A closer look at language, places and everyday life in China.
Wooden arch bridges in south-east China use joined timbers and knowledge passed between makers. The engineering is a puzzle you can almost feel in your hands.
Read the storyA Beijing cloisonné night market turns a museum-like craft into something you can encounter after dinner.
Read the storyLi textile patterns from Hainan carry stories as well as colour. The people who make them know things a photograph cannot explain.
Read the storyA Shanghai film-festival exhibition invited visitors into an interactive display. It raises a fun question: how much of a film can exist outside the screen?
Read the storyBeijing museums have turned collection themes into plush toys and keychains. A souvenir can be a starting question instead of a shopping list.
Read the storyAn animated anthology inspired by Chinese folklore became a large Shanghai exhibition. It shows how one old story can take several visual lives.
Read the storyZhang’s version of A Dream of Red Mansions makes the scale of the work clear. The Shanghai report describes eight volumes covering the novel’s 120 chapters,…
Read the storyA Shanghai exhibition turns goldfish into immersive art. Look past the bright colours and a story of design and careful observation appears.
Read the storyBeijing's Olympic panda mascot returned in a Year-of-the-Horse version. A tiny souvenir opens a bigger question about how old favourites are redesigned.
Read the storyThe famous ranks of figures are part of a much larger burial landscape near Xi'an.
Read the storyThe Dujiangyan system near Chengdu began more than 2,000 years ago and still helps direct river water across the plain.
Read the storyThe terracotta army near Xi'an is astonishing in a photograph. Look closer and its sculptures become a lesson in craft, not just size.
Read the storyThere’s more to read.
A story you haven’t marked as read yet, chosen just for a little change of pace.
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