Developing stories from China, in English.

Life Stories

An Actress Loses 20,000 Followers After Airing Family Grievances on a Reality Show

Dai Luwa, a 29-year-old actress, is bleeding followers after telling the observation show 我家那闺女 that her mother — who reportedly went to work as a maternity nanny after the family went bankrupt — never gave her enough emotional support, while her ex-boyfriend's family did. The backlash has opened a wider argument about gratitude, therapy-speak and what adult children owe their parents in public.

Health

Doctors Debunk the Viral Panic That Hotels and Train Seats Spread HPV

A rumour that high-speed rail seats are a leading source of HPV infection spread across Chinese social media this holiday week, and by Monday the fear had moved to hotel beds, toilets and towels. Doctors have lined up to say the science says otherwise: the virus barely survives on dry surfaces, and the panic says more about Chinese travel habits and vaccine anxiety than about infection risk.