Aowen Cao
Stories
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Food
This is not a joke: Chinese people are eating — and poking fun at — '#whitepeoplefood'
The playful term is trending on social media: Urban workers are embracing (even while joking about) easy-to-fix, healthy Western-style lunches — think sandwiches, veggies ... a lonely baked potato.
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Health
Surge in outbreaks tests China's easing of zero-COVID policy
Cities are once again locking down thousands of neighborhoods and sending people into quarantine, even as local Chinese authorities are tasked with easing COVID restrictions.
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Health
A public payphone in China began ringing and ringing. Who was calling?
It started in July. The callers live in Gourd Island, and they were hoping to share an important message that they saw was being ignored by their local authorities.
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World
Hard work is a point of pride in China. But a culture of slacking off is now in vogue
Younger workers are questioning the benefits of the daily grind as they face worsening prospects. The rise of "Sang culture" embodies the frustration and soul-crushing weariness.
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Health
A surge in COVID-19 spurs new lockdowns in China's cities
In the latest wave, the highly transmissible omicron variant has moved more quickly than contact tracing allows.
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Asia
The mystery of the chained woman in China
A video showed her chained inside a shed. It got nearly 2 billion clicks and sparked a national debate over her identity, whether she is mentally ill — and whether she was trafficked as a bride.
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Food
Snail noodles go viral in China during the pandemic. But the dish is a bit ... funky
The southern specialty — snail broth, pickled bamboo, slippery rice noodles — has taken off. "A lot of people were looking for crazy, ridiculous things to eat," says food blogger Mei Shanshan.