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Luckin Coffee Sets Sights on China’s Next Coffee Battleground: The ‘Sinking Market’

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

MULTIMEDIA

The Chinese coffee giant has recovered spectacularly from bankruptcy with a new strategy of expanding in smaller, less affluent cities around the country. But it also faces competition from domestic rivals, including one launched by its co-founders.

A Tale of Two Giants: How India’s and China’s Demographics Differ

As India’s population inches past China, we take a closer look at the two countries’ key demographic differences and trends in population distribution and urbanization.

COVID Is Spreading Explosively in China. Can Its ICUs Cope?

Intensive care units will be crucial as China grapples with a massive wave of COVID-19 cases. Data suggests that hospitals have a severe shortage of ICU beds — though how severe remains far from clear.

‘Marriage? Whatever’: Young Chinese on Love, Life, and Family

How Climate Change Turned Off the Lights in Southwest China

China generates massive amounts of energy from hydropower dams in the country’s southwest. But the rivers that drive them are now drying up.

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.

20 Things We Learned from China’s 7th Census

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

Ever get tired of sharing a bedroom with your great-great-grandfather? You’ve got company in Guangdong.

What Does it Cost to Test China for COVID-19?

China now requires COVID tests every two or three days in major cities. How many people, and test sites, will it need to make PCR testing as routine as buying fruit?

What it Takes to Organize a Group Buy in Locked Down Shanghai

All you need is to stay online 24 hours a day, be ready for a barrage of messages anytime, and sometimes unload 45 kilograms of strawberries all alone at 2 a.m

The Qualms and Queries of Locked-Down Shanghai Residents 

As the lockdown prolongs, residents are only getting more anxious.

Update: Portraits of Four Lockdowns, in Graphs

How four Chinese cities responded to the country’s largest COVID-19 outbreak since 2020.

How Four Chinese Cities Are Responding as Case Counts Rise

The hardest-hit cities are in full lockdown. Shanghai and Shenzhen, with under 10 cases per 100,000, are not far off.

China’s Human Trafficking Problem Goes Far Beyond the ‘Chained Woman’

A Sixth Tone analysis of Chinese census data has revealed a series of troubling migration patterns, which underline the need for a thorough investigation into the human trafficking trade.

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.

Infographic: China Faces a Shocking Drop in Population Growth

Despite the three-child policy, China’s birth rate in 2021 dropped to its lowest point since the founding of the country.

Infographic: COVID-19 Cases in Xi’an Exceed 1,000 

Coronavirus infections are spiraling in the historic walled city.

New Mothers to Get Another Month of Leave in Five Provinces

As China seeks to boost birth rate, regional governments are extending paid family leave.

Best Behaviors: Breaking Down China’s ‘Moral Models’

Sixth Tone analyzed 483 national-level “moral models” from the past 14 years to learn what — and who — the country deems award-worthy.