Featured Article
The Viral Success of Chinese Village Basketball (October 29, 2024, Made in China Journal)
As China’s economy struggles in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, young people have been leaving cities and returning to the countryside. In Southeast Guizhou Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, the CunBA (村BA), or Village Basketball Association, has offered some respite from the economic gloom. Teams compete in front of raucous crowds for prizes such as live cattle and goats.
Sponsored Link
Job Opportunity: Freelance Writer in South Asia and East Asia
Christianity Today is looking for freelance writers in South Asia and East Asia, especially those with a background in journalism or theology. The organization is seeking reporters willing to ask good questions, dig for the story, and pursue the truth. They welcome opinion writers who can offer surprising and compelling insights into a particular cultural context, current event, or Bible passage.
To apply or for more information, please click here.
Application deadline: November 14, 2024.
Events
Sponsored Event—Free Fall Public Lecture
China Academic Consortium is hosting the next event in our joint lecture series. On Saturday, November 9, Dr. Lian Xi (David C. Steinmetz Distinguished Professor of World Christianity at Duke Univ.) will lecture on Lin Zhao and what her story reveals about Christianity in twentieth-century China. Click here to get more details and to register.
ERR China November Online Book Club
On November 13, 2024, ERRChina will host a book club discussion, facilitated by Joann Pittman, on her book The Bells Are Not Silent. Register and find more details about the online book club here.
Government / Politics / Foreign Affairs
Reading Red on Cross-Strait Relations (October 23, 2024, China Media Project)
Last week in Beijing, more than 80 scholars and officials attended a grand ceremony to drive home the simple point that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China. The event centered on a new book by Taiwanese author Fan Wenyi (范文议) whose title read like a brawling challenge—Who Says Taiwan is Not Part of China? (谁说台湾不是中国的). According to state media coverage, Fan’s book, which makes the case for reunification, will have “a positive significance in enhancing mutual understanding and trust between compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Straits.” But a deeper dive behind the headlines pushing this supposedly inspirational book turns up more questions than answers.
China’s Battle for Narratives in Africa (October 23, 2024, The Diplomat)
In 2014, during the Central Conference on Work Relating to Foreign Affairs in Beijing, Chinese President Xi Jinping advocated for strengthening China’s soft power globally by improving how the country communicates its message. In the subsequent years, Chinese state-controlled media focused on cultural investments and international cooperation, establishing marketing networks and expanding the reach of quality cultural assets abroad, particularly in Africa.
China has built narratives to its advantage in a region that has increasingly become a theater of great power rivalry, amid what The Economist has termed as “The New Scramble for Africa.”
China to Offer Taliban Tariff-Free Trade as It Inches Closer to Isolated Resource-Rich Regime (October 25, 2024, Reuters)
Beijing has sought to develop its ties with the Taliban since they took control of Afghanistan in 2021, but like all governments has refrained from formally recognising the Islamic fundamentalist group’s rule amid international concern over its human rights record and those of women and girls.
Religion
Who’s at the Table? (October 29, 2024, ChinaSource)
In an era of missions “from everywhere to everywhere,” with more cross-cultural workers being sent out from non-Western countries than from traditional sending nations, it is imperative that the contributions of all be recognized and valued. Rather than assuming their long experience, carefully honed strategies, and ready resources will carry the day, leaders from traditional sending nations need to learn to listen to others at the table whose ideas may seem foreign, perhaps even misdirected, and whose available resources pale in comparison to the perceived task at hand.
Successes, Setbacks, and Surprises in Chinese Medical Missionary Sending (October 28, 2024, ChinaSource)
The good news is, Chinese medical missionaries, despite the naysayers are inexorably going out into cross-cultural missions, both within China and outside of China. But this doesn’t mean it is happening in the ways that we thought it might.
Display and Declare Christ Together in a Broken World—Not Easy (October 25, 2024, ChinaSource)
From the first evening, Lausanne CEO, Dr. Michael Oh, set the tone for the event in his address by quoting the Lausanne Covenant. He called us to humility, repentance, and a renewed commitment to the unfinished task. His desire was to set a tone of unity, listening, and collaboration. He warned that the most dangerous words in the global church are: “I don’t need you.” His plea to work together to bring the gospel to the ends of the earth deeply moved all who were present.
Xi’an: New Perspective on the City (October 28, 2024, China Partnership)
Slowly, I have discovered beautiful aspects of our traditional culture: deep piety, reverence for the Bible, a thirst for truth, genuine care for others, and putting love into action. These are precious qualities of Xi’an!
Xi’an: “They Can’t Extinguish Us” (October 24, 2024, China Partnership)
Recently, I talked with another sister about the future. She told me that she hopes to witness a great revival of the Chinese church in her lifetime. I share the same hope. Both of us sense that this time is drawing near. We want to prepare ourselves, and wait for that moment.
Society / Life
Local Officials Call Women to Ask: “Are You Pregnant?” (October 23, 2024, China Digital Times)
On Xiaohongshu, women have been sharing stories of receiving calls from local government officials asking deeply personal questions such as: “Are you pregnant? Do you plan to be? Do you have a boyfriend?” Some even report officials demanding they stop raising pets and focus on child-rearing instead.
Halloween Party Goers Pushed Boundaries in Shanghai Last Year. This Year, Police Are Taking Notice (October 29, 2024, CNN)
A year after Shanghai’s boisterous Halloween celebrations made global headlines, revelers dressed as Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and comic book superheroes were escorted away by police as authorities appeared to crack down on the festivities. Videos on social media showed a heavy police presence in three busy Shanghai bar and restaurant areas, where partygoers typically celebrate the annual tradition more closely associated with the United States, raising concerns about further narrowing of personal freedoms in China.
Chinese Child Trafficker with 17 Victims Sentenced to Death (October 25, 2024, BBC News)
A Chinese court has upheld the death sentence for a woman who trafficked more than a dozen children in the 1990s, in a case that has gripped the country, state media report. Yu Huaying was sentenced to death again on Friday, after a re-trial that considered additional evidence found that she sold 17 children, not 11 as the 2023 trial had found.
Arts / Entertainment / Media
A Fascinating Peek: Behind the Scenes of the Chinese Movie Industry (October 28, 2024, The Beijinger Blog)
Here I was, gaining my first introduction to a vast world of mainland Chinese cinema culture that I actually knew precious little about, other than the handful of arthouse films that had made it to Western screens.
Part-Time Farmers, Part-Time Rock Stars: A Chinese Band’s Unlikely Rise (October 29, 2024, New York Times)
Before setting out on his band’s first national tour, before recording another album and before appearing on a major television network, Ba Nong had one task: finishing the summer harvest. Standing in a field edged by rolling hills, two days before the first tour date in late September, Ba Nong, the frontman of the Chinese band Varihnaz, looked over the yellowed remnants of the rice stalks he had spent the past few months tending.
Science / Technology
Chinese Startup to Sell Tickets for 2027 Space Tourism Flights (October 23, 2024, Reuters)
Chinese startup Deep Blue Aerospace said on Wednesday it will sell its first two tickets for seats on a rocket that will take passengers to space in 2027, charging 1.5 million yuan ($211,000) for the experience. Deep Blue Aerospace will put the tickets up for sale at 6 p.m. (1000 GMT) on Thursday and plans to make more available next month. Passengers will be taken on a suborbital flight, meaning the rocket will reach outer space but not enter orbit.
Chinese Plane Designed to Travel Twice as Fast as Concorde Completes Test Flight (October 28, 2024, South China Morning Post)
A Chinese company says it has conducted a test flight of a prototype commercial transport plane that can travel at Mach 4—or twice the speed of a Concorde. Space Transportation, which is headquartered in Beijing, on Sunday said its Yunxing prototype had successfully completed the test flight a day earlier. The company, also known as Lingkong Tianxing Technology, said a follow-up assessment of its engine technology would take place in November.
Education
Thousands of Chinese Kindergartens Close as Falling Birth Rate Takes Its Toll (October 27, 2024, South China Morning Post)
In 2023 the number of kindergartens fell by 14,808 to 274,400—the second consecutive annual decline—according to an annual report by the Ministry of Education. Meanwhile, the number of children enrolled in kindergarten declined for a third consecutive year—dropping by 11.55 per cent, or 5.35 million, last year to 40.9 million, according to the report.
History / Culture
Archaeologists Discover Mysterious Jade Dragon Artifact at a 5,000-Year-Old Tomb in China (October 18, 2024, Smithsonian Magazine)
Archaeologists have discovered a 5,000-year-old jade dragon artifact while excavating a burial mound in northeastern China. The object measures roughly six inches long, four inches wide and one inch thick—making it the “largest jade dragon ever discovered from the Hongshan culture,” according to the official state news agency Xinhua.
Economics / Trade / Business
Observation: Understanding Diverging Consumption Trend in China (October 21, 2024, ChinaSkinny)
Lower living costs and a smaller burden of debt have left them (middle-aged citizens in third-tier cities) generally optimistic about future spending growth, aligning with the faster consumption growth seen in lower-tier cities compared to first-tier ones.
TikTok Founder Becomes China’s Richest Man (October 29, 2024, BBC News)
The surging popularity of TikTok has seen the co-founder of its parent company, ByteDance, become China’s richest person. According to a list produced by the Hurun Research Institute, Zhang Yiming is now worth $49.3bn—43% more than in 2023.
Travel / Food
Why It’s Getting Harder to Fly to China (October 24, 2024, The New York Times)
China lifted its strict Covid-19 restrictions in 2022, business travel was expected to rebound to prepandemic levels with executives returning to the country, the world’s second-largest economy, in droves. But that hasn’t materialized.
Over the last several months, many international airlines have suspended or reduced the frequency of flights in and out of China. For continental European and British carriers, the war in Ukraine has prevented non-Chinese airlines from flying over Russian airspace. This means longer travel times for passengers and inflated costs for airlines forced to take a longer route.
The Chinese Dining Chains Making a Play for World Domination (October 25, 2024, Sixth Tone)
Currently, there are dozens of Chinese brands operating overseas, covering just about every kind of Chinese cuisine imaginable. But two types stand head and shoulders above the rest: hot pot and milk tea.
Xiaohongshu: How ‘China’s Instagram’ Is Transforming the Travel Industry (October 10, 2024, CNN)
Meanwhile, a thousand miles away in Seoul, Mandarin-speaking crowds have been converging on Seongsu-dong, an area known for hip cafes. But instead of sipping lattes, they take pictures of a photogenic wall painted with a red rectangle. These Chinese travelers aren’t finding out-of-the-way locations by chance. Many of them are followers of Xiaohongshu (Little Red Book), China’s answer to Instagram, which has also become their travel bible.
Language / Language Learning
What’s Chinese for ‘Midwest Nice’? (October 24, 2024, Sixth Tone)
First-time shoppers on Chinese e-commerce platforms such as Taobao are often caught off-guard by the disarming tone of stores’ customer service staff. In contrast to the occasionally brusque approaches found elsewhere online, customer service workers on these platforms can seem almost sickeningly sweet. Their most common form of address for clients is qin, short for qinaide, or “beloved.” Sometimes they’ll drop in the even cutesier qinqin, or “sweetie.” Other stores go further, calling their customers xiaojiejie (“little sister”), xiaogege (“little brother”), or even zhuren (“master”) or dianxia (“Your Highness”).
Pray for China
October 26 (Pray for China: A Walk Through History)
In 1869, a team of three China Inland Mission missionaries moved to Anqing and became the first Protestant missionaries to live in Anhui. James Meadows (宓道生) and his first wife Martha were the first missionaries sent to China by Hudson Taylor, arriving in 1862. In Oct. 1869, he married his second wife Elizabeth Rose and together with James Williamson (卫养生), they became the first Protestant missionaries to take up residence in Anhui. Meadows and Williamson served in China for 52 and 24 years, respectively. A famous quote from Meadows states, “I have just got up from my knees. I have been weeping at the feet of Jesus because I cannot learn the dialect quick enough. Tens of thousands of souls are perishing all around me, and I cannot tell them about the Saviour.” Pray for missionaries studying foreign languages to persevere and not be discouraged.
Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. 1 Corinthians 15:58
Image credit: Christian Lue via UnSplash.
Jon Kuert
After his first trip to China in 2001, Jon Kuert served as the director of AFC Global for seven years and was responsible for sending teams of students and volunteers to China and other parts of Asia. After that, he and his wife Elissa moved to Yunnan province where they …View Full Bio