The Young Chinese Workers Struggling to Make Social Security Contributions
With a slumping job market, young workers agonize over whether to pay their social security contributions or risk trading security now for an uncertain future
Mixing Equality: Why is it So Hard for Women to be Bartenders in China?
Female bartenders in China share the reality of navigating their male-dominated profession
Poetry That Delivers
Wang Jibing, China’s “delivery driver poet,” talks to TWOC about getting inspired on the road and not letting online trolls get the better of him
Meet the Chinese College Grads Who Took Up Blue-Collar Jobs
From assembly lines to massage parlors, four young people with university degrees recount the joy and pain from taking up low-skilled labor
When Art Meets the Authenticity of Labor
How performance artist Li Liao, famous for his 45-day stint on Foxconn’s assembly lines in 2012, became a delivery driver to pay the bills
Fading Trades: Photographing China’s Disappearing Professions
Once common sights on sidewalks, many old professions are giving way to online apps and urbanization. Photographer Huang Ruide captures these fading trades on camera before they’re gone for good.
Weird and Colorful Proposals from this Year’s “Two Sessions”
Some of the most notable and controversial proposals from the annual meetings of China’s legislative bodies
SUBSCRIBER EXCLUSIVE
Work to Live, Live to Work: Capturing Workers’ Moments of Joy
Photographer Xin Ting captures workers at their happiest
Can’t Afford Rent? These Young Urban Drifters Make Do in Unexpected Settings
From living in hotels to sleeping in the office, three young Chinese tell their stories of avoiding sky-high rents
After Covid, Another Kind of Isolation
Months after recovery, some former Covid-19 patients struggle with job discrimination, dating stigma, and even separate testing queues
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