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Colonial Adventures
When a British diplomat was found murdered in southwest China in 1875, near the Burmese border, a political spat was triggered that would have wide-ranging...
The Totalitarian Gene
A new theory of China’s political DNA advances a dark thesis: that totalitarianism is institutionally encoded in the nation-state, and cannot be reformed.
The Runaways
Young Chinese have been moving away from big cities into rust-belt towns with cheap housing and less pressure. A new book asks what they’re running...
Logging Unpaid Hours
When a state-run sawmill from the Mao era privatized and eventually closed, its female workers were denied fair compensation. Its story doubles as an alternate...
Wanted: Pandas, Dead or Alive
In 1928, the eldest two sons of President Theodore Roosevelt set out to capture or kill a giant panda. Their hunting trip accidentally contributed to...
Ill Winds In Tibet
A banned Tibetan novel, now published in English, recounts the devastation of Mao's campaigns in the wake of the Amdo Rebellion of 1958.
Sex Sells
A book on prostitution in China asks sex workers how they see the industry, the state and themselves.
Who Will Be the Next Dalai Lama?
The Dalai Lama, who just turned 90, writes in his memoir that he will reincarnate in the “free world.” But will his political, religious and...
The Secret Life of Student Democracy
A scholar’s portrait of student volunteer groups in China is inspirational, but are they really planting the seeds of democratic change?
Why “All Under Heaven” is Wrong
Tianxia, Beijing’s favorite theory of global power, is held up by Chinese scholars as an alternative to West-centrism. The latest work of its loudest cheerleader...
For All the Trees in China
For over a century, Chinese rulers have launched tree-planting campaigns, to benefit the environment and build the nation. But did their rousing rhetoric actually lead...
Workers of the World, Rewrite!
A Chinese non-fiction writer finds himself in the same straits as the migrant laborer-artists of Picun village whom he profiles.
