COURT CONTENT ‘Celestial Dragon Girl’ Lanlan Yang: From Rolls-Royce drunk driving charges to netizen obsession
BY: Kartya Vucetic
Until a few weeks ago, the name LanLan Yang barely registered in Sydney’s public consciousness. Now, she’s the subject of a full-blown internet fixation. Jump online to Little Red Book (XiaoHongShu), and she’s essentially one rung below the equivalent of Chinese Kim Kardashian.
It all started with a Tiffany-blue Rolls-Royce crash in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, where the 23-year old hit none other than Kyle Sandilands’ chauffeur, George Plassaras. The scene was so cinematic it instantly went viral, which consequently led to her being quickly identified as LanLan Yang.
Image: Scenes from the crash a two weeks ago
But beyond her name and age, almost nothing else has surfaced in the weeks to come since the accident. No Instagram, no LinkedIn, or any public-facing accounts for that matter. And in an era where most people’s lives are a scroll away, her total absence online only fuelled speculation.
Now, the Chinese netizen community on Little Red Book have officially been hooked. Thousands of comments and threads about Yang have emerged, dissecting every available photo, detail and rumour. Her nickname? 天龙女 (or ‘Celestial Dragon Girl’), a reference pulled from Japanese manga One Piece, where the Celestial Dragons are considered an elite, untouchable ruling class.
Image: Little Red Book
A life of wealth, without a digital trace
Word on the internet travels fast. On Little Red Book, a scandal like this, involving extreme wealth, youth and deliberate anonymity, travels at light speed. After all, the app thrives of aspirational lifestyle and luxury content. So as expected, it didn’t take long for users to take this up like catnip.
Some have claimed she’s an heiress to her father’s fortune. Others claim she’s connected to Australian politicians, or Taiwanese business tycoons. There’s even been mentions of her involvement in the business of iron ore quota transfers. Few, if any, are credible.
LanLan’s name appears immediately upon searching in 小红书(Little Red Book)
What we do know, however, is that LanLan’s been photographed with at least two Rolls-Royces, and lives in a penthouse apartment. What’s not confirmed is how she can exist in the public eye yet remain so unsearchable.
Today’s court appearance
That obsession jumped from online to offline this morning, when Yang’s court mention for charges related to the crash took place in Sydney. Despite her attending via video link, a notable crowd gathered outside the courthouse, many of them Chinese-speaking onlookers, phones in hand. Whether they were fans, curious followers of the case, or simply drawn in by the media spectacle, their presence underscored how far the fascination has already spread.
For now, the ‘Celestial Dragon Girl’ remains exactly what her nickname implies: untouchable, unbothered, and moving through the world on her own terms. Perhaps it’s not for the right reasons, but for Little Red Book’s netizens, that’s more than enough to keep watching.
