Nearly three decades from when China officially connected to the internet, our cover story this issue investigates the development and changing nature of the country’s online landscape. We trace the rise and demise of China’s first social media platforms, investigate the impact of the internet on cellphone-addicted rural children, and find out how seniors are becoming obsessed with influencers. Elsewhere in this magazine, we discover how female sports fans fight against misogyny to create safe spaces for their passion, ask translators what ChatGPT means for their careers, find out why there’s a consumer backlash against pre-prepared meals, ask whether Chinese comic strips will ever be as interesting as they were in the 1990s, and spend time with local herders on the Inner Mongolian grassland.

For our 100th magazine issue, we once again explore an under-reported part of Chinese society—life in its small cities and towns. We find rich stories to uncover outside of Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen when we shine the spotlight on “lower-tier” cities like Hefei, Zhengzhou, Qingdao, and Zhaoqing. Elsewhere, we investigate a deadly craze for extreme weight loss methods, report on China’s public sleepers struggling to find accommodation night after night, travel to a Christian community in the Yunnan mountains, discover how an imported noodle dish became the pride of a Hunan city, and enter the debate on ethics among China’s documentary-makers.