urban China

In China, MBTI’s Unhinged Twin Asks About Constipation and Diarrhea

Timely reports on issues and events from across China. Drawing on a vast range of sources, these succinct articles provide insights into the significance of each issue in a wider context.

NEWS

SBTI, or “Silly Big” Type Indicator, borrows the MBTI format but replaces introspection with absurd questions and irreverent personality types.

Fan Yiying

Inside Shenzhen’s High-Tech Version of the Food Bank

Contributions from individuals with unique perspectives to share. Hear from everyone, from experts and commentators to those whose voices are often marginalized.

VOICES & OPINION

China’s tech hub has developed a discreet, high-tech system where vulnerable residents can pick up free groceries. Now, it faces a tougher task: building a steadier pipeline of donations by giving companies more reason to participate.

Li Xueshi

Why China’s Young Urbanites Are Ditching Cities for Villages

Translations, cross-publications, and collaborative projects from Sixth Tone’s external partners. 

SIXTH TONE ×

A youth-led design studio is putting progress before profit to help transform the fortunes of an ancient Chinese village.

Original (Jiefang Daily)

New Chinese Study Links City Childhood to Early Puberty in Girls 

Based on brain scans and survey data from nearly 3,000 young women, researchers used age at first menstruation and personality tests to examine how urban childhood environments shape development.

Chen Yiru

China’s Security Guards Live Lives on the Margin

The demand for security guards is so high in Chinese cities that anyone can become one. As a result, the job has become a low-status last resort for migrant men.

He Wapi

The Class Anxieties Behind China’s Millions of Security Guards

The vast majority of Chinese urban homes are inside gated communities. Once, residents feared crime. But now, they fear something else.

Eat, Pay, Love: Dining With Strangers Is China’s New Social Fix

Algorithm-matched dinners with strangers have proliferated in some of China’s biggest cities, as participants pay to make friends, explore their surroundings, and try to escape the mundanity of daily life.

Feng Jingyi

Street Theater: How ‘Chengguan’ and Vendors Play Their Roles

A researcher focusing on China’s urban management officers, or “chengguan,” explores their catch-and-release relationship with errant traders.

Lü Dewen

The Last Tokens

Visual stories that get up close and personal with contemporary China. A mix of short videos, documentaries, photography, and data visualization.

MULTIMEDIA

As Shenyang’s youth fades into memory and nostalgia, Xu Shouzhong’s arcade lives on.

Wu Huiyuan 

Watch Out: The Hidden Dangers of Kids’ Wearable Tech

Smartwatches are helping children make friends — but also exposing them to explicit and potentially dangerous content.

The Rise and Fall (and Rise?) of China’s ‘Wanghong Tower’

Once the “home of livestreaming,” the Regent International Center in Hangzhou has fallen on hard times. Investors hope a fresh tech wave will see it reign again.

The Icon of Chinese Urbanism Everyone Loves to Hate 

Go almost anywhere in China and you’ll see street after street of garish, bright-red signs. They’re widely derided as ugly and mass-produced, so why can’t cities get rid of them?

Cai Yineng

Dig This: Shanghai’s Coolest Hobby Gets Everyone’s Hands Dirty

From first dates to family trips, foraging is turning into a favorite low-cost way for young Chinese and old alike to connect offline.

He Qitong

Behind China’s Growth Numbers, a Nation Still Saving

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.

FEATURES

Despite steady growth and policy support, household data reveals high saving rates and persistent caution across regions and age groups.

Luo Yahan

How Liu Jiakun Became the Envy of Chinese Architects

The Pritzker Prize winner has always gone his own way.

You Xudong

Out of the Wreckage: A Crash Survivor’s Road to Recovery

Wang Hui was severely injured in a road accident that killed her husband and daughter. Unwilling to let that tragedy define her, she's now sharing the highs and lows of her long road back to health.

Oh! Youth (36Kr)

The Big Snip: The Men Making Vasectomies Go Viral in China

In a society where reproductive responsibility has long fallen on women, a growing number of Chinese men are sharing their vasectomy stories online, sparking long overdue conversations about masculinity and contraception.

In the Dark: The Grown-Up Kids Struggling With Depressed Parents

As awareness of mental health grows in China, children are discovering the difficulties in seeking help for aging parents with depression and anxiety.

China Wants Scooters to Slow Down. Will It Work?

New rules cap the maximum speed of scooters nationwide, but the focus on riders over drivers may not be entirely fair, says Shanghai urbanist Liu Yuanju.

Liu Yuanju

Inside the School Teaching Parents How to Parent

A controversial private education company in eastern China is offering courses on “smart parenting,” but are its students seeing results?