Round Table China

Remember when sneakers looked like tiny cars strapped to your feet? Those chunky soles are still around, but they are now sharing shelf space with something slimmer, softer and surprisingly delicate. Think ballet ribbons wrapped around rubber soles, pale pink mesh and straps that would not look out of place in a practice studio. Is the sneaker world trading bulk for grace because our feet are tired, or because our eyes are? / Is your office air making you ugly(11:02)? On the show: Steve, Yushun & Yangyang

Picture an elderly person standing alone in the lobby of a major Chinese hospital — staring at a check-in machine they've never used, a queue they can't find the end of, a payment screen that only takes a phone they don't have. For you, it's a hospital visit. For them, it's an obstacle course with no map. Now imagine a stranger walks up and plays the role of the son or daughter who isn't there — for a few hours, for a fee. Is that a solution, or a symptom of something bigger? And can family really be rented by the hour? On the show: Steve, Fei Fei & Junya

Welcome to the skillcation, a holiday built around learning something new. And Gen Z travelers are embracing this trend. So why is Gen Z trading poolside naps for hands-on lessons? And what makes learning a skill part of the vacation experience? On the show: Fei Fei, Yushun & Yushan

A concert proposal meant to be romantic. But instead, it sparked outrage. In Beijing, a couple's onstage engagement blocked fans' views and triggered a viral debate. When does sharing your joy come at someone else's expense? And who gets to draw the line? On the show: Steve, Yushan & Yushun

What if fashion were made to be worn just once? In China, some young travelers are embracing "disposable clothes", cheap outfits designed to look good in photos, not to last. Why is this trend taking off? And what does it reveal about how we shop and what we value? On the show: Fei Fei, Yushan & Yushun

Round Table presents The Sound of a City, an original audio drama from CGTN Radio. The story is inspired by real cases handled through Beijing's 12345 Citizen Service Hotline.

You've probably scrubbed a pan with one. You could even have worn one on your feet or found it hiding in a skincare product. But the loofah is far more than a bathroom staple. It is the backbone of an industry that spans provinces, employs thousands, and ships products around the world. What does its rise tell us about how rural areas in China is reinventing itself? On the show: Steve, Fei Fei & Yu Bokun.

China's 2026 National Day holiday wasn't just about record crowds and packed trains. It was about where people went: small county towns filled up, concert neighborhoods stayed alive past midnight, and international visitors skipped the landmarks for local crafts and bullet train rides. On the show: Fei Fei, Yushan & Xingyu

You ask your kid to help clean up and they look around like there's nothing to do. It's not attitude, but a glimpse into something researchers call cognitive labor, the invisible load of noticing what needs to be done before anyone asks. That same divide shows up between partners, often without anyone realizing it, yet there are practical ways to bring everyone onto the same page. On the show: Steve, Fei Fei & Yushun

You nailed the interview. Then came the follow-up: a data analysis, a full presentation, a mock campaign, all unpaid, all before anyone says "you're hired." Turns out most job seekers know this drill. For plenty of them, the real frustration isn't the extra work, it's the silence that follows. So where's the line between proving yourself and getting used? On the show: Steve, Fei Fei & Yushun

Imagine paying good money to send your kid somewhere with no Wi-Fi, no electricity, and a whole lot of manual labor, on purpose. That is not a punishment; that is the pitch. It is called "eat bitterness" camp. Are these hardship camps actually building character, or just selling a feeling? On the show: Steve, Yushun & Yangyang.

For years, shared bikes have made short-distance travel easier in Chinese cities, but they have also brought familiar headaches. This September, regulators moved to fix that. A new national standard for internet-based rental bicycles has been approved, setting out, for the first time in one document, exactly what operating companies must do, from hiring and training staff, to equipping bikes, to how they collect user data, to how they manage parking. On the show: Steve, Yushan & Yangyang.

As part of our National Day holiday specials, we're bringing you episodes from Ni How Are You. This is a series of cross-cultural conversations exploring how people in China and the United States see, experience, and understand each other. Today's episode brings you a conversation with Jeffrey Greene, chairman of the Sino-American Aviation Heritage Foundation, about the history of the Flying Tigers and the extraordinary stories of cooperation between Chinese and American people during World War II.