Li Xin took over operations of a shelter from stray dogs in China's capital Beijing in 2009. It's always been an uphill battle to keep it running, with funding issues and orders from the government to relocate. But Li and her group of loyal volunteers are determined to continue to provide a home for abandoned dogs, despite a government decision that ruled the shelter to be an illegal structure and could be demolished at any time. If you wish to help the dog shelter featured in this story, you can find more information on its Weibo page: https://weibo.com/mumuaixinzhijiaguan

Chinese search engine giant Baidu will launch the country's first metaverse platform. Xi Rang, which means "land of hope" in English, can be accessed via smartphones, computers or VR goggles, allowing users to create avatars and interact with other players. Baidu says it aims to develop Xi Rang into an infrastructure platform for a metaverse and incorporate functions such as gaming, entertainment, education, advertising, conferences and exhibitions, among others.

Li Jingzhi spent more than three decades searching for her son, who went missing as a toddler in central China’s Shaanxi province. She travelled to nearly every Chinese province, following every lead that never panned out until the spring of 2020, when DNA technology confirmed that a man in Chengdu was Li's missing son, Jiajia. After being reunited with her son in a nationally televised event, Li became a high-profile advocate for helping families in China find their missing children. Recounting her long search, Li said she never lost hope. Her son, Jiajia, meanwhile, spoke out for the first time about his years growing up with his foster parents and how reuniting with his birth parents helped him to understand that he was not abandoned.

Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com has released a new AI-powered 3D sorting system. The Flying Wolf automatic sorting system has improved sorting efficiency by 6-8 times compared to human sorting.

A massive explosion ripped through an intersection in the northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang on October 21, 2021. A gas leak is suspected to be behind the blast, which killed at least three people and left dozens injured. The force of the explosion destroyed cars and shattered storefronts. An investigation into the cause of the blast is now underway as rescuers and investigators continue to sift through the wreckage.

China has declared that the giant panda is no longer on its list of endangered species. The announcement in July 2021 followed decades of conservation and breeding programme efforts in the country, which is now home to more than 1,800 giant pandas. But as China turns its focus towards reintroducing pandas into the wild, retraining animals living in captivity is proving to be a difficult task.

Chinese parks, town squares and other public spaces are often frequented by groups of middle-aged and elderly women dancing to pop music or patriotic songs blaring over a loudspeaker. Over the years, these so-called dancing grannies have earned a bad rap as being a nuisance by people living near the public areas. However, China's sports authorities made Chinese square dancing an official sport for its National Games. One troupe from the games host city Xian won a silver medal at the September event.

Chinese factories are having to shift work schedules to non-peak hours or halt production altogether as the country comes to grips with an electricity shortage. At least 20 of China's 31 provincial-level jurisdictions are rationing electricity to play catch-up, after being unable to meet the central government's energy consumption and carbon emissions targets to fulfil the country's climate commitments earlier this year. Some 30 listed companies on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges warn the power cuts have negatively impacted their production and profits.

Tens of millions of residents in parts of China have had to live without electricity as authorities struggle to cope with a power supply crisis. Since mid-August, 16 of China's 31 provincial-level jurisdictions have rolled out electricity-rationing measures, triggering widespread alarm among much of the population and plunging the country's industrial sector into chaos. Shenyang, the capital of northeastern Liaoning province, is among the cities rationing power. Some residents spoke to the Post about the risks of having to live with no electricity, especially after dark.

China’s National Games will open on September 15, 2021, in the ancient city of Xian. The capital of the nation’s northwestern province of Shaanxi is taking extensive measures to fight the spread of Covid-19 as about 14,000 athletes gather to compete in 501 events in 41 sports. The Games will be under way until September 27, against the backdrop of fresh outbreaks, including those involving the highly contagious Delta variant, being reported in other parts of the country.

One year since Covid-19 infections were brought under control in China, small businesses in the northwestern Chinese province of Shaanxi have been struggling to recover because of continuing weak consumption. The Post talked to several small business owners in the capital Xian, where hopes are high that the upcoming National Games, to be held there in September, will help restore spending in the city.

Universal Studios Beijing is set to open on September 20, 2021. An invitation-only test operation began on September 1, when a large crowd gathered to try out rides and other attractions. The massive venue in China’s capital is the fifth Universal Studios theme park in the world, the seventh overall and the third in Asia, after Universal Studios Japan and Universal Studios Singapore.

Many of China’s cities are concrete jungles. There are very few parks or green spaces after decades of rapid urbanisation. In March 2021, the Chinese government approved a nationwide program of urban park construction. The plan calls for building 1,000 large parks around the country to encourage physical fitness. The cost of building these parks will amount to about US$15 billion a year.

Beijing-based group Hongdandan is committed to helping visually-impaired people enjoy films. Hongdandan converts visual elements of movies to spoken language so blind film fans can better understand the storyline. The group was founded in 2004 and holds one event every Saturday in Beijing. More than 30 cities in China now have similar services for the visually impaired.

Business owners in China’s central province of Henan are still tallying up their losses following record rainfalls that triggered massive flooding in the provincial capital Zhengzhou. The floods on July 20, 2021, killed at least 99 people, and submerged many underground spaces across the city including some busy commercial blocks. Authorities estimate the direct economic losses from the floods will add up to about 71.5 billion yuan (US$11.05 billion).

One week after the tragic floods in central China, residents in the Henan provincial capital Zhengzhou mourned the victims killed in the subway train flooding on July 20, 2021. Most of the trapped passengers were rescued except for 14 people, who perished when floodwaters entered the subway tunnel and engulfed one of the train carriages.

Water levels of lakes and rivers inside Xinxiang city in central China's Henan province have been rising for days due to the inflow of floodwaters, threatening the safety of the city's residents. Thousands have come together to fight the rising waters, in hopes of averting a disaster.

Many streets in Xinxiang city in central China's Henan province have been flooded, after the area received 812mm of rain in just two days. The waters initially receded but returned after a dike at a nearby reservoir broke, leaving many villages half-submerged. Despite the continued threat of massive floods, residents of the city are pressing ahead, coping as best they can.

Chinese e-commerce companies have been developing new technology to meet surging consumer demand for express delivery. The volume of packages processed in China jumped from 2.3 billion units in 2010 to 83.4 billion units in 2020, thanks to the exponential growth of  China’s e-commerce. At the same time, the country’s labour force shrank from nearly 922 million in 2011 to 897 million in 2018. To cope with rising orders, JD.com has developed one of the country’s most advanced smart delivery van systems.

The Chinese Communist Party will mark its 100th anniversary on July 1, 2021. Ahead of the anniversary, various activities are being held across the country to celebrate the milestone, with most focusing on the party’s history. The Post spoke to visitors at one of the biggest exhibitions at the Capital Museum in Beijing. While some in attendance were there out of personal interest, others were visiting as part of a trip arranged by their employer or school. Different generations offered differing views about the party and its role today in modern China.

Propaganda exhibition set up in Beijing's busy bar area to celebrate 100 years of the Chinese Communist Party.

Beijing sets up flower displays to celebrate 100 years of the Chinese Communist Party.

China has become the world's fastest-growing market for electric vehicles. The country has set a target of having 40 per cent of all passenger vehicles on the market to be EVs by 2030, up from the current five per cent. To entice China’s growing middle class, top EV makers have turned to upscale shopping centres to promote their latest electric car models.

Top Chinese electric carmaker XPeng has added a new function called Valet Parking Assist (VPA) to its P7 Premium version and its Wing edition. Vehicles with the VPA feature can drive automatically while inside a garage and then accurately park themselves.

The Sanxingdui site in southwest China's Sichuan province is one of the world’s most important archaeological discoveries. Thousands of remarkable artefacts, dating back to the 12th and 11th centuries BC, have been found at the site. The discovery of the site challenges the traditional narrative that Chinese civilization spread from the central plain of the Yellow River. Some even believe the culture reflected in the Sanxingdui ruins originates from aliens while that is disputed by scientists.

The WHO approval of Sinovac Biotech’s coronavirus vaccine for emergency use on June 1, 2021, will help ease the global vaccine shortage. Sinovac Biotech has already distributed more than 600 million doses of its CoronaVac vaccine to nearly 40 countries, as of May 31, 2021. It uses an inactivated virus to trigger a protective immune response, unlike vaccines from companies like BioNTech, which feature newer mRNA technology. The Post takes a look inside their Beijing plant.

The world's most populous nation, China, is also a greying society.  It's estimated that by 2040, 28 per cent of China's population will be aged 60 or older. But since elderly parents have been traditionally cared for by their children, the country still lacks a comprehensive elderly care system. The challenge of finding proper care for her disabled parents led Cai Dongdong to switch careers and start her own nursing homes. By looking after her parents and other elderly people in the community, her ultimate wish is for every community across China to offer similar services for senior citizens.

The Lord of the Rings trilogy returned to Chinese cinemas in mid-April 2021. Twenty years after the epic series debuted on the big screen, the South China Morning Post talked to some film fans in Beijing to share their thoughts on the classic trilogy.

A heavy sandstorm hit Beijing on March 15, 2021, shrouding the Chinese capital with a pale yellow haze. City authorities issued warnings to residents about sealing off their homes and wearing masks, as well as avoiding billboards and temporary structures which may be dislodged by strong winds. Officials said the storm, which has affected about 12 provinces in northern China, is the worst to hit the country in about 10 years.

China plans to vaccinate 40 per cent of its population by June 2021, despite the huge challenges of a programme that will need to reach 560 million people. As of the end of February, the country’s national vaccination rate had only reached 3.56 per cent, and much of China had not yet started mass vaccinations other than in the country’s major cities.