https://www.scmp.com/rss/326580/feed Xinyan Yu is a former Senior Video Producer at the Post. She was previously a senior multimedia producer at Inkstone, after almost six years with the BBC. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com As coronavirus cases surge worldwide, US President Donald Trump said his administration has done an “incredible job” preventing the spread of Covid-19 in the country. A US health official from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has meanwhile warned it is not a question of “if” but rather “when” America will face a community spread of the virus. California has been monitoring 8,400 people for signs of infection after it reported a coronavirus case of unknown origin, potentially the... https://www.scmp.com/health/us-prepares-widening-coronavirus-outbreak-covid-19-epidemic-spreads/article/3064553?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/health/us-prepares-widening-coronavirus-outbreak-covid-19-epidemic-spreads/article/3064553?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 02 Mar 2020 11:59:56 +0000 Ningxi Xu first heard about the outbreak of an unknown pneumonia-like disease in China from a fellow plane passenger, hours before she was set to land in Wuhan to spend the Lunar New Year with her family. Xu, 30, brushed it off. It couldn’t have been a big issue as she hadn’t yet seen anything in the news, she reasoned. But from the moment her father picked her up from the airport wearing a face mask, her perception of the situation began to shift. Wuhan’s streets grew empty. Reports of people... https://www.scmp.com/health/coronavirus-outbreak-american-recounts-evacuation-wuhan-california/article/3049831?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/health/coronavirus-outbreak-american-recounts-evacuation-wuhan-california/article/3049831?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 10 Feb 2020 10:46:08 +0000 Ningxi Xu first heard about the outbreak of an unknown pneumonia-like disease in China from a fellow plane passenger, hours before she was set to land in Wuhan to spend the Lunar New Year with her family. Xu, 30, brushed it off. It couldn’t have been a big issue as she hadn’t yet seen anything in the news, she reasoned. But from the moment her father picked her up from the airport wearing a face mask, her perception of the situation began to shift. Wuhan’s streets grew empty. Reports of people... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3049651/american-chinese-evacuated-coronavirus-hit-wuhan-relieved-be?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3049651/american-chinese-evacuated-coronavirus-hit-wuhan-relieved-be?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 08 Feb 2020 18:00:18 +0000 As a female comedian who performs in both English and Chinese, Norah Yang is a rarity in the world of stand-up comedy. Hailing from China, she did her first show in New York in October 2019. Yang spoke to the South China Morning Post about the emerging stand-up comedy industry in China and the funny business of bringing humor with Chinese characteristics to an international audience. https://www.scmp.com/china/norah-yang-introducing-stand-comedy-china/article/3035861?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/china/norah-yang-introducing-stand-comedy-china/article/3035861?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 01 Nov 2019 08:41:46 +0000 Scarlett Hao, a China-born fashion influencer based in New York, is redefining beauty for Asian women.  One of the first Asian plus-size influencers, Hao is breaking stereotypes of what Asian women can be. https://www.scmp.com/style/chinese-plus-size-influencer-new-york-challenges-stereotypes/article/3032288?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/style/chinese-plus-size-influencer-new-york-challenges-stereotypes/article/3032288?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 10 Oct 2019 11:18:33 +0000 Linda Feinstein has been playing mahjong, a Chinese tile-based game, since she was nine years old. Now 71, Feinstein runs a popular American mahjong club in New York that attracts hundreds of players every Monday. Mahjong was invented in ancient China and spread to the US in the 1920s. Its popularity waned as more women went to work, but it’s made a comeback after 9/11, and in this video we look at how mahjong has made an impact on America. https://www.scmp.com/society/how-mahjong-shaped-lives-millions-american-women/article/3027071?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/society/how-mahjong-shaped-lives-millions-american-women/article/3027071?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 13 Sep 2019 10:04:58 +0000 Students clashed during a protest in Brisbane, Australia against Hong Kong’s controversial extradition bill on July 24. The protest at the University of Queensland, organized by international students from Hong Kong, turned violent when scuffles broke out between opposing groups. https://www.scmp.com/society/students-clash-over-hong-kong-university-queensland-australia/article/3020037?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/society/students-clash-over-hong-kong-university-queensland-australia/article/3020037?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 25 Jul 2019 09:34:16 +0000 Hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets in the United States on Sunday in a show of solidarity with the almost 2 million Hongkongers who marched to demand the controversial extradition bill be scrapped, and for the resignation of the city’s leader. The rallies in New York and Washington were part of 39 planned protests taking place over the weekend around the world, with protests in Britain, Germany, France, South Korea, Australia, and North America, among others. The global demonstrations... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3014771/hong-kong-protests-go-global-marchers-take-streets-us?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3014771/hong-kong-protests-go-global-marchers-take-streets-us?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 17 Jun 2019 03:35:03 +0000 China is the world’s largest exporter of wigs. In Xuchang city, China’s central Henan province, people have been making wigs for decades. In Xiaogong village on the outskirts of the city, more than half of its 900 families depend on this rapidly growing trade. Henan Rebecca Hair, the biggest local wig manufacturer, is a big employer in the region. But as the cost of labor has increased, it has started moving production overseas, including to Ghana, Nigeria and Cambodia. Check out our video,... https://www.scmp.com/china/xuchang-city-chinas-wig-capital/article/3002673?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/china/xuchang-city-chinas-wig-capital/article/3002673?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 21 Mar 2019 09:29:15 +0000 The University of Minnesota suspended ties with Chinese tech giant Huawei in February, shortly after ending a nearly 10-year relationship with the Confucius Institute, a Chinese government program promoting its language and culture overseas. The college’s move comes close on the heels of similar actions by Stanford and the University of California, Berkeley. Washington has accused Beijing of using organizations like Huawei and the Confucius Institute to undermine American interests. For the... https://www.scmp.com/politics/university-minnesota-cuts-ties-huawei-and-confucius-institute/article/3002291?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/politics/university-minnesota-cuts-ties-huawei-and-confucius-institute/article/3002291?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 19 Mar 2019 09:41:34 +0000 China has a significant history of petitioners – those who try to solve their longstanding grievances by directly contacting major authority figures, hoping to force change from the top. But in truth, they have little chance of success. Some, like 54-year-old Bai Jiemen of Shanghai, go to great lengths to catch the attention of Chinese officials visiting the US. He says he has been falsely accused of spying by the Chinese government, and he wants to see this injustice corrected.    But Bai’s... https://www.scmp.com/politics/chinese-petitioner-takes-his-struggle-us/article/3000857?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/politics/chinese-petitioner-takes-his-struggle-us/article/3000857?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 19 Feb 2019 09:31:24 +0000 Overdoses linked to fentanyl, a synthetic opioid 50 times stronger than heroin, killed nearly 30,000 people in the United States in 2017. One of the people on the front lines of the opioid crisis is 21-year-old Anja Lesniak, a recovering opioid addict. Anja lives in what some call ground zero of America's opioid crisis, the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia. Officials say that most of the fentanyl sold in the state of Pennsylvania can be traced back to China. As part of a ceasefire... https://www.scmp.com/society/chinese-fentanyl-killing-tens-thousands-americans-opioid-crisis/article/3000618?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/society/chinese-fentanyl-killing-tens-thousands-americans-opioid-crisis/article/3000618?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 28 Jan 2019 09:55:22 +0000 A mysterious bird has become one of New York’s most unlikely attractions. The beautiful male Mandarin duck caught the attention of bird watchers in Central Park in October. Soon after, one of the surprised visitors – David Barrett, who runs the Twitter account Manhattan Bird Alert – posted a video of the fowl online. It immediately went viral. Now the duck is drawing flocks of fans from all over the US, attracted by his feisty personality and the mystery of how a bird native to East Asia made it... https://www.scmp.com/society/mandarin-duck-new-york-celebrity/article/2179329?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/society/mandarin-duck-new-york-celebrity/article/2179329?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 24 Dec 2018 08:15:15 +0000 Two panda cubs were born in July 2018 at the Chimelong Safari Park in Guangzhou, southern China. One of them, Ting Zai, is now learning to take her first steps. They will gradually be weaned off their mother's care and start eating bamboo and fending for themselves. https://www.scmp.com/society/last-wonton-baby-panda-takes-her-first-steps/article/2176091?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/society/last-wonton-baby-panda-takes-her-first-steps/article/2176091?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 03 Dec 2018 09:47:10 +0000 As people in the United States celebrated Thanksgiving, a Chinese restaurant in New York City tried to entice their customers with “Peking turkey.” Joe Ng, the head chef of RedFarm, came up with the idea of roasting turkeys “Peking duck”-style. He roasts young, fresh turkeys stuffed with Chinese herbs to give them more flavor. The turkey is served with pancakes, which diners can use to wrap up the meat alongside pickles and four different sauces. RedFarm sells up to 90 turkeys each year. Watch... https://www.scmp.com/food/peking-turkey-chinese-thanksgiving-new-york/article/2174619?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/food/peking-turkey-chinese-thanksgiving-new-york/article/2174619?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 23 Nov 2018 11:30:00 +0000 Women make up nearly one-third of China’s richest, according to the 2018 Hurun China Rich List. That’s a record 20-year high for the list, which has ranked China’s wealthiest people annually since 1999. Women made up 28.7% of the total of 1,893 individuals on the list this year with a net worth of $290 million or higher. Yang Huiyan, a 37-year-old property developer from China’s southern province of Guangdong, remains China’s richest woman with a wealth of $22 billion and the fourth spot on the... https://www.scmp.com/business/2018-hurun-china-rich-list-shows-one-third-chinas-billionaires-are-women/article/2168146?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/2018-hurun-china-rich-list-shows-one-third-chinas-billionaires-are-women/article/2168146?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 11 Oct 2018 10:18:22 +0000 Having practiced law in China for two decades, Sun Shihua is no stranger to how Chinese law and order is often enforced. But never in her wildest imagination did she think that she would be strip-searched and assaulted in a police station. “It was the darkest, most terrifying and shameful day in my 20 years as a lawyer,” Sun told Inkstone. The 48-year-old lawyer said she was mistreated on September 20 in a police station in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, where she was representing a... https://www.scmp.com/society/guangzhou-lawyer-accuses-police-strip-search-and-interrogation-under-duress/article/2167896?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/society/guangzhou-lawyer-accuses-police-strip-search-and-interrogation-under-duress/article/2167896?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 10 Oct 2018 10:00:00 +0000 China is catching up quickly to the US in the global race to develop artificial intelligence, says Kai-Fu Lee, a respected expert on AI. In his new book AI Superpowers: China, Silicon Valley, and the New World Order, Lee argues that competition between the US and China on AI is heating up. For China, AI dominance is part of national prestige. In July 2017, the country launched an ambitious strategy to be the world’s primary AI innovation center by 2030, with an industry worth $150 billion. As... https://www.scmp.com/tech/kai-fu-lee-says-china-catching-us-ai-competition/article/2166978?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/kai-fu-lee-says-china-catching-us-ai-competition/article/2166978?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 04 Oct 2018 10:15:00 +0000 She went missing for three months. Now China’s highest-paid movie star Fan Bingbing has resurfaced, making headlines again after receiving a hefty tax evasion penalty of more than $130 million. Fan and two of her production companies must pay back $42 million in overdue taxes plus more than $87 million in fines by December 31, Chinese tax authorities told China’s state news agency Xinhua on Wednesday. Fan’s agent has been detained for hiding and destroying account books, but Fan will not serve... https://www.scmp.com/society/actress-fan-bingbing-ordered-pay-130-million-tax-evasion-penalty/article/2166818?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/society/actress-fan-bingbing-ordered-pay-130-million-tax-evasion-penalty/article/2166818?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 03 Oct 2018 10:15:45 +0000 A Chinese TV journalist who was arrested in Britain for slapping a young activist at a human rights conference has been hailed a “modern-day Mulan” by supporters on Chinese social media. They were referring to Kong Linlin, a UK-based journalist with China’s top state broadcaster CCTV, who was taken away by West Midlands police for disrupting the Sunday event in the city of Birmingham. Hua Mulan was a legendary Chinese woman warrior, best known in the West for headlining a beloved 1998 Disney... https://www.scmp.com/politics/chinese-internet-users-applaud-cctv-reporter-arrested-uk/article/2166668?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/politics/chinese-internet-users-applaud-cctv-reporter-arrested-uk/article/2166668?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 02 Oct 2018 10:15:00 +0000 The Thai government has scrambled to restore Chinese tourists’ confidence in the popular travel destination after a video clip showing an airport security guard slapping a Chinese tourist went viral. The incident happened last Thursday when a Chinese tourist, identified as Mei Ji, got into an argument with a Thai airport security guard after he was denied entry at Bangkok’s Don Mueang Airport. Mei said that the guard assaulted him because he declined to pay extra to go through a faster... https://www.scmp.com/china/thailand-apologizes-after-airport-guard-slaps-chinese-tourist/article/2166493?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/china/thailand-apologizes-after-airport-guard-slaps-chinese-tourist/article/2166493?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 01 Oct 2018 10:00:45 +0000 Ningxia, home to China’s biggest Hui Muslim population, has renamed an Arabic-sounding river in a controversial campaign to weaken the Islamic identity of the region. The Aiyi river, named after Ayisha, one of Prophet Mohammed’s wives, is now called Diannong, which is the ancient name for Yinchuan, the current capital of Ningxia. “We received a request from the local water resources department based on a regulation on the names of public locations,” the Ningxia government said in a statement.... https://www.scmp.com/china/hui-muslim-ningxia-changes-arabic-sounding-name-local-river/article/2166225?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/china/hui-muslim-ningxia-changes-arabic-sounding-name-local-river/article/2166225?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 28 Sep 2018 10:45:15 +0000 A top critic has trashed the latest film by acclaimed Chinese director Jia Zhangke, triggering a vigorous debate online about the meaning of art and cinema in modern China. Jia’s new film, Ash Is Purest White, has impressed international critics and competed for the coveted top prize at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.    But it has been lampooned by the editor of state tabloid Global Times, who compared it to “stinky tofu” for the “negative energy” it brings to audiences. “The film is full of... https://www.scmp.com/society/director-jia-zhangke-ash-purest-white-blasts-global-times-editor/article/2166003?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/society/director-jia-zhangke-ash-purest-white-blasts-global-times-editor/article/2166003?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 27 Sep 2018 10:30:15 +0000 The US State Department has approved an arms sales package worth $330 million to Taiwan, further risking already strained ties with China. The package includes spare parts for “F-16, C-130, F-5, Indigenous Defense Fighter, all other aircraft systems and subsystems, and other related elements of logistics and program support,” the Pentagon announced on Monday. The US says arms sales to the island democracy are intended to maintain stability in the region, but China sees it as a violation of its... https://www.scmp.com/politics/us-approves-330-million-arms-sale-taiwan-amid-trade-war/article/2165684?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/politics/us-approves-330-million-arms-sale-taiwan-amid-trade-war/article/2165684?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 25 Sep 2018 09:45:45 +0000 Beijing and the Holy See have signed a provisional agreement over the appointment of bishops in China, a thorny issue that has stymied relations for decades. China’s 10-million-plus Catholics have long been split between state-sanctioned churches and the underground churches that only pledge loyalty to the Pope. Beijing wants all bishops to be approved by the state, while the Holy See seeks to defend its authority over bishop nominations. On Saturday, the Vatican announced a historic... https://www.scmp.com/china/china-vatican-make-historic-provisional-agreement-bishop-appointment/article/2165538?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/china/china-vatican-make-historic-provisional-agreement-bishop-appointment/article/2165538?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 24 Sep 2018 10:45:30 +0000 Beijing has accused the self-ruled island of Taiwan of stepping up its espionage activities by recruiting exchange students as spies. In a rare two-part TV program widely broadcast over the weekend, Chinese state television revealed the names and photos of several alleged Taiwanese spies, who reportedly lured Chinese university students in Taiwan into supplying national security information. Taiwan’s intelligence agency has planted a large number of spies on Taiwan campuses, who target visiting... https://www.scmp.com/china/china-accuses-taiwan-training-spies-recruit-mainland-students-intelligence/article/2164562?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/china/china-accuses-taiwan-training-spies-recruit-mainland-students-intelligence/article/2164562?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 17 Sep 2018 10:30:00 +0000 US lawmakers are not happy with Google cozying up to China. Google now faces questions from a bipartisan group of 16 US lawmakers into how it plans to protect users in China if Beijing allows it back into the country, according to Reuters. This has added to the pressure on Google to disclose what concessions it is making in order to work with the Chinese government. The lawmakers from the House of Representatives detailed their issues in a letter to Alphabet, Google’s parent... https://www.scmp.com/tech/us-lawmakers-and-google-staff-question-china-censorship-plan/article/2164236?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/us-lawmakers-and-google-staff-question-china-censorship-plan/article/2164236?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 14 Sep 2018 10:15:00 +0000 At 14,000 feet above sea level, a group of scientists winds their way up the Urumqi No.1 Glacier like small ants. Twice a year, glaciologist Li Zhongqin and his team come to the Tianshan Mountains in western China to check up on the health of this majestic mountain of ice. Beneath their feet, this “frozen reservoir” that irrigates a vast arid region of Central Asia is melting away rapidly, as the result of climate change. “If the air temperature grows at the current rate, this glacier will melt... https://www.scmp.com/science/chinas-glaciers-are-melting-record-speed-thanks-climate-change/article/2164251?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/science/chinas-glaciers-are-melting-record-speed-thanks-climate-change/article/2164251?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 14 Sep 2018 10:15:00 +0000 Apple’s latest iPhone has made a rare concession for China, as it tries to boost sales in its third most profitable market. The iPhone XS was released on Wednesday and features a so-called “eSIM” function that allows users to switch between two carriers by signing into an additional mobile plan virtually.   Major US carriers like Verizon and AT&T have adopted the function, but the technology is not available in China, Hong Kong or Macau, so Apple has given their Chinese users two physical slots... https://www.scmp.com/tech/new-iphone-gets-dual-sim-capacity-china-market/article/2164075?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/new-iphone-gets-dual-sim-capacity-china-market/article/2164075?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 13 Sep 2018 10:30:45 +0000 In The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck wrote about the Dust Bowl in the 1930s that forced a quarter million Americans to move from the Great Plains to California. Today, China faces a much bigger crisis: deserts cover more than a quarter of the country and are growing. Nearly 400 million people face the consequences of increasingly frequent sandstorms and drought. In the face of desertification, many have chosen to move away. But Wang Tianchang, a 75-year-old farmer from northwestern China, did... https://www.scmp.com/china/china-builds-great-green-wall-trees-fight-against-desertification/article/2163557?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/china/china-builds-great-green-wall-trees-fight-against-desertification/article/2163557?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 10 Sep 2018 10:15:00 +0000 Zhang Keliang was just 20 years old when he entered his first coal mine. Crammed into a narrow shaft with dozens of co-workers, Zhang dived into the center of the earth, his heart sinking every time that darkness embraced him. “It was a dreary experience,” he tells Inkstone. “Those who were less brave screamed out loud.”   Zhang, now 50, has taken this 2,600-foot journey every working day for three decades. When he started mining back in 1988, it was a highly sought-after job in Huainan, a city... https://www.scmp.com/china/impact-chinas-shift-away-coal-its-economy-environment-and-people/article/2163221?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/china/impact-chinas-shift-away-coal-its-economy-environment-and-people/article/2163221?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 07 Sep 2018 10:15:00 +0000 Chinese photographer Song Chao’s powerful black-and-white portraits of Chinese miners feature prominently at the COAL+ICE exhibition. Song grew up in a coal-mining district called Yanzhou, in China’s eastern province of Shandong. He started working in the mines as a teenager. When he was 23, he met a photographer who encouraged him to document the lives of his fellow workers. Few people know anything about what it’s like to be a miner, except that it involves hard labor in dangerous working... https://www.scmp.com/china/chinese-photographer-song-chaos-portraits-chinese-miners/article/2162824?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/china/chinese-photographer-song-chaos-portraits-chinese-miners/article/2162824?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 05 Sep 2018 08:30:45 +0000 Dozens of toddlers and young children watched attentively as a scantily clad pole dancer performed her routine on stage. This was how Xinshahui, a kindergarten in China’s southern hub of Shenzhen, welcomed its students back on the first day of school this week. Videos showing the performance, taking place in front of children in their white school uniforms and their parents, have sparked anger on social media. The principal hung up on my wife when she called after saying it was "international... https://www.scmp.com/society/shenzhen-kindergarten-principal-apologizes-inviting-pole-dancers-perform/article/2162667?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/society/shenzhen-kindergarten-principal-apologizes-inviting-pole-dancers-perform/article/2162667?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 04 Sep 2018 10:15:30 +0000 The odds are against China’s lonely hearts. One in six Chinese – a total of 240 million people – are single, and the number is expected to double in the next few decades. It’s getting harder to find love – or even just a good old-fashioned hookup — given that the country also has a deeply skewed sex ratio. Men outnumber women by more than 30 million, partially as a result of sex selection at birth under  China’s only recently revoked one-child policy. Many men, especially those who live in the... https://www.scmp.com/society/love-week-young-chinese-talk-about-love-dating-and-marriages-china/article/2159684?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/society/love-week-young-chinese-talk-about-love-dating-and-marriages-china/article/2159684?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 14 Aug 2018 11:00:15 +0000 Tantan claims to be the biggest dating app in China. Based on a swiping and matching system similar to Tinder, the app claims to register one billion swipes a day, and to have made a total of seven billion matches for its users – most of whom are young people in their early 20s. Tantan’s CEO Wang Yu explains to Inkstone why dating is so difficult in China, and how his company is trying to help China’s 240 million singles find love. https://www.scmp.com/tech/love-week-chinas-biggest-dating-app-tantan-wants-help-single-people-find-love/article/2159499?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/love-week-chinas-biggest-dating-app-tantan-wants-help-single-people-find-love/article/2159499?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 13 Aug 2018 10:30:00 +0000 Thousands of disgruntled Chinese investors who have lost their life savings in the country’s peer-to-peer lending industry mounted a failed attempt to protest in Beijing’s financial district on Monday. Promising easy cash for borrowers and high returns for lenders, China’s peer-to-peer lending platforms had once thrived and helped power the country’s breakneck growth. But China’s curb on financial risk has shaken up the industry, causing online lenders to collapse like dominoes amid tighter... https://www.scmp.com/society/investors-call-investigation-chinas-peer-peer-lending-industry/article/2158650?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/society/investors-call-investigation-chinas-peer-peer-lending-industry/article/2158650?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 07 Aug 2018 09:45:15 +0000 Just one week after its debut on the Nasdaq, China’s newest big-buck startup is facing a crisis of confidence. Last Thursday, group-buying bargain app Pinduoduo raised $1.6 billion to make it the second biggest Chinese IPO in the US this year. But the high-profile IPO also brought a massive and unexpected amount of public scrutiny. The app attracts users with rock-bottom prices for goods ranging from shoes to infant milk powder, which it may sell for as little as $1 per package. While the app... https://www.scmp.com/tech/week-after-its-16-billion-ipo-pinduoduo-accused-selling-counterfeits/article/2157829?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/week-after-its-16-billion-ipo-pinduoduo-accused-selling-counterfeits/article/2157829?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 01 Aug 2018 10:15:30 +0000 US and Chinese officials said a man set off an explosive device outside the US embassy in the Chinese capital on Thursday afternoon. No one except the bomber was injured, the officials said. Beijing police identified the person as a 26-year-old man, who has been subdued and hospitalized. At around 1 pm on Thursday, chaos erupted outside the six-building compound of the US embassy in Beijing following a loud bang, witnesses told Inkstone. The explosion took place in one of Beijing’s diplomatic... https://www.scmp.com/society/bombing-outside-us-embassy-beijing-injures-one/article/2157006?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/society/bombing-outside-us-embassy-beijing-injures-one/article/2157006?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 26 Jul 2018 09:45:00 +0000 China’s beleaguered #MeToo movement has found a surprising new target: prominent social activists who had previously spoken up for women’s rights. Accusations have been piling up against several male NGO leaders, two of whom have already publicly apologized. The response in China’s tightly knit and often marginalized community of social activists has led to allegations that it is closing ranks to protect its own, in a country where sexual harassment is vaguely defined and hard to bring to... https://www.scmp.com/society/metoo-movement-gaining-new-momentum-among-chinas-charity-workers/article/2156987?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/society/metoo-movement-gaining-new-momentum-among-chinas-charity-workers/article/2156987?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 26 Jul 2018 09:30:45 +0000 In the US, the argument rages on: to vaccinate, or not to vaccinate? But while vaxxers and anti-vaxxers trade blows over what’s best for their children, in China, the concern is much more straightforward: where to get uncompromised vaccines in the first place. Another crisis hit China’s scandal-torn vaccination industry over the weekend, following a fresh scandal which started brewing last week, when a whistleblower at Changsheng Bio-Technology, a major Chinese vaccine-maker, reported their... https://www.scmp.com/health/fresh-vaccine-scandal-shatters-faith-chinas-domestic-vaccine-industry/article/2156477?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/health/fresh-vaccine-scandal-shatters-faith-chinas-domestic-vaccine-industry/article/2156477?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 23 Jul 2018 10:15:15 +0000 Last summer, an online reality show single-handedly ignited China’s passion for hip hop, racking up more than 2.5 billion views and shooting its contestants to stardom. Now The Rap of China is back for a second season, and it’s determined to keep hip hop in the mainstream -- even as audiences and censors alike get tougher. Here’s this season’s opening, which features the show’s five judges spitting bars: The show’s debut in 2017 brought the hip hop subculture into the national limelight for the... https://www.scmp.com/society/hip-hop-reality-show-rap-china-makes-comeback-chinese-stage/article/2156141?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/society/hip-hop-reality-show-rap-china-makes-comeback-chinese-stage/article/2156141?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 20 Jul 2018 09:45:00 +0000 Less than a month after its debut, the Chinese version of Saturday Night Live has been pulled off the air. SNL China, a much subdued Chinese version of Saturday Night Live free of political satire, launched June 23 on Chinese video-streaming website Youku, but it did not release a new espisode last Saturday. The previously aired episodes are also no longer available on the site. “We are trying to make the show better to meet your expectations,” the show told fans on China’s Twitter-like social... https://www.scmp.com/society/saturday-night-live-chinese-version-suspended-amid-variety-show-censorship/article/2155842?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/society/saturday-night-live-chinese-version-suspended-amid-variety-show-censorship/article/2155842?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Jul 2018 09:45:00 +0000 The world was heartened by the miraculous rescue of 12 boys trapped in a cave in northern Thailand last week. But a tragedy at the other end of the country had a far less happy outcome. And now, less than two weeks after a boat accident on July 5 claimed the lives of 47 Chinese nationals, upset Chinese tourists are steering clear of the island paradise of Phuket.   Around 7,300 rooms at 19 hotels booked by Chinese tourists have been cancelled, Kongkiat Khuphongsakorn, president of a southern... https://www.scmp.com/society/chinese-are-cancelling-phuket-bookings-following-boat-accident-which-kills-47/article/2155659?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/society/chinese-are-cancelling-phuket-bookings-following-boat-accident-which-kills-47/article/2155659?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 17 Jul 2018 09:45:45 +0000 France beat Croatia in an epic World Cup final in Russia last night, but the victory was a costly one for Chinese home appliance maker Vatti. As soon as the match ended, the Guangdong-based company, best known for its kitchen stoves and ventilation hoods, said it would honor a promise to refund $12 million worth of products sold if France won the World Cup. The cost of the refund is being shared between the company and its local distributors.  Vatti launched its “victory package” marketing... https://www.scmp.com/sports/vatti-refund-12-million-worth-products-french-victory-world-cup/article/2155472?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sports/vatti-refund-12-million-worth-products-french-victory-world-cup/article/2155472?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Jul 2018 09:30:30 +0000 There are no designer yoga mats or slinky Lululemon crops here. The grandmas and grandpas of Yugouliang village in northern China don’t need the pricey gear as they flex into Downward Dog or Warrior II. The residents of this poverty-stricken hamlet can’t afford it anyway. Sporting blue headscarves, red socks and flower-print shirts, a few women giggle and clap as others flow into their practice. Their instructor, an unlikely yoga guru in his black sweater and linen pants, patiently directs the... https://www.scmp.com/china/does-yoga-hold-solution-chinas-war-poverty/article/2152936?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/china/does-yoga-hold-solution-chinas-war-poverty/article/2152936?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 28 Jun 2018 10:00:15 +0000 In Yugouliang, yoga is not for the rich and privileged. Twice a day, residents of this impoverished village in China’s northern Hebei province gather for yoga sessions. It helps these elderly farmers, most of whom have lost the ability to work due to illness, improve their health and regain strength. But their plan for yoga goes beyond health – they want to generate income too.  China has an ambitious plan to eliminate extreme poverty by 2020. The political will behind this nationwide poverty... https://www.scmp.com/society/elderly-farmers-yugouliang-village-fight-poverty-yoga/article/2152712?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/society/elderly-farmers-yugouliang-village-fight-poverty-yoga/article/2152712?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 27 Jun 2018 08:45:00 +0000 A life for a life. For the family of Jiang Yue, a 19-year-old Chinese student killed in a road-rage attack in Arizona, there’s no doubt that this is how justice should be served. But two years after the shooting that took Jiang’s life in January 2016, an Arizona court delivered a verdict last week that left them feeling deeply wronged by the US justice system. Jiang’s murderer was Holly Davis, a 32-year-old Arizona woman, who shot her four times after rear-ending her at a traffic light in... https://www.scmp.com/society/family-slain-chinese-student-jiang-yue-unhappy-sentence-her-arizona-killer/article/2152062?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/society/family-slain-chinese-student-jiang-yue-unhappy-sentence-her-arizona-killer/article/2152062?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 22 Jun 2018 10:30:15 +0000 Accusations of alleged discrimination and bias against Asian American applicants at Harvard University have stirred debate in China about its own education system. With 540,000 Chinese students studying abroad in 2016, the country is the world’s biggest source of international students, and Harvard has a particular cachet with the millions of Chinese students aspiring to study abroad. Last week, documents unveiled as part of a lawsuit by a group representing Asian American students accused... https://www.scmp.com/education/our-own-harvards-discriminate-too-say-chinese-netizens/article/2151317?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/education/our-own-harvards-discriminate-too-say-chinese-netizens/article/2151317?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 18 Jun 2018 10:30:15 +0000 “Energetic, safe and the ideal destination for overseas studies”: this is music to the ears of nearly 10 million Chinese high students waiting anxiously for the results of their college entrance exam. On China’s most popular social media platform WeChat, the University of New Hampshire (UNH) has set up an account showcasing the school’s beautiful campus, long history and strong academic record.   The college is calling for Chinese applicants, who will be spared from having to sit the... https://www.scmp.com/education/first-us-state-university-accept-chinese-exam-results/article/2150809?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/education/first-us-state-university-accept-chinese-exam-results/article/2150809?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 14 Jun 2018 10:00:15 +0000 Twenty years ago, Ma Baoli was a depressed man hunched over computers in internet cafes looking for love online. He never thought he would one day build an empire connecting millions of gay men across the globe. Today, Ma owns the world’s most popular online gay dating service. It’s not Grindr, but Blued: a Beijing-based app valued at more than $600 million, with 40 million registered users. Grindr, which has nearly 30 million registered users with up to six million monthly active users compared... https://www.scmp.com/business/blued-gay-dating-app-china-new-propeller-worlds-pink-economy/article/2150593?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/blued-gay-dating-app-china-new-propeller-worlds-pink-economy/article/2150593?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 13 Jun 2018 10:15:15 +0000