Acrobats, Tai Chi, Kids: What Makes a Chinese Opening Ceremony?
From celebrations of workers at the 1959 National Games to vast displays of technological prowess during this year’s Asian Games, China’s opening ceremonies have evolved dramatically over time
30 Years of Choosing College Majors in China
How did Chinese students earn the right to choose their own majors, and how did the most popular choices evolve over time?
How the Whampoa Academy Gave Birth to Famous Enemies in Chinese Political History
Founded on June 16, 1924, China’s first modern military academy aimed to reunite a divided nation. It didn’t quite work out that way.
Backpedaling the History of Bicycles in China
The story of the two-wheeler’s rise and fall—and comeback—in the “Kingdom of Bicycles”
Remembering the Deadliest Bridge on the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway
A spectacular 115-year-old railway bridge in Yunnan province stands as a reminder of the Chinese workers who died in its construction
How the TV Stole Spring Festival
First airing live in 1983, CCTV’s Spring Festival Gala didn’t just change TV—it changed the way China celebrates the Lunar New Year
How Did China End Up Celebrating Two New Years?
In the early 20th century, China tried to ban its millennia-old lunar calendar in the name of modernity—with mixed success
The Vanished Villages of Fujian and Qinling
Two villages allegedly disappeared overnight in the last century: Where did they go? Did they even exist?
The Traveling Projectionists Who Brought Entertainment to Farmers
Zhao Jishan, “the movie man,” spent years dragging a mobile cinema through rural China to bring entertainment to the villages
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