The Rural Rising Issue 

November/December, 2020

We travel to see how different rural communities are trying to beat the poverty alleviation deadline by 2020; look at China’s growing global dominance in drones and wigs; take an unguided trek on the Inner Mongolian frontier; interview a female MMA champion; and more.

扶贫四十多年来，中国农村发生了翻天覆地的变化。走进四川凉山“悬崖村”、浙江温岭“彩虹村”和吉林延边州，看网红直播、旅游农业、新型农村合作社和越来越多选择回乡创业的年轻人如何改变了当地人的生活。

 Cover Story | 封面故事 

Rural Rising

China wants to eradicate poverty by 2020—and we’re checking up on its progress. From a fishing island that transformed itself to a rainbow-hued tourist mecca, to “cliff villagers” who stream their lives from 2,500 meters up, the paths to prosperity are as varied as the communities themselves. Yet behind the success stories, challenges such as rural depopulation and extreme pressure on anti-poverty workers remain

中国乡村“变形记”

 Features |主题故事 

Game of Drones

Whether used in pandemic control or light shows, drones are reshaping life in China, their biggest manufacturer and second biggest global market. But will fierce competition and international politics prevent the country's cutting-edge drone innovations from taking off?

无人机的赛场

A Tangled Weave

China exports 80 percent of the world’s hair products, embraced by consumers amid new fashion trends and rising hair loss. Yet as its influence grows, the unique industry has become entangled in raw hair and labor shortages, and fluctuations in global trade

百亿假发产业的“生长痛”

School of Life 

A training program in rural Hunan province offers students free college education in exchange for teaching at understaffed local schools. In an introspective photo essay, three new graduates reflect on their career choice and the education crisis in China’s countryside

免费师范毕业后，我们当上了乡村教师

 Kaleidoscope | 镜像中国 

Paint the Town 

 An isolated village in the mountains of southern Anhui has long attracted painters for its bucolic setting and centuries-old homes—and the fight is on to keep it that way. Photographer Meng Qingchun captures fleeting moments of daily life and quiet reflection during a reprieve from tourists brought on by Covid-19, and wonders what the future holds for the community

千年古村的诗意与烟火气

 Dragon’s Digest | 三味书屋 

District Champ 

A sports meet comes to a grim factory town, promising to shake up the workers’ daily grind—or does it? In the title story of his collection of tales set in China’s northeast, writer Ban Yu explores the clash of industrial values with the fast-paced changes of the 1990s

班宇短篇小说《铁西冠军》

 Gallery | 水墨丹青  

Soul’s Entryway

Heilongjiang-born artist Wang Zhanwu paints poetry in his new solo exhibition, a six-year creative labor that combines vivid oil paints and pastoral motifs in a love letter to a small northern community—and the nostalgic villages “of everyone’s heart” 

有一封信，通往爱和灵魂家园

 Memory Lane | 那些年 

Rough Ride 

Bicycles were the ultimate symbol of post-reform China, embodying the mobility and burgeoning consumerism of the era. Though they now compete with cars, an embrace of green and healthy lifestyles shows that the ride isn’t over yet in the “Kingdom of Bicycles”

自行车上的四十年

 On the Road | 在路上 

Right to Roam

The Great Wall in northern Shanxi was once a formidable frontier braved by migrants seeking a better life on the Mongolian steppes. Today, adventurous trekkers who recreate the journey known as zou xikou find ancient villages, crumbling forts, and a chance to connect with locals and nature in the starkly scenic landscape

徒步山西长城，体验“走西口”

 Bookmark | 好书有笺  

Words of Love

Writer and filmmaker, British and Chinese, rural and international: Xiaolu Guo is no stranger to dislocation, and revisits the theme in her latest novel A Lover’s Discourse, where a cross-cultural romance raises questions of belonging and alienation

恋人语录：我们该何处安放身心？

 Zoetrope | 视听空间  

Deity Defying

Riding on the sensational success of last year’s Ne Zha, a new film based on the myth of Jiang Ziya tries to recapture the magic of domestic animation, but is hit-and-miss in its efforts to balance good storytelling with a stunning visual style

《姜子牙》：中年反叛为哪般？

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