China Stories

After decades of development and tear-downs, a new breed of model workers are helping Chinese recapture the long-gone countryside of their youth.Click here to read the article by Tomás Pinheiro.Narrated by Elyse Ribbons.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Yuanmingyuan had already been looted by foreign armies earlier in the month. But European powers wanted to further punish the Qing emperor, and so decided, in mid-October 1860, to set fire to the fabled "Garden of Eternal Brightness."Click here to read the article by James Carter.Narrated by Anthony Tao.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Wanggongchang Explosion continues to mystify historians almost 400 years later.Click here to read the article by Jeremiah Jenne.Narrated by Cliff Larsen.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Many Chinese parents believe it’s their duty to ensure their children conform to traditional beauty standards. That’s driving the rise of troubling — and, in some cases, potentially life-threatening — infant beauty products.Click here to read the article by Ni Dandan and Jiang Xinyi.Narrated by Sylvia Franke.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

How a gang led by Chen Lijun killed a dozen people in coal mines to collect death compensation payments from owners who wouldn’t report them to the authorities.Click here to read the article by Wang Heyan and Han Wei.Narrated by Kaiser Kuo.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

ByteDance has ditched IPO plans as its flagship global product struggles to turn a profit amid tightening regulations.Click here to read the article by Guan Cong and Han Wei.Narrated by Jenny McKenzie.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Months after recovery, some former Covid-19 patients struggle with job discrimination, dating stigma, and even separate testing queues.Click here to read the article by Shihuan Chen.Narrated by Kim Dalrymple.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Considered a Chinese Robin Hood by his followers and a “common pest” by his enemies — to say nothing of bandit, murderer — Bai Lang achieved notoriety and power during the early years of Republican Era China. He may have been the country’s last famous bandit.Click here tor read the article by James Carter.Narrated by John Darwin Van Fleet.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

China’s upcoming National Party Congress will be dominated by talk of grand narratives, strategies, and slogans. But in Wubu County, locals are focused on more down-to-earth matters.Click here to read the article by Wu Peiyue.Narrated by Sarah Kutulakos.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

How a 19th-century act of “corporate espionage” changed world history.Click here to read the article by Tyler Roney.Narrated by Cliff Larsen.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.