All events listed here are manually curated for readers of What’s on Weibo, with a focus on Chinese (digital) culture, language, society, history, and broader China insights. Many of these events are hosted around the world.
✉️ If you want to add an event, send me a message at manya[@]whatsonweibo.com
An in-person evening at the Chinese Historical Society of America highlights the enduring cultural significance of mahjong 🀄. Author Nicole Wong discusses her new book Mahjong: House Rules from Across the Asian Diaspora, which explores gameplay, family traditions, and the role mahjong has played in Chinese American communities.
From 25 to 30 August 2025, SOAS University of London will host the Third London International Chinese Music Festival. The week-long event features a summer school, masterclasses, concerts, workshops, and a music competition, highlighting traditional Chinese instruments and contemporary compositions. Musicians, educators, and composers from China, the UK, and beyond will lead sessions in guqin, pipa, erhu, dizi, opera, and more.
📍 SOAS, University of London | 🎟️ Registration required
In connection with a landmark exhibition at the Hong Kong Museum of History, this in-person conversation explores the lives and legacies of Overseas Chinese in California from the 19th to mid-20th centuries.
At this special in-person event, Wang will discuss Breakneck in conversation with Julian Gewirtz, a former senior official in the Biden administration and a scholar of U.S.-China relations. The discussion will ask: Can authoritarian engineering adapt and learn from liberal pluralism? And can America’s lawyer-dominated elite make room for the engineers of the future?
An online launch of Governing Digital China, with authors Daniela Stockmann and Ting Luo discussing their research on how Chinese tech firms and citizens interact with the state in shaping digital governance. Hosted by the Hertie School.
This in-person and virtual event features Michael Luo, executive editor of The New Yorker and author of Strangers in the Land: The Struggle for Belonging in America, in a conversation on the history of Chinese exclusion, the roots of anti-Asian sentiment, and broader questions around race, immigration, and civic belonging in the United States.
Part of the Talks in Chinese Humanities series, this online lecture by Dr. Andres Rodriguez explores the role of the Burma Road as a wartime supply line and its impact on China’s regional and global connectivity during the early Sino-Japanese War years.
In this special online lecture, scholar and screenwriter Dr. Pan Geng—one of Mo Yan’s former students—explores the celebrated Chinese writer’s creative journey since receiving the Nobel Prize in Literature. From his turn toward theater and traditional stage arts to his public cultural engagement through poetry, calligraphy, and new media, the talk offers a multidimensional portrait of Mo Yan as both artist and cultural figure.
A talk by Joseph Torigian on the life of Xi Zhongxun, exploring the legacy of Xi Jinping’s father through new archival material. The seminar offers insight into CCP history and elite political dynamics in the PRC. Hosted by SOAS China Institute.
Join the Committee of 100 for a live online conversation with playwright David Henry Hwang on October 7, 2025. Part of the "Recollections, Pioneers, and Heroes" series, the event will explore contributions of Chinese Americans across arts and public life. Free registration available.
On 9 October 2025, the Clingendael Institute will host an online conference examining the evolving nature of EU–China relations. As part of the ReConnect China consortium, this event will bring together experts and policymakers to discuss how the EU engages with China—as a partner, competitor, and systemic rival—and what this means for Europe’s strategic future.
📡 China’s Tech Strategy 📅 Date: Thursday, October 9, 2025 🕔 Time: 5:00 PM PDT 📍 Location: School of Global Policy and Strategy, UC San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States (& Virtual attendance possible) 🌐 Organizer: 21st Century China Center, UC San Diego 🎟️ Registration: Free with registration 🏷️ Description: As global tech competition […]
At a moment of profound changes in the U.S. – China relationship, how do young Americans view the landscape change, and how does their perspective align with the insights of one of America’s most respected authorities on China?
In this seminar, political historian Joseph Torigian presents his new biography of Xi Zhongxun, the long-serving Chinese Communist Party official and father of Xi Jinping. Based on new archival sources and interviews, the talk explores Xi Zhongxun’s role in shaping CCP policy from the revolutionary period through reform-era China.
✊ Milk Tea Alliance & the China Effect: A Talk with Jeffrey Wasserstrom 📅 Date: Thursday, October 10, 2025 🕕 Time: 6:00 – 7:30 PM ET 📍 Location: The Hague, In Person & Online, register here 🌐 Organizer: TBD 🎟️ Registration: Free with RSVP 🏷️ Description: Join acclaimed historian Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom for an eye-opening […]
