Feature

Two Filmmakers, 1,100 Villages, and a Race to Record Rural China

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

After once leaving rural China behind, two filmmakers returned to document the farmers and workers whose stories are fading from view as the countryside changes.

Jiang Xinyi

Can VR Capture the Power of China’s Ancient Caves?

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

VOICES & OPINION

At Dunhuang, new technologies are opening up the Mogao Grottoes while helping protect the fragile art that has survived there for more than a thousand years.

Chen Xi

China Gives Schools More Flexibility as Enrollment Shrinks

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

Multiple cities are opening schools that combine educational levels and offer flexible enrollment models to counter falling primary school numbers.

He Qitong

Remembering Gyirong: The Bustling Port That Vanished in a Flash

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

SIXTH TONE ×

Frequent visitors to the China-Nepal border crossing wait anxiously for signs of life as rescuers search for those missing in the Aug. 26 mudslide.

Original (Jiefang Daily)

Gourd Crowd

20260904

Visitors photograph a balcony where seven gourds grown by a 75-year-old resident have become an unlikely tourist attraction in Shaoxing, Zhejiang province, Sept. 3, 2026. VCG

Looking Better

China’s Chatbot Users Are Grieving the Loss of Their AI Partners

After a central government policy that banned AI services “that lead to emotional dependence” went into effect in July, some users say they feel an “emotional void.”

DAILY TONES

DAILYTONE

Scammers Are Targeting China’s Content Creators for Ransoms

The practice, known as “account striking,” targets short-video creators, falsely accusing them of platform violations to extract ransoms.

Fan Yiying

China Pushes for Homes to Be Completed Before They’re Sold

Top government regulators across multiple industries have issued policies encouraging the sale of finished homes in response to recent shifts in the housing market.

Li Xin

Xiao Chuhan

Inside the Chinese AI Studio Shrinking Short-Drama Crews to One

Former animators, cinematographers, and VFX artists are helping build AI systems that can script, storyboard, generate, and revise short dramas with unprecedented speed.

China’s Short-Drama Boom Was Built on Speed. Then AI Got Faster.

AI-powered production is upending China’s ultrashorts market, cutting shoots, budgets, and specialized crew work while forcing companies to find cheaper ways to keep live-action production viable.

Inside China’s Shift From Short-Drama Sets to AI Factories

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

MULTIMEDIA

Lü Xiao

Between Two Needles: The Chinese Garment Factory Built Around Dialysis

Wu Huiyuan 

Through the Eyes of Shop Cats

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

Chinese Cinema Turns Its Lens Outward

“Once Upon a Time in the Middle East” is something new in China: a film about the outside world that treats its location as more than just a backdrop.

Wu Haiyun

Behind China’s Unlikely Box-Office Hit, Indie Filmmakers Struggle to Be Seen

The amateur-made “Niu Lai” found an audience against the odds. Thousands of other low-budget Chinese films never get the same chance.

Cai Yineng

Eye of the Storm: Viral Podcaster Breaks Silence Over Plagiarism Scandal

A Chinese podcaster famed for grilling filmmaker Christopher Nolan takes shelter from claims she lifts content from overseas sources.

Jiefang Daily

Cold Comfort: What Europe’s Heat Wave Means for Chinese Factories

As summer heat waves send global orders for cooling solutions soaring, one Suzhou plant shows how China’s SMEs are absorbing the pressure.

White Night Workshop

The Many Lives of Chaoshan

SPECIAL PROJECTS

Once known mainly for its merchants and overseas networks, Chaoshan is back in the spotlight. This series examines how the region’s past and present offer insights into modern China.

Sixth Tone

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.

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.

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.

China Before the Infinite Camera Roll

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

Q & A

Thomas Sauvin’s archive of discarded family negatives captures an era when 36 photos could document years of birthdays, travel, and everyday life.

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

Video Game Accounts Can Be Inherited, Chinese Court Rules

The case marks a major instance of a domestic court ruling that game accounts can be inherited, overriding user agreements with gaming companies.

After Nolan Interview Fame, Chinese Scholar Accused of Plagiarism

Zhuge Yiyang was catapulted to international academic stardom for her viral interview with Christopher Nolan. Now, Chinese social media users say they’ve found evidence she plagiarized others’ works.

The Chinese Factory Town Betting on America’s Mahjong Boom

In an aging mahjong manufacturing hub, factories are redesigning tiles, expanding exports, and racing to meet a sudden wave of American demand.

Chen Yiru

A Chef Caught in a Middle East War Is China’s Latest Hit

“Once Upon a Time in the Middle East,” one of China’s top-grossing films this summer, centers on a Chinese restaurant owner who saves local orphans during a war in the region.