A weekly roundup of news and analysis to help you follow key developments in China and the Chinese church.
How a Chinese cook helped establish Yosemite and the National Park Service (July 22, 2018, NBC News) “Hundreds of Chinese go to Yosemite. ... Imagine what the experience would be for them if they knew that Chinese worked on these roads over a hundred years ago.”
Airlines comply with demand from China that Taiwan not be referred to as a sovereign nation (July 25, 2018, The Los Angeles Times)
U.S. airlines have begun to comply with a Chinese demand that Taiwan be referred to as a part of China.
Looking Through the Eyes of China’s Surveillance State (July 16, 2018, The New York Times)
Testing the surveillance methods used in the Zhengzhou train station during Spring Festival.
Love in an Old Climate (July 7, 2018, The World of Chinese) What is it like to face the end of one’s life—and see one’s loved ones grow old—in a country with an imperfect medical system?
China’s Belt and Road: Exporting Evangelism? (July 4, 2018, The Diplomat) Despite Beijing’s own misgivings about religion and proselytization, it appears to have no qualms in supplying the rest of the world with religious literature.
Meet the five urban Chinas (June 20, 2018, Brookings) While China’s cities are at the frontier of global growth, many of them are still little known to the world.
The Hidden History of Shanghai’s Jewish Quarter (June 13, 2018, Atlas Obscura)
When the world refused to let in Jews fleeing Nazi Germany, Shanghai was the only place on earth willing to accept them with or without papers.
How Bad Is Facebook’s New China Problem? (June 6, 2018, The Atlantic)
A Chinese tech giant with connections to the government appears to be among Facebook’s partners in a data-sharing program.
Tiananmen Square, A 'Watershed' For Chinese Conversions to Christianity (June 4, 2018, WBUR) It marked the beginning of "a quiet spiritual revolution" among many Chinese, who equated Christianity with modernity.
Will China finally end its one-child policy? (May 23, 2018, Lowy Institute)
Scrapping the one-child policy won’t undo the damage it’s caused over more than thirty years.
Baozi vs. Jiaozi (May 20, 2018, Transparent Language) Both are cheap, delicious little bundles of joy, so you really can’t go wrong either way.
How China is trying to impose Islam with Chinese characteristics in the Hui Muslim heartland(May 14, 2018, South China Morning Post) Calls to prayer are now banned in Yinchuan on the grounds of noise pollution.