2020 in Review

2020-in-review

Hindsight Is 2020: Looking Back on COVID-19, One Year Later

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

MULTIMEDIA

As the world reels from the effects of the pandemic, recently released data for over 11,000 confirmed coronavirus patients in China help tell the story of how it all began.

Sixth Tone

Here Are the Top Reads From China’s $5 Billion Online Literature Market

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

From romances and period dramas to coming-of-age tales and martial arts epics, here are the stories that hooked China’s e-bookworms in 2020.

Cai Xuejiao

Chen Qi’an

In Virus-Free Wuhan, Businesses Are Still Recovering

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

Local entrepreneurs say many companies remain closed more than half a year after the city’s lockdown ended.

Zhang Zizhu

The Plight of Wuhan’s Forgotten COVID-19 ‘Long-Haulers’

As 2021 begins, China is trying to move on from the coronavirus. But in the city where the outbreak began, some patients remain extremely sick — and uncertain how they’ll pay their growing medical bills.

Wang Lianzhang

Zhang Shiyu

Year in Rearview: Sixth Tone’s Top Stories of 2020

Recapping the past year with a list of our — and your — favorite news, features, commentaries, and visual stories.

Window Into Wuhan’s Wards: A Nurse’s Video Diary

For more than three months, she documented life, and love, inside her hospital.

Livestreaming’s Leap Year

Eight terms summarizing another colorful year in the world of Chinese livestreaming.

Kenrick Davis

China’s 2020 in Photos

A selection of the year’s best photos by Sixth Tone’s visual editors.

Ding Yining

Shi Yangkun

Qi Ya

Ahead of 2021 Divorce Restrictions, Chinese Couples Rush to Untie the Knot

Starting Jan. 1, a new law will require couples to observe a 30-day “cool-off period” before their separation is officially approved.

Zhang Wanqing

Drug Scheme Brings Relief to Pompe Disease Patients, but Not Enough

Lu Liang watched her brother die from the same rare condition she was born with. Even with a crucial drug now mostly covered by insurance, the cost to her family remains high.

Ni Dandan

Socially Dead Laborers of Versailles: China’s 2020 in Memes

From period-impoverished students to depressed music-lovers, Sixth Tone sums up the top online buzzwords from this best-forgotten year.