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Society & Culture

Round Table China

China Plus

Round Table is a premier English radio/podcast show, straight from Beijing. Hear what's buzzing on the Internet and the main streets, see the latest lifestyle trends, and feel the pulse of life in China, Round Table is your golden ticket. With dynamic cultural exchanges between hosts from diverse backgrounds, we take you on a journey deep into modern China.We invite you to join our conversation! Shoot us an email or a voice memo at ezfmroundtable@foxmail.com. Let the fun begin!

110 episodes
Avg 27 min
English

Episodes 110

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September 8 · 32 min
Shenzhen's school uniforms back in focus
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...
September 7 · 19 min
Freshmen, friends, and the fear of fitting in
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...
September 7 · 32 min
The subway that erases provincial borders
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,...
September 4 · 22 min
The 2026 gray zone of modern romance
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...
September 4 · 36 min
The 60,000 km path to discovery
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...
September 3 · 21 min
The internet cafe 2.0
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...
September 3 · 31 min
Train hard, heal harder
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...
September 2 · 32 min
Generation Global: where East meets the Arab world
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...
September 1 · 18 min
The CD comeback: a feel-good music industry story
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...
September 1 · 33 min
When science class gets real
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...
August 31 · 24 min
China Finds: how a compass shapes a culture
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...
August 31 · 27 min
AI for everyone, one class at a time
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...
August 28 · 17 min
Can culture keep you young?
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...
August 28 · 34 min
Why does everyone suddenly want to go to trade school?
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...
August 27 · 21 min
Do you "pre-prepare" your kids for school?
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...
August 27 · 30 min
One-person companies, small-town dreams
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...
August 25 · 18 min
Is reading dying? Spoiler: it's complicated
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...
August 25 · 34 min
The second World Humanoid Robot Games
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...
August 24 · 21 min
The Soapbox: Are you a "Lao Deng" yet?
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,...
August 24 · 30 min
The story of your ice cup
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,...

Showing 61–80 of 110 episodes