Liu Aicheng/Xinhua/ZUMAPRESS.com A farmer tends to terraced paddy fields near Loudi City in central China’s Hunan Province.

Zhu Yinwei/Xinhua/Zuma Press A tightrope walker, Adili Wuxor, balances atop steel wires overlooking the Desheng River in Zhejiang province, China.

Zhao Zhongzhi/Xinhua/Zuma Press On a misty day in the town of Fenghuang, China, a tourist navigates her way across a rock path atop the Tuojiang River.

Last month Christie’s auction house announced that it was awarded a 30-year license to operate in Shanghai, China. That very same week, I was faced with the decision to remain at my job at a commercial art gallery or return [...]

Always one to keep it real, Jay-Z today released a new track calling out the broken and antiquated U.S. policy towards Cuba. In the cut, produced by Timbaland and Swizz Beatz, Jay highlights the obvious, but all too often under [...]

©Sim Chi Yin Beijing-based photographer Sim Chi Yin strayed from a burgeoning career as a journalist when she realized that her true vocation should be telling enthralling stories with her camera.   See more of her amazing work here

China frequently shocks the world’s conservationist sensibilities by doing things like flattening seven hundred mountains. But even in China, where an industrialist, laissez-faire outlook on environmental issues is strikingly common, there is a limit to the environmental shenaniganery that Chinese [...]

Feng Li/Getty Images When picturing the smog filled air of Beijing, it’s so not difficult to imagine the deadening of one’s senses. The haze appears to create an atmosphere of cinematic dystopia. In the above photo — snapped in none [...]

Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters Colored water is splashed at the Boudhanath Stupa temple in Katmandu to mark a new year. As Reuters points out, The Tibetan lunar new year is supposed to be a time for celebration, but this year many are [...]

In a land of orange skies and empty cities, anything is possible, no matter the consequences. Along this vein, Yan Jiehe is flattening seven hundred mountains to make room for “Lanzhou New City” approximately 80 kilometers north of Lanzhou, which is a very, very old [...]

Zuma Press Smog in urban China remains unyielding.  Last week, the Chinese government issued their first-ever “orange” fog warning. Today, the newly added color code seems tragically ironic.     Related: Suffocating, Beijing    

ChinaFotoPress/Zuma Press Pangu Plaza office building in Beijing amidst a dreary haze of smog. Air pollution in Beijing has reached a never-before-seen level this past week, leading the government to issue the city’s first ever “orange” fog warning. The U.S. [...]

To many, Ai Weiwei is inspirational in his subversiveness. At the same time, others wonder if he is merely an object of fascination for hipsters in the West and question if he actually matters inside China. Even if the latter [...]

With the incredible urbanization and economic growth in China, we are often flooded with images of crowded city streets shadowed by construction and smog. But the nation is vast, of course. This image reminds us of the quiet beauty of [...]

A few weeks ago, Greenpeace revealed that clothing from Zara, the world’s largest fashion retailer, had tested positive for hormone-disrupting chemicals and dyes that release cancer-causing substances. Greenpeace tested 20 leading international fashion brands and found that all of them [...]

The boom in China’s massive construction business is almost unparalleled by any other nation (whether or not we like to admit it). Recently, The Atlantic reported that although population growth has slowed a bit in recent years, Chinese residents have [...]

Vega Zaishi Wang is a promising, young talent and one of China’s leading fashion designers, not only because of her architectural and futuristic designs, but also for her drive to push the technology and limitations of fabric forward. In her [...]

Rarely do we hear of happy endings in grassroots environmental activism; especially when climate change has failed to be considered noteworthy in the upcoming presidential election. Bottom line: success stories are few. Of course, it is important to remember that [...]

Students perform kung fu at the opening ceremonies of the ninth Shaolin International Martial-Arts Festival in Zhengzhou, China.   Photo by: ChinaFotoPress/Zuma Press.

As we approach the 23rd anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, many are gathering to remember the events of June 4th, 1989, which saw protestors – many of whom students – killed by the People’s Liberation Army, acting under the [...]

One hundred and eight Syrians near the town of Houla have been murdered amidst a bloody crackdown on dissidents. President Bashar al-Assad continues to rebuke international condemnations of the atrocities carried out by his regime and of the legitimacy of [...]

The Chinese civil rights activist Chen Guangcheng has become an icon in representing the fight against the repression and torment frequently employed on dissidents against the country’s authoritarian regime. The blind activist – often referred to as a “barefoot lawyer,” [...]

A modern day slave trade may seem unimaginable, but it is in fact all around us. Two and a half million people just this year have fallen victim to this $32 billion industry. The United Nations reports that 80 percent [...]

The exploration for new sustainable energy sources is in a way an effort to regain harmony with our natural world. If this is the case, it only makes sense to look at the organic mysteries that have been under our [...]

The annual Hong Kong Rugby Sevens is part of a series of international rugby tournaments hosted under the IRB Sevens World Series. The 3-day event, held during the last weekend of March every year, was first established in 1976 and [...]

The world’s media has recently shone considerable spotlight on the developments at the Apple Foxconn manufacturers in China, regarding the inhumane treatment of workers and the brutal conditions they are forced to endure. Recently, the radio programme This American Life [...]

The phenomenon of globalization has interconnected the world in ways never before experienced by mankind, yet there remains a distinct lack of empathetic human connection. This is especially true in the western world where out of sight and out of [...]

There is no love lost between Hong Kong and their neighbours who hail from China. Popularly referred to as Mainlanders, which has since become a negative connotation in its own right, visitors from north of the Hong Kong border are [...]

The joyous holiday season has become less jolly after the discovery of the untimely death of James Rizzi, one of Brooklyn’s finest artists. He was found on December 26th in his SoHo apartment, resting peacefully in his sleep. The curious [...]

After years of corruption and cronyism from the oppressive regime of Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian people have risen up as a part of the Arab Awakening only to face a brutal backlash. The United Nations’ official estimate of the death [...]

A so-called last minute deal at the COP17 Climate Talks in Durban, South Africa has led politicians and some media outlets to laud the cooperation of diplomats to come to an agreement to ultimately curb anthropogenic carbon emissions. Environmentalist are [...]

The UN treaty on climate change — our best hope for action — expires next year. But a greedy US-led coalition of oil-captured countries is trying to kill it forever. It’s staggeringly difficult to believe: they are trading short term [...]

Ai Weiwei remains unapologetic and defiant, while continuing to be an inspiration to those who care about human rights and social justice. Although he was released from secret detention in September, the Chinese authorities continue to strong arm the artist. [...]

We want to take you on a trip to the other side of the world to get brief updates on global issues that we have covered in the past. Feel free to click on each title to go back to [...]

Despite political stagnation, everyday people continue to seek solutions to our climate crisis. Ryan Hrejac, of Ontario, Canada, began his mission to battle global water shortages in developing nations through direct action, education, and inspiration, all beginning at the age [...]

“For a man imprisoned and conditionally released, neither neighbors nor strangers nor Beijing’s officials nor courts can be trusted.” Artist, subversive dissident, and freedom fighter Ai Weiwei was released from his secret detention earlier this summer, but he is far [...]

Chinese artist and political activist Ai Weiwei has been released on bail by the Chinese government. A state news agency announced that the release came as Weiwei admitted to tax evasion, as well as citing a health condition that he [...]

Art cannot be erased. Music cannot be silenced. Culture cannot be contained, even by the most authoritarian governments. Despite widespread censorship from the Politburo, underground electronic music in Shanghai, China is burgeoning and transmitting to your local internet stream. Shanghai, [...]