The Diplomatic Dishes China Picked to Keep Donald Trump Happy at a State Banquet
Safety-first menu for big set piece dinner shows Beijing was taking no risks when hosting a man who is not known for his adventurous palate
Excerpts
11.06.17
The Past Is a Foreign Country
On Wednesday, November 8, the Chinese-British writer Guo Xiaolu joined the Asia Society’s Isaac Stone Fish in a conversation about the difficulty of existing...
Down From the Mountains
At 14 years old, Wang Ying doesn’t want to be a mother. She scowls darkly as her younger brother and sister squabble in the corner while she does the housework. But she grudgingly cleans up after them and cooks them a potato stew...
Conversation
10.27.17
What’s the Takeaway from the 19th Party Congress?
The day after the Party Congress ended on October 24, Xi Jinping strode across the stage of the massive Great Hall of the People with the six newly announced members of the 19th Politburo Standing Committee, the body that rules China. What might...
An Inconvenient Truth? China Omits Key Figures That May Have Highlighted Its Demographic Time Bomb from Official Statistics
A key data series on China’s fertility rate has been axed from the country’s latest statistical yearbook, depriving the public of crucial figures to judge the effectiveness of the country’s two-child policy.
The NYRB China Archive
10.26.17
Sexual Life in Modern China
from New York Review of BooksThroughout the late 1970s and 1980s, Chinese writers grappled with the traumas of the Mao period, seeking to make sense of their suffering. As in the imperial era, most had been servants of the state, loyalists who might criticize...
A Chinese Exhibit Comparing Africans to Animals Shows the Problematic Racial Attitudes in China
As a black woman in China, I’ve been relatively fortunate. My negative experiences have mostly consisted of being photographed and gawked at by Chinese people. While many of my fellow Africans have had much more traumatic experiences, my...
China Enshrines ‘Xi Jinping Thought.’ What Does That Mean?
Restoring China to greatness is a central message of “Xi Jinping Thought,” and a goal that has already guided policies to build up the military.
China’s Skewed Sex Ratio Makes President Xi’s Job a Lot Harder
As odd as it sounds, China’s economic policy is being held hostage by its heavily skewed sex ratio.
The Human Cost of China’s Economic Reforms
Mr Yu is worried that millions of workers the Chinese government plans to lay off from failing state owned companies will be “abandoned” like he says he was 15 years ago.
Conversation
10.16.17
What to Watch at China’s Party Congress
The Chinese Communist Party’s 19th Party Congress, a hugely important political meeting usually held once every five years, will begin on October 18 in Beijing. Like many events involving China’s ruling party, the most important decisions and...
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....
Waiting Game for North Korean Workers in China as Shutdown Deadline Looms
On a quiet street in the embassy district of Beijing, a neon-lit national flag forms an impressive backdrop to an almost empty North Korean restaurant as young waitresses sent from Pyongyang stand around waiting for customers.
This Week, Half of China's Population Is on the Move
Close to 700 million people in China are expected to travel during the country’s National Day holidays, known as the Golden Week, which kicked off on Sunday (Oct. 1).
China Accused of Flooding Europe with Cheap E-Bikes
Imports of Chinese e-bikes to Europe have increased from almost zero in 2010 to an estimated 800,000 in 2017, according to the European Bicycle Manufacturers Association. The industry group has had enough: It filed a complaint with the European...
Sinica Podcast
09.30.17
‘China in Drag: Travels with a Cross-Dresser’
from Sinica PodcastMichael 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—...
‘My Parents Say Hurry up and Find a Girl’: China's Millions of Lonely ‘Leftover Men’
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...
China's Cricket Catchers Cashing in on Insects That Can Float Like a Butterfly and Sting Like a Bee
An annual cricket craze is sweeping a rural area of east China as demand for the leaping insects soars among “trainers” who use them for fighting and gambling, online media reported.
Ice Hockey Makes Push to Help China Get Its Skates On
The corralling of such resources behind the latest attempt by a major league to tap into the country’s huge market reflects how keen Beijing is to develop interest in the NHL and how much effort will be needed to make China an ice hockey country...
Hockey Gets Warm and Confused Welcome by the Chinese
The matchup between the Los Angeles Kings and the Vancouver Canucks in Shanghai -- the second leg of the NHL's first preseason games in China -- witnessed a much stronger welcome from a city bracing for the 2022 Winter Olympics.
Media
09.23.17
The German Edition of the Falun Gong-Affiliated ‘Epoch Times’ Aligns with the Far Right
On the eve of the German election Sunday, it’s no surprise that Russian state-funded media outlets are attacking German Chancellor Angela Merkel, sensationalizing migrant violence, and providing conciliatory coverage of far-right...
China Lifts Travel Ban on Feminist Activist
A Chinese feminist activist who was banned from leaving mainland China for a decade has been given back her travel documents and allowed to travel. Wu Rongrong will fly to Hong Kong on Sunday, where she will begin a post-graduate degree in law....
China's Path out of Poverty Can Never Be Repeated at Scale by a Country Again
Since China began its market reforms in the late 1970s, it has lifted more than 800 million people out of poverty, slashing the rate from nearly 90% in 1981 to under 2%, as measured by the World Bank’s latest spending benchmark.
Books
09.20.17
China’s Great Migration
China’s rise over the past several decades has lifted more than half of its population out of poverty and reshaped the global economy. What has caused this dramatic transformation? In China’s Great Migration: How the Poor Built a Prosperous Nation, author Bradley Gardner looks at one of the most important but least discussed forces pushing China’s economic development: the migration of more than 260 million people from their birthplaces to China’s most economically vibrant cities.
Viewpoint
09.15.17
The Unprecedented Reach of China’s Surveillance State
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...
G.M. Chief, in China, Challenges Planned Bans of Gasoline Cars
Speaking in Shanghai on Friday, Mary Barra, the chief executive of General Motors said her company was making a big push to develop electric cars but that consumers, not government dictates, should decide how cars are powered.
World's Oldest Captive Panda Basi Dies in China
At 37, Basi had outlived all her panda peers, reaching the equivalent of more than a hundred in human years.
China 'Feminist Five' Activist Handed 10-Year Travel Ban
One of China’s “Feminist Five” group of women who were arrested for campaigning against sexual harassment has been barred from leaving the country for a decade, in the latest example of Beijing’s ever-tightening grip on civil society.
The Chinese Female Gamers Putting Male Players in the Shade
In the world’s newest superpower, professional video gaming is a booming industry set to be worth billions. Female players struggle to earn as much as their male competitors – but that's not stopping one talented team of young women.
High Cost of China's Push for Unesco Heritage Sites
China is ranked second only to Italy in terms of number of world heritage sites. But it's come at a cost.
Conversation
09.06.17
China’s Communist Party Is About to Meet. Here’s What You Should Know.
The Chinese Communist Party will hold its 19th Party Congress on October 18, marking the end of the first term of General Secretary Xi Jinping. In a leadership reshuffle, Xi is expected to promote allies to the Party’s key...
Pregnant Chinese Woman ‘Commits Suicide’ after Family Refuse to Allow Her to Have a Caesarean Section
A heavily pregnant woman is reported to have committed suicide after her family repeatedly refused to let her have a caesarean section.
China’s Top Bike-Sharing Groups Battle for London
China’s top bike-sharing companies are taking their rivalry to London after local supplier Ofo revealed plans to roll out a smart bike service this week in the UK to compete with rival Mobike.
China Subverting UN Efforts to Protect Human Rights, Says Pressure Group
A human rights group said in a report on Tuesday that China has tried to intimidate, blacklist and suppress the voices of rights advocates who operate within the UN system, calling on Beijing to stop such pressure and urging UN agencies to resist...
More Women Are in Hong Kong’s Prisons Than Anywhere Else. They Should Be Protected, Not Criminalized
Hong Kong and Macau, two cities associated with wealth and riches, hold a dubious distinction in the justice system: they put women behind bars at a shockingly high proportion. Women comprise 20.8% of Hong Kong’s prison population, while in...
Young People in China Have Started a Fashion Movement Built around Nationalism and Racial Purity
The Han Clothing Movement, a youth-based grassroots nationalist movement built around China’s majority Han ethnic group, has emerged over the past 15 years in urban China. It imagines the numerically and culturally dominant Han—nearly 92% of...
What’s Yours Is Mine in China but Is Sharing at a Peak?
Ok, so car sharing makes perfect sense. And we get bike sharing, too. But ball sharing?
Green Gold: How China Quietly Grew into a Cannabis Superpower
Every year in April, Jiang Xingquan sets aside part of his farm in northern China to grow cannabis. The size of the plot varies with market demand but over the last few years it has been about 600 hectares.
In China You Now Have to Provide Your Real Identity If You Want to Comment Online
The Chinese government under president Xi Jinping is continuing to make life on the internet difficult for its potential detractors. Yesterday (Aug. 25), the country’s highest internet regulator released ...
‘China Quarterly’ Publisher Restores Articles Following Backlash from Scholars
The British publisher of an academic journal has reversed a decision to take down hundreds of articles from its Chinese website. In a statement released Monday, Cambridge University Press said it’s reposting the more than 300 articles to The...
China, Like U.S., Struggles to Revive Industrial Heartland
The hulking, brown–brick industrial plants lining the roads were once the backbone of this gritty city. Today, they are outdated and...
China to Rev up Bullet Train Revolution with World's Fastest Service on Shanghai-Beijing Line
China will soon start official operation of the world’s fastest train service, knocking an hour off the 1,318km journey between Beijing and Shanghai.
Chinese Activist Jiang Tianyong's Subversion Trial Dismissed as Sham
China’s Communist party–controlled media claimed Jiang — whose past clients include activists such as the exiled dissident lawyer Chen Guangcheng — had confessed to the crime of ”inciting subversion of state power”.
Ford in Talks to Launch Fully Electric Cars in China
Ford is in talks to launch fully electric cars for the Chinese market as the US carmaker plays catch up to international rivals in the race to develop battery vehicles.
China's Crackdown on North Korea over U.N. Sanctions Starts to Pinch
Trucks packed with seafood were backed up, bumper to bumper, at the Chinese border with North Korea. Protesters carried red banners demanding compensation. And Chinese businessmen who have been making big money from North...
The NYRB China Archive
08.16.17
The Lonely Struggle of Lee Ching-yu
from New York Review of BooksOn March 19, a human rights activist from Taiwan named Lee Ming-che disappeared in mainland China, and his wife back in Taipei, Lee Ching-yu, became a member of one of the least desirable clubs in the world: the spouses of people...
Books
08.15.17
Outsourced Children
It’s no secret that tens of thousands of Chinese children have been adopted by American parents and that Western aid organizations have invested in helping orphans in China. But why have Chinese authorities allowed this exchange, and what does it reveal about processes of globalization?
Facebook Tests Way Into China Via Secret Photo—Sharing App
A photo—sharing app has appeared on Apple’s App Store in China that looks exactly like Facebook’s Moments app, and analysts say it may be a way for the US tech group to finally break into its most coveted market.
Eye-Catching China Activist Super Vulgar Butcher ‘Admits Wrongdoing’
A human rights activist best known as “Super Vulgar Butcher” who rose to prominence by harnessing social media to mobilize public support admitted in a closed-door trial that his actions “violated the law”, a Chinese court said on Monday.
Gaps in Records Cloak China’s North Korean ‘Slave Laborers’ in Mystery
It is an open secret that a significant number of North Korean laborers work in China and Russia in border cities, especially in Siberia. But owing to minimal record-keeping, little is known about the workers’ presence or activities
China’s Pretty Boys Find a New Gig: Propaganda Films
Commissioned by the government to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Liberation Army, China’s latest propaganda film was meant to be a patriotic tale about the young soldiers who served their country in its earliest...
Patriotic Action Film Set to Break China Blockbuster Record
A patriotic Chinese action film whose tagline is “whoever offends China will be hunted down wherever they are” is poised to become the country’s highest grossing film to date.
Viewpoint
08.03.17
China’s ‘New Achievements’ in Legal Reform Exist More in Policy than in Practice
It is no coincidence that two days after Liu Xiaobo’s death, Xinhua published an article praising China’s “new achievements in judicial...
Depth of Field
08.03.17
Inspirational Vandalism, Theme Parks, and the Man Who Swam to Hong Kong
from Yuanjin PhotoThis month, five photo galleries explore different aspects of public and private space in contemporary China. Wu Yue meets a couple who swam to Hong Kong from Guangzhou during the Cultural Revolution and still find solace in the waters of Hong...
Apple’s Decision to Remove VPN Apps from the App Store in China Explained by Tim Cook
Tim Cook has responded to criticisms that Apple is quietly removing apps from the App Store for the Chinese government.