Chen Xueyuan （陈学远） is a farmer and rights-defense citizen from Dongwalihou Village, Lingshan Subdistrict, Jimo District, Qingdao, Shandong, born May 13, 1963. Villagers and online coverage know him as “即墨老陈” (“Old Chen of Jimo”).
Chen ran a short-video account on Douyin under the display name 北京26环 (“Beijing Ring 26”) that drew about 47,000 followers. His videos — recorded in a humorous style that renamed his home village and its surroundings with playful aliases — documented daily life and alleged corruption and dereliction by village officials. Coverage by 维权网 describes him as being called a “农民反腐英雄” (“farmer anti-corruption hero”) by local netizens. His pre-detention videos raised problems he attributed to the construction of the Longqing Expressway （龙青高速公路） through his village: flooded farmland, destroyed roads, and leftover construction debris. According to 维权网， Chen alleged that a state-owned enterprise that had won the highway contract subcontracted the work at roughly half price to a private company, raising questions of power-for-money dealings, and accused local government departments of negligence and shielding wrongdoers. Villagers signed a joint petition on his behalf after his detention.
At the end of January 2023, Chen’s Douyin account stopped updating. He was subsequently found to have been detained by the Jimo Branch of the Qingdao Public Security Bureau. A lawyer’s application to change the compulsory measure was refused. On March 21, 2023, his family received an arrest notice from the Jimo Branch stating that Chen was suspected of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” （寻衅滋事罪） and was being held at the Jimo Detention Center in Qingdao.
The CHRD prisoner database records that Chen was sentenced to one year and six months in prison and was later released. The database’s release field is dated 2024. Independent coverage of the trial and sentencing has not been located, and no source has confirmed the exact dates of sentencing or release.
Custody status note
The Issue 131 roster published by Rights Defense Network / 维权网 on August 31, 2026 classifies Chen Xueyuan in its roster of political prisoners and prisoners of conscience currently in custody. That classification conflicts with the CHRD record’s statement that Chen was released after serving his sentence. No source found resolves the conflict — whether through re-detention after release or the roster carrying him forward without an update. His current status is therefore recorded as uncertain.
Sources: CHRD prisoner database record for 陈学远 (entry dated 2023-10-04); 维权网 case report, “青岛即墨农民反腐英雄陈学远被以寻衅滋事罪名逮捕 广大村民联名抗议,” published September 1, 2023; Rights Defense Network / 维权网 Issue 131 roster (August 31, 2026). See the full media archive for source detail, per-item verification, and evidentiary limits.
View the full media archive for the complete source record and provenance.