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News on Chinese Society

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Elephants on parade

Roaming herd of pachyderms become a media phenomenon
Jun 11, 2021 (WiC 544)

When you’re a livestreamer trying to stand out in China, here’s one way to get noticed: confront a herd of wild elephants. That’s what several wannabe web celebrities have done in recent weeks after 15 Asian pachyderms came to national ...

Cut to the bone

Calf reduction is in the news
Jun 4, 2021 (WiC 543)

When Zhiqing, the last factory producing shoes for bound feet, marked its closure in 1999 by donating eight pairs of wooden lasts (i.e. the models used for repairs) to the Heilongjiang Museum of Ethnography, a page in Chinese women’s history ...

Extreme weather leads to 21 deaths in Gansu marathon
May 28, 2021 (WiC 542)

In 2011 China hosted 22 marathons or ultra-long distance races. By 2019 – the year before the Covid-19 pandemic fully took hold – that number had increased to 1,828. Almost every city was showcasing a marathon or some kind of extreme running ...

Inheritance lax

Case of a contested will sparks broad debate in China
May 21, 2021 (WiC 541)

China wants more of its population to make wills. Forty years of economic growth means many of the country’s elderly have more assets to pass on. But the practice of will-making is far from widespread. Many families go to war over inheritances, ...

Lost in translation

Cannavaro gets Confucian
May 14, 2021 (WiC 540)

During the Warring States period that began about 2,500 years ago the gulf between the nobility and the rest of society was a gaping one. However, the aristocratic boundary was made a little more porous by the emergence of a new class known as ...

Keeping it in the family

How a Fujian tea seller has perfected corporate marriages
May 7, 2021 (WiC 539)

The headline news this week from the Gates family was that two of the world’s wealthiest people are getting divorced. But it’s no secret that wealthy people often prefer to marry others with plenty of money in the first place. Jared Kushner ...

Too many tigers

Elementary school drama focuses on obsessive parenting
Apr 23, 2021 (WiC 537)

It was a decade ago that Amy Chua released her hugely controversial book Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother. In it she explained why ultra-competitive parenting styles raised stereotypically successful kids, destined for Ivy League schools ...

Putting family first?

Moviegoers prefer a local tear-jerker to Godzilla and King Kong
Apr 16, 2021 (WiC 536)

It turns out that the biggest challenger to Godzilla vs. Kong is not another monster. In China, a low budget production entitled Sister has become the surprise hit at the box office since its premiere in early April. So far the movie has ...

Sports stars in verbal joust over national team failings
Mar 26, 2021 (WiC 533)

You don’t see superstars from the worlds of professional football and basketball taking each other on everyday. That was the spectacle last month when Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Sweden’s best-ever footballer, criticised NBA star LeBron James. With ...

Marriage numbers fall again in China, worrying officials
Mar 5, 2021 (WiC 530)

Civil marriage ceremonies in China are known for being impersonal, no-frills affairs. But now several provinces have streamlined the process even further with the introduction of self-service terminals. The new machines – similar to ...

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