Qian-Linliang

Emotional Labor: Life Inside a Chinese Orphanage

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

SIXTH TONE ×

A new book explores the tears, fears, and cheers experienced by orphanage staff and the children they care for.

How Free Shipping Became China’s Most Important Status Symbol

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

VOICES & OPINION

Residents along China’s prosperous coast don’t just enjoy better deals on packages — they get better customer service, too.

What’s Chinese for ‘Midwest Nice’?

Not everyone likes to be called “qin” — roughly equivalent to “dear” in English — so why do some online businesses insist on using it anyway?

Shifting Fortunes in a ‘Taobao Village’

What happens when a model e-commerce village kills the goose that lays the golden eggs?

The Tao of BS: How Chinese Entrepreneurs Fake It to Make It

Translated loosely, “zhuangbi” means to showboat. But it’s not all hot air: For migrant entrepreneurs, “zhuangbi” is an important means of self-legitimation in their often harsh new environments.

How Yiwu Merchants Flip Anti-Migrant ‘Suzhi’ Discourse on its Head

Long discriminated against by locals, the city’s nonlocal business owners are redefining what it means to have ‘quality.’