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For some reason, the Internet is swamped with people saying

雪花飘飘 北风萧萧
Xuě huā piāo piāo \\ běi fēng xiāo xiāo

For example the HSK Official Twitter account tweeted (the hashtag #xuehuapiaopiaobeifengxiaoxiao is also atwitter):

"睡觉呢？" "是的，闭嘴" "XUA HUA PIAO PIAO // BEI FENG XIAO XIAO" wide awake

I've worked out that it's the lyrics from the song 一剪梅 (YouTube). But I don't understand why it's suddenly so popular; I'm guessing it's the Chinese equivalent of Rickrolling (YouTube). Hopefully someone can clarify.

Question: Why is the Internet saying 雪花飘飘 北风萧萧 all of a sudden?

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    I wondered about it myself! My daughters who know near to zero Chinese are singing it, it's quite funny!
    – goPlayerJuggler
    Jun 19, 2020 at 7:25
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    The plum flower, 梅花, is the national flower of Taiwan. It has been, historically for the Chinese people, a symbol of courage and resilience in the face of adversity, as it blooms and flourish in the coldest of winters, hence the song's chorus 雪花飘飘 北风萧萧, and a following verse saying 天地一片苍茫, 一剪寒梅, 傲立雪中. This song also has a certain political significance given the underlying metaphoric message of struggle against political oppression, just as the courageous 梅花 thriving against 雪花飘飘 北风萧萧.
    – Wayne Cheah
    Jun 19, 2020 at 9:25
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    I guess it turned into what westerners would call "earworm". I knew the song, and can sing it with some difficulty (I'm a baritone, not tenor like Fei Yu Qing)
    – Kasey Chang
    Jun 19, 2020 at 17:11

3 Answers 3

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Ah, the latest offering from the (latter-day) Meme Renaissance.

There is the "historical" context, which is outlined very well on KnowYourMeme. To quote:

Prior to January 20th, 2020, Kuaishou user zaq13520000789 posted a video of himself rotating in the snow while singing Chinese song "Yi Jian Mei" ("Spray of Plum Blossoms").

It was then incorporated into the "This Collab Needs to Happen in 2020" trend, and made its way onto YouTube.

The rise in popularity in May 2020 came with its edited version on Tik-Tok as well as Instagram and Twitter; on Tik-Tok it is paired with Deep Fried visuals. The distinctive physical appearance of Zhang Aiqin has also aided with its popularity.

As for the meaning, it falls in line with the "deep-fried conversation", referring to clichéd conversations (and meme formats). This video / reply is generally used (at the moment - June 2020!) on these platforms to dismiss a conversation or provide a humorously irrelevant response.

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This song is named "一剪梅", singer is 费玉清 ( Fei Yu Qing).

It's very famous, almost all of the aged Chinese know this song, but is an old song. Not so popular on the internet until these days, on Tik Tok, some foreingers make its tune as a more exciting tune ( as disco? but I really don't like ) , so seems everywhere you can hear this song.

ps However, in Chinese TikTok (Douyin), seems no one like this.

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Just because a video. There is a man and his head looks like an egg. So one day this man uploaded a video that he was singing 雪花飘飘北风萧萧 in the snow. At first people only think it's funny. Then somebody begin to find the meaning of the lyrics. And now they think 雪花飘飘北方潇潇 can be used when you are sad, disappointed and other situation like your life is not so good.

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