social conflict

social-conflict

China’s ‘Comedy Queen’ Loses Yet Another Deal Over Men Jokes

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

Tech giant JD.com has become the latest brand to cut ties with female comedian Yang Li after facing customer backlash.

Ding Rui

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

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

Courting Controversy: The Impact of ‘Fan Circles’ on Table Tennis

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

SIXTH TONE ×

For high-profile players of China’s national sport, diehard supporters are proving to be a blessing and a curse.

Beijing Youth Daily

Big City Dreams, Small-Town Realities for China’s Rural Youth

As more rural youth return to their hometowns due to employment, family, or big city life pressure, small cities are serving as a buffer zone between their dreams and reality.

Wang Defu

Netizens Enraged by Baidu Executive’s ‘Unbearable’ Social Media Posts

PR director Qu Jing launched an aggressive social media campaign styling herself as the ultimate hard-nosed tech executive. It backfired in spectacular fashion.

Ye Zhanhang

My Mom the Janitor: How ‘Invisible’ Workers Keep Our Cities Clean

By sharing her mother’s experiences as a cleaner, a Shenzhen writer shines a light on the lives of China’s janitors and custodians.

Zhang Xiaoman

Learning Curve: Young Teachers Strive as Class Leaders

Serving as a homeroom teacher to provide educational and emotional support to dozens of students and their parents can test educators, especially those new to the job.

White Night Workshop

A Food Courier’s Pursuit of Equal Treatment

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

Are Kids to Blame for China’s Noisy Trains?

As disputes on high-speed rail journeys over crying babies and unruly children become more common, parents and train attendants are feeling the pressure.

How a Top Modern Dance Troupe Lost Its Home

In Locked-Down Shanghai, Students Adapt to a Surreal New Normal

Schools have introduced color-coded QR codes to regulate students’ access to supermarkets and even shared bathrooms, as they try to maintain social distancing on crowded campuses.

Zhang Wanqing

China’s Instagram Wants More Male Users. It’s Using Women as Bait.

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

Lifestyle platform Xiaohongshu used to be a rare safe space for Chinese women online. Then, the company began marketing itself to men as a place to meet “beautiful ladies.”

How a Women’s Rights Law Became a Front in China’s Gender Wars

Female social media users want draft legislation to include more gender equality provisions. Conservative men fear it’s going too far.

Luo Yahan

Sugarcane Seizure Raises Fears of Subcontracted Law Enforcement

A Chinese city’s use of subcontractors to enforce local regulations against street-vending has landed officials in legal hot water.

Yuan Ye

A Floor Shaker, a Seismic Feud, and a Condo Wide Awake

After a petty squabble, one Shanghai resident deployed a machine designed to annoy neighbors with chaotic sounds, shrieks, and thumps.

Chang Zeyu

Chen Canjie

New Film Turns the Tables on China’s Infamous ‘Chengguan’

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

MULTIMEDIA

China’s city management officers, or “chengguan,” are notorious for violent clampdowns on urban street vendors. But in Chen Weijun’s documentary “City Dream,” the force bites off more than it can chew.

Fu Beimeng

How a Lost iPad Sparked Furious Online Debate in China

A student found a tablet on campus and posted a thoughtful lost-and-found note in Chinese and English. Then nationalists accused him of “fawning over foreigners.”

Du Xinyu

Liu Chuyue

Running Out of Food in Lockdown, Jilin Residents Give Viral Plea

With several Chinese cities experiencing their first coronavirus outbreaks in months, local logistics are encountering some speed bumps.

Chen Qi’an

Professor’s Suicide Puts Forced Demolition Back in Spotlight

Tuo Jiguang had accused Chengdu authorities of shirking resettlement negotiations since 2011 before ultimately demolishing his family’s two apartments last year without warning.

Never Forget, Never Rebuild? Officials Wade Into Summer Palace Debate

The ruins have long been a potent symbol of China’s “humiliation” at the hands of foreign powers. Now, some are renewing calls to restore the palace to its former glory.