Send us a text The 2022 Winter Olympics is about to start in Beijing, with around 2900 athletes and possibly zero spectators, yet the country now boasts 300 million winter sports enthusiasts. How did China’s winter sports industry grow so fast, and does it differ from other nations? Featuring - Ban Tao: Eternal Star Ice & Snow Head of Branding - Liu Xia: Burton China Resort Business Manager Middle Earth is distributed by The World of Chinese (www.theworldofchinese.com). Every two months, both in print and online, the team at TWOC takes a contemporary issue in Chinese society and culture, and looks behind the headlines at how it affects people on the ground. Middle Earth is made by China Compass Productions and hosted by Aladin Farré. If you have a China-themed cultural project, like shooting your next documentary, or are looking for a specific talent, please get in touch! With thanks to Sean Calvo for music support and Chu Siyi for live translation. The World of Chinese Magazine A magazine about Chinese society, culture, history, arts, language, and more. The World of Chinese Magazine A magazine about Chinese society, culture, history, and more. Support the pod by buying a copy ;) Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Send us a text In this special episode, we review our top 5 stories from this past year, and make a few predictions for trends in China’s culture industries in 2022. Featuring - Aladin Farré : Founder of Middle Earth Podcast - Hatty Liu : Managing editor at TWOC - William Ace Rowles, Miro Li, Juan Tan, Jerry Kim & Elaine Yau Middle Earth is distributed by The World of Chinese (www.theworldofchinese.com). Every two months, both in print and online, the team at TWOC takes a contemporary issue in Chinese society and culture and looks behind the headlines to share how it affects people on the ground. Middle Earth is made by China Compass Productions and hosted by Aladin Farré. If you have a China-themed cultural project like shooting your next documentary or look for a specific talent, please get in touch! With thanks to Sean Calvo for music support. The World of Chinese Magazine A magazine about Chinese society, culture, history, arts, language, and more. The World of Chinese Magazine A magazine about Chinese society, culture, history, and more. Support the pod by buying a copy ;) Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Send us a text A mix between the boardgame Cluedo and LARP (live action role-playing), jubensha is the latest craze for over 10 million game enthusiasts in China. Played mostly by young white-collar workers, the industry has seen a massive influx of players and capital while entrepreneurs and scriptwriters want to offer the best experience for players. Where does this success come from and where is this industry heading? Featuring - D Qiuqiu: Partner and Jubensha’s market manager at G STone - Lu Mingfei : Jubensha store owner Middle Earth is distributed by The World of Chinese (www.theworldofchinese.com). Every two months, both in print and online, the team at TWOC takes a contemporary issue in Chinese society and culture and looks behind the headlines to share how it affects people on the ground. Middle Earth is made by China Compass Productions and hosted by Aladin Farré. If you have a China-themed cultural project like shooting your next documentary or look for a specific talent, please get in touch! With thanks to Sean Calvo for music support. The World of Chinese Magazine A magazine about Chinese society, culture, history, arts, language, and more. The World of Chinese Magazine A magazine about Chinese society, culture, history, and more. Support the pod by buying a copy ;) Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Send us a text Illegal drug usage among China’s adult population is one of the lowest in the world: 0.16%. But has it always been like this since the Reform and Opening Up period? And did you know there are plantations that legally grow cannabis in China? Featuring - Mathias Boelinger: Journalist at DW - Dylan Levi King: Translator & Author Middle Earth is distributed by The World of Chinese (www.theworldofchinese.com). Every two months, both in print and online, the team at TWOC takes a contemporary issue in Chinese society and culture and looks behind the headlines to share how it affects people on the ground. Middle Earth is made by China Compass Productions and hosted by Aladin Farré. If you have a China-themed cultural project like shooting your next documentary or look for a specific talent, please get in touch! With thanks to Sean Calvo for music support. The World of Chinese Magazine A magazine about Chinese society, culture, history, arts, language, and more. The World of Chinese Magazine A magazine about Chinese society, culture, history, and more. Support the pod by buying a copy ;) Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Send us a text China had just 25 museums in 1949, and around 350 at the start of the reform era in 1979. Since 2000, though, over 4,000 new museums have been built in the country on a wide range of subjects, such as the history of every province and county, or the silly-sounding “Watermelon Museum” in Beijing. In 2019, China saw 1.2 billion museum visits. What’s driving this museum-building boom, and how do you design a good museum? Featuring - Oranda HOU : Rockart Bund Museum partnership manager - YU Wanying : podcaster about museums (also guest on Middle Earth #16) - ZHUANG Yongwen : architect and urban designer Notes Middle Earth is distributed by The World of Chinese (www.theworldofchinese.com). Every two months, both in print and online, the team at TWOC takes a contemporary issue in Chinese society and culture and looks behind the headlines to share how it affects people on the ground. Middle Earth is made by China Compass Productions and hosted by Aladin Farré. If you have a China-themed cultural project like shooting your next documentary or look for a specific talent, please get in touch! With thanks to Sean Calvo for music support. The World of Chinese Magazine A magazine about Chinese society, culture, history, arts, language, and more. The World of Chinese Magazine A magazine about Chinese society, culture, history, and more. Support the pod by buying a copy ;) Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Send us a text Short-video app Quibi failed in just six months after launching in the US, so it’s too bad the company didn’t come to China, where hundreds of millions of people watch short drama series that bring you new twists every few seconds… all in vertical form. Why do Chinese audience love such high-speed storytelling and who are the people behind this new content format? After all, as The World of Chinese found out in this article ; most people hold their phones vertically 94 percent of the time, and Chinese mobile content creators are beginning to take note. Featuring - Ivy YU : Associate Producer of "Love me Fearlessly" /《别怕，恋爱吧！》 - YU York : Commissioner for Kuaishou’s micro-series. Middle Earth is distributed by The World of Chinese (www.theworldofchinese.com). Every two months, both in print and online, the team at TWOC takes a contemporary issue in Chinese society and culture and looks behind the headlines to share how it affects people on the ground. Middle Earth is made by China Compass Productions and hosted by Aladin Farré. If you have a China-themed cultural project like shooting your next documentary or look for a specific talent, please get in touch! Show Notes - The highest score for a micro-series on Douban is 另一半的我和你 - The most shared micro-series is 大唐小吃货 With thanks to Sean Calvo for music support. The World of Chinese Magazine A magazine about Chinese society, culture, history, arts, language, and more. The World of Chinese Magazine A magazine about Chinese society, culture, history, and more. Support the pod by buying a copy ;) Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Send us a text China may have 5,000 years of history, but now it has to compete for clicks and eyeballs with short videos on Douyin. From martial arts to Confucian classics to architecture, find out how businesses focused on Chinese traditional culture marketing themselves for young consumers in the modern day. Featuring AJ Donnelly : Co-founder of Cultural Keys Chinese Culture Company Matthew Hu : Co-founder of The Courtyard Institute Carol Yin : Project Manager at the Beijing Institute of Yangming Philosophy Middle Earth is distributed by The World of Chinese (www.theworldofchinese.com). Every two months, both in print and online, the team at TWOC takes a contemporary issue in Chinese society and culture and looks behind the headlines to share how it affects people on the ground. Middle Earth is made by China Compass Productions and hosted by Aladin Farré. If you have a China-themed cultural project like shooting your next documentary or look for a specific talent, please get in touch! With thanks to Sean Calvo for music support. The World of Chinese Magazine A magazine about Chinese society, culture, history, arts, language, and more. The World of Chinese Magazine A magazine about Chinese society, culture, history, and more. Support the pod by buying a copy ;) Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Send us a text Though streaming is on the rise, film festivals are still an important channel for creators to showcase their work. If you’re an indie filmmaker in China, the Xining FIRST Youth Film Exhibition has become the place to see and be seen. Started in 2006, it is now known as the “Sundance of China,” and it is where directors like Wen Muye, director of 2018’s Dying To Survive (the third-highest grossing film at the Chinese box office), was discovered. In 2011, the festival moved to the remote Qinghai province, a Tibetan region better known for its green pastures than its film industry. We invite three attendees from this year’s festival, which just wrapped up in July, on how FIRST helped them find their voice, the challenges of putting on an indie film festival in China, and how FIRST became a standard-bearer of quality for the industry? Featuring Vivian Bao: Independent Producer Khashem Gyal: Director Tina Xu: Culture Editor at The World of Chinese Middle Earth is distributed by The World of Chinese (www.theworldofchinese.com). Every two months, both in print and online, the team at TWOC takes a contemporary issue in Chinese society and culture and looks behind the headlines to share how it affects people on the ground. Middle Earth is made by China Compass Productions and hosted by Aladin Farré. If you have a China-themed cultural project like shooting your next documentary or look for a specific talent, please get in touch! With thanks to Sean Calvo for music support. The World of Chinese Magazine A magazine about Chinese society, culture, history, arts, language, and more. The World of Chinese Magazine A magazine about Chinese society, culture, history, and more. Support the pod by buying a copy ;) Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Send us a text A bonus episode where we will delve into the making of the movie Leap, which came out in September 2020 on the Chinese national women’s volleyball team. Director Peter Ho-Sun Chan and Academy governor-at-large Janet Yang, an award-winning producer, will talk about the incredible journey of the team, the evolution of China over the past few decades, and what it’s like working with acclaimed Chinese actress Gong Li. This episode was originally produced by the Asia Society Museum and Asia Society Southern California. Middle Earth is made by China Compass Productions and hosted by Aladin Farré. If you have a China-themed cultural project like shooting your next documentary or look for a specific talent, please get in touch! This show is part of the World of Chinese Magazine’s podcast network. Order your latest copy at www.theworldofchinese.com or follow them on Wechat (ID : Theworldofchinese). With thanks to Sean Calvo for music support.

Send us a text The Communist Party of China celebrating its 100th year anniversary this year, driving up tourism to revolutionary sites around the country. The “red tourism” sector has seen significant growth from 140 million visit in 2004 to 1.15 billion in 2019, and now the “Gen Z” is following the trend. How do red tourism sites stay relevant for a new generation? Featuring Dr. Mimi Li : associate professor at the School of Hotel and Tourism Management (PolyU) Michael Wang : VP of Content Dragon Trail International Made in partnership with The Chinese Tourism Podcast Middle Earth is distributed by The World of Chinese (www.theworldofchinese.com). Every two months, both in print and online, the team at TWOC takes a contemporary issue in Chinese society and culture and looks behind the headlines to share how it affects people on the ground. Middle Earth is made by China Compass Productions. If you have a China-themed cultural project like shooting your next documentary or look for a specific talent, please get in touch! With thanks to Sean Calvo for music support. The World of Chinese Magazine A magazine about Chinese society, culture, history, arts, language, and more. The World of Chinese Magazine A magazine about Chinese society, culture, history, and more. Support the pod by buying a copy ;) Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Send us a text With a market that will quadruple between 2013 and 2025, China’s animation industry is getting more and more assertive with success stories like Ne Zha (2019), currently the third highest-grossing films in Chinese box office. But what challenges do Chinese animators, producers, and storytellers still face? And how can animated Chinese stories find an audience abroad? Featuring Lulu Hansen: Creative producer Yi Yan: General Manager of Ju Pin Pictures Dalton Grant Jr.: Co-Founder Floating World Animation Studio Middle Earth is distributed by The World of Chinese (www.theworldofchinese.com). Every two months, both in print and online, the team at TWOC takes a contemporary issue in Chinese society and culture and looks behind the headlines to share how it affects people on the ground. Middle Earth is made by China Compass Productions. If you have a China-themed cultural project like shooting your next documentary or look for a specific talent, please get in touch! With thanks to Sean Calvo for music support. The World of Chinese Magazine A magazine about Chinese society, culture, history, arts, language, and more. The World of Chinese Magazine A magazine about Chinese society, culture, history, and more. Support the pod by buying a copy ;) Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Send us a text In February 2021 China’s cinemas sold more ticket than the USA—a result of the COVID-19 epidemic, but also of a population more and more eager to see quality movies on the big screen. Yet for every movie that comes to the silver screen, several others are released over the internet at the same time. Called e-movies, or wǎngdà (网大), they became a massive pop-culture phenomenon in China with a production peak of over 2,200 films in 2017. How did this industry evolve over the last decade, and what does it say about the growth of Chinese cinema? Middle Earth is distributed by The World of Chinese (www.theworldofchinese.com). Every two months, both in print and online, the team at TWOC takes a contemporary issue in Chinese society and culture, and looks behind the headlines to share how it affects people on the ground. Middle Earth is made by China Compass Productions and hosted by Aladin Farré. If you have a China-themed cultural project like shooting your next documentary or look for a specific talent, please get in touch! With thanks to Sean Calvo for music support. The World of Chinese Magazine A magazine about Chinese society, culture, history, arts, language, and more. The World of Chinese Magazine A magazine about Chinese society, culture, history, and more. Support the pod by buying a copy ;) Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.