‘Nazi salute’ trend on Chinese social media is actually a tribute to Young and Dangerous
The trend, seen on RedNote, Douyin and Reddit, is a tribute to the villainous Crow from Hong Kong’s Young and Dangerous film series
Social media users are questioning a new trend in Hong Kong after videos circulated earlier this week on Reddit showing people making what appeared to be the controversial Nazi salute.
The videos attracted comments questioning the trend – which had become popular among users of Chinese social media platforms RedNote and Douyin – and its implications.
However, other users pointed out that the gestures were meant to be harmless tributes to a character in the popular Hong Kong film series Young and Dangerous (1996-2000).
One photo of someone adopting the pose in tribute to the series’ famed villain, Crow, has been circulating widely across Douyin since June, amassing over 1.2 million likes.
Throughout Young and Dangerous 3 (1996), the character repeatedly uses the gesture as a comedic greeting and it quickly became an iconic pose that fans of the film know and love.
The Douyin image sparked a wave of nostalgia in the comments section, with many users flooding the thread with classic lines from the series.