Behind the Lines of China's Zero Covid Strategy
Wo Men Podcast
The latest mass outbreak of COVID-19 in China has impacted people's lives, with over 5000 new cases reported each day this week. While the numbers are small compared with what other countries have experienced during the pandemic, the most recent outbreak is the largest in China since 2020. Many residents in major cities like Shanghai and the tech hub of Shenzhen have been told to remain in their homes, and officials in several jurisdictions have given orders for full or partial lockdowns. After feeling safe and protected for the past two years by China's Zero Covid Policy, Chinese people...
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Spiritual Journey: One woman's experience with shamanism
Wo Men Podcast
When people feel confused or uncertain about their lives, some turn to fortune-tellers or psychics for guidance and advice. China has a long tradition of fortune-telling, soothsaying, and even exorcisms and shamanism. Those living in the Northeastern part of the country consult people known as Daxian (大仙), which can be translated as “spirit mediums” or “spirit possessors”). Daxian are the representatives of a local religion, combining shamanism and animal worship (including weasels, foxes, mice, snakes, and hedgehogs). According to legend, once these animal spirits...
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The Wo Men Podcast 2021 Year in Review Episode
Wo Men Podcast
It's an annual tradition. Yajun, Jingjing, and Karoline, the three cohosts of the Wo Men Podcast, got together virtually to discuss their experiences in 2021 and share their memories of the year that was. They also talked about what they were looking forward to most in 2022. Spoiler Alert: They would like to see each other and are hopeful that China will open its borders soon so that family and friends can finally be reunited. Fingers crossed!
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The Future is Lying Flat
Wo Men Podcast
In China, there have been generations that “stood up” and generations that “jumped into the sea," but many young people in China today are choosing instead to just “lie down and chill.”
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20 Years Later: How did Chinese students react to the News of 9/11?
Wo Men Podcast
In this episode, Karoline and Yajun share their personal stories of hearing about 9/11 and how those experiences have affected their later careers as cultural intermediaries between the world and China. They also reflect on how their careers have been affected by the complicated US-China relationship and consider how they can contribute to improving mutual understanding between the world’s two largest economies.
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Gombo's Prayers on the Plateau
Wo Men Podcast
When most people think about China, they picture the big coastal megacities. For this episode, we travel out west to a very different China. We talk to Gombo, who was raised in a Mongolian nomadic family and went on to be the first in his area to graduate from college. Gombo describes his life growing up in a nomad camp, how Tibetan Buddhism continues to be a major part of his life, and how he pursued his education and a career in modern China.
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Downsizing in Dali
Wo Men Podcast
For many young people in China, work means 12-hour days, six days a week, with a long and crowded commute to and from work. No wonder so many people are considering trading urban living for a rural lifestyle. In recent years, Dali has become a magnet for writers, musicians, artists, painters, and people looking to simplify their lives. In this episode, Karoline Kan talks to Feather, who moved to Dali from Beijing, about her lifestyle change.
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The cost of beauty: Why is cosmetic surgery so popular in China?
Wo Men Podcast
Why are Chinese women -- and men -- so crazy about beauty treatments? Don’t they worry about the risks and possible side effects? Today we talked to Guli Ai, a consumer with ten years of experience using aesthetics treatment. Guli explains her journey in pursuit of beauty and why she’s not afraid to take advantage of the benefits of medical science in her quest for perfection.
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Buzzing and Bubbling Business Start-ups for the Covid-19 Era
Wo Men Podcast
Our guest today, Lysa Wei, is a female entrepreneur who started her own company bringing hard seltzer to the China market.
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Promoting LGBTQ rights in today's China
Wo Men Podcast
Ying, who calls herself Iron, is director of the Beijing LGBT Center.
info_outlineMany people have thought about quitting their 9-to-5 job to travel around the world, but few people carry out their plan. One couple made it happen and found a new career inspiration and life direction along the way.
Faye and Celyn live in Beijing. Faye worked at a Chinese agricultural company. Celyn (celynbricker.com) was an artist who had always been interested in using art as a lens to look at social issues. They quit their jobs, left Beijing with just two backpacks, and arrived in Africa as the first stop. They planned to travel along the human migration route and record the highlights of their journey as a documentary. They didn’t have a clear agenda in terms of what stories they were going to collect, but it did not take them long before they found that climate change was a term that frequently appeared in conversations with local communities.
Climate change interrupted people’s agricultural routines, caused conflicts between different groups of people, and threatened local religions' survival. It even contributed to the rise of the HIV infection rate in certain areas as climate change affected the kinds of economic opportunities that had previously been empowering women.
Along the way, they also learned the wisdom to live harmoniously with nature.
After returning to China, the couple decided to focus on climate-related art projects and founded Celu Studio to provide a public platform to learn more and take positive action.
In this episode, Karoline Kan sits down with Faye and Celyn to learn more about their journey and their new platform for tackling one of the world’s most important and pressing issues.