分类： society

A local court in Shanghai announced Tuesday that a woman has received a death sentence with a two-year reprieve for the fatal abuse and intentional injury of her boyfriend’s three-year-old son. The Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court found defendant Zhao Yudie guilty on two counts of abuse and intentional injury, additionally ordering that Zhao’s political rights be stripped for life.

Court documents detail that the abuse began shortly after Zhao moved in with her boyfriend surnamed Huang and his young son in July 2024. Using the toddler’s occasional mischief as a flawed justification, Zhao subjected the child to repeated physical abuse over the course of weeks, including beatings to the boy’s back, buttocks and legs, as well as biting attacks on his limbs.

The fatal incident unfolded on the evening of August 24, 2024, at a park in Shanghai’s Pudong New Area. Irritated by the child running around the park grounds, Zhao launched a brutal attack: she slapped the boy’s head and face repeatedly, beat him with a tree branch, and kicked his body multiple times. In the course of the attack, Zhao threw the toddler down a riverbank slope, causing him to fall and suffer a severe blunt force head injury on the ground.

After returning home later that evening, the young boy lost consciousness. Zhao eventually brought him to a local hospital for emergency care, but medical teams were unable to reverse the damage. The victim passed away on September 4, 2024, from central nervous system failure triggered by the blunt force brain trauma he sustained in the attack. Post-mortem examinations also confirmed widespread injuries across the child’s body: multiple bruises covered his back, face and chest, with distinct bite marks found on his left calf.

In its official ruling, the court clarified that while Zhao’s actions showed clear intent to cause bodily harm, there was no premeditation to kill the child. The court also moved to debunk widespread unsubstantiated rumors that circulated online following the boy’s death, including false claims that Zhao had stabbed the child with toothpicks, that he had been forced to scavenge for food due to starvation, and that only small stones were found in his stomach during the autopsy. The court confirmed all of these viral claims are completely unfounded.

Officials also emphasized that no evidence has emerged to indicate that the boy’s father, Huang, participated in, concealed, or tolerated Zhao’s abuse of his son, ending widespread online speculation about his potential involvement.

In the vast, culturally rich landscapes of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, 26-year-old local tour guide Dilinur Tursunjan has built far more than just professional relationships with her visitors — she has cultivated a deep, lasting emotional connection with a Taiwanese tourist family that transcends the narrow Taiwan Strait separating the two sides.

Dilinur’s story catapulted her to national social media fame earlier this year, after a TikTok (Douyin) video of her talking about the groundbreaking Tianshan Shengli Tunnel went viral, racking up millions of views from viewers across China. The footage was captured by tourist Lin, who traveled with Dilinur on two separate trips: a tour of northern Xinjiang in October 2025, followed by a journey through southern Xinjiang this past March.

In the heartfelt viral clip, Dilinur spoke from the heart about the engineering marvel that is the Tianshan Shengli Tunnel. “Because the people needed this accessible highway, our motherland could move mountains and redirect rivers,” she said. “It’s not that cutting through the Tianshan Mountains was ever easy — but on the other side of these peaks, there are people waiting for better lives.”

Stretching across 2,500 kilometers, the Tianshan Mountains have historically separated northern and southern Xinjiang, creating long, dangerous travel routes between the two regions. The newly opened 22.13-kilometer Tianshan Shengli Tunnel, the longest expressway tunnel in the world, opened to traffic in December 2025. The mega project has cut a treacherous three-hour mountain crossing down to a smooth 20-minute drive, transforming regional connectivity and daily life for local residents.

Work on the tunnel pushed the limits of engineering: construction teams lived and worked at altitudes above 4,000 meters, facing constant threats of oxygen deprivation, rock bursts, and sudden water inrushes. Even against these extreme challenges, Chinese engineering teams deployed cutting-edge innovative technologies to complete the full drilling process in just 52 months, finishing the project years ahead of early projections.

For Dilinur, the tunnel’s story is not just a matter of national engineering pride — it is personal. Born and raised in Artux, she moved 1,500 kilometers to Urumqi to attend Xinjiang University of Finance and Economics. What once took an exhausting 18-hour drive by road now takes roughly 13 hours, a change that has made returning home to see her family far easier.

“Now I can get home much faster, and tourists spend less time traveling on the road and more time enjoying all the beautiful attractions Xinjiang has to offer,” she explained. “That’s why I’m so deeply proud of this project — I’ve seen what it changed for people like me.”

Lin, the Taiwanese tourist who filmed the viral video, first found Dilinur through the Douyin social media platform before booking their first trip. She said she was particularly moved when she realized the tunnel was built to lift up local communities, not just to claim a global engineering record. Over their two trips together, the group explored some of Xinjiang’s most iconic landmarks, from the stunning blue waters of Sayram Lake to the rugged heights of the Pamir Plateau and the centuries-old Kashgar Ancient City.

The bond between Dilinur and Lin’s family deepened dramatically when Dilinur invited the group to her home for a traditional Uyghur meal featuring hand-pulled noodles, slow-cooked mutton, and homemade fig jam. The warm gathering stretched late into the night, leaving a lasting impression on the Taiwanese visitors.

“It felt just like being with my own family at home,” Lin shared in a video of the gathering. “I’d only ever seen moments this warm and genuine on television before — I never got to experience it myself.”

Today, the connection between the two sides is so strong that Dilinur has already invited the family to her future wedding, and Lin has already said she is eager to attend and even wear traditional Uyghur clothing for the celebration. Before the family departed on their second trip, the group even extended their stay to celebrate the Roza Festival (Eid al-Fitr) together at Urumqi’s bustling Grand Bazaar.

Now boasting more than 500,000 followers on Douyin, Dilinur uses her growing platform to showcase the real, living culture and beauty of her home region to people across China and around the world. “I hope more people get to know the real Xinjiang, which is very different from the false narratives Western media often spreads,” she said.

As Lin’s family prepared to leave Xinjiang, they already made plans for a third visit — sharing their hope that one day soon, they will be able to fly directly from Taipei to Urumqi, rather than transferring through Hong Kong as they must do today. For her part, Dilinur says her next big dream is to visit Taiwan in person, to taste the island’s fresh seafood and see its iconic mountain landscapes for herself.

NANCHANG — A sweeping surge in digital reading has unlocked new access to literary content across China, pushing more citizens to build consistent reading habits as national efforts to cultivate a book-loving society drive steady growth in overall reading engagement.

New data released Monday during the fifth National Conference on Reading reveals that China’s overall adult reading rate climbed to 82.3 percent in 2025, with the average number of books consumed per capita across both print and digital formats rising to 8.39. The findings, pulled from a national reading survey and the 2025 China Digital Reading Report, confirm that digital formats have become a core driver expanding the country’s total reading population.

The annual conference, hosted this year in Nanchang, the capital of East China’s Jiangxi province, opened alongside the inaugural launch of China’s first official National Reading Week, which will run through this coming Sunday. The week-long celebration is a key part of broader national initiatives designed to embed a strong reading culture in communities across the country.

According to the national survey, 80.8 percent of Chinese adults now regularly interact with digital reading content, spanning e-books, serialized online literature, audiobooks, and short-form video book summaries. Researchers behind the data note that the flexibility of digital formats has been instrumental in growing participation: commuters can listen to audiobooks during daily travel, and mobile readers can access serialized fiction at any time, removing long-standing barriers to consistent reading.

By the end of 2025, China’s total digital reading user base hit 689 million, marking a 2.95 percent year-over-year increase, while the total number of available digital reading works surpassed 70 million. Over the past five years alone, the overall market size of China’s digital reading industry has nearly doubled, expanding from 30.25 billion yuan (approximately 4.4 billion U.S. dollars) to 59.48 billion yuan, a clear indicator of robust growth on both the supply and demand sides of the market.

Industry leaders attribute much of this market expansion to the evolution of online literature from a niche digital product into a pillar of the broader cultural economy. “The essence of reading is to allow stories to break through boundaries and enter everyday life,” explained Xie Lanfang, vice-president of Yuewen Group, China’s leading digital publishing platform. She added that digital reading content is increasingly expanding beyond online platforms to integrate with offline cultural consumption and interactive consumer experiences, creating new touchpoints for reader engagement.

Chinese authorities have long prioritized reading as a core driver of national intellectual and ethical development, as well as a catalyst for broader innovation and creativity, spurring ongoing, coordinated efforts to build a nationwide book-loving society. To strengthen institutional support for these goals, a formal regulation on promoting nationwide reading entered into force this past February. The new policy outlines concrete measures to expand public reading facilities, improve public reading services, and strengthen long-term supporting mechanisms for reading promotion.

Under the new regulation, the fourth week of April is officially designated as National Reading Week, marking 2026 as the first year the initiative has been observed nationwide. Over the course of the week, thousands of reading-focused events will be held across every region of China, including author lectures, book fairs, reading salons, and public book donation drives, all targeted at encouraging greater public participation in reading.

“Reading service facilities have improved, and public awareness and satisfaction are relatively high,” noted Feng Shixin, president of the Chinese Academy of Press and Publication. He added that continued work is still needed to further improve accessibility for marginalized groups and upgrade the quality of public reading services nationwide.

Even as digital formats continue their rapid growth, traditional print reading has remained resilient, with new data showing enduring public demand for immersive, long-form reading experiences. The national survey found that 45.9 percent of Chinese adults still prefer reading printed books, particularly full-length literary works, highlighting that digital growth has not displaced demand for traditional reading formats.

Wu Shulin, chairman of the Publishers Association of China, emphasized that deep, focused reading remains the foundation for personal growth, professional advancement, and moral cultivation even in an increasingly digital age. He called for stronger public guidance to help readers navigate digital content and deepen a national culture of deep reading, encouraging audiences to move beyond superficial fragmented browsing to engage in more intentional, in-depth reading practices.

HONG KONG — Nearly a year after a devastating large-scale blaze tore through Wang Fuk Court in Hong Kong’s Tai Po district, affected residents have begun the long process of returning to their fire-ravaged homes in organized, staggered groups to collect remaining personal belongings, with the first phase of the operation launching on Monday, April 20, 2026.

To guarantee the safety of every resident entering the damaged building and coordinate the smooth execution of the retrieval operation, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government has mobilized a force of more than 1,000 personnel from multiple government departments and public service agencies. The carefully planned operation is scheduled to run through May 4, giving registered residents adequate time to collect items they left behind after the 2025 fire forced an emergency evacuation of the residential block.

According to Cheuk Wing-hing, Deputy Chief Secretary for Administration of the HKSAR government, all residents participating in the retrieval process will receive full personal protective gear before entering the site, including safety helmets, disposable face masks, heavy-duty work gloves and other necessary equipment to guard against structural hazards and residual toxic smoke or debris. Every resident is escorted round-trip to their unit by trained personnel, either serving police officers or volunteers from the Civil Aid Service.

Chris Tang Ping-keung, HKSAR Secretary for Security, further outlined the multi-layered safety arrangements put in place for the operation. To respond to any unexpected situation that may arise during the retrieval, dedicated police and Civil Aid Service personnel will be stationed on every floor of the residential block to provide on-demand, immediate assistance. Additionally, fully qualified medical teams and emergency response staff will remain on standby at the site throughout the operation, with multiple ambulances parked nearby to handle any medical emergencies quickly.

Eight years after their son Philip Hancock passed away in southwest China, his Australian family gathered in Sydney for a memorial symposium to celebrate the young man’s extraordinary act of humanitarian kindness that continues to connect communities across two nations.

In May 2018, 27-year-old Hancock, an English teacher at Chongqing’s Southwest University who had built deep personal ties with China, died after failed medical intervention. In line with explicit wishes he had shared with his family years earlier, his parents made the decision to donate his liver, two kidneys, and pair of corneas. The selfless choice granted five Chinese recipients a second chance at life — restoring sight to two and saving the lives of three others. This act made Hancock the first Australian and seventh foreign national to complete an organ donation in China.

Addressing attendees at the Sydney memorial, Peter Hancock, Philip’s father, reflected on the gravity of the choice his family made. “This was a very difficult decision for our family to make,” he said, noting that Philip’s clear long-stated intent softened the pain of their loss. “He said he would like his organs to be donated so that other people could benefit from them. He believed that this was a humanitarian thing to do and that everyone should have the same attitude toward organ donations.”

Co-hosted by the Red Cross Society of China and the Chinese Consulate-General in Sydney, the symposium brought together diplomatic and community leaders from both China and Australia to honor Hancock’s legacy. Chinese Consul General in Sydney Wang Yu highlighted the profound meaning of the young teacher’s choice, noting that his story vividly embodies boundless humanitarian love, strengthens the deep-rooted friendship between the Chinese and Australian peoples, and illustrates the core value of a shared human future.

He Wei, president of the Red Cross Society of China, emphasized that Hancock’s act of generosity transcends borders, race, and ideological difference, forging a living bridge of connection and friendship between the two nations. “The Australian’s name, his kindness and his invaluable spirit will always remain in the hearts of the Chinese people, standing as a most touching, precious and heartfelt testament to China-Australia friendship,” He said.

Gary Cowan, CEO of the National Foundation for Australia-China Relations, echoed that sentiment, pointing to the dual impact of Hancock’s legacy. “It really reminds us of the very profound lifesaving ripple effect that organ donation has. And it also reminds us in a very tangible way of the very real value of people-to-people relationships between Australia and China and the long-term positive impact,” Cowan explained.

For the five recipients who owe their renewed health and sight to Hancock, his legacy has become a deeply personal mission to carry forward his passion and kindness. After learning the young Australian was an avid music lover, the group came together to form “One-Man’s Band,” a musical ensemble named in his honor. The group performs at public events to raise awareness of organ donation, and donates 100% of proceeds from commercial shows to the Chongqing Red Cross Society to support public education campaigns.

Over the eight years since Philip’s passing, the Red Cross Society of China has maintained consistent contact with the Hancock family in Australia, providing regular updates on the maintenance of Philip’s memorial site and the ongoing health of the five recipients. This steady connection has brought significant comfort to the grieving family, turning an act of tragic loss into a lasting bond between two nations.

China’s journey to cultivate a national reading culture reached a new milestone this week, as the fifth National Conference on Reading opened in Nanchang, the capital of east China’s Jiangxi Province, on Monday. The three-day gathering also formally inaugurates the country’s first-ever National Reading Week, a nationwide initiative designed to embed regular reading into public life and strengthen cultural development across the nation.

Attendees of the conference emphasized that reading forms the foundational bedrock of cultural advancement, and called for scaled-up efforts to popularize reading and build a society that values literary engagement. They underlined that expanding nationwide reading programs is a critical component of China’s broader push to build itself into a leading cultural power. Li Shulei, member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, attended the opening ceremony and delivered a keynote address.

The establishment of National Reading Week follows a national regulation released by the State Council that entered into force on February 1 this year, which formalized the designation of the fourth week of April annually as the national event. The regulation’s core goals are to lift the intellectual, moral, scientific, and cultural standards of the Chinese public, and to boost overall social civility. The inaugural week will feature hundreds of localized events across the country aimed at sparking public enthusiasm for reading.

To align with the launch of National Reading Week, the Nanchang conference has organized a diverse lineup of targeted forums tailored to different demographic groups and sectors, covering topics including youth reading, family and parent-child reading, public library services, rural reading expansion, reading for senior citizens, reading rights protection, and the fast-growing digital reading sector.

One of the standout attractions of this year’s conference is a comprehensive showcase of Jiangxi’s deep-rooted traditional cultural heritage. A major exhibition focused on ancient Chinese academy culture offers visitors an immersive experience, recreating the lively scholarly atmosphere of iconic Jiangxi institutions such as the centuries-old Bailudong Academy, one of the most famous centers of learning in imperial China. Other special cultural activities include an exhibition of classical works from the Jiangxi School of Poetry and the Tengwang Pavilion Book Fair, held at the city’s iconic historic landmark. Ahead of the conference, students dressed in traditional Chinese costumes gathered in front of Tengwang Pavilion to recite *Preface to the Pavilion of Prince Teng*, the celebrated 7th-century literary classic by Tang Dynasty poet Wang Bo.

Two key industry reports released at the conference reveal encouraging trends in Chinese reading habits. The 23rd National Reading Survey found that 82.3 percent of Chinese adults reported reading regularly in 2025. On average, each adult read 8.39 combined paper and digital books last year, representing a steady increase from 2024 figures. Among minors aged 0 to 17, 86.7 percent engaged in book reading, and 75.9 percent participated in digital reading — both metrics also saw year-on-year growth.

The separate National Digital Reading Report added further context to the sector’s rapid expansion. By the end of 2025, the total number of digital reading works available in China hit 70.5592 million, an 11.87 percent increase from 2024, pointing to a robust and growing supply of digital content. Exports of Chinese digital content also saw strong growth, with the total number of digital works released overseas — including translated Chinese works, original foreign-language content from Chinese creators, and exported e-books — reaching 949,200, a 17.42 percent rise year-on-year. The total number of digital reading users in China reached 689 million in 2025, marking a 2.95 percent annual increase.

The conference also brought together prominent figures from across the cultural and literary sectors to share their perspectives on reading. At a special event focused on “red classic” literature organized by the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, veteran pingshu (Chinese traditional storytelling) performing artist Liu Lanfang, who has 67 years of experience in the art form, shared her lifelong love of reading. Even now, Liu spends several hours daily reading on her mobile device, and noted, “One should always read. Reading expands knowledge, and that’s how people can keep improving.”

At a separate children’s book sharing event held alongside the conference, popular children’s storyteller Wang Kai, widely known as Uncle Kai, highlighted the unique importance of reading for young people growing up in the age of artificial intelligence. “In the AI era, we need a broader perspective on reading,” Wang said. “Children need a solid foundation of common knowledge, and the best way to gain that is through reading.”

The rolling hills of southern China came alive with polyphonic folk melodies this weekend, as the centuries-old Dawuliang Singing Festival kicked off in Tongdao Dong Autonomous County, Huaihua, Hunan Province. The annual cultural gathering drew participants from multiple ethnic groups across the adjacent border regions of Hunan, Guizhou Province and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, turning the remote county into a vibrant hub of cross-ethnic cultural exchange.

Rooted in Dong ethnic heritage, the festival carries a 300-year history tied to a legendary tragic love story from the Dong community. What began as a small, community-centered observance of that tale has gradually transformed over generations into a beloved annual celebration that welcomes ethnic groups beyond the Dong people, including Miao, Yao and Zhuang communities.

Today, the festival serves multiple purposes: it is a space for young people from across regional ethnic groups to gather, sing traditional folk songs, build social connections, and pass down intergenerational cultural heritage to younger generations. For local communities, the event remains a cornerstone of ethnic identity, keeping centuries-old oral traditions and musical customs alive amid rapid modern change, while fostering solidarity among diverse ethnic groups in southern China.