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

VOICES & OPINION

Broad Tones

In the Age of AI, Is Chinese Opera Being Revived or Reduced?

As AI tools turn Chinese opera into data, the art form is finding new audiences while risking the loss of what made it unique.

Gong Yan

Welcome to China, Elon Musk. His Chinese Doppelgänger Is Calling.

Chinese creators and influencers are pushing “shanzhai” — counterfeit culture — beyond simple imitation, using humor to make global power feel close enough to recognize, yet distant enough to keep politics at arm’s length.

Jin Yu

In China, the Middle-Class Home Aesthetic Is for Hire

A burgeoning industry sends professional organizers to clients’ homes to rearrange and declutter, all to achieve the perfect look.

Su Yihui

The Architecture of Creation and Demolition: Banksy, Zhang Dali, and China’s Living City 

A removed mural in Venice opens a broader debate about preservation, public space, and why Chinese cities often embrace change more readily than those in the West.

Andrea Baldini

How Emojis Have Become a Language Within a Language in China

Ever since emojis became part of everyday lexicon, the Chinese internet has been rife with wordplay and absurdist substitution. But are they bringing people together, or pushing them further apart?

Liu Yuli

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.

Wu Xiaoyan

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.

Wu Haiyun

The Dream of the ’90s Is Alive on the Chinese Internet

Chinese dreamcore plays on millennial nostalgia. Why is it so effective?

Pan Zhixin

In Europe, Chinese Retail Moves Beyond Cheap Goods

From same-day groceries to in-house delivery fleets, Chinese shopping apps are bringing Europe a faster, more integrated way to shop.

Rao Yichen

What Young Shanghainese Imagine Marriage Will Cost Them

Interviews found that fears of inequality, loneliness, sacrifice, and disappointment shape attitudes toward marriage as much as economic pressures do.