Society

After weeks of intense seasonal flooding in southwestern and central China, torrential rains have caused more floods along the Yangtze River, with nearly 300,000 people evacuated in the eastern provinces of Anhui and Jiangxi as homes have been destroyed, roads paralyzed and many left stranded without food or electricity. More than 2,000 homes were damaged by the latest floodwaters, forcing the evacuation of 147,000 people by Tuesday in Anhui, after a week of heavy rainstorms on the country’s eastern coast. In neighboring Jiangxi, more than 151,000 people were evacuated, with nearly 2,000 houses damaged, between Monday and Wednesday, according to state news agency Xinhua. The seasonal floodwa

Every Tuesday and Thursday, China Trends takes the pulse of the Chinese social media to keep you in the loop of what the world’s biggest internet population is talking about. 21 people die after a bus plunges into reservoir At least 21 people have died in the southwestern province of Guizhou after a bus turned sharply and drove off a dam and into the reservoir. Security footage captured the incident, which happened at about noon on Tuesday. It is causing a stir online because the road appeared to be in good condition, the weather was nice and there was relatively little traffic.  A bus fell into a lake in Anshun in China's Guizhou Province. Rescue is underway and the number of casualties is

Every Tuesday and Thursday, China Trends takes the pulse of the Chinese social media to keep you in the loop of what the world’s biggest internet population is talking about. No money, no problems? Chinese internet users have criticized a state media report for suggesting that, based on a survey, people with high incomes are not necessarily happier than people who make less money. According to the survey conducted by state broadcaster CCTV, about 60% of respondents who made 1 million yuan ($141,800) a year reported feeling content, while 58% of those with an annual income of 200,000 yuan ($28,360) gave the same answer. Those in lower-income brackets recorded satisfaction ratings of between 3

Every Tuesday and Thursday, Inkstone Index features a single, illuminating number that helps you make sense of China. 10.7 million: how many people are taking China’s national entrance exam in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic. A record number of students is taking China’s national entrance exam, or gaokao, in July, while the country remains on high alert for Covid-19. The annual exam usually takes place in early June, but it has been postponed to July 7 to 8 in 2020 due to the coronavirus epidemic. The national exam will be the biggest group event held in China since the disease was first reported in the central city of Wuhan in December, according to the Ministry of Education. Chinese st

You can check in but you can never leave, at least for now, from Taiwan’s Songshan Airport. The terminal in Taipei offered “fake” flights on July 2, 2020, to satisfy passengers hungry for a chance to travel as they wait for Covid-19 pandemic restrictions to be lifted. Thousands of people applied for “tickets to nowhere” that offered about 60 lucky passengers a chance to go through check-in procedures and board a plane that never left the ground.

When Beijing and the Vatican reached a provisional agreement in 2018 over who had the authority to appoint Roman Catholic bishops in China, it signaled a possible breakthrough in a troubled relationship stretching back six decades.  It seems the signals were wrong. Details of the pact – forged after more than three decades of negotiations – have never been made public. Still, the agreement marked the communist state’s first indication it was ready to share some authority with the Pope over control of China’s Catholic Church.  The hope was the agreement would heal a rift from the 1940s, when Beijing kicked the church out of China and started an autonomous Catholic church that operates indepe

Every Tuesday and Thursday, China Trends takes the pulse of the Chinese social media to keep you in the loop of what the world’s biggest internet population is talking about. Is this Vietnamese YouTube star a copycat? A Vietnamese YouTuber has sparked anger in China for publishing videos that closely resemble the works of Li Ziqi, one of China's biggest internet stars.  The YouTube channel named Bếp Trên Đỉnh Đồi, or “kitchen on the hill,” has published videos featuring a young woman working in the fields and making food in a tranquil rural setting.  The style, storyline, background music and the clothes and hairstyle of the main character all bear a striking resemblance to Li Ziqi’s videos

Every Tuesday and Thursday, Inkstone Index features one important number about China to give you insight into the rising power. 75%: the proportion of Asian-Americans that expressed support for the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020.  The protest movement following the police killing of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, in Minnesota has received wide support across ethnicity groups in the US, according to a June survey from the Pew Research Center. Compared with 75% of Asian-Americans and 77% Hispanics, 60% of white Americans expressed at least some support. In all, two-thirds of the 9,654 surveyed Americans support the racial equality movement. For Asian-Americans, the Floyd protests

When Wu boarded a flight back to China in early June, he breathed a sigh of relief. The 25-year-old Chinese businessman had been stranded in Pakistan for more than three months due to coronavirus-related travel restrictions.  “I thought all would be good and right when I finally made it home,” said Wu, who asked for his name to be changed out of fear of retaliation by the authorities.  As soon as he landed in the eastern Chinese city of Jinan, Wu said, he and 180 other repatriated citizens faced a fresh set of ordeals: food poisoning and price-gouging from hotels. During their mandatory quarantine stay, the returnees from Pakistan were provided meals that were found to contain maggots, lady

Every Tuesday and Thursday, China Trends takes the pulse of the Chinese social media to keep you in the loop of what the world’s biggest internet population is talking about. American advertisement prompts debate in China Calvin Klein’s advert in the United States featuring a plus-sized black trans actress has prompted a heated debate over beauty standards in China.  A photo of Jari Jones in CK’s underwear has been put on a massive billboard in Manhattan, as part of a Pride Month campaign featuring nine LGBTQ models. Today, on #JUNETEENTH2020 a Fat Black Trans Woman Looks over NEW YORK !!! #BlackTransLivesMatter #BlackLivesMatter #ProudinMyCalvins @CalvinKlein pic.twitter.com/Kvth3oCXw4 — Ja