Feature

Death Becomes Her: China’s New Hit Game Finds Fans in Failure

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

A live-action game about China’s only female emperor is finding devoted fans among people who have never played it themselves. Instead, they watch streamers struggle, die, and try again.

He Qitong

Gaokao Results Trigger Wave of College Admissions Scams

Worried that their children may not apply to the right schools, parents are enlisting application consultants for help — and getting scammed.

Fan Yiying

Li Rongxuan

Poultry Returns: Botanist Fights Off the Desert With 50,000 Chickens

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

SIXTH TONE ×

While studying degraded grasslands in northern China, one scientist started keeping chickens — and discovered a secret weapon against desertification.

Li Yonggeng

Between Two Needles

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

A retired oncologist opened a garment workshop above his Guangzhou dialysis clinic to employ kidney patients who had struggled to find work elsewhere. The factory provides income, routine, and community, but its future remains tied to the treatment that keeps its workers alive.

Jiang Xinyi

Heat Wave

20290629

People flock to Beijing’s Liangma River in boats and inflatable floats as temperatures climbed to 34 degrees Celsius, June 28, 2026. Kevin Frayer/Getty Images/VCG

Intercepted

DAILY TONES

DAILYTONE

Hit Chinese Otome Game’s Werewolf Is Too Scary, Fans Say

The game’s developer believed a rugged, muscular werewolf could become its next virtual heartthrob. Many players, however, disagree.

Li Xin

Liu Haowen

Floods Hit Northwest and Southern China After Record Rainfall

As extreme weather events continue to rise, experts warn that the return of El Niño may partly be to blame.

Student Sues Chinese Airline After 10-Minute Flight Change

The 19-year-old said he believed the flight change policy was unfair to customers, who have to bear the burden of changes in departure times, while airlines face no cost.

Chen Yiru

Flying Solo: The Rise of China’s One-Person Companies

Thanks to AI, a new form of solo entrepreneurship has taken root, granting individuals the ability to perform tasks that once required many workers.

Before WeChat, There Were Qiaopi Writers

For decades, families relied on letter writers like Jiang Mingdian to stay connected with relatives abroad. At 77, he may be one of the last still working.

Through the Eyes of Shop Cats

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

MULTIMEDIA

For a decade, Dutch photographer Marcel Heijnen has documented China’s shop cats — and the neighborhoods fading alongside them.

Wu Huiyuan 

The Life Project: Documenting the Chinese Woman Who Gave Birth at 60

Photographer Wu Fang reflects on 15 years and 20,000 photos capturing the life of a bereaved mother who gave birth to twins at 60.

The Dog, the Drivers, and the Decision to Save Her

A stray dog has gone viral on Chinese social media after a group of local taxi drivers raised money for her surgery.

Lü Xiao

When It Comes to Football, a Huge Population Doesn’t Help

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

VOICES & OPINION

A demographic theory argues that, contrary to what you might think, having many millions of people might make it harder to find 11 world-beating football players.

Li Ting

Deep in the Mountains of Yunnan, China’s Best Ham Stays Hidden

The artisanal process behind Nuodeng ham, which depends on brine wells that have long been a source of salt far from the sea, resists marketization.

Wang Huimin

A Privet Matter: Why a Farmer Hacked Down China’s ‘Lonely’ Tree

When a social media trend ruined her crops, one villager grabbed an axe and decided to do something about it.

The  Beijing News

Fatal Crossing: China’s Villagers Risking Their Lives for Seasonal Work

Flooded roads, surging rivers, overcrowded vehicles — the drowning of 10 casual laborers in southern China reveals dangerous work practices.

The Paper

Ten Years in Transition

SPECIAL PROJECTS

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

Shanghai Sessions: Four Notes From a City in Swing

A brief history of the misfits, migrants, and mavericks who improvised a musical revolution.

The Lost Art of Chinese Purple

The nearly 3,000-year-old synthetic pigment’s invention has long been a mystery. Now, archaeologists think they’ve finally cracked the code.

Wu Haiyun

The Big Switch

China is producing EVs at an unprecedented scale, reshaping industries, economies, and daily life. Sixth Tone unpacks what’s working, what’s breaking down, and what’s next in a race that’s upending the global auto market.

The Secrets of the Shang

Sometimes called the “holy land” of Chinese archaeology, Yinxu remains a mystery even today.

A Yunnan Lake, Three Generations, and the Director in Between

Your questions, answered. In-depth interviews with the minds and makers shaping today’s China.

Q & A

Sixth Tone sits down with the director for an interview about how his life, and in particular, his relationship with his grandfather, helped shape the internationally acclaimed film.

Our Water: Shanghai, London Exchange Cultural Currency

The latest news about Sixth Tone and announcements about its events, projects, and other initiatives.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

A coin exhibition, forum, and night of culinary fusion in London kick off the second season of Our Water, Shanghai’s river-themed cultural exchange program.

Our Water

China’s Internet Finds Its Mascot: A Tired Opossum

A picture of the animal, known for playing dead, has been spreading online, with users attaching captions riffing on life’s hardships.

Yang Yang

China’s Lifelike Emotional Companion Bots Go on Sale

The life-size robot is billed as an emotional companion, employing both affective AI and encrypted memory storage.

Keep Drawing Your 0.5-Yuan Masterpieces, Kid

In a world still in awe of artificial intelligence, the best power we have is our urge to create and connect.

No Team at the World Cup, China Rallies Around a Referee

Ma Ning, a veteran referee nicknamed “card master,” has become an unlikely celebrity in China, attracting sponsorship deals, viral memes, and millions of social media interactions.

What China’s ‘Drama Girls’ Really Want

The young women powering the country’s musical theater boom are often dismissed as irrational fans, but their behavior reflects deeper changes in how a generation seeks meaning, intimacy, and escape.