Articles that cut to the core of contemporary China. In-depth, informed, and carefully crafted, every piece is carried by the voices of the story’s participants.

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Deep Tones

The Decade Comedy in China Grew Up, Seen From a Stage in Kunming

As stand-up spread beyond the big metros, one club in Kunming shows how comedians turned punchlines into careers, and learned where the line is.

Fan Yiying

Ten Lives in China’s Age of AI

AI has spread across China with startling speed. Ten people describe what it now allows them to do, what makes them uneasy about it, and what life might look like without it.

Li Xin

The Cost of Staying Visible on China’s Internet

As China’s attention economy matures, creators face constant pressure to produce, adapt, and remain visible in an increasingly crowded and competitive system.

He Qitong

Ten Years in Transition

To mark its 10th anniversary, Sixth Tone looks back on the past decade through 10 stories documenting how people across China adapted to change.

Sixth Tone

In China’s Scripted Romance Games, Staged Love Is Paid Work

The format pairs players with paid “love companions,” selling intimacy through staged dates and private scenes where expectations and rules are often set in real time.

‘Better Than Gold’: China’s Traders Cash in as Memory Chip Prices Soar

AI demand is tightening memory supply and driving sharp price swings, creating windfalls for traders while forcing China’s tech firms into an increasingly volatile market.

Chen Yiru

Work It Out: Why More Chinese Students Pick Skills Over Degrees

As families across China calculate cost, time, and job prospects, vocational colleges are becoming a deliberate choice rather than a fallback.

Chen Xiashiyu

In Wuhan, A Race to Study a 3,500-Year-Old City Between Seasons

At Panlongcheng, archaeologists race against seasonal rains and hostile soil to recover a 3,500-year-old city that reshaped understanding of early Chinese civilization, knowing much of it may remain forever underwater.

Wu Haiyun

The Making and Unmaking of China’s Backpacker Hostels

As China’s early independent travelers age and costs climb, the youth hostel model that once offered cheap beds and shared life is thinning out, leaving scattered holdouts and fading memories.

How a Bullied Teenager Built China’s Unlikeliest Music Festival

You and Me, a free experimental music festival in Beijing, grew from one teenager’s search for refuge. Now it faces demolition, debt, and an uncertain future.