Tea Leaf Nation

Surviving as a journalist under China’s strict censorship regime is no picnic, but recent moves by the Chinese government have made it clear that lives of journalists in China will more likely get harder. Chinese journalists are some of the most active users on China’s social media — not only can they uncover hidden stories [...]

Launched in February, an emergency two-can limit on exports of baby milk formula was made permanent Hong Kong law last Friday. The South China Morning Post reported that by Saturday last week, customs officials in Hong Kong arrested 26 Hong Kong residents and 19 Mainland Chinese for attempting to smuggle baby milk powder across the border [...]

This article also appears on The Atlantic, a Tea Leaf Nation partner site. When the National Statistics Bureau announced China’s 2012 GINI coefficient – a measure of income inequality – on January 21, the figure caught everyone by surprise, like a genie out of a bottle. The reaction was as much about the number itself [...]

This article also appears on The Atlantic, a Tea Leaf Nation partner site. The river had a charm that its name lacks. “Zhuo Zhang River,” people call it in Chinese, dubbing this tributary of the Yellow River with a murky hue, zhuo (浊), that would not wash away. It was an uncanny epithet, endowed as [...]

This is what a famous fairy tale writer named Zheng Yuanjie had to say: “November 15 is a date that Chinese should remember forever. Five children from Guizhou, ranging from seven to thirteen years old, choked to death in a dumpster, caused by the fire they lit to keep themselves warm.” He posted these words [...]

Tea Leaf Nation is proud to announce a partnership with ChinaFile, an online magazine intended “to broaden your understanding of China and spark new conversation about its place in the world.” Home to a number of respected contributors including Orville Schell and Michael Anti, ChinaFile has formed partnerships with several excellent media outlets including Caixin [...]

If you asked Chinese people to name the most outspoken media outlet in China, half would probably say the Southern Media Group and the other half Caixin Media. Not bad for newcomer Caixin, founded in 2010 by Ms. Hu Shuli, the Iron Lady of Chinese journalism, who has been named in the Wall Street Journal’s [...]