含金量还在上升hán jīn liàng hái zài shàng shēng

Its worth is still going up

hán jīn liàng hái zài shàng shēng!含金量还在上升！Its worth is still going up!

含金量还在上升 means “the gold content is still rising”. You say it when something proves more valuable as time goes on, often something people did not value at first.

Took off: 2024
Started in: Online comments
Today: Now everyday Chinese

What it means

含金量 is “gold content”. In everyday Chinese it means the real value of something: a degree, a prize, a job. The meme adds 还在上升, “is still rising”.

One common use compares an old TV drama with its remake. After you watch the new one, 以前那个版本的含金量还在上升, “the old version’s worth keeps rising”.

How people use it

It is common. It works for anything that looks better with time: an old song, a first job, a strict teacher you only thank years later.

亮亮

今天又想起高中的数学老师了
jīn tiān yòu xiǎng qǐ gāo zhōng de shù xué lǎo shī le
I thought of my high school math teacher again today.
那个特别严的老师？
nà gè tè bié yán de lǎo shī?
The really strict one?
对，现在才明白她有多好
duì, xiàn zài cái míng bai tā yǒu duō hǎo
Yes. Only now do I see how good she was.
含金量还在上升
hán jīn liàng hái zài shàng shēng
Her worth is still going up.

More examples

看完新版，才知道老版的含金量还在上升。
kàn wán xīn bǎn, cái zhī dào lǎo bǎn de hán jīn liàng hái zài shàng shēng.
After the new version, I see how good the old one was.
这首十年前的歌，含金量还在上升！
zhè shǒu shí nián qián de gē, hán jīn liàng hái zài shàng shēng!
This song from ten years ago keeps getting better!

Where it came from

No source we found names the first post. Explainers from September 2024 already describe it as a common phrase online, and a November 2024 newspaper article uses the example of drama remakes.

In December 2024 the national language monitoring center put it on its list of the ten top internet phrases of 2024.