Cloud Country

2017 ISSUE 6

Cloud Country

From cashless payments to social rankings, the future is up in the air

From this issue

TRAVEL

Occupational Hazards

Red tape and reluctant tenants have closed some of China’s best historical buildings to the public

ANCIENT HISTORY

Court Confidential

China’s emperors were no strangers to the curse of bad data—and built their own secret system to avoid it

FICTION

The Girl Who Lives on Weibo | Short Story

A young woman with romantic aspirations finds solace in Weibo, where she makes a tragic realization about herself

FICTION

A Life in the Day | Short Story

A wife trapped in an abusive marriage seeks help—and makes a shocking discovery

CHINESE CHARACTERS

On the Character: 信

The importance of credibility has to be seen to be believed

SOCIAL CHINESE

Commercial Breakdown

Over the years, Chinese ads have gone from being childhood memories to memes and pop culture

ENVIRONMENT

Close Encounters with the Third Kind

Deep in the mountains of Yunnan, Stefan Schomann joins the local schoolteacher who helped discover a new species of ape

FOOD

Mouth of the Clouds

Once neglected in Chinese cookery, Yunnan food now thrives by emphasizing what other provinces lack

STREET TALK

Character Actors

Some of the most infamous Chinese TV character clichés, as defined by netizens

TECHNOLOGY

Credit Crunch

China’s “cashless society” will be developed from existing credit schemes—but how reliable are they?

TECHNOLOGY

Open Sesame

From shopping online to renting bikes, Chinese citizens are contributing to the fabric of their own supervision

BOOKS

Black, Blue, and Well Read

Literature’s 1980s golden age lives on in “Heilan”

TRADITIONAL CULTURE

Armband Army

Up close with China’s elderly “red band volunteers”

TRAVEL

Dream Factory

More than just a film lot, the vast Hengdian Studios embodies both a history of China and its future

FOOD

Bambooze

In the bamboo forests of Ningbo, distillers produce a notoriously delicious firewater

ARTS

The Writing on the Walls

Shenzhen’s Dafen village, once the world’s painting factory, faces redevelopment as an “art park.” But what will happen to its artists?

SOCIETY

A Family Affair

The show’s over for the father of China’s oddest subculture, the shamate

ARTS

Reflections in the Rearview

A landmark Chinese exhibition opens in New York

SOCIETY

Chinese Lessons in Havana

An aging Chinese Cuban community fights to preserve its Chinatown

TRAVEL

Flight Risk

Despite surging passenger numbers, airlines in China are struggling with delays, pilot shortages and declining profits

TRADITIONAL CULTURE

Never Say Die

Comedy troupe Kaixin Mahua return with a body-swap boxing comedy sure to tickle mainstream funny bones

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