Society

An elderly Asian woman who beat off a violent attacker on a San Fransisco street has vowed to donate almost US$1 million to end racism in Asian-American communities. Xie Xiaozhen, 76, has pledged the money that was raised on a GoFundMe page set up by her family after the vicious attack that left her badly bruised and bleeding heavily.  Her family said she was donating the money because fighting the problem of racism was “bigger than her.” The March 17 assault on the elderly grandmother made headlines globally when a video of her crying and trying to defend herself against a white male attacker. As of Thursday, the family’s charity page had raised US$962,275 – almost 20 times more than their

Sales of “patriotic” products that tell the United States to butt out of their internal affairs are booming in China after last week’s fiery Alaskan summit. Just days after the summit ended, mobile phone cases, cigarette lighters, T-shirts, vacuum mugs, hoodies, umbrellas, canvas bags, pants and even beers carrying pro-Chinese sentiments have been selling fast on mainland China’s shopping website Taobao. Ads for the “patriotic” products promise immediate shipping while some online shops sell merchandise carrying slogans translated into English, such as, “stop interfering in China’s internal affairs.” The products were inspired by quotes from China’s foreign policy chief Yang Jiechi, in the

A recent discovery at a famous archeology site in China has rekindled fantastical theories that it was once home to a civilization not from earth.  A recent finding of more than 500 artifacts in Sanxingdui, a Bronze Age archeology site in central Sichuan province, included the notable discovery of a gold mask that a priest may have worn.  The mask carries wide-eyes and a deep nose, similar to earlier discoveries of bronze human statues, fueling speculation of alien inhabitants because the features look “foreign.”  In a question list compiled by the state broadcaster CCTV, some people said those bronze face masks looked more like movie characters in Avatar than Han Chinese people.  “Does tha

A popular Chinese comedy show said on Sunday that it would suspend a highly anticipated episode roasting two famous Chinese basketball players after viewers criticized it for being uncomfortably harsh.  The decision from Tencent’s Roast! also highlights the push and pull between China’s state-led sports system and private industry.   On March 14, the show aired the first half of a series roasting Chinese National Team basketball players Guo Ailun and Zhou Qi. The two players were part of a team that faced intense domestic criticism after their lackluster performance at the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup, one of the most important international tournaments in the sport. China flamed out in th

Over the past decade, a millennial fascinated with rare books has painstakingly restored dozens of frayed, rotten and torn manuscripts – all by hand. Lian Chengchun, 32, is one of a dwindling number of people who make a living by fixing ancient Chinese books. China classifies antique books as those printed before 1912. According to one report, there are an estimated 50 million in China, and only about 20 million have been preserved, creating a daunting task for antique book fixers like Lian. “Some books have rotted, some are aged, some have water damage, and some cannot even be opened properly,” Lian says. “Some books are especially hard to fix, such as ones that are infested with bugs or h

When Xiaohao, a pseudonym, was a freshman in high school, his peers spent months bullying him emotionally and physically, including repeated instances of sexual assault. All because he is gay.  In the most harrowing incident, Xiaohao was stripped naked, pinned to the ground and forced to watch pornography while someone stimulated his genitals. The bullies filmed the incident.  He remembered one of the abusers asked, “Shouldn’t this give you pleasure since you are gay?”  Xiaohao, who made his experience public last Saturday, routinely asked for help from the school administrators, who told him to endure it.  “I am a homosexual. My dorm-mates bullied me. But the teachers asked me to put up wit

A company that fired a woman for taking too much maternity leave must pay her salary compensation and severance pay, a Chinese court ruled in a hearing made public on March 3. Legal experts said the ruling signals a desire by authorities to enforce maternal leave policies in the hope that it encourages more people to have children.  China faces a demographics crisis that got far more urgent in 2020 after the government recorded a 15% decrease in newborns registered its hukou housing system.  The woman, surnamed Zhong, had worked in the company for seven years before going on maternity leave in May 2019.  Three months later, the company discharged her because they said she was not showing up

What would life be without people being weird, wonderful and wacky?  Sure, dreams and goals are important, but life will be terribly dull if we don’t take a breath to enjoy the whimsy surrounding us.  These people China have completely embraced this ethos, making waves by mastering a slingshot, a street workout guru who makes the natural environment his gym and hotels in Hangzhou that installed computer chips to clean clothes.  They brought joy to millions of people along the way.  The Chinese slingshot master A Chinese man named Zhu Liang could hit moving water droplets from a distance with a slingshot. Zhu has developed a special type of slingshot to hone his precision chop and plans to t

Legally, China promises to cultivate a healthy work-life balance. Labor laws limit employees to work 8 hours a day, or 44 hours per week, with overtime limited to 36 hours per month.   The reality is the polar opposite. Many workers in China are subject to a grueling work culture that is so ingrained it is drawing serious concern from Chinese lawmakers.  But people are doubtful that the “996” culture - working from 9am to 9pm for 6 days per week - will change anytime soon.  One official, Li Guohua, a deputy of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), suggested that regulators should clamp down on the overwork culture and “show their teeth” to companies participating i

Donald Trump may have lost the presidential race in the United States but he is still the king of business – in China. Just months after leaving the Oval Office in Washington, “the orange one” is finding new fame as a star of e-commerce. A caricature of the former president dressed in a robe and sitting cross-legged in a Zen pose carrying the logo, “Make Your Company Great Again,” has become the latest hot-seller on China’s largest e-commerce platform, Taobao. Shoppers are snapping up the statue, which sells for as much as US$153 in several online shops. “Does it really work if I place it at home?” one potential buyer asked in a post on one e-shop’s website. Some shops described the statue