The idea behind this article series was to open a window into the living, breathing China: the societal, cultural, and sociological dynamics that keep the country moving, beyond headlines, oversimplification, and prejudice.
There is a particular kind of disorientation that comes not from encountering something alien, but from encountering something that works — and realizing you have no framework to explain why.
In February 2025, China wasn’t even on my list of destinations. I saw it as a distant, complex place: fascinating, but difficult to decipher from afar. A year later, after four trips and more than fifty days split between Shanghai and Chengdu, that perception changed completely.
