A closer look at language, places and everyday life in China.
The music is not just a background added after the actors have finished telling the story. UNESCO describes its role in setting the pace, shaping the…
Read the storyUNESCO names the dongxiao, a bamboo flute, and a pipa played horizontally, with a crooked neck, among Nanyin’s distinctive instruments. Knowing those…
Read the storyOne nineteenth-century Chinese chessboard at the Met is made of lacquered wood. Games have material histories too.
Read the storyA seventeenth-century fan at the Met joins a practical object to festival imagery.
Read the storyA girl, a secret fish and a lost golden shoe: an original retelling of the Chinese tale recorded by Duan Chengshi in the ninth century.
Read the storyA Shanghai-made qipao at the V&A rewards a close look at its bamboo embroidery and knotted fastenings.
Read the storyOne object at the Met has inscriptions that do not sit neatly together. That makes it more interesting.
Read the storySuzhou’s account of Jiangsu Week at the 2025 Osaka Expo names a maker at work: Yu Junyao, demonstrating a goldfish pattern in silk embroidery. The report…
Read the storyHangzhou’s creative identity includes tea, silk and stone carving. A city can hold several crafts at once.
Read the storyArchaeological finds near Wuxi point to music long before a modern concert hall existed.
Read the storyA festival can have a regular date in one calendar and a moving date in another.
Read the storyThe name points to a calendar and a season of renewal, not a guarantee of warm weather.
Read the storyThere’s more to read.
A story you haven’t marked as read yet, chosen just for a little change of pace.
Surprise me
