Round Table China
Kanaal Besonderhede
Round Table China
Round Table is a premier English radio/podcast show, straight from Beijing. Hear what's buzzing on the Internet and the main streets, see the latest lifestyle trends, and feel the pulse of life in China, Round Table is your golden ticket. With dynamic cultural exchanges between hosts from diverse ba...
Onlangse Episodes
626 episodes
Are you living a Chinese life?
Around the world, a surprising new lifestyle is catching on. It looks a lot like everyday life in China, and for good reason. From morning exercise ro...
Playtime is about to get safer
China's colossal toy industry is sprinting toward a high-tech, novelty-driven future, with AI companions and collectible blind boxes flying off shelve...
Chunyun: the world's largest migration
Chunyun, the annual Spring Festival travel rush in China, is the world's largest human migration. Each year, it tests the absolute limits of the count...
Space's next pioneers aren't wearing spacesuits
For the first time, the story of space isn't just about astronauts. It's about farmers using satellite data, engineers designing zero-gravity labs, sc...
The dietary playbook has changed
More protein. Whole milk returns. Ultra-processed foods take a step back. The latest U.S. dietary guidelines have triggered a wave of reactions—some c...
What China's commercial space ambitions mean for us
A rocket retrieved from the ocean and a strategy to deploy over 200,000 satellites across 14 constellations are not isolated headlines. They are signa...
The app that wants to know if you're alive
The Soapbox: office gossip / Why would someone pay for an app that demands they prove they are alive every single morning? This viral trend has captiv...
The crackdown on viral child-starring shorts
They are the bite-sized, viral dramas dominating your feed: ultrashort films that cast children in leading roles within unusually mature storylines. F...
Yangtze River Economic Belt: Ep. 3 | Regional integration
This is the story of a river that shapes a nation. In the final episode of our series, we trace a decade of evolution along the Yangtze, where regions...
The hidden system behind simple subsidies
The 2026 consumer goods trade-in program presents a streamlined process for consumers: claim a voucher, place an order, and receive an immediate disco...
The Full Circle: Quantified self, fishing ban, cry-cry horse
What connects the quantified self movement, a major fishing ban, and a viral“cry-cry horse"? On the surface, these three stories from this past week a...
Yangtze River Economic Belt: Ep. 2 | Connecting worlds
Can a river double its economic power and save the planet at the same time? The Yangtze River does more than move cargo; it moves mountains, linking C...
The double-edged sword of urban mobility
Across rural China, a significant change in daily travel is taking hold. It's powered by the "laotoule", a small, cheap electric vehicle filling a vas...
Yangtze River Economic Belt: Ep 1 | Fishing ban
How do you revive a great river? In the first episode of our three-part series, we look at the boldest move yet on the Yangtze: a total fishing ban. A...
Healthcare's cashless, frictionless future
Imagine a hospital visit where the longest wait is the elevator ride. Now, picture paying for care with a single glance, or shielding your family with...
Are your school apps annoying you?
Your phone's storage is precious, and your university's "Smart Campus" might be hogging it. Twenty gigabytes for apps that just buy hot water or check...
The master of your fate debate
Remember when a Master's degree was the automatic next step? That script is being rewritten. A growing number of students are now reconsidering that p...
Are you living life or tracking It?
The Soapbox: the great strawberry size conspiracy. / Welcome to the era of the Quantified Self, where we optimize every heartbeat and dissect every ho...
Scalpels over souvenirs: China's medical tourism boom
China's hospitals are cultivating a new wave of international patients. Their destination is no longer just a cultural landmark, but a state-of-the-ar...
THE FULL CIRCLE: Palace restoration, pink salt, stalking exes
Welcome to the inaugural edition of a brand-new segment "The Full Circle". The premise is simple, but we think the results will be fascinating: each w...
China tech shines bright at CES
Welcome to Las Vegas, where the neon lights are bright, but the tech booths are somehow brighter. This year at CES, you couldn't toss a microchip with...
When your receipt becomes your reward card
What if every green purchase earned you tangible rewards? A major new national plan is betting that a points-for-discounts system is the key to unlock...
Unearthing the treasure in our trash
Our cities' greatest resource isn't buried underground; it's hidden in plain sight within the very waste we discard. We journey into the world of urba...
Curation, authenticity, and the male persona
When a persona goes viral for the wrong reasons, what comes next? We examine the backlash against the "performative male," tracing the arc from a stag...
Harbin turns ice into gold
What if winter itself became a city's most valuable asset? In Harbin, ice is not mere artistry; it is the powerful engine driving a booming economy. W...
A decade-long wait ends in the Forbidden City
After ten years of "Do Not Disturb" signs, the most powerful room in the Forbidden City is back in business. Want to see where the Qing emperors actua...
China's path to universal childcare
China has officially entered a new era of demographic governance with the unveiling of the draft Childcare Services Law. While only about 8% of childr...
The pink salt illusion
Pink Himalayan salt sells for ten times the price of ordinary table salt, wrapped in an aura of wellness and luxury. But what are you really buying? I...
How close is too close with AI?
What happens when your closest confidant is an algorithm? As millions form bonds with AI companions, China is responding with pioneering rules for thi...
The "hard discount" supermarket sector in China
No frills. No promos. No nonsense. Just rice, oil, and drinking water - cheaper than you ever thought possible. “Hard discount” supermarkets are rewri...
Beyond the scale: How China's youth redefine fitness and wellbeing
If "body weight management" was once a private struggle, 2025 has made it a public dialogue. A social shift among young Chinese are quietly happening:...
When a meme prescribed self-care
In late 2025, the most resonant piece of self-care advice in China didn't come from a lifestyle guru, but from an internet meme: 爱你老己 (Love yourse...
New Year's Day celebrations in China
As 2026 arrives, China pauses for a three-day national holiday, a dedicated celebration of new beginnings. Join us as we explore this cultural moment...
Round Table recommends: XINQI Discovers China
We've been painting a vivid, emotional portrait of 2025 through tags, words, and music. Yet every portrait needs a frame—and that frame is often econo...
The Round Table team's year-end message!
The year 2025 has reached its final chapter, and it's time for all of us to say our goodbyes to the year. To mark this special year-end send-off, we'r...
2025's defining soundtrack
What was the sound of 2025? It wasn't a single hit song, but a collection of sounds that moved from the background to the center of youth culture. We...
Your earphones are ready for anything
Ever get the feeling your headphones are listening more than you are? You might be onto something. While nearly 60 million wireless units shipped in C...
Our year, defined by words
Ready to crack the cultural code of 2025? This year's viral words were more than just slang. They were secret signals revealing our collective fears,...
50,000 km of defiant rail engineering
While every nation builds railways, China has carved its network through some of the most formidable landscapes on Earth: relentless deserts, frozen p...
China's 2025 tech year-end review
When we reviewed this year's programming, one pattern became unmistakable: nearly half of our stories were touched by technology. Not only because tec...