callistavb

In 2024, it was noticed outside of China that MLP:FiM, surprisingly, has become huge in China. Students under 15 are buying lots of MLP cards. The shops near schools are stocked full of the cards. Pony conventions happen in cities across China. In September and October, there was a pony event called "New Friend at Campus" [校园新PENG友], which took place at several universities (yes, universities) in Beijing and Guangzhou, where a giant Pinkie Pie greets new students: [The "PENG" is a Chinese pun, it can mean either 朋 "friend" or 碰 "bump (hooves)" which is why "PENG" is drawn with a horseshoe] and students can win cards at games: Pony claw machines... https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1DixFezEAP and the most random merch: Random... itasha car...?? by FAW Bestune. Just... why. The reason is a lame pun where they had a line of slow cars called 奔腾小马 "Betsune Pony", so they just added MLP to it as a special promotional event. They cost about 40K yuan each, about 6000 USD. So