https://www.scmp.com/rss/326385/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Zoey Zhang Zoey Zhang A little girl from central China has touched millions of hearts online with a handwritten farewell message and money for her parents as they left for work. Xinyu, a 10-year-old from Shangqiu, Henan province, is raised by her grandmother with her younger brother while her parents work in Suzhou, eastern China. According to mainland reports, her parents only return home once a year during the Spring Festival, which this year ran from February 15 to 23, the longest holiday in recent years. Before... https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3345388/china-girl-writes-farewell-note-offers-us120-pamper-parents-highlights-left-behind-kids-lives?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3345388/china-girl-writes-farewell-note-offers-us120-pamper-parents-highlights-left-behind-kids-lives?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 09 Mar 2026 01:00:11 +0000 Vincent Chow Vincent Chow Researchers at Tencent Holdings are looking to collaborate with other major artificial intelligence developers to improve how most generative AI services, such as chatbots, interact with the elderly, left-behind children and other vulnerable users in society. Specialised data sets can make AI services more helpful to vulnerable users who have become progressively reliant on them for emotional support and health assistance, according to Lu Shiyu, a senior researcher at Tencent Research Institute... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3340171/tencent-seeks-collaboration-other-major-ai-developers-improve-tech-vulnerable-users?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3340171/tencent-seeks-collaboration-other-major-ai-developers-improve-tech-vulnerable-users?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 18 Jan 2026 06:00:17 +0000 Alice Yan Alice Yan A man in central China bound his teenage son with rope in public because the boy was failing out of school, igniting a heated debate about parenting styles in the country. The two were caught on video fighting in Hunan province as the boy resisted his father’s attempts to restrain him with ropes and take him to the police station, according to Mengma Video. The altercation occurred outside a store, where the owner told local media that the father, who was not identified, was a migrant worker who... https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3279252/china-father-ties-son-rope-and-speaks-police-about-his-school-dropout?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3279252/china-father-ties-son-rope-and-speaks-police-about-his-school-dropout?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 22 Sep 2024 01:00:10 +0000 China is setting up a nationwide database of the children of migrant workers as the country grapples with a rise in juvenile crime. The database will cover children who have been “left behind” in their hometowns while their parents work elsewhere, as well as children who have moved with their parents to other parts of the country for job opportunities. Guo Yuqiang, director of the Ministry of Civil Affairs’ Department of Child Welfare, said on Wednesday that the central government aimed to have... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3277209/china-build-migrant-children-database-improve-welfare-and-services?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3277209/china-build-migrant-children-database-improve-welfare-and-services?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Sep 2024 12:21:51 +0000 County officials across China misappropriated at least 2.2 billion yuan (US$302.7 million) in meal subsidies meant for rural students between 2021 and 2023, a State Council audit report found. The money was mostly used to pay off local government debts, the report from China’s cabinet said. The document was made public last week during a meeting of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, the country’s top legislative body. The report tracked a total of 23.1 billion yuan in subsidy... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3268639/chinese-counties-took-2-billion-yuan-rural-school-meal-subsidies-settle-local-debt?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3268639/chinese-counties-took-2-billion-yuan-rural-school-meal-subsidies-settle-local-debt?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 30 Jun 2024 12:31:07 +0000 In 2019, a 14-year-old boy was attacked by 15 students in a school washroom. He struck back with a knife and injured three. He had already been harassed earlier the same day. Last month, a landmark ruling by China’s Supreme People’s Court determined that the boy, surnamed Jiang, had acted in self-defence and was therefore not criminally liable for the injuries. Many netizens applauded the court’s stance on protecting victims. Others worried that the ruling might encourage violence in schools. At... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3265576/china-needs-better-protect-victims-school-bullying?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3265576/china-needs-better-protect-victims-school-bullying?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 06 Jun 2024 21:30:08 +0000 On March 10, a 13-year-old from a junior high school in Handan city, in China’s northern Hebei province, went missing. A day later, his body was found in an abandoned vegetable shed with injuries to his head and back. The police acted quickly. On the same day, they detained three of the victim’s classmates on suspicion of murder. The case has shocked the public. The three students, aged between 12 and 14, may be the youngest murder suspects China has seen in a long time. A police investigation... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3255988/boys-death-reminder-chinas-neglect-left-behind-children?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3255988/boys-death-reminder-chinas-neglect-left-behind-children?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 21 Mar 2024 01:30:14 +0000 For thousands of years, China was a predominantly agricultural society, rooted in tradition and a distinctive culture. But over the past four decades, unprecedented reforms have transformed China into a largely industrial, commercial and urban society. The population that lives in cities has grown from 19 per cent in 1980 to 65 per cent last year. Villages have been hollowed out. Adults left for work in the cities, leaving behind the old and young. Major characteristics of China, such as being... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3246892/chinas-first-coffee-village-highlights-potential-rural-revival?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3246892/chinas-first-coffee-village-highlights-potential-rural-revival?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 03 Jan 2024 11:30:09 +0000 The story of a six-year-old boy in China who proudly showed off a new coat bought for him by his single, migrant worker father to his classmates and teacher has delighted mainland social media. His teacher, surnamed Wei, at a countryside primary school in central China’s Hunan province posted the moment of his happiness on Douyin, the mainland version of TikTok, using the account @Yaoyaofadainao on December 20. “Check out my new coat. It’s from my dad,” the boy says in a video clip. He then... https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/social-welfare/article/3246212/its-my-dad-happy-china-boy-6-shows-new-coat-gift-single-migrant-worker-father-which-proves-he-still?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/social-welfare/article/3246212/its-my-dad-happy-china-boy-6-shows-new-coat-gift-single-migrant-worker-father-which-proves-he-still?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 01 Jan 2024 01:00:13 +0000 A primary school teacher in China who treated a motherless student as if he were her own son has transformed him from a shy to an outgoing child, touching millions on mainland social media. When teacher, Wang Qianqian, posted a Douyin video of her interactions with Zhang Baolong in September, the boy, dressed in oversized and ragged clothes, appeared sluggish and shy in front of the camera. Wang said Zhang’s mother passed away when he was only a few months old. His father, who takes care of the... https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/social-welfare/article/3241522/you-are-beautiful-teacher-china-turns-mum-shy-motherless-boy-single-parent-family-transforms-him?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/social-welfare/article/3241522/you-are-beautiful-teacher-china-turns-mum-shy-motherless-boy-single-parent-family-transforms-him?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 19 Nov 2023 06:00:11 +0000 China’s top official on women’s affairs has pledged to promote women’s role in the family and has offered guidance for younger generations on marriage and relationships. Shen Yiqin, state councillor and newly elected president of the All-China Women’s Federation, wrote in Qiushi, the Communist Party’s top theoretical journal, on Thursday that women must contribute to the “great cause of national rejuvenation and demonstrate the power of half the sky”. “Women hold up half the sky” is a famous... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3241740/chinas-top-women-affairs-official-vows-promote-marriage-and-family-harness-power-half-sky?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3241740/chinas-top-women-affairs-official-vows-promote-marriage-and-family-harness-power-half-sky?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 16 Nov 2023 06:47:53 +0000 Sishengzi, or “secretly born child”, is a derogatory term to describe children born out of wedlock. For a woman to raise such a child in China used to be as difficult as climbing up the sky. To start with, without a marriage certificate, this child would not be able to get registered, which meant they could not go to a state school, take a flight or get vaccinated. However, there are signs that suggest the Chinese government has begun to loosen control to a certain degree. In recent years,... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3237576/how-fix-chinas-birth-rate-treat-single-mothers-same-married-ones?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3237576/how-fix-chinas-birth-rate-treat-single-mothers-same-married-ones?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 13 Oct 2023 21:30:10 +0000 To arrest its declining population, China has abolished its one-child policy to allow families to have two and then three children in recent years. But the fertility rate continues to fall. People are less willing to have children essentially because the high cost of living and social stress from urbanisation give rise to feelings of insecurity. Last year, China’s urbanisation rate reached 64.7 per cent and is expected to rise further, supported by a relaxation of restrictions on hukou, the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3208633/chinas-two-speed-economy-sapping-peoples-desire-have-children?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3208633/chinas-two-speed-economy-sapping-peoples-desire-have-children?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 05 Feb 2023 10:30:09 +0000 While major Chinese cities have started phasing out draconian Covid-19 measures, the consequences of prolonged social isolation on mental health are unfolding in hundreds of millions of students across the nation. In the longest school closures among major countries, mainland China’s students were made to sit in front of computers at home and listen to live or recorded lessons for their schooling, an expedient option taken by local governments seeking to prevent transmission on campuses. Over... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3202120/mass-mental-health-crisis-looms-young-chinese-after-3-years-lockdowns-home-school-and-zero-covid?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3202120/mass-mental-health-crisis-looms-young-chinese-after-3-years-lockdowns-home-school-and-zero-covid?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 05 Dec 2022 14:00:22 +0000 A woman whose mother died three years ago from a disease has posed as the mother on WeChat ever since so she can still “talk” with her. The woman, surnamed Qiao, said it was a way to comfort herself and help her accept the reality that her mother has died, state broadcaster CCTV reported. Qiao, who lives in Hubei, central China, said when her mother was alive they got along like “close friends” and that she kept no secrets from her mother. Her mother was a “gentle and positive” person and told... https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3194284/love-courage-china-woman-talks-dead-mother?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3194284/love-courage-china-woman-talks-dead-mother?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 30 Sep 2022 01:00:27 +0000 A Chinese news report on a distraught boy begging his migrant worker mother to stay home instead of returning to her job in another city has once again put a spotlight on China’s “left-behind” children. The term refers to families where either one or both parents live away for most of the time from their children, mainly as migrant workers in big cities. Official government figures claimed there were almost 13 million left-behind children in 2020. However, most independent estimates put the... https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3189084/i-dont-want-money-i-just-want-mum-sobbing-boy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3189084/i-dont-want-money-i-just-want-mum-sobbing-boy?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 16 Aug 2022 10:00:24 +0000 While grandparents worldwide often enjoy the retired life – pursuing hobbies, travelling the world and occasionally visiting their children and grandchildren – retirees in China are often stuck at home, tasked with taking care of the little ones while their sons and daughters go to work. For Chen Shuxiang and her husband Guan Hongsheng, who are in their late-60s with a 10-year-old grandson, they leave the bulk of the caregiving responsibilities to the child’s parents, despite living in the same... https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/article/3178526/chinas-elderly-want-enjoy-their-golden-years-not-raise-next?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/article/3178526/chinas-elderly-want-enjoy-their-golden-years-not-raise-next?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 23 May 2022 01:00:23 +0000 In the past couple of months, a 31-year-old migrant worker has gained notoriety in China for teaching himself English and immersing himself in philosophical studies while doing blue-collar work for more than a decade. When he was not toiling away in garment factories, warehouses and printing houses, Chen Zhi translated a version of American academic Richard Polt’s Heidegger: An Introduction – considered one of the most authoritative explorations of German philosopher Martin Heidegger’s work –... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3165371/chinas-migrant-workers-challenging-status-quo-chasing-their?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3165371/chinas-migrant-workers-challenging-status-quo-chasing-their?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 31 Jan 2022 08:00:23 +0000 Police in the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang have detained a man accused of selling his two-year-old son and using the money to tour the country, local media reported. The man, surnamed Xie, quarrelled constantly with his current wife and is alleged to have sold the boy nicknamed Jiajia to relieve the burden of child care, the Zhejiang Legal Daily reported on Wednesday. Xie was given custody of the boy after divorcing the child’s mother, who kept their daughter. However, because Xie was... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3131970/chinese-man-sold-son-and-used-money-go-holiday?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3131970/chinese-man-sold-son-and-used-money-go-holiday?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 02 May 2021 12:15:25 +0000 Thach Di Thi Phuong Thuy and her husband have their eyes glued to a smartphone screen in their tiny studio apartment in an industrial township near Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. They are on a video call with their son Sarum, 11, who is keen to show them the cashew nuts he helped his grandmother peel that day. Sarum lives with his brother Saruon, 13, about 180km away in the Mekong Delta, where they are being raised by the extended families of Thuy and her husband Thach Saret, who are both ethnic... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3129803/china-migrant-workers-southeast-asia-are-leaving-behind-generation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3129803/china-migrant-workers-southeast-asia-are-leaving-behind-generation?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 18 Apr 2021 01:30:11 +0000 The battle being fought by some of China’s “left-behind” children to build a better future is at the heart of a new documentary that has won plaudits for its inspiring story. The documentary – Tough Out – follows the efforts of a group of seven- to 12-year-olds who are swinging for a better life via the sport of baseball. The group’s efforts are aided by former baseball star Sun Lingfeng. Directed by young filmmaker Xu Huijing, Tough Out was released last week. The production has already won... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3114506/film-uses-baseball-show-plight-left-behind-children-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3114506/film-uses-baseball-show-plight-left-behind-children-china?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 18 Dec 2020 21:15:05 +0000 An image of poor young rural Chinese boys swinging baseball bats in a bid for a better life has moved a nation to tears with the release of a new documentary that sheds light on the lives of the country’s “left-behind” children. The documentary, Tough Out, opened last week to critical acclaim and is a devastating reflection of the reality faced by seven million children who have been left behind in rural China by parents forced to move to the cities in search of work.  Named best documentary in... https://www.scmp.com/sports/baseball-boys-movie-portrays-struggle-chinas-growing-number-left-behind-children/article/3114368?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sports/baseball-boys-movie-portrays-struggle-chinas-growing-number-left-behind-children/article/3114368?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 17 Dec 2020 11:59:19 +0000 A 7-year-old boy in southern China faces the dire prospect of losing his hands and part of his arms because of injuries caused by his father who would burn him with cigarettes and lighters over the past few years. The wounds were not treated properly and became infected. The boy, Huang Weihao, is hospitalized in Guangzhou, in the southern province of Guangdong and may need amputations to stem the spreading infection. The case is yet another high-profile child abuse case in China, which is... https://www.scmp.com/society/brutal-child-abuse-case-shows-limits-tolerance-china/article/3109091?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/society/brutal-child-abuse-case-shows-limits-tolerance-china/article/3109091?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 09 Nov 2020 11:22:24 +0000 Online vitriol over one of China’s “left-behind children”, who was admitted to a top Chinese university but chose to study archaeology instead of a more lucrative major, has sparked debate about social class in China. Zhong Fangrong, a student in central China’s Hunan province, recently made news headlines for scoring 676 out of 750 on her college entrance exam and taking fourth place in her province. She told the media she would apply for the archaeology major at Peking University, one of the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3095867/class-debate-china-over-high-achieving-left-behind-child-who?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3095867/class-debate-china-over-high-achieving-left-behind-child-who?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 04 Aug 2020 00:00:22 +0000 Every Tuesday and Thursday, Inkstone Explains unravels the ideas and context behind the headlines to help you understand news about China. Imagine growing up in rural America, dreaming of leaving the drudgery of small-town suburbia to pursue the glitz and glamor of the big city. Then imagine that a special registration system, required at birth, would issue a document that results in a life spent on the fringes of the concrete jungle. This theoretical document wouldn’t be much of a roadblock for... https://www.scmp.com/society/inkstone-explains-how-china-uses-hukou-system-manage-internal-migration/article/3086597?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/society/inkstone-explains-how-china-uses-hukou-system-manage-internal-migration/article/3086597?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 09 Jun 2020 02:38:00 +0000 Despite the trade truce, the rivalry between the United States and China is likely to be long term. Key areas of competition include the economy, technology, foreign investment, diplomatic influence and military might. But the most important competition may be for human capital. The US may have the best universities and be a magnet for global talent. But China is poised to win hands down, if the performances of its 15-year-olds are anything to go by. Last month, the Programme for International... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3044705/us-china-tussle-best-brains-beijing-cannot-afford-rest-easy-even?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3044705/us-china-tussle-best-brains-beijing-cannot-afford-rest-easy-even?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 07 Jan 2020 06:00:10 +0000 One Sunday afternoon in February, 2017, Chinese film director Yuchao Feng was in his flat in the US state of New Jersey when he received a phone call from his mother that would shock and inspire him. Feng knew something was wrong – not just because it was 3am in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin, where Wang Jingjing was calling from, but because they rarely spoke. “My parents were not around much when I was growing up in Ningde,” says Feng, recalling the city of three million in Fujian... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3042714/based-heartbreaking-true-story-chinas-abandoned-children?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3042714/based-heartbreaking-true-story-chinas-abandoned-children?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 20 Dec 2019 12:00:14 +0000 The father of the “Ice Boy” – who became an internet sensation after he was pictured with his head covered in icicles following a freezing trek to school in southwest China – has spoken out about being rejected for a poverty alleviation scheme. Wang Gangkui’s son, Wang Fuman, was eight when a photo of him taken by a teacher went viral on social media in January last year. It showed the little boy with his hair and eyebrows covered in ice and his cheeks ruddy from the cold after he had walked for... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3041871/father-chinas-ice-boy-responds-critics-after-family-knocked-back?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3041871/father-chinas-ice-boy-responds-critics-after-family-knocked-back?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 12 Dec 2019 12:00:11 +0000 The traditional role of grandparents in caring for China’s children has been called into question with two recent lawsuits sparking debate about whether seniors should be paid for their efforts. Two grandmothers took their demands for compensation to court in separate cases which have highlighted the reliance of Chinese workers on their parents to provide childcare while they pursue professional advancement. A woman in Mianyang, in the southwestern province of Sichuan, was awarded more than... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3030713/are-chinas-grandparents-reaching-their-limits-free-childcare?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3030713/are-chinas-grandparents-reaching-their-limits-free-childcare?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 28 Sep 2019 03:30:10 +0000 Chinese internet users have joined an online protest to support children who were forced to move out of one of Shenzhen’s biggest migrant neighorboods. Following calls from a performance artist called Nut Brother, WeChat users are sharing pictures of evicted migrant children, in order to pressure the government into finding new schools for them.  In China’s megacity of Shenzhen, home to some of the country’s biggest tech firms, so-called urban villages have housed successive waves of migrant... https://www.scmp.com/society/artist-runs-wechat-campaign-help-migrant-children-forced-out-urban-village/article/3025664?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/society/artist-runs-wechat-campaign-help-migrant-children-forced-out-urban-village/article/3025664?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Sep 2019 12:41:24 +0000 Last month, the Supreme People’s Court of China published four so-called typical cases of sexual abuse of children. The top court vowed to use all means, including the death penalty, to punish child sex offenders. I feel encouraged by the news as it shows China is adopting a zero-tolerance attitude. I was also a victim of child sex abuse, one of many girls molested by a teacher at my primary school in the eastern city of Nanjing. This is a hidden but growing epidemic. News portal Caixin.com... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/lijia-zhang-china-needs-protect-left-behind-children-epidemic-sexual-abuse/article/3022893?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/lijia-zhang-china-needs-protect-left-behind-children-epidemic-sexual-abuse/article/3022893?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 15 Aug 2019 09:58:37 +0000 Last month, the Supreme People’s Court of China held a press conference following the publication of four so-called typical cases of sexual abuse of children. It vowed to use all means, including the death penalty, to punish child sex offenders. I feel encouraged by the news as it shows China is adopting a zero-tolerance attitude. I was also a victim of child sex abuse, one of many girls molested by a teacher at my primary school in Nanjing. This is a hidden but growing epidemic. News portal... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3022501/tackle-chinas-hidden-epidemic-child-sex-abuse-national-child?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3022501/tackle-chinas-hidden-epidemic-child-sex-abuse-national-child?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 14 Aug 2019 22:00:11 +0000 A six-year-old girl in northwest China was beaten to death while playing with her 12-year-old cousin, local police have said. Because the boy is below the age of criminal responsibility he will face no further action from the authorities. A notice issued by police in Yongning county in Ningxia region on Wednesday said their investigations had concluded that the girl, identified only by her surname Li, was playing with the boy and his seven-year-old brother when she was knocked unconscious after... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3019161/chinese-girl-six-beaten-death-plank-while-playing-cousin?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3019161/chinese-girl-six-beaten-death-plank-while-playing-cousin?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 18 Jul 2019 09:27:44 +0000 The body of a nine-year-old girl at the centre of an abduction case that has gripped China has been found after a huge police search in the eastern province of Zhejiang. According to police, Zhang Zixin was taken from her home on the outskirts of Hangzhou on July 4 by a couple who had just started renting a flat in the family property. Days later, the couple’s bodies were discovered in a lake in Ningbo, and police said they had taken their own lives. The girl was last seen in surveillance camera... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3018491/body-found-eastern-china-believed-be-missing-girl-abduction-case?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3018491/body-found-eastern-china-believed-be-missing-girl-abduction-case?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 13 Jul 2019 12:41:05 +0000 Police in east China are searching for a missing nine-year-old girl who was last seen in the company of two adults who, just hours later, were found dead. A cash reward of 20,000 yuan (US$3,000) is on offer as part of an urgent appeal for information about the whereabouts of Zhang Zixin, who disappeared on Sunday from the industrial port city of Ningbo in Zhejiang province. She had been taken from her home in the provincial capital of Hangzhou, 154km (95 miles) from Ningbo, by her family’s... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3018199/chinese-police-race-solve-mystery-missing-girl-last-seen-now?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3018199/chinese-police-race-solve-mystery-missing-girl-last-seen-now?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 11 Jul 2019 09:47:57 +0000 A lonely Chinese teen admitted faking his own kidnapping because he wanted to see his parents who were working in another part of the country, according to Chinese media. The 13-year-old unnamed boy from Luzhou, Sichuan province, was found bound and gagged in an abandoned truck in a residential community on May 8, the Chengdu Business News reported on Friday. He said he woke up in the van after someone had sprayed something on him at a crossroad and he passed out. He was unharmed and nothing had... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3010794/lonely-chinese-teen-fakes-kidnapping-force-parents-return-home?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3010794/lonely-chinese-teen-fakes-kidnapping-force-parents-return-home?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 18 May 2019 13:45:08 +0000 A video clip of three young Chinese girls begging their migrant worker parents not to leave as they were preparing to return to their jobs in the city has touched hearts online. The footage was shot in the village of Jiatui in Rongjiang county, south China’s Guizhou province, on Monday, news portal qq.com reported. The girls refused to release their mother’s hands. They cried and yelled: “Don’t go, Mum.” China has about 286 million migrant workers, according to official figures. Many of them... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2186282/watch-chinese-left-behind-sisters-cry-when-parents-head-back-city?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2186282/watch-chinese-left-behind-sisters-cry-when-parents-head-back-city?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 15 Feb 2019 05:48:28 +0000 Upon going to Guizhou, China, for a volunteer teaching trip last winter, I realised that such trips are not the most effective way to support rural children; instead, exposing them to various opportunities and helping them make use of resources would be more effective. Volunteers need a better understanding of local situations and some teaching skills to truly support rural children. Prior to my trip, volunteers were only given a basic introduction to our students’ English standards and some... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/2185378/how-help-chinas-rural-children-help-themselves?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/2185378/how-help-chinas-rural-children-help-themselves?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 09 Feb 2019 07:32:41 +0000 70 million: the number of Chinese children living away from at least one parent. As the Lunar New Year draws closer, millions of left-behind children in China are waiting to see their parents for the first, and possibly the only, time of the year. Hundreds of millions of rural workers have moved to take up jobs in China’s cities as the nation opened up over the past four decades, providing cheap labor for the country’s economic transformation. The children they left behind in their hometowns and... https://www.scmp.com/society/inkstone-index-chinas-left-behind-children/article/3000597?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/society/inkstone-index-chinas-left-behind-children/article/3000597?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 25 Jan 2019 08:26:44 +0000 Many things about Wang Fuman’s life have changed since he became an international sensation a year ago. Then, he was an eight-year-old who had to walk for an hour in a thin jacket from his grandmother’s mud hut to his freezing cold, poorly-resourced school. His father was working far away, and his mother had deserted the family. His teacher posted a photo of him arriving at school with his head covered in icicles, a photo that quickly spread on social media and earned him the internet name “Ice... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/2181779/year-later-chinas-ice-boy-wang-fuman-has-new-home-warmer-school?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/2181779/year-later-chinas-ice-boy-wang-fuman-has-new-home-warmer-school?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 11 Jan 2019 16:22:14 +0000 When Zhang Zhanliang was in third grade, his father died. Lonely and rudderless, he began missing school. But rather than punish him, his teachers took care of him. They took him into their homes for meals and stitched up his ragged clothes. Today, Zhang, 45, is the principal of a remote village school in the southeastern Chinese province of Jiangxi. Inspired by the kindness of the teachers of his youth, he cooks for pupils whose parents work away from the community, offering a source of... https://www.scmp.com/society/chinese-rural-school-principal-cooks-left-behind-children/article/2180691?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/society/chinese-rural-school-principal-cooks-left-behind-children/article/2180691?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 04 Jan 2019 08:33:33 +0000 As 2018 draws to a close, we look back at the stories from our society reporters that really caught people’s imagination. ‘ICE BOY’ WARMS HEARTS One of our most popular society stories of 2018 was about eight-year-old Wang Fuman from southwest China, who won hearts around the world after a photograph of him arriving at school with his hair covered in icicles went viral online. His bright white headgear was the result of him having to walk 4.5km (2.8 miles) in the freezing cold from his home in a... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2179838/cockroach-farms-ice-boy-check-out-our-most-popular-china-society?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2179838/cockroach-farms-ice-boy-check-out-our-most-popular-china-society?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 29 Dec 2018 04:32:00 +0000 Rural poverty is a vicious cycle in China. Perhaps no story better represents this than that of 16-year-old Chen Zhenzhen. Chen gave up school at the age of 12, when her family could no longer afford her school fees, and began working to help support her younger siblings. Without formal education, Chen says she has no way out of a future bound to doing manual labor. https://www.scmp.com/society/chinese-girls-journey-left-behind-child-migrant-worker/article/2179631?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/society/chinese-girls-journey-left-behind-child-migrant-worker/article/2179631?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 27 Dec 2018 10:15:30 +0000 From a tree beside the famous West Lake in eastern China to the daily lives of residents in a Beijing hutong, Fu Yongjun is known for his long-term observations of a fast changing society. Now 49 and a photojournalist for 15 years, Fu – a winner of multiple photo awards domestically and internationally – wants to dedicate the next phase of life to the country’s vast rural areas. Amid rapid urbanisation and President Xi Jinping’s initiative to alleviate poverty by 2020, many villages across China... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2167282/award-winning-chinese-photographer-changes-course-effort?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2167282/award-winning-chinese-photographer-changes-course-effort?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 06 Oct 2018 22:02:00 +0000 Gu Kaiwen always knew something was wrong with his son’s eyes after the child was born four years ago. Xiaolong would stare at lights for long periods of time, and his eyes rolled in a strange way. He constantly fell because he could not walk steadily without the support of an adult, and his face had to be very close to, almost touching, the paper if he tried to look at what he had drawn. However, being from a poor ethnic Yi minority family in the mountainous Guangnan county in western Yunnnan... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2165329/theres-hope-him-now-how-poor-rural-chinese-boy-was-saved-going?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2165329/theres-hope-him-now-how-poor-rural-chinese-boy-was-saved-going?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 22 Sep 2018 10:32:44 +0000 Chen Jinghua is a 56-year-old elementary school vice-principal in eastern China’s Jiangsu province. But when the school day ends, his second job begins. In 2008, he started “Teacher moms,” a project to help the community’s “left-behind children” – some of the 60 million kids whose parents are migrant workers, employed far from home. This is increasingly been seen as a social problem in China. According to the China Labour Bulletin, 287 million people – more than a third of China’s entire... https://www.scmp.com/china/teacher-moms-support-chinas-left-behind-children/article/2163870?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/china/teacher-moms-support-chinas-left-behind-children/article/2163870?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 12 Sep 2018 09:45:15 +0000 A nine-year-old boy hid for eight hours in the undercarriage of a moving 18-wheeler truck before being discovered when the driver stopped at a factory. The boy, who was running away from his village in eastern Hunan province, rode 1,000km overnight perched on a pole near the rear axle of the truck, according to a report from local outlet Xiaoxiang Morning News. Once discovered, the child refused to come out from his hiding place, despite urging from a group of factory employees. He was... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2160846/nine-year-old-stowaway-travels-1000-miles-underneath-truck-escape?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2160846/nine-year-old-stowaway-travels-1000-miles-underneath-truck-escape?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 22 Aug 2018 08:15:15 +0000 A seven-year-old girl has become her mother’s travelling work companion, delivering goods around eastern China by van since she was four, according to a mainland media report. Miaomiao is spending much of her childhood around freight yards and warehouses, but her mother, a delivery van driver, considers this a better option than letting her become a “left-behind child”, Qianjiang Evening News reported on Monday. ‘Come back to scold me, Mum’: China’s ‘Ice Boy’ Wang Fuman’s Lunar New Year wish  “I... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2160698/chinese-girl-7-spends-days-mums-delivery-van-rather-be-left?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2160698/chinese-girl-7-spends-days-mums-delivery-van-rather-be-left?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 21 Aug 2018 09:54:33 +0000 A three-year-old boy survived on his own for five days on just tap water after his grandfather died at their home in a village in southern China, according to a local newspaper. The toddler was found by a relative on Friday morning lying unconscious near the body of his 66-year-old grandfather, Wei Ximing, at the village in Shangli county, in the Guangxi region, Nanguo Morning Post reported. Wei’s cousin, Wei Jingyu, said she discovered the boy when she visited the house to borrow some farm... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2157354/chinese-toddler-survives-his-own-five-days-tap-water-after?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2157354/chinese-toddler-survives-his-own-five-days-tap-water-after?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 29 Jul 2018 11:31:38 +0000 Top pupils at a rural primary school in southern China went home not just with certificates last week but something more meaty to share with their families – a cut of pork. Fifty children were given 1 catty (600g) of pork for their outstanding performance on the last day of school on Friday in the village of Dudongxiang, in Guangxi, Liuzhou Wenbao reported on Saturday. The practical reward earned a tick of approval from internet users after photos of the beaming children with their certificates... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2154295/top-pupils-bring-home-bacon-chinese-primary-school-hands-out?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2154295/top-pupils-bring-home-bacon-chinese-primary-school-hands-out?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 Jul 2018 07:43:08 +0000