Why can a relatively unknown brand charge far more than its competitors for an ordinary pair of men’s underwear? Drawing on her own experience in the underwear business, Jane examines the German brand Snocks and the difference between product value… Continue reading

China’s lack of a second Google cannot be explained by technology or censorship alone. Google once operated in mainland China, while Baidu became the country’s dominant local search engine after Google ended its mainland search service in 2010. Yet China’s… Continue reading

A piece of butter becomes more than a question of food knowledge. It opens up a deeper misunderstanding about China: the difference between historical records, regional traditions, today’s supermarkets, and the actual dining tables of ordinary families. Five thousand years… Continue reading

This essay continues the reflection on butter and common sense, asking why the existence of cows does not necessarily mean that butter became part of ordinary people’s everyday lives. China had cows, and dairy products did exist in certain regions… Continue reading

Starting from a small family conversation about whether butter is made from milk, this essay reflects on the cultural boundaries of common sense. What one person considers basic knowledge may simply be the result of their own language, childhood, food… Continue reading

Starting from the everyday experience of waste sorting in Germany, this essay compares two different environmental paths. Germany has turned environmental protection into a daily habit, supported by long-term education, civic discipline, and stable rules. China, by contrast, increasingly turns… Continue reading

Starting from a television scene of conflict among three generations of Chinese women, this essay looks beneath son preference to the historical wounds behind it. It asks how poverty, patriarchal order, old-age insecurity, family lineage, and survival fear shaped women… Continue reading