entertainment

Flex Appeal: A Shy Influencer’s Abs Leave China Thirsty for More

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

As rural content booms online, Lin Yangduo has gone viral promoting village tourism and local products with a formula that makes him deeply uncomfortable.

He Qitong

China’s Latest Season of ‘Ride the Wind’ Goes Viral Due to Poor Performances, Drama

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

Marketed as a platform for female empowerment, the show casts famous women to compete to become part of a girl group. But its latest season is trending for different reasons.

The Decade Comedy in China Grew Up, Seen From a Stage in Kunming

As stand-up spread beyond the big metros, one club in Kunming shows how comedians turned punchlines into careers, and learned where the line is.

Fan Yiying

The Internet Café Never Really Died in China. Now It’s Booming.

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

SIXTH TONE ×

China’s internet café revival reflects a broader consumer shift toward affordable, high-quality shared experiences amid economic caution.

Baobian News

The Simple Trick Behind China’s VR Boom: Walking

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

VOICES & OPINION

By relying on the most basic of human activities — walking — immersive VR experiences in China have created a major new form of entertainment.

Kong Degang

China Moves to Protect Child Actors in Viral Short Dramas

Children have become central to the ultrashort drama industry, with public concerns rising about long hours and the dissonance between dramatic themes and children’s lived experiences.

Chen Yiru

A Rural Mother’s Unfiltered Rage Gives Chinese Comedy Its Edge

By crafting punchlines from pain, breakout comedy star Fang Shaoli has tapped into the silent angst of many middle-aged Chinese women.

The  Beijing News

Virtual Reality Is Taking Off in China — as Immersive Shows

Hundreds of VR experiences have launched across the country, allowing visitors to go back in time, visit faraway places, or join the action of their favorite movies.

Huang Wei

Act Your Age? Chinese Dramas Thrust Preschoolers Into Adult Roles

With children central to many ultrashort dramas, young actors are enduring grueling schedules to shoot scripts far beyond their understanding.

The Paper

What Sultan’s Game Reveals About Chinese Players

Since its release in March, Sultan’s Game has been taking Chinese players by storm. Yet amid the moral quandaries, chaotic evil choices, sex, and violence posed by the game, it is a microcosm of how traditional culture shapes the choices we make.

Chen Silin

Fast, Cheap, Stolen: The Plagiarism Behind China’s Short Drama Boom

As studios rush to feed China’s short-drama craze, web novel writers say their work is being taken, rewritten, and sold without consent or credit.

Li Xin

The Precarious Rise of Female Comedians in China

On China’s biggest stand-up comedy shows, 2025 has been a breakout year for women. But it’s more a story of economics, not equality.

Teng Wei

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.

How a Historical Fantasy Game Nearly Broke the Chinese Internet

Wuchang: Fallen Feathers was slated to be the next Black Myth: Wukong. Instead, it stoked controversy, revealing deep-set rifts in player-creator dynamics and questions about cultural identity.

Script Change: The Writers Trading Movie Dreams for Bite-Size Dramas

As China’s ultrashort TV series find fans in the U.S., bilingual screenwriters are in high demand in Hollywood — it’s just not the dream job they’d imagined.

Original (Jiefang Daily)

Standup Stands Out: The Comedian Leaning Into Her Grudges

Wang Dadao, who made a splash with jokes about everyday sexual harassment, shares the origins of her unorthodox comedy style and the struggles that keep her striving.

Oh! Youth (36Kr)

‘Nobody’ Wins Alone: Four Misfits Conquer China’s Box Office

The four antiheroes of new animated film “Nobody” follow in the footsteps of the cast of “Journey to the West,” striking a chord with the country’s downtrodden workers.

The Unlikely Global Rise of Chinese Rapper Lanlao

Few Chinese rappers have successfully adapted American hip-hop while keeping their songs authentically Chinese. Lanlao has, and his songs of small-town hustlers are reaching a global audience.

Tropi Kara

“No”: The Magic Word in a Viral Chinese AI Remake of Snow White

A dark AI‑crafted retelling of the Disney classic by Beijing-based screenwriter Wen Jing has captivated millions on social media, sparking debate over women’s roles in fairy tales and modern society.

For ‘Duobaowen’ Web Novels, the Absurdity Is the Point

Sometimes scorned as “sow literature,” the duobaowen trope in web novels paints a profound picture of new readerships, class divides, and the power of the consumer.