ENTERTAINMENT
Will Reality TV Save Chinese Stand-Up Comedy?
Why did comedy show “Rock & Roast” get famous—and will its popularity last?
Tv Shows
STREET TALK
A Viral Elegant Phrase to Lessen the Pain of Inequality
Instead of blaming themselves for their shortcomings, netizens are taking aim at the "unevenness of the world"
ENTERTAINMENT
Building Utopia Via Reality TV
New TV show '50km Taohuawu' tasks celebrities with constructing an ideal community—spoiler alert, they fail
TV
Sister Act
Hit talent show featuring ‘older’ women may not be feminist—but viewers are ready to forgive
TV
Love for Boys’ Love
Unrealistic portrayals of gay men in straight women’s fantasies raise questions for LGBT representation in media
TV
Five Most Typecast Chinese Actors
Besides unoriginal plots and characters, some Chinese shows even reuse actors
TV
Top Reality Show of 2018: Dunk of China
The smash-hit variety show combined basketball with pop culture to lure millions into watching
MUSIC
Dissing with Chinese Characteristics
In China’s regulated rap industry, dissing takes on patriotism, celeb-baiting, and other unique forms
ANCIENT HISTORY
Hair Razing
Two recent dramas offer new explanations to why the wife of Emperor Qianlong cut her hair—and got herself banished from court
SOCIETY
Kids Forever
Hunan TV’s reality shows spark debate on helicopter parents, stifled teens (and adults)
MUSIC
Against the Flow
“Rap of China” hopeful on why she refuses to conform in an increasingly stifled hip-hop industry
TV
Meteroic Flop
Netflix remake of beloved teen drama slammed for slavish devotion to “socialist values”
