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 roundtablepodcast@qq.com. Let the fun begin!
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 roundtablepodcast@qq.com. Let the fun begin!
Episodes
Mentioned books
14 snips
Feb 18, 2026 • 27min
Freedom or power?
A lively debate about whether true freedom comes from rejecting power or from engaging in politics. Stories include Zhuangzi turning down a prime minister post and the turtle parable about honor versus living freely. Contrasting views explore detachment, inner peace, civic responsibility, and when decisive action or patience is better.
11 snips
Feb 18, 2026 • 27min
Spring Festival fun: firecrackers to livestreams
A lively look at how Spring Festival rituals shift from private family rites to public celebrations. They explore regional customs like welcoming sons-in-law, lucky gift numbers, and festive foods such as dumplings and cold noodles. The conversation traces temple fairs turning into pop-up carnivals, lantern and shadow-puppet traditions, and how livestreams, movies, and winter sports reshape holiday life.
12 snips
Feb 17, 2026 • 19min
Hire the best or the purest?
A debate on whether greatness requires moral purity or practical skill. Gen Z perspectives challenge strict ideals versus tolerance for human flaws. Discussions range from historical succession stories to modern leadership tradeoffs like competence, emotional intelligence, and demanding management styles. Reflections on personal fit, ambition, and how ancient tales offer many interpretations.
23 snips
Feb 17, 2026 • 30min
The evolution of Chinese New Year's Eve rituals
A lively look at how staying up for New Year’s Eve shifted from quiet hearth rituals to mass television spectacle. They trace the Spring Festival Gala’s rise, its year-round production, and how families balance watching, mahjong, and midnight feasts. Regional foods, dumpling games, red-packet customs and firecracker traditions get nostalgic treatment. The episode highlights diversity in Chinese New Year timing and interactive Gala tech.
21 snips
Feb 16, 2026 • 24min
Encountering Zhuangzi for the first time
Hong Li, a professor of Chinese traditional culture and ancient philosophy, offers a concise expert view of Zhuangzi. He explores who Zhuangzi was, his playful literary style, and stories like the Butterfly Dream and Kun and Peng. Conversations touch on freedom, identity, limits, and how these tales relate to modern ideas of success and engagement.
16 snips
Feb 16, 2026 • 28min
The great migration: then and now
A deep look at Spring Festival travel, from Tang-era monthlong journeys to today’s high-speed Chunyun rush. They explore who travels and why the migration spans weeks, plus this year’s record 9.5 billion trips. Ticketing and transport evolution feature prominently, along with the emotional shift from poetic exile to modern comfort and gratitude for workers who keep the holiday moving.
18 snips
Feb 13, 2026 • 17min
The one-billion-watch broadcast
A look at the Spring Festival Gala as a national ritual watched by nearly a billion. Conversation covers multi-city performances and how live feeds stitch regional flavors together. They explore high-tech staging with AI, XR, 5G and dancing robots. Discussion includes interactive apps, accessibility features and global broadcasts that connect generations and the diaspora.
26 snips
Feb 13, 2026 • 36min
How China is redesigning its digital welcome mat
They unpack new multi-agency rules to make China’s digital services friendlier to foreign visitors. Topics include 14 concrete measures covering payments, telecoms, housing, healthcare and tourism. They explain mobile payment integration for overseas cards and multilingual platform features. They explore bilingual hospital kiosks, film-driven travel campaigns, and why seamless digital access matters for rising visitor numbers.
27 snips
Feb 12, 2026 • 25min
The two-hour school day: efficiency or isolation?
A radical school swaps teachers for personal chatbots and compresses learning into two-hour sprints. The conversation explores AI-led mornings, gamified lessons with skill trees and incentive tokens, and students working alone with human guides in non-teaching roles. They debate social development, authority, equity and whether efficiency comes at the cost of connection.
21 snips
Feb 12, 2026 • 27min
Urban stayers cash in on Spring Festival
Workers skip hometown trips to staff logistics, security, catering and temple fairs during Spring Festival. Cities run organized gig markets, warm-winter recruitment drives and 24-hour support hubs. Firms arrange holiday meals and care for on-duty staff. New digital RMB smart contracts and local training programs speed hiring and secure pay.
