Feature

AI Hallucinates Flight Refund, Sparking Memes in China

Timely reports on issues and events from across China. Drawing on a vast range of sources, these succinct articles provide insights into the significance of each issue in a wider context.

NEWS

A chat log in which an AI assistant confidently presented a user with numerous inaccuracies has inspired a wave of AI hallucination spoofs, a growing trend in the country.

Jiang Xinyi

Flying Solo: The Rise of China’s One-Person Companies

Articles that cut to the core of contemporary China. In-depth, informed, and carefully crafted, every piece is carried by the voices of the story’s participants.

FEATURES

Thanks to AI, a new form of solo entrepreneurship has taken root, granting individuals the ability to perform tasks that once required many workers.

Li Xin

82 Dead, 128 Injured in Shanxi Mine Explosion

Domestic media reported that inaccuracies in tunnel maps, as well as a lack of personnel locators, impacted rescue efforts.

Chen Yiru

What Young Shanghainese Imagine Marriage Will Cost Them

Contributions from individuals with unique perspectives to share. Hear from everyone, from experts and commentators to those whose voices are often marginalized.

VOICES & OPINION

Interviews found that fears of inequality, loneliness, sacrifice, and disappointment shape attitudes toward marriage as much as economic pressures do.

Shen Yang

Snack Attack

20260526

Visitors browse a snack superstore in Changsha, Hunan province, May 23, 2026. The store spans more than 13,000 square meters. VCG

Record Label

DAILY TONES

DAILYTONE

China’s Top Phone Companies Launch Packages Covering AI Use

The plans offer millions of AI tokens per person for a fixed monthly price. Insiders say the packages’ main customers are government entities and state-owned enterprises.

Chinese Swimming Star in Hot Water Over Reality Show Conduct

Citing arguments with his wife and conflict with other cast members, netizens likened the Olympic swimmer to a toddler and called him a “mama’s boy.”

He Qitong

Ancient Teeth Link Chinese Hominins to Modern Humans

A team of researchers used a new, minimally invasive technique to sample the teeth from six Homo erectus fossils, establishing a framework for future evolutionary research on ancient fossils.

Before WeChat, There Were Qiaopi Writers

For decades, families relied on letter writers like Jiang Mingdian to stay connected with relatives abroad. At 77, he may be one of the last still working.

‘Unbelievably Accurate’: The Niche Dating Apps Sweeping China’s Colleges

China’s students are embracing highly exclusive “campus dating apps” that only match university classmates. But are they really the antidote to swipe fatigue?

Fan Yiying

Han Minge

The Life Project: Documenting the Chinese Woman Who Gave Birth at 60

Visual stories that get up close and personal with contemporary China. A mix of short videos, documentaries, photography, and data visualization.

MULTIMEDIA

Photographer Wu Fang reflects on 15 years and 20,000 photos capturing the life of a bereaved mother who gave birth to twins at 60.

Wu Huiyuan 

The Dog, the Drivers, and the Decision to Save Her

A stray dog has gone viral on Chinese social media after a group of local taxi drivers raised money for her surgery.

Lü Xiao

The Long Hunt for China’s Vanishing Elephant Slides

A photographer travels across the country documenting a little-noticed relic of mid-20th-century public space as it slowly vanishes.

Qi Ya

Why the World Cup No Longer Feels Guaranteed on Chinese TV

As FIFA demanded soaring broadcasting fees, many Chinese viewers began questioning whether the World Cup still holds the same cultural and commercial value it once did.

Kong Degang

The Resurgence of “Legitimate vs. Illegitimate” Narratives in Online Fiction

The tension between inherited status and personal initiative drives modern online narratives.

Jin Fangting

Before We Vanish: The Painter Preserving Shanghai’s Old Buildings

Translations, cross-publications, and collaborative projects from Sixth Tone’s external partners. 

SIXTH TONE ×

Amid rapid change, artist Hong Jian has ensured Shanghai’s distinct architecture and hidden stories are not forgotten.

Jiefang Daily

How Private Gardens Are Giving ‘Neglected’ Persimmon Trees a Fresh Start 

As social media fuels a growing passion for persimmon trees, wealthy urbanites in eastern China are paying thousands to ship prime specimens from distant villages.

The  Beijing News

Ten Years in Transition

SPECIAL PROJECTS

To mark its 10th anniversary, Sixth Tone looks back on the past decade through 10 stories documenting how people across China adapted to change.

Sixth Tone

Shanghai Sessions: Four Notes From a City in Swing

A brief history of the misfits, migrants, and mavericks who improvised a musical revolution.

The Lost Art of Chinese Purple

The nearly 3,000-year-old synthetic pigment’s invention has long been a mystery. Now, archaeologists think they’ve finally cracked the code.

Wu Haiyun

The Big Switch

China is producing EVs at an unprecedented scale, reshaping industries, economies, and daily life. Sixth Tone unpacks what’s working, what’s breaking down, and what’s next in a race that’s upending the global auto market.

The Secrets of the Shang

Sometimes called the “holy land” of Chinese archaeology, Yinxu remains a mystery even today.

6 Lives, 3 Years, and a Long Look at China’s Short-Video Era

Your questions, answered. In-depth interviews with the minds and makers shaping today’s China.

Q & A

Filmed over three years, “Nobody, But Somebody” follows young Chinese living outside the spotlight, capturing what it means to keep going in the face of uncertainty.

Our Water: Shanghai, London Exchange Cultural Currency

The latest news about Sixth Tone and announcements about its events, projects, and other initiatives.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

A coin exhibition, forum, and night of culinary fusion in London kick off the second season of Our Water, Shanghai’s river-themed cultural exchange program.

Our Water

When Big Tech Needed Mothers in Rural China to Train AI

China’s rural data-labeling centers relied on mothers who could work, care for children and hold households in place all at once. Now many of those same women are being judged unfit for the future of AI.

Wu Tongyu

An Indie Drama About Leaving China Finds an Audience at Home

A film about the life, traditions, and emotional landscape of the Chaoshan region in southern China has struck a chord with viewers for its moving portrayal of local culture and familial bonds.

China and FIFA Face Off Over World Cup Broadcast Rights

The football association asked for a record $250 million from the country’s state-owned TV broadcasting company, with negotiations failing to bring the price down to what the network deemed acceptable.

Behind China’s AI Boom Are Computer Rooms Full of Rural Workers

In the country’s less-developed hinterlands, labeling data to train AI models has become a poverty-alleviation tool.

Flex Appeal: A Shy Influencer’s Abs Leave China Thirsty for More

As rural content booms online, Lin Yangduo has gone viral promoting village tourism and local products with a formula that makes him deeply uncomfortable.