Escape from the British Museum: Cultural Heritage and China’s Rising Digital Nationalism

Girls in Hanfu Dress (photo credit: Ma Xiaochun)

Chinese digital nationalism is having a moment. One display is a growing nationwide public interest in cultural heritage, a trend that is particularly pronounced among young Chinese. They express their enthusiasm in the romantic consumption of heritage products, such as traditional Hanfu 汉服 fashion exemplified by the traditional skirt known as mamianqun 马面裙 as well as cheongsam (the popular early 20th century women’s dress style also known as qipao). According to Alibaba’s digital ...

Read more

Recent

Games Gone Global: How China’s AI-augmented Games Found International Success

In June 2024, a report in the MIT Technology Review shows how AI is reinventing video games. Venture firms are investing in gaming start-ups, many of which util... more

China’s Second Generation of Left-behind Children

In March 2024, the shocking murder of a 13-year-old boy in Hebei province, allegedly by three classmates, triggered fierce debates on Chinese social media about... more

The Sacrificed Land: Q&A with Historian Ma Junya

Professor Ma Junya is a historian at Nanjing University. Ma’s book, The Sacrificed Land: Transformation of Huaibei’s Social Ecology, 1680–1949, first publ... more

Loneliness, Death and Desolation: Why I Return to Antarctica Time and Again

The following translation is an excerpt from an episode of the popular Chinese-language podcast, StoryFM 故事FM. With a subscriber base of over two million, t... more