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

Stuck in the Mud: Climate Chaos Deepens Divide on China’s Farmlands

Climate change is accelerating an uneven reshuffling of rural China, pushing smallholders out while only scaled-up farms can weather the uncertainty.

Jiang Xinyi

A Coffee of Exile and Memory Comes Home to Hainan

Created by Hainanese migrants in Southeast Asia, the brew returned with re-migrants in the 1950s. Now, a new generation is pushing it into the future.

Coral Yang

Crowd Control: Why China’s Marathon Boom Has Suddenly Hit the Brakes

Marathon organizers and runners across China face abrupt cancellations and new curbs, as officials rush to rein in a sport that expanded faster than it could be managed.

He Qitong

‘Huge Lesson’: A Beijing Farmer Learns to Live in Climate Extremes

As climate extremes grow across China, one farmer’s flooded fields outside Beijing show how quickly the country’s weather, and way of life, are being rewritten.

In Papua New Guinea, Young Chinese Migrants Begin a Quiet Second Act

For decades, Chinese migrants flocked to the resource-rich island to earn quick money and move on. Now, as China’s presence grows across the Pacific, a younger generation is choosing to stay.

Chen Yongyi

Fan Yiying

In China’s New Livestream Factories, Bodies, Data, and Dreams Collide

With idol reality shows off the air, group livestreams have filled the void, where dancers perform in rotating squads as viewers send gifts and even pay to control the show.

China’s Universities Bet on STEM. Arts Grads Bet on Themselves

With humanities programs shrinking and competition at record highs, China’s liberal arts grads are learning to code, mastering data skills, and racing to pivot in an economy increasingly shaped by STEM.

Living the Loop: The NPCs Bringing China’s Fantasy Parks to Life

In China’s booming immersive tourism industry, “non-playable characters” are thousands of young performers in costume, working marathon shifts of duels and dances to keep tourists entertained.

Exhausted and Alone, China’s Single Moms Are Moving in Together

China has nearly 30 million single mothers. Now, many are finding support by moving in together, splitting bills, sharing child care, and building households outside the traditional family model.

‘It was a Trap’: In China, Non-Competes Leave Workers in Limbo

Though intended to protect trade secrets, non-compete agreements are being forced on even low-level employees, stifling job mobility and career growth, experts say.