China’s big cities are developing a new city life, including new identities, writes journalist Ian Johnson, author of The Souls of China: The Return of Religion After Mao, at the opening chapter of, Shanghai Sacred: The Religious Landscape of a Global City, by photographer and anthropologist Liz Hingley, quoted in a review of the photo exhibition in Liverpool at Creative BoomRead More →

Western media too easily assume the protests in Hong Kong are supported by many mainland Chinese. Wrong, says author Zhang Lijia. There is a wide dived between mainland Chinese and Hongkongnese, and that is not only because of the media censorship in the mainland, she adds at the South China Morning Post.Read More →

It’s the economy, stupid, says China commentator Kaiser Kuo in his masterclass for Quora. Journalist and blogger Cory Doctorow reviews his masterclass ” on contemporary Chinese politics, authoritarianism, liberalism and dissidence” for BoingBoing.Read More →

China has developed into the largest consumer markt of the world, passing the US. Business analyst Shaun Rein explains to Richard Engel of NBC how they did it. “China is an unstoppable force,” Shaun says. You can see the full NBC program on China here. Shaun Rein is a speakerRead More →

Despite desperate efforts by the government to push the events of June 4, 1989, at Tiananmen Square into collective amnesia, new documents have shed light on the events. Journalist Ian Johnson reviews the latest publication, The Last Secret: The Final Documents from the June Fourth Crackdown, for the NY Review of Books, and summarize what we have been learning over the past 30 years.Read More →

Tradition and an unequal political system hamper women in their development in China, says author Zhang Lijia at the Addison Gazette. “Women are being left behind in terms of political participation and the salary gap between men and women is becoming wider.”Read More →