li-xueshi

Do Ready-Made Meals Belong at China’s New Year’s Table?

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

VOICES & OPINION

The rise of precooked versions of popular New Year’s dishes has traditionalists spitting mad, but they’re more than just lazy substitutes.

China Has a Food Waste Problem. Can More Communal Dining Help?

The country often frames food waste as a moral failing. That doesn’t work when there’s no one around to judge.

How Old-School Parenting Is Holding Back Alternative Education

China’s alternative schools are helping stressed parents find a sense of community. Can they get them to stop seeing their kids as an extension of themselves?

I Tried ‘Vertical Farming’ at Home. I’m Setting My Sights Higher.

Companies are promoting new, high-tech equipment capable of turning any urban denizen into a farmer. We’d be better off just eating less.

For China’s Alternative Growers, Consumerism Trumps Idealism

Around the globe, alternative food networks offer a radically different vision of what growing and consuming food could be. In China, they’ve become just another luxury.

Buying to Survive: Why China Isn’t Ready to Abandon Consumerism

Overconsumption is destroying the environment, but lecturing shoppers does nothing to address the underlying problem.

Anger Over Food Scandals Has Shoppers Looking for Fresh Options

Alternative Food Networks appeal to a Chinese middle class hungry for safe food.

China’s Cities Are Making Migrant Workers Profoundly Lonely

Fast-paced lifestyles and scant residency rights are making migrants feel unsettled and isolated.