vivid tones

vivid-tones

China’s 2024 in Photos

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

MULTIMEDIA

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

Sixth Tone

Double Delight: China’s National Day Meets Mid-Autumn Festival

From Harbin to Shanghai, a photo collage illustrates the fusion of festivities across the country.

Wu Huiyuan 

Connecting a City: A Journey in Pictures

Archival photographs offer a vivid glimpse into the Shanghai Metro’s past, showcasing the stories and scenes that helped shape a city.

Gao Shenghan

Wang Yuwen, Chronicler of China’s Workers, Has Passed Away

Born into a family of miners, he focused on photographing workers in industrial sites such as mines, steel mills, and power plants.

Ding Yining

Spirited Away: A Peek into the World of China’s Door Gods 

While the superstition isn’t widespread, the age-old tradition of hanging up door gods still endures during Lunar New Year.

Sheng Wenqiang

China’s 2022 in Photos

Mary and Jesus in the Eyes of Chinese Painters

Since the late Ming dynasty, artists have been finding ways to depict the Virgin Mary and Jesus with Chinese painting techniques.

China’s Real-Life Lo-Fi Girls

Online self-study rooms offer young Chinese a chance to relive their school days while getting work done.

Athena Chan

The Overseas Chinese Students Trapped Between Two Pandemic Realities

In Australia, a generation of Chinese students have been effectively cut off from their homeland for three years. Sixth Tone asked five of them to share their stories — and explore how the pandemic has changed their outlooks.

Christine Schindler

Young Chinese Are Still Seeking Serenity — Now Through Digital Fish

The country’s latest viral app is a wooden fish simulator.

Zhang Liting

China Adagio: A Photographer’s 40-Year Visual Journey

Photojournalist Andrew Wong has been documenting China’s rise since the early 1980s. His work offers a unique perspective on the country’s transformation.

Shanghai Completes Its $5 Billion Transformation of the Suzhou Creek

Long considered an eyesore, the city’s central river has received a massive overhaul over the past 25 years. That project finally culminated with the launch of a new tourist cruise yesterday.

Anna May Wong: A Life in Pictures

Hollywood’s first Chinese-American star today also becomes the first Asian-American to appear on the U.S. currency. Sixth Tone looks back at her trail-blazing career.

Zhang Xindian

National Day 2022: A Mix of Patriotic Fervor and Pandemic Controls

China is passing another muted public holiday, as authorities maintain tight travel restrictions.

Qi Ya

J.R.R. Tolkien and the Magic of Chinese Gardens

The English writer’s concept of “Faërie” can help us understand the unique aesthetics of China’s traditional gardens, as my new art project explores.

Zhou Yang

The Cartoonist Capturing Life in Shanghai’s Parks

Artist Lam Nong has found inspiration in Shanghai’s public parks, which act as hubs for community life in the Chinese megacity.

Lam Nong

Life in One of China’s Unfinished Apartment Complexes

Construction on the Jinling Apartment building ground to a halt when the developer ran out of funds. Residents moved in anyway.

The Big Thaw: Almost 6,000 of China’s Glaciers Have Disappeared

The Paper

How China’s COVID Quarantine Rules Have Evolved

Shorter isolation times, at-home health monitoring, and a definition of at-risk areas are part of the country’s new updated guidelines on coronavirus prevention.

Luo Yahan

Collage: A Month Behind Schedule, Shanghai Seniors Take the ‘Gaokao’

After months of chaos, the city’s students finally sit the most important test of their lives.