Footprints

A space photographer, an astronomer-turned-influencer, a science writer and a programmer… The list goes on as we struggle to find the most appropriate way to introduce Liu Boyang, who has awed the country for “stalking” and capturing every important moment of the developing Tiangong Space Station. In this episode of Footprints, you’ll hear the story of a stargazer, who tirelessly explores every possibility to show people why we need to appreciate the starry sky and learn about space and the universe.

Footprints presents "The Incredibles" where you will meet ordinary but incredible individuals. Based on traditional Chinese thinking, our body is received as a gift from parents, and should not be damaged even after death. But for organ donation coordinators like Liu Yuan, doing their job is to walk against this belief. In this episode, Liu Yuan discloses on how he and his team push forward China's development in the cause of organ donation and transplants.

​Forty-four-year-old Mao Mingrui is a Beijing-based professional solving the problems occurring in public spaces within a city—traffic jams, poorly-designed or badly-maintained roads, street noise, and so on. Since 2016, he, calling himself “a city doctor”, has been leading a team which aims to create a better city environment using modern technologies.

30-year-old Xiao Jia is China’s first blind make-up artist. ‘Seeing’ and creating beauty herself, she makes it possible to live a life without limits, and her story is a challenge to people's preconceptions of the visually impaired.

With the boom in e-commerce, online reading and audio books, some say the future of brick-and-mortar bookstores looks bleak. A young Chinese bookseller, however, believes otherwise. By tapping into a niche market, she has managed to grow her business in the past decade and attracted many loyal customers. In this episode of Footprints, we’ll take you to a hidden-gem specialty bookstore in Beijing to meet its manager, Hong Xia, who has succeeded in beating all the odds to keep a physical bookstore alive.

Footprints presents "The Incredibles" where you will meet ordinary but incredible individuals. Wang Xuetao is the boss of a Beijing-based interior decoration company. In this episode, she shares with us how she became a house renovation contractor in an industry mostly dominated by men.

​Thirty-nine year old Lin Yaping runs a family farm based in a suburb of the city of Suzhou in eastern China, growing strawberries, corn and other kinds of fruit and vegetables. Describing herself as a new generation of farmers, the university-educated woman has overcome one obstacle after another to shatter long-standing stereotypes about farming and farmers in China.

More than a decade ago, Chen Jianxing quit his job as a diplomat. With a childhood dream of becoming friends with lions and cheetahs, he has since then chosen to devote himself to wildlife protection and ecosystem conservation in Africa. As the first Tanzania National Parks China Representative, Chen Jianxing hopes to challenge the stereotype many people in the West hold against China so that the world can understand China better through its efforts to protect the ecological environment.

More than a decade ago Chen Jianxing quit his job as a diplomat. Since then, he has devoted himself to wildlife protection and ecosystem conservation in Africa. For his life journey as the “green hills of Africa”, and for more stories on average but incredible Chinese people, please search for “Footprints” on your favorite podcast platforms.

​Hilda Mandigo is a Zimbabwean media professional and TV show host in the Chinese capital Beijing. Her work entails bridging the gaps in familiarity between China and her country, along with others in Africa. Lighthearted and charismatic, Hilda’s story inspires optimism, humor and resilience to those looking to take on new challenges in life, no matter how daunting they may be.