Round Table China

BRICS is meeting in India this week, and the group has grown well beyond its original five economies. Trade, technology, climate and jobs keep expanding the agenda, but a simpler question lingers: does any of it reach ordinary people? Fei Fei asks Li Lun, an assistant professor at Peking University specializing in the digital economy, what BRICS means for our everyday lives and whether it can answ...

A bank in Hubei decided to close for ninety minutes each afternoon so staff could take a proper break. The public response was anything but calm. Office workers scrambled, elderly customers voiced frustration, and local media fanned the flames. What seemed like a minor change triggered a much larger conversation about routine and why we cling to systems that no longer make sense. On the show: Stev...

The back-to-school season has long meant overpriced uniforms and endless waiting, but Shenzhen offers a different model. Parents buy standard school shirts at corner stores, supermarkets, or through delivery apps for the price of a meal. The city set a unified design and let the market handle the rest. So how did Shenzhen pull this off, and what are the criticisms? On the show: Steve, Fei Fei &amp...

A new generation just arrived on campus, and they are rewriting the rules of friendship. They scroll with confidence but clam up in person. They crave connection, yet keep everyone at arm's length. From social anxiety as an identity to the rise of buddy culture, something is changing beneath the surface. What happens when the need to belong collides with the urge to retreat? On the show: Steve, Yu...

You live in one city and work in another, and the only thing standing between you and your desk is an hour long crawl through traffic, until now. Beijing's newest subway line does not stop at the city line. It keeps rolling straight into Hebei, turning what used to be a commute into something that feels more like a local errand. That changes everything, not just for the people riding it, but for t...

In a relationship, we used to know what crossed the line. Now it is a hidden text, a dating app you are still on, or a friend your partner has never heard of. A new survey of 2,000 people reveals just how blurry the boundaries have become. On the show: Steve, Yushan & Yangyang

China's highways were once built for function alone. But a new 60,000-kilometer national plan is now tailoring routes specifically for road trips, threading together the Great Wall, the Yellow and Yangtze rivers, and dozens of World Heritage sites into one immersive network. Rest stops are becoming cultural outposts, and overlooks invite quiet reflection, turning the journey into something far mor...

The old internet cafe is dead. Dim lights, sticky floors, and cheap instant noodles are gone. In their place are sleek lounges with premium seating, gourmet food, private pods, and showers. These new spaces are just as much about gaming as they are getting away. For a growing number of people, they are a second home, or maybe a better one. On the show: Fei Fei, Steve & Yushun

We are more active than ever, but our bodies are paying the price. A fitness boom is fueling a massive surge in sports rehabilitation, from boutique clinics to high-tech recovery tools. The business of healing is growing fast, and a culture of pushing our bodies to the limit is forcing a new conversation about what it really means to be healthy. On the show: Fei Fei, Steve & Yushun

China and Egypt, two ancient civilizations, share deep cultural and historical roots. Today, a new generation is building on that foundation through culture, business, trade, and technology. Round Table's Yushan sat down with CGTN reporter Mèrna Al Nasser and Egyptian PhD student Sherif Abdelsamie. They share what it's like to live between these worlds, the unexpected ties they have uncovered, and...

Vinyl gets all the attention, but CDs are actually the ones growing faster, and it's not nostalgic collectors buying them. It's a generation that grew up streaming everything and never owned a CD player in their life. So what's pulling them toward plastic cases and liner notes? Is this a real comeback, or just a moment that fades as fast as it showed up? On the show: Steve, Yushan & Yushun

Forget the textbook. This fall, science class in China begins outside, where students are running real experiments, hitting real dead ends, and rethinking their approach when things do not go as planned. The goal is not landing on the right answer but learning to ask a good question in the first place. This is science treated as something you do, not something you memorize, grounded in the everyda...

In Chinese, the cardinal directions are woven into everyday language in ways that often go unnoticed. Ordinary expressions carry traces of an older worldview, one that assigned meaning to every point on the horizon. These are not random quirks, but remnants of a way of thinking that has endured for centuries. / How does a nap right after work sound to you (18:07)? On the show: Steve, Fei Fei &...

A new divide is emerging in China between those who know how to use AI and those who don't. Office workers are adapting quickly, but what about the street vendor, the retiree, or someone who's never touched a computer? The answer comes from an unexpected place: night school. Community centers across the country are offering free or low-cost evening classes to make sure no one gets left behind. On...

A new study suggests that regular museum visits and theater outings could slow the biological aging process. The idea is enticing because it requires no prescriptions and no gym time. But researchers are still working to pinpoint the true cause. Is it the art itself that delivers the benefit, or is it the walking, the social connection, and the cognitive engagement that naturally accompany a night...

China's top Gaokao scorers are now choosing vocational undergraduate programs over elite universities, drawn by higher starting salaries and job security in an automated economy. The surge in popularity is a clear sign of changing perceptions, but the system must adapt to meet new challenges. On the show: Steve, Fei Fei & Yushan

A two-month summer break sounds like freedom. But for many children in China, it comes with a new set of assignments: previewing lessons, completing workbooks, and preparing for the semester ahead. Parents see it as a way to get a head start, while experts warn that too much academic pressure can come at a cost. So how much preparation is helpful? On the show: Fei Fei, Steve & Yushun

Solo founders are leaving China's biggest cities for county towns, where the cost of living is a fraction of what they paid. AI has made location less relevant, and smaller counties are wroking to attract these one-person companies with real incentives and real-world testing grounds. Is this a smarter way to build a business, or a step backward? On the show: Fei Fei, Steve & Yushun

The obituaries for reading are written every week. Young people scroll past books, grades dip, professors mourn a lost age of deep thought. But the data refuses to cooperate with the gloom. In some corners of the world, reading is surging. Maybe the problem is not that reading is dying, but that we are looking for it in all the wrong places. On the show: Steve, Yushan & Yushun

At the World Humanoid Robot Games, machines run, dance, fight, and even play football. The spectacle is futuristic, but watching them compete is as awkward as it is impressive. For every graceful motion, there is a stumble, a missed grip, or a kick that goes nowhere. Each failure reveals exactly where the technology falls short, and that is precisely what makes these games valuable. On the show: S...

A single word, a former boss, and a social media post that changed everything. What started as a personal grievance quickly turned into a legal fight, but the real story is not about the word itself. It is about who gets to use it, who takes offense, and why a generation that once mocked the old guard now finds itself sounding just like them. On the show: Steve, Yushan & Yushun

The ice cup market in China is heating up in more ways than one. As consumers develop a taste for clearer, slower melting ice in their iced coffee and other chilled beverages, a wave of new players has rushed in to meet the demand. At the same time, Chinese cooling products are finding their way into international markets, adding another layer of opportunity and pressure. What does it take to comp...

For years, a shouted slogan at one of China's most popular restaurant chains made a single chef a household name. Then this summer, it disappeared overnight. Across industries, thousands of so-called masters are suddenly losing their status as new national rules rewrite who gets to claim expertise. / China's biggest performing arts companies are trading the grand stage for the small screen. Tradit...

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A working film set opens its doors to the public, and the result is more than just a quirky day out. Visitors suit up, follow a director's lead, and walk away with their own short film. It feels like a fun escape, but something deeper is happening behind the scenes. As AI produces content faster than ever, this immersive experience is offering a glimpse into where storytelling might be headed next...