Featured - Business & Tech

Gridlock Unaffected by Traffic Policies

For the past three months, Zhou Yu, a middle-school English teacher in Beijing’s Tong Zhou district, has been trying to get her hands on a license plate for her first car. As recently as last year, all a prospective car owner had to do was to file a stack of paperwork at the Beijing Municipal Commission of Transport.

Featured - Global China

Trying To Fix The Chinglish Issue

When recently approached by a Western visitor, high school graduate Xie Jing said, “This is my first time talking to a foreigner, so I am nervous.” Xie, who lives in Xiejiaqiao, a rural village near Hangzhou, isn’t alone. Although Xiejiaqiao is a small village, even students in cities like Beijing don’t practice English enough.

Featured - On The Street

What Do You Think of America?

According to the 2010 National Population Census of China, 19.3 percent of the world’s population are Chinese citizens. The relationship between the U.S. and China has become increasingly important. So what do China’s approximately 1.4 billion people think about the U.S. and Americans?

Featured - Society & Culture

Redefining the Chinese Beauty Standard

A young woman sits in the waiting area of the Shanghai East Plastic & Cosmetic Surgery Clinic, flipping through Marie Claire’s China edition. She looks through page after page of skincare product advertisements, each boasting the face of a fair-skinned model, complete with doe eyes and a high nose bridge.

Previous Editions

Austinite Exports Football to China

Memo Mata came to China six years ago for a change of pace. As he put it, Mata wanted to explore the world. Now Mata, a former Westlake High School player who suited up for Texas State, is helping mold an unlikely relationship between the National Football League and a growing Chinese fan base.

Redefining the Chinese Beauty Standard

A young woman sits in the waiting area of the Shanghai East Plastic & Cosmetic Surgery Clinic, flipping through Marie Claire’s China edition. She looks through page after page of skincare product advertisements, each boasting the face of a fair-skinned model, complete with doe eyes and a high nose bridge.

Organic Food is a Luxury in Shanghai

Throughout this sprawling cosmopolitan city, Jiashan Market and similar projects have arisen to meet a demand for healthy, sustainably produced foods, and a growing desire among Shanghai’s wealthy elite to adopt more environmentally conscious lifestyles.

The NFL Tries a Grassroots Approach in China

Led by Erwin Sennett Wu, a 28-year-old American from Long Beach, California, the backyard football club represents a small portion of Chinese football fans. The crew meets every Sunday at local parks and universities to run through warm-ups, drills, and scrimmages.

Heading In A Greener Direction: Jiashan Market

Located in the heart of Shanghai’s French Concession, Jiashan Market is a residential and business community that focuses on fostering an environment that sustains healthy lifestyles. Inspired by the concept of sustainability and an eco-friendly ideology, the people of Jiashan Market are trying to nudge Shanghai—and China—in a greener direction.

Converting to Christianity in Rural China

The majority of rural Chinese practice traditional folk religion, which incorporates deities, spirits, and ancestor worship. But more and more rural Chinese are converting to Christianity, with its own Chinese characteristics.

Shanghai’s Drag Queens Take the Stage

The petite drag queen strutted to the middle of the floor in a pin-straight pink wig, a strapless wedding gown and a pair of elbow-length white gloves. She grabbed a microphone and belted out a Chinese pop song in honor of Father’s Day as middle-aged men in the audience catcalled and threw 100 RMB ($15) notes at her.

A Dress Bespeaks Style and Freedom

When a woman wears a Chinese qipao—pronounced “tee-pow”—people notice its distinctive design. A tight-fitting dress that usually falls above the knees or ankles, the close fitted neck and buttons for doing it up along one side of the body make the qipao unique. Although a dress with traditional roots, Chinese women haven’t always been permitted to wear it.

New Mental Health Law May Signal Reform

The current draft of a new mental health bill, made available for public viewing and comment on the Legislative Affairs of the State Council website June 10, would ban compulsory mental health screenings and would allow patients diagnosed with mental disorders to be discharged from the hospital at their discretion. Patients with serious diagnoses would require the consent of their doctor or guardian.

Shanghai’s Microbrewery Boom Mirrors Austin

Looking at it by the numbers, Tsingtao should be considered a very good beer. In fact, the omnipresent lager is the top-selling native beer in China, which makes it the leading brew of the world’s most highly populated country. Tsingtao also exports bottles to 62 other countries and regions. In a country of 1.4 billion people, that means a lot of mouths that favor the taste of Tsingtao.