Feature

No Team at the World Cup, China Rallies Around a Referee

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

Ma Ning, a veteran referee nicknamed “card master,” has become an unlikely celebrity in China, attracting sponsorship deals, viral memes, and millions of social media interactions.

Li Xin

Marrying at This Chinese University Comes With a Diamond Ring

The Harbin Institute of Technology has put on an annual wedding for doctoral students and their partner for over a decade. In recent years, participants have received lab-grown diamond rings.

Fan Yiying

Li Rongxuan

Why Young Chinese Are Flocking to Bathhouses

From students to working professionals, young Chinese are heading to 24-hour bathhouses for everything from relaxing escapes from reality to thesis writing sessions and corporate retreats.

Han Minge

Chinese Nature Reserve Stirs Debate for Requiring Tourists to Use Bus

The practice is commonly employed in scenic areas, which generate higher income by bundling entry and bus tickets.

Chen Yiru

Heads Up 

20260605

People photograph the exhaust trail of a Long March-6A rocket in Dongguan, Guangdong province, June 4, 2026. VCG

Family Matters

On Ignoring the Noise

DAILY TONES

DAILYTONE

China’s Internet Finds Its Mascot: A Tired Opossum

A picture of the animal, known for playing dead, has been spreading online, with users attaching captions riffing on life’s hardships.

Jiang Xinyi

Yang Yang

How a Rare Bird Stopped a Highway Project in South China

The road was planned to cut through a critical spoon-billed sandpiper habitat. By first organizing online, and then taking action offline, amateur activists halted its construction.

Shenzhen Lets Homeowners Call the Shots on Redevelopment

Faced with needing to raise investments for demolition and construction, cities like Shenzhen have begun exploring ways for homeowners to redesign aging structures themselves.

He Qitong

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.

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.

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

What China’s ‘Drama Girls’ Really Want

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

VOICES & OPINION

The young women powering the country’s musical theater boom are often dismissed as irrational fans, but their behavior reflects deeper changes in how a generation seeks meaning, intimacy, and escape.

Wu Xiaoyan

Keep Drawing Your 0.5-Yuan Masterpieces, Kid

In a world still in awe of artificial intelligence, the best power we have is our urge to create and connect.

Wu Haiyun

Boy in the Frame: The Chinese Filmmaker Who Captured Luigi Mangione

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

SIXTH TONE ×

A documentary director who set out to explore the lives of Chinese and American teens revisits unreleased footage of the murder suspect when he was 16.

Fir  Record

The Rage, Love, and Loneliness Behind China’s Toxic Sports Fandom

Shippers, solo stans, and spreadsheets — Chinese authorities step in as online attacks and arguments engulf the world of elite table tennis.

White Night Workshop

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.

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

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.

Handmade: Two Chinese Productions Go Viral for Skipping AI

The productions, made by two amateur teams using their own savings, have garnered hundreds of millions of views on domestic video platforms.

‘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?