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.

Ahead of the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, we investigate the development of sports for people with disabilities and those in the countryside; venture with yak herders onto the Tibetan Plateau; make predictions for China’s independent documentary scene; talk to coffee connoisseurs in Yunnan; and more.