The Post-90s Issue

March, 2018

Some of my earliest memories involve watching deliveries of new refrigerators to our community. In early 90s Beijing, the purchase of a fridge brought whole danyuan out to gawk at the brand and wrestle the gleaming Xuehuas and Haiers upstairs. Their towering boxes would be flattened and displayed in the hall, and I’d marvel that we could own anything so large. 

The fridges were followed by our first microwaves, PCs, and cordless phones. At age 8, I watched the fireworks usher in the new millennium and was told that we lived in exciting times. As the pressures of adulthood descend on my generation, this early optimism can seem remote. 

How does China’s post-90s generation, the jiulinghou, face up to the challenges and define their happiness in this uncertain era? This question is seldom answered by jiulinghou themselves, caught among familial and state expectations of our success and the moral panic over our perceived failings. In this issue, jiulinghou writers follow jiulinghou’s stories of making it in society as its new workers and decision-makers, activists and game-changers. For a change, we also visit a Beijing street in its last days before demolition, attend a wedding in Xinjiang, ride long-distance buses to Chinese communities in the US, and catch up with millennials’ again for their latest obsession—raising cats in the “cloud.”

 COVER STORY | 封面故事 

The Noughty Nineties 

“90后”是“幸运的一代”，也是“被坑的一代”；他们在无数争议中成长，在种种标签下寻找自我。如今，他们终于作别青春，步入成熟⋯⋯

 FEATURES | 主题故事 

Tails from the Crypto

从猫咪咖啡到云养猫，“猫咪经济”的背后是“空巢青年”的空虚寂寞冷？

China Town Express 

往返与纽约与波士顿之间，唐人街巴士连接着一个个华人社区，他们与刻板印象做斗争，在争议中艰难地运营

 ON THE ROAD | 在路上 

Serendipitous Sayram

新疆赛里木湖畔的一场别样婚礼：这里有蓝天、碧水和跨越民族的爱情

 FRONTIER | 探路者 

Training Wheels 

中国高铁技术走进埃塞俄比亚，为东非地区带去了第一条城市轻轨

 SOCIAL CHINESE | 社交汉语 

Pride in Prejudice

看网友如何用幽默大战“地域黑” 

还有更多栏目，小说、艺术、语言……从国际视角欣赏中国文化，用地道英文讲述中国故事。有温情，有幽默，有新观点，有真态度！