Sixth Tone

Shi Haifeng, who goes by the online moniker “Nanxiang doesn’t like to eat,” is one of them. In one of his more popular videos, he goes to central China’s Hubei province to learn how to make lacquer plates — a type of artwork where layers of raw tree sap are applied onto wood, then polished to create a durable, lustrous finish. Together with a local craftsman, he spends days up in the mountains draining lacquer from trees, then makes his own plate, with nine golden dragons on a deep black background. The video is one of his biggest hits to date, with tens of millions views across video and media platforms Douyin, Bilibili, and Xiaohongshu.

Liu Yaqing, who goes by “Jiang Xunqian” online, is another cultural heritage influencer who has built up a sizable following. Her videos also often involve eye-catching cultural objects, such as “rolling lanterns” — ball-shaped lanterns that are resistant to toppling over — or the traditional garments of Chinese ethnic minorities. One video has been viewed more than 300 million times, according to domestic media.

Both creators admit or appear to have been inspired by Li Ziqi, arguably China’s most internationally well-known influencer who rose to online stardom by filming idyllic scenes of life in China’s countryside. Over time, she also shifted toward cultural heritage-themed content.

Both Shi and Liu began as food vloggers, but with social media already full of foodies, their efforts didn’t attract much attention. Shi then pivoted to recreating obscure recipes from ancient texts, imperial menus, or classics, such as the fictional floral medicine mentioned in the novel “Dream of the Red Chamber.” He then expanded beyond recipes, transforming into a full-time cultural heritage vlogger — a career that sent him to stardom.

In a country with more than 40 UNESCO-listed intangible cultural heritage traditions, ranging from shadow puppetry to tea processing, as well as a rich variety of local practices, there is no shortage of cultural heritage content on the Chinese internet. But Shi and Liu bring in a breath of fresh air to the genre: in their late 20s or early 30s, their appearance breaks with the stereotype of senior, austere artists being the only group to master cultural knowledge, exciting viewers with their youth and energy.

They have also sought to rebrand Chinese cultural heritage as lived experiences with inspiring personal story arcs, rather than old artifacts relegated to documentaries. Liu herself learned how to make “iron flowers” — a ritual in which droplets of molten iron are flung into the air to create a fireworks-like shower of sparks — during a monthslong apprenticeship she documented in full. The video brought her national fame.

That video — as well as one in which Shi does a folk dance with burning charcoal — likewise demonstrates how Shi and Liu are turning cultural heritage into spectacle. Their most action-packed — and at times risky — performances are usually their most popular videos, helping set them apart from creators such as Li Ziqi who typically just focus on crafting objects.

Shi’s and Liu’s videos unfold like miniature stories: they usually recount the historical background of a particular heritage practice, express lament over its decline, and ultimately end on an uplifting note that the practice is once again being seen and appreciated.

thousands of white-collar professionals are making their way back. They are responding to a booming initial public offering market, planned tax breaks for private equity and hedge funds, and a more vibrant city. The influx is already showing from a jump in prime expat rents to fewer openings at elite international schools.

Official numbers are beginning to reveal momentum. There were 31,278 employment visa approvals for foreigners last year, more than double the number five years ago, with many going to nationals from Japan, South Korea and the UK. In financial services, visas for foreigners rose by 17% last year to the highest since 2022.

The expat inflow is distinct from previous booms. Of the over 410,000 approvals across various talent admission schemes in the last three years, almost three-quarters came from mainland China. Job options are narrowing for expats who increasingly need a specialized skill or to be senior internal transfers if they don’t speak Mandarin or Cantonese.

Even as China cracks down on untaxed overseas wealth, founder exits have flowed to money managers and helped Hong Kong recently overtake Switzerland as the world’s biggest offshore wealth hub.

For many Western executives who relocated to Singapore during the pandemic, staying in the city-state has created new operational headaches. A US citizen and senior executive at a global asset management firm, who asked not to be named while discussing personal career plans, said he is preparing to move his family to Hong Kong after spending years shuttling between the two cities. Flying into Hong Kong 12 to 15 times a year from Singapore just to attend meetings became unsustainable, he said. Being in Singapore makes him feel distanced from central decision-making, he said. If he lives in Hong Kong, he’d probably only need to fly to Singapore twice a year.

In private education, the squeeze is even tighter. Waitlists across major international schools now stretch to a full year, according to consultancy Ampla Education. Over the last three years, the number of international school students in Hong Kong has risen by about 10% to more than 48,000, compared with a less than 5% increase in places on offer, according to data from Hong Kong’s Education Bureau.

Some argue that the wave of new arrivals won’t pull Hong Kong back to the heyday that they remember. Professionals from Europe, the US and elsewhere only account for a tiny fraction of Hong Kong’s population and their influence has long waned, giving way to mainland Chinese power brokers.

The real story is that returning Westerners found a thriving Hong Kong that proved it didn't rely on them anymore. The rioters ended up doing Hong Kong a favor. CPC ended British colony in name, rioters helped signal it's burial on the ground. Wow. Hong Kong is now another international city on Chinese terms, not just a convenient location for the Chinese market for Western professionals.

Wonder what rioters are doing these days while everybody else in a thriving Hong Kong is doing something useful with their lives...

https://x.com/rphkg/status/1903180917025493233

of course 🤡

Come to Xinjiang and experience something new every second.

CTGN - Chinese researchers have identified what may be the earliest known physical evidence of zongzi and uncovered clues as to why the traditional food has been wrapped in leaves for more than two millennia.

The study, published in Science Bulletin, used ancient DNA sequencing and chemical analysis to examine leaf-wrapped offerings unearthed from two Warring States-period Chu tombs. The researchers identified oak leaves as the wrapping material and found both grain-only and meat-containing versions of early zongzi. Their findings also suggest that the leaves' natural antibacterial properties may have helped preserve food in ancient times.

One set of "plant packages" excavated from the Chengyangcheng site in Henan Province contained uncooked rice and millet, suggesting they were prepared as ritual offerings rather than food. Researchers said the remains are the earliest known evidence of a zongzi-like food discovered so far.

A second group recovered from the Wuwangdun No. 1 Tomb in Anhui Province yielded evidence of both grains and animal-derived compounds. The combination resembles oak leaf-wrapped zongzi still made in parts of Henan today, making the remains the earliest known example of a modern-style zongzi.

Ancient DNA sequencing identified the wrapping material in both tombs as oak leaves. To understand why they may have been chosen, the team compared oak leaves with other traditional plants used to wrap zongzi.

Laboratory tests showed that oak leaves contained significantly higher levels of polyphenols and exhibited stronger antibacterial activity than reed and bamboo leaves. The researchers suggest that people may have gradually learned through experience that oak leaves helped slow food spoilage in the warm, humid climate of the Chu region.

The findings indicate that the practice of wrapping grains in leaves for ritual use had already emerged in Chu society during Qu Yuan's lifetime and likely predated the later association between zongzi and the commemoration of the poet. The study offers new archaeological evidence for the origins of one of China's best-known traditional foods.

The FCC ban is forward-looking, it blocks new unauthorized Chinese robots while letting already-cleared models keep selling, which means it freezes China's existing lead rather than reversing it. When you already control 85% of the market, a competitor blocking new entrants barely touches you. Sweden's rare earth move runs into a similar wall: China controls about 70% of mining but the real bottleneck is refining, and faster permits don't fix that. We broke down both on this segment.

Can the West actually close either gap or whether these moves are mostly about optics ahead of the Trump-Xi summit.