Features

06.17.24

“The Police’s Strength Is Limited, but the People’s Strength Is Boundless”

Jessica Batke
In some ways, “vigilantes” are the opposite of what their name suggests: rather than rogue agents meting out street justice, they are individuals deemed trustworthy by authorities, working under the guidance of local police forces, deputized to...

Conversation

10.20.21

Tightening Up

Xibai Xu, Jude Blanchette & more
In what many observers have termed a “regulatory crackdown,” a wave of new legal restrictions and bans on business, technology, and entertainment has broken across China over the past several months, with what appears to be escalating velocity and...

‘My Parents Say Hurry up and Find a Girl’: China's Millions of Lonely ‘Leftover Men’

Wanning Sun
Guardian
When Liu returned to his childhood village to celebrate Chinese New Year, his parents had arranged a familiar and depressing task for him: a series of speed dates. Over a week back in rural Jiangxi province, he met half a dozen potential wives in...

Viewpoint

09.15.17

The Unprecedented Reach of China’s Surveillance State

Stanley Lubman
The Chinese Party-state is building a social credit system for collecting information about all of its citizens by police, courts, and other institutions. This enables the government to reach into society to a degree unprecedented in history...

Features

09.08.17

A Drag Queen for the Dearly Departed

Ian Johnson & Tomoko Kikuchi
In the good old days, about three thousand years ago, people really knew how to mourn the dead. That was back in the Zhou dynasty, when there was no laughing in the dead person’s house, no sighing while eating, and no singing while walking down a...

China’s Mistress-Dispellers

New Yorker
How the economic boom and deep gender inequality have created a new industry.

China Considers Baby Bonus for Couples to Have Second Child

Justin Heifetz
CNN
The Chinese government may consider giving families financial incentives to have a second child in a bid to reach higher birth rate targets 

China’s Film Fever Cools

Wayne Ma and Erich Schwartzel
Wall Street Journal
China’s highflying box office got a reality check in 2016, as cutbacks in discounted tickets led to a sharp decline in cinema-revenue growth

Chinese Prosecutors Charge Thousands of School Bullies

Mimi Lau
South China Morning Post
Nationwide crackdown includes three-year jail sentence for 15-year-old who robbed his classmates

In China’s Tiny Catholic Community, Hopes Rise for Beijing- Vatican Ties

Rob Schmitz
NPR
Beijing and the Vatican seem to want to come to an agreement, though who has the last word in appointing bishops is still a point of contention

These Three Major China Themes Will Be Pivotal in 2017

Aidan Yao
South China Morning Post
China’s economic growth target, the depreciation of the yuan and a looming change in several senior Communist Party positions will be important factors

China’s Notorious City Management Officers in Legal Limbo Despite Expanding Role

Zhou Qijun, Sun Liangzi and Li Rongde
The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development has been charged with regulating the force that earlier was under the sole purview of local governments

Meet the Ma Family: How Millennials are Changing the Way China Thinks About Money

Engen Tham and Adam Jourdan
Reuters
China's millennials - roughly those aged between 18 and 35 - are embracing debt like never before

China and the Church: The “Outlaw” Do-It-Yourself Bishop

Carrie Grace
BBC
Mr. Dong is a thorn in the side of both the Vatican and the Chinese state. This 58-year-old laborer from a village in northern China calls himself a bishop

In China, Eugenics Determines Who Plays in School Bands

Didi Kirsten Tatlow
New York Times
“We’ve chosen your children according to their physical attributes,” the leader told a group of parents at a Beijing public elementary school.

Full-Sized Replica of the Titanic Begins Taking Shape in Landlocked Southwest China

Nectar Gan
South China Morning Post
Tourist attraction aims to recreate the thrills and horror of doomed voyage

China’s New Tool for Social Control: A Credit Rating for Everything

Josh Chin and Gillian Wong
Wall Street Journal
Beijing wants to give every citizen a score based on behavior such as spending habits and filial piety, which can bar citizens from loans, jobs, air travel

Author’s Vision of a Future Beijing Looks to China’s Present

Karoline Kan and Javier Hernandez
New York Times
Meet Hao Jingfang, author of "Folding Beijing,” the science-fiction novelette that beat out Stephen King to win a Hugo Award.

China’s Trump Prepares for His Close-up

Didi Kirsten Tatlow
New York Times
Spray tans and hair dye: the transformation of a retired music professor into China's Trump impersonator

New Wave of Chinese Restaurants Challenge “Cheap” Stereotype

Esther Wang
NPR
A new generation of immigrant restaurateurs is aiming to offer an updated spin on the Chinese restaurant, with prices to match

China Mourns First Female J-10 Pilot After Death in Training

BBC
China is mourning the death of Yu Xu, the country's first female J-10 jet pilot who was killed during an aerobatic training session on Saturday

China Revives “Comrade” in Drive for Communist Party Discipline

Lucy Hornby
Financial Times
Anti-corruption watchdog orders return of outmoded greeting now embraced by gay men

The 80-Year-Old Runway Model Reshaping China’s Views on Aging

Didi Kirsten Tatlow
New York Times
Last year, at 79, Mr. Wang walked the runway for the first time, his physique at his age causing a national sensation

Seeking Lower Rent, Chinese Artists Cut Path for Themselves Outside Beijing

Emily Feng
New York Times
A small and decidedly nondescript city called Yanjiao, about an hour’s drive from Beijing, has been experiencing an influx of artists

China’s Other Car Problem

Economist
A lack of parking spots worries Chinese car-owners--and fixing it will be hard

It’s So Dangerous Being a Bridesmaid in China that Some Bride are Hiring Professionals Instead

Yang Hu
Quartz
From commoners to renowned celebrities, Chinese bridesmaids are vulnerable to verbal harassment as well as physical and sexual abuse

Smiling Panda, Weeping Dragon: China’s Banksy Brings Life to City Sprawl

Christy Yao
Guardian
Qi Xinghua, famous as a 3-D painter, says he wants to ‘add some fun to our lives’ by brightening up drab cityscapes

I Broadcast Myself on the Chinese Web for Two Weeks

Viola Rothschild
In the process, I learned why Chinese millennials can't seem to unplug from the live-streaming craze.

Breakfast Cereal Prices Surge in China Following Appearance on Soap Opera

Huileng Tan
CNBC
A shrewd product placement on a popular soap opera has propelled a Western breakfast cereal to frenzied popularity in China, sending prices up almost ten times in the gray market

China Drops One-Child Policy, but ‘Exhausted’ Tiger Moms Say One is Plenty

Simon Denyer and Congcong Zhang
Washington Post
“No fines, no arrests. Go ahead and have a second child if you want one!” The problem is that many people don’t want a second child any more.

Teenager is Convicted of Murder in 2014 Beating Death of USC Grad Student from China

Marisa Gerber
Los Angeles Times
The defendants told detectives they’d targeted Xinran Ji because he was Chinese and they suspected he had money

Poignant Portraits Show What it is Like Being LGBT in China

Kenneth Dickerman
Washington Post
Despite being decriminalized in 1997, homosexuality is still heavily stigmatized in China.

Is China's Gaokao The World's Toughest School Exam?

Alec Ash
Guardian
Chinese children must endure years of stress and impossible expectations preparing for their final school exam

An Open Letter to the Woman Who Told My Family to Go Back to China

Michael Luo
New York Times
To the well-dressed woman on the Upper East Side, annoyed by our stroller, that yelled "Go back to China...Go back to your f---ing country"

America’s Best Idea May Now Be China’s Too, as It Expands It’s National Park System

Jessica Meyers
Los Angeles Times
With U.S. guidance, China is launching a pilot project that spans nine provinces

Forget Those 18 Olympic Medals, Most Chinese Can’t Swim

Hannah Gardner
USA Today
Drowning is now the #1 killer of Chinese children under the age of 14, topping traffic accidents and infectious disease

Fate Catches Up to a Cultural Revolution Museum in China

Didi Kirsten Tatlow
New York Times
The museum was covered up and shut down in the spring, a few weeks before the 50th anniversary of the start of the Cultural Revolution.

589 Million Chinese Tourists Will Spend $72 Billion in Just 7 Days Celebrating “Golden Week”

Echo Huang Yinyin
Quartz
Unexpectedly, the new hot destination is Morocco

How China’s Progress is Killing the Instant Noodle

Adam Minter
Sydney Morning Herald
As China's economy has slowed, so too has its appetite for instant noodles

Long Absent in China, Tipping Makes a Comeback at a Few Trendy Restaurants

Anthony Kuhn
NPR
Scan your server's QR code if you like your service

Meet Pizza, the World’s Saddest Polar Bear

Echo Huang Yinyin
Quartz
Pizza is just one of thousands of “wild” animals languishing in China's malls

China’s Middle Class Vents Over Growing List of Grievances

Te-Ping Chen
Wall Street Journal
A father’s death in custody is the latest incident to fuel urbanites’ sense of unease.

Polluted Skies Heighten Challenge for Chinese Government

EDWARD WONG
New York Times
Red has been considered the color of prosperity and good fortune in China for centuries, and it is also the color of the Communist Party.

Amid China’s Smog Worries, One More: Counterfeit Masks

VANESSA PIAO
New York Times
The customs authorities in Shanghai have seized nearly 120,000 counterfeit surgical masks.

One Is the Loneliest Number: China’s Single Population Nears 200 Million

Laurie Burkitt
WSJ: China Real Time Report
China is quickly becoming a nation of singles.

Bribery Confession in China Calls Into Question Integrity of College Admissions

MICHAEL FORSYTHE
New York Times
In a country where cash and connections rule, one bastion of meritocracy, it was thought, remained: admission to a university.

Why China's Millennials Are Happy to Own Nothing

Bloomberg
Two decades ago, Tyler Xiong and his parents had to live in a commune guided by the strict socialist teachings of Mao Zedong.

Chinese Ministry Says China Has 17M Road Rage Case In 2015, As Viral Videos Attest

Huileng Tan
CNBC
China is the world's largest vehicle market, and possibly one of the world's most dangerous, if the latest figures are any indication.

It’s Complicated: Mark Zuckerberg’s Donation Spurs Philanthropy Debate in China

Yang Jie
WSJ: China Real Time Report
Some Chinese Internet users are asking: is it a kind-hearted gift or a tax dodge?

Photo Of Breastfeeding Mom In Public Ignites Online Storm In China

Shen Lu and Katie Hunt
CNN
Some criticized the woman for exposing her "sexual organs" in public.

China's Obesity Epidemic: Teaching Children to 'Eat a Rainbow'

Lucy Luo
Guardian
The rise in diabetes in China could bankrupt the country’s healthcare system, says a medical expert.

Chinese Student Protesting Books’ Stance on Homosexuality Meets With Officials

Chris Buckley
New York Times
Gay activists in China brought their demands for public acceptance to a court.

Hong Kong May Be A Little Insecure, But It's No 'Slave'

Kenny Hodgart
South China Morning Post
I don't much care to weigh in on the subject of Hong Kong remaining a place where non-Asians are able to prosper.

Q. and A.: Jindong Cai on ‘Beethoven in China’

Ian Johnson
New York Times
Jindong Cai, 59, is an orchestra conductor and a professor at Stanford University.

Dream of The Bed Chamber

Economist
It is not just China’s economy that has loosened up since 1979. The country is in the midst of a sexual revolution.

China's Middle Class Isn't What We Thought It Was

Linette Lopez and Lucinda Shen
Business Insider
For years, multinational companies have been rubbing their hands together in anticipation of the growth of the Chinese middle class.

China Bends Vow, Using Prisoners’ Organs for Transplants

DIDI KIRSTEN TATLOW
New York Times
A senior Chinese health official said last year that China would stop using prisoners’ organs for transplants as of Jan. 1, 2015.

Hong Kong-China: A Growing Football Rivalry or Just Politics?

Juliana Liu
BBC
Around the world, there are legendary, dynastic rivalries in football.

China's Napoleon Complex

Clarissa Sebag-Montefiore
Foreign Affairs
With Deng’s political reforms in the 1980s and 1990s came increased discrimination based on appearance.