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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

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

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.

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.

Li Xin

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.

Cai Yineng

‘Just So Easy’: Why China’s Gen Z Prefers Credit Without the Card

Credit card ownership is plummeting across China, but young consumers are still borrowing, increasingly through food-delivery, shopping, and payment apps.

Fan Yiying

Xu Ruishuo

No Smoke Without Ire: China’s Campuses Struggle to Stub Out Cigarettes

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

SIXTH TONE ×

A lack of anti-smoking policies at Chinese universities is forcing students affected by secondhand smoke to suffer in silence — or take matters into their own hands.

The Paper

Remembering Gyirong: The Bustling Port That Vanished in a Flash

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)

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.

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.

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.”

Xiao Chuhan

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

Eating Less Reduced Breast Tumors in Mice, Chinese Study Finds

Mice subjected to three weeks of restricted caloric intake experienced a reduction in breast tumor size and number due to a newfound biological mechanism — potentially enhancing existing cancer therapies.

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.