Fresh explainers, culture news, practical guides, and evergreen stories for readers who want to understand China with context.
Walk into the British Museum’s Room 33 and you will see a vitrine of pale blue-and-white plates, all dated 1330 to 1350. The cobalt-blue floral borders are nearly identical to the ones …
You walk into a coffee shop on Shanghai’s Anfu Road. On the menu, a flat white costs ¥38 and is named 醒狮 (lion dance, the wake-up lion). The cup …
Imagine this: you are a guest at a Chinese wedding. You want to look sharp, so you pull out your best white suit or dress. You walk in feeling great — …
In the hills of Yunnan, where terraced rice paddies climb the mountainsides and the nearest train station is a two-hour bus ride away, a small …
Chinese Education Culture: The Gaokao, Tiger Moms, and a Nation Obsessed with Learning Every June, China holds its breath. For two days, millions of …
Across China, centuries-old villages with cobblestone lanes, ancestral halls, and whitewashed houses are being carefully restored and opened to …
Ancient Chinese Papermaking: How Cai Lun’s Invention Transformed the World Before paper, Chinese scholars wrote on bamboo strips and silk. …
Lanzhou Lamian: The Hand-Pulled Noodle Craft That Defines a City In China, noodles are everywhere. But few noodle traditions command the same respect …
From Olympic Host to Winter Sports Capital: China’s Snow Economy Heats Up Four years after the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics transformed …
Chinese shadow puppetry, known as piyingxi (皮影戏, “leather shadow play”), is one of the oldest storytelling traditions in the world. Behind …
China’s Intangible Heritage Live Workshops: How Travelers Learn Clay Figurines, Paper Cutting, and Embroidery Hands-On In a sunlit courtyard in …