Featured Article
I Just Wanted a Mooncake. What Happened to the Economy? (September 30, 2026, Road to Hainan via Substack)
It’s Mid-Autumn Festival, and I wanted a mooncake. Not one of those elaborate gift sets with eight individually wrapped cakes sitting in a structure that looks destined for a European art gallery. Just one small, delicious mooncake. So I went downstairs and started looking. The first convenience store didn’t have ANY, nor did the second. I tried a slightly fancier international convenience store nearby—nothing. Then a couple of small supermarkets—still nothing. We are in China, and it’s Mid-Autumn Festival!
Government / Politics / Foreign Affairs
China and Taiwan Are Fighting Over Sun Yat-sen (subscription required) (November 5, 2026, The Economist)
On both sides of the Taiwan Strait, there are many roads, districts and schools named after the father of modern China: Sun Yat-sen, the country’s first president after a republican revolution in 1911. Ten years ago, when President Xi Jinping urged “all Chinese who revere Mr Sun Yat-sen” to unite, the fight over his legacy was not so fierce. Now, ahead of the 160th anniversary of his birth on November 12th, cross-strait relations are far more tense. Sun has become a political lightning rod.
‘I Worry People Will Forget Hong Kong’: Joshua Wong Laments City’s Fate from Inside Maximum Security Prison (November 5, 2026, The Guardian)
Despite spending his 21st, 25th, and 30th birthdays in prison, Wong’s letters—written between August and October—show his resolve and continuing concern about Hong Kong’s future. “The only thing I worry about is that people will forget Hong Kong, and that amid competition and struggles between great powers, they will forget the countless ordinary, unknown people in different places who have paid a price for their beliefs,” he writes.
Who Will Succeed Xi Jinping (subscription required) (November 6, 2026, Foreign Policy)
Ever since Xi Jinping bucked norms and made it clear he would not be held to a two-term limit as president of China and general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), there has been intense interest in who could succeed him. Xi has purged several possible successors, but he is also aging—and even if he tries to hold onto power, he may find it easier to appoint a chosen favorite.
China’s Xi reshapes leadership as fourth term appears secure (November 9, 2026, UPI)
China’s political leadership is expected to undergo major changes after a Communist Party meeting that sources say effectively secured a fourth term for President Xi Jinping, with younger allies emerging as candidates for senior positions.
Religion
Huizhou: A Single Palm Can’t Clap (November 5, 2026, China Partnership)
This November we are praying for Huizhou, a city of about six million in Guangdong Province. It is near Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Dongguan, and about 43 miles north of Hong Kong. Huizhou is one of nine prefecture-level cities in the Pearl River Delta area of China, and is a manufacturing base within China.
My Chineseness May Be Different from Yours (November 6, 2026, ChinaSource)
My grandfather was a first-generation immigrant who moved from Shandong, China, to Korea because of war. When I was a child, he often told me, “You are Chinese.” This was more than a statement about our family’s roots. It meant that even though I grew up in Korea, I was expected to live with a clear sense of myself as Chinese. For me as a child, being “Chinese” was not something to question. It was an inherited fact and, at least at the time, seemed to provide the clearest answer to the question, “Who am I?”
A Pastor at a Beijing Underground Church has been Arrested, His Wife Says (November 8, 2026, ABC News)
A pastor of a house church in Beijing has been arrested, his wife told The Associated Press this week, as China intensifies its crackdown on unregistered churches. Pastor Xianfeng Edward Cui, who founded Beijing Jiaquan Church, was arrested on October 23 on charges of fraud, said his wife, Jin Young Gu, who lives outside of China.
Resilient Faith (November 9, 2026, ChinaSource)
During a recent visit with a longtime pastor friend in China, I was deeply encouraged by something he shared with me. As we discussed the increasing challenges facing the church in China, he said with quiet confidence, “When the government closes the door, Jesus opens a window.” Those words have stayed with me. They reflect the remarkable faith, perseverance, and hope I have witnessed among Chinese Christians throughout my many years of ministry.
Catholicity in the Making (November 10, 2026, ChinaSource)
It is not often that one becomes a stranger without leaving home. From September 22 to 24, 2026, the Cambridge Centre for Chinese Theology held a conference titled “Churches in Global Chinese Communities: Chinese Ecclesiology in the Making” at the Faculty of Divinity, where I had recently begun a postdoctoral position, and at Selwyn College next door. I needed no map to find the rooms. In every other sense, however, I was something of a stranger. I am a Korean who studies Korean Christianity. Among scholars of Chinese Christianity, I may well have looked like an insider, at least until I introduced myself.
Society / Life
The Penalty Box of Hurt Feelings (November 4, 2026, China Media Project)
At first glance, Mbappe’s China scandal may seem to offer well-worn lessons about intercultural sensitivity, national pride, and the pitfalls of global celebrity and the unguarded comment. But the incident also invites closer scrutiny of the unique sensitivities of the Chinese Communist Party and its marshalling of outrage for domestic political objectives. The telling phrase at the center of this controversy is hinted at in the footballer’s own terms of apology, conveyed in Chinese, English and French over social media: “hurt many people in China.” Who exactly was hurt? And why?
Unmarried Chinese Women Are Rewriting the Marriage Script (November 5, 2026, Global Voices)
On weekends at Shanghai’s People’s Park, umbrellas covered with handwritten sheets of paper line the paths. Parents stand beside them, exchanging information about their unmarried children: age, height, education, income, and whether they own an apartment. It is one of China’s most famous marriage markets—a place where private hopes and social expectations meet in public since 2005.
For years, the word shengnü (剩女), literally translated as “leftover women,” hovered over many of the women whose profiles appeared there.
In China’s Fierce Race for Success, Mental Health Struggles Are Starting Earlier (November 7, 2026, South China Morning Post)
Moon Chen stared down at her textbook, struggling to make sense of the words on the page. The 15-year-old felt a suffocating weight press into her chest, while her heart fluttered erratically. Chen’s mother rushed her to a cardiologist—only to be told that she should see a psychiatrist instead. Chen, now in higher secondary school in the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing, vividly recalls the period before she was diagnosed with depression and anxiety.
Building fire kills 14 in China’s northern city of Taiyuan (November 9, 2026, Reuters)
A fire on Sunday at a high-rise building in Taiyuan, the capital of China’s northern province of Shanxi, killed at least 14 people, the official Xinhua news agency said on Monday. State media said 25 people were still in hospital, nine with serious injuries, citing authorities after the fire broke out on Sunday evening in the building on a busy downtown main road.
Economics / Trade / Business
Here’s What China’s Malls Are Doing to Remain Relevant to Chinese Consumers (November 4, 2026, Chinaskinny)
Winshang describes mall goers as entering a “纯过日子” era: getting on with everyday life. The businesses gaining space point to demand for affordable treats, distinctive products, visible freshness and places to spend time with others.
Nvidia Launches Investigation Into CEO’s Affair with Suspected Chinese Spy (November 9, 2026, BBC)
US tech giant Nvidia has opened an independent investigation following reports its CEO Jensen Huang had a relationship with a suspected Chinese spy. Nvidia, one of the most valuable companies in the world, said its board had no reason to believe the company’s secrets or national security were compromised, adding that the CEO was committed to continuing to lead the organization.
Social Insurance Could Help China Rebalance, If Beijing Enforces It (November 10, 2026, The Diplomat)
China’s new penalty standards for unpaid social insurance contributions are a positive step. Enforcing the law would not only protect workers in retirement but also help boost domestic consumption and reduce China’s dependence on exports.
History / Culture
A Hundred Flowers: A Conversation with Dayton Lekner (November 2, 2026, Made In China Journal)
In A Hundred Flowers: How Literature Shaped Maoism (Cambridge University Press, 2025), Dayton Lekner presents a detailed historical account of the influence of literary practice and circulation on Mao Zedong–era politics and mass campaigns in China. His approach differs from mainstream accounts of the ‘Hundred Flowers Campaign’ of 1956–57 in that he concentrates less on the political power struggles and more on literary creation and circulation. In so doing, he reaches remarkable conclusions, including a novel perspective on the origins of the ‘movement’, as well as a provocative judgement about the lingering power of literature in Mao’s China.
From Hebei to Holland – The Journey of One Letter from China in 1918 (November 4, 2026, China Rhyming)
An interesting letter sent from the Mines de Lincheng (Lincheng Mines Administration–Hebei Province) on the Pékin-Hankow Railway to a Mr Lionel Wiener in Holland. Post Box 14, Scheveningue (Scheveningen), Hollande appears to be a representative of the Compagnie Générale de Chemins de Fer et de Tramways en Chine (General Company of Railways and Trams in China).
The Chinese Boy with Golden Hair and Jade-Green Eyes (November 10, 2026, Made in China Journal)
Under Maoist rule, there was a general term for someone who did not have black hair as Chinese people commonly do. Their lighter hair marked them as visibly different, earning them nicknames such as ‘White Hair’ (白毛儿) or, like my father, ‘Little Yellow Hair’ (小黄毛儿); here, the diminutive ‘little’ expressed familiarity and affection. Today, a more common term is ‘mixed blood’ (混血) or merely ‘foreigner’ (外国人 or 老外).
Education
Fallback to First Choice: Why Chinese Parents Are Rethinking Vocational Schools (November 10, 2026, Sixth Tone)
Coming from a Shanghai family with a strong academic background, Yang Fan had always felt studying at university was his destiny. The only problem was, he was flunking middle school. “He’d make the same mistake with a character the entire semester. I just couldn’t get him to do it right,” says his mother, Zhao Xuan, who could only look on in frustration as Yang struggled with his homework night after night. “Given how much it was taking for him to get through middle school, I felt high school would crush him.”
Postscript: China Opens School Dedicated to Ancient Chinese Writing (November 10, 2026, Sixth Tone)
China has opened its first school dedicated to declining and obscure fields of study, with a focus on ancient and classical Chinese texts. The School for Rare and Endangered Disciplines was inaugurated in Beijing on November 6 under the University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (UCASS). At the opening, the university also announced the launch of a national alliance of more than 80 universities, museums, and cultural and research institutions to share resources, conduct collaborative research, and cultivate talent in related fields.
Travel / Food
What Was Sichuan Food Before the Chili Pepper? (October 8, 2026, Chinese Cooking Demystified via Substack)
Which brings us to the obvious question, and one that I’ve seen asked quite a bit online: if Sichuan food is so synonymous with the chili pepper, what in god’s name did the cuisine look like for those two millennia? I mean… was Mapo Tofu just a plain simmered tofu? Did Chongqing spicy hotpot more closely resemble a fondue Chinoise? Was Sichuan Spicy Chicken—Laziji (辣子鸡)—just… a ji?
Water, Soil, and Everything That Grows (November 5, 2026, Numb and Spicy via Substack)
In this issue: I explore the Chinese understanding of terroir through a month long road trip with my parents, tracing the food that shapes a place’s identity and the people who call it home.
China, the Land of Inconveniences (November 10, 2026, majosintraa, via substack)
Everything is a struggle though: nothing on my phone works here. I have installed the Chinese apps I need to get around but I struggle to use those. It is only normal, if everything is new and different, right? Oh boy, China is going to be fun.
Arts / Entertainment / Media
Raise the Red Lantern Review—Gong Li Gives a Decade-Defining Performance in an Addictively Ruthless Masterpiece (November 5, 2026, The Guardian)
Revisiting Zhang Yimou’s grippingly addictive psychological drama from 1991, adapted from a novella by Su Tong, is a reminder of what a great impact this movie made on western audiences. They responded to its arguably westernized tale of a young woman’s desperate loneliness in a sinister environment that resembles something by Charlotte Brontë or Daphne du Maurier. Like Jung Chang’s memoir Wild Swans from the same year, Raise the Red Lantern opened our eyes to 20th-century China’s secret theatre of cruelty and misogyny; elaborate domestic rituals of submission and servitude coexisted with infinitely subtle plotting, resentful manoeuvring and covert denunciation, habits of thought that could so easily be absorbed into Maoism.
Events
Fall Public Lecture (ERRChina/CAC)
“How Chinese Christians Saved America’s Soul,” by Timothy Tseng, PhD. During the period of extreme anti-Chinese in US history, most Americans used the “heathen” label to justify discriminatory laws and violently attack and drive out Chinese migrants from Western towns. Yet, Protestants were among the very few Americans who defended the Chinese. This stalk will explore how Chinese Christians in the North American diaspora, along with white American missionaries, resisted the anti-Chinese movement on the basis of their Christian faith. In doing so, they changed American Protestant ideas about race, missions, the social gospel, and immigration policy. Indeed, by shifting the direction of 20th century American Protestantism, Chinese Christians helped rescue American’s soul. Dr. Tseng is Director of Asian American Christian History Institute, Research Professor of the History of Christianity and Asian American Studies, Fuller Theological Seminary.
Date: November 14, 2026
Time: 5-8PM
Location: Calvin Room, First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley, 2407 Dana St.
Free light meal and beverages served 5-6PM.
For more information and/or to register, email [email protected]
Online Book Club (ERRChina and ChinaSource)
On December 9, we will discuss the book Builders of the Chinese Church: Pioneer Missionaries and Chinese Church Leaders by Wright Doyle. “Builders of the Chinese Church contains the stories of nine leading pioneers—seven missionaries and two Chinese. Here we meet Robert Morrison, the heroic translator; Liang Fa, the first Chinese evangelist; missionary-scholar James Legge; J. Hudson Taylor, founder of the China Inland Mission; converted opium addict Pastor Hsi (“Overcomer of Demons”); Griffith John and Jonathan Goforth, both indefatigable preachers; and the idealistic advocates of education and reform, W. A. P. Martin and Timothy Richard. Readers will be inspired by their courage, devotion, and sheer perseverance in arduous work, and will gain an understanding of the roots of the two “branches” of today’s Chinese Protestantism.” Bonus: Author Wright Doyle will join the discussion to give deeper insight and answer your questions.
Date: December 9, 2026
Time: 5pm PST / 6pm MST / 7pm CST / 8pm EST (U.S.)
Location: Zoom
Registration link: https://www.errchina.com/book-club
Pray for China
November 14 (Pray For China: A Walk Through History)
On November 14, 2001, Elder Li Wenguang (李文光长老) finished his course on this earth and entered into rest at age 81. He became a Christian under a teacher’s influence but dropped out of school due to poverty. Li trained to become a maker of seals and began preaching when he was 17. In 1945, he started a Local Assembly Church in Fuxin, Liaoning, and a decade later, he was arrested for the first time. Over the next 25 years, he was often in prison or labor camp. His wife and two young sons died during this time, leaving him five children to raise. After his name was finally cleared in 1981, he worked faithfully to build the church in Fuxin and saw the congregation grow from a few dozen to several thousand believers. Pray for Christians in Liaoning to remember that the Lord does not despise the poor man but hears when called. For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him. Psalm 22:24
From Deep Thinking to Deep Prayer (July 21, 2026, ChinaSource)
Prayer 2026: Off the Beaten Path (January 1, 2026, China Partnership)
Operation World (April 21, 2025, ChinaSource)
Pray for China (prayforchina.us)
Prayer Walking as a Rhythm of Life (May 30, 2025, ChinaSource)