Record numbers set out for this month’s national holiday. Could the crowds signal that better times are coming?
China
As China Readies for Leadership Handover, How is Chairman Mao Faring?
Marxist ideas, which normally enjoy public celebration before major political events in the People’s Republic, have been curiously diminished on the eve of China’s once-in-a-decade leadership transition.
Blood Ivory: Hong Kong Fights a Losing Battle Against Smugglers
China’s demand for elephant ivory, which is still widely seen as a status symbol on the mainland, has transformed the port city of Hong Kong into a major transit point for illegal trade
Behind the Story: TIME’s Hannah Beech Discusses China’s Next Leader, Xi Jinping
TIME’s China bureau chief talks about how she reported on the upcoming political handover in Beijing and why China continues to be a morally oppressive society
Cover Story: The Next Leaders of the Unfree World
This week’s TIME cover story, written by Hannah Beech, examines the upcoming once-in-a-decade leadership transition set to take place in China
China Celebrates Author Mo Yan’s Nobel
The writer is not the first Chinese person to win a Nobel — think dissident Liu Xiaobo and the Peace Prize — but, with their sleight of hand, elated Beijing authorities are celebrating him as the first Chinese citizen to win …
Bringing Down ‘Watch Brother’: China’s Online Corruption-Busters Tread a Fine Line
For a government that prizes stability, using online fervor to bring down corrupt individuals can be a dangerous exercise.
Are Chinese Telecoms Firms Really Spying on Americans?
A congressional committee warned U.S. companies against dealing with two prominent Chinese firms whose products could compromise national security
According to What? The Ai Weiwei Retrospective in Washington D.C.
The show takes its name from a 1964 Jasper Johns work and explores the controversial Chinese artist-activist’s attempts to make art a way of looking at the world–and challenging its authorities–rather than accumulating artifacts.
The Artist Who Can’t Leave China: An Interview with Ai Weiwei
One of the world’s most-famous artists is having an important retrospective in the Smithsonian, but Ai Weiwei can’t attend because the authorities in Beijing won’t give him back his passport. He talks to TIME about his art, his …
Daddy Dearest: Disgraced Chinese Politician Bo Xilai’s Son Defends Him
Bo Xilai’s son Bo Guagua speaks up for the disgraced Communist Party official over social media
China Announces Plans for Party Congress and Prosecution of Bo Xilai
A long season of unexpected events is capped off with two clearly synchronized announcements — and the catastrophic fall of one of the Chinese Communist Party’s brightest stars is dramatically assured
The Price of Faith: Chinese Buddhist Sites Plan IPOs
China’s four most sacred Buddhist mountains are hatching plans to list on the Shanghai stock exchange.