广场 · what the community is reading & sharing
Typhoon Saudel made two landfalls in Zhejiang on August 28 before weakening, but its rain is now spreading inland across nine provinces, with no casualty figures released yet.
News
台风“沙德尔”登陆浙江后减弱，暴雨扩散至多个省份
Typhoon Saudel Weakens After Landfall in Zhejiang as Heavy Rain Spreads to Multiple Provinces
HSK 5 · 3 min read
Eighteen-year-old Xiaoxue leaves Changsha for university in Beijing, trying to look brave in front of her mother. On the train, a hidden note shows her how much home will always be waiting.
Read
妈妈的纸条
Mom's Note
HSK 4 · 4 min read
Su Wan✍️
🔥 37
Every evening after dinner, this writer's grandmother puts on her dancing shoes and heads to the park square to dance with her friends — a small, happy scene repeated across China every night.
Culture
晚饭后，奶奶去公园跳舞
After Dinner, Grandma Goes to the Park to Dance
HSK 2 · 3 min read
Gao Peng✍️
🔥 26
Chinese milk tea and coffee chains — Molly Tea, Heytea, Luckin, Nayuki — are rushing into supermarkets and convenience stores with bottled versions of their drinks, some cheaper and higher-margin than store-made cups, though not every brand's bottled line is selling well.
Business
现在，奶茶也能在超市买瓶装的了
Now You Can Buy Milk Tea in a Bottle at the Supermarket
HSK 3 · 3 min read
HSK 3.0's second global sitting is set for September 20, with computer-based registration closing September 10. The big change: levels 3-6 now require simultaneous written and oral registration -- no more skipping the spoken part.
Universities
HSK3.0第二次全球试考：9月20日开考，3至6级须与口语同时报名
HSK 3.0's Second Global Trial: Exam Set for September 20, Levels 3-6 Now Require Simultaneous Oral Registration
HSK 5 · 5 min read
A new fuel-price adjustment window opens in China at midnight on August 28; financial institutions expect gasoline and diesel to rise for the 11th time this year, though the official figure from the NDRC won't be confirmed until after the window opens.
News
国内油价今晚迎新一轮调整，机构预计每升上涨约0.3元
China's Fuel Prices Set for New Adjustment Tonight, Institutions Expect About 0.3 Yuan More Per Liter
HSK 5 · 4 min read
Xiaoyun wants a new schoolbag for third grade, but her family can't afford one — so during Turpan's August grape harvest, she and her grandmother sell grapes together at the market.
Read
小云的葡萄
Xiaoyun's Grapes
HSK 2 · 2 min read
Su Wan✍️
🔥 37
A grandmother takes her grandchild to a small neighborhood temple to light three sticks of incense — a simple family custom told in the plainest Chinese, and why it's three sticks, not more.
Faith
奶奶带我去烧香
Grandma Takes Me to Burn Incense
HSK 3 · 2 min read
Gao Peng✍️
🔥 26
Chinese beverage giant Nongfu Spring reported first-half 2026 revenue of 29.718 billion yuan and net profit of 8.887 billion yuan, both up more than 16% year-on-year, driven by its once-mocked sugar-free tea brand Dongfang Shuye, whose sales now outpace rival Master Kong's entire tea line -- though the water-versus-tea profit split remains undisclosed.
Business
农夫山泉:茶饮收入反超老对手康师傅
Nongfu Spring's Tea Drinks Overtake Old Rival Master Kong
HSK 5 · 5 min read
From 8 a.m. classes to 11 p.m. lights-out: real class and meal schedules from Xiamen University, Central South University, and Fudan University show what a day at a Chinese university actually looks like.
Universities
大学生的一天
A Day in the Life of a Chinese University Student
HSK 2 · 2 min read
A sudden mudslide struck Gyirong County in Tibet on August 26, killing at least three people and leaving 265 missing, as China's leadership ordered an all-out rescue and Nepal reported dozens of flood deaths the same day.
News
西藏吉隆遭遇泥石流，3人遇难265人失联
Mudslide Hits Tibet's Gyirong, Leaving 3 Dead and 265 Missing
Native · 5 min read
Annan just moved to Hangzhou and dreads starting at a new school on September 1st — until a dropped pencil case changes everything.
Read
安安的新学校
Annan's New School
HSK 3 · 2 min read
Su Wan✍️
🔥 37
On August 27, Chinese families mark the Ghost Festival (Zhongyuan Jie) by setting out fresh food, incense, and paper offerings for their ancestors — a quiet, everyday scene of remembrance rather than fear.
Faith
中元节：一张给祖先的桌子
The Ghost Festival: A Table Set for the Ancestors
HSK 3 · 3 min read
Gao Peng✍️
🔥 26
China's tech ministry says more than 98% of phones sold domestically in the first half of 2026 use the homegrown BeiDou satellite system to find your location, alongside surging BeiDou use in shared bikes, wearables and cars — though state media didn't say how BeiDou's accuracy compares with GPS.
Tech
中国手机，现在都用北斗定位
Chinese Phones Now Mostly Use China's Own Satellites, Not GPS
HSK 3 · 4 min read
Chinese universities increasingly use big data on canteen spending to quietly identify students facing financial hardship and deposit aid directly onto their meal cards, no application needed. Nanjing University of Science and Technology's nine-year-old program has helped students over 37,000 times, and Jiangsu province alone distributed nearly 4 billion yuan this way in 2025.
Universities
饭卡里悄悄多出的钱：中国高校的隐形资助
The Money That Quietly Appears on a Meal Card: China's Invisible Student Aid
Native · 4 min read
A baby panda born at South Korea's Everland park has no name yet. The park picked five candidate names, all ending in "bao" (treasure), and opened voting to the public through August 30. The winning name will be announced in September, when the cub turns 100 days old.
Global
韩国大熊猫宝宝要取名，大家一起选
South Korea's Baby Panda Needs a Name — the Public Gets to Choose
HSK 2 · 2 min read
In a tailor's shop by the canals of Zhouzhuang, an estranged grandmother and granddaughter find their way back to each other through the slow, patient art of tying a qipao's frog buttons.
Read
盘扣
The Frog Buttons
Native · 5 min read
Su Wan✍️
🔥 37
A new exhibition on horse culture, jointly presented by Beijing's Prince Gong's Mansion Museum and France's Chantilly Estate, opens to the public today and runs through late November — the museums' first collaboration, pairing bronzes and a Qing-dynasty saddle with a statue of the young Louis XIV on horseback.
Culture
中法马文化展在恭王府开幕
A China-France Horse Culture Exhibition Opens at Prince Gong's Mansion
HSK 4 · 3 min read
Gao Peng✍️
🔥 26
Gold has climbed to nearly 1,000 yuan a gram, and at Shenzhen's Shuibei market — China's biggest gold trading hub — more customers are showing up to buy gold bars, silver, and jewelry before prices climb even higher.
Business
金价上涨，深圳水贝买金子的人变多了
Gold Prices Rise, and More People Are Buying at Shenzhen's Shuibei Market
HSK 2 · 4 min read
Tsinghua University welcomed its 2026 freshman class on August 19 — more than 4,000 students in total, including over 300 international students from 45 countries. A simple, numbers-driven move-in day story for beginner readers.
Universities
清华大学开学了：新生里有300多名留学生
Tsinghua Starts the Semester: 300+ New Students Are From Abroad
HSK 3 · 2 min read
China marked the solar term Chushu ("End of Heat") on August 23, but forecasters say southern cities are still seeing highs above 35°C thanks to a bout of "autumn tiger" heat overlapping the last days of this year's hottest stretch.
News
处暑到了，中国南方还是很热
"End of Heat" Arrives, But Southern China Is Still Sweltering
HSK 3 · 2 min read
Lele's summer break is almost over, but her diary for school is still empty — until Grandma helps her remember every day.
Read
乐乐的暑假日记
Lele's Summer Diary
HSK 2 · 2 min read
Su Wan✍️
🔥 37
Five Song-dynasty painted sculptures in Taiyuan's Jin Temple, worn down by nearly a thousand years, are undergoing a 14-month restoration under a "minimum intervention" approach.
Culture
晋祠圣母殿：宋朝的彩塑，开始十四个月的修复
Jin Temple's Song Dynasty Sculptures Begin a 14-Month Restoration
HSK 4 · 3 min read
Gao Peng✍️
🔥 26
Pop Mart's first-half 2026 revenue rose 23.8% to 17.17 billion yuan, but net profit missed market expectations by roughly a quarter as overseas sales fell and a currency loss weighed on results, sending its stock down sharply.
Business
泡泡玛特上半年营收增长近24%，净利润却不及预期
Pop Mart's H1 Revenue Jumps Nearly 24%, But Profit Falls Short
HSK 5 · 4 min read
Two deadlines start the day an international student enters China: accommodation registration within 24 hours, and converting an X1 visa into a study residence permit within 30 days. Peking University and Fudan set out the documents, fees and waiting times, and the National Immigration Administration has been piloting online accommodation registration in seven provinces since March.
Universities
落地以后：24小时和30天
After you land: a 24-hour clock and a 30-day clock
HSK 4 · 5 min read
Haikou opened two new duty-free shops for daily goods this week, part of Hainan's expanding "zero-tariff" policy that lets island residents buy imported items -- from baby products to snacks -- without import tax, up to 10,000 yuan a year.
News
海口新开两家免税店，海南居民买日用品更便宜
Haikou Opens Two New Duty-Free Shops, Making Daily Goods Cheaper for Hainan Residents
HSK 4 · 3 min read
D
Duxx· 5d
✂ Clipped a line from this story
免税店
Before her first day of school, eight-year-old Xiaomei promises herself she'll learn to ride a bicycle -- falls, scraped knees, and her grandpa's patient advice included.
Read
学骑车
Learning to Ride a Bike
HSK 3 · 2 min read
Su Wan✍️
🔥 37
After visitors spotted typos and inaccurate wording in some museum exhibitions, China's National Cultural Heritage Administration ordered every registered museum, including those under the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, to overhaul how exhibition text gets approved and checked, with provincial reports due by September 30.
Culture
博物馆展览查错字：国家文物局要求全国核查整改
Typos in museum exhibits trigger a nationwide review
HSK 5 · 4 min read
Gao Peng✍️
🔥 26
Backed by a 15%-off trade-in subsidy, Chinese consumers spent over 1 trillion yuan on new phones in 2025, official data show. The program is running again this year, funded in quarterly batches — but whether the money lasts until December is still unclear.
Business
去年，中国人买手机花了一万亿多元
China's Phone Shoppers Broke the Trillion-Yuan Mark Last Year — With Help From the Government
HSK 4 · 2 min read
Move-in season across China comes with one small essential: the campus card. Drawing on 2026 orientation notices from Hebei Normal University and Shenzhen University, this HSK3 piece explains what the card pays for, how to activate it, and how to top it up.
Universities
新生的第一张卡
A Freshman's First Card
HSK 3 · 2 min read
Typhoon Zitan, the 19th named storm of the year, is looping over the Beibu Gulf before turning toward Guangdong's Leizhou Peninsula and southern Guangxi around August 24, prompting China's weather and water-resources agencies to raise their emergency response levels.
News
第19号台风“紫檀”逼近华南，多地进入四级应急响应
Typhoon "Zitan" Approaches South China as Regions Raise Emergency Response
HSK 5 · 4 min read
A boy waits for his grandfather's watermelon to ripen in the summer heat, learning that sweet things are worth the wait.
Read
小明的西瓜
Xiaoming's Watermelon
HSK 1 · 1 min read
Su Wan✍️
🔥 37
In Guangzhou, first-graders start the school year with an old-style ceremony called "Kaibili" — a red dot on the forehead, a big drum, and a single character written by hand.
Culture
上学第一天，老师点红点
First Day of School: The Teacher Marks a Red Dot
HSK 2 · 2 min read
Gao Peng✍️
🔥 26
Chinese company Dreame (追觅) delivered its first-ever phone on August 13: a gold, gem-studded unit priced above 200,000 yuan. The founder says cheaper models are coming by year-end, but whether the brand can win real buyers is still unclear.
Tech
追觅卖出第一部手机，要二十多万元
Company Sells Its First Phone — For Over 200,000 Yuan
HSK 3 · 2 min read
A practical checklist for international students arriving in China this month: which documents you actually need for registration day, how much cash to bring, and what the dorm already provides.
Universities
留学生报到那天：包里应该放什么
Registration Day for International Students: What Should Be in Your Bag
HSK 4 · 4 min read
China's railway booking platform 12306 has launched a "Freshman Reservation" feature letting 2026 university freshmen book discounted tickets in advance for the trip to school, aiming to ease the annual back-to-school ticket rush.
News
12306新增“新生预约”功能，助新生开学购票
12306 Adds "Freshman Reservation" Feature to Ease Ticket-Buying for New Students
HSK 5 · 4 min read
A girl about to move away plants sunflower seeds on her narrow balcony, racing the calendar to see one bloom before she goes.
Read
阳台上的向日葵
The Sunflower on the Balcony
HSK 4 · 4 min read
Su Wan✍️
🔥 37
A 26-year-old woman in Hebei hand-makes a cloisonne plate as a wedding gift for her friend, part of a wider trend of young Chinese choosing handmade heritage crafts over cash gifts.
Culture
她自己做的结婚礼物
The Wedding Gift She Made Herself
HSK 2 · 2 min read
Gao Peng✍️
🔥 26
Meituan, Didi Qingju and Hellobike have raised shared-bike prices in Beijing and other Chinese cities, pushing an hour's ride from 1.5 yuan to nearly 2 yuan; the platforms cite rising operating costs, while some riders say it now costs more than the bus.
Business
共享单车又涨价了
Shared Bikes Get More Expensive Again
HSK 3 · 4 min read
China's University of Science and Technology (USTC) welcomes its 2026 freshman class in Hefei today, with a placement test tomorrow and a 15-day military training stretch before classes start September 7.
Universities
中国科大新生：8月21日报到，还要军训十五天
USTC Freshmen Check In August 21 — Then 15 Days of Military Training
HSK 3 · 3 min read
