4 . In an era (时代) when social media platforms are flooded with less than five-minute videos, a young vlogger walks against this to produce videos about 20 minutes long. The vlogger called 1900 (not his real name) has over 1.16 million followers on Bilibili, an online video platform. Among them, more than 400,000 new followers were attracted by his elaboration on (精讲) “the red classics collection (红色经典系列)” during the past five months.

When 1900 was a child, he was deeply impressed by the war scenes in the movie Decisive Engagement (《大决战》，1991), which is about China’s War of Liberation (1946-49). However, without rich knowledge of the history, he didn’t quite understand the movie.

Almost 20 years later, the 35-year-old realized that films and TV series simplify (简化) historical events or their significance. So he decided to make videos to elaborate on those revolution-themed (革命主题的) films and TV series, so that viewers, especially young people, can have a better understanding of Chinese history.

Since May, he has made 27 videos elaborating on The Great Transition (《大转折》), the Birth of New China and more. In these videos, he attempts to dig up behind-the-scenes stories of historical figures. He analyzes battles by showing battle maps to inform viewers of their intensity (激烈). He even analyzes poems to provide a deeper historical context.

These details require a lot of reading and research. To make the videos, 1900 has so far read about 30 books. He also interviewed history professors and teachers from Party schools. It is a tiring process, but “details make history lively and able to be felt for viewers,” 1900 said. “My slogan is ‘everything can be elaborated on’, which might seem like a challenging task to some. But I guess every person can find his or her friends with the same taste,” he said.

5 . HANGZHOU—Wearing a backpack and earphones, Peter Zhang set off from his office during rush hour, accompanied by his favourite podcast. Podcasts (播客) have become a life companion for the 27-year-old white-collar worker in Beijing. “When I’m commuting (通勤) or waiting, the podcast fill the boring blanks.” he said.

According to a report by market research company eMarketer, there were 86 million podcast listeners in China last year, second only to the United States. In eastern China’s Zhejiang province, Zhao Fanyu prepared dinner for herself while listening to a podcast. “Listening to podcasts gives me some companionship when I’m doing chores or cooking.” she said. After getting her master’s degree, Zhao found a job in Jiaxing as a grassroots civil servant. She listens to podcasts for more than an hour a day and usually listens to discussions about current events and hot topics. She says podcasts are becoming a spiritual home for young people living alone in big cities. Young urbanites like Zhao living in China’s first-and-second-tier cities are the main audience for podcasts. They care about current affairs and personal feelings, and they listen to serious discussions as well as those about games and entertainment.

Based on the statistics from podcast search engine Listen-Notes, there were more than 40,000 Chinese podcasts at the end of last year, up from more than 10,000 in April 2020. Dong Chenyu, a lecture at Renmin University of China’s School of Journalism and Communication, said sound sometimes has advantages over video. He said the COVID-19 pandemic has made people spend more time at home, but prolonged screen time has affected their eyes, making podcasts a welcome relief.

Podcasts are also gradually becoming more valuable commercially. Shu Yulong, CEO of podcast app Xiaoyuzhoufm, said podcasts are now gradually being taken seriously by players in the media market. “In 2021, traditional paper media started to enter the podcast market, opening podcast accounts on Xiaoyuzhoufm, and recording audio content for podcast platform distribution.” Shu said.

Market researcher eMarketer predicts the number of podcast listeners in China will reach 102 million this year, and that more than 10 percent of the Chinese population will be podcast listeners by 2024.

Videos of 77-year-old Xu Xiuzhen,     1     speaks different languages with foreigners while working at a scenic spot selling water, postcards and headdress flowers, have brought her instant fame.

Xu’s village is located at the base of Moon Hill,     2     popular tourist destination in Yangsuo, Guangxi, which is famed for a moon-shaped hole at the summit.

    3     (support) her family, Xu, who dropped out of junior school in the third grade, began to learn different languages in order to attract more foreign customers. Xu said she would change words in any language into Chinese characters     4     (base) on their pronunciation and then memorize them. Repeating the words in her head before going to bed and immediately after waking up has given her     5     (fluent) in basic conversations with foreigners, she said.

Over the past two decades, Xu     6     (teach) herself 11 foreign languages, including English, Spanish, Japanese and Korean. In addition to     7     (make) her incredibly popular, her linguistic prowess has made     8     easier for her to communicate with foreign tourists.

Xu has also become one of the busiest tour guides in Yangsuo. Not content to     9     (simple) serve as a tour guide, she now owns a popular restaurant and operates a reputable hotel.“More and more foreign tourists are coming to Yangsuo, and I hope they will feel     10     home here with my help,” she said.