• Editor’s Letter

Made in China

• Golden Egg How guandan (literally “throwing eggs”) became China’s favorite card gam

Kaleidoscope

• Cai Shanhai captures the life and leisure of China’s cave dwellers

COVER STORY

• Viral Attractions
• Cities fight for tourists with social media marketing and enhanced hospitality, despite the strain visitors place on local infrastructure
• How Zibo broke the curse of short-lived virality and kept the tourists flowing
• Can “reverse travel” save China’s tourists from holiday crowds?

Feature

• More young people are signing prenuptial agreements, but are they enforceable?
• The booming micro-drama industry faces insider anxiety, regulatory scrutiny, and widespread criticism

ON THE ROAD

• A journey through the famous Shandong county that no one seems to visit

Time Machine

• How China’s hotels transformed from exclusive spaces for the privileged to accommodation for the masses

Tech Support

• As AI revival services boom, ethical and legal controversies abound

DRAGON

• Countryside Police Station: An Unsolved Case

BOOKMARK

• Fan Wu’s novel chronicles the experience of Chinese laborers during the First World War and imagines the life of one who stayed in France

ZOETROPE

• Three-Body’s epic scale and fiercely guarded fanbase present challenges to adaptations

Play Points

• Video games mix real-world history and fiction in ways that inform—and perhaps distort—people’s views of China

gallery

• Artist Huang Heshan’s cyberpunk metropolis celebrates and critiques modern urban life

CHI LE MA

• How malatang went from Sichuan street food to one of China’s favorite dishes

SOCIAL CHINESE

• A language guide to social media travel posting

ON THE CHARACTER

• A character for journeys, adventures, and going with the flow

CHINESE YOU NEED

• The words you need to join the conversation on viral tourism

AGONY AYI

• You’ve got questions? She’s got answers

PHOTO FINISH

• PHOTO FINISH
• Where to Buy