Learning to Fly: How a Jurassic Fossil Decodes the History of Flight

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

Q & A

Paleontologist Wang Min on the luck, science, and persistence behind a groundbreaking find.

Jiang Xinyi

When Beijing Was China’s Most International City 

A newly translated book explores how international residents have shaped and recorded life in China’s ancient capital for hundreds of years.

Wu Haiyun

Meet Ms. Hu: She Built a Garden From Chongqing’s Discarded Past

Pan Zhiqi’s award-winning documentary “Ms. Hu’s Garden” follows one woman’s decadelong effort to preserve her neighborhood’s history amid Chongqing’s rapid redevelopment — creating a sanctuary from scrap and memory.

Mathew Scott

Exploring China Studies and Research in Europe Today

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

SIXTH TONE ×

Ahead of the World Dialogue on China Studies: Belgium Forum, Chinese scholars Zhou Wu and Li Bozhong sat to discuss the state of Chinese studies in Europe today and the importance of cross-cultural cooperation between the two regions.

The Paper

Wu Yanni: The Trials and Triumphs of China’s Star Athlete

China’s top female hurdler, who has won praise and criticism for her outlandish style and performances on the track, talks about injuries, the Olympics, and coping with pressure.

How a New Play Reimagines Rural Hunan for the Modern Stage

In the new stage adaptation of the iconic 1934 novel “The Border Town,” Israeli director Ruth Kanner transforms actors into narrators and the audience into participants.

Fan Yiying

A New History of the Chinese Zodiac 

Horses, pigs, goats, and oxen all played crucial, if largely forgotten, roles in the development of early Chinese civilization. Now, a leading zooarchaeologist is trying to piece that history back together, one bone at a time.

The Historian Rewriting China’s Understanding of the World

Qian Chengdan is one of China’s best-known historians. In a new book, he and his team attempt to produce a comprehensive Marxist history of the world.

Witches and ‘Poisonous Cats’: A Scholar’s Search for Society’s Scapegoats

Wang Mingke has spent his life studying marginalized communities in China’s far west. That work has helped him better understand everything from anti-Asian hate to social media polarization.

Peter Hessler’s World of Words

The acclaimed author on generations, his approach to writing, and how China has changed since the 1990s.

Xue Yongle

The Making of Yunnan

Historian Yang Bin shares his thoughts on Yunnanese history, his unique approach to the region, and how border areas shape a state.

A Key Plank of China’s Planned Economy Is Making a Comeback. Why?

The revival of grassroots supply and marketing cooperatives has raised fears of a backslide. But the real reason for their return has gone largely ignored.

Cai Yineng

A Woman of No Significance

When historian Luo Xin began experimenting with “microhistory,” his colleagues were dismissive. Then his biography of a fifth century palace maid became one of the biggest books of 2022.

Digging Into the Shang Dynasty’s Empire of Bones

For centuries, the rulers of China’s first dynasty practiced a brutal form of human sacrifice. What did it mean? And more importantly, why did they stop?

China’s Dejected Youth Find a New Anti-Hero: a ‘Trashy’ Wannabe Rapper

Aspiring hip-hop star Big Sponge has few fans, fewer friends, and so little money that he has to collect recycling waste to make some extra cash. But his story — captured in the award-winning film “Trashy Boy” — has resonated with disaffected young Chinese.

Yuan Ye

Is Confucius Really Dead?

Sociologist Zhao Dingxin, author of “The Confucian-Legalist State,” on the demise of Confucianism, the resilience of Legalism, and the structural sources of individual power.

‘Seeing the Yellow River as a Whole’: A Conversation With Ruth Mostern

The historian discusses her book on China’s imperial water management and how its insights relate to the present.

China Dialogue

Recovering the Forgotten History of China’s Constitution

For legal scholar Tian Lei, the past is preamble.

Documenting Life Inside a ‘China-Africa Factory’

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

VOICES & OPINION

Director Zhang Yong on his documentary “Bobby’s Factory” and challenging stereotypes about Chinese-African relations.

Flair Donglai Shi

How the Lockdown Is Remaking Shanghai Neighborhoods

Sociologist Sun Zhe has studied Shanghai community organizations for over a decade. He believes the ramifications of the current lockdown will be felt far into the future.