Featured Article
Saunas and Scuba Diving: Inside China’s Unconventional 24/7 Mega Spas (October 18, 2026, CNN)
When Jinzu Wang and his friends are looking for something to do, they often head to a large spa complex near his university in Beijing. After a soak in a hot bath, the 22-year-old might spring for a massage. Then there are some less conventional spa activities on the agenda, like billiards and karaoke. In between, he gorges himself on the all-you-can-eat fruit buffet. He usually stays all night, to get a respite from his dormitory. At about 300 to 350 renminbi ($45 to $52) for an overnight stay, it’s a bargain compared to many hotels in the capital. Across China, people like Wang are visiting expansive, multi-story, 24-hour facilities that combine spa amenities with entertainment of every sort.
Government / Politics / Foreign Affairs
Illiberal Law and Development: Property Rights and Conflict Over Land in China (September 28, 2026, National Committee on U.S.-China Relations)
In Illiberal Law and Development, Susan H. Whiting addresses two topics in Chinese political economy: how economic development has occurred despite insecure property rights, and how the Chinese state has maintained political control as land transfers stoke unrest. Dr. Whiting focuses on the role of illiberal law in reassigning property rights and redirecting grievances. In an interview conducted on September 28, 2026, Susan Whiting joins Arunabh Ghosh to discuss the role of the state in specifying property rights and maintaining authoritarian rule.
How China Implements Domestic Policy (October 16, 2026, National Committee on U.S.-China Relations)
China’s center-local relationship is one of the clearest signals of where the country is headed. Beijing sets broad, nationwide goals while provinces, cities, and counties decide how to carry them out. Drawing on cases from high-speed rail, the electric vehicle industry, and population policy, this conversation examines how local governments bargain to advance projects they favor while resisting objectives they do not.
How a Hospital Ship Helps Buoy China’s Strategic Mission in Africa (October 18, 2026, South China Morning Post)
By the time the Chinese navy hospital ship had docked in the Guinean capital Conakry earlier this month, patients were already queuing for free consultations. The queues in front of the Auspicious Ark were so long that some people were told to come back the next day, according to Guinean media reports. The ship, operated by the PLA Navy, offers a range of medical services wherever it stops, including surgery to treat cataracts, appendicitis and hernias as well as gynaecological care. On this stop, teams were also sent to a local hospital and military camp.
Religion
Qiqihar: Worried About the Future (October 15, 2026, China Partnership)
Qiqihar is a city in western Heilongjiang Province in northeastern China. The city was originally settled by nomadic herdsmen; today, it has a population of about 4 million. Qiqihar is located along the Nen River, near many wetlands. The city has harsh winters and an extreme climate. Local church leaders say they need prayer as they strive to pass on the faith to their children.
Born to Not Fit In (October 16, 2026, ChinaSource)
This essay is part of the series “Polycentric Christianities in a Diverse Sinophone World.” Xiaoli Yang reflects on the experience of “not fitting in” as a missiological lens for Sinophone Theologies, drawing together personal story, Scripture, poetry, Chinese Christian witness, and Global Christianity to consider how God works from the margins.
‘The Bridge Still Stands’: Gathering Marks 150th Anniversary of John Leighton Stuart’s Birth in Washington, D.C. (October 16, 2026, China Christian Daily)
Born in Hangzhou in 1876 to American Presbyterian missionary parents, John Leighton Stuart spent much of his life in China as a Christian educator and helped establish Yenching University, becoming its first president. He later served as US ambassador to China from 1946. His life connected education, faith, culture, and diplomacy, ultimately linking China and the United States.
Staying, Leaving, and Finding a Way Forward (October 19, 2026, ChinaSource)
Following the first installment in our Stories from Inside the Church in China series, “The Pressures of Ordinary Faith”, these three stories circle around a question facing some Chinese Christians today: whether to stay, to leave, or to find another way forward. Ministry, family, education, security, and faith all shape these decisions, and none of the choices are simple.
A Story of God’s Love (October 20, 2026, ChinaSource)
Ziyin Wang (王子因) is a Chinese-American filmmaker and founder of the ministry Love in China Communications. Since the early 2000s, he has dreamed of producing a film about Eric Liddell’s life after the 1924 Paris Olympics. Following God’s call on his life, Liddell returned to China as a missionary, eventually dying in a Japanese internment camp during World War II. The film is titled Flying Man. I recently talked with Ziyin about his life and how God called him to produce this film.
Society / Life
Homesick Nation: A Conversation with Linda Qian (October 13, 2026, Made In China Journal)
Linda Qian’s Homesick Nation: Development, Migration and Yearning in Rural China (Cambridge University Press, 2026) examines rural development in contemporary China through the lens of 乡愁 xiangchou, a concept connoting homesickness and rural nostalgia. Centred on Heyang, a heritage village in Zhejiang, the book employs hometown ethnography to trace the complex return flows of people, policies, capital, and desire that reshape the village and the wider cultural imagination of rurality.
Beijing Court Stresses Adult Children’s Responsibility to Elder Parents (October 16, 2026, China Daily)
Beijing No 3 Intermediate People’s Court reiterated on Friday that adult children have an unwavering obligation to support their elderly parents, regardless of their financial situation or changes in the parents’ marital status. In anticipation of Chongyang Festival, also known as Double Ninth Festival—a traditional Chinese holiday honoring the elderly, which falls on Sunday—the court released the details of six cases to underscore this legal duty.
Chinese Users Get Back at AI Male Teen, Casting Him as a Grifter (October 20, 2026, Sixth Tone)
“I’m fine, teacher,” the boy says, sweat streaming down his face. “I can do it alone—I believe the aunties and moms out there will help me.” He then makes an at-camera plea, sweat now turned to tears, asking viewers to help him by buying a luxury face cream and saying, “Are children from poor families really not suited for this stage?” This scene comes as videos featuring the AI-generated teen male character, “Xiaohai,” surge in popularity, with a related hashtag amassing more than 620 million views on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, as of Tuesday. The videos, marketed to older women, appear across dozens of accounts and push a range of products, from soy sauce to cosmetics.
Economics / Trade / Business
A New Era of US-China Interaction: From Competing to Racing (April 29, 2026, The National Bureau of Asian Research)
This essay examines the US-China trade war in 2025 as a possible turning point in the US-China competition, arguing that the trade war created new power dynamics around a supply chain race that centers on leveraging chokepoints in critical minerals and advanced technologies. Also available: Podcast Discussion based on this essay.
China’s Economy Grows Faster than Forecast after AI Boom Boosts Exports (October 19, 2026, The Guardian)
Roaring exports lifted China’s economic growth in the third quarter of this year, with factory output growing much faster than consumer spending. China’s GDP grew by 4.5% year-on-year between July and September, the National Bureau of Statistics of China reported on Monday. The figures were better than economists had expected and up from the second quarter’s growth rate of 4.3%.
Amid Economic Challenges, China Turns to Vulnerable Workforce to Fix Its Social Security Problems (October 19, 2026, The Diplomat)
“It is critical that we utilize data to identify individuals who have not contributed to the social security program. Currently, some people have not participated in the program, but we will use different means to identify and find them to encourage them to join.” These are quotes from Li Zhong, deputy minister of the Chinese Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS), on the government’s goal to increase the number of individuals in the Chinese social security program.
History / Culture
Memory-holed: The Fall of Changchun, October 19, 1948 (October 18, 2026, Matt Turpin via Substack)
This series is about pulling those things out of the proverbial memory-hole before they fall into the incinerator. This inaugural piece will be on a catastrophe that took place 78 years ago tomorrow, the Fall of Changchun. In the spring of 1948 when the Communists began their siege, Changchun had a population of about 500,000 and by mid-October, nearly half were dead from starvation.
Ex-US Treasury Secretary, 100, Visits Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum (October 19, 2026, China Daily)
Former United States treasury secretary and Jewish refugee to Shanghai, W. Michael Blumenthal, returned to the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum on Saturday during a visit to the city that saved his family from Nazi persecution about eight decades ago. The 100-year-old’s return highlighted Shanghai’s legacy as a safe harbor for approximately 20,000 Jewish refugees, serving as a vivid oral record of what has become known as the Shanghai Ark.
On Bureaucratic Ownership: From Anti-Bureaucratism to Anti-Official Profiteering (October 20, 2026, Made In China Journal)
Scholars have long debated whether the transition from the Mao Zedong era to Deng Xiaoping’s Reform and Opening Up was a moment of rupture or continuity. One influential view holds that the 1980s saw a rise of Western-influenced liberalism (Calhoun 1994) and Deng’s program marked a ‘fundamental departure’ from Maoism (Vogel 2011). This rupture thesis is challenged by those who emphasize the continuity of the Party-State apparatus through recurring institutional crises (Meisner 1996; Wu 2014). They argue that Deng-era development policies were not a post-1978 invention but rooted in the longstanding structural logic of the Party-State system established after 1949.
Language / Language Learning
Duolingo Launches Shanghainese Lessons, Its 2nd Chinese Dialect (October 16, 2026, Sixth Tone)
Popular language-learning app Duolingo has released a Shanghainese course featuring lessons on modern culture and life in old Shanghai as well as offline activities in the city. The course, launched Thursday, features roughly 50 lessons drawn from everyday life in Shanghai, from ordering street food and taking public transit to exchanging greetings and navigating the city’s landmarks. To access the Shanghainese course, users must first set Chinese as their display language.
What Are Your Reasons for Learning Mandarin? Here Are Mine! (October 18, 2026, Hacking Chinese)
Why are you learning Chinese, and is your answer the same today as when you started? Let’s explore what motivates us to learn Chinese and how those motivations change over time. I’ve created a short survey to explore why Hacking Chinese readers started learning Mandarin and why they continue today.
Travel / Food
China’s Tourists Flock to Experience a Pretend Typhoon as ‘Dark Tourism’ Flourishes (October 16, 2026, The Guardian)
When Leon Lv was looking for somewhere to travel last year, she turned to the Chinese social media app RedNote for ideas. The algorithm took her to videos of people struggling to survive typhoon-strength winds and flash floods. “I never experienced a typhoon. I don’t know how it will feel and what will happen. I just have seen it on the news,” says the 28-year-old from Chongqing in south-west China. “So that’s why I want to go there to have a safe place to experience it and learn something.” She travelled more than 1,300 km to Hangzhou in the east, and joined a group of 20 to take part in a disaster simulation that featured a typhoon-fuelled flooding scenario.
Saunas and Scuba Diving: Inside China’s Unconventional 24/7 Mega Spas (October 18, 2026, CNN)
When Jinzu Wang and his friends are looking for something to do, they often head to a large spa complex near his university in Beijing. After a soak in a hot bath, the 22-year-old might spring for a massage. Then there are some less conventional spa activities on the agenda, like billiards and karaoke. In between, he gorges himself on the all-you-can-eat fruit buffet. He usually stays all night, to get a respite from his dormitory. At about 300 to 350 renminbi ($45 to $52) for an overnight stay, it’s a bargain compared to many hotels in the capital. Across China, people like Wang are visiting expansive, multistory, 24-hour facilities that combine spa amenities with entertainment of every sort.
Science / Technology
China’s “NetID” One Year in: Big Brother or Small Bother？ (October 15, 2026, China Law Translate)
As China’s national online ID verification system regulations took effect on July 15, 2025, English-language media coverage warned of a dramatic new stage in Chinese internet surveillance. The Washington Post announced that “Big Brother gets new powers in China.” CNN quoted a researcher who described the system as an “infrastructure of digital totalitarianism.” India’s Business Standard went further, declaring that China’s new digital ID would link “every click to the Communist Party.”
Arts / Entertainment / Media
Exporting the Micro-Drama Machine (October 16, 2026, ChinaFile)
The form is built to leave you no exit. An episode runs sixty to ninety seconds and ends on a reversal: the woman everyone underestimated is revealed to be an heiress, the janitor is secretly the richest man in the country, the slap lands, and the camera holds on the face of the person who will, four episodes from now, be made to pay for it. To learn what happens, you need to unlock the next episode, and then the next. Two hours are gone before you notice. This is Duanju (短剧), or micro-drama. It originated in China, and it is fast becoming one of the most profitable entertainment industries on Earth.
Media Without “Humanity” (October 19, 2026, China Media Project)
A Chinese singer’s improvised tribute to a lost friend—and the media’s response—has given way to a new term: “informant-style reporting” (举报式采访). In pluralistic media environments, media “informants,” or whistleblowers, are typically citizens who provide journalists with sensitive information meant to benefit the public, oftentimes in cases of official or corporate wrongdoing. But in this case, it’s the journalists themselves informing on their subjects to ensure that citizens have followed the law.
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 U.S. 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, 20226
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 Doye. “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
October 24 (Pray For China: A Walk Through History)
On October 24, 1928, Yang Xinfei (杨心斐姊妹) was born into a Christian family in Xiamen, Fujian. She became a Christ-follower in 1943 at age 15 and regularly shared her faith with others. However, she was also a very talented musician, graduating with honors from conservatories in Fuzhou and Shanghai. Yang wrestled with the Lord about whether to pursue music and marriage or answer a call to full-time ministry; at age 26 she resigned a teaching position and returned to Xiamen to be a full-time worker. Yang Xinfei was arrested in 1958 after refusing to join the Three Self Church and spent the next 15 years in prison and labor camp. In spite of severe torture, she never denied her faith and drew great strength and spiritual nourishment from her pocket Bible that the Lord had protected thoughout this entire period. In 1974 Yang returned to Xiamen, where her home became a haven for house church Christians and seekers from nearby universities, as well as a training site; in the 1990s, in cooperation with the Overseas Christian Mission, she systematically trained hundreds of workers there. Even as her health failed severely in later years, she used all her energy to motivate God’s children—speaking at China Gospel Conferences in Chicago and Hong Kong—before she met her Lord on July 23, 2011. Pray for Christians in Fujian to draw strength from God’s promise that “man does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Matthew 4:4
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)