Originally published as the Eye on Digital China newsletter on September 17, 2026.

In this edition:

• Guangzhou Library fills with young people “pretending to work”
• How “shuaqi-ism” became the buzzword of China’s new semester
• Why office workers are “going rural” at Starbucks
• The rise of China’s 24-hour fishbone clinics

It’s been a week full of noteworthy trends. What hasn’t been trending are any baseless rumors you might have encountered speculating about Xi Jinping’s health after he returned from New Delhi.

Although such speculation is common on Western social media platforms, posts about the Chinese leader that deviate from official media reports and state narratives are rarely available on mainland Chinese platforms due to censorship and monitoring. For the same reason, you’ll also see that news reports about Xi Jinping, from his visit to India to domestic messages, often have restricted comment sections, allowing only a select number of comments — or no comments at all.

At the same time, disseminating rumors or false information online is punishable by law in China. Due to the risk of serious legal consequences for posting rumors deemed damaging to the state or society, there is also self-censorship among Chinese netizens who wouldn’t want to risk reposting such content. This is why you see that X, along with other foreign platforms, is the main source of rumors about Xi’s supposed health issue at the BRICS Summit, not Chinese social media.

📌 On a separate but related note, it’s regrettable to see more English-language China-focused projects disappear. WIRED has discontinued Made in China, the newsletter created by Zeyi Yang and Louise Matsakis. At the same time, the podcast

Originally published in the Eye on Digital China newsletter on Sunday, September 6, 2026.

Hello from rainy Yokohama. This week, I am doing some traveling around Japan, partly for work, partly for leisure, and having some time to visit historic sights and meet old friends. It’s been eight years since I last visited Japan, the country where I spent part of my high school days.

Since I’m writing to you from Japan, this edition is more Japan-focused than usual, with a particularly interesting contribution from Unseen Japan, the independent website and newsletter that I’ve followed and appreciated for years due to its deep dives and cultural analysis on modern Japan, often covering stories that mainstream English-language media overlooks. Give their newsletter a follow here.

🔎 This time in Tokyo, the lack of Chinese tourists was clear – something that was confirmed by Mr. Zhu, the friendly driver who met me at Narita Airport. He turned out to be a 40-something-year-old Chinese man from Harbin who once studied in Tokyo and then stayed here as a post-graduate.

Yicai reported earlier this week that during August, the second half of the summer travel season, 18 China–Japan air routes canceled all of their scheduled flights – a total of 1,120 flights from mainland China to Japan, a cancellation rate of 30% for a number of flights to Japan that was already down 53% compared to the year before.

According to my driver, the lack of Chinese visitors is partly because the current economy and more cautious spending are making Chinese tourists turn elsewhere, from domestic travel to other Southeast Asian destinations, from Vietnam to Malaysia, that have become more popular and affordable. The upcoming National…