China’s construction boom has come to the countryside. In this issue, we investigate the complicated repercussions for land rights. Elsewhere, we examine the legacy of corporal punishment, reveal the secret behind a booming milk tea brand, explore China’s “outsider art” community, discover forgotten relics, and much more.

We look at the uncertain fate of hundreds of small-scale regional opera types around China; speak with HIV/AIDS patients living in the shadows; go speed-dating with Shanghai’s elites; and dance with the Tujia ethnic group...at a funeral; and more.