discrimination

Tea but No Sympathy: Top Chain Under Fire for Ad Shaming Workers

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 viral ad from bubble tea chain Good Me sparked outrage after showing workers apologizing for minor mistakes. The company was forced to apologize, and the video was quickly taken down.

Jiang Xinyi

A Food Courier’s Pursuit of Equal Treatment

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

SIXTH TONE ×

Delivery rider Liang Ningning filed a lawsuit after a Beijing residential community told him to use the “back entrance,” to highlight the everyday discrimination facing food and parcel couriers.

The Paper

Hainan Airlines To Ground ‘Overweight’ Cabin Crew, Sparks Outcry

While the airline claims it is prioritizing a “professional image,” its decision has sparked concerns about discrimination and employee rights.

Li Xin

Cathay Pacific Fires Cabin Crew for Mocking Non-English Speakers

A Chinese passenger posted an audio recording of the exchange on social media, prompting public outcry and official scrutiny.

Ye Zhanhang

BMW Hits a Rocky Road, Apologizes for Ice Cream ‘Discrimination’

At the Shanghai Auto Show, a viral video showed staff at BMW’s booth offering free ice cream to foreigners, while Chinese visitors were turned away.

It Was Rural China’s Top Mental Health Clinic. Then, It Disappeared.

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

In 2021, a Chinese hospital made national headlines after opening one of the country’s first rural psychiatric facilities. Months later, the clinic shut down under mysterious circumstances.

Ni Dandan

Older Chinese Are Willing to Work. But Finding Jobs Isn’t Easy.

Age-related discrimination is said to be a major factor for rejections.

Luo Meihan

He Can’t Find Work Due to Prior COVID Infection. He’s Not Alone.

Though authorities have warned against discriminatory hiring practices for people who have recovered from COVID, job seekers are skeptical.

Lü Xiao

Shanghai Job Ads Discriminate Against Applicants Who Had COVID

Some employers were found to be ruling out people once infected with the coronavirus or those who had worked at quarantine centers.

China’s CODA Share Their Stories 

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

VOICES & OPINION

Long marginalized by mainstream society, children of deaf adults, or CODA, are building a community of their own.

Zheng Xuan

‘I Was Called Sissy’: His Last Words Warned of Trauma From Bullying 

Photographer Zhou Peng shared a heartfelt note on social media before disappearing.

Fan Yiying

Zhu Ruiying

How China’s Elderly Built an Internet of Their Own

It’s time to stop thinking of older internet users as outsiders in digital spaces.

Jiang Qiaolei

At Shanghai Job Fair, Advocates Call for More LGBT Inclusion

A new survey revealed that the majority of the respondents were dissatisfied with their company’s policies on diversity.

Zhang Wanqing

Winifred Wang

Couple Calls Out Guangzhou Zoo Over Homophobic Ticketing Policy

A woman says the safari park would not recognize her same-sex relationship and refused to sell her and her partner a “couples ticket.”

The Big Short: How Height Discrimination Hurts Chinese Men

China’s Post-2000 generation is the tallest in East Asia. For some, that’s still not tall enough.

Guyu Data

China Needs Less Prudish, More Prudent Approach to Sexual Content

There can be a fine line between sexual and sexist content, but regulators are all too eager to ban the former, often for reasons that have little to do with gender equality.

Chen Yaya

Documentary ‘Rollercoaster Riders’ Announced on World Bipolar Day

A new trailer for the forthcoming film shows how mood disorders — little understood and highly stigmatized in China — affect the lives of 42 people.

Zhang Shiyu

Student Bullied for Being Gay Says School Suggested He Drop Out

A vocational high school in Beijing has said it is investigating the student’s claims.

The Broadway Show Trying to Change China’s Tune on Mental Illness

With a Mandarin script and revamped set, the Tony Award-winning musical “Next to Normal,” about a woman living with bipolar disorder, is set to tour in Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangzhou.

China Limits Schools, Majors That Can Refuse Women

The country’s education ministry says most schools and study programs, apart from some related to public security and the military, may no longer set gender-based admissions requirements, but campaigners argue this doesn’t go far enough.