The Epidemics Issue 

June, 2020

As China emerges from Covid-19, we look at its history of managing pandemic and the lasting effects on medicine, sanitation, and lifestyles. We spend the New Year in a lock down village, tackle eating disorders, and more.

从明末清初的天花、清朝末年的霍乱、20世纪初东北的肺鼠疫，到2003年的SARS，流行病在中国历史上时隐时现。中国人与细菌、病毒战斗的抗疫史也是中国公共卫生体系的建设史书。

 COVER STORY | 封面故事 

Contagion

Since January, China has taken unprecedented measures to contain the Covid-19 outbreak. But this coronavirus isn’t the first epidemic in Chinese history. From 17th century smallpox that imperiled the Manchu throne to a 20th century plague that gave birth to the face mask, we look at lessons China learned from past contagions, and the indelible changes these health crises wrought on modern sanitation and social governance

中国战疫史：惨痛的代价，不屈的抗争

 FEATURES |主题故事 

Hunger Games

Eating disorders were almost unheard of in China 20 years ago, but are affecting a growing number of (mostly) young women. Unrealistic beauty standards and a lack of mental health resources give toxic sustenance to this deadly new trend

饮食障碍：看不见的健康杀手

Clicking for Charity

Online charity began in China with the Wenchuan Earthquake of 2008, and has made it easy for do-gooders to give. Recent crowdfunding scandals, though, have brought into question whose needs are truly served by these donation platforms

互联网公益AB面

 FIELD NOTES | 乡音 

Close to Home

In January, under the threat of Covid-19, a billion people celebrated an atypical Chinese New Year at home. We translate an essay by writer Mai Cang, for whom the “lockdown” gave a new perspective on his neighbors and the meaning of the holidays in his home village

封村以后，就这样过完了年

 KALEIDOSCOPE | 镜像中国 

Bamboo Bounty

Going “bambooing” in springtime is a centuries-old leisure activity in China, but for the farmers of Wuping county, Fujian province, it is their livelihood. Before the start of each summer, villagers take a hair-raising drive into the mountains to dig up giant bamboo sprouts, and tote back the enormous harvest for the whole country to enjoy

春天的收获

 DRAGON ’S DIGEST | 三味书屋 

The Trial

“Words can kill a person, and they can save a person. This is what a novelist can do.” Author Lei Wei, known for writing about real-life issues, presents a pair of short stories that interrogate the power of words to build up and tear apart

短篇小说《审判》

 GALLERY | 水墨丹青  

Drawing the Line

Photographer Stefen Chow and economist Huiyi Lin put their unusual combination of talents to good use in The Poverty Line, an award-winning series of photographs that showcase foods one can buy on a poverty-line budget in countries around the world

用食物丈量贫穷

 DIASPORA | 四海一家 

Spirits of A Kindred

Every Chinese New Year, “spirit mediums” march through the Parade of Spirits to bring blessings around Phnom Penh. Based on traditional Chinese beliefs, the festivities celebrate a resilient immigrant community with a history of facing persecution

柬埔寨华人的童乩表演

 BOOKMARK | 好书有笺  

Monumental Memory

China’s turbulent 1960s and 70s are a favorite subject of memoirists. Yan Lianke’s Three Brothers: Memories of My Family takes a different approach by painting the “spiritual portrait” of a generation with vignettes about an ordinary rural family

作家阎连科的家族记忆与文化情怀

 ON THE ROAD | 在路上 

Waves of Change

A remote outpost on China’s eastern coast throughout history, Fujian’s Pingtan Island remains a quiet stopping point for ferry passengers to Taiwan today. But for those who stay awhile in its fishing communities, the island offers a tranquil window into seafaring life, tourism development, and the future of China’s marine conservation

平潭：福建第一大岛的别样魅力

 ZOETROPE | 视听空间  

Bated Breath

Released online for free and distributed totally by word-of-mouth, Jiang Nengjie’s viral documentary Miners, the Horsekeeper, and Pneumoconiosis traces China’s unregulated mining industry, and the health and safety risks that haunt it—and his own family

未经公映却意外走红的纪录片

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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……从封面到封底，精彩内容不间断！