About Tea Leaf Nation
Tea Leaf Nation decodes Chinese media, analyzes social trends, and features Chinese voices, all to illuminate the country from within.
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This 18-Year-Old Chinese Woman Is Beating the Schools at Sex Ed
In a nation where textbooks still teach that sex before marriage mars girls forever, Yao Sifan is offering a feminist take on the facts of life.
Beijing Deals Another Blow to Hong Kong’s Autonomy
An oppressive ruling by the National People’s Congress Standing Committee — aided by a compliant Hong Kong judge — has silenced champions of democracy.
China’s New Megacity: The Anti-Beijing
The government will build another metropolis from scratch. But it's not planning on following the old playbook.
Is Beijing Getting Scared of Homeschooled Confucian Activists?
The Communist Party's enthusiasm for private Confucian schools is cooling. It could be fearful of a moral system outside its control.
America’s Green Card-for-Cash Program Is Making a Mess in China
Shady deals. Befuddled investors. SEC investigations. Change can't come fast enough to the EB-5 visa.
A New ‘Cure’ for China’s Millions of Web Addicts: Hack Their Computer
Some parents prefer the invasive measure to lightly regulated, frequently brutal bootcamps.
Unpacking China’s Curious ‘Ivanka Fever’
The President's powerful daughter evokes deeply-held tropes in Chinese society.
When Xi Meets the Trumps
China's president has descended on Florida for a summit with a counterpart he's never met. What happens now?
It’s Not Communism Holding China’s Youth Back. It’s Their Parents.
Pressure to save, marry, and work leaves no room for democratic aspirations.
When Marx Meets Islam
A Chinese regulation would prohibit online insults based on religion. Some decry it as antithetical to Communist values.
Galleries
A Week in World Photos
Migrants in the Mediterranean, a mass masked wedding in South Korea, and a melting glacier in the French Alps.
A Week in World Photos
Rebel fighters in Syria, protesters at the U.S.-Mexico border, and migrants in Greece.
In the Magazine
In the Magazine
Can Social Democrats Save the World (Again)?
Communism and democratic socialism won’t heal today’s political divisions. But social democracy—which helped ward off extremism following World War II—could.
Why Socialism Won’t Work
Capitalism is still the best way to handle risk and boost innovation and productivity.
How Climate Change Has Supercharged the Left
Global warming could launch socialists to unprecedented power—and expose their movement’s deepest contradictions.
Why the Berlin Wall Still Matters
Fragments of the wall have become museum pieces. But with the rise of extremist parties in Germany, the debate over the barrier’s legacy is anything but history.