China’s Xi Jinping puts culture and ecology front and centre in visit to historic Gansu

China’s Xi Jinping puts culture and ecology front and centre in visit to historic Gansu

Chinese President Xi Jinping put the national focus on cultural and environmental protection as part of a four-day trip to a historic heartland in the northwest. During his inspection tour of Gansu province from Tuesday to Friday, Xi called for improved conservation and management of the region’s landscape, from mountain and forest areas, to farmland … Read more

Chinese civil servant’s complaint about life in remote desert posting stirs debate about public service versus personal freedom

Chinese civil servant’s complaint about life in remote desert posting stirs debate about public service versus personal freedom

In the now-deleted post Gu, who is believed to be in her mid-twenties, complained about feeling “trapped” in the industrial city dominated by iron and steel working, and worried that she had “sold her freedom and soul”. She said she chose to accept the job last year despite having other job offers because she was … Read more

Plains, trains and uncommon zeal: China’s varied landscapes photographed via railways that traverse them

Plains, trains and uncommon zeal: China’s varied landscapes photographed via railways that traverse them

Since leaving full-time employment in 2015 – a seven-year, post-university stint as an accountant for professional services network Deloitte – Wang’s interest in railways, and photographing them, has morphed from a hobby into his raison d’être. Photographer Wang Lu. He spends three to five months of every year travelling to photograph railway scenes in China. … Read more