04.18.19
Guangzhou Encourages Citizens to Report Illegal Religious Activities, Including Foreign NGO Law Violations
The Guangzhou Municipal Bureau of Ethnic and Religious Affairs released its “Method for Rewarding the Masses for Reporting Illegal Religious Activities,” which details how city officials can reward Guangzhou residents for reporting illegal religious...
The China Africa Project
10.09.17
New Documentary Portrays Nuanced View of Africans’ Experience Living in China
When filmmakers Zhang Yong, Hodan Abdi, and Fu Dong set out to make a new documentary on the African migrant experience in China, they were determined to ensure that their own voices and experiences came through in the story. Until now, most if not...
Sinica Podcast
09.30.17
‘China in Drag: Travels with a Cross-Dresser’
from Sinica Podcast
Michael Bristow, the Asia Pacific editor for the BBC World Service, has written a book called China in Drag: Travels with a Cross-Dresser, in which he recounts his time in China—his travels, his reporting, and his myriad experiences—through the...
Depth of Field
06.29.17
Love, Robots, and Fireworks
from Yuanjin Photo
Included in this Depth of Field column are stories of love, community, remembrance, and the future, told through the discerning eyes of some of China’s best photojournalists. Among them, the lives of African migrants in Guangzhou, seven years inside...
ChinaFile Recommends
03.27.17China Bars Professor at Australian University From Leaving, Lawyer Says
New York Times
A Chinese-born professor at an Australian university who has often criticized Beijing’s crackdown on political dissent has been barred from leaving China and is being questioned by state security officers as a suspected threat to national security,...
ChinaFile Recommends
02.15.17China’s Top Football Team Vows to Phase out Foreign Players
Financial Times
Fans worry beautiful game could lose luster if Guangzhou Evergrande makes good on pledge
The China Africa Project
01.10.17
2016 China-Africa Year in Review
After years of relatively trouble-free development, 2016 marked a turning point in the China-Africa relationship, amid turbulent changes in the global economic and political order. China increased its deployment of combat troops to the continent,...
Depth of Field
09.12.16
African Migrants in Guangzhou, Forgetting, Family Planning’s Fate, and More...
from Yuanjin Photo
Photographing the aftermath of catastrophic events is challenging—one that photographer Mu Li handles with creativity and grace looking back at the chemical explosion in Tianjin that damaged as many as 17,000 homes August 12, 2015. Another challenge...
The China Africa Project
07.12.16
China Was Once a Hot Destination for African Migrants, Not Any More
It was not that long ago that entire neighborhoods in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou were overflowing with African migrants. Although there are no precise figures, scholars estimated that between 20,000-100,000 African immigrants used to...
The China Africa Project
05.04.16
Race, Culture, and the Politics of Being Black in China
Being black in China is not easy, but it’s not as bad as many would have you think, according to our two guests this week, who are both black immigrants currently living in Beijing. Sure, people stare a lot and there are often some inappropriate...
Environment
01.11.16
Chinese Cities Most at Risk from Rising Sea Levels
from chinadialogue
A study by Climate Central, a non-profit news organization focusing on climate science, showed that 12 other nations have more than 10 million people living on land that would be destroyed should the earth’s temperature rise to 4 degrees Celsius.As...
Viewpoint
11.30.15
Court in China Adds Last-Minute Charge Against Rights Leader During Sentencing
from China Change
On August 8, 2013, Guo Feixiong (real name Yang Maodong) was arrested and then indicted on charges of “gathering a crowd to disrupt order in a public place.” The heavy sentence came as a shock to everyone following the case. More shockingly, the...
ChinaFile Recommends
07.22.15Chinese Art Curator Admits to Faking Masterpieces
Wall Street Journal
A prestigious art institute in Guangzhou has discovered that it had forged artwork in its collection — faked by none other than one of its curators.
Caixin Media
07.14.15
Uber CEO Enjoying a Fast China Ride
Demand for cross-town transportation is at the heart of an urban lifestyle that is defining modern China. It is also giving the American car-hire service Uber Technologies Inc. an incredible ride.Few are enjoying the ride more than Uber CEO Travis...
The China Africa Project
04.03.15
This Little Bridge Connects Guangzhou and Africa
The southern Chinese city of Guangzhou is home to China’s largest African migrant population, predominantly from Nigeria. In the city’s Little North Road neighborhood there is a small pedestrian bridge where immigrants from all over the world go to...
ChinaFile Recommends
04.01.15Claims of Retaliation in Detention of Chinese Anticorruption Campaigner
New York Times
Ou Shaokun, 61, gained prominence by advising Guangzhou petitioners protesting government land seizures.
The China Africa Project
01.15.15
Religion Among African Immigrants in China
Nestled in apartments and offices throughout the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou are dozens of improvised churches that cater to the region’s Pentacostal Africans, largely from Nigeria. These churches not only serve the community’s religious...
Photo Gallery
12.30.14
Seeing China in 2014
In 2014, ChinaFile published great original work in photography. As always, we worked to look beyond stereotypical images of the country to find nuanced representations of the new and ChinaFile contributors’ commentary on it. Still, many of our...
ChinaFile Recommends
05.21.14Under Pressure, ‘Naked Official’ Chooses Early Retirement
New York Times
How China is dealing with its longstanding problem of “naked officials”—those who have packed off their family and, often, ill-gotten wealth abroad.
ChinaFile Recommends
05.06.14Six People Injured in Attack at South China Rail Station
Wall Street Journal
A single man slashed people outside a Guangzhou railway station. An armed police officer fired at and wounded the attacker, helping authorities capture the perpetrator.
Environment
01.21.14
Real-time Air Quality Data Due from 179 Chinese Cities
from chinadialogue
More than 170 cities in China have now joined a real-time air quality disclosure scheme, initiated by the Ministry of Environmental Protection.Launched in 2012, more than sixty cities had started publishing data from their monitoring stations by the...
Conversation
10.30.13
Trial By TV: What Does a Reporter’s Arrest and Confession Tell Us About Chinese Media?
The latest ChinaFile Conversation focuses on the case of Chen Yongzhou, the Guangzhou New Express journalist whose series of investigative reports exposed fraud at the Changsha, Hunan-based heavy machinery maker Zoomlion. Chen later was arrested and...
Caixin Media
10.28.13
How Police Got It So Wrong Arresting a Journalist
The arrest of a journalist for allegedly damaging the reputation of an equipment manufacturer has spurred debate in both the media and legal circles. The discussions revolve around the rights of the press, interpretation of the law, and possible...
Culture
06.18.13
The Local Folk
In the liner notes of their 2009 début album, A Tale of Haifeng, Guangzhou-based indie folk band Wu Tiao Ren tinkered with the Communist party slogan “Lizu xiancheng, fangyan quanqiu,” which translates roughly: “See the world from our county’s...
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05.30.13Africa’s Malaria Battle: Fake Drug Pipeline Undercuts Progress
Wall Street Journal
A flourishing counterfeit drug trade is collateral damage from the fast-expanding ties that have turned China into Africa’s largest trading partner. The fakes’ place of origin is in Guangzhou, though the source is unknown. &...
ChinaFile Recommends
05.23.13Tainted Rice Scandal Hits Guangzhou Eateries
China Daily
The Guangzhou Food and Drug Administration launced an inspection campaign in recent weeks and found the cadmium content of six batches of rice and another two batches of rice noodles exceeded national standards.
ChinaFile Recommends
01.26.13Eastern Promise in LIttle Africa
Globe and Mail
Chasing their slice of China’s raging appetite, tens of thousands of African traders are settling uneasily in the ghettos of Guangzhou.
ChinaFile Recommends
09.04.12Guangzhou Moves to Limit New Cars
New York Times
The crackdown by China’s third-largest city is the most restrictive in a series of moves by big Chinese cities that are putting quality-of-life issues ahead of short-term economic growth, something the central government has struggled to do on a...
ChinaFile Recommends
08.14.12The Souls of Chinese Cities
Foreign Policy
Traveling through modern Chinese cities at times feels a blur, the view from a bus or taxi window seemingly untethered from any past or even particularities of place. In one sense, everything everywhere looks the same; it's easy to feel a...
ChinaFile Recommends
06.28.12Africans in Southern China
On June 19, I saw the oft-retweeted images on Sina Weibo, China’s Twitter, which showed black people in Guangzhou city protesting together. My first reaction: This image was from three years ago. Only after an online search did I realize the image...