The New Citizen

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More and more Chinese live in a nation that looks nothing like it did a decade ago. The transformation rivals anything envisioned in Mao Zedong’s revolutionary credo of 60 years ago, yet it has also highlighted new “contradictions among the people,” forcing a widespread search for novel forms of social harmony.

Raising Frogs: A Tea-seller's Story

By Rebecca Davis
Ye Huabin welcomes customers to his shop with a cup of tea as a sample. After picking tealeaves in the fields, Ye now owns two shops in Beijing.
By Michael R. Jeffers

Thanks to China's booming economy, more Chinese can afford gourmet tea these days, and Ye Huabin says his business is on the rise. Once a tea farmer in Fujian province, Ye now runs two tea shops in Beijing.

Hip-Hop in Beijing

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By L.A. Reno

The Foot Style Rockers, a Beijing-based break dancing crew that participate in battles and jam sessions around the city that draw the best nearby talent. China’s growing hip-hop community is still small enough that a local break crew can organize events with some of the scene's top players.

Ebb and Flow - What is Old Becomes New Again

By Christopher Sanchez

For a generation raised on MTV rather than Mao Zedong Thought, Buddhism, along with other traditional Chinese ideologies such as Confucianism and Taoism, offers young people a way to reconnect with their Chinese identity in the face of increasing globalization.

Religion in China

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By Larissa Mueller

Taoism, Buddhism and Confucianism each find their niche within China's evolving religious landscape.

Identity in 3-D

By Katherine Fan

Beijing couple prides themselves on freedom of choice

By Michelle Connolly
Bian Da Cheng stands outside his shop on a weekday afternoon. "It was our own personal choice to open the business," Bian, 54, said. "We have little pressure to make money; we are already retired. We are doing this to consume our time."
By Michelle Connolly
Beijing shop owners Bian Dacheng and Liu Zhiying find their freedom in China's open market.

Sichuan Tragedy Sparks Cultural Shift

By Michelle Connolly

Interview With A Dissident

By Christopher Crawford