Written by Sabina Cioboata Following decades of reform and rapid growth in China, urban regeneration has been one of the most transformative phenomena for cities and their dwellers. Under the umbrella of cultural or heritage-led regeneration, state and market- dominated…
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Written by Philipp Demgenski In early 2017, I joined the UNESCO Friction Project and set out to study how the UNESCO 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity is implemented in China. In this post…
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Written by Harriet Evans What is cultural heritage in China today? Dominant top-down practices of cultural heritage in China are accompanied by the massive construction of museums, competition for UNESCO recognition, and projects of heritage tourism increasingly associated with the…
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Written by Editor This issue explores heritage and memory. We asked our contributors to reflect on the many discourses and practices of heritage and memory in contemporary China, and their complex relationships with the politics of cultural identity. Pieces in…
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Written by Tessa Thorniley The publication of the literary journal, The Penguin New Writing (TPNW), spanned a traumatic period of history including WWII and its aftermath, and in China, the Second Sino-Japanese War. It was a period when representations of China…
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Written by Alexander Tan Questioning the foundation of socially focused research is a key part of academic training, and over the years many questions have been raised as to what the contribution of those working in this space should be. For…
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Written by Anne Witchard The artist and writer Chiang Yee is best remembered for his Silent Traveller books, a series of illustrated travelogues that presented Anglophone readers with a Chinese perspective on familiar destinations. Informative, thought provoking and humorous, they…
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Written by Caterina Bellinetti On February 14th, the death of Liang Jun was reported by international media. Liang, a woman born from a peasant family in Heilongjiang in 1930, became a Chinese national hero thanks to her work as a tractor…
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Written by Sonam Lhundrop The name rTa’u (Daofu in Chinese) means ‘weanling’ – a young foal that has just been weaned. This county in the Tibetan area of western Sichuan is not well-known, but has recently become a center of…
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Written by Amy Jane Barnes To China’s communist leader Chairman Mao Zedong (1893-1976), art and design was integral to revolution. Following Lenin’s lead, he argued that there was ‘no such thing as art for art’s sake’ – all art was…
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