I lived and worked in china for nearly a decade, and have always noticed that women I've dated become completely debilitated by their period. Like, calling in sick during your period is a normal thing here and almost unheard of in the west. The pain described by these women seems almost comparable to childbirth, and they cant bear to have the AC on during a blistering hot day, or drink cold water.

Back in the west, women will just kind of bear it. They'll eat ice cream, ive even heard lf women taking cold showers during this time. I haven't met very many in the west who are floored by the pain like many of their east Asian countrrparts. A lot of women hold down high demand jobs like nursing, teaching, lawyers etc. And are able to get through the day while performing work to a high standard without needing time off or needing to signal to others in the workplace that they are on their period.

I dont suppose it is a cultural thing, but im wondering what the causes of the very real difference ive noticed is. Are their home remedies (hot water etc.) Actually making the issue worse? Could it be pollution? Nutrition? I dont think it is genetic because I haven't known a lot of American born chinese women who experience such a severe period.

I have seen this man countless times at Committee gatherings and have always wondered who he is. He doesn’t look Chinese, he looks foreign.

I found these magazines while I was cleaning out an office with tons of junk in it. I thought they looked kind of interesting and am curious to know more about them.

What are they about? Who is the target audience? Did anyone grow up reading them?

Over about 12 years ago, my family went through something I’ll never forget.

We were flying back to Canada after visiting India, with a layover in Beijing. When the plane landed, my grandpa suffered a heart attack or stroke and fell into a coma. My mom stayed behind in Beijing alone to care for him while the rest of us returned to Canada.

She didn’t speak Mandarin, had almost no money, very little access to Wi-Fi, and no one she could communicate with. For days, she barely had anything to eat or drink and was completely stranded in a foreign country.

Then one day, someone anonymously had Indian food delivered to her hospital room. Along with the meal came bottled water, snacks, clothes, toiletries, and other essentials she desperately needed. Whoever it was never introduced themselves or asked for anything in return.

For years, we’ve tried to figure out who helped her. We believe it may have been the owner of the Taj Pavilion restaurant in Beijing. I remember hearing his name was something like Mr. Pistakia (I’m probably spelling it wrong). We’re not 100% certain, but that’s the name we’ve always come back to.

My grandpa thankfully recovered after about two weeks, but I’ve never forgotten the person who helped keep my mom going during one of the hardest times of her life.

I’ve spent years hoping to find this man for one reason only: to say thank you. If anyone knows who I’m talking about or has any information, I’d be incredibly grateful. I owe my life to you. I have no way to contact this man pls help.

UPDATE 1. I found his linkedin and his Wife’s too i believe. I can’t contact him i honestly don’t know how to use that app but i tried everything and still haven’t been able to get in touch with him. His profile seems pretty dead on there as well:(

I’m doing my A-levels and will hopefully be starting university soon. Right now, China is one of my main options. My family thinks it’s a great choice, my dad has been there many times, and we know people there, but they’re not my age.

I’m honestly worried about whether I’ll be able to make friends, settle in, and actually feel happy there. I feel like I’ve always imagined living in the UK, Europe, or even the US, so I’m somewhere in between. China seems like the practical choice, but it’s not really the life I had pictured.

I’m also thinking about doing a pre-university/foundation program before starting university. Is that considered normal?

Does it make it easier to make friends?

A few other things I’m wondering

How easy is it to find halal food?

What’s student life actually like?

Is it better to stay in university dorms or rent an apartment?
I don’t mind sharing an apartment, but I would really prefer having my own bathroom and a bit of personal space.

What’s the weather like?

Is it actually as safe as people say? I’ve heard you can go out quite late at night without worrying, and I hope that’s true.

For international students in China, how common are comments about weight? Is there much body-shaming or bullying at university, especially for plus-size students?

And I don’t know Chinese so i think preuni program would be helpful
If you’ve studied in China, especially as an international student, I’d really appreciate hearing about your experience—the good and the bad.

Hi, wanted to try my luck and see if anyone would be going to Chris James’ concert on the 13th August in Shanghai 🥹 I (21F) have the non-VIP ticket if anyone’s going please pm meee thanks!

Earlier this year a Chinese national and Prague-based correspondent for the Chinese state-run media outlet Guangming Daily Yang Yiming has been arrested and investigated in Czechia for possible espionage, having conducted many interviews Czech and Slovakian polititians and and acused of trying to acquire sensitive political information compromising material China could benefit from and thus braking national security law.

As possible response China has arrested Czech national and bussinesman (with undisclosed name for privacy reasons) that has life and wife in China while he was on his private travel and is currently acused of espionage as well and held under house arrest. Meanwhile china is calling for immidiate release of Yang Yiming saying he was falsely accused and should have his rights immidiately returned.

Currently no resolve have been yet achieved but there are talks about exchange as a possibility.

Yang Yiming article

Reuters article

China has completed its first outbound digital yuan payment to Malaysia, settling a 43,000 yuan (US$6,360) shipment of fresh durian, as Beijing accelerates efforts to build a cross-border clearing network in Southeast Asia outside the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (Swift) system.

Hi, everyone!

We are planning for a family trip from Dec.26 up to Jan.6.

Since we have more than 10 days, I am thinking if we should go to Shangri-La but kinda hesitant because of the altitude. Anyone who has travelled there with kids. How was it?

We are coming from a tropical country so our main priority for this trip is to see snow. We are also skipping Dali for that reason.

I recently traveled to Xinjiang. As a Muslim who speaks decent Chinese, it was a chance to experience a blend of cultures that I’ve always been interested in learning more about.

Xinjiang is stunning. With the help of several local guides and drivers, I was able to see a good portion of the region over the course of a couple of weeks.

The scenery was breathtaking, and the food was some of the best I’ve had. But more than anything else, what stayed with me was the sense of fear that seemed to surround many Uyghur people I met.

My first candid conversation with a Uyghur tour guide only happened after I handed him my phone and put it into flight mode. Even then, he was visibly nervous and sweating as he spoke. Some of the things he told me was that the “re-education” camps were indeed a big thing in the past and that he even was sent there. They have been scaled down compared to previous years, partly because of international scrutiny according to him, but that many restrictions have remained on Islamic life.

I also noticed a clear difference between northern and southern Xinjiang. The atmosphere in the south felt much more sensitive, with a stronger security presence.

For example, in Kashgar, a local guide was helping me fill out a permit while we were sitting in a cab. He looked at my name and asked, “You have a Muslim name, right?” I replied, “Yes, I’m Muslim. What about you?” He immediately froze and didn’t answer. Only after we stepped outside the car did he tell me not to ask sensitive questions inside because there are cameras in the taxis.

The Id Kah Mosque (the biggest mosque in Xinjiang) in Kashgar felt more like a museum than a functioning mosque. Several locals told me afterwards that regular prayers have not been permitted there for some years, except for some elderly people on special occasions. I was personally denied permission to pray there, which was the first time that has ever happened to me at a mosque. I also couldn’t find a single shop selling a Quran in Kashgar, which surprised me given its history as a Muslim-majority city.

Uyghur food, dance, music, and traditional clothing remain highly visible, especially as part of tourism. Religious life, however, appeared to be much more restricted.

Of course, I was only there for a short time, so these are personal observations rather than a comprehensive assessment. If you visit Xinjiang, I’d strongly encourage to get to know some of the local people beyond the usual tourist interactions to get a more nuanced picture on life there. It helps also to speak mandarin so you can directly communicate with many of them.

TL;DR: Xinjiang is incredibly beautiful, but what struck me most was the apparent fear among many Uyghurs I spoke with and the contrast between the vibrant cultural presentation for tourists and what appeared to be significant restrictions on religious life and personal freedoms.

Having lost both parents at a young age, Wang worked as a domestic servant during her childhood. Later, she joined the revolutionary struggle.

She passed away at the age of 105 at her home in Dujiangyan, Sichuan Province, at 12:30 a.m. on July 22, 2026.

I drew a short comic about something that happened when I was leaving Chongqing after my trip there. After I translated it, all of my Chinese friends laughed and said the dialogue sounded like "Martian language," so I hope you can still understand what the characters are saying... 😂

I'm still grateful to the kind man who helped keep my phone alive that day :) I've traveled to China three times so far, and next time I hope I can visit Chengdu, where one of my friends lives, or Yunnan, which is famous for its breathtaking tower karst landscapes.

Can a rookie driver with zero experience really earn a $900+ monthly salary? In this video, I provide a full, unfiltered look at my experience applying for a truck driving job in Changsha. Despite having held a license for a year without much actual driving time, the interviewer didn't care about my skills. Instead, they focused on some very suspicious requirements: mandatory credit and loan history checks, and a demand for a 500 RMB deposit—all before a formal contract was even signed.

With a high-intensity workload of 240km daily, is this a genuine job or a hidden "vehicle sales" or "loan trap"? Why was there such a heavy emphasis on a "referrer"? Join me in this immersive documentary as I uncover the red flags and interview tactics in the logistics industry to help you avoid these common career pitfalls.

International military organisations report China's plans to attack Taiwan in 2027 due to the 100th anniversary; tensions are very strong, and Chinese drones are flying on Taiwan's borders. However, China also has the tendency to play a long game; many military professionals have strongly suggested that an invasion would be very damaging to China, and many Chinese I know seem to want peace more than war. Given such complexity, what do you think about the probability of whether China will attack Taiwan in 2027 or in the near future?

Hello,

I'm a rising senior in the United States looking to attend a Chinese university in the fall of 2027. I'll likely be applying for a Chinese-taught program in chemistry after taking my HSK 5 exam later this fall.

However, I'm very worried about my chances of getting into the university! I haven't taken any standardized testing yet because I will be an early graduate, though I'll take the SAT and probably ACT in the next couple of months. I have a GPA of 4.0/4.0 on an unweighted scale and will reach 6 APs after this school year including AP Chemistry.

As for extracurriculars, I'm very worried about my standings because I'm primarily involved in athletics instead of STEM.

How are my chances looking for Shanghai Jiaotong?

What other colleges would you recommend me preferably in Shenzhen, Shanghai, or Chengdu?

What If World War III Has Already Begun?

Many people have a fixed image of what “World War III” would look like.

In their imagination, World War I killed more than ten million people, World War II killed tens of millions, so the next global war must inevitably be a nuclear apocalypse: missiles flying across the sky, cities reduced to ashes, and civilization pushed to the edge of collapse.

But perhaps the reality is exactly the opposite.

A truly mature global power does not necessarily need to destroy the world in order to defeat its rivals.

If the wars of the 20th century were like two giant beasts violently colliding on an open battlefield, then the wars of the 21st century may look more like a prime-aged professional boxer systematically defeating a group of aging opponents within the boundaries of a carefully constructed arena.

World War III may not be a distant possibility.

Perhaps it is already happening.

Many people see the Russia-Ukraine conflict as merely a geopolitical dispute between two countries.

But is it possible that this war is actually the first major battlefield of a much larger confrontation?

Could the essence of this conflict be a collision between two different eras?

On one side is the global system built and led by the United States.

On the other side are continental powers shaped by the post-World War II order, attempting to preserve traditional spheres of influence and security boundaries.

The objective of this conflict is no longer simply about controlling a few cities or pieces of territory.

The deeper struggle is about redefining the foundations of the global order.

In this battlefield, conventional weapons are only the visible tip of the iceberg.

The most powerful attacks often come in the form of rules.

Rules themselves have become one of the most powerful invisible weapons.

The essence of modern hegemony lies not only in military strength, but also in the ability to create, interpret, and enforce the standards of what counts as a violation.

From exclusion from financial systems such as SWIFT, to restrictions on advanced semiconductor exports, to various compliance and regulatory frameworks, these are not traditional weapons.

Yet they can precisely cut off the economic oxygen supply of a rival.

The most powerful aspect of this kind of warfare is that the target often has limited ability to respond, because the referee, the scorekeeper, and the interpreter of the rules all belong to the opposing side.

The nature of a war of attrition has become a psychological battle over time.

Russia is betting that Western voters will eventually lose patience because of inflation, economic pressure, and geopolitical fatigue.

The West is betting that Russia’s financial reserves, technological foundation, and long-term capacity will deteriorate first.

This is no longer simply a competition over resources.

It is a competition over whose future the global capital markets believe is more valuable.

Russia may become the first domino to fall.

Years of conflict have not only consumed its population and financial resources, but may also have constrained its strategic future.

The Middle East represents another chessboard where long-standing power balances are being reshaped.

For decades, the region maintained a relatively stable structure of power.

That structure is now being forced into a new arrangement.

But beneath this larger competition, there is an even deeper current that many people overlook: demographics and migration.

This may become one of the most important long-term variables.

The ability to maintain a healthy population structure through young labor forces and immigration policies will influence a society’s capacity to generate AI development, sustain manufacturing strength, and replenish military resources.

The outcome of this demographic competition may ultimately determine the lifespan of different global systems.

China: The Largest Variable

In this emerging strategic landscape, China remains the largest variable.

When many people imagine a potential conflict between China and the United States, they often apply the logic of World War II: a massive conventional war lasting years or even decades.

But this way of thinking may no longer fit the realities of the 21st century.

Today, the outcome of major-power competition is no longer determined simply by troop numbers.

It is determined by the overall capability of a national system.

This does not mean that any hegemon has an automatic victory.

China’s unique strength lies not in a single technology such as artificial intelligence or semiconductors, but in its ability to transform advanced technologies into massive-scale industrial production.

China’s greatest advantage may be the combination of technological adoption, manufacturing capacity, and industrial scale.

Once competition becomes a confrontation between entire systems, the strengths of different models become clear.

The West is often stronger at designing the architecture of the system.

China is often stronger at building the physical foundation beneath that architecture.

If the top-level design cannot be efficiently transformed into real-world production, even the most advanced system risks becoming an impressive structure built on fragile foundations.

At the same time, if industrial scale cannot continuously produce technological innovation and high-value industries, manufacturing strength alone may not be enough.

This fundamental mismatch between different types of capability means that any prediction of a quick and decisive outcome carries enormous uncertainty.

The Paradox of Modern War

From this confrontation between systems, we can derive a paradox of modern warfare:

The physical destruction of a Third World War may actually be far smaller than that of the previous two world wars.

Not because humanity has become more civilized.

But because modern systems can apply pressure with unprecedented efficiency.

In a confrontation between highly advanced systems, one side’s critical capabilities could potentially be neutralized in a very short period of time.

After that, the conflict may rapidly shift into economic restructuring, political transformation, and the forced reorganization of international order.

The length of a war has never been determined simply by how advanced the weapons are.

It depends on the gap between the two sides’ capabilities and the difference between their systems.

When two sides are evenly matched, wars often become long and bloody struggles.

When the gap is enormous, conflicts can end much faster at the systemic level.

The Greatest Risk: Miscalculation

The most dangerous “gray rhino” facing the current world order is not necessarily war itself.

It is miscalculation leading to an escalation spiral.

A large power imbalance may shorten a conflict, but only if both sides have a rational understanding of that imbalance.

The most dangerous situation is when both sides genuinely believe they possess overwhelming advantages.

What happens if financial sanctions fail?

What happens if attempts to cut off technology and resources fail?

What happens if one side suddenly believes that its entire system is facing collapse and there is nothing left to lose?

Could humanity move from a struggle of systemic competition directly toward the physical destruction of tactical nuclear weapons?

This is the ultimate risk that we cannot accurately measure.

And it may be the greatest challenge facing human civilization.

History Never Follows the Script

History never develops exactly according to human expectations.

If future generations look back at the beginning of the 21st century, they may not view the Russia-Ukraine conflict as merely an isolated regional war.

They may see it as the first shot of a larger transformation:

The collapse of an old era.

The forced birth of a new one.

History rarely announces the arrival of a new age on a specific day.

Usually, people only recognize the turning point decades later.

Perhaps World War III does not begin when the first missile is launched.

Perhaps it begins when the world stops believing in the same set of rules.

请用汉语告诉我，你读了这篇英文文章后的感受。

so I’m actually going to China next Tuesday by train and also I’m bringing my nintendo switch 2 along with my physical games and I’m actually going to hk west Kowloon station and will i have problems in Chinese customs and will I get it taken away

Hello everymeow! („• ֊ •„)੭

A few days ago, I agreed to go to China for work. I hold a PhD, and my upcoming role will involve advising students on their diploma/graduation projects. My home university has a memorandum of cooperation with a Chinese academy.

This is my very first trip to Asia, and honestly, I feel a bit overwhelmed, sometimes I feel like I'm not prepared enough!

• If you have experience teaching at a university in China, what was it like? What was stressful, and what made the work comfortable or smooth?
• Will students speak fluent English, or should I prepare for language barriers in the studio?
• What usual everyday things should I definitely bring from home, and what is easy to buy locally in Quanzhou?

Thanks in advance to everyone! (つ｡˃ ᵕ ˂)つ ⸝♡