China’s VPN Usage Nearly Doubles Amid Internet Censorship (February 15, 2024, VOA)
Last year, VPN usage in China nearly doubled, according to data from IT education news outlet Techopedia, this despite the country’s strict regime of internet controls of everything from overseas websites to online games. China’s “Great Firewall” is one of the world’s most comprehensive internet censorship regimes, preventing citizens from accessing websites like Instagram, Wikipedia and YouTube, as well most major news organizations including VOA.
Joann Pittman
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February 22, 2024
The village basketball games that are a national obsession in China (February 13, 2024, NBC News)
It’s game day in this remote village in southwestern China, and the atmosphere is electric. Before thousands of fans on an outdoor court tucked in the rugged hills of Guizhou province — and with millions more watching online — teams from across China are vying to become champions of the “CunBA,” a grassroots version of the National Basketball Association whose name is a play on the Chinese word “cun,” which means “village.”
Joann Pittman
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February 15, 2024
From Descendants of the Dragon to Heirs of God (February 6, 2024, Christianity Today) (subscription required)
Their culture tells them the dragon is transcendent. Their Bibles tell them it’s evil. How should Chinese Christians approach this year’s zodiac animal?
Joann Pittman
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February 8, 2024
Telling China’s Story in Stockholm (January 27, 2024, China Media Project)
Angered by what he saw as biased coverage in the Western media in 2008, a Chinese resident in Sweden launched a newspaper and website for the Chinese diaspora in Nordic countries. The outlet is now a megaphone for the external propaganda of the Chinese Communist Party.
Joann Pittman
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February 1, 2024
They flocked to build China's cities. Now builders are aging with little retirement (January 18, 2024, NPR)
Now, these workers are approaching retirement age, and China must deal with the costs of supporting an aging workforce. Although they built much of the country's infrastructure, migrant workers remain the most vulnerable in the country's fast-aging workforce.
Joann Pittman
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January 25, 2024
China population decline accelerates as birthrate hits record low (January 17, 2024, The Guardian)
The drop surpassed that recorded in 2022, of about 850,000 – the first time the recorded population had declined since the mass deaths of the Mao-era famines.
Joann Pittman
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January 18, 2024
How China Became a Car Country (January 9, 2024, Sixth Tone)
In 2022, Chinese bought more than 26 million light cars, nearly double the total of the United States. The country is even exporting aspects of its car culture abroad, thanks in part to a world-leading new-energy vehicle sector.
Joann Pittman
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January 11, 2024
The living language of the Chinese people (December 28, 2023, Language Log)
The following buzzwords from social media show that, when they get out from under the thumb / heel of the CCP, the Chinese people have a lot of lively spunk and clever wit.
Joann Pittman
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January 4, 2024
Has China Reached Peak Spice? (December 22, 2023, Sixth Tone)
Historically, outside of a few inland regions, Chinese food was mildly flavored, with more emphasis on highlighting an ingredient’s natural taste than overpowering it with the numbing spice of Sichuanese mala or its fierier Hunanese counterpart.
Joann Pittman
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December 28, 2023
The Chinese Migrants of Chiang Mai (December 14, 2023, The Dial)
People who have left China — to make a new life or to escape an old one — are everywhere.
Joann Pittman
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December 21, 2023
Podcast: Full time children or half dead: China’s Gen Z goes to ground (December 13, 2023, Little Red Podcast)
The Party frets that despite the best efforts of the propaganda organs to get them excited about a tech-driven utopian future, China’s young people seem to have lost their work ethic.
Joann Pittman
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December 14, 2023
How people in Hong Kong view mainland China and their own identity (December 5, 2023, Pew Research)
With local elections in Hong Kong approaching, here’s a look at how people in the special administrative region view mainland China, as well as their own identity and the way things are going in their city. All findings are drawn from a recent Pew Research Center survey.
Joann Pittman
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December 7, 2023