Footprints

Nestled in the mountains of southwest China's Guizhou Province, Zheng'an County has become the world's guitar capital – producing one out of every seven guitars around the globe. Amid the hum of factories and the rhythm of craftsmanship, a 25-year-old South Korean named Kim Jung-hun has found his place. As a sales manager for a South Korean guitar accessories company, Kim is embracing new opportunities in this guitar town.

Join us for an insightful conversation with Dato' Abdul Majid Ahmad Khan, a veteran Malaysian diplomat who spent 12 years in China. From serving as Malaysian Ambassador to China (1998-2005) to his current role leading the Malaysia-China Friendship Association, Dato' Majid has dedicated decades to fostering mutual understanding and collaboration between the two nations.

Joshua Dominick, affectionately known as "Lao Tan" in Chinese, has spent more than two decades in Beijing. Originally from the U.S., Josh speaks fluent Chinese and has become a familiar face in the local community. In 2013, he founded Krankin' Thru China, an organization dedicated to empowering individuals with disabilities to engage in outdoor sports across the country.

For Luo Dingjun, traveling between Taiwan and the Chinese mainland has become second nature. Born and raised in Taipei, the 37-year-old has built a life in Shenyang, a vibrant city in northeast China's Liaoning Province. As the founder of the WeChat Official Account "Cross-Strait Youths," Luo has spent over a decade fostering connections and understanding between people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.

Known as the world's capital of small commodities, Yiwu in eastern China attracts hundreds of thousands of sellers and buyers from home and abroad every day. Harold Mori, a young Peruvian man, is one of them. In this podcast, Mori shares his story of how he started his trading business from scratch right here in Yiwu.

She came to China to study but ended up building a home, a thriving career and so much more. Meet Nguyen Thi Lan, a Vietnamese entrepreneur who has spent over a decade in Chongqing, southwest China. From navigating student life to launching two successful businesses, she has embraced the energy of this dynamic "Mountain City." Now, as the leader of the Vietnamese Association in Chongqing-Sichuan, she's helping fellow Vietnamese expats find their place in this vibrant community.

A healer by day, a warrior by night – can these two worlds coexist? For Shi Ming, they don't just coexist – they collide. The 30-year-old is both a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) practitioner and an MMA fighter. In November 2024, she stunned the world with a crushing head kick at the Road to UFC finals, sending the crowd into a frenzy. What drives her to both heal and conquer? How does she balance these two lives?

On the tranquil shores of Lugu Lake in southwestern China live the Mosuo people, an ethnic group known for their matrilineal traditions. Right by the lake, in a village called Daluoshui in Lijiang, Yunnan Province, stands a modest yet remarkable museum dedicated to preserving this vibrant culture. Founded by two locals in the late 1990s, the Mosuo Folk Museum struggled for years to survive until a young outsider arrived to make a difference…

Zafar Uddin Mahmood, former Special Assistant to the Prime Minister of Pakistan and President of the Pakistan-based initiative Understanding China Forum, first came to China in the 1970s and spent decades here as a diplomat. Having personally witnessed China’s reform and opening-up from the late 1970s onward, he offers his perspective on why understanding China matters not only to Pakistan but also to the wider world.

​Li Qiuyi is a leading railway engineer whose innovative work has been instrumental in shaping China's world-class high-speed rail network. He has overcome great technical barriers, such as designing seamless points on bridges, enabling trains to maintain high speeds safely and smoothly. Today, Li continues to pioneer intelligent and sustainable rail technologies, driving China's rail industry into the future.