family

Balancing Act: Can ‘Mom Jobs’ Help China’s Women Have It All?

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

Flexible-hour jobs are allowing more mothers to juggle work and childcare, but with most positions in low-skilled sectors, there’s a risk of only reinforcing gender roles.

Fan Yiying

Yang  Yuchen

Married Chinese Women Are Buying Their Own Homes. Why?

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

VOICES & OPINION

In search of security, women and their families are increasingly buying homes for themselves before or during marriage.

Ji Yingchun

The Exhausting Lives of China’s ‘Mompreneurs’ 

They may seem to have it all, but even outwardly successful women shoulder an almost impossible workload.

Pei Yuxin

Out of the Wreckage: A Crash Survivor’s Road to Recovery

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

SIXTH TONE ×

Wang Hui was severely injured in a road accident that killed her husband and daughter. Unwilling to let that tragedy define her, she's now sharing the highs and lows of her long road back to health.

Oh! Youth (36Kr)

In Diaries, Daughter Finds Mosaic of Her Late Mother

Through articles, diaries, and the memories of others, a woman is piecing together the life of the mother she lost as a child.

White Night Workshop

In the Dark: The Grown-Up Kids Struggling With Depressed Parents

As awareness of mental health grows in China, children are discovering the difficulties in seeking help for aging parents with depression and anxiety.

Beyond the Stigma: Chinese Single Mothers Redefining Family Success

Research shows children from single-mother households perform equally well as those from dual-parent families, debunking negative stereotypes.

The Paper

Factory Reset: A New Generation Races to Save China’s Family Businesses

Across China, family-run factories are passing to a new generation on an unprecedented scale. Can they overcome e-commerce challenges, rising costs, and family pressures to reshape their businesses for the future?

He Qitong

What Drives China’s Helicopter Parents?

The author, a sociologist, on the real reasons for the rise of China’s ultracompetitive “chicken-blood” parents.

Li Angran

The Albino ‘Princess’ Growing Confidence in a Crowd

The mother of a 5-year-old girl with albinism shares how cosplay and catwalks have helped her daughter combat the stigma of the condition.

Hope in Hardship: How an Illiterate Woman ‘Wrote’ Her Memoir

A survivor of human trafficking from southwestern China shares how she became an “authentic voice” in literature using her phone’s voice-to-text function.

Lost and Found: Seeking Solace in Street View Snapshots

Netizens struggling with grief or homesickness are turning to street-level navigation apps in search of lost loved ones and former homes.

Why China’s Parents Are Bulk-Buying Recycling Waste Online

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

Chinese schools are trying to teach kids to recycle by making them collect huge volumes of plastic waste every month. The result: a thriving online trade in used milk cartons.

Li Xin

Lin Liuhan

Chinese Women Spark Fury After Locking Crying Toddler in Plane Toilet

The women said they were just trying to help the child’s grandparents “set some rules.”

In China, A New Alzheimer’s Drug Is Met With Cautious Optimism

Lecanemab was approved for use in the country earlier this year. But getting the most out of the drug will require broader reforms.

He Spent 23 Years Searching for His Daughter. Last Month, He Found Her.

After his daughter was abducted in 2001, Shi Chunxin began a relentless campaign to find her and other Chinese victims of human trafficking. Now, his efforts have finally paid off.

China’s ‘Supernanny’ Stirs Controversy With Ultra-Harsh Methods

Education influencer Zhao Juying has won a huge following by promoting tough disciplinary methods that hark back to a more conservative age.

Old Age, New Stage: On China’s TikTok, the Elderly Find a Second Act

As China grapples with a rapidly aging population, hundreds of new short video accounts have emerged detailing life in care homes. Many look to reshape perceptions and the stigma around elder care.

Ding Rui

Chinese Surnames Are Changing. Why?

Families are passing down maternal names and inventing compound surnames for their kids. Is it a sign of rising progressivism or merely patriarchy in another guise?

Xu Qi

Starved of Affection at Home, Young Chinese Seek Out ‘Digital Parents’

Many young Chinese feel unable to emotionally connect with their parents. So they’re turning to online influencers for the intimacy they crave.