A weekly roundup of news and analysis to help you follow key developments in China and the Chinese church.
Featured Article
China’s tyranny of characters (July 5, 2016, The Economist)
Linguistically, China wants to be like America—a country where language and script are unified. In reality it is like medieval Europe—a continent full of different languages, nominally united by a written lingua franca. Before the 20th century, regional Chinese literati could communicate on paper in classical Chinese, but barely in conversation, just as European scholars communicated in Latin.
Featured Article
China’s Great Wall of Confrontation (June 28, 2016, Wall Street Journal)
Although the Great Wall has become China’s pre-eminent national symbol of pride and strength, the construction of its soaring watchtowers and crenelated parapets actually reflected a moment of dynastic weakness.
Featured Article
A better class of teacher (June 21, 2016, China Daily)
Twenty years ago, many English-speaking expats in China applied for teaching jobs because work was easy to come by. Routine inspection of qualifications was almost nonexistent and all most people needed were their mother tongue and an engaging character. The old criteria no longer apply. China is now demanding better-qualified, more-competent English teachers, and by the end of the month the nation's top regulator of expat employment is expected to further raise the bar by implementing a tough application policy.
Featured Article
Video: Sichuan Cuisine, Imperiled by Success (June 14, 2016, The New York Times)
“Sichuanese cuisine really faces a crisis,” said Wang Kaifa, a 71-year-old chef who has been leading a campaign against what he sees as the creeping debasement of the region’s celebrated cooking. “The scene feels like it’s booming, but this is a chaotic boom that has had a lot of negatives,” he said, drawing out his vowels and emphasizing high notes in the region’s lilting accent. “Finally, they could become a sickness that brings down Sichuanese cuisine.”
Featured Article
Harmony And Martyrdom Among China’s Hui Muslims (June 6, 2016, The New Yorker)
The history of the Hui in Yunnan is one of seasons of prosperity punctuated by violence. The province wasn’t part of China until the thirteenth century, when Sayyid Ajjal Shams al-Din Omar al-Bukhari, a Central Asian Muslim who served the imperial court, brought it into the fold.
Featured Article
Keith & Kristyn Getty Inspired by 1931 Missionary to China Song for New Album (May 26, 2016, The Christian Post)
The upcoming album by The Getty’s was inspired by the hymn, "Facing a Task Unfinished." The original song was written by China Inland Mission worker (now OMF International) Frank Houghton in 1931 as he reflected on the Great Commission and the scripture Matthew 24:14, which encouraged him to dedicate his life to sharing the Gospel with people in China.
Here's why Chicago's Chinatown is booming, even as others across the U.S. fade (May 13, 2016, Chicago Tribune)
Local leaders say it has avoided gentrification because Chinese-Americans value a sense of belonging and choose to stay in the neighborhood. Few Chinese move out, and if they do, they sell their homes back to the Chinese.
Featured Article
Top 5 Best VPN for China **May 2016 Update** – Ultimate Guide (May 2, 2016, Start Up Living China)
VPNs can help you get around internet censorship — but not all VPNs work well in China. Our Best VPN for China Ultimate Guide is constantly updated from here in China to let you know what works and what doesn’t.
Featured Article
China’s Twilight Years (June 2016, The Atlantic)
Not so long ago, conventional wisdom in China held that the country’s economy would soon overtake America’s in size, achieving a GDP perhaps double or triple that of the U.S. later this century. As demographic reality sets in, however, some Chinese experts now say that the country’s economic output may never match that of the U.S.
Featured Article
China Reveals What It Wants to Do with Christianity (April 28, 2016, Christianity Today)
According to Xi, uniting all believers under CPC leadership is necessary to preserve internal harmony while warding off hostile foreign forces that may use religion to destabilize the regime. Xi’s insistence is not new, nor is it simply a function of China’s Communist rule. Since imperial times, state power has been seen as ultimate. It is, and has always been, the prerogative of the Chinese state to define orthodox belief and to set the boundaries for religious groups whose doctrines fall outside official limits.
Featured Article
A warning for parched China: a city runs out of water (April 25, 2016, Marketplace)
Yang Shufang wakes up at 5 o'clock each morning and fetches water. "I bring a few buckets, enough for drinking or cooking," she says. Yang doesn’t live in the remote countryside, and her water isn’t from a village well. She lives on the seventh floor of a luxury condominium complex in Lintao, a Chinese city with nearly 200,000 people that’s run out of water.
New Visa Policies Bring China and US Closer (April 20, 2016, AmCham China)
What's more, reforms to Chinese immigration policies have now also made it easier for new foreign graduates and highly-skilled talent to work in China without interruption. The new regulations include 12 policies in Shanghai effective July 1, 2015 and 20 policies in Beijing effective March 1, 2016.