the programme puts a human face on the people and experiences behind each plate.

This summer, the show returned to deliver high-stakes culinary theatre to our screens, with its second season premiering in July 2026. Six Hong Kong chefs currently remain in the running; read on to meet the talents vying for the title.

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“If it ain’t fun, don’t do it.” That’s Bill Bensley’s motto, and it’s safe to say that when it comes to designing hotels, few people—if any—are having more fun than he is.

The architect, interior designer and landscape architect is behind the aesthetics of some of the coveted hotels around Asia: the tropical whimsy of Capella Ubud, a striking black-and-white palette at The Siam Bangkok, retro luxury in Shinta Mani Wild’s tent suites, French colonial-meets traditional Laotian at Rosewood Luang Prabang, literal palatial splendour at Oberoi Udaivilas in Jaipur ... and that’s barely a drop in the proverbial ocean; he’s designed more than 200 hospitality projects across 50 countries.

Bensley has carved a niche for himself with an approach that defies all the tropes found in modern hotel design—while many play it safe with neutral palettes and à-la-moment decor, his tastefully maximalist signature goes full throttle with quirky curios, bold colours and deep connection to local crafts and culture.

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In an era where artists casually own their masters and control their global brands, it is easy to forget how radical female agency once was. When Madonna Louise Ciccone arrived in New York in the late 1970s with US$35 and a pair of dance shoes, female pop stardom was a strictly regulated enterprise. Record executives dictated image, repertoire and tone. Madonna systematically demolished that framework, pioneering the contemporary model of the pop artist as auteur, cultural provocateur and enterprise.

On her birthday, Tatler examines the groundbreaking moves where the Queen of Pop disrupted societal norms and permanently rewired culture.

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