Round Table China

Round Table presents The Sound of a City, an original audio drama from CGTN Radio. The story is inspired by real cases handled through Beijing's 12345 Citizen Service Hotline.

You've probably used one to scrub a pan. Maybe you've even worn one on your feet or found it hiding in a skincare product. But the loofah is far more than a bathroom staple. It is the backbone of an industry that spans provinces, employs thousands, and ships products around the world. What does its rise tell us about how rural areas in China is reinventing itself? On the show: Steve, Fei Fei & Yu...

You've probably scrubbed a pan with one. You could even have worn one on your feet or found it hiding in a skincare product. But the loofah is far more than a bathroom staple. It is the backbone of an industry that spans provinces, employs thousands, and ships products around the world. What does its rise tell us about how rural areas in China is reinventing itself? On the show: Steve, Fei Fei & Y...

Long school hours, more screen time and less time outdoors are putting young eyes under pressure. But protecting children's vision may take more than limiting screens. From class breaks and PE to stronger parent-school cooperation, we check on how China is changing daily routines help protect children's sight? On the show: Fei Fei, Yushan & Xingyu

China's 2026 National Day holiday wasn't just about record crowds and packed trains. It was about where people went: small county towns filled up, concert neighborhoods stayed alive past midnight, and international visitors skipped the landmarks for local crafts and bullet train rides. On the show: Fei Fei, Yushan & Xingyu

As part of our National Day holiday specials, we are bringing you episodes from Ni How Are You. This is a series of cross-cultural conversations exploring how people in China and the United States see, experience, and understand each other. Today's episode brings you a conversation with Zhang Junnan, the translator behind the blockbuster Once Upon a Time in the Middle East, about what gets lost an...

You ask your kid to help clean up and they look around like there's nothing to do. It's not attitude, but a glimpse into something researchers call cognitive labor, the invisible load of noticing what needs to be done before anyone asks. That same divide shows up between partners, often without anyone realizing it, yet there are practical ways to bring everyone onto the same page. On the show: Ste...

As part of our National Day holiday specials, we are bringing you episodes from Ni How Are You. This is a series of cross-cultural conversations exploring how people in China and the United States see, experience, and understand each other. Today's episode brings you a conversation with Robert Dubrovsky, coach of the baseball team from Cornerstone College in Iowa, and Xia Mofeng, a student from Xi...

You nailed the interview. Then came the follow-up: a data analysis, a full presentation, a mock campaign, all unpaid, all before anyone says "you're hired." Turns out most job seekers know this drill. For plenty of them, the real frustration isn't the extra work, it's the silence that follows. So where's the line between proving yourself and getting used? On the show: Steve, Fei Fei & Yushun

As part of our National Day holiday specials, we're bringing you episodes from Ni How Are You. It's a series of cross-cultural conversations exploring how people in China and the United States see, experience, and understand each other. Today's episode brings you a conversation with Elyn MacInnis, founder of the Kuliang Families and Friends Groups, about a little-known chapter in the history of Ch...

Imagine paying good money to send your kid somewhere with no Wi-Fi, no electricity, and a whole lot of manual labor, on purpose. That is not a punishment; that is the pitch. It is called "eat bitterness" camp. Are these hardship camps actually building character, or just selling a feeling? On the show: Steve, Yushun & Yangyang.

As part of our National Day holiday special, we are bringing you episodes from Ni How Are You, a series of cross-cultural conversations exploring how people in China and the United States see, experience and understand each other. Today's episode features a conversation with three Yale University students who are members of the Whiffenpoofs, one of the world's oldest collegiate a cappella groups.

For years, shared bikes have made short-distance travel easier in Chinese cities, but they have also brought familiar headaches. This September, regulators moved to fix that. A new national standard for internet-based rental bicycles has been approved, setting out, for the first time in one document, exactly what operating companies must do, from hiring and training staff, to equipping bikes, to h...

With Mid-Autumn and National Day bookending a rare calendar gap, travelers are pouncing on what might be 2026's biggest escape window. Domestic hotspots are surging, but overseas demand is climbing fast, too. So what is really driving this rush? On the show: Steve, Fei Fei & Yushan.

As part of our National Day holiday specials, we're bringing you episodes from Ni How Are You. This is a series of cross-cultural conversations exploring how people in China and the United States see, experience, and understand each other. Today's episode brings you a conversation with Jeffrey Greene, chairman of the Sino-American Aviation Heritage Foundation, about the history of the Flying Tiger...

With Mid-Autumn and National Day bookending a rare calendar gap, travelers are pouncing on what might be 2026's biggest escape window. Domestic hotspots are surging, but overseas demand is climbing fast, too. So what is really driving this rush, and where is everybody going to go? On the show: Steve, Fei Fei & Yushan.

Consider all the small conversations you did not have today. The barista, the neighbor, the colleague you passed without stopping. On their own, each one seems like nothing. They add up to thousands of words that were never spoken, and a new study suggests this is becoming the new normal. So what have we traded away without noticing, and is there any reason to want it back? On the show: Steve, Yus...

Consider all the small conversations you did not have today. The barista, the neighbor, the colleague you passed without stopping. On their own, each one seems like nothing. Together, they add up to thousands of words that were never spoken, and a new study suggests this is becoming the new normal. So what have we traded away without noticing, and is there any reason to want it back? On the show:...

Beijing is crawling with a problem you cannot ignore. American white moth caterpillars are raining down from trees, blanketing sidewalks, and turning a simple walk into something close to a nightmare. The city's answer sounds like science fiction. Release hundreds of millions of parasitic wasps and let them do the work. Why has this year's infestation exploded and can this tiny-winged counterattac...

The fishing boats are back and the ports are buzzing with fresh seafood heading to market. What you will not see on your dinner plate is the millions of tonnes of aquatic food lost or wasted every year. On September 29, the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste, we follow the catch from ocean to table and ask how much of the fish we pull from the sea never actually makes it to our...

Have you ever cried at a song whose words you never understood? That wordless pull toward beauty feels deeply human, yet AI now writes poetry, scores films, and paints portraits that move people to tears. So does it truly feel beauty, or simply mimic everything we've always called beautiful? On the show: Steve, Yushan & Yushun

What if the job you'll hold next doesn't exist on any official list yet? In China, that list just grew to include robot trainers, sustainability planners, and even incense-making artisans. Work you never knew existed is now being formally recognized as a legitimate career. The line between a passion project and a profession is thinner than it looks. On the show: Steve, Yushan & Yushun

There is something comforting about knowing the moon on September 25th is the same one that has watched over this festival for generations. It will shine down on family dinners and quiet apartments, on people coming home and people who cannot. Life moves, cities change, and we scatter further from where we started, but the moon keeps showing up. On the show: Steve, Yushan & Yushun 

There is something comforting about knowing the moon on September 25th is the same one that has watched over this festival for generations. It will shine down on family dinners and quiet apartments, on people coming home and people who cannot. Life moves, cities change, and we scatter further from where we started, but the moon keeps showing up. So what still makes a Mid-Autumn celebration feel li...

Living on campus has long been a standard part of university life in China, but that is now starting to change. Instead of staying within campus walls, many students are moving into residential buildings, as universities across the country buy or lease existing apartments and convert them into student dorms. For the students, it means perks like balconies and round the clock hot water. For the peo...