Volume No.

96 May 2021
SOCIETY
Rich Pickings:
Platforms corner
luxury resale market
INTERNATIONAL
Levelling Up:
Inside China's new
diplomatic strategy

SPECIAL REPORT
Mind Games:
Anxiety racks
therapy industry

BRONZE AGE,
GOLDEN ERA
Striking finds at Sanxingdui Ruins
could shed new light on China’s
origin story

96

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 EDITORIAL

Published by China News Service

China needs to be proactive in tackling the
Publisher: Chen Lujun
demographic crisis
Executive Director:
Chen Lujun

Editor-in-Chief: Tan Hongwei

Deputy Editor-in-Chief: Zheng Zhonghai

Editorial Office

Copy Editors: Kathleen Naday, James Tiscione
Lead Writers: Yu Xiaodong, Li Jia
Senior Editor: Wang Yan
Editors: Xie Ying, Du Guodong, Yi Ziyi, Zhang
Qingchen, Xu Ming
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Address: 5th Floor, 12 Baiwanzhuang South
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Legal Advisor: Allen Wu
ISSN 2053-0463
T
here has been a long-held consensus over 60 years old increased from 10.45 percent in
among experts that there will be a demo- 2005 to 18.1 percent in 2019. The population of
graphic shift in China as its population those aged over 65, numbering 254 million, has
ages, but there are still disagreements about how surpassed the population aged below 15. As the
serious the problem is. population continues to age,
Challenged with a rapidly the shrinking of China’s labour
growing population and serious China’s rural- force appears unstoppable.
unemployment, China adopted the to-urban mass While some causes of
one-child family planning policy. migration China’s declining fertility are
Over the last decades, China’s fer- global, others are unique. It is
contributes to a
tility rate dropped rapidly from its a global pattern that economic
peak of more than 5 in the 1960s decline in people’s growth and increases in living
to about 2.1 in the late 1980s, and desire to have standards drive down fertility.
children. Besides
further to between 1.2 and 1.3 in China’s rural-to-urban mass
the late 1990s. these global factors, migration contributes to a de-
The government’s reaction to runaway housing cline in people’s desire to have
the demographic change has been children. Besides these global
prices, rising
rather slow. Not until 2016 did factors, runaway housing
the Chinese government liberalise childcare costs and prices, rising childcare costs
its policy to allow couples to have fierce competition and fierce competition within
a second child. The policy led to a within China’s China’s educational system de-
rebound in the fertility rate which educational system ters many would-be parents.
deters many would-
reached 1.58, 1.50 and 1.47 in To tackle these problems,
the years between 2017 and 2019. the Chinese government has
be parents.
But experts warned the impact of increased financial inputs in
the policy would be short-lived. the childcare system, tried to
According to Liang Jianzhang, an stabilise property prices, and
economist from Peking University more recently started to crack
and co-founder of travel provider down on the ever-expanding
Ctrip.com, the boost in this period mostly came tutoring business. In the meantime, the govern-
from couples who wanted to have a second child ment is mulling whether to raise the retirement
anyway. age. But by and large, the government has been
As this effect gradually disappears, China’s fertil- very conservative about reversing its family plan-
ity rate will drop again. Liang estimates that China’s ning policy. For example, it has not completely
fertility rate will drop below 1.2 in the next couple liberalised its policy to allow all parents to decide
of years, which is not only lower than the US and the number of children they want to have, as many
Europe, but also Japan. China will join South experts have called for.
Korea and Singapore to have one of the lowest fer- As the situation appears to be getting worse and
tility rates in the world. worse each year, the government must learn lessons
The persistent low fertility rate has already led from other Asian countries like Japan, South Korea
to a historic demographic shift. According to esti- and Singapore, that is, once a country’s fertility rate
mates from the National Bureau of Statistics, in the starts to fall, it is extremely difficult, if not impossi-
past decade, China’s working age population has ble to reverse the trend. China needs a more proac-
contracted by an average of 3.4 million each year. tive approach to address problems which could cast
In the meantime, the ratio of the population aged a shadow on China’s long-term development.

CHINAREPORT I May 2021

1
 CONTENTS

UNLOCKING THE PUZZLE

The enigmatic finds at Sanxingdui Ruins site raise more

Photo by CFP
questions than answers about the ancient Shu civilisation
P12

EDITORIAL
01 China needs to be proactive in tackling the demographic crisis

POLITICS
10 Growth Target:
Resetting the Bar

COVER STORY
P22
12 Sanxingdui:
Uncovering a Myth/Keys to the Past

INTERNATIONAL
22 Foreign Policy:
On the Level

SOCIETY
25 Designer Resale Market:
P30
High Fashion Victims

CHINAREPORT I May 2021

2
 CONTENTS

P48

P56 P34

28 Coalfield: CULTURE
Black to Green 52 Literature:
30 Role Playing Industry: Still Spellbound
Hard Act to Follow
VISUAL REPORT
SPECIAL REPORT 56 Hopes & Slopes
34 Psychotherapy:
Shrinking Returns/Mind the Gap OUTSIDE IN
60 Shenzhen:
INTERVIEW Gardens and Galleries
40 Arts:
Comedy at a Crossroads 04 MEDIA FOCUS
05 WHAT THEY SAY
HISTORY 06 NEWS BRIEF
43 Women in Ancient China: 08 NETIZEN WATCH
Rules and Reality 51 CHINA BY NUMBERS

ENVIRONMENT
62
64
ESSAY
FLAVOUR OF THE MONTH/REAL CHINESE
P40
46 Artificial Islands:
Solution of Last Resort

ECONOMY
48 Agriculture:
Homegrown Hogs

CHINAREPORT I May 2021

3
ChinaReport, Chinese Edition
April 5, 2021
Xiamen University Turns 100
Xiamen University, the first university founded by an overseas Chi-
nese, marked its 100th anniversary on April 6, 2021. Its founder Tan
Kah-kee, born in Singapore, set the mission that “education is the
foundation of the nation,” which aimed to advance the frontiers of
knowledge, cultivate professional talent and expound world cul-
tures under the motto of “pursue excellence, strive for perfection.”
The university on Xiamen Island in Southeast China’s Fujian Province
is well-known for its picturesque campus and humanities colleges.
Over the past 100 years, it fostered many leading figures in politics,
business and culture, and played a significant role in rejuvenating the
country before the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949.
It is thought-provoking that the university has stood at the forefront
of China’s higher education since it is far from the country’s political
centres, economic hubs or cultural bases.
Securities Market Weekly
March 29, 2021
New Era for Carbon Neutrality
Since China committed in Septem-
ber 2020 to peak carbon emissions
by 2030 and achieve carbon neutral-
ity by 2060, green investment has gained momentum.
The central government work report this year vowed that
the country will adopt measures to reduce carbon emis-
sions including establishing markets for trading energy
use rights and carbon emissions rights, and encouraged
financial support for green and low-carbon development.
Official statistics showed that by late 2020 China’s carbon
intensity – carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP
– had reduced by 48.4 percent from 2005. According
to Zero-Carbon Investing: Opportunities from China’s
Carbon Neutrality Goal, a report released by the Invest-
ment Association of China, carbon neutrality will gener-
ate investment totalling 70 trillion yuan (US$11t) over 40
years, boosting areas including renewable resources, energy
efficiency, zero-carbon electric generation, hydrogen
energy and digitisation. A complete low-carbon indus-
trial chain is expected to be built to facilitate high-quality
development and a more environmentally friendly society.
4
Caixin Weekly
March 29, 2021
After-school Classes Scrutinised
Shortly after the traditional Chinese New Year in Febru-
ary 2021, the Ministry of Education announced at a press
conference that it would scrutinise after-school classes
to ease the burdens of students and parents. The authorities said that some
after-school training institutions sought nothing but profits which has seriously
affected mainstream education. According to statistics from the Chinese Soci-
ety of Education, over 137 million primary and secondary school students at-
tended after-school tutoring institutions in 2016, creating a total market value
of over 800 billion yuan (US$122b). There is a lack of official supervision of
after-school curriculums and it is time to raise the threshold of training institu-
tions and release detailed regulations about the content of their programmes.
Caijing
March 8, 2021
Boosting Domestic Demand
The dual circulation development model has recently
been given priority in China which is seeking to spur do-
mestic demand and cater to export markets. Expanding
domestic demand, supply-side reform and high-quality
development are the main tasks for China’s 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2015)
after China recovered from the Covid-19 pandemic. During the two sessions
in March, the State Council announced that China will expand domestic
demand by fully tapping into the potential of the domestic market and bet-
ter align consumption with investment. China is slated to boost major con-
struction projects, better utilise investment projects within the central gov-
ernment’s budget and promote special bonds issued by local governments.
Experts believe that domestic demand is key to sustaining economic growth
in China amid economic frictions and an export slump due to the pandemic.
South Reviews
March 29, 2021
Global Chip Shortage
The global shortage of semiconductor chips has forced
vehicle manufacturers and smart phone enterprises to
halt or cut production. The rapid development of 5G
phones, the recovery of the electric vehicle market,
coupled with natural calamities in early 2021 have exacerbated chip short-
ages, especially high-grade ones. As the cornerstone of an information society
bolstered by artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things and cloud com-
puting, semiconductor chips have become a yardstick to gauge the overall
sci-tech strength of a country. At a time when the digital economy plays an
increasingly important role, many domestic enterprises are focusing on inde-
pendent chip research and development. Meanwhile, semiconductor indus-
tries rely heavily on global supply chains, making strengthened international
cooperation on a global scale necessary.
CHINAREPORT I May 2021
“The root cause of the disputed issues between China
and Japan lies in the fact that Japan cannot deal with
diplomatic affairs independently, but rather is reduced
to a US pawn to engage in geopolitical competition with
China in the Asia-Pacific region. This is shameful for Japan,
which is bad at maintaining its diplomatic independence
and coordinating well with other Asian countries.”
Li Haidong, a professor at China Foreign Affairs University,
commenting after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi warned
Japan not to interfere in China’s domestic affairs during a phone
conversation with his Japanese counterpart Motegi Toshimitsu
“China is always open to talks, but they should be
based on equality and mutual respect. China will
never ever accept the idea that there is a country
superior to others or that one country can decide on
world affairs.”
Wang Yi, China’s foreign minister, on the Sino-US relationship
at a press conference in Fujian Province on April 4 after meeting
with foreign ministers from Asian nations
“It’s impossible to have every [local] government engaged
in innovation and every enterprise leading in technical
innovation. There is still lots of room for development in
lots of industries. As the world’s largest industrial country,
the majority of China’s labour-intensive industries are
poised to increase employment in rural areas.”
Yao Yang, director of the National School of Development and the China
Centre for Economic Research, both under Peking University, claiming that
the best way to revitalise rural areas is to provide people with high-quality
employment, in an interview with the Beijing Daily
“In previous years, administrations and local markets
could cope with moving into a green transition
period. But when we come to the transition period
constrained by carbon-neutrality goals, we must
establish a micro-economic foundation where the
market plays a decisive role.”
Liu Shijin, former deputy director of the Development Research
Centre of the State Council, at the sixth National Manufacturing
Power Forum held in Hebei Province in late March
“Social governance should be scientific and precise,
and should avoid using a one-size-fits-all approach...
Changing outmoded customs and habits is a
common issue throughout the country and has
public support, but it should be conducted based on
social consensus.”
Xinhua News Agency criticising a ban issued by the
government of Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang Province, on the
sales of ceremonial paper money traditionally burned as offerings
to the dead
CHINAREPORT I May 2021
Illustration by Xiao Zhenduo
“The Hong Kong-linked exchange rate system is as stable
as a massive rock and there is a very small possibility that
the Hong Kong dollar will decouple from the US dollar, but
Hong Kong still needs to make preparations for that small
possibility.”
Joseph Yam Chi-kwong, former president of the Hong Kong
Monetary Authority, on a TV programme hosted by Hong Kong
Commercial Radio on April 4
“China’s objective is not to surpass the US, but to surpass
ourselves and make China better.”
Hua Chunying, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs
spokeswoman, responding to US President Joe Biden’s claim
that he will not allow China to surpass the US, at a regular press
briefing on March 26
“Education for the children of migrant workers touches
on an inescapable problem, namely the basic values and
attitudes of big city governments regarding migrants
– whether they regard these builders and maintainers
of industry as merely tools for economic growth or as
dignified citizens that have a right to public services.”
Qin Kuan, a correspondent for Narada Foundation media
outlet Narada Insight, in a commentary about the education of
migrant children
“As everyone knows, it’s very complicated and difficult
to trace the source of the Covid-19 pandemic because
early-stage controls were uneven as we gradually became
aware of it. It’s impossible to recover all the early clues and
circumstances with hindsight. A clear trail to the source
only exists with a politically imagined presumption of
guilt.”
State media outlet Global Times
commenting after the US and 13
other countries delivered a statement
questioning the World Health
Organisation report on the source of
Covid-19
5
 Top Story Hainan More Open to the World
China’s National Development and Reform Commission
(NDRC), the Ministry of Commerce and the Hainan provincial
government issued on April 9 a document on loosening market
access to the free trade zone in South China’s Hainan Province, hop-
ing to further energise the market.
The document named the new measures “special,” which accord-
ing to NDRC official Xu Shanchang, means they are tailored for
Hainan’s free trade zone which has been under construction since
2020.
According to Xu, those “special measures” focus on five sectors,
including medical care, culture, education, tourism and aerospace.
The government plans to promote internet medical care by estab-
lishing an electronic prescription centre and supporting information
sharing between different medical care organs, sales platforms and
insurers while tightening supervision on high-risk medications.
Restrictions will be loosened on commercial aerospace enterpris-
es to make Hainan an open and international aerospace centre. Li
Dongyu, deputy secretary general of Hainan provincial government
said at the press conference that they will make Wenchang Satellite
Launch Centre into China’s first coastal low-latitude launch centre
capable of handling low-cost, large-diameter rockets.
Finance is a highlight of the document which proposes to improve
the financial environment and support the development of the secu-
rity, insurance and bond industries. Analysts believe those measures
serve the orientation of the free trade zone in connecting to the in-
ternational market with the same set of rules to reduce the cost of
financial transactions.
Hainan’s free trade zone initiative started after Chinese President Xi
Jinping delivered a speech during a 2018 visit to the southern island,
inviting global investors to invest in Hainan and share the fruits of
China’s reform and opening-up. Since then, Hainan has taken the
lead in narrowing negative lists for investment and cutting taxes for
enterprises and high-tech talents.
In June 2020, Hainan released a general plan on the construction
of the free trade zone which focuses on facilitating trade, investment,
transportation, data exchange and cross-border capital flows. At a
press conference, Lin Nianxiu of the NDRC said “free trade” implied
zero tariffs and broad access.
Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, Hainan’s import and export in
2020 reached 93.3 billion yuan (US$13.7b), according to official
data, 3 percent more year-on-year, with private enterprises as the pillar
of foreign trade. The same year, Hainan saw 3,753 new foreign trade
enterprises registered, 403 percent growth year-on-year.
According to Jiang Chenghua, an official from the Ministry of
Commerce, the new special measures further loosen the access restric-
tions based on the national negative list issued last year. Hainan has
designed a series of innovative institutions to support broader access
which will be promoted nationwide if they take effect as expected.

Politics

Diplomats Visit Xinjiang

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs
revealed at a press conference that Shanghai
Cooperation Organisation Secretary General
Vladimir Norov and diplomats from 20 coun-
tries visited Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Re-
gion between March 30 to April 2.
According to Foreign Ministry spokesperson
Hua Chunying, the delegation toured Urumqi,
capital of Xinjiang, Kashgar, one of the hubs
of the ancient Silk Road, and Aksu, an ethnic
group area, visiting mosques and other sites
of interest. They also viewed an exhibition on
the anti-terrorism campaign in Xinjiang. Hua
said that China hopes the delegation witnessed
Xinjiang’s stability, harmony and economic
development.
It is believed a move to counter some
clothing manufactures led by H&M which
said they would boycott Xinjiang-produced
cotton, alleging the Chinese government is
forcing Uygurs to labour in the cotton fields.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry responded
that the accusation is complete “slander” and
that most of the cotton is harvested by machine.
“The ‘forced labour’ story is maliciously made
up by anti-China forces who are attempting to
tarnish China’s reputation, destroy Xinjiang’s
security and stability and repress China’s devel-
opment,” Hua said at another press conference.
According to Chinese media, the “forced la-
bour” accusation came from a 2020 report by
the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI)
that accused China of forcing Uygurs to labour
in factories in eastern China. China has denied
the accusation, saying this report is a purpose-
ful distortion of China’s poverty-alleviation
campaign in Xinjiang and that ASPI has never
provided any evidence to support its accusations.

CHINAREPORT I May 2021

6
Climate
China, US Announce Cooperation on Climate Crisis
China and the US issued a joint statement on April
16, in which both sides “committed to cooperating with
each other and with other countries to tackle the climate
crisis,” according to a statement issued after China’s
special envoy for climate change Xie Zhenhua talked
with his US counterpart John Kerry in Shanghai.
The two sides noted the “seriousness and urgency” of
tackling the climate crisis, and agreed to cooperate under
the terms of the United Nations Framework Conven-
tion on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement.
The Paris climate agreement aims to control the
global temperature rise to below 2 C, with 1.5 C the
preferred target.
China and the US will make joint efforts to reduce
emissions, and before the COP 26 meeting in Glasgow,
UK, which starts on November 1, will produce long-
term strategies on carbon neutrality and net-zero emis-
sions of greenhouse gases.
To realise the objectives, the two sides agreed on eight
Entertainment
Film Awards Glory at BAFTAs
Arguably a glass ceiling was broken at the British
Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) awards
when the top honour for an individual, the Fellowship,
went to director Ang Lee. Already an Oscar winner for
directing the films Life of Pi and Crouching Tiger, Hidden
Dragon, Lee now stands in the company of icons such as
Charlie Chaplin, Alfred Hitchcock and Elizabeth Taylor
who have also received the Fellowship.
“Ang Lee is a master of his craft, “said Marc Samuelson,
Chair of BAFTA’s Film Committee, and added, “We are
Economy
Opportunity Beckons for British, Chinese Brands
While much of Europe is struggling with a third wave
of the coronavirus pandemic, China offered its custom-
ers and consumers cheering economic news with the
release of a report from UK think tank Oxford
Economics. The findings suggested that the Asian giant
could expect both import and export growth in the rest
of 2021 as well as domestic economic recovery.
The predictions were congruent with figures showing
economic growth of 18.3 percent in the first quarter of
2021 compared to the same period last year. This was
the biggest jump in gross domestic product since Beijing
started keeping quarterly records in 1992.
Delving into the data, Oxford Economics’ head of
CHINAREPORT I May 2021
Tribute
Xi Joins World in
Bidding Farewell to
Prince Philip
Saturday 17 April will go
down as one of the most mo-
mentous days in the recent his-
tory of the British Royal Family.
Across the world people watched
the funeral of His Royal High-
ness Prince Philip who dedicated
areas of discussion, including developing decarbonisa- his life to selfless service to the
tion technologies, increasing the use of renewable ener- Crown supporting his wife, Her
gies, and promoting environmentally friendly agricul- Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
ture, buildings and transportation. Among those who posted
The two nations vowed to reduce the production and on social media was the UK’s
consumption of hydrofluorocarbons, which are used in Ambassador to Beijing Caroline
synthetic refrigerants that are also greenhouse gasses, as Wilson who referred to the six-
laid out under the terms of the Kigali Amendment to day tour of China that the cou-
the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the ple completed in October 1986
Ozone Layer. thereby “helping to strengthen
ties between our two countries.”
Wilson’s post also showed a dap-
per Duke of Edinburgh posing
for an iconic snap beside the
Queen on the Great Wall.
thrilled to present him with BAFTA’s highest honour.” British Prime Minister Boris
Born in Taiwan, Lee grew his career in the US and is Johnson joined the tributes say-
the only Chinese in history to have claimed the honour ing, “Prince Philip earned the
of best director at the Oscars, the BAFTA Awards and the affection of generations here in
Golden Globe Awards. the United Kingdom, across the
Another well done is also due to BAFTA’s Best Commonwealth and around
Director winner Chloe Zhao for her film Nomadland the world.” Chinese President
that also won in the best film category. Zhao was born Xi Jinping and his wife, Peng
in China, went to school in Brighton on the UK’s south Liyuan, also sent a message of
coast and is now based in the US. condolences to the Queen.
Despite the great esteem in
which Philip was held, it is per-
haps fair to say that he did make
the odd embarrassing gaffe and
could be blunt. In the era of po-
Asia economics Louis Kuijs made a broader assessment litical correctness, he was perhaps
of China’s prospects. “Promisingly, the monthly indica- behind the times, but he was
tors suggest that industrial production, consumption also seen as progressive through
and investment all gained pace in March on a sequential his leadership of the Duke of
basis, following the weakness in the first two months,” Edinburgh Award Scheme for
he said. the self-improvement of young
The situation on the ground is also showing “green people that has now expanded
shoots” with the China Britain Business Council launch- to 144 nations.
ing its UK-China Consumer Week from 19 to 23 April. With Covid-19 restrictions
Photos by CNS, VCG
According to the CBBC, the online series will “shine a in place at the ceremony, saying
spotlight on China’s consumer market recovery and call goodbye was much harder. This
attention to opportunities for UK brands to re-engage larger-than-life figure and true
with China.” gentleman will be sorely missed.
7
Cemetery Accused of Taking Status to the Grave Poll the People
A cemetery in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province was accused
online of zoning plots based on the dead’s status in life, such A recent survey by the Korea Development Institute,
a South Korean think tank, showed that 54.8 percent
as “officials’ zone” and “Chinese who have returned from of South Koreans aged 30 to 39 and 44.1 percent
overseas.” The news got people snickering on social media, between 40 and 44 are living off their parents. The
survey triggered discussions among young Chi-
where some joked that social strata and income gaps keep nese online, many of whom are in similar financial
widening in China even in death. The cemetery denied the situations. Some attributed the growing economic
dependence on parents to soaring housing prices
accusation, explaining that they had sold many graves to and a stretched job market, while others blamed the
officials because officials were encouraged to choose crema- trend on laziness and lack of initiative.
tion at a time when it was unpopular in China and the signs were there to direct visitors. Do you think that it is hard for people today to be
However, the cemetery has removed all of the signage in response to the controversy. This economically independent by the time they reach
30 years old?
did not deter netizens from taking more jabs, with some posting that the cemetery should
have a special area for corrupt officials as a reminder to their descendants. Yes, young people today cannot live
without economic assistance from their
parents. 70.6%
Employee Docked Pay for Being ‘Overweight’ No, dependent people exist no matter
the economic climate and we should
A man surnamed Wang in Henan Province has turned to labour authorities after his em- not excuse them for living off their
ployer docked his pay for two years because he was overweight. According to Wang, the parents. 26.6%
company set weight-to-height requirements for employees, and those that deviate from the Not sure 2.8%
ratio by 10 percent are fined. As Wang is 25 kilos heavier than the 105-kilogram standard for
his height, he has been docked 500 yuan (US$76) every month since the rules were issued in Source: ChinaReport Chinese Edition
2019, totalling more than 10,000 yuan (US$1,470.6). Wang told media that he has already
lost 15 kilos but has been struggling to lose more. His employer, a property management
company, responded that the rule was instituted for the sake of employees’ health and that
they will return the deducted pay to Wang once he loses enough weight. The news stirred
criticism of Wang’s company on social media, where many said that wages have nothing to do
with weight. Wang has filed a complaint against the company with local labour authorities.
Most Circulated Post
Reposted 15,982,831 times by April 8

Pharmacy’s Medicinal Milk Teas in Bad Taste? “They are here in the
A pharmacy in Shanghai recently rolled out a series of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) world as long as we
milk teas that have not gone down smoothly on social media. According to reports, the in-
gredients in the drinks from TCM pharmacy Tonghanchuntang range from lotus leaves for
never forget them.”
“reducing heat” to black-fruit matrimony vine which is believed to prevent hair loss. While
some netizens saw them as novel ways to promote TCM, most expressed their concerns over April 3-5
whether the concoctions would have side-effects for some consumers and warned that milk marked the
tea, with its high sugar content, is unhealthy no matter what else is in it. “The chemist might Qingming
actually be tarnishing the reputation of TCM,” a Sina Weibo user posted. Festival, also
known as the
Tomb Sweep-
Cosmetic Surgery Leaves Woman Mentally Incapacitated ing Festival,
A court in Shenzhen is hearing a case about a 31-year-old woman who lost her mental capacity a traditional
after a botched cosmetic surgery. Xiao Li (pseudonym) was undergoing eyelid surgery and a time in China
nose job at a local cosmetic centre in May 2020 when she went into sudden cardiac arrest due for mourning
to anesthesia complications and fell into a coma, court records show. Although the centre gave the dead. Many across the country laid flowers
Xiao Li first aid and sent her to hospital, she remained unconscious for 16 days. Ever since, at the tombs of martyrs who had sacrificed their
Xiao Li has regular fits of screaming and does not recognise her parents. She has lost the ability lives in previous wars against foreign invaders.
to care for herself, said her doctor, who added she now has the mental capacity of an infant. The State-run newspaper the People’s Daily posted a
cosmetic centre faces 20,000 yuan (US$3,050) in fines and a one-month closure while the picture of a martyr cemetery on April 3, saying
doctor is fined 5,000 yuan (US$763) with a six-month suspension from practicing. However, that the martyrs have provided future generations
the harm to Xiao Li seems irreversible. Netizens have called for tighter supervision of private with prosperous lives at the cost of their blood
cosmetic centres, especially regarding their qualifications. and called on the public to never forget them.

CHINAREPORT I May 2021

8
TOP FIVE SEARCH QUERIES WHAT’S
On for the week ending April 18
China Slams Japan's Plan to Dump Waste Water 477,743
China’s Foreign Ministry accused Japan of “being irresponsible” for
HOT?WHAT’S
NOT?
deciding to discharge the radioactive water from the 2011 nuclear leak
in Fukushima, which experts warned would pollute half the Pacific Ocean
within 57 days.

Alibaba Fined for Anti-monopoly Violations 469,836

China’s State Administration for Market Regulation issued an
administrative punishment against Alibaba Group on April 10, fining
China’s largest e-commerce enterprise a record 18.2 billion yuan
(US$2.75b) for anti-monopoly violations, which amounts to 4 percent of
Alibaba’s total domestic sales in 2020.

WHO Publishes Covid-19 Tracking Report 460,344 Student Takes Stand

The World Health Organisation published its report on tracking the for Animals
Covid-19 source after a month-long investigation in China, claiming that Jin Manqing, a student in
the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan may not be the source of Shanghai garnered some
the Covid-19 virus. attention online after she
asked the publishers of an
English textbook to remove its
Chinese Aircraft Carrier to Conduct Drills Near Taiwan 242,860 references to circus animals,
The Chinese navy recently announced that the Liaoning, China’s first saying it suggests that animals
commissioned aircraft carrier, conducted exercises in the waters around should perform for humans. Her
Taiwan as part of the Chinese navy’s annual drill plans. mother told media that Jin was
raised to believe that forcing
animals to perform was wrong
Diplomats Visit Xinjiang 166,423 and that many animals are
Vladimir Norov, secretary general of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation abused in such performances.
and diplomats from 20 countries visited Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Netizens praised Jin and
her family, hoping younger
from March 30 to April 2. China’s Foreign Ministry expressed China’s hopes
Some of the images used in this section are from the internet
Illegal Parking Device
A man surnamed Wang in Hunan
Province says he invented a
foolproof device to help new
drivers parallel park – and
local authorities are on his tail.
According to Wang, his invention
rolls the car into the parallel
parking slot sideways using
retractable wheels located under
the front and back bumpers.

generations will have greater

that the delegation witnesses the development and prosperity of Xinjiang. awareness of animal protection. Taking six years and 200,000
yuan (US$30,769) to develop,
Wang said small motors power
the device to slowly move the car
into place. While many online
expressed interest in Wang’s
TOP BLOGGER PROFILE invention, it is illegal to privately
modify cars and local traffic
authorities have registered
Yang Li Wang’s equipment in their
system for supervision.
Followers: 1,790,524 by April 13
Yang Li has once again proved that some guys just can’t take a joke. The
29-year-old stand-up comedian, known for her witty jabs at Chinese men,
has taken centre stage in a recent controversy after appearing in an Intel Daily Dose of Clouds
laptop ad where she said that Intel’s taste is “even better than her taste Zhou Zhouyu, a woman in Dali,
in men.” The joke riled some male netizens, who already were sore from Yunnan Province, has gained
over 40 million followers online
Yang’s recent comedy bit on a stand-up TV show where she delivered the by posting a daily image of
a cloud. According to media
one liner: “Why do some men look so average and still have so much reports, Zhou settled in Dali
confidence?” Her critics, mostly men, claimed she was humiliating men after travelling in Yunnan and
falling in love with the scenery.
and encouraging antagonism between genders to promote She was especially enchanted by 11 Roles, 1 Con Artist
the constantly changing clouds.
her career. Her supporters, mostly women, see her as Zhou takes photos of clouds that A Zhejiang Province man was
catch her eye and then draws detained for allegedly swindling
a female role model. “Women have been mocked the images she sees on them, his girlfriend out of more than
and satirized in all sorts of programmes for a long such as a teddy bear or a little 400,000 yuan (US$58,823.5) by
girl. She then gives each cloud posing online as an entire cast of
time, but few find that unreasonable. That’s the a name and a cute backstory. characters, from police officers
Netizens said that Zhou’s daily to court prosecutors. According
problem,” posted one supporter. Yang told media posts, which she has kept up for to police, the man surnamed Xu
that she did not expect that so many men would around 600 days, celebrate the first contacted his girlfriend while
beauty of nature and are the claiming to be a doctor selling
be offended by her jokes, but the upside is that perfect cure for a bad mood. nutrition products after she had
undergone an operation. He then
stand-up comedy can spark discussions and posed as another doctor, who
warned her that the previous one
present issues from different angles. “I will try had posted her photos online and
my best to do what I want to do... Happiness recommended a lawyer, a role
he also played. Xu posed as 11
doesn’t come from arguing,” she wrote in a different people in all, each time
extracting more money from her.
recent Sina Weibo post. The con kept going until the victim
turned to her family for loans.
CHINAREPORT I May 2021
9
POLITICS
Growth Target
Resetting the Bar
ChinaReport scours China’s latest annual government report for clues to the
direction of macro-economic policies in 2021
By Xu Dawei
C
hina released its yearly budget in the government work
report delivered during the annual National People’s Con-
gress (NPC) held in March. In 2020, China is perhaps the
world’s only major economy to expand, posting GDP growth of 2.3
percent.
As the global economy is expected to gradually recover from the
coronavirus pandemic, many are closely watching China’s economic
policy for 2021, to which the annual government work report pro-
vides major clues.
GDP Growth
For the past several decades, China’s annual GDP growth tar-
get has been the figure to watch, as the country’s overall economic
policy was primarily focused on the absolute growth of its economy.
In 2020, given the impact of the pandemic, China did not release a
specific GDP growth target for the first time in decades. Following
the economic slowdown in recent years, China has downplayed the
importance of GDP growth. As the government stressed the need to
shift focus to quality development rather than quantity, many said the
absence of a GDP growth target for 2020 could become the norm.
But in this year’s government work report, the annual GDP growth
target reappeared, this time as “no less than 6 percent.” According to
Jia Kang, chief economist at the China Academy of New Supply-side
Economics, the return of a GDP growth target signals that China is
falling back on pre-pandemic modes rather than continuing with its
investment-driven development model.
“The absence of a GDP growth rate in 2020 was only due to the
uncertainty posed by the global pandemic,” Jia said, “Given the en-
during impact of the pandemic, China had to focus its policy on live-
lihood issues such as protecting and boosting employment.”
According to Shen Minggao, chief economist of GF Securities, this
year’s 6 percent growth rate target is rather conservative, as it is widely
projected that China’s growth rate could be much higher.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) projected in April that
10
China’s economy would grow by 8.4 percent in 2021, up 0.3 percent-
age points from its January forecast.
“The relatively low figure gives the government ample room for
flexibility in its policies this year,” said Shen.
Zhang Liqun, a research fellow with the Development Research
Centre of the State Council, agreed. “China has set a bottom-line
goal rather than an ambitious target, which suggests that the central
government has adopted a rather prudent approach,” Zhang said.
According to Professor Liu Yuanchun, vice president of the
Renmin University of China, achieving 6 percent GDP growth in
2021 would grow per capita income by 5 percent, nominal profits of
enterprises by 7-8 percent, and government revenue by 5-6 percent.
By Liu’s calculations, these figures would ensure the return of China’s
macro-economy and its development momentum to pre-pandemic
levels.
Monetary and Fiscal Policies
The government report said that China will “maintain the
continuity, stability and sustainability” of its macro-economic poli-
cies. Experts believe that China will take a cautious approach to mon-
etary and fiscal policies.
The report set the Consumer Price Index (CPI) target at 3
percent. Figures show that China’s CPI has hovered around 2-3 per-
cent over the last 10 years. The only exception was in 2015, when
a surge in food prices pushed the CPI to 5.4 percent. But as gov-
ernments around the globe have adopted liberal monetary policies
which are pushing up commodity prices in recent months, bringing
inflation rates under control may be one of the greatest challenges in
2021.
“Compared to most advanced economies, China’s monetary policy
will be relatively conservative,” Shen Minggao said. “But in a global
environment of extremely liberal monetary policies, China now faces
great uncertainty regarding the inflation rate.”
As for the fiscal policy, the government work report set the deficit
CHINAREPORT I May 2021
 Photo by Xinhua
A job seeker at a women’s job fair for the services industry in Yinchuan,
Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, March 6, 2021
ratio at 3.2 percent. According to Shen Jianguang, chief economist
at JD.com’s fintech arm JD Digits, this is a balanced approach. “It’s
lower than the deficit ratio of 3.6 percent last year, but higher than the
2.8 percent pre-pandemic level in 2019,” Shen said.
In the meantime, the central government will stop issuance of pan-
demic-related bonds in 2021, which means that central government
bond supply will decrease from last year’s 4.1 trillion yuan (US$624b)
to 2.75 trillion yuan (US$419b).
Bond issuance quotas for local governments fell from 4.75 trillion
yuan (US$723b) in 2020 to 4.47 trillion yuan (US$680b). This is
the first time since 2015 that China has lowered the quota for local
government bonds, indicating that control of local government debt
remains a policy priority.
The government work report also states that the central govern-
ment will reduce its overall spending by cutting “non-essential expen-
diture.”
By comparison, the central government will increase transfer
payments to local governments by 7.8 percent. The budget also
appropriates 2.8 trillion yuan (US$426b) in direct payments from
the central government to local governments. According to Shen, this
move means that China’s policy priorities will continue to support
employment and livelihoods at the grassroots level in 2021.
Employment Goals
According to Liu Shijin, vice president of the Committee for
Economic Affairs of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative
Conference (CPPCC), employment figures will replace GDP growth
rate as the top priority of China’s central leadership. In the work
report, China said it aims to generate at least 11 million jobs in 2021
and maintain the official surveyed unemployment rate in urban
regions at no more than 5.5 percent.
Despite the impact of the global pandemic, China created 11.9
million jobs in urban regions in 2020, while the official surveyed
urban unemployment rate was steady at 5.2 percent at the end of
2020. But as the pandemic continues, China, like most countries
around the globe, is facing the threat of widespread unemployment.
According to the Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI)
CHINAREPORT I May 2021
Photo by CNS
A worker in a factory which exports offshore wind power technology at
Taicang Economic and Technical Development Zone, Jiangsu Province,
February 8, 2021
employment data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, China’s
employment index has been below the 50 neutral mark since April
2020. Despite the economic recovery, the employment index dipped
from 49.6 in December 2020 to 48.1 in February.
In Q4 2020, there were 169.6 million employed migrant workers,
2.7 percent (4.66 million) less than the same period the previous year.
At the same time, wages for migrant workers increased by only 2.8
percent from last year, considerably lower than the 6 percent increase
in 2019.
Zhong Wei, professor and director of the Research Centre for
International Finance at Beijing Normal University, told ChinaReport
that employment in China can be measured by starting salaries and
services consumption. Zhong said that while starting salaries have not
changed in the last two years, service consumption such as dining and
entertainment has declined, indicating a deteriorating job market.
According to Jia Kang, chief economist at the China Academy of
New Supply-side Economics, the key to boosting the job market is
supporting small businesses. The private sector generates an estimated
90 percent of employment, 80 percent of which is generated by mi-
cro, small and medium-sized businesses.
To boost employment, the government report included a new tax
cut package for small businesses. For example, the value-added tax
threshold will be raised to 150,000 yuan (US$22,800) from 100,000
yuan (US$15,200). Small and micro-businesses with annual taxable
earnings under 1 million yuan (US$152,611) will be eligible for a
50-percent income tax reduction.
In a government meeting on March 31, Chinese Premier Li
Keqiang announced the measures would go into effect on April 1 and
would result in tax reductions of about 550 billion yuan (US$83.7b)
in 2021.
But according to Guo Wei, deputy director of the State Council
Research Office, the unemployment situation could worsen in 2021
as 15 million people are expected to enter the job market. The num-
ber of new college graduates alone will amount to about nine million.
“Generating 11 million jobs, which would restore the job market
to pre-pandemic levels, is a real challenge as there are still a lot of
uncertainties,” Guo said.
11
COVER STORY

PAST UNMASKED

CHINAREPORT I May 2021

12
 Photo by ic
The incomplete gold mask unearthed from No.5 sacrificial pit, Sanxingdui

Archaeologists hope that among the new finds at Sanxingdui

Ruins will be more clues to the origin of the Bronze Age
civilisation that could rewrite ancient Chinese history

Photo by Li Xiangyu
A dragon-shaped detail on a bronze vessel unearthed
from No.3 sacrificial pit, Sanxingdui

CHINAREPORT I May 2021

13
COVER STORY

Sanxingdui

UNCOVERING A MYTH
A bronze

Photo by li xiangwu
vessel is
excavated
from No. 3
sacrificial pit,
Sanxingdui

The ongoing excavation of new findings in Sanxingdui Ruins may contribute to

the study of the origins of Chinese civilisation
By Wang Yan

T
he artefacts unearthed at the Sanxingdui Ruins site, so dif-
ferent to others excavated from Bronze Age sites in China,
have mystified archaeologists as much as they have delighted
visitors. No humans remains or evidence have been discovered so far,
but experts hope the recent excavation of six further pits at the site
containing a trove of new discoveries, including bronze, gold, ivory
and silk items, will shed new light on just who the ancient people
were and who wrought these exquisite crafts and then buried them
underground.
Chinese archaeologists revealed the startling new discoveries of over
500 cultural relics on March 20 during their ongoing excavation at
the Sanxingdui Ruins site in Guanghan city, Southwest China’s Sich-
uan Province. Some of the highlights include rare bronze ware with
designs not seen elsewhere, gold items such as a large gold mask, items
in the shape of birds, hundreds of ivory tusks, a jade seal and silk
remnants.
The dig, which started in August 2019, uncovered relics from six
pits, which Chinese archaeologists describe as sacrificial pits as they
have no known exact purpose, from the ancient Shu state which dates
back some 4,800 years to 3,100 years ago.
Exciting Find
The Sanxingdui Ruins site is located on the south bank of the Yazi
River in the city of Guanghan, Sichuan Province, some 60 kilometres
to the northeast of provincial capital Chengdu.
Interest in the 12-square kilometre area was first piqued in the late
1920s after a farmer dug up jade artefacts. Archaeological excavations
formally started in the early 1960s and continued in the 1980s when
the first two sacrificial pits were discovered, revealing a stunning col-
lection of over 1,000 relics including bronze figures, bronze trees, gold
masks, jade and elephant tusks. But since then, while archaeologists
agreed that the discoveries had turned understanding of Bronze Age
Chinese civilisations upside down, no major excavation was under-
taken at the site for almost four decades.
Only recently did new excavations break the silence.
Chen Xiandan, a researcher at the Sichuan Provincial Cultural Rel-

CHINAREPORT I May 2021

14
ics and Archaeology Research Institute who participated in a dig in
1986 told ChinaReport that in fact, work at Sanxingdui had never
stopped. For a long time, the work focused on other functional areas
such as delineating features like walls and palaces inside the site rather
than the sacrificial pits. “The principle stipulated in China’s Law on
the Protection of Cultural Relics states protection is the priority, and
salvage excavation [if the artefacts or site are at risk of destruction]
comes first, and no active excavation is allowed despite advanced tech-
nologies. If an excavation must be conducted, it should be for scien-
tific research purposes and approved by the State Administration of
Cultural Heritage,” Chen said.
According to Ran Honglin, team leader of the current dig,
artefacts were excavated from four of the newly discovered pits by
early April, while another two pits are in the initial excavation stage of
clearing the top layers of soil. The dig is led by the Sichuan Provincial
Bureau of Cultural Relics and implemented by the Sichuan
Archaeology Institute with participation from 34 scientific research
institutes and universities from all over the country. “This is perhaps
the world’s largest excavation involving people from the domestic
archaeological, cultural relics conservation and scientific research
field,” said Tang Fei, president of the Sichuan Archaeology Institute.
Tang said that the State Administration of Cultural Heritage and the

Sichuan Provincial Bureau of Cultural Heritage have earmarked over
32 million yuan (US$4.9m) for the excavation, and an additional
30 million yuan (US$4.6m) for cultural relic protection and multi-
disciplinary research.
Among the six new pits, No.3 is particularly rich in findings. With-
in an area of less than 15 square metres, archaeologists have found 109
bronze ware pieces, 127 ivory tusks and eight jade objects. Two square
zun, bronze wine vessels used in rituals, decorated with dragon and ox
patterns, are unique with nothing similar found in the 1980s explora-
tion. This pit, just as No.2 pit which was unearthed in the 1980s, was
covered with a layer of ivory tusks.
The main challenge for archaeologists is to clarify the relationship
between the tusks and other artefacts before clean-up work begins.
“The tusks were not neatly arranged, but rather were crisscrossed and
scattered,” Xu Feihong, a teacher at Shanghai University Fine Arts
College and team leader of the No.3 pit excavation, told ChinaReport.
The pit also revealed a large, U-shaped bronze mask with two ears that
shares some complex cultural links with the stacked ivory.
Unlike the salvage excavations at pits Nos. 1 and 2 in 1986, the
team was fully prepared for the excavation of the six new pits.
“We must make a reasonable plan and adjust how we proceed with
the excavation anytime we feel it’s necessary to ensure that all the ob-
jects can be removed properly. Otherwise, the results won’t be accept-
able,” Xu added.
There are two main sites where a large number of tusks have been
found. Apart from the Sanxingdui Ruins, tusks were found at the
Jinsha Ruins in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province. This site dates
back to 3,200-2,600 BCE, later than Sanxingdui, where experts
found a jade carving of a square-eared human figure wearing a crown
Photo by ic
A bronze figurine unearthed from Sanxingdui is displayed at Sanxingdui
Museum, Guanghan, Sichuan Province, April 8, 2021
and robes with a tusk on his shoulder. It is similar to a jade carving
found at Sanxingdui, which some experts posit depicts a sacrificial
ceremony of the ancient Shu people to whom ivory was important.
But no one knows where the tusks came from.
On March 16, No.3 pit was fully exposed after several months of
careful excavation. Archaeologists were shocked by the sheer num-
ber of bronze artefacts and tusks. There were around 100 tusks in a
layer atop the artefacts. A significant find was a bronze figure with an
elongated body, long curved arms and extended fingers, topped by a
bronze zun vessel. Xu told ChinaReport that the bronze figure is 1.15
metres tall. “Having a human as the main body of a bronze ware is
not in the cultural tradition of the bronze age civilisation in Central
China, but it is a common feature of finds at Sanxingdui,” said archae-
ologist Lei Yu who is working on the dig. He described the piece as a
national treasure.
In No.4 pit, silk remnants extracted from ash due to carbonisa-
tion of the silk are another remarkable discovery. Experts believe it
is evidence that the ancient Shu state is the origin of Chinese silk
making. With assistance and support from the Chinese Silk Museum
in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, material analysis and preservation

CHINAREPORT I May 2021

15
COVER STORY

of the silk remnants are underway, as well as efforts to understand

their use. “Many of the things unearthed in the sacrificial pits recently
are unique. This fully demonstrates the wisdom of the ancient Shu
people, the wealth of the state, as well as their unique aesthetic and
religious perceptions,” Lei said.
An incomplete gold mask was unearthed from No.5 sacrificial pit.
Although the smallest pit at 3 square metres, it is where most gold
pieces were unearthed. The size of the gold mask is astonishing, even
though it is not whole, at 23 centimetres wide and 28 centimetres
high. “Based on the near-half of the gold mask we found, it should
weigh over 500 grams in total,” Lei said. The earlobe of the mask has
a hole, a characteristic found in similar artefacts from the pits, which
implies that ear piercing was significant to the Shu people, he added.
Another mysterious object from No.6 pit is a 1.7-metre-long and
60-centimetre-wide wooden box with the inside covered in cinnabar,
an extremely toxic mineral derived from mercury, although its red
colour meant it was often used as a pigment or in ornamentation.
Part of the wood has been carbonised and a plan to open it is yet to
be formalised.

Gold Trove
The gold mask was excavated on February 2. Its square face, large
hollowed-out eyes, triangular-shaped nose and wide ears make it sim-
ilar to gold masks unearthed in the 1980s in Sanxingdui and later at
Jinsha. “Early discoveries at Sanxingdui included gold masks, a gold
scepter, gold foil ornaments, gold blocks and various gold foil frag-
ments, rich in both variety and quantity. Gold items, as a symbol of
power and used in sacrificial ceremonies, indicate the ancient Shu
people worshipped gold,” Lei said.
With the discovery of the six new pits, through analyzing the soil
characteristics, location distribution and the information depicted on
the excavated objects, academics are finding new references to judge
the age and usage of the pits. “Previous depictions and explanations
were based on two pits, and now we’ve discovered six new ones, which
will challenge some of the existing views,” Lei said.
Sun Hua, professor of archaeology at Peking University said that
rather than using radiocarbon dating as it did for the first two pits,
this time there is a more accurate and sensitive method with the use of
Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS). The new method has a mar-
gin of error of 25 years.
According to Ran Honglin, accurate dates for the Sanxingdui pits
are expected to be confirmed with the newly excavated material.
Specific excavation methods designed for this dig aim to shed light on
how the pits were made and filled up.
“The archaeological achievements in Sanxingdui can fully reflect
the important contributions of the ancient Shu civilisation and the
Yangtze River culture to Chinese civilisation. It is an important
exemplification of the Chinese civilisation’s development model
of ‘diversity in unity,’” Song Xinchao, deputy director of the State
Administration of Cultural Heritage, told China News Agency in late
March.
Photo by xinhua
Archeologists are suspended on a platform as they work on relics in
No.3 sacrificial pit, Sanxingdui, March 19
Since many of the items found were smashed and burned before
being buried at Sanxingdui, the existing theory of these pits being
used for sacrificial purposes was reaffirmed by most experts.
Civilisation Twilight
The Mayan culture was a fleeting historical moment over 5,000
years ago when the Sanxingdui civilisation was at its peak. What’s
more, scientists noticed that the Mayan pyramids, the Egyptian pyra-
mids, and Mesopotamia cultural remains in the fertile crescent, to-
gether with the Sanxingdui Ruins, are all located along the 30th par-
allel north, a sub-tropical latitude currently a third of the way between
the equator and the North Pole. Some of the wilder theories posit
there is a mystery as to why these ancient civilisations are along the
same latitude, although there are no proven connections.
But academics agree that the Sanxingdui civilisation made unique
contributions to the origin and formation of Chinese civilisation.
According to Huo Wei, Dean of Archaeology at Sichuan Univer-
sity and curator of Sichuan University Museum, the Chinese Bronze
Age civilisation represented by the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties
ranging from around 2,000- 1,000 BCE is characterised by bronze
ware rituals and a set of rituals to manifest state power and hierarchi-
cal order. Different levels of power were represented by a ritual system
involving a type of bronze ware known as the ding, a cooking vessel.

CHINAREPORT I May 2021

16

Photo by cns
Photo by xinhua
Top: Overview of the Sanxingdui excavation site
Below: Archeologists record details of a newly excavated ivory carving
The more ding someone has, the higher their status.
For example, the king could have nine ding, the maximum num-
ber in the hierarchical system, while his subordinates could only have
seven, five, three or one ding according to rank. Both archaeological
discovery and literature records have proved the existence of a ritual
system involving bronze ware which had a profound influence upon
the formation of both early Chinese civilisation as well as early civili-
sations in the wider East Asian region.
The discovery of Sanxingdui shows that the ritual system formed in
Central China affected the ancient Shu state. Among the 112 bronze
artefacts unearthed in 1986 in the first two sacrificial pits, there are
ritual vessels, similar to bronzes found in Central China in both shape
and ornamentation.
But as Huo pointed out: “We should not ignore the existence of
another power and ranking system indicated by the gold scepter,
and symbolised by objects including bronze figures, statues and gold
masks found in Sanxingdui.”
This significantly enriches the cultural connotation of the origin
and formation of Chinese civilisation, which allows people to realise
that apart from the ritual system popular in Central China, there is
another way of expressing social power, hierarchy and communica-
tion between humans and deities and human worship of the universe,
which is similar to the Bronze Age on the Eurasian continent.
CHINAREPORT I May 2021
“I believe archaeologists and historians should expand their views
and put the Sanxingdui civilisation into the overall world context.
Only in that way will it be possible to find the real answer to the
perplexing question,” Huo Wei told the Beijing Daily in late March,
referring to the true origin of the Sanxingdui civilisation, whether it
comes from the Middle East, say Egypt, or from other origins inside
China or elsewhere.
Claiming Sanxingdui as one of the world’s greatest archaeological
discoveries, Huo also quoted late Chinese historian Li Xueqin, who
said: “The significant value discovered at Sanxingdui has not been
fully recognised. In fact, the academic significance is comparable to
that of the ancient cities of Troy or Nineveh.”
There are several theories about the enigma of Sanxingdui, where
no human remains have been found.
According to a book titled Exploration of Ancient Shu Kingdom
(2011) by Liu Xingshi, an expert in geology and prehistoric archaeol-
ogy based in Hubei Province, some believe that the Shu people are
“an exotic ethnic group from the Caucasus; migrants from eastern
Asia; a unique group with protruding eyes; or even an alien species
from another part of the universe.”
Others have suggested that the bronze figure with the protruding
eyes is a representation of the god worshipped by the Shu, or it is a
divine guardian with supernatural powers like paranormal perception
or extraordinary hearing.
All these are mere hypotheses or romanticised views of Sanxingdui.
Many mysteries surrounding Sanxingdui are unsolved, and even
the reasons for the destruction of objects before their burial remain
controversial among archaeologists. Different from the widely
accepted idea of these objects being used as sacrifices during a religious
ritual ceremony, other experts, including Lothar von Falkenhausen,
professor of Chinese archaeology and art history at the University of
California Los Angeles, have speculated the destruction of the objects
is because of invasions of outside forces, or the result of relocating the
concentrations of political power.
“We use the term ‘sacrificial pit’ often to explain anything that’s
not a tomb or a religious site for offerings, but what if there are other
possibilities?” Sun Hua asked. In his opinion, these pits and objects
were not buried for common sacrificial purposes, but rather for some
kind of extraordinary event.
Many insiders interviewed by ChinaReport including Chen Xi-
andan have hope that some of the mysteries of Sanxingdui can be
cleared up if any record of written language or ancient pictographs is
found as the dig continues. The ongoing dig and research is expected
to take another three to five years to complete, including laboratory
testing, restoration and cleaning.
Experts at the site told ChinaReport that more excavations will be
carried out later this year. They hope these new findings will provide
some clues about ancient life in this area and shed light on the enigma
of Sanxingdui.
Huang Xiaoguang contributed to this report
17
COVER STORY

Sanxingdui
A huge bronze

KEYS TO THE PAST

figure with an
elongated body
and hands was
unearthed from

Photo by ic
Sanxingdui No.2
sacrificial pit in
1986

Today’s archaeologists are building on previous excavations to

unveil more mysteries of the Sanxingdui Ruins
By Bao Anqi, Huang Xiaoguang and Xie Ying

S
anxingdui Ruins site in Guanghan, Sichuan Province is
named after the nearby village, where there are three hillocks
in a straight line like three stars – the name translates to “three
star mounds.” According to local legend, the Jade Emperor, the ruler
of heaven and most important deity according to Chinese mythology,
decided it was a treasury and cast down three piles of soil to mark the
spot. Few heeded the legend until 1929 when farmer Yan Daocheng
found a trove of jade objects underground as he and his family were
digging a ditch near their yard. Discovering hundreds of jade pieces
and fragments, the family later made a fortune selling them.
The news drew attention from David Crockett Graham (1884-
1961), an American anthropologist and naturalist who studied the
religions and nationalities of southwestern China in the 1920s and
1930s. He was also a missionary and president of the West China
Union University Museum in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province.
With the approval of Luo Yucang, then chief of Guanghan County,
Graham organised and led a 10-day archaeological dig around Yan’s
house in 1934, excavating more than 600 burial objects, including
pottery, stone ware and jade. Graham stored most of the artefacts in
his museum, now part of Sichuan University.
In his published report on the excavation, Graham deduced the
relics were remains of the ancient Shu (Sichuan) state before 1,100
BCE, calling it the “Guanghan Culture.”
Although excavations took place sporadically in the years after, the
digs were not extensive. Following suspensions during the war years
and the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), there was no major work
until 1986, when activity at nearby brick-making kilns which risked
destroying the site prompted renewed exploration.
During that excavation, archaeologists discovered rel-
ics in pits now named No.1 and No.2 that turned the world of
Chinese archeology on its head. The finds included a gold scepter and
large bronze objects which differed from other contemporary finds,
indicating a completely different culture from what was previously
known. Two years later, Sanxingdui was listed as a major cultural rel-
ics site under State protection. Fearing further excavation would de-
stroy the relics, the excavation focused on finding remnants of ancient
walls and palaces on the principle that protection is the top priority.
A new excavation started after Sichuan Provincial Cultural Relics

CHINAREPORT I May 2021

18
and Archeology Research Institute (Sichuan Archaeology Institute)
issued a three-year action plan in August 2019 for archaeological work
in the Sanxingdui site which promised more excavations in the sac-
rificial pits.
From October 2019 to August 2020, staff from the Sichuan
Archaeology Institute and Sanxingdui Museum explored areas around
the two pits, which had already been backfilled and covered with a
sightseeing platform. Six more pits were found, numbered from Nos.
3-8. The platform has been dismantled and the new pits covered with
temporary protective shelters to conduct excavations without the risk
of exposure to the elements. Labs were built to examine the finds.
‘Moon’ and ‘Stars’
According to local records, Yan’s family lived in the Yueliangwan
area where there was a moon-shaped ridge – yueliang in Chinese
meaning moon. The ridge faced the three hillocks of Sanxingdui
across the Mamu River. Ancient texts described the scenery as “the
moon embracing the stars,” a treasured place according to traditional
geomancers.
But no one archaeologically connected Yueliangwan to Sanxing-
dui until Feng Hanji, a close friend of Graham and director of the
preparation office of the Southwest Museum in Chongqing, part of
Sichuan Province at that time, led another archaeological excavation
in the Yueliangwan area in 1963, the first after the People’s Republic
of China (PRC) was founded in 1949.
Feng asked his student Wang Jiayou to conduct a field investigation
after railway construction workers reported finding burial objects.
During the investigation, Wang stayed with Yan’s family and stud-
ied the jade objects unearthed in 1929. He also visited Sanxingdui
Village and collected pottery and bronze items locals had found. After
studying those objects, he inferred that the relics in Yueliangwan and
Sanxingdui areas could both be remains of the ancient Shu culture.
According to Duan Yu, director of the History Institute under
the Sichuan Academy of Social Sciences, this was the first time that
archaeologists had connected the two small areas, Yueliangwan and
Sanxingdui, to the same culture.
In 1994, archaeologist Ma Jixian, who participated in the 1963
excavation, revealed in a report on Yueliangwan they had
unearthed utensils and tools, including pottery jars, pots, dishes,
bowls and spinning wheels, stone axes and knives, as well as jade ware,
bone ware and bronze fragments.
Although the report was 30 years late because Feng fell ill soon after
the excavation and then China was embroiled in the Cultural Revolu-
tion, the excavation was an important reference for the later archaeo-
logical work at Sanxingdui, Ma said. By comparing the burial objects
unearthed in Yueliangwan and Sanxingdui, archaeologists confirmed
Wang’s belief that they were of the same culture and Yueliangwan was
part of the larger site.
This conclusion also conforms to Feng’s belief that Sanxingdui was
probably the main settlement of the ancient Shu state, a Bronze Age
civilisation which originated from a primitive tribe.
Chinese historical records said that the Qin state conquered the
CHINAREPORT I May 2021
Courtesy of Interviewees
Archaeologists Zhao Dianzeng (left) and Chen Xiandan (centre)
and photographer Chen Xianghua take aerial photographs of the
Sanxingdui site, 1981
Shu in 316 BCE during the Warring States Period (475-221 BCE).
Brick Kilns and Treasure
Feng died in 1977. As China intended to participate in an interna-
tional cultural relics expo that same year, archaeological work resumed
more quickly than other sectors following the Cultural Revolution.
Still, little attention was paid to Sanxingdui, which had become noth-
ing more than a source of raw material for the nearby brick kilns.
Burial objects were scattered in the soil residue.
In 1980, Zhao Dianzeng, an archaeologist at Sichuan Museum,
visited Sanxingdui Village on the way back from another site. Zhao
and his team identified a “cultural layer” in the black soil of a brick
kiln. A cultural layer is an archaeological term referring to a layer
of unnaturally formed soil which shows traces of human life. Very
quickly, Zhao and his colleagues had sifted more than 300 samples
from the layer, including small pots and big stone axes. They filled a
lorry with artefacts to send to Zhao’s museum, which decided to send
a team to Sanxingdui.
The excavation was a spectacle for local residents, who called the ex-
cavators “treasure hunters.” But disappointment followed when noth-
ing was found but gravel and broken tiles. “Stop digging, or you’ll
keep wasting money,” one of the workers told the team, archaeologist
Chen Xiandan, who participated in the excavation, recalled.
But the archaeologists believed they should persevere. Zhao told
ChinaReport that he had copied chapters of an ancient book about the
history of Sichuan, and it had been his dream since then to explore the
mysteries of Shu culture.
During the 1980 excavation, archaeologists found remnants of 18
constructions, and four tombs dating back 3,000-4,000 years. They
unearthed several hundred items of pottery, stone ware and jade ware
19
COVER STORY

and thousands of pieces of pottery debris, according to a feature in the

Beijing Daily in 2016, published to mark the 30th anniversary of the
major finds at the site.
In 1982, the archaeological team submitted their report, which
stated that the Sanxingdui site, according to renowned Chinese ar-
chaeologist Xia Nai’s theory, met the requirements to be named as a
separate culture – showing distinct characteristics of a group or com-
munity and being discovered in more than one place.
“It would be too conservative if we still feel reluctant to call the
[Sanxingdui] relics a culture,” the report said.
The same year, the local archaeological department officially zoned
the 12-square kilometre area around the three hillocks as a relics site,
encompassing two towns and seven villages.
In 1984, the PRC held its first national archaeological conference
in Chengdu, where Su Bingqi, director of the Chinese Archaeology
Society, praised the 1980 excavation at Sanxingdui as being “system-
atic and of strong characteristics,” and encouraged archaeologists to
take it as a point of growth for Chinese archaeology.

Major Discoveries
Despite the official zoning and the archaeologists’ report, the
Sanxingdui relics site was left unprotected and the brick kilns contin-
ued to remove earth. By the time of the 1986 excavation, the three
hillocks were down to half a hillock.
“Sanxingdui wasn’t under State protection then, not even under
county protection. That was the hardest time for the site,” Chen
Xiandan told ChinaReport.
According to Chen, the 1986 excavation was originally a trainee Archaeologists clean artefacts unearthed from No.2
project organised by Sichuan University and the Sichuan Archaeol- sacrificial pit, Sanxingdui, 1986
ogy Institute. Around 20 archaeology students were sent to three
pre-defined zones where they excavated 16 layers of soil.
The brick kilns refused to stop production, so the archaeological
team had to zone separate land for them to take earth. “We had to get workers. In this 5.3 by 2.3-metre pit, the archaeologists, according to
ahead of the workers, because they were rough and quick when they the Beijing Daily report, unearthed more than 1,400 burial objects
dug the earth out,” Chen said. made of gold, bronze, jade and bone, as well as over 4,600 shells in
While the archaeologists toiled in vain, some of the kiln workers layers.
accidentally shovelled out something valuable. On top of everything lay 60 elephant tusks. Some of the most un-
“Come on, they’ve dug out jade objects. People are scrambling usual finds, including the delicate bronze trees and a huge bronze
for them,” one worker shouted to Chen on July 18, 1986. The statue with an unusual appearance, came from this pit.
archaeologists rushed over a few dozen metres from their own dig site, The importance of these discoveries meant Sanxingdui was given
and sealed it. After preliminary excavations, a pit 4.5 by 3.3 metres State protection in 1988 and the brick kilns were ordered to leave.
filled with a wide variety of burial objects was discovered, including “It [State protection] was like giving us an imperial sword so no-
animal bones, pottery ware, bronze ware and jade. There were so many body dares start a brick kiln and remove earth from the site anymore.
objects, the archaeologists had to work day and night. We later established a Sanxingdui relics protection base,” Chen said.
Since no human bones were found, the pits were defined as sac-
rificial for a religious ritual or other big event, although there is still Modern Methods
debate over their exact purpose. The new dig shows how awareness of the need to protect cultural
A couple of weeks later, No.2 pit was discovered, but again, by local relics has changed in the country. A China Central Television Station

CHINAREPORT I May 2021

20

Photo by Chen De'an
(CCTV) livestream of the current Sanxingdui excavation has proved
popular as viewers watch in hope of seeing a new discovery.
The shelters erected above the dig sites provide controlled tem-
perature and humidity. Excavators wear protective suits to prevent
contaminants.
“If we compare the excavation to giving birth, the previous con-
ditions were like we only had a midwife, but now we’ve moved to
a professional gynecological and obstetrical hospital with protective
equipment,” Chen De’an, former director of the Sanxingdui archaeo-
logical team and one of the archaeologists that discovered No.1 and
No.2 pits, told ChinaReport.
“I’m deeply impressed by the advanced technologies used in the
latest excavation,” Xu Feihong, supervisor of No.3 pit, told ChinaRe-
port. He revealed that the Sichuan Archaeology Institute provided
archaeologists with an integrated excavation platform. An scissored
platform allows excavators to dangle Tom Cruise-like over the dig to
CHINAREPORT I May 2021
avoid damaging artefacts. In addition, there is a crane to lift heavy ob-
jects, a photography platform and a hyperspectral scanner for forensic
investigations.
“It’s very different from the 1986 excavation. We’re really well pre-
pared for the excavation of these six new pits,” Xu said. “We’ve estab-
lished a lab and we can conduct experiments on site so we don’t have
to wait for answers,” he added.
“It’s like we’ve moved the dig into a lab with these new technologies
and equipment,” Sun Hua, a professor at the School of Archaeology
and Museology, Peking University, told ChinaReport.
According to CCTV, there are more than 100 archaeologists and
experts working on the six pits from 34 departments and organs, cov-
ering metallurgy, botany, environment, zoology and relics protection.
There are regular meetings to exchange ideas and discuss plans.
Ran Honglin, executive leader of the Sanxingdui relics excavation
team, told ChinaReport that the excavation has two phases. The first,
from October 2019-August 2020, formed the basis of the second
phase. “In the 1986 excavation, archaeologists failed to connect the
No.1 and No.2 pits to the neighbouring areas, but in the first phase
we systematically explored the whole area where the eight pits are,”
Ran said. “If we had not done that, the excavation would have just
been like a random dig.”
“We won’t miss even a handful of soil now,” Sun Hua said. “For
example, archaeologists couldn’t distinguish silk fragments mixed in
the soil with the naked eye, so the fragments might have been over-
looked in the past. Now we take all the soil from the six new pits to
the lab, except surface soil that’s already contaminated,” he added.
According to Sun, the latest excavation will refine and update their
understanding of the culture and civilisation that was mainly derived
from the first two pits. Archaeologists expect the new information
could unlock mysteries and settle disputes, such as the exact age and
function of the sacrificial pits.
According to Lei Yu, director of the Sanxingdui Ruins site station,
their work will not stop at studying the burial objects, since their
objective is to gain a clear understanding of the Shu settlement, its
form and how it functioned. He revealed that the Sichuan Archae-
ology Institute’s three-year plan has defined the focus of their work
as “settlement archaeology,” which means assessing the relics from
different phases and zones to understand their relationships, and “so-
cial archaeology” which means gathering information about the iden-
tities, social stratum and tribal structure of the people who lived there.
“According to our plan, the next task is to conduct multiple
disciplinary studies on the cultural relics from in and around the pits
to get an idea about the sacrificial system of the ancient Shu culture,”
he told ChinaReport.
“We’re just taking the first step in our long journey,” Xie Zhenbin,
the Sichuan Archaeology Institute’s culture relics protection director,
said.
21
INTERNATIONAL
Foreign Policy
On the Level
Challenged with mounting pressure from Washington,
China’s recent diplomatic maneuvers and rhetoric may mark
a historic change in its diplomatic approach
By Yu Xiaodong
A
lthough a consensus among observers is that the Biden ad-
ministration is unlikely to reverse the anti-China agenda of
the Trump administration, there were high hopes around
the globe that the US-China relationship could at least be stabilised.
Such hopes quickly waned, if not evaporated, as the Alaska Summit
held on March 19 between senior diplomats from the US and China
opened with a public spat between the two sides. While US Secretary
of State Antony Blinken criticised China for its alleged “coercion and
aggression” towards other countries, China’s State Councilor and top
diplomat Yang Jiechi said the US is “not qualified” to take a conde-
scending attitude towards China.
For many observers, the unusual and unexpected exchanges
marked a paradigm shift in the interaction between the world’s two
largest economies. Weeks after the Alaska summit, tensions between
China and the US remain high. Washington, along with its European
allies, imposed new sanctions on Chinese officials and entities over
alleged human rights violations in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous
Region. Calling it an anti-China smear campaign, China retaliated
with its own sanctions against Western individuals and entities.
While the US said it would work with NATO and the European
Union to handle “common challenges posed by China,” China has
been on a diplomatic drive in the past weeks to seek support among
its own circles of friends.
Russia and the Middle East
On March 23, four days after the Alaska meeting, Chinese Foreign
Minister Wang Yi received his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in
Guilin, Southwest China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
Reaffirming China’s strategic ties with Russia, Wang said that China-
22
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (left)
and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi sign joint
documents following a meeting, Guilin, capital of
Southwest China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous
Region, March 23, 2021
Russia strategic cooperation has “no end and no upper limit.” Lavrov
responded that Russia will continue cooperation with China in “all
spheres.”
The next day on March 24, Wang embarked on a weeklong tour of
the Middle East, visiting Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab
Emirates, Bahrain and Oman. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua
Chunying said that Wang and his counterparts discussed regional
affairs and strategic issues, the Belt and Road Initiative, pandemic
responses and the post-Covid economic recovery, as well as “promot-
ing synergy between the building of a new development paradigm in
China and major development strategies in those countries.”
The culmination of Wang’s trip is a 25-year strategic cooperation
agreement with Iran. “Relations between the two countries have now
reached the level of strategic partnership and China seeks to compre-
hensively improve relations with Iran,” Wang told his Iranian coun-
terpart Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iranian state media reported.
In his meeting with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed
bin Salman, Wang unveiled a five-point initiative to achieve security
and stability in the Middle East, which calls to advocate for mutual
respect, uphold equity and justice, achieve non-proliferation, jointly
foster collective security and accelerate development cooperation.
Saying that China-Saudi relations have become “more promi-
nent in the face of changes unseen in a century,” Wang called for
the two countries to “conduct timely strategic communication, safe-
guard common interests and contribute to global peace, stability and
development.
The crown prince, for his part, said Saudi Arabia firmly supports
China’s legitimate position on affairs related to Xinjiang and Hong
Kong, opposes interference in China’s internal affairs under any
CHINAREPORT I May 2021
 Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (left) meets with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi
(right) in the Iranian capital of Tehran, March 27, 2021
pretext, and rejects the attempt by certain parties to sow dissent be-
tween China and the Islamic world, Xinhua News Agency reported.
According to Wu Sike, China’s former Special Envoy on the Mid-
dle East Issue, Wang’s recent visit to the Middle East and China’s
highlighting of the importance of “strategic communication” indi-
cates that the status of the region has risen to a new level on China’s
diplomatic map. “As a major part of the Muslim world, their sup-
port of China’s position over the Xinjiang issue is particularly valu-
able,” Wu said.
ASEAN Countries
Almost as soon he returned from his Mid-East trip, Wang received
the foreign ministers of four ASEAN countries (Singapore, Malay-
sia, Indonesia and the Philippines) and South Korea separately in
Southeast China’s Fujian Province over five days between March 30
and April 3.
Against a backdrop of increasing US efforts to coordinate with allies
in Asia, the Fujian meetings are widely seen as a countermove to reaf-
firm China’s partnerships in the region, as China is perceived to have
an edge over the US with its economic ties with regional countries.
In 2020, after surpassing the US in 2019, ASEAN countries
replaced the European Union to become China’s No.1 trade partner,
with a combined trade volume of US$684.6 billion.
In the past couple of years, ASEAN countries have voiced concerns
over the escalating China-US tension and resisted US pressure to take
sides.
Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has called on the US
government to manage its disputes with China on several occasions,
most recently during the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting
CHINAREPORT I May 2021
2021 in late January, when Lee called for the Biden administration
to steer the US-China relationship to “safe waters” and avert a clash
between major powers.
In October 2020 and January of this year, Wang made two trips to
Southeast Asia, which took him to every member of ASEAN except
Vietnam, though he held talks with Vietnamese Foreign Minister
Pham Binh Minh in Guangxi in August 2020.
South Korea is also perceived to have resisted the pressure to com-
pletely fall into the US’s orbit despite their military alliance. After
the “2+2” dialogue with US senior officials in March, South Korea
did not follow the US in criticising China’s internal affairs as South
Korean President Moon Jae-in said South Korea will not take sides in
the US-China rivalry.
In November 2020, China and the 10 ASEAN countries, along
with South Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, signed the
Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which is set
to become the world’s largest trade bloc.
On March 8, China’s deputy Commerce Minister Wang Shouwen
announced that China was the first country to ratify the agreement.
Wang also said that China will push for “early implementation” of
the pact.
Historic Change
For many, the Chinese diplomats’ tough position in Alaska and
China’s recent diplomatic manoeuvres reflect the emergence of a new
diplomatic doctrine, dubbed by some as “pingshi diplomacy.”
Literally meaning “view at eye level” or “view equally,” the term
pingshi was first raised by Chinese President Xi Jinping when he
said during the annual session of the Chinese People’s Political
23
INTERNATIONAL
Consultative Conference (CPPCC) in March that China’s younger
generations now can “view the world on level terms,” rather than
from an inferior or backward position like past generations.
According to Professor Ma Xiaolin, an expert on international is-
sues from Zhejiang International Studies University, pingshi now un-
derlines China’s doctrine towards its US policy.
“It [the Alaska meeting] was a chance for China to unveil its new
pingshi diplomacy,” said Ma in a widely cited article published on
April 4. “In response to Washington’s diplomatic ambush and intimi-
dating rhetoric, China’s top two diplomats made it clear that while
China will not look for trouble, it will not fear trouble either.”
At first glance, pingshi appears to be nothing new. China has long
advocated equality, mutual respect and non-interference in internal
affairs in its foreign policy. It is under the principle of equality that
China has supported multilateralism and advocated for a multi-polar
world.
The idea is also behind the concept of “new type of major power
relationship” launched by the Chinese leadership under Xi in 2013.
But never before has China voiced its defiance against Washington’s
self-claimed authority so directly and assertively.
According to Guo Liangping, a professor from the East Asian
Institute at the National University of Singapore, the significance of
Xi’s declaration that “China can view at the world on level terms” is
comparable to former Chairman Mao Zedong’s historic declaration
in 1949 that “the Chinese people have stood up!”
“For thousands of years, China held a sense of superiority regarding
its relationship with the rest of world, which then turned into a sense
of inferiority following the humiliation China suffered at the hands
of Western powers in the colonial period,” Guo said in a commen-
tary published in Singapore-based Lianhe Zaobao on March 25. “Xi’s
declaration marks a new historic change in China’s psyche about its
global status,” Guo added.
According to Guo, China’s change of mentality is the result of the
new political reality of the US-China relationship. During the Trump
administration, Washington played most of the available cards against
China. As the Biden administration continues Trump’s anti-China
agenda, it has less leverage over China and whatever cards left to play
will have to touch on issues considered by China as core interests with
no room to back down.
On the other hand, after successfully dealing with various crises in
the past years, China has gained confidence in its capabilities. “China
is less and less willing to swallow humiliation from the US, especially
when it is clear that the US-China relationship will not go back to the
past,” Guo said.
“Based on the new political reality, China has opted to abandon
the so-called ‘laying-low’ policy, and take on the comprehensive chal-
lenges posed by the US with whatever power it has,” Guo added.
24
‘Equal Basis’
According to Ruan Zongze, vice president of the China Institute of
International Studies, China’s adoption of pingshi diplomacy does not
mean that Beijing will become more arrogant and aggressive. By em-
phasising the principle of equality, China only seeks to restore what
is supposed to be the relationship between different countries, Ruan
said. “After all, the equality principle is enshrined in the UN Char-
ter, which stipulates that every country is equal and no one is above
another,” Ruan added.
This is the message Wang conveyed throughout his recent diplo-
matic tours. During his meeting with Russia’s Sergey Lavrov, Wang
said that the “rules-based international order” repeatedly raised by the
US only “reflects the rules of a few countries and does not represent
the will of the international community.”
During his Middle East tour, Wang told the UAE’s official news
agency WAM that the current instability and conflicts in the region
were largely caused by the meddling of “some big powers” in the Arab
Spring. He called for Middle Eastern countries to explore indepen-
dent paths of development and seek peace and stability in the region.
In Saudi Arabia, Wang told Saudi Arabian media outlet Al Arabiya
that the region must “break free from the shadows of big-power geo-
political rivalry and independently explore development paths suited
to its regional realities” so it can emerge from chaos and enjoy stability.
Speaking to Chinese State media on April 5 about his meetings
in Fujian with foreign ministers from ASEAN countries and South
Korea, Wang said the US does not have the final say in global affairs.
“China will not accept that there is any nation in the world that can
put itself as superior to the others,” said Wang.
Answering a question about the relationship with the US, Wang
said that “the door for dialogue with China is open. “But the dialogue
should be done on an equal basis and with mutual respect... If the US
continues to be confrontational, China will take it calmly without
fear,” he said.
In the same week, China’s Minister of Defence Wei Fenghe
concluded a trip to four European countries including Hungary, Ser-
bia, Greece and North Macedonia. The trip coincided with European
plans to send warships to the South China Sea for joint exercises with
the US.
On April 2, as Wei paid tribute to three Chinese nationals killed
during the NATO bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade in
the former Yugoslavia in 1999, Wei vowed that “the Chinese military
will never allow history to repeat itself as China is capable and deter-
mined to defend its national interests.”
As neither the US nor China show signs of backing down from
their positions, the open spat in the Alaska High-level Strategic Dia-
logue may just be the beginning of a more volatile US-China rela-
tionship for years to come.
CHINAREPORT I May 2021
 SOCIETY

Designer Resale Market

High Fashion
Victims
The rapidly growing online luxury resale market
exposes problems including fakes and deceptive
promotions due to lack of standards and
regulation
By Zhao Yiwei

“
This bag is 99-percent new, 5,599 yuan (US$856) flash
sale! After 6 o’clock, you’ll have to pay 5,999 (US$917)! 3,
2, 1! Go get it!” entreats a livestreamer on Douyin, a video-
sharing platform, demonstrating a pre-owned Louis Vuitton bag from
different angles.
In China, the enthusiasm for luxury and designer brands, which
began in earnest in 2012, is spilling over to the second-hand market.
Statistics from the China Resale Goods Trade Association (CRGTA),
an association for second-hand goods, show that since 2016, the
annual transaction value of the luxury resale market has surpassed 8
billion yuan (US$1.2b) and is growing over 20 percent year-on-year.
For cash-strapped young consumers, online designer resale plat-
forms lower the threshold for luxury buys, including watches, jew-
ellry, bags and clothing. In 2020, 74 percent of consumers on resale
platforms were under 36, with 51 percent between 24 and 36, ac-
cording to a report by Huaon.com, an industry data provider.
Photo by VGC

But behind the prosperity lies a chaotic market, mainly due to a

Purses and bags are displayed
in a luxury resale shop, dearth of regulation. Thousands of complaints against second-hand
Shanghai, May 7, 2012 goods exchange platforms, including Plum, Ponhu, Goshare2.com

CHINAREPORT I May 2021

25
SOCIETY

and Feiyu, have been filed over fake products, hyped advertisements
and shoddy after-sale services. A research report on the luxury resale
market released by the University of International Business and Eco-
nomics (UIBE) in Beijing and Isheyipai, a luxury resale platform,
found that between 2017 and 2020 the rate of genuine products sold
dropped from 37.6 to 32.9 percent.
“The luxury resale market is sure to expand. For long-term devel-
opment, a unified industry standard and transparent trade system
is needed to improve the overall environment,” said Chang Dalei,
general secretary of the CRGTA.

Chaotic Trade
The urgent atmosphere of a hawker market in livestreaming studios
for second-hand luxury goods induces panic buying. If consumers
are interested in an item, there is no time to hesitate amid the frenetic
sales pitches. A studio can sell about 100 luxury items a day, with
the price for a single brand item ranging from several thousand yuan
to tens of thousands of yuan. But not everyone receives a genuine
product.
“I spent more than 3,000 yuan (US$458) on a Dior shoulder bag
and 2,000 yuan (US$305) on an Omega watch, and they were both
fake,” Liu Yi from Chengdu, Sichuan Province told ChinaReport. She
said she contacted the platform but the after-sales staff stressed their
products were genuine. They did not provide proof of authentication,
nor did they agree to a refund.
Liu said she is very familiar with the two brands, so she knew they
were fake the instant she received her goods. It will cost more than
1,000 yuan (US$153) if she sends them to be authenticated, and
the platform could deny they sold the products in question, or, more
likely, refuse to recognise the result. This means once products are
sold, the platforms refuse all responsibility.
Even if the items are real, it is common that what you see is not
what you get. “I bought a bag the livestreamer claimed was 99-
percent new, but when it arrived I found it was a far cry from the
demonstrated one. It has obvious creases in the surface and it’s dirty
inside, not even 90 percent new,” said a buyer named Yang Yuwei
from Jiangxi Province.
It was hard to protect her rights. Since she bought the bag from a
livestreaming studio without playback, Yang could not find evidence
to show the difference between the exhibited product and the one she
received. She tried to get a refund, but the platform refused, saying it
does not have an unconditional return policy. The staff suggested she
resell the bag on the platform. But the price they offered was less than
half what she had just paid, plus they wanted 15 percent commission,
adding up to a loss of over 1,000 yuan (US$153).
Many consumers like Yang have made similar complaints on
social media and complaint platforms. The report by Isheyipai and
A watch is displayed at a luxury resale shop, Shanxi Province
UIBE pointed out that since brands do not provide authentication
for second-hand products and ordinary consumers lack the ability
to distinguish genuine products from fakes, when the transaction is
conducted online, it is much easier to sell fakes and consumers have
more difficulty protecting their interests.
“The quality of second-hand luxury products varies in the mar-
ket and it’s particularly risky to buy from livestreaming studios,” said
Zhang Mengxia, director of the luxury research centre at the UIBE
in Beijing.
Aggressive Middlemen
Second-hand luxury platforms mainly serve as intermediaries and
take commission from the sellers. Without regulations already in
place, the platforms decide the transaction rules.
Usually, platforms will appraise a product and suggest a price before
listing it. After the product is sold, the platform charges 10-20 percent
commission and pays the seller the rest. In reality, sellers have little
control over the deal and have to swallow price cuts if the platform
decides to offer a discount. The longer it takes an item to sell, the
more the price drops. If the platform offers coupons to promote sales,
the value is deducted from the asking price. Eventually the product
might be sold at a much lower price than originally offered without
the seller’s consent.

CHINAREPORT I May 2021

26

Photo by cns
A screenshot provided to ChinaReport by one seller shows that his
goods were originally priced at 1,700 yuan (US$259), but the plat-
form took more than 600 yuan (US$92) for promotional activities
and over 200 yuan (US$31) in commission, leaving him with less
than half the agreed-on price.
An employee of an online second-hand luxury goods platform who
requested anonymity told ChinaReport that the platform handles their
own products and those consigned by third-party sellers differently.
“For products they buy themselves the platforms set a bottom line
for the sales price, and set a cap on discounts of 30 percent. For sellers,
they will randomly reduce the price and stealthily offer buyers lots of
[discount] coupons. So it’s common for sellers to get half the original
agreed price. By the time the trick is exposed, the deal is done. The
seller has no way to get the money back,” they said.
These practices are common on luxury resale platforms, ChinaRe-
port discovered. From the appraisal and authentication of products
and price estimates to promotion rules and after-sale services, the plat-
forms are in control and bend the rules in their favour to maximise
profits.
Wang Chen, a senior appraiser who would not say where he works,
told ChinaReport that without a unified valuation standard, some
appraisers working with platforms might not be able to distinguish
the genuine article from counterfeits, and some platforms might not
CHINAREPORT I May 2021
conduct quality assessments of the products properly. “This means the
platforms always have the last word and there is a lack of transparency
in the trade for both sellers and buyers. So products get valued too
high or too low.”
Wang said that in Japan, where the luxury resale market is estab-
lished, the goods are classified into four grades based on strict stan-
dards and the valuations are widely recognised in the industry. In
China, products are casually graded as 95-percent, 90-percent or even
98- or 97-percent new by the platforms, without clear distinction or
conditions as to what the categories actually mean.
Regulation Gap
In spite of the chaos, the market for luxury resales has enormous
potential. According to the report by Isheyipai and UIBE, sales of
second-hand luxury goods account for only 5 percent of the overall
market, much lower than the 28 percent in Japan and 31 percent in
the US.
By the end of 2019, there were some 4,200 brick-and-mortar
shops for second-hand luxury goods and the number increased by 10
percent year-on-year, according to ZhiYan.org, an industry analysis
provider. Online platforms are the main channel for luxury resales.
Besides platforms specialising in luxury goods, more fashion and e-
commerce platforms are jumping in, attracting even more people to
consume luxury goods.
But to guide the market along a healthy path, there must be a
unified industry standard, noted Chang Dalei.
The CRGTA is drafting industry standards for the online second-
hand goods trade that addresses problems like false descriptions of
products and sharp practice. The standards are expected to come out
this year.
The luxury resale market boom has stimulated the training of
appraisers. But the increasing number of training agencies are rarely
qualified to carry out the business or able to provide legitimate certifi-
cates, said interviewed experts.
Chang said that training and a certain amount of experience are
required to become a professional appraiser. It is a job included in
China’s official list of professions that have clear requirements for skill,
knowledge and assessment.
“Many crash courses claim they can train an appraiser in 3-7 days,
but they just teach the most common methods, so what trainees learn
is very limited, a far cry from being a professional appraiser,” said
Wang, adding that this partly explains why an appraisal for the same
product can differ a lot across platforms.
“We can foresee that the luxury resale market will continue to
expand. It’s urgent to reinforce supervision and industry regulations
to solve problems and risks in this emerging industry and promote its
healthy development” Zhang said.
27
SOCIETY
Coalfield
Black to Green
Devastated by years of unchecked illegal mining, western China’s Muli coalfield faces
funding shortages and a slew of other challenges in restoring the local environment
By Su Jiede
W
ang Qiang watched as the convoy of coal mining lor-
ries crisscrossed the pastures. They were his lorrys, but
instead of fossil fuel, they hauled loads of sheep manure.
Seven years before, Wang arrived at the Muli coalfield in West
China’s Qinghai Province, partnering with friends to buy dozens of
coal lorries. Now they have been contracted to transport manure used
in projects to restore the local environment long ravaged from coal
mining.
On August 4, 2020, Ma Shaowei, general manager of Qinghai
Xingqing Trade and Engineering Company, reportedly had raked
in more than 10 billion yuan (US$1.53b) from illegal coal min-
ing disguised as ecological restoration. A crackdown on Qinghai’s
officialdom followed, leading to the disgrace and downfall of dozens
of senior officials including Wen Guodong, deputy governor of the
province.
From 2004 to 2014, exploitation of Muli coalfield, the largest high-
grade coal reserve in Qinghai, was rife, resulting in 19 mountains of
waste rock and 11 large mine craters south of the Qilian Mountains.
Xingqing’s activities left the area with a scar 5 kilometres long, 1 kilo-
metre wide and 300 to 500 metres deep.
In late 2020, Qinghai launched its largest-ever ecological resto-
ration project targeting mines in the province. Wang Xia, deputy
director of the management committee of Qaidam Circular Economy
Pilot Zone in northern Qinghai which focuses on fossil fuels, chemi-
cals, materials and new energy, told ChinaReport that the ecological
efforts at Muli coalfield required pooling resources from across the
province.
“Healing such a huge scar on the earth comes with many
challenges,” she said.
Dung Demand
Located in the northern part of the Tibet-Qinghai Plateau, Muli
coalfield has 3.54 billion tons of surveyed coal reserves, more than 87
28
percent of Qinghai’s total. Since 2003, a growing number of mining
enterprises have arrived to tap its resources. Thousands of miners and
merchants flooded the once quiet town of Muli.
In 2014, the central government released several directives to
curb the exploitation in Muli, but illegal mining went unchecked.
After news of Xingqing’s huge illegal mine made headlines in 2020,
Qinghai provincial government terminated all mining activities in
Muli.
Qinghai quickly unveiled an ambitious environmental plan aiming
to restore vegetation by planting native grasses that require a 30-centi-
metre layer of topsoil. The Tibet-Qinghai Plateau, however, only has
a thin layer of soil on its permafrost surface. This shortage of soil was
the main obstacle to restoring vegetation in Muli.
“It’s impossible to plant grass on rocks. Soil restoration is necessary,”
Deng Erping, deputy director of the Qinghai Forestry and Grassland
Bureau, said during a recent vegetation restoration meeting in the
province. “Transporting soil from other areas requires roughly 3
billion yuan (US$458m), which is unaffordable if financed locally.”
Qinghai provincial government eventually adopted a plan to blend
fine particulate from waste rock, sheep dung and artificial fertilisers
to improve the quality of soil. It would require at least 1.38 million
cubic metres of manure.
Wang Qiang’s coal lorries transport sheep dung from farmers more
than 200 kilometres away. “In 2000, a lorryload of dung cost 200
yuan (US$31). Nowadays, it’s surged to 500 yuan (US$76),” he said.
Despite these efforts, the project faces shortages. There is still not
enough manure for a 60,000 mu (4,000 hectares) area in Muli in dire
need of improvement.
The low maturation rate of the grasses is a more recent issue. A
botanist involved in the environmental rectification project told Chi-
naReport that there were more than 30 types of grasses native to Muli
but only four are currently being planted.
“Over the past several years, the maturation rate of grasslands in
CHINAREPORT I May 2021

Photo by VCG
Grass sprouts from newly laid topsoil on Muli coalfield, August 14, 2020
Muli is only 5 percent and there are still many challenges, including
continued grazing around Muli,” he said.
Funding Shortage
Wang Qiang told our reporter that when he worked for mining
companies several years ago, unpaid wages were rare. But after switch-
ing to transporting sheep manure, he is seldom paid on time. “With
so much subcontracting going on, I don’t know which company I’m
actually working for,” he said.
From October to November 2020, Muli coalfield held three rounds
of contract bids for the environmental restoration projects with a total
investment of 3 billion yuan (US$458m).
“Many companies that bid figured that environment restoration
funding would be deep because compensation from the enterprises
that damaged the environment would be huge,” said forestry bureau
official Deng Erping. “Xingqing alone made more than 10 billion
yuan (US$1.5b) from coal mining. If the ecological compensation is
5 billion yuan (US$763m), all the project’s financial problems would
be solved.”
However, funding sources are still up in the air. In late 2020, more
than 30 bank accounts belonging to Ma Shaowei and Xingqing were
seized totalling 160 million yuan (US$24m), far from enough for the
ecological work.
“It’s a tough job to solicit adequate funding for environmental res-
toration from coal mines after they’ve been exploited,” Hu Zhenqi, a
professor of energy resources at the China University of Mining and
Technology in Beijing, told ChinaReport. “Ecological compensation
assessments are currently underway. It will be difficult to get compa-
nies that exploited Muli to pay compensation,” he said.
CHINAREPORT I May 2021
According to tender notices from the provincial government, en-
vironmental restoration fees are mainly sourced from fines and gains
from illegal mining, compensation from companies involved, and
financial subsidies. But because of the funding shortfall, companies
that won bids for environmental restoration have to work without
getting paid.
Accountability and Litigation
After Xingqing’s illegal mining was spotlighted, Qinghai Province
began calculating compensation for ecological damages to Muli coal-
field. On March 8, local authorities finished their first round of assess-
ments, and soon will kick off litigation.
“Coal mining companies made great fortunes in their heydays.
They should be held accountable for the ecological restoration,” said
Wang Xia with the Qaidam Circular Economy Pilot Zone. Several
heads of coal mine enterprises in Muli told our reporter that these
days, they are preoccupied with the criteria for environmental damage
compensation.
In August 2020, Qinghai State-owned Assets Supervision and
Administration Commission contacted its counterparts in provinces
including Hebei, Henan and Shandong, asking them to help with-
draw State-owned mining enterprises from Muli.
“Qinghai State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration
Commission entrusted the local government to sign withdrawal
contracts with our company. Authorities will then evaluate assets
and prepare for the upcoming compensation,” Niu Quanmin, chair-
man of Qinghai Zhongao Energy Development Company, told
ChinaReport.
“After Xingqing’s illegal mining was reported, our company was
forced to close.” The company had invested over 1 billion yuan
(US$655m) in Muli coal mines since 2014.
Over the years, the majority of Muli’s coal mines were unlicenced.
“Muli coalfields have been rectified several times but the effects are far
from satisfactory. Many mining enterprises have complaints against
them,” a general manager of a coal mine enterprise in Muli told our
reporter on condition of anonymity.
More than a decade earlier, the local government tacitly ignored
illegal mining activities in Muli to attract investment. In 2011, Muli
Coalfield Management Bureau was established and granted powers
over land resources, environmental inspection and safety supervision.
In late 2020, the central government’s investigation team deter-
mined that Muli Coalfield Management Bureau had neglected its du-
ties over the past six years. Li Yongping and several senior officials of
the bureau were punished for serious violations.
A coal industry expert told ChinaReport on condition of anonymity
that mining enterprises with licences in Muli are not located in the
nature reserves under State and provincial protection, adding that if
mining had been properly regulated early on, the environment would
have been able to sustain the exploitation.
“If coal mines pay little attention to ecological restoration when en-
vironmental protection is prominent on the national level, they can’t
exist,” he said.
29
SOCIETY

Role Playing Industry

HARD ACT TO FOLLOW

LARP (live action role-playing) clubs are springing up throughout China, but high
costs and cutthroat competition are pushing investors out of business
By Zhao Yiwei and Xie Ying

T
he popularity of clubs that host live action role playing,
known in the community as LARP, has seen a whole host
of entrants to the sector trying to outdo one another with
evermore elaborate scripts, costumes and theatrical-style sets to appeal
to China’s young consumers with disposable income eager for new
pastimes.
Many of the new players in town have found they are in a battle for
survival that is every bit as cutthroat as the murder mystery or action
scenarios they stage.
Compared to traditional tabletop role-playing games like
Dungeons & Dragons, LARPing supports a much wider range of
stories and puts players personally into roles. Participants act out plots
with the help of realistic scenery and costumes provided by the LARP
studios that organise the games. LARPers can experience the lives of
other people in different eras such as a general in ancient times or a
spy in the Republic of China (1911-1949), or play fictional roles like
a time traveller.
LARPing became mainstream in China in 2016 with Hunan Tele-

CHINAREPORT I May 2021

30

LARPers read scripts at a bar, Jinan, Shandong Province, June 20, 2020
vision’s Who is the Murderer, a detective reality show with a cast of
pop stars. Over past four years, LARP clubs, the offline venues that
organise LARPing, have been springing up in cities. According to a re-
cent survey by Meituan Research Institute, China had around 30,000
LARP clubs by November 2020, with an estimated market value of
10 billion yuan (US$1.5b). The popularity has triggered a boom in
associated businesses, including costume and prop making, set deco-
ration and script writing.
At the same time, analysts and some club operators are warning
CHINAREPORT I May 2021
Photo by ic
that the market is saturated and faces diminishing returns. The emerg-
ing industry is highly dependent on quality scripts, which are already
in short supply, and clubs cost a lot to operate. Many new entrants
have already gone bankrupt.
Social and Immersive
“LARPing has become a fixture of our company’s team build-
ing and we’ve even got a LARP community just for fun outside of
work,” Arron Liu, an HR officer at a trade company in Hangzhou,
31
SOCIETY
Zhejiang Province, told ChinaReport. He said many young coworkers
love LARPing and it has really helped with communication across de-
partments. “LARPing helped us expand our social circle as members
invite friends from outside the company to join in,” he said.
Compared to traditional tabletop games, LARP-based games
require more interaction among players, who must immerse them-
selves in the scenario. As most LARP games require 5-10 players,
Meituan, a shopping and entertainment platform, launched a service
to connect players, which many use as a way to make new friends.
“I think LARPing is helpful for people with social anxiety like me,”
Cao Xi, a LARPer in Beijing, told ChinaReport. “Many shy and timid
people would like to be more open and LARPing is a good way to
break the ice,” she said.
“I heard some people now choose LARP studios as a meeting place
for blind dates. It’s a good idea. Compared to having dinner or watch-
ing a film, LARPing is a better way for two strangers to get know each
other more deeply and quickly,” she added.
According to the Meituan survey, LARPers aged between 20 and
35 accounted for 83.9 percent of those surveyed. They have dispos-
able income and are interested in games and offline social activities.
The growing demand has in turn pushed the LARP community to
diversify and evolve. Games have complex stories and scripts rather
than a simple murder case. Romantic scenarios are popular with
women.
“Many friends and I shed tears when we played [a romance game
called] ‘Hello,’” Cao said. The scenario involves separate love stories
of three couples.
“The increasingly inclusive LARP scripts lowered the threshold for
new players. The focus of the game has shifted from logical reason-
ing to being immersed,” Lu Shen, owner of a LARP club, told Daily
Sunshine, a newspaper based in Shenzhen.
Peripheral Businesses
The LARP boom supports ancillary businesses, including set deco-
ration, advertising, personnel training and costume and prop making.
“New LARP studios established in the past six months or so have
rescued many small interior design companies from going broke,”
Gao Yun, who decorates LARP clubs in Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, told
ChinaReport.
“LARP studios require themed decoration, the price of which varies
according to material and style. A realistic scene in a room of between
100-300 square metres, for example, costs 600-1,500 yuan (US$88-
221) per square metre, and a medium-sized new LARP studio costs
about 200,000-400,000 yuan (US$29,412-58,824) just to decorate,
32
much higher than for traditional tabletop board game clubs,” he said.
A costume maker in Jiangsu Province surnamed Chen agreed that
LARPing had saved many businesses. “Many costume makers that
used to work for photo studios have shifted to the LARP industry,”
he told ChinaReport.
“Drama costumes, qipao and suits from the Republic of China era
are most frequently used in LARP games, so LARP clubs’ costume
needs are quite similar to those of photo studios. As the costumes are
just for playing games, they have lower design requirements so it’s eas-
ier to scale up production. Many costume makers have survived the
[Covid-19] pandemic thanks to orders from LARP clubs,” he added.
The game has also produced a new profession, game masters. They
direct the game, condition the atmosphere and make judgements.
The game master is key to a LARP studio’s popularity. Media report-
ed that a game master in a first-tier city earns around 4,000-8,000
yuan (US$588-1,177) a month.
“A professional game master is crucial for a studio. Even if they’re
using the same script, different masters give you a totally different
experience and we won’t visit a club again if we find their game master
isn’t professional enough,” Beijing player Cao said, adding that now
there are many training courses for game masters.
Script Struggles
Script writers are at the sharp end of the LARP industry and feel
the whims of the market first. Wang Sansan, a script writer, told Chi-
naReport that the online chat group for LARP script writers he set
up last October has quickly expanded to 500 members over the past
six months. “Most writers in the chat group are young people born
since the 1990s... They used to write online novels or work with social
media and some of them do it as a part-time job,” he said.
According to Wang, LARP scripts fall into three types. Exclusive ones
are used only in one club, city-limited scripts are performed in at most
three clubs in a single city and package scripts are available to any club.
Quality and price varies, with the cheapest package scripts going for
around 500 yuan (US$74), the city-limited ones 2,000 yuan (US$294)
and the exclusive ones 5,000-20,000 yuan (US$736-2,941).
“A writer gets 20-50 percent of the profits. The specific rate
varies with the script quality, the popularity of the writer and the sales
volume,” he said.
Even writing the cheapest package script is not easy. “Over the past
six months, I only sold one package script. I do it in my free time and
now I’m busy revising my second script,” Jiang Yu, a freelance LARP
writer, told ChinaReport.
“Writing LARP scripts depends on one’s interests, since the earn-
CHINAREPORT I May 2021
ings are quite unstable and it’s really tough to write a quality one,” he
added.
Each role in a six-character package script needs a 5,000-word plot
as well as general instructions and plot points. It adds up to around
40,000 words, Jiang said, and it often takes three to four months be-
fore a script is sold. This means it takes a long time for a writer to see
a return on their effort, especially full-time writers and newcomers.
“Full-time writers are all racking their brains. I write seven hours
a day and produce one script a week, but even if the script passes
through every link smoothly, it’ll take at least a month to have it pub-
lished,” Chen Nian, a full-time LARP script writer, told ChinaReport.
The long production cycle and unstable income means original
LARP scripts are in short supply which drives rampant piracy. “The
[script writing] community is in disarray due to lack of supervision
and regulation... Many writers just copy the most popular scripts and
sell them to other publishers, and this jeopardises the interests of writ-
ers, studios and players, while protecting our rights and interests is
very costly,” Chen Nian said.
“LARP scripts are mainly sold via publishers, platforms and expos,
while the exclusive and city-limited ones are only available at expos,”
a publisher of LARP scripts in Beijing surnamed Guo told ChinaRe-
port. “To reduce cost, many new clubs, especially those in smaller
cities, turned to pirated scripts,” he said. A pirated 500-yuan (US$75)
package script sells for only 100 yuan (US$15).
A LARP studio operator in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province,
who gave the name Jimmy, told Guangzhou-based magazine New
Weekly that some platforms sell e-editions of 1,000 scripts for not
much more than a dollar.
“After all, the scripts are the core of LARPing,” he said.
Smoke and Mirrors
According to Jimmy, he and his partner Sasa have tried hard to
distinguish their clubs from others to ace out their competitors. They
revise scripts to make them distinctive and can spend hundreds of
thousands of yuan on staging the scenes. Not only did they recoup
their initial investment of 1 million yuan (US$147,059) within two
years, their club has the highest satisfaction rating on customer review
platform Dianping.
But Jimmy suggests people should be cautious about the LARP
industry. “Many people want to grab a slice of the pie, but it’s not that
easy. You have to take hidden costs into consideration. For example,
you build an expensive realistic set, but it might only last a year and
then you’ll have to install a new one when the players get tired of the
old script,” he said.
CHINAREPORT I May 2021
Gu Yuan, a LARP club owner in Shanghai, said he is planning to
sell, although it has only been open for a few months.
“I have to pay 15,000 yuan (US$2,206) a month to rent the
120-square-metre space for the studio and pay another 6,000 yuan
(US$882) for wages. I also spent over 200,000 yuan (US$29,412) on
decoration and props. Supposing a game needs seven players on aver-
age, each paying 268 yuan (US$39), I have to run at least 15 games
every month to support the studio, but the reality is in a first-tier
city, the prime time for players is on weekends, and on workdays the
studio only puts on two games [on average],” he said.
“Since the Spring Festival [which fell in February in 2021], few
realistic-scene clubs can turn a profit due to high operating costs and
low retention rates, as a game generally lasts 4-8 hours and few players
want to play the same script twice,” he added.
A club owner in Beijing surnamed Zhang agreed. “Ninety percent
of my customers are between 15 to 35, and they are either at school
or at work, so they play only on weekends or during holidays. We can
earn 40,000 yuan (US$5,882) a month during summer holiday, but
not much in the slack season,” he told ChinaReport.
LARP studios in smaller cities where life is not so frenetic tend to
see steadier business, but the scene is extremely competitive.
“More and more studios are opening and want their share of the
action before the old ones have recouped their cost... One year ago,
a district in Guiyang [capital of Guizhou Province] only had three to
five LARP studios, but now there are nearly 20,” a LARP club owner
in Guiyang who did not reveal his name told ChinaReport.
“It is no exaggeration to say that every day, as new clubs open, old
ones are closer to going broke. Although the industry is still in the
early stages of development, it has seen the first round of reshuffling,”
a person in charge of a renowned LARP club chain surnamed Jiang,
told ChinaReport.
“About 20 clubs have already contacted us about taking them
over... If the number of consumers doesn’t increase a lot in the next
few months, more clubs will suffer financial strain and end up going
broke,” he said.
Two years ago, Zhou Jianrui, a purchasing manager at Beijing-
based tech company ByteDance, published an industry analysis on
Zhihu, China’s equivalent to Quora, describing LARP studios as a
“big pit” for business startups.
“I don’t think startups can make good profits in this industry. Even
though some of them become industry leaders, they have to spend
huge amounts of money on [exclusive] copyrights of scripts or IP... I
think the industry will finally go the way of livestreaming platforms
and be controlled by capital moguls,” he wrote.
33
 SPECIAL REPORT
Psychotherapy
SHRINKING RETURNS
The emerging counselling industry in China has attracted a large number of followers but many
find that becoming a qualified psychotherapist is an endless and expensive journey
By Du Wei
X
iao Li, an intern counsellor at Beijing Jiandan
Psychological Consulting, an online platform providing
counselling services, sees an average of four clients per week.
At the same time, she told ChinaReport that she has to spend two or
three days a week and pay more than she actually earns for the man-
datory supervision process so she can be a fully accredited counsellor.
In 2017, experiencing a midlife crisis, Xiao realised she wanted a
new direction in life, so she decided to retrain as a psychotherapist.
Xiao’s story reflects the experiences of many new psychotherapists
in China. Over the past decade, the counselling industry has devel-
oped quickly due to a surge in demand for therapy.
Initially, many people approach therapy either as clients or out of
personal interest. But the desire to become a counsellor has seen many
become addicted to training courses, which may not be recognised as
a professional qualification due to the lack of a standardising body in
34
Photo by VCG
Counsellors hug each other
to enhance mutual trust
among participants
what is a relatively new field in the Chinese mainland.
High Cost
Xiao Li had been interested in a psychology-related career for a long
time, although she did not study it at university. After the national
psychological counsellor qualification examination was launched in
2002, she passed the exam and obtained a level-three (highest is level
two, lowest is level four) counselling certificate in 2007.
The rapid development of the mobile internet and social me-
dia fostered the growth of counselling in China. Huang Weiqiang,
who studied psychology, founded Yi Psychological Counselling, an
online platform. According to Huang, the platform has around 25
million users, with nearly 100,000 people having participated in
training courses. Total revenue from a popular online course can reach
4 million yuan (US$610,000).
CHINAREPORT I May 2021
 In 2015, as social media platforms such as WeChat took off, Xiao
saw that the counselling industry was becoming more popular. As
online training courses multiplied, she predicted a boom.
Even so, when she decided to become a counsellor, she found gaps
in her knowledge. In her three years on the platform, she took at least
10 courses, each costing from 1,000 to 2,000 yuan (US$152-305).
She attended offline courses and workshops, like those offered by psy-
chology Professor Zhu Jianjun of Beijing Forestry University, which
run to 5,000 yuan (US$762) a year.
Still she found her knowledge was lacking. She knew a lot of theory
but not how to perform proper consultations. In 2017, she spent
another 30,000 yuan (US$4,572) on a two-year programme from
Jiandan Psychology. Xiao told the reporter the programme is com-
prehensive, and after completing it many of her classmates practised
methods from different schools of psychotherapy.
But Xiao still felt it was not enough. She explained that the psy-
choanalytic school initially founded by Sigmund Freud founded has
since developed into many sub-branches, so if she wants to specialise,
it would take two more years to sharpen her skills. In the past three
years, she has spent at least 80,000 yuan (US$12,192) on counselling
training.
Generally in China, there are two main motivations to pursue psy-
chological counselling: interest or to resolve personal issues. Many
people become “trapped” in the learning process, taking more and
more courses in their desire to become a psychological counsellor.
According to a survey conducted among more than 1,200 counsellors
across the country, women account for nearly 79 percent of trainees,
and nearly 76 percent are in their 30s or 40s, mostly living in eco-
nomically developed cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and
Shenzhen.
Like Xiao Li, many have invested huge amounts of time and mon-
ey in training programmes. Liu Qian, a would-be counsellor who
studies with Yi Psychological Counselling, has spent around 80,000
yuan (US$12,192). According to self-reported data from the Jiandan
Psychology platform, more than 50 percent of beginners have back-
grounds in finance, internet or education, and nearly 50 percent have
graduate degrees. Liu told the reporter that a classmate had spent over
200,000 yuan (US$30,480).
The longer they study, the more psychotherapists spend on the
study programmes, which are forever offering upgrades and options.
According to data from Yi Psychological Counselling, with a consul-
tation experience of less than 100 hours, the average cost of train-
ing is around 46,000 yuan (US$7,010). With consultation experi-
ence ranging from 100 to 500 hours, the average cost is 84,000 yuan
(US$12,802). With consultation experience of over 5,000 hours, the
cost could soar to 240,000 yuan (US$36,576).
Li Songwei, a well-known psychotherapist in China with a doctor-
ate in psychology from Peking University, told ChinaReport that he
CHINAREPORT I May 2021
has seen many therapists study for a decade or more before they start
practicing.
Who Is the Patient?
In June 2019, Liu Qian spent 9,000 yuan (US$1,372) studying
hypnosis at a Shanghai-based psychology education organisation, and
another 4,000 yuan (US$610) on courses on marriage and family
counselling. After her coursework was finished, Liu qualified for a
Certification of Hypnosis issued by the American Hypnosis Associa-
tion and a Certificate of Marriage and Family Counselling Instructor
issued by the Popular Science Committee of the Chinese Psychologi-
cal Society. But she still paid US$152 and a couple of hundred yuan
for the two certificates.
Nearly 100 different counselling and therapy certificates have
emerged over the past three years. Some 30,000 people annually sit
the basic training qualification exams from the Institute of Psychol-
ogy, Chinese Academy of Sciences. More than 300 exam prep organ-
isations are already listed and over 1,000 more are on the wait list for
eligibility. But Lin Chun, vice chairman of the Working Committee
of Psychological Counsellor of the Chinese Psychological Society, told
ChinaReport that the course is not much more than “an introductory
module to popularise mental health awareness.”
The Committee of Standards and Research Services of the Chinese
Psychological Society organises counselling certification exams, but as
a secondary body the committee is not qualified to issue certificates.
Another practical concern for Liu Qian is her eligibility to register
as a counsellor on the platform after completing her training courses.
“If you want to register as a counsellor with a quality platform,
you’d better be a student with it first. Training classes can make up
what you might need as a counsellor,” Xiao said. For this reason, Xiao
registered for a two-year comprehensive course with Jiandan Psy-
chology. A respected platform in the industry, Jiandan Psychology’s
two-year course includes an internship programme. Xiao must log 20
hours of case consultation before she can be promoted to internship
counsellor and be eligible to list on the platform.
The amount of consultation hours is not only an important thresh-
old for joining the platform, but also a key indicator for promotions
within the counselling system. According to Jian Lili, founder of
Jiandan Psychology, billable consultation hours should not be a de-
cisive criterion, but because of the lack of an authoritative and fair
evaluation system, the organisation has to fall back on this. Some
mandatory requirements highlighted by Jian include over two years
of systematic training and a minimum 400 hours of paid consulting
experience.
Liu Qian spent nearly 20,000 yuan (US$3,048) for an advanced
counselling course on Yi Psychology. After she finished, she registered
as a consultant-in-training on the platform and started to offer cheap
services at 99 yuan (US$15) for 10 sessions lasting 50 minutes to an
35
 SPECIAL REPORT
Photo by VCG
A group meditation event in Shenzhen, September 21, 2018
hour. She feels that accumulating experience in counselling matters,
and more importantly, joining the platform has given her a sense of
belonging.
In Li Songwei’s opinion, a counselling platform gains industry
influence as it attracts more would-be therapists. Over the past few
years, the pool of new therapists has grown, which has attracted more
organisations that muddy the industry and lower standards.
An anonymous expert from the Chinese Mental Health Associa-
tion told ChinaReport that some top trainers who are not qualified
counsellors can make hundreds of thousands or even millions of
yuan from training programmes that only last a few days. “Training
organisations boast that the market is lucrative so they attract more
followers,” said the source: “But in reality, only the organisations and
trainers make a real profit.”
Lin Fang, a counsellor with five year’s professional experience, told
the reporter that “the driving momentum of the industry develop-
ment is weird,” – in other words, it is making money not from coun-
selling, but from the pockets of new counsellors.
‘Endless Road’
Liu Qian now participates in three supervised sessions a week, two
group and one personal. Personal supervision is one-on-one, where
a supervisor advises a counsellor by reviewing notes from sessions.
Group supervision is where a supervisor guides a team of some 10
counsellors to discuss and analyze cases.
The seemingly authoritative supervision process works like an
36
apprenticeship, Li Songwei said. Usually, after a year, the counsellor
can practise independently. When taking on difficult cases, counsel-
lors can seek additional help from supervisors.
Qiao Zhihong, secretary of the psychology department of Beijing
Normal University, told ChinaReport that in the US, those with doc-
torates in psychology must work full time for one or two years under
supervision of an advisor before qualifying to sit an exam for a psy-
chotherapist’s licence.
Previously there were no requirements or rules as the industry was
so new in China, but now supervision is mandatory for almost all or-
ganisations. Jiandan Psychology, which started in 2014, now requires
counsellors registered with the platform to undergo regular one-on-
one reviews. Jian Lili said higher levels of counsellors require more
logged supervised hours. Xiao Li’s supervision began after becoming
an intern at Jiandan Psychology in July 2019. Xiao charges clients 150
yuan (US$23) per session, but pays about 500 yuan (US$76) for a
one-on-one review. So far, she has conducted 20 hours of consulta-
tions, meaning she has to pay 7,000 yuan (US$1,066) out of pocket
rather than making any money from her work.
To graduate to novice counsellor, Xiao must complete 400 con-
sultation hours. The internship platform requires a review session
once every four consultations, meaning she has to spend 40,000 yuan
(US$6,096) for 100 reviews. “I’m against the requirement that ev-
eryone has to be supervised for a few years before becoming eligible
to provide consultations,” said Li Songwei, who inferred that the
platforms are just using these conditions as another means to make
money from would-be counsellors. “First, you have to figure out what
the purpose of the supervision work is,” he said.
Li said after he started working as a therapist, he asked for assistance
with two difficult cases. Li favours a peer review model. He has a four-
member peer review team, which he believes is more cost-effective.
The expert from the China Mental Health Association who asked
for anonymity added that there is a shortage of experts with supervi-
sion capability in China.
According to statistics from Yi Psychology, counsellors with un-
der 500 hours of consulting experience make less than 50,000 yuan
(US$7,620) per year, while those with over 5,000 hours can make
over 300,000 yuan (US$45,720) annually. Most start breaking even
after 500-1,000 hours of consulting.
Liu Qian does not plan to make a living as a psychotherapist in the
next two years, as she plans to finish the long reading list assigned by
her supervisor. “If you go into counselling, you’ll find that you’re on
an endless road. You have to keep on with the process of self-discovery
and read more books,” Liu said. “At least so far I am happy with the
process.”
Liu Qian said her son often asks her when her coursework will end.
But she enjoys the learning process. “I don’t think I’m normal, but
many people in this profession are like me,” she said.
CHINAREPORT I May 2021

Psychotherapy
MIND THE GAP
Training for counsellors and therapists has boomed in China, but lack of
regulation is a source of anxiety for the market
By Du Wei
L
iu Qian has been busy looking for an academic advisor for her
oral dissertation, the last step of a two-year adult education pro-
gramme at the Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of
Sciences (IPCAS).
So far, Liu has not had much luck, especially compared to students
in more traditional courses.
Liu searched for the email addresses of professors on the IPCAS
website and contacted them all. She got one reply from a professor in
an unrelated field.
Though she said she learned a lot from attending training pro-
grammes over the past few years, Liu thinks a more comprehensive
way to train counsellors is necessary.
Formal counsellor and therapist training in China is far behind
places like the US and Germany. Despite the increasing awareness of
CHINAREPORT I May 2021
Photo by VCG
A speaker at the 14th Psychologists
Conference of China, Zhumadian,
Henan Province, August 22, 2020
mental health issues and the growing demand for treatment, Chinese
universities produce only several hundred graduates in counselling
every year, spurring a burgeoning market for training.
This lack of regulation and supervision has resulted in growing
pains for the industry that are hurting new counsellors and patients.
Overlooked Education
First arriving in Chinese universities in the 1920s, Western psy-
chology was largely ignored in China after 1949 when the People’s
Republic of China was founded, mainly for political reasons.
Zhang Haiyin, who became a psychiatrist at Shanghai Mental
Health Centre in 1988 after graduating from The Second Medical
School of Shanghai (now part of Shanghai Jiao Tong University), told
ChinaReport there was no proper training in psychotherapy in the
37
 SPECIAL REPORT
1980s. Those who wanted to learn had to read on their own or attend
seminars.
Qiu Jianyin, director of psychology at Shanghai Mental Health
Centre, graduated in the 1990s from East China Normal University in
Shanghai, one of the first schools with a psychology department. Qiu
said that clinical psychology was rarely taught in college at the time, and
most in the field relied on internships and on-the-job training.
Public awareness of counselling grew following the Wenchuan
Earthquake that devastated parts of Sichuan Province in 2008, when
professionals and volunteers poured into the region to treat trauma-
tised survivors. Although more universities created psychology de-
partments since then, there are not enough instructors to go around.
Most psychology graduates pursue careers in academic research, ac-
cording to Qiao Zhihong, Party secretary of the psychology depart-
ment at Beijing Normal University. He said while there are more than
100 universities and institutions offering master’s degrees in applied
psychology, only half provide courses in counselling, producing under
500 counsellors a year.
Adult education programmes are a major pathway to certification in
counselling. Off-campus training for counsellors began in 1988 when
German therapist and former Peking University student Margarete
Haass‐Wiesegart in cooperation with Professor Wan Wenpeng of the
Yunnan Province Psychiatric Hospital in Kunming brought a team of
German psychotherapists to China. The team held three workshops
covering major schools of psychotherapy. In 1996, Haass‐Wiesegart
founded the German-Chinese Academy of Psychotherapy (GCAP).
A year later, she started its psychotherapy training programme that
still runs today. The programme, which focuses on psychoanalysis,
cognitive behavior and family therapy, provided a rare opportunity for
standardised training in the Chinese mainland.
The programme is considered the cradle of psychotherapy in Chi-
na. Qiu, a former student in the programme who now heads GCAP’s
China operations, said the programme is directly responsible for
the development of clinical psychotherapy in China. Subsequently,
China started similar training programmes with Norway, the US and
France.
In 2001, counselling became a formally recognised career in Chi-
na, and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security held
counselling certification exams from 2002 to 2017. During this pe-
riod, numerous training programmes emerged and about 1.5 million
people were accredited. However, the quality of training varied, and
the certificate, though still officially valid, is not universally recognised
by professional psychology organisations.
As mental health treatment entered the public consciousness, de-
mand for therapy grew. Over 100 million people aged 15 and old-
er (about 10 percent of the overall population) suffer from mental
38
A counselling hotline in Shenyang, Liaoning Province offers 24/7 services
disorders, while 16 million are diagnosed with severe mental disor-
ders, according to the People’s Daily, citing an epidemiological sur-
vey on mental disorders in many regions in 2016. According to the
Chinese Association for Mental Health (CAMH), there were less
than 30,000 professionally trained counsellors in China in 2018, a far
cry from the World Health Organisation’s recommended ratio of one
counsellor per 1,000 people.
Questions about Quackery
Qiu Jianyin said that unlike China’s first batch of foreign instruc-
tors, most today are seeking to tap the country’s giant market and
launch programmes in cooperation with domestic teaching plat-
forms. However, the quality of teachers is inconsistent, Qiu said.
For example, Australian therapist Steve Vinay Gunther regularly
charges 18,000 yuan (US$2,741) for six-day courses held in Shanghai
in Gestalt psychology, a major school in modern psychology. He is
touted in ads as a “top-level Gestalt psychology expert.” But Lin Fang,
a formally trained counsellor, told ChinaReport that Gunther is not
among the best experts of the Gestalt school. “In China these experts
are hyped up to the skies,” Lin said.
Qiao Zhihong said training programmes in China focus on differ-
ent schools of psychology, which training platforms then advertise like
commercial products. “Driven by profit, the platforms exaggerate the
benefits of their own school of thought and their trainers,” Qiao said.
An expert from CAMH who spoke with ChinaReport on condition
of anonymity said there are over 2,000 different schools of therapy
worldwide, the majority of which have taken root to different degrees
in China. Some have localised by mixing in cultural elements, but
most treatments use similar methods. In the late 1990s, Zhu Jianjun,
a professor at Beijing Forestry University, developed a treatment called
CHINAREPORT I May 2021

Photo by ic
imagery communication, which mixes Western psychotherapy meth-
ods with elements of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism.
“This discipline [psychology] appears to have boomed in recent
years, but there is a dire shortage of instructors. As many psycholo-
gists are often busy lecturing [at training institutions], they rarely take
on patients and do research,” said the expert.
As psychology becomes an increasingly popular career choice, par-
ticularly due to online courses, more institutions are entering the fray.
“Some psychologists manage to make a decent living because of the
growing interest in psychology and people seeking to become coun-
sellors. Institutions, instructors and professors say their courses will
help people earn lots of money,” said the expert from CAMH. “But
for most, counselling will not be a lucrative career.”
Lin Chun, an official at the Chinese Psychological Society, a non-
profit, said that job opportunities for counsellors are not as abundant
as advertised by training platforms because limited market capacity
hinders growth. Many people do not seek treatment out of concern
for prevailing stigmas associated with psychology and mental issues
in China.
What’s more, after the national certification exam ended in 2017,
many institutions began issuing their own certificates because of a
dearth of regulation and oversight. Some platforms masquerade as
research institutions to attract students or sell certificates to people
with no background in psychology.
Patients Lose Out
Training new counsellors will rely on formal schooling and adult
education for a time, Lin Chun told ChinaReport, but eventually for-
mal education will become the main channel.
Patients are bearing the brunt of the chaos. Normally, counselling
CHINAREPORT I May 2021
is charged per session. But Lin said that according to interviewed pa-
tients, counsellors charge for up to 30 sessions in advance. If clients
are dissatisfied, they say counsellors make it difficult to get refunds.
Qiu said that counsellors should refer clients with severe psycho-
logical issues to psychiatrists for diagnosis and treatment, or carry out
treatment in cooperation with psychiatrists. However, Qiu said many
counsellors are not properly trained to identify symptoms, while oth-
ers delay referrals so they can charge patients for more sessions. This
can sometimes lead to irreparable consequences, including suicide.
In the US and some countries in Europe, psychotherapy and
counselling are covered by healthcare programmes, which helps regu-
late cost and frequency of treatment. In some regions in the Chi-
nese mainland, psychotherapy and counselling are included in the
country’s social insurance programme. But due to limited medical
resources, hospitals usually opt for shorter-term solutions. If the pa-
tients require further treatment, they must turn to private counselling
institutions or platforms, Qiu said. Private institutions usually charge
400-800 yuan (US$61-122) per session.
Most patients cannot judge what kind of therapy they need or
how long the treatment should last. “Many counsellors do not have a
treatment plan or regularly check for efficacy. The patient just keeps
showing up. If there is some disagreement about the treatment, the
counsellor might say, ‘Let’s give it one more try,’” Lin Fang said, add-
ing that a treatment such as cognitive behavior therapy – a method
that targets negative thinking habits – usually takes more than 10
sessions, while others can last five to six.
According to a survey by Jiandanxinli, an online psychotherapy
platform, 29 percent of its users responded they had between 5 and
20 sessions with a therapist, while 23 percent had over 20 sessions.
Xiao Li, an intern at Jiandanxinli, said that many counsellors do
not address the underlying issues during sessions with patients in the
first years of therapy, but rather build a dependent relationship where
the counsellor is a patient’s sole confidant.
“Sometimes it’s not the therapy taking effect but the relationship
with the therapist that keeps patients coming to sessions,” Xiao said.
While there have been calls for tightened regulation over the in-
dustry, improvements are on the horizon. Directed by the Ministry
of Human Resources and Social Security, four leading organisations
– IPCAS, Chinese Psychological Society (CPS), CMHA and the
Chinese Association of Social Psychology – embarked on setting as-
sessment standards for professional counsellors in September 2020.
The standards are slated to launch this summer.
As part of the regulations, the four organisations are considering an
exam to evaluate counsellors and setting up certification systems to
regulate market access. The CPS is also working on a registration sys-
tem to further evaluate China’s 1.5 million accredited counsellors. 
Liu Qian, Lin Fang and Xiao Li are pseudonyms
39
INTERVIEW
Arts
Comedy at a Crossroads
Crosstalk performer Yan Hexiang talks with ChinaReport about the current predicaments
of China’s traditional comedy performance and the huge challenge it faces from its
younger rival – stand-up comedy
By Du Wei
“
Crosstalk is in a state of stagnation,” says Yan Hexiang, a vet-
eran performer at Deyun Club, China’s most influential cross-
talk collective.
Originating in the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), crosstalk,
or xiangsheng in Chinese, is among China’s most popular folk per-
formance genres. It typically features two comedians in traditional
costume exchanging banter, puns and jokes about contemporary life
mixed with references to Chinese culture and history.
Crosstalk’s popularity has oscillated over the decades. It fell out of
favour during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), but resurged
during the 1980s and early 1990s, reaching a nationwide audience
through radio and television. However, a dearth of new routines and
the rise of sketch comedy led to crosstalk’s decline by the late 1990s.
In 1995, superstar crosstalker Guo Degang opened his Beijing-based
Deyun Club and led a group of performers that in the mid-2000s
brought crosstalk back to the mainstream.
Yan Hexiang has been fascinated with crosstalk since childhood.
Graduating from Beijing University of Technology with a degree in
telecommunication engineering, Yan became a programmer with
China Mobile in 2004. When Deyun Club held open auditions in
2006, Yan tried out and won a spot as a trainee. By 2009, he was
apprenticing with Guo Degang. In 2016, Yan partnered with Guo
Qilin, Guo Degang’s son and a popular crosstalk performer in his
own right, for the third season of the variety show Top Funny Come-
dian. Yan quit his China Mobile job that year to perform crosstalk.
In an interview with ChinaReport, the 39-year-old comedian
addresses his concerns over the underlying problems of the crosstalk
industry – lack of creativity, the side-effects of celebrity culture and
competition from stand-up comedy, which over the last 10 years has
seen a meteoric rise.
40
ChinaReport: You first saw Guo Degang perform in 2005. What
did you think?
Yan Hexiang: I remember he performed a monologue and the tra-
ditional crosstalk routine “Brains and Brawn.” He’s an extremely in-
novative performer who has adapted plenty of old crosstalk routines.
He mixed in the latest internet slang and current social issues. Guo is
a shrewd observer of society who blends his observations in his per-
formances. He is way better at capturing the times than many current
crosstalk comedians.
CR: What did you learn during your years with the Deyun Club?
YH: When you become an apprentice there, Deyun Club breaks
down all your pride right away. It makes you feel like you’re worthless,
humbling you enough to earn classic routines and go through the
pains of practicing basic skills. One tricky thing about spoken word
performance art is that once you learn a comedy bit and get laughs,
you can get complacent and unwilling to do more. Modesty, industry
and tenacity are important values for training with Deyun Club.
CR: Many Deyun Club performers have groupies who call them-
selves “Deyun girls” and idolise them like pop stars. What do you
think of this recent change?
YH: This form of celebrity culture came from Japan and South
Korea. After arriving in China, it fit with certain aspects of crosstalk.
Since crosstalk involves a lot of crowd work, it satisfies the fans’ desire
to know and interact with their idols.
CR: Will this adulation go to crosstalkers’ heads?
YH: Some people go to a crosstalk show mainly for the performers
they adore, some for the show itself, and some for both. The thing is
CHINAREPORT I May 2021
that right now, fans of certain performers have the strongest online
presence. They passionately – if not blindly – express their love and
appreciation for their favourite performers. As a result, performers
might easily get carried away by their praise. We have to be clear that
there are still many people who come out to see shows for the mate-
rial and are not about leaving feedback online. We can learn more
about how this group feels about our shows. If one day these people
become disappointed with what we’re doing, they’ll just leave without
a sound. This is really a big issue.

CR: Though shows at the Deyun Club are still popular, many feel
that comedians there always perform old crosstalk routines. What do
think about that?
YH: On the one hand, the creative process of today’s crosstalk is
very different now. In the past, celebrated authors such as Lao She,
He Chi and Liang Zuo wrote crosstalk routines for comedians. Dur-
ing the 1980s and the early 1990s, performers started writing their
own material.
In the past, authors wrote short stories, sketches and crosstalk rou-
tines that portrayed real life in short and vivid formats. But nowadays
we have many more channels, like short videos, films and variety
shows. People write for these instead. Also, the crosstalk community
doesn’t really collaborate with writers and intellectuals anymore.
On the other hand, there’s no denying we rely too much on old
material. After the Deyun Club became famous in 2006, crosstalk
performers revived lots of old routines. To be honest, it wasn’t because
audiences really liked them, but rather because they had never heard
them. So there was a time when we were reacquainting audiences
with older work. Since there are plenty of old routines, there is a deep
enough repertoire for the majority of crosstalkers today who are only
interested in making a living. But because of this, people in the indus-
try have lost the drive to write their own stuff.

CR: Younger crosstalkers seem complacent with performing old

routines. Is this a crisis for the crosstalk industry?
YH: Of course it’s a crisis. That’s why we say crosstalk has
stagnated. The lack of creativity reflects younger performers’
Photo by Courtesy of the interviewee

ignorance of this art. Many new crosstalkers don’t know

anything about crosstalk when they start out. Lots of
them don’t know the greats such as Zhao Peiru, Guo
Qiru and Liu Baorui. They even don’t know (for-
mer household names) like Ma Sanli and Hou
Baolin. They only know Yue Yunpeng (a younger
crosstalk star). They don’t know how the art de-
veloped. They think crosstalk is all about telling old
jokes. Yan Hexiang

CR: You once said the crosstalk industry is done for. Why?
YH: If crosstalk comedians keep performing old bits, audiences
will catch on. When it becomes intolerable, a saviour like Guo De-

CHINAREPORT I May 2021

41
INTERVIEW
gang will come along. The reason my teacher got so popular in the
mid-1990s was precisely because people got tired of televised crosstalk
shows. In the future, someone has to come and set everything straight.
But before that happens, people in this industry will just be content
with the status quo.
On the surface, the internet gives crosstalkers more opportunities
to become known. But essentially the content we’re performing hasn’t
kept pace with the times.
CR: In the 1950s, crosstalk masters such as Hou Baolin started a
movement to clean up crosstalk and get rid of vulgar content. But
lots of dirty jokes are told at Deyun Club shows. Is this a regression?
YH: Definitely. I really hate some of the prevailing anti-intellectual
values in this industry. Many think that crosstalk performers don't
need to be educated, and they can earn easy money and fame by tell-
ing vulgar jokes. It’s in poor taste. Many performers don’t know what
real humour is all about.
CR: From your perspective, what are the differences between stand-
up and crosstalk?
YH: Essentially there isn’t much difference. I think there should a
broader definition of crosstalk, which can include stand-up, comedic
monologues and more. But sure, crosstalk performers developed their
own language skills and a more structured performance style over the
years.
CR: Many believe that crosstalk is slower in rhythm and conveys
less content compared with stand-up comedy. What do you think?
YH: The differences are there. A very important feature of stand-up
comedy is that it usually deals with current affairs and hot topics. Per-
formers tend to presume audiences are familiar with these issues. They
don’t have to provide much background and can get straight to the
point. Crosstalk comedians, however, presume audiences don’t know
what they’re about to talk about, so they elaborate on the background
before finally cracking jokes and delivering punchlines. But we must
admit this form of narrative has failed to keep pace with the times. I
think crosstalk performers must adjust our traditional ways of nar-
ration to keep up with the audience, because we’ve got to admit the
times have changed.
A reason behind stand-up comedy’s popularity in China is that it’s
more difficult for people today to delay gratification. They are less
willing to wait for a slowly unfolding joke.
CR: You mentioned that stand-up comedians and crosstalk per-
formers should learn from each other. Could you be more specific?
YH: The most important thing that crosstalk performers learn from
stand-up comedians is their strong awareness of intellectual property
(IP). In the past, the master-apprentice system was a way of protect-
ing IP. But since the 1970s, crosstalk performances were broadcast
on nationwide television. When a routine became a hit, lots of other
42
comedians copied it. People often don’t know who originally wrote
the material. This was still prevalent even after the Deyun Club got
popular in 2006.
By contrast, stand-up comedy has strong awareness of IP protection
and a strict code of ethics. Stand-up comedians never use someone
else’s material. You’d be subject to harsh ridicule for stealing another
comic’s joke. This code was in place from the very start, and pushes
them to keep writing new material. This is exactly what crosstalk per-
formers should learn from them.
CR: Do you think stand-up comedy will draw audiences away
from crosstalk?
YH: Currently I don’t think so. Both have their shortcomings. The
main problem for crosstalk is that performers haven’t fully recognised
the significance of creativity and staying current, while stand-up co-
medians haven’t realised the importance of enhancing their language
skills. These are indispensable elements for spoken word performing
arts.
CR: If stand-up overcomes its shortcomings first, will it pose a
threat to crosstalk?
YH: Absolutely yes. This is exactly where my concern lies. I always
like to mention a comparison – perhaps it’s not accurate. The relation-
ship between Chinese stand-up comedy and crosstalk is very much
like that between dolphins and human beings. Dolphins are an intel-
ligent species millions of years younger than primates, but they are
evolving. Apparently, humans are smarter than dolphins right now,
but you never know. One day dolphins may evolve to be more intel-
ligent than humans.
For now and into the future, the market for stand-up comedy will
remain in first- and second-tier cities. Therefore, there’s still plenty of
space in third- and fourth-tier cities for crosstalk to develop. Crosstalk
will still see an explosive rise both in popularity and in revenue. But
it’s still possible that one day the market for stand-up comedy may
expand to smaller cities.
CR: What are your plans for future performances?
YH: While on (TV show) Roast, stand-up comedian Yang Meng’en
gave me a nickname: “The number-one solo performer of the Deyun
Boy Group.” I really appreciated it. My dream is to become the num-
ber-one solo performer in Chinese spoken word. Perhaps for some
time in the future, I’ll try different formats like dankou (monologue),
pingshu (storytelling), stand-up comedy and speeches. I really hope to
break down the walls between crosstalk and stand-up comedy, and
those between dankou and pingshu.
Without these categories and labels, we’re all just standing on stage
alone. We’ll perform a 30-minute set and let the audience judge our
material… and they’ll decide whether they want to buy tickets for
the next show. I hope we can bring the art of spoken word back to its
roots and stop all this infighting and stagnation.
CHINAREPORT I May 2021

Women in Ancient China
Rules and Reality
'Why do some men look so average and still have so much confidence?'
By Zhang Yue
T
his one-liner from 29-year-old co-
median Yang Li is just one of many
that has put her at the centre of a
social media firestorm in China.
Her routines about the male ego have
sparked wider conversations about the coun-
try’s changing gender roles and deep-seated
inertia to those changes, particularly among
men.
More recently, electronics brand Intel got
caught in the crossfire on March 18 follow-
ing the release of an ad that featured Yang,
where she delivered the punchline: “Intel is
CHINAREPORT I May 2021
so picky about laptops, they’re even more se-
lective than my taste in men.”
Many of her male critics accused her of
stirring hatred between genders to advance
her career and called for a boycott of Intel
products. But Yang’s supporters argued that
these reactions just prove her point.
Even questions about how to refer to
women in the public discourse have become
increasingly controversial. In recent years
when celebrating the annual International
Women’s Day on March 8, the terms “girls”
and “goddess” were popular in online posts.
HISTORY
Actress Li Yue plays Lin Daiyu,
a character in Dream of the Red
Mansion, a classic novel by Cao
Xueqin in the 18th century, in a
Shaoxing Opera performance in
Beijing on November 2, 2020.
Lin and her female cousins set up
a poetry salon with the support
Photo by VCG
of their grandmother. Women
in Ancient China were not
encouraged to read or write.
But this year they were met with a widespread
backlash, with many saying they discrimi-
nated against older women. This has much
to do with subtle cultural connotations these
words carry in Chinese: As “woman” often
refers to middle-aged women, nagging wives
and stay-at-home mums, some said the new
labels imply that only young and beautiful
girls are worth celebrating.
China has a very long tradition that re-
quires women to stay at home and look af-
ter their families so their husbands and sons
can focus on their careers. Women were not
43
HISTORY
A pottery figure of a huntress with a lynx during
the Tang Dynasty was unearthed in Xi’an,
Shaanxi Province in 1991
supposed to deal with anything outside the
house. This dates back more than 3,000 years
during the Zhou Dynasty (1046-256 BCE).
The I Ching (The Book of Changes), which is
thought to have been written at that time,
states this as a rule of nature. Emperor Wu of
the Western Han Dynasty (202 BCE–9 CE)
adopted ethical rules based on Confucianism
that integrated other schools of thought such
as Taoism, Legalism and Naturalist theories.
According to these standards, wives must be
obedient to their husbands, and husbands
must set a good ethical example for their
wives. The same is applied to relationships
between sovereigns and their subjects, as well
as fathers and sons.
About 100 years after Emperor Wu’s
adoption of Confucian standards, the West-
ern Han came to its last years. The Empress
Zhao Feiyan is known in Chinese history for
her beauty. Her name Feiyan means “flying
swallow,” a reference to her slender figure. In
a legendary story, she was once nearly blown
away by the wind as she danced. But she
had a bad reputation as a court conspirator,
framing the former empress, causing abor-
tions in royal concubines and adultery. Liu
Xiang, a Confucian scholar at that time,
wrote a book of morality tales that mostly
portrayed examples of virtuous and idealised
women. He submitted the book to the em-
peror in the hopes it would put the imperial
house in order and set a good example for the
44
Photo by Centre for Research on Ancient Chinese
History at Peking University
Photo by CNS
A chastity arch with the inscription of Emperor Daoguang (1820-1850), Jiangxi
Province, Central China, November 21, 1995
public. In one of the stories in his book, a the home. For example, Ban Zhao herself was
mother moved her family three times until engaged in top policymaking. Archaeological
they found a house near a school. She no- discoveries and historical records showed that
ticed her young son was imitating the stu- many women before and during the Western
dents there who were learning etiquette. She and Eastern Han were active in businesses
decided to settle there because she believed like catering and vending. Liu Bang, once a
it was a good place for her son’s education. poor junior official during the Qin Dynasty
Her son would grow up to be the philoso- (221-206 BCE), often bought alcohol on
pher Mencius, known as “the second sage” credit from restaurants run by women before
after Confucius. he founded the Western Han Dynasty at the
There were also a few stories about “bad” end of the third century.
women, especially women in the imperial Women during the Tang Dynasty (618-
court who pressured their husbands in power 907) were luckier than those at other times
to treat people cruelly. Zhao Feiyan commit- in ancient China. They were full of vigor, free
ted suicide after the new emperor deprived and even powerful. Their high self-esteem
her of her royal title. was underlined by the extraordinary pros-
About a century after Zhao Feiyan’s death, perity and power of the empire, the empire’s
a woman would emerge that played an im- founders’ lineage to the Xianbei nomadic
portant role in setting rules for women. Ban tribe, and the influence of exotic cultures
Zhao was a scholar and politician in the East- from Central and Western Asia. Some Tang
ern Han Dynasty (25-220). Her elder broth- women held great political influence. The
er Ban Gu was the first author of The Book of best example is Wu Zetian, the only woman
Han, one of the most important historical re- in China’s history to be crowned emperor.
cords. Ban Zhao continued his work after he Her reign strengthened the empire’s prosper-
died. She served as a teacher for female royal ity. Noblewomen could ride horses publicly.
family members. In her old age, she wrote a Women in the imperial capital Chang’an,
code of conduct for female members of her today’s Xi’an in Shaanxi Province, were often
family that stressed obedience, diligence and seen on strolls taking in the city’s scenery. In
decent behavior in daily family life. Although 1991, a tomb of a granddaughter of the Tang
the code was only for her family, it immedi- founder Li Yuan was unearthed in Xi’an.
ately became very popular due to her positive Artefacts included a clay figure of a valiant
reputation and popularity. huntress riding on a stallion with a lynx,
However, not all women were limited to which were trained for hunting during the
CHINAREPORT I May 2021
Tang. Hunting was a very popular pastime
among the Tang aristocracy.
However, it would be a mistake to roman-
ticise the social status of Tang women. Wu
Zetian was the daughter of a senior local of-
ficial. According to historical records, when
Wu Zetian was a baby, her mother invited
Yuan Tiangang, a master of physiognomy, or
the practice of assessing character based on
outer appearance, for a face reading for her
children. When he saw Wu Zetian’s elder
brothers and elder sister, he immediately as-
serted that all these boys and the girl would
be more successful than their father. When
he saw the infant Wu Zetian dressed as a
boy, he hesitated. He was shocked at the first
sight of the infant, exclaiming that this “boy”
would reach “the highest rank.” But he hesi-
tated, and read the baby’s face three times.
Finally, he concluded that she must be a girl
who “would be a sovereign,” something un-
thinkable at the time.
More than 350 years after Wu Zetian
became China’s first female sovereign, neo-
Confucian scholars in the Northern Song
Dynasty (960-1127) began to develop a new
theory. They advocated extremely stringent
ethical standards.
For example, Zhu Xi, one of the major
neo-Confucian scholars in the Southern
Song Dynasty (1127–1279), said that starva-
tion is a better fate than losing moral integ-
rity or chastity. This idea had a far-reaching
CHINAREPORT I May 2021
influence on Chinese society. During the
Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), it was common
that wives showed their loyalty by commit-
ting suicide right after their husbands died.
Young widows were encouraged not to mar-
ry again. Memorial arches were set up by the
government or their husbands’ families to
honour those women. This in turn put pres-
sure on more women to follow suit.
Still, a few women managed to free them-
selves from these harsh restrictions. In 1619,
Gu Ruopu, a 28-year-old woman in today’s
Zhejiang Province, lost her husband to dis-
ease. Gu was a daughter of an important
Confucian scholar’s family. She decided to
raise her two young sons on her own. She
had to spend carefully and sell cloth she
wove. She encouraged and urged her sons to
study hard. Her sons grew up to be famous
scholars.
This exemplified how a young widow with
sons should behave at that time. But Gu also
did something that greatly deviated from
such expectations. Although women were
not supposed to be educated, Gu read and
wrote with her sons every evening, no matter
how tired she was from working. She kept
learning even in her old age. She taught all
the young girls in her extended family how
to read and write. She organised and spon-
sored a poetry salon for ladies, a historic first
in China. Twelve young women joined the
salon. All this was extraordinary for her time.
This article is a transcript of an episode
of News China's Podcast The Context
Find us on Spotify, Google Podcasts,
Amazon Music, Stitcher, iHeart Radio and RSS Feed
While many of her family elders, especially
the women, frowned upon her actions, she
never gave up. Gu died at the age of 90 as an
influential matriarch.
Dream of the Red Mansion, written by Cao
Xueqin in the mid-18th century, is recog-
nised as one of the four greatest classics of
Chinese literature. It talks about a tragedy of
12 beautiful, talented young ladies from four
major noble families.
Some researchers believe the 12 women
reference the members of Gu’s salon, and
that Gu was the inspiration for the novel’s
Grandmother Jia, who encourages them to
start a poetry salon. Despite all her hardships
and the prevailing attitudes against women,
Gu pushed the boundaries of women’s rights
and left a lasting mark on history.
In the early 20th century after the end
of the dynastic system, Western-educated
Chinese intellectuals advocated a New Cul-
ture Movement, which sought to do away
with Confucian ideas. Gender equality also
was a major component of the movement.
More and more schools were open to wom-
en. Some women saw family as a burden and
decided not to marry or have children, a pro-
gressive choice at the time.
Today the majority of college students in
China are women. As more women are edu-
cated, they want to be respected as equals in
society, not a consumer demographic to be
valued by age or appearance.
45
ENVIRONMENT
Artificial Islands
Solution of Last Resort
Hainan has been ordered to remove artificial resort islands due to ecological damage,
but some claim this will cause even more destruction to the environment
By Huang Xiaoguang
A
fter a new round of environmental inspections of controversial
land reclamation and island creation projects off the coast of
Hainan Province in the South China Sea, officials ordered the
removal of some projects and others to fix the environmental damage they
caused.
Some experts disagree that removing already reclaimed land is the solu-
tion, arguing that it could create even more damage, while the developers
are also crying foul, claiming they had the correct permissions to build
resorts and entertainment facilities on artificial islands.
Hainan released a report on October 19, 2020 detailing plans to re-
store ecological damage caused by land reclamation. It came after the third
Central Environmental Inspection Team, or “green team” under the
Ministry of Ecology and Environment, exposed the ecological damage in
the island province. Inspectors had already rebuked the island province,
known for its resort industry, for rampant land reclamation, according to a
CGTN report in May 2020.
Nine land reclamation projects were targetted. Wanning Sun Moon
Island, Phoenix Island, and Haikou Gourd Island were ordered to be com-
pletely removed and the environments restored to their previous condi-
tion. Six other projects were ordered to fix their environmental problems.
In late February 2021 shortly after Chinese New Year, workers were
busy on the 300,000-square-metre Gourd Island. Work to remove the
artificial island is slated to be complete before August. It generated strong
resistance from developers and concerns about further environmental
damage caused by the demolition itself.
On November 20, 2020, Gourd Island developer Hainan Zhonghui
Hongji Investment Company appealed to the government of Haikou,
capital of Hainan, to call a halt to the demolition. “It was a legal act to
46
Gourd Island in Haikou,
Hainan Province, 2016.
Photo by VCG
Authorities ordered the
removal of the reclaimed
island, citing damaging
environmental problems
sell land to our company, but it’s an administrative decree to remove
the island,” Wang Nianqing, a senior manager at the company, told
ChinaReport.
She added that while her company was still negotiating with the local
government on the land transfer contract, lorries were already sneaking
onto the island to start the process of removing it.
A former official at the Hainan provincial environmental protection
agency told our reporter that the new round of environmental restoration
in Hainan faces three main challenges: scientific planning, protection of
the legitimate rights of enterprises and proper treatment of historic issues,
which mainly refers to projects that did not have licences or the correct
permissions.
Island Fever
Gourd Island was designed as a tourist resort. In 2008, Haikou pro-
posed constructing an island resort from reclaimed land in the eastern
shoals of the Haikou Bay area. It planned to construct the seven-star Light-
house Hotel, a duty-free shopping centre and an international conference
venue. The Lighthouse Hotel would be 440 metres high and was slated for
completion in December 2014, according to official documents.
After the first round of central environmental inspections, however,
Haikou city government ordered developers to dismantle the temporary
construction roads to the island. In late June 2018, the roads were removed
and 440,000 square metres of navigation channels were cleared.
Wang Nianqing told the reporter that after the first round of environ-
mental inspections, Zhongke Construction Company, the majority share-
holder in Zhonghui Hongji Investment Company, proposed turning
Gourd Island into an “educational island.”
CHINAREPORT I May 2021
 “Zhongke was affiliated with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which
planned to build an academic incubation centre on the island,” she said.
“But Zhongke went bankrupt in 2019 and the proposal was shelved.”
Shortly afterwards, Gourd Island underwent a second round of cen-
tral environmental inspections. In October 14, 2020, Haikou Ecological
Environmental Bureau announced that Gourd Island would be removed
to improve the marine ecological environment.
Before it was also ordered to be completely removed, Phoenix
Island project in the city of Sanya, Hainan’s main tourist destination, was
slapped with several ecological restoration orders. On December 23, 2017,
the fourth environmental inspection team informed Hainan Province that
the Phoenix Island project had obtained marine use rights in the name of
building a passenger port, but its actual purpose was real estate projects
and hotels.
“Because of the reclamation, the western area of Sanya Bay has been
eroded by currents and [now] requires a large amount of money to fill the
bay with sand,” the inspection report said.
The former official with the Hainan provincial environmental protec-
tion agency, who asked for anonymity, told the reporter that the previous
rounds of central environmental inspections had suggested the removal of
Gourd Island. “When senior officials from ministries and commissions
under the State Council visited Hainan, orders were given to demolish
Phoenix Island, Gourd Island and Wanning Sun Moon Island,” he told
our reporter.
ChinaReport reporters contacted the Ministry of Ecology and Environ-
ment for comment to learn more about the restoration plans for the three
artificial islands but received no reply as of press time.
Restore or Remove?
Pei Zhiqiang, former director of Xinhua News Agency’s Hainan bureau,
told ChinaReport that the Gourd Island development had generated a pub-
lic backlash as soon as it was announced. The reclamation would damage
the sea views of Wanlü Park in Haikou, one of the city’s major public recre-
ation areas. Gourd Island obtained the marine use right in October 2009.
Construction started in 2010, and the island was finished in 2011.
The Lighthouse Hotel project on the island, however, never started. A
local resident who visited Gourd Island to fish told the reporter that the
island was covered with weeds and there were no constructions except
makeshift buildings.
In April 2017, Haikou land resources agency sent a letter to Zhonghui
Hongji to demand land-transfer fees and liquidated damages of 530 mil-
lion yuan (US$81m).
In 2016, the Lighthouse Hotel remained a key investment project listed
by the local development and reform commission. In the second year, it
was criticised by the central environmental inspection team. “I strongly
resisted construction of the artificial island after reclamation 10 years ago
because it would damage the local environment, but nowadays I have
mixed feelings after hearing news of the demolition,” Pei said. “Both the
construction and the demolition are a waste of taxpayers’ money.”
According to Haikou Development and Reform Commission, it will
cost roughly 227 million yuan (US$35m) to demolish Gourd Island, in-
cluding the cost of the work and compensation to the developers.
CHINAREPORT I May 2021
The developers of Gourd Island and Phoenix Island objected to removal
of the reclaimed land because they had obtained construction approvals
from government agencies. They argued that even though the artificial
islands caused environmental damage, it is unnecessary to demolish the
entire islands since they have been finished.
“From the perspective of Administrative Law, it is a very severe penalty
to partly or entirely demolish an island after reclamation [was finished],”
said a legal representative of Sanya Phoenix Island International Cruise Port
Company.
According to the Marine Environmental Protection Law, administrative
penalties to demolish a sea project or restore it to the former condition are
issued under three circumstances: projects which have not been approved
by environmental protection agencies, severe damage to the surrounding
environment and construction on nature reserves.
“It’s baffling that the demolition of Phoenix Island does not come under
any of these three categories,” he told our reporter on condition of ano-
nymity.
Secondary Damage
On December 31, 2020, Sanya Natural Resources Planning Agency
held talks with Sanya Phoenix Island International Cruise Port Company
about the demolition and compensation, but the negotiation ended up at
an impasse.
“To date, there have been no other examples of removing artificial is-
lands anywhere in the world. The reclamation changes the original land-
scape and it forms a new ecosystem,” said the former official with the
Hainan provincial environmental protection agency. “The demolition will
result in secondary changes to the landscape which are likely to be more
detrimental than the reclamation.”
In 2018, the State Council released a notice to strictly control coastal
land reclamation and better protect coastal wetlands in which dealing
with existing controversial cases was given priority. If projects were already
built on reclaimed land, ecological restoration is preferred. Only projects
that severely damaged marine ecology should be removed or demolished,
according to the notice.
Wang Yamin, a professor at the Marine College of Shandong Univer-
sity, argued that dismantling the artificial islands is a secondary engineer-
ing project that will further damage the environment. “Restoring it to the
previous condition is a good way out but there is a misunderstanding,” he
told ChinaReport. “The changes to the ecological environment are usually
irreversible.”
According to data released by the central environmental inspection
teams, the average annual reclamation area in Hainan Province reached
550 hectares before 2013, five times higher than the annual amount of
the past 20 years. In 2017, the central environmental inspection team said
that government planning in Hainan followed in the footsteps of property
developers which have swelled the coffers of the local government at the
cost of the environment.
Wang argued that it is a systemic project to demolish the artificial islands
that proved to be environmental and economic problems. “Analysis of
advantages and disadvantages from the long-term perspective is crucial and
turns out to be a complicated issue of science.”
47
ECONOMY
Agriculture
HOMEGROWN HOGS
To decrease its reliance on imported breeding pigs, China should
reinforce protection of native breeds and step up selective breeding to
produce its own quality varieties, experts say
By Xu Tian
D
uring the annual two sessions
held in March, Liu Yonghao,
member of the National Com-
mittee of the Chinese People’s Political
Consultative Conference and chair-
man of New Hope, China’s largest
animal feed producer, drew public at-
tention to China’s heavy reliance on
imported breeding pigs. “Now a large num-
ber of breeding pigs in China are imported.
We need to develop our own,” Liu said.
While China is the biggest pork pro-
ducer and consumer in the world, many of
its breeding pigs are imported from other
countries. This reliance has grown in recent
years. In 2020, more than 30,000 breeding
pigs were imported, a record high. Liu said
this reliance has not only affected the speed
and quality of recovery from the shock of
African swine fever (ASF) but also con-
48
strained China’s pork industry.
The protection and restoration of breeds
native to China is challenging, particularly
under the threat of intermittent ASF out-
breaks that could potentially wipe out in-
digenous breeds. Selective breeding in China
is still in the initial stages of development
because the majority of pig breeders rarely
bother to invest in it.
The problem is the inability to produce
quality breeding pigs locally, experts said.
“The technology gap between China and
other countries is really a cause for concern,”
said Wang Lixian, a research fellow with
the Institute of Animal Sciences, Chinese
Academy of Agricultural Sciences.
Swine Decline
Qu Hongyu, a pig breeder in the coastal
city of Yantai, Shandong Province, began
raising native pigs in 1995 after swine fever
swept his farm. Only six Yantai black pigs,
which generally have stronger immunity
systems than imported breeds, survived. Qu
had gone against the mainstream – his fellow
villagers raised imported breeds. During the
toughest times, Qu could not afford feed and
took a loan from his parents to keep the farm
going.
Local pigs fell out of favour among farmers
in the 1980s when China began importing
breeding pigs. Zhang Yingjie, an official in
charge of animal husbandry and aquacul-
ture in Ningxiang, Hunan Province, told
ChinaReport that in the 1980s almost every
rural household raised Ningxiang Huazhu
pigs, a native variety. But by the 1990s, local
breeds had fallen out of favour.
Policies are partly to blame. At the end of
the 1970s, per capita consumption of meat
CHINAREPORT I May 2021

Indigenous black pigs bred in the depths of the Qinling Mountains, Shangluo, Shaanxi Province
was six kilograms a year for rural residents
and 18 kilograms for urban dwellers. Pork
accounted for over 80 percent of China’s
meat consumption. Wang told ChinaReport
that as living standards improved following
reform and opening-up, the government en-
couraged farmers to raise high-yield lean pigs
to guarantee meat supplies.
As a result, more profitable breeds such
as the Danish Landrace, Large White from
the UK and the Duroc from the US gradu-
ally came to dominate. These pigs take only
five to six months to mature for slaughter
compared to one year for local breeds. In
addition, imported pigs produce about 65
percent lean meat, while local pigs have only
40 percent.
This led to a decline in populations of lo-
cal breeds. The 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-
15) for The Protection and Utilisation of
CHINAREPORT I May 2021
Genetic Resources of Livestock and Poultry
published by the Ministry of Agriculture and
Rural Affairs (MARA) in 2011 stated that 85
percent of the existing 88 local pig breeds had
declined and 31 breeds were at the brink of
extinction.
Experts began calling for protection of
local breeds in the late 1990s. When Qu
participated in an animal husbandry exhibi-
tion in Jinan, Shandong Province in 2008,
his Yantai black pigs caught the attention of
agricultural experts, who said they had not
seen purebreds in years.
Since 2008, MARA has authorised seven
batches of State-level genetic banks, protec-
tion zones and farms for breeding native live-
stock and poultry. By June 2019, 83 local pig
breeds were listed for protection, while more
than 50 State-level protection farms, seven
protection zones and one State-level genetic
Photo by Xinhua
bank were in operation. Over 80 provincial-
level protection farms have been established
across the country.
Race Against Time
However, these efforts have been difficult.
From the 12th to the 13th Five-Year-Plan
(2016-2020) period, eight indigenous pig
breeds died out and 29 others reached the
edge of extinction. In southwestern Sichuan
Province, the nation’s largest pig producer in
2020, local breed stock decreased from 2.2
million in 1995 to 859,000 in 2019, accord-
ing to Yang Chunguo, a director of seed de-
velopment at the Department of Agriculture
and Rural Affairs in Sichuan.
Yang said that protection farms are not
having the desired effect. Feeding indigenous
pigs is a drain on profits and some protection
farms run at a loss. Some farms are struggling
49
ECONOMY
A technician at a breeding base for native pigs in Zhanjiang, Guangdong
Province makes culture fluid for breeding pigs’ semen in May 2016.
to breed the policy minimum of 100 local
pigs to stay in business. “Running protection
farms will be a problem in the long run,” he
said.
The spread of ASF since 2018 has wors-
ened the situation. As protection farms usu-
ally breed a single indigenous variety, ASF
outbreaks can wipe out the herd.
Wang Churui, a professor with China
Agricultural University, told ChinaReport that
as an expert with the committee of pig breed
resources at MARA, he is unaware of any
cases where ASF directly caused an indig-
enous breed to go extinct, but he said there is
great risk of it happening in the future.
Without effective vaccines, biosecurity
measures such as fencing are standard for
ASF prevention. However, not only are
many protection farms unprofitable but they
lack standard biosecurity facilities.
But more farms are stepping up. In Yantai,
Qu built a 1.5-metre fence around his farm,
which is now a designated protection farm
for Yantai black pigs. Fences separate the live-
stock areas from the farm offices and staff liv-
ing quarters. There are more than 100 ASF-
prepared protection farms across the country,
according to Zhu Li, deputy Party secretary
of the College of Animal Science and Tech-
nology at Sichuan Agricultural University.
50
Photo by CNS
A worker at a breeding base in Suining, Sichuan Province sterilises the
area to prevent African swine fever, February 21, 2020
Other policies are in place. In late 2018,
MARA required all pig farms within three ki-
lometres of protection farms to adopt biose-
curity measures. Hunan Province earmarked
20 million yuan (US$3m) in subsidies for
small pig breeders operating within three
kilometres of protection farms and key breed-
ing farms if they retreat from the business.
Meanwhile, some provinces are establish-
ing protection farms for indigenous breeds as
backup that divide herds of one breed into
two farms. As it takes time to build backup
farms, in some cases rare breeds are sent to
farmers living deep in the mountains, as their
isolation offers protection from outbreaks.
In June 2019, MARA pointed out the
importance of collecting and storing genetic
materials as a last resort. Many provinces are
building sperm and egg banks for indigenous
breeds.
But Zhu Li said these protection measures
are not foolproof, as porcine sperm and oo-
cytes only contain 50 percent of the original
pig’s genetic code and sows must be killed to
retrieve ova. Some provinces, including Sich-
uan, are turning to cloning.
Jiang Yanzhi, a professor of bioscience
at Sichuan Agricultural University, told
ChinaReport that while indigenous breed
populations are recovering thanks to protec-
Photo by CNS
tion efforts, genetic diversity has suffered. He
added that indigenous pigs face greater risks
of reduced biological fitness due to inbreed-
ing and variety degeneration, so rebuilding
family trees is urgently needed through bio-
technology such as gene sequencing.
Breeding Hurdles
As interviewed experts pointed out, efforts
to protect indigenous breeds aim to maintain
gene banks for future use and are not a sub-
stitute for imported pigs.
Sales of indigenous pigs remain marginal.
Qu, for example, has barely made ends meet
for years breeding local pigs. The excep-
tion was in 2020 when pig imports were
restricted due to ASF and Covid-19. Qiu
now targets consumers less sensitive to price
and seeking better meat quality, charging up
to twice the average price. However, this is
still a niche market.
While the future market share of indig-
enous pork might increase to 20-30 percent
from today’s 5-10 percent, experts said a
majority market share is still a long way off.
Zhu Li said imported pigs will have a place
as long as there is demand for cheaper pork
from lower-income groups.
Wang Churui said that China could devel-
op selective breeding with imported varieties
CHINAREPORT I May 2021
 CHINA
BYNUMBERS
to meet domestic market demand. 279.4% Changes in macro leverage ratio in Q1-Q4 2020
However, the country lacks a sound sys-
tem for selective breeding. Zhu explained China’s macro 15
that selective breeding helps to maintain leverage ratio (debt
to nominal GDP 10
desirable genetic traits in pigs such as high ratio) in 2020, an
lean-meat percentages. But these traits fade 5
increase of 23.5
once selective breeding ceases. So as long percent over 2019 0
as people eat pork, selective breeding must Source: People’s Bank -5
continue, which requires persistent invest- of China Q1 14% Q2 7.2% Q3 3.9% Q4 -1.6%
ments of time, energy and capital.
China has a gap to bridge in this regard.
Authorities did not promote selective breed- Share of yuan-denominated foreign debt in China’s overall foreign
ing of lean-meat pigs on a large scale until in 42% debt in 2019 and 2020

the 1980s, about 100 years later than West- Share of foreign debt 50
ern countries. Besides, China has been slow in yuan in China’s
overall outstanding for- 40
to develop intensive farming and modern
eign debt by the end 30
management, making disease prevention in of 2020, a growth of 3
selective breeding a greater challenge. percent from the end 20
In recent years, Chinese agribusinesses of September 2020 10
have been closing the gap with developed Source: State Administration 0
countries. Zhu said that a company in Si- of Foreign Exchange of China Q1 2019 Q2 2019 Q3 2019 Q4 2019 Q1 2020 Q2 2020 Q3 2020 Q4 2020
chuan Province imported a batch of breed-
ing pigs from Canada in 2013. By 2016,
after years of intensive selective breeding,
these pigs had genetically surpassed their 42.4% 4.9%
Canadian relatives in many aspects.
Proportion of renewable power capacity Year-on-year decrease in export delivery
But the domestic market for selective in total installed capacity by the end of value of China’s light industry enterprises
breeding is not promising, as selectively 2020, reaching 930 million kilowatts, an with annual revenue over US$3.0 million,
bred pigs do not fetch desirable prices. increase of 14.6 percent over 2012 totalling 2.5 trillion yuan (US$381.8b)
Smaller breeders, which supply the major- Proportion of different renewables among total
ity of China’s pig production, are sensitive renewable power capacity Share of export delivery value in main light
industries
to price and selectively bred pigs are more Home Appliances
expensive. They prefer to simply slaugh- Plastic Products
ter imported breeding pigs after they pro- Hydro Feather and Leather
Agricultural Products Processing
duce one or two generations of piglets and Wind Stationary and Sporting Goods
import a new batch. Solar Furniture
Liu Yonghao suggested the government Biomass Art Supplies
Metal Objects
provide subsidies and other incentives that Food Processing
encourage companies to invest in R&D, Other
infrastructure, training and international
cooperation. Source: National Energy Administration of China Source: China National Light Industry Council
Zhu noted that it is not wise to stop
importing pigs because it benefits genetic
diversity.
“China should put more efforts in se- 10.1 million
lective breeding to keep pace with other The number of people who started a business or found jobs in
countries in technology and meanwhile China’s rural areas in 2020, a year-on-year increase of 19 per-
improve the quality of its breeding pigs by cent over 2019, the biggest and fastest growth in recent years
importing pigs to build a benign cycle,” Source: Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China
Zhu said.

CHINAREPORT I May 2021

51
CULTURE
Literature
Stil Spellbound
Longtime publishing editor Wang Ruiqin recalls the wizardry of
introducing the Harry Potter franchise to China
By Li Jing
S
eventy-year-old editor Wang Ruiqin has never forgotten the
summer afternoon on August 30, 2000 when the State-run
People’s Literature Publishing House held a press conference
announcing it had acquired the rights to publish the first three install-
ments of the Harry Potter series.
Director of the children’s literature desk, Wang was key in bringing
J.K. Rowling’s wizarding works to China. Harry Potter and the Goblet
of Fire, the fourth in the series, had just been released. The press con-
ference in Beijing drew attention from around the globe. People were
eager to know if the world’s most populous country would embrace
the magic world of Hogwarts or remain indifferent muggles.
“The room was filled with foreign reporters. I didn’t know there
were so many foreign reporters in our country. They carried huge
cameras and bombarded me with questions in extremely fluent
Chinese. One of the most frequent questions was whether such West-
ern fantasy fiction was suitable for Chinese children to read,” Wang
told ChinaReport.
Wang responded: “Now you can easily find a McDonald’s or a
KFC on street corners in Chinese cities. Chinese kids love them. They
accept McDonald’s and surely they can accept Harry Potter.”
She was right. The franchise was no less of a success in China than
in other parts of the world.
Who Is J.K. Rowling?
2020 marked the 20th anniversary of Harry Potter’s arrival in
China, and more than 30 million copies of the series have been sold
in the country. Harry and his friends accompanied a young genera-
tion of Chinese. While these earliest fans may have long since grown
up, many remain blissfully bewitched by the world of Harry Potter.
But 20 years ago, bringing a British children’s book about magic to
China was a long journey full of challenges and doubts.
In the winter of 1999, Wang Ruiqin was a bit stressed. The new
52
children’s literature department was founded by Nie Zhenning, presi-
dent of People’s Literature, at a time when the genre was largely over-
looked by literary circles and the public.
Starting the children’s literature desk was a reaction to the boom
in commercial publishing in the late 1990s. Wang was looking for a
project to start off her new job with a bang.
The publishing house had a large reading room where Wang
spent a lot of time flipping through English and French magazines
in search of ideas. In late 1999, she noticed a female writer who was
in almost all the foreign magazines. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of
Azkaban, the third novel in the series, had just been released. Star-
ing at a photo of the proud author holding her latest book beside a
train at King’s Cross, London, Wang could not resist asking: “Who
on earth is J.K. Rowling?”
At the time, China’s internet was still in its infancy. Wang and the
other editors scoured for information about Rowling and her books
on the office’s only computer. After careful research, Wang was con-
vinced that the Harry Potter series was exactly the project she was
looking for.
But tracking down Rowling was another problem. The internet
was so underdeveloped that Wang could not find the author’s contact
information no matter how hard she tried.
“There was nothing but this resolute idea in my mind – I must find
her no matter what,” Wang told ChinaReport. “I had faith in myself
that I would get the publishing rights.”
Wang got the contact for Rowling’s literary agent, Christopher
Little, through a reporter who had returned from the UK. “It was like
a welcome rain after a long drought. I hugged the reporter tightly and
couldn’t help yelling, ‘You’re a lifesaver!’” Wang said.
In the early 2000s, before China joined the WTO, Chinese pub-
lishers – no matter how influential they were at home – were new
to foreign publishing agents. Besides People’s Literature, many other
CHINAREPORT I May 2021
Harry Potter’s journey in China
major publishers in China, such as Yilin Press, Guangming Daily
Press and Jiangsu Juvenile & Children Publishing House, competed
for the rights to the Harry Potter series.
Looking to impress Little, Wang faxed him dozens of docu-
ments in which she expounded on the unparalleled achieve-
ments of the People’s Literature in introducing foreign books to
China over the past 50 years.
Furthermore, Wang offered him a US$10,000 advance for each of
the three books – an astronomical price among Chinese publishers
at the time.
While negotiating royalties, Wang outlined prices based on volume
and even gave a number for one million copies.
“Actually we weren’t sure whether we would really publish one
million copies, but we had to show Rowling and her agent we were
confident we could,” Wang told ChinaReport, adding that reaching
10,000 copies in the early 2000s was considered a commercial suc-
cess.
Supernatural Stigmas
As the series was written by a female author, Wang decided to enlist
female translators. The first three books were translated by four female
translators – Cao Sulin, Ma Ainong, Ma Aixin and Zheng Xuming.
Cao Sulin, then 70, was an experienced translator and daughter of
Cao Jinghua, a notable translator of Chinese modern literature. Cao
translated the first eight chapters of the first book, Harry Potter and
CHINAREPORT I May 2021
the Sorcerer’s Stone, which laid the stylistic foundation for the series.
To translate fictional names such as “Flourish and Blotts,” “Knock-
turn Alley,” “Diagon Alley” and “Gringotts,” Cao used vivid Chinese
expressions that captured the magical world’s charm. “Cao Sulin is a
great English and Russian translator. She has a particular affinity for
children’s books. She’s like a child in her 70s,” Wang said.
However, Cao had concerns about whether a book so focused on
magic could be published in China. She was not alone.
Associated with supernatural forces and superstition, magic is gen-
erally considered taboo according to traditional Chinese values, a view
established in The Analects, which states: “Confucius did not speak
of strange events, violence, riots and supernatural beings.” This was
reinforced after the founding of the People’s Republic of China in
1949. Practices of sorcery, divination, fortune-telling and exorcism
were chastised as feudal superstitions that went against the dominant
ideology of Marxist materialism.
The theme was problematic as children’s books at the time were
mostly educational and often promoted science and atheism. Though
the leash has been loosened compared with the past, magic remains
controversial. As late as 2020, the National Radio and Television Ad-
ministration (NRTA) issued guidelines against portrayals of magic
and the supernatural in film and television.
“A translator I reached out to said ‘The book is full of magic.
You should know I’m a Party member and I can’t risk making po-
litical mistakes. Contact me next time when you have some regular
53
CULTURE
Photo courtesy of the interviewee
Wang Ruiqin (middle), Mai Ainong (left), one of the Chinese translators
of the Harry Potter franchise, and a Harry Potter fan pose at a fan event
children’s books,’” Wang said.
However, the editor remained optimistic. “Magic has always been a
part of Western folk culture. Werewolves, vampires or wizards – these
elements all reflect the history and culture of particular countries. In
Chinese culture, we also have stories of ghosts and spirits in classics
such as Strange Stories From a Chinese Studio and Chronicles of the
Eastern Zhou Kingdoms.
“What’s more, the themes in Harry Potter involve love, courage,
friendship and the triumph of good over evil. These are values en-
couraged in every culture. Children around the world are crazy about
the books. I thought Chinese children would also love them,” Wang
said.
The Magic Continues
On October 6, 2000, the book launch ceremony was held at
Beijing Wangfujing Bookshop, where 2,500 copies sold in the first
hour. The following year, more than 1.5 million copies of the first
three books were sold in China.
The introduction of the Harry Potter franchise heralded a new era
for the country’s publishing industry. Ever since, Chinese publishing
54
agents have increasingly sought out rights to books from overseas and
attended international book fairs.
The franchise had a tremendous influence on China’s literary writ-
ing. It sparked a wave of children’s fiction about magic and also played
a part in the birth of Chinese fantasy fiction.
“Chinese readers began to get familiar with the setting and features
of Western fantasy literature. Chinese writers developed their own
fantasy literature ecosystem, which is heavily influenced by Western
fantasy works. Now the genre has grown quite mature in China. In
fact, today lots of Chinese writers of children’s and young adult fiction
are Harry Potter fans,” Wang told ChinaReport.
But the editor disapproves of Chinese children’s writers seeking
only to cash in on the trend. As a senior editor of children’s literature,
Wang said that writers should appreciate the depth of the genre in-
stead of writing shallow and valueless stories for kids.
“Children’s fiction is not an easy genre to write. To some extent, it
might be more difficult. This genre should have its own depth. Many
adult writers assume that 9-year-olds don’t think about life’s big ques-
tions. But actually they do. Whether it’s death or the complexity of
human nature, they do understand these issues,” Wang said.
A masterpiece of children’s literature, the Harry Potter series takes
life and death head-on as one of its main themes. Wang said that the
series delivers a clear message: everyone faces death.
“It’s totally fine to have our children think about life and death.
Everyone encounters difficulties and darkness in life, but we should
face these trials bravely instead of flinching and running away. Just
like Harry in the final book, he’s just 17, still a teenager, but he faces
the critical moment of life and death quite bravely,” the editor said.
In 2011, Wang started a firm to handle copyright protection for
the Harry Potter series and Rowling’s new books. All her young em-
ployees are Harry Potter fans, and often cosplay with wizard robes and
magic wands for events. They have each chosen Hogwarts houses.
They think Wang, who is smart and wise, belongs in Ravenclaw.
Wang does not agree, though she admits to taking an online test that
said she was indeed Ravenclaw material.
“But I always thought I belonged in Gryffindor, the house of cour-
age. I think what [Hogwart’s headmaster] Albus Dumbledore said is
quite right – ‘It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more
than our abilities,’” Wang told ChinaReport.
CHINAREPORT I May 2021
 presents

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CHINAREPORT I May 2021

55
VISUAL REPORT

HOPES & SLOPES

1

Skiing is a costly sport for most Chinese families. From hiring instructors to buying
equipment, a single ski season can easily cost thousands of dollars.
To promote the development of ice and snow sports, the country is helping make
these elite sports more accessible. Winter sports schools were established to train
more athletes for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games and to develop the industry.
Xuanhua No.2 Middle School in Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province, a co-host of the 2022
Winter Games along with Chinese capital Beijing, is the best of all. The school has
given hundreds of teenagers from disadvantaged families a chance to experience the
fun of winter sports.
“My dream is to become an Olympian,” said Lü Yuanxin, a 15-year-old snowboarder
from a small village in Zhuolu County, Zhangjiakou. With funding from the school, Lü,
whose family is impoverished, is chasing his dreams of winning gold.
So far, the school has trained more than 200 competitive skiers, 31 of whom have
made the national team, and seven national skiing judges.
“My biggest dream is to coach Olympians to continue this dream of ice and snow,” said
Lü’s coach, Sun Zhifeng, a three-time Olympian. “It’s only half a hour’s drive from the
school to the Olympic venue, but for me and my trainees, it may take us 5 years, 10
years or more on the road to our dreams,” Sun told the Workers Daily.

56 CHINAREPORT I May 2021

1.An amateur skier skis through the
woods at a ski resort in Zhangjiakou,
Hebei Province, December 12,
2020

2. Liu Jiayu, a young skier from

Xuanhua No.2 Middle School,
during training on January 3, 2021,
Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province

3. Sun Zhifeng coaches a team of

teenage snowboarders in slopestyle
in Chongli Fulong Ski Resort in
Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province,
January 3, 2021

2
3

CHINAREPORT I May 2021

57
VISUAL REPORT

1
2

1. On January 4, 2021, after the New Year

holiday, students from Xuanhua No.2
Middle School take the school bus to their
training base at Chongli Fulong Ski Resort,
Zhangjiakou

2. A teenage skier takes a tumble while

practicing a 720-degree flip during training
at Chongli Fulong Ski Resort, January 5,
2021

3. Lü Yuanxin (left) hands in his mobile

phone to the team leader, January 4, 2021.
Right after the New Year’s Day, the trainees
of Xuanhua No.2 Middle School need to
return to their training base

4. Coach Sun Zhifeng requires his

students to continue training at night
after their daily practice, January 4, 2021,
Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province

5. Lü Yuanxin perform flips to his

classmate in the apartment complex where
the students stay, Zhangjiakou, January 3,
2021

6. Lü Yuanxin practises snowboarding in

Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province, January
3, 2021. Several days before, he placed
second in the Youth Snowboarding
Championship of Hebei Province, which
earned him a certificate for a National
Second-level Athlete

58 CHINAREPORT I May 2021

 3 6
4

CHINAREPORT I May 2021

59
OUTSIDEIN
Perspectives from within China
Shenzhen
Gardens and Galleries
Tucked away in the north of Shenzhen, the Hakka village of Niuhu has retained its
architecture, charm and plays host to dozens of artists
By Adam Robbins
A
t the heart of Shenzhen, the boom-
ing metropolis of the south, there is
a deception.
As lies go, it’s rather innocent. The oft-told
story goes like this: 40 years ago there was
nearly nothing here, until late Chinese leader
Deng Xiaoping formed this city of special
economic zones to launch the era of reform
and opening-up. Like all political stories, the
reality is more complicated.
Once you start to tramp the 2,000 square
kilometres of Shenzhen, the signs of pre-
Deng life begin to appear behind the cre-
ative destruction of the ever-building city.
In countless neighbourhoods you find the
remnants – hidden, ruined, or still thriving
– of the myriad Hakka villages that have dot-
ted the hills and countryside for centuries.
These “guest families,” driven from northern
and central China by conflict, settled in the
south long ago. Their villages, crowned by
distinctive diaolou towers and fortifications,
were often dismantled as the city marches to-
wards its gentrified future, but a few pockets
of the city retain the wonder and charm of
60
those earlier times. Niuhu Art Village is one
of those wonders.
Whether calling itself Aohu, Niuhu, or
New Who (they can’t seem to decide), this
village in Shenzhen’s northern suburbs stands
as a living and evolving memorial to those
earlier times. Other villages sold off their land
in earlier real estate booms, or transformed to
cater to the factories that rose in their back
yard. But not Niuhu.
Thanks to the ever-expanding subway,
Line 4 now travels from the Hong Kong bor-
der all the way to this far-flung get-away. It
takes about an hour on the train, then anoth-
er 15-minute walk through the Aohu village
gate, along decayed concrete pavements and
past the shops of the petite bourgeoisie. But
your journey delivers you to a shining little
gem that feels a world away from the rest of
this cash-grab city.
In this relatively quiet corner – the sounds
of construction pervade all Shenzhen, but
they’re softer here and fade to the chirping of
frogs at night – the poverty of earlier days is
enriched by art and a few distinctive shops.
Village life continues with its labour and ser-
vices, but they’ve infused the older popula-
tion with a smattering of artists from Shen-
zhen, elsewhere in China, and even the US.
The village is not the whitewashed simu-
lacrum found elsewhere in China, recreated
for tourists and devoid of life. Instead, the
mouldering of generations remains, but in
a scrubbed and well-cared-for fashion that
invites visitors to wander these tight-tucked
alleys to enjoy the sights. Beyond the gardens
found in all Hakka villages, Niuhu boasts an
assortment of visual treats. The traditional
village pond stands at the front, a bit green
but clear. The little shoreline, like the rest of
the village, is built for walking and decorated
with art from the start. Looming large at the
entrance, a mural of a bewildered cow could
be the cousin of the bull in Picasso’s Guernica.
Both stand as witness to drastic changes in
their world, if much less violent here.
Murals and Exhibits
It’s tempting to compare Niuhu to the
late Caochangdi, which once sat north of
CHINAREPORT I May 2021
 PRACTICALITIES
Getting there: Shenzhen
itself is easily accessible
by plane or high-speed
rail. From the Futian
Central Business District
you can reach Niuhu
by travelling by metro to
the northern tip of line
4. From there you could
navigate the streets,
but it’s easier to get a
taxi or Didi. Set your
destination as Aohu Art
Gallery and, if you’re
willing to drop 100
yuan (US$15), you can
just take a car the whole
way.

The village isn’t set up

for overnight guests,
but you can find
accommodations in
surrounding Longhua
District or elsewhere
in the city. It’s not all
that distant, so you can
bundle into a car at the
Photo by CNS

Photo by CNS
end of the night.

Art
An aerial view of Aohu Art Village, The former site of the century-old
Guangdong Province, February 24, 2019 Qiming Primary School, Aohu Art
Village, February 24, 2019

Beijing’s city centre. But Niuhu is much
smaller, with far fewer galleries and a flagship
space that’s often only half-utilised. But that’s
part of the soft-sunset charm of the place:
wandering through side streets you might
catch a butterfly-brief exhibit, or find every-
thing closed and just enjoy the mural-painted
architecture, the lush home gardens and an
uphill walk to the nearby park.
Mongolia House is one of the most fasci-
nating, and most ephemeral, of the galleries
here. Tucked into one of the alleys (look for
the orange sign and the yurt) it often hosts
brief exhibitions of owner A-Kun’s photog-
raphy and the future-leaning works of his
friends. Recently the space hosted four “hard
noise” artists who are big in Japan. The oscil-
lating dissonance, amplified rumblings and
crashes of sound were too challenging for me
to say I’m a fan, but on a cool spring night it
felt good to share such experimental music
with a community of dozens, young and old.
Back towards the village entrance, near
the flagship Aohu Art Gallery where work-
ing-class portraits are built into the walls,
Malsonart is the most reliably open and
enjoyable exhibit of locally crafted art. Ken
and Bella, the artist-owners, experiment with
forms and designs which utilise their sur-
roundings for a charming and challenging
perspective from this corner of hyper-mod-
ern China. They’re both incredibly person-
able and frequently present, making the pair
an ideal introduction to the other hidden
treasures of Niuhu.
After a rambling afternoon absorbing the
sights, Art + Canteen is always waiting with a
good meal: on our visit it was great seafood,
curried pork neck, an adequate chestnut fried
rice and skippable egg-and-jasmine-flowers.
They don’t offer adequate beer, but a tasty
buy-one-get-one deal on Chilean wines was
perfect for our little party. Just down the way,
as you follow the pond, a little shop offers a
wide assortment of beers and barbecue that
pairs with it so well. It’s not the cheapest but
it’s delicious, especially if you mark the op-
tion to have less spice added to the dishes.
Shenzhen is now enjoying a mild spring,
but expect some rains in May, heat in June–
July, and more rains in August and Septem-
ber. The rest of the year is quite dry with a
relatively warm winter.
Currently no vaccinations or Covid tests
are required to enter Shenzhen, but keep a
watchful eye as the situation may change
quickly. Bring a mask and be prepared to fill
out Shenzhen’s WeChat health code app, but
the situation is currently quite stable.
You might not be visiting Shenzhen for
sheer tourist pleasure. I can’t blame you for
that. But if you’re down here for business,
or because you want to get as close to Hong
Kong as you can without crossing the border,
take a weekend wander through this quieter
slice of old-time Shenzhen, before the facto-
ries, the skyscrapers, and all the rest. Even if
the art doesn’t move you, the space does the
soul some good.

CHINAREPORT I May 2021

61
essay

Students of Booze
By Chris Hawke

For many Westerners, bringing out a dusty
bottle of fine aged Scotch is the way to let a
guest know their visit is really a special occa-
sion. In China, this is expressed by presenting
a box of fine baijiu, or white liquor.
Fine baijiu (pronounced ‘Bye Joe!’) is
served in special thimble-sized shot glasses.
The alcohol content is so high that it can be
absorbed through the lining of your mouth.
Baijiu can commonly be found with a 60
percent alcohol level, and I’ve been served
fine baijiu that was 72 percent – explosive
enough for a Molotov cocktail.
Like many foreigners in China, my initia-
tion to baijiu came during my student days,
when my friends and I were so broke that we
couldn’t afford US$2 beers. We would buy
tiny pocket flasks of baijiu from the corner
shop for 50 cents. Gulping a small bottle
down on a Beijing winter’s night had the
force of drinking about eight beers in five
minutes.
Students rarely get a chance to try good
baijiu, but as the years went on, I had more
chances, especially at office parties and wed-
each other up, and make each other look
My Big Uncle Yu exemplifies this good.
stereotype. He is friendly, funny, On a subsequent trip to Big Yu’s house,
he showed me his basement karaoke room,
talks nonstop and loves to drink. which has a bar and a few cases of French and
He and his younger brother Old Chilean wine, and well as some Jack Daniels
Yu are like a nonstop standup and of course lots of baijiu.
show. On the night of our first At his request, I picked a bottle of wine.
meeting, Big and Old Yu made He told everyone how knowledgeable I was. I
responded by praising his extensive and taste-
the obligatory toasts to their ful wine cellar.
95-year-old father, who doesn't At dinner that evening, after we polished
drink as much as he used to, then off the bottle I had chosen, which was quite
set to work trying to drink me tasty, he pulled out another bottle. He poured
under the table it into my glass, and I realised it had turned
to vinegar – it was undrinkable. I switched
to baijiu immediately, but to my surprise
the other guests drank it without making a
remark. To this day, I’m unsure whether they
were just being polite, didn’t know wine turns
to vinegar, or both. But I kept my end of the
secret contract and didn’t mention a word.
One time, my sister and father came from
Toronto to meet my in-laws. Big Yu sat my
sister at the woman’s half of the table, where
Illustration by Xiao Zhenduo

dings. no one spoke English and the ladies nursed a

A lovely Chinese custom after a meal is for
the guests to go around the table, offering a
personalised toast to each person. These usu-
ally take the forms of expressions of gratitude
or words of encouragement – or if you really
can’t think of anything nice to say, a wish to
get to know the person better.
Northeast China, where my in-laws live, is
known for its rowdy humour. It’s the region
of China where many top comedians come
from. Northeasterners, like people from cold
climates everywhere, also fancy themselves
champion drinkers.
My Big Uncle Yu exemplifies this stereo-
type. He is friendly, funny, talks nonstop and
loves to drink. He and his younger brother
Old Yu are like a nonstop standup show.
On the night of our first meeting, Big
and Old Yu made the obligatory toasts to
their 95-year-old father, who doesn’t drink
as much as he used to, then set to work
trying to drink me under the table. They
were on their home turf, drinking their pre-
ferred drink, Kweichow Moutai, which goes
for at least US$300 a bottle.
Big and Old Yu thought they had me beat
when I ordered a round of beer, but were sur-
prised that I just wanted something to wash
the liquor down with.
In the end, Big Yu could not walk out of
the room, and I heard his father scolded him
the next day for getting so drunk.
In my experience, the key to successfully
hanging out with Chinese men is following
the secret contract – everyone tries to boost
single beer over the meal, if they drank any-
thing at all, basically keeping quiet except to
laugh at Big and Old Yu at appropriate mo-
ments.
I could see my sister was ticked off she was
not invited to sit at the head of the table after
coming all this way, so my father insisted she
come join us. My sister proceeded to drink
the Yus under the table, without appearing
drunk in the least.
At the end of the meal, she asked, “OK
everyone, where are we going next?” as Big
and Little Yu’s wives helped them stagger out
of their seats.
Our family achieved legendary status by
heading out to a Western bar and not return-
ing home until six hours later.
I still love drinking with my Chinese un-
cles, but I have noticed that since then no one
tries to initiate a drinking contest. I guess I
passed the rite of initiation into the family.

CHINAREPORT I May 2021

62
No Filter on Flavour
By Leila Hashemi

Cup o’ Joe, brain juice, java, whatever you
call it, for many people, it’s the only way to
start the day. While there are purists who
like their Americanos and espresso shots, I
am more of an adventurous coffee drinker. I
thought that the highlight to my eclectic cof-
fee taste would be stopped dead in its tracks
when I came to China because, as we all
know, China is known for its leaf juice, not
its bean juice.
I was happily surprised to find that there
was Starbucks, as well as some other local cof-
fee shop brands such as Costa Coffee, Mann
Coffee and the more recent Luckin Coffee.
These all did the trick to fill the coffee shop
vibe for a quick meet-up and the mainstays
of lattes, cappuccinos and some flavoured
and seasonal drinks. Nothing too crazy or
out of the norm.
But, let’s be honest, we don’t all have time
to go sit down for a hot, steaming cup every
morning so I decided that I would have to
hunt for some other options. I was thrilled
when I noticed that a small coffee shop
opened at the top of my hutong. I saw the
name April & Cafe scrawled across the door-
way, popped in and saw that they had quite
a nice little setup. They had cold brew and
fancy machines, as well as Irish coffee – a nice
nightcap coffee with a kick. I ordered a latte
product offering from one of the local
The regular white bottle with brands. The regular white bottle with black
black writing was a beautiful writing was a beautiful pale pink and deco-
rated with cherry blossoms. I was intrigued.
pale pink and decorated with The bottle said the flavour was cherry blos-
cherry blossoms. I was intrigued. som and peach latte. Gross! That was my
The bottle said the flavour was initial thought, but my curiosity got the best
cherry blossom and peach of me.
latte. Gross! That was my initial I got in my cab, gave the bottle a shake
and a swig... delicious! I was super excited
thought, but my curiosity got the and posted about it on my social media. My
best of me friends back home took an interest and asked
about other “weird” flavours I have found
here. In the winter there are seasonal fla-
vours but this by far was the most interesting.
Now, I constantly keep my eye on the cooler
shelves for the next new and exciting flavour.
But aside from convenience store shelves, the
coffee shops are also getting more adventur-
ous. Just today as I was ordering some coffee
for delivery, I saw a new addition – an orange
and honey crisp macchiato. I had to order
it. It came with a layer of orange-flavoured
toffee sauce on top and was sprinkled with
a honeycomb crunchy topping. The descrip-
tion accompanying it said, “The taste is more
interesting.” And it was. I probably wouldn’t
go back for a second cup, but it was definitely
worth a try.
While the average Chinese consumer only
Illustration by Xiao Zhenduo

and it was one of the best I had in a long
time. As I walked out the door satisfied that
I had found my new morning stop, my eyes
widened when I saw the operating hours…
10 am to 11 pm. NO! As coffee culture is
still building in China, I guess the times of
the shops still are under the curb. So much
for my new morning coffee stop.
It seems I was destined to drink conve-
nience store coffee. When I first arrived
in China, the only choice for coffee in the
convenience stores was a Nestle frappuccino-
type drink. More sugar than coffee, I would
reluctantly grab one in the morning to help
take the edge off before jumping in my cab
for work. One that always makes me laugh
is the brand Never Coffee. An odd name for
a coffee brand as if it was never coffee. One
day I walked in and saw there were now four
types available – black coffee, the classic sug-
ary latte, a low sugar latte and something that
said 3 percent less sugar. Not really sure what
that one is all about, but hey, it might be just
what someone is looking for.
In addition, I started noticing other fla-
vours. This year, I walked in to see a new
drinks three cups of coffee per year compared
with the 363 cups in the US, the industry is
growing here in leaps and bounds. My friend
and I attended a coffee festival in Wangfu-
jing at the beginning of the month and it
was amazing to see all the personally owned
shops and new ways of brewing. From what
I see, the coffee demand in China has grown
beyond the traditional coffee shop to more
of a luxury coffee experience. As the industry
grows, so will the variety and that’s what I am
most excited about. Keep your eyes peeled,
you never know what interesting bean juice
flavours will pop up at a convenience store or
local coffee shop. Until then, run out and try
the cherry blossom and peach latte, you will
not be disappointed.

CHINAREPORT I May 2021

63
flavour of the month
Bouquet of Possibilities: Edible Flowers
By Mina Yan
S
pringtime in Beijing is cherry blossom
season. The beautiful pink flowers are
blossoming on trees all over parks in
Beijing, and by mid-March, cherry blossom
flavoured and scented foods are popping up
all around the city, neatly packaged in light
pinks.
The first time I saw cherry blossom fla-
voured foods I thought it was so exotic. But
after years of living in Beijing, it’s just another
marketing gimmick that no longer appeals to
me. Seriously, every spring, there’s everything
from cherry blossom-themed afternoon tea
in luxury five-star hotels to cherry blossom-
flavoured chips at your corner convenient
store.
But edible flowers aren’t anything new or
exotic in Chinese cuisine. Aside from the ex-
tremely seasonal cherry blossoms, there are
plenty of other flowers that make regular ap-
pearances on Chinese dinner tables. Let’s put
aside broccoli and cauliflower for a second
(because they’re technically both vegetables
and flowers), and look at a few that are lesser
known.
In China, most meals are usually served
real chinese
renshe
public persona
Zheng Naixin, a member of pop group
BonBon Girls 303, has been spotted sev-
eral times leaving the residential building
of pop idol Li Zhenning, bolstering previ-
ous rumours of a relationship. Although
her company quickly delivered a statement
calling the rumours “groundless,” netizens
believe the scandal has ruined Zheng’s renshe
(meaning “public image”) of “never entering
a relationship while an idol,” which she said
in several interviews.
64
with a pot of hot tea. One of the most com-
mon flavours is chrysanthemum. Besides tea,
chrysanthemums appear in many dishes. The
flowers have a slightly spicy taste and a dis-
tinct fragrance that’s both relaxing and appe-
tising. A pot of chrysanthemum tea is also be-
lieved to help with digestion, especially when
you’re eating a heavy meal, which makes it a
favourite among Chinese diners.
One of the most commonly used garnish
flowers in China are pansies and violets.
These tricoloured flowers have very little fla-
vour, but add a bright splash to salads, des-
serts, and seafood dishes. They were original-
ly only used in Western restaurants in China,
but because they’re perennial, relatively easy
to keep in the kitchen without wilting, and
are not very aromatic, they’ve become popu-
lar with Chinese chefs as well.
So what about a flower that’s not just there
to look pretty?
If you’ve ever dined in a Yunnanese restau-
rant, one of the local favourites is stir-fried
eggs with jasmine. The fragrance of flowers
really come out as it cooks and infuses with
the eggs. While the dish might look bland
With ren meaning “person” and she
“design,” renshe originally referred to the
design of characters in video games, comics
and anime, both visually and in personality.
The definition extended to the real world
in 2016 to describe entertainment agencies
that manufacture the look and personality
of pop stars. For example, an actress may be
sculpted to be innocent, kind and amiable,
and offered similar roles to strengthen that
persona.
and simple, its sweet flavours do grow on you
after a few bites.
And when it comes to dessert, there’s no
flower that beats the sweet osmanthus. While
it can’t compare to other flowers in looks, this
simple looking yellow flower appears in more
Chinese dishes than any other flower. Sweet
osmanthus are a favourite among foodies for
their strong sweet fragrance that reminds of
the buttery sweet apricot. In China, aside
from being made into tea, sweet osmanthus is
most popularly used in desserts. They’re often
reduced to a sweet syrup that is poured over
almond tofu and other less sugary desserts
to give them something a little extra. Sweet
osmanthus is also used in cakes, wrapped
into dumplings, boiled into soup, and even
distilled into a liquor for slow sipping.
So if you’re looking to get more flowers in
your diet (which apparently is a thing that
people do now), Chinese cuisine makes it an
easy place to start.
rén shè
However, renshe does not always conform
to a pop star’s true personality. Most often, it
merely caters to fans’ established tastes, and
offering them a glimpse of one’s true self can
devastate a career. In 2019, pop star Wang
Yuan’s healthy and wholesome renshe was ru-
ined when a photo of him smoking in public
went viral online.
The term is also used to describe anyone
who lives behind a mask or become infatu-
ated with their own manufactured image.
CHINAREPORT I May 2021
CHINAREPORT I May 2021
65
66
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