Everyday China
What did Chinese students write home about?
Chinese students in Britain did more than collect qualifications; some also explained two countries to each other.
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Chinese food
Is a British Chinese takeaway Chinese?
A takeaway menu can tell a story about people making lives between places.
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History, Arts & Traditions
The question written on a Shang turtle shell
An identified inscription from Anyang records a paired divination about victory, giving a specific glimpse of late Shang writing.
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History, Arts & Traditions
Looking closely at Yungang’s carved Buddhist world
Yungang’s cave layouts, giant figures and carved details show how Buddhist art developed in a particular Northern Wei setting.
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History, Arts & Traditions
Can a building measure the sky?
The surviving Yuan observatory at Gaocheng was built in 1279 by the astronomer Guo Shoujing. The UNESCO–IAU astronomy heritage account explains the…
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History, Arts & Traditions
Why are there red figures on a cliff?
Huashan's painted cliffs ask you to read the river and landscape around the figures.
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Places & Regions
Is Harbin only an ice city?
The famous winter images belong to a city with music and a complicated migration history.
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Places & Regions
Where do three great rivers begin?
Sanjiangyuan is far from many readers, but its waters travel much farther.
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Places & Regions
How Huanglong’s water builds stone pools
Travertine terraces at Huanglong form through mineral-rich water and changing chemistry, not a human plan for a staircase of pools.
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Places & Regions
Why do pines cling to the rock?
Huangshan's famous pines are shaped by a difficult place to grow.
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Places & Regions
What did water take away at Guilin?
The famous hills are a story of rock being worn away as much as rock left standing.
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Places & Regions
How can three rivers stay apart?
In north-west Yunnan, three great rivers run close together through different deep valleys.
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