sixthtone.bsky.social
Sixth Tone
@sixthtone.bsky.social
930 followers 1 following 220 posts
Fresh voices from today's China — news, features & commentary from a human perspective. Also on Facebook, Instagram, WeChat, & YouTube. Website: www.sixthtone.com
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Sixth Tone @sixthtone.bsky.social · 13d
“Please help me recognize the last word my father left me.” “He’s wishing you a Happy New Year.”

“The Worst Handwriting Group in History,” which began as a way to bond over poor penmanship, has recently expanded into a place to seek solace and help in deciphering notes left by deceased relatives.
China’s ‘Worst Handwriting Group in History’ Rewrites Grief
The online forum, which began as a way to bond over poor penmanship, has recently expanded into a place to seek solace and help in deciphering notes left by deceased relatives.
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sixthtone.bsky.social
Sixth Tone @sixthtone.bsky.social · 13d
Marathon star Zhang Shuihua promises to tread lightly after post-race comments about her hospital job spark a social media pile-on.
Crossing the Line? China’s ‘Fastest Nurse’ Runs Into Trouble
Marathon star Zhang Shuihua promises to tread lightly after post-race comments about her hospital job spark a social media pile-on.
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Sixth Tone @sixthtone.bsky.social · 13d
The lunches, supplied by catering company Green Express, were recalled after some schools had already served them, prompting outrage from parents and city-wide reform of school catering contracts.
Shanghai School Lunch Scandal Leads to Investigation, Reforms
The lunches, supplied by catering company Green Express, were recalled after some schools had already served them, prompting outrage from parents and city-wide reform of school catering contracts.
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Sixth Tone @sixthtone.bsky.social · 13d
China has eased a long-standing “payment dilemma” for overseas individuals purchasing onshore properties, simplifying cross-border investment and financing procedures.
China’s Latest Reform Eases Property Purchases for Overseas Individuals
A new policy allows overseas individuals to make immediate down payments on properties and scraps restrictions on the purchase of non-self-use residential property.
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Sixth Tone @sixthtone.bsky.social · 15d
I am a third-generation of the Third Front Movement. There’s a saying that captures the experience of families like ours: “First we devote our youth, then we devote our whole lives — in the end, even the futures of our children and grandchildren are tied to the cause.”
The Factory Workers Who Helped Build a Nation
A photographer strives to protect the memory of China’s Third Front Movement and the families who dedicated their lives to it.
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Sixth Tone @sixthtone.bsky.social · 15d
Sponge gourd soup, a staple in Chinese home cooking, has unexpectedly gone viral online — not for its taste, but as a metaphor for the way parents often dismiss their children’s feelings, as well as gaslighting in familial relationships more generally.

Read more: ow.ly/bWv650X03Ns
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Sixth Tone @sixthtone.bsky.social · 15d
A fireworks display, designed by artist Cai Guoqiang and commissioned by outdoor brand Arc’teryx, caused outrage over environmental concerns, prompting apologies and an official investigation.
Massive Fireworks Display on Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Backfires
The fireworks, designed by artist Cai Guoqiang and commissioned by outdoor brand Arc’teryx, caused outrage over environmental concerns, prompting apologies and an official investigation.
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Sixth Tone @sixthtone.bsky.social · 15d
With banquet bookings on the decline and budgets tight, some luxury hotels are selling discounted takeout on the street, betting visibility will bring customers back inside.
Street Smart: Why China’s 5-Star Hotels Are Now Cooking Curbside
With banquet bookings on the decline and budgets tight, some luxury hotels are selling discounted takeout on the street, betting visibility will bring customers back inside.
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Sixth Tone @sixthtone.bsky.social · 23d
Inspired by oysters cementing themselves to ocean rocks and bridge pylons, scientists at Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital in eastern China’s Zhejiang province have developed what they call the world’s first “bone glue.”
For a Team of Chinese Scientists, the Oyster Is Their World
Inspired by oysters’ natural grip, a team of researchers from Zhejiang have created a bio-glue to fuse shattered bones, a world first.
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Sixth Tone @sixthtone.bsky.social · 23d
Talking to an AI version of a late lost one is not so different from the photos and other mementoes people have always cherished.
AI ‘Ghostbots’ Update China’s Relationship With the Dead
Talking to an AI version of a late lost one is not so different from the photos and other mementoes people have always cherished.
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Sixth Tone @sixthtone.bsky.social · 23d
In China’s booming immersive tourism industry, “non-playable characters” are thousands of young performers in costume, working marathon shifts of duels and dances to keep tourists entertained.
Living the Loop: The NPCs Bringing China’s Fantasy Parks to Life
In China’s booming immersive tourism industry, “non-playable characters” are thousands of young performers in costume, working marathon shifts of duels and dances to keep tourists entertained.
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Sixth Tone @sixthtone.bsky.social · 23d
A couple in southern China’s Guangzhou has been ordered to vacate their rented room after having a child, with top rental platform Ziroom citing a breach of occupancy rules at the shared property that limit tenants to two adults between the ages of 18 and 40.
Ziroom Evicts Couple From Guangzhou Rental After Baby’s Birth
The case has sparked debate in China, where authorities are offering subsidies to encourage births even as the rental giant cited occupancy rules in ending the lease.
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Sixth Tone @sixthtone.bsky.social · Sep 9
Empowered by legislation, a growing army of social media activists is waging war against smoking in public.
Stub It Out! The Influencers Taking on Selfish Smokers
Empowered by legislation, a growing army of social media activists is waging war against smoking in public.
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Sixth Tone @sixthtone.bsky.social · Sep 9
As cinema evolved from silent-era drama to a key front in China’s fight against Japanese aggression, filmmakers turned class struggle, social injustice, and war into stories that rallied a nation.
When the Lens Turned Left: Cinema in Resistance-Era China
As cinema evolved from silent-era drama to a key front in China’s fight against Japanese aggression, filmmakers turned class struggle, social injustice, and war into stories that rallied a nation.
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Sixth Tone @sixthtone.bsky.social · Sep 5
When East met West in the mid-1800s, no one could understand each other. After a concerted effort between working-class Chinese and early traders, a new language was born, traces of which live on to this day.
The Rise and Fall of Chinese Pidgin English
When East met West in the mid-1800s, no one could understand each other. After a concerted effort between working-class Chinese and early traders, a new language was born, traces of which live on to t...
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Sixth Tone @sixthtone.bsky.social · Sep 5
As China’s ultrashort TV series find fans in the U.S., bilingual screenwriters are in high demand in Hollywood — it’s just not the dream job they’d imagined.
Script Change: The Writers Trading Movie Dreams for Bite-Size Dramas
As China’s ultrashort TV series find fans in the U.S., bilingual screenwriters are in high demand in Hollywood — it’s just not the dream job they’d imagined.
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Sixth Tone @sixthtone.bsky.social · Aug 28
“The kids just grew up. Those who used to fight now have jobs, wives, kids. Those still single have mellowed out. They treat me with respect,” Xu told Sixth Tone.
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Sixth Tone @sixthtone.bsky.social · Aug 28
In London, at the grave of Karl Marx, one Chinese visitor left a Labubu doll. The father of socialism, too, deserved a taste of modern consumerism.
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Sixth Tone @sixthtone.bsky.social · Aug 28
At the resting place of Tang dynasty poet Li Bai, known for letting wine stir his genius into timeless verse, visitors have offered liquor from across China and abroad.
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Sixth Tone @sixthtone.bsky.social · Aug 28
In southwestern Sichuan province, fans left high-speed train tickets at the tomb of Zhuge Liang, the famed adviser to Liu Bei, founder of the Shu-Han Dynasty, to help the statesman fulfill his long-held dream of a northern expedition against Cao’s heirs.
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Sixth Tone @sixthtone.bsky.social · Aug 28
One of the more visible examples appeared in central Henan province. At the tomb of Cao Cao, a warlord said to suffer from migraines and a central figure in the classic Chinese novel “Romance of the Three Kingdoms,” visitors began leaving ibuprofen.
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Sixth Tone @sixthtone.bsky.social · Aug 28
“My family thinks I’m at work, just like they used to think I was in school.”

With tens of thousands of arcades shuttered from decades of policy and changing lifestyles, Xu Shouzhong’s arcade is the last one left in Shenyang, a time capsule for the heady days of youth.
The Last Tokens
As Shenyang’s youth fades into memory and nostalgia, Xu Shouzhong’s arcade lives on.
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Sixth Tone @sixthtone.bsky.social · Aug 28
In tribute to her grandparents, artist Wu Wei explores in her work the anguish of loss and the joy of remembrance.
A Memory of Loss: ‘Could Grandma Hear My Cries?’
In tribute to her grandparents, artist Wu Wei explores in her work the anguish of loss and the joy of remembrance.
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Sixth Tone @sixthtone.bsky.social · Aug 28
More than two decades after his 3-year-old son was abducted, a Chinese father has won a symbolic civil case against the trafficker sentenced to death, reigniting debate over victims’ rights.
Chinese Father Wins Symbolic Lawsuit Decades After Son’s Abduction
Lei Wuze, who spent more than 20 years searching for his son, sought six yuan and an apology in a civil case against the trafficker.
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Sixth Tone @sixthtone.bsky.social · Aug 28
Painkillers for a warlord’s migraines. Train tickets for a legendary statesman who never made it north. And a Labubu doll for the father of modern socialism.
Painkillers, Tickets, Labubu: What China’s Gen Z Is Leaving at Tombs
Young Chinese are honoring historical figures with playful, personal gifts tailored to each legend’s quirks and stories.
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