The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, involving dumping a bucket of ice water on one’s head or donating to the ALS Association, also went viral on Chinese social media Weibo.
As of now there have been 2 million Weibo posts published with over 2 billion views on the topic. Many Chinese celebrities and billionaires have accepted the challenge including Baidu CEO Robin Li and Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun. The corresponding charity organization had received RMB2,679,178 donations by 21 August 2014, more than the total donations received in 2013 according to CRI.cn.
However, there are critics that some people made use of this charity activity for self-promotion according to Youth Daily.
When Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun took the challenge, it was in front of their headquarter building, surrounded by countless people. There were staffs carrying water, pouring the ice, shooting the video from all angles. He claims to be “the first person taking the ice bucket challenge in China” and talked about the cooperaiton with the company in which the person challenged him; and, how their cooperation went.
Retired NBA star Yao Ming, when challenged, announced that he would complete the challenge at NBA Yao Ming School on 23 August, which was criticised by China internet users as it was against the 24-hour rule of the challenge and it felt like for publicity instead of charity.