Before Covid, WWE and UFC were key to push the envelope of MMA in China, now, independent promotion companies like Middle Kingdom Wrestling are left to pick up the momentum.  Featuring - Adrian Gomez: Middle Kingdom Wrestling - Founder To go further - Middle Earth episode  #65 China’s winter sports market : How to get 300 million snow enthusiasts? - Middle Earth episode #51 Pop Mart : How to Make an Addictive Toy (featuring Yang Yaling) With thanks to Yang Yaling of Following the yuan for...

With a forecast revenue of 370 billion USD in 2024 market size, roughly three times the size of the US market and Europe, China's apparel market  is home to up and coming fashion brands as well as big brands buying up international competitors. What can insiders share from that industry?   Featuring - Li Boyan: Fashion Photographer - Lucrezia Seu: Plush Consulting - Founder - CK Zhang : 张本赛含之 SAIANZI - Founder To go further - Middle Earth episode #93 Invisible Summit: One Blind Person’s...

Potentially succeeding where Quibi failed, several Chinese apps (DramaBox, Reelshort) alongside others (Pocket FM, Good Novel) are pushing for 1-minute episodes of micro-series. Often depicted as being of trashy quality, they do seem to attract some eyeballs. Yet, what are the creative conditions to produce such Fifty Shades-esque stories, and is the market where we think it is? Featuring - Jack Li: Scriptwriter - Anaïs Clément : Actress and Theatre Maker - Yang Tingting: TWOC -...

Started as a grassroots movement in the early Chinese internet, web novels slowly became a powerhouse of China’s cultural industry by producing powerful IPs. How did this industry came to be? Featuring - Tage : Author  - Wei Xiaoma : IP Licensing Manager - Yang Zeyi : Technology Reporter  To go further - Middle Earth episode #92 How writers, bookstore owners, and printers survive in China’s publishing industry - Middle Earth episode #69 The Seducing Power of IPs - Middle Earth episode #90...

With a 800 billion yuan market size and 1/5 of the doctor’s workforce, TCM is a force to be reckoned with in China. How did the field keeps reinventing itself and why does Chinese youth gets more attracted by it? Featuring - Martin Eriksson : TCM doctor  - ShaoYefan (邵叶凡) : TWOC - freelancer - Wu Yanmin : Ori-Bio - Co-founder To go further - Middle Earth episode #82 Understanding China’s national park & scenic areas - Bitter No More: How Young Chinese Became Obsessed With TCM, article...

New documentary Invisible Summit 《看不见的顶峰》tells the epic story of how Zhang Hong became the first blind Asian person to climb the world’s tallest mountain. On this podcast, director Fan Lixin (LAST TRAIN HOME) discusses how he filmed Zhang’s extraordinary journey and what he learned during the making of the movie.  Featuring - Fan Lixin (范立欣): Documentary Director - Liu Yuan (刘元): Producer To go further - Middle Earth episode #78 Revving Up China’s New Biker Culture - Middle Earth episode...

China’s book market is the second largest in the world, with people reading around 6 billion books a year. But how easy is it for small publishers, bookstores, and writers to get a piece of this pie? And how are digital alternatives to physical books impacting writers and small businesses and writers?  Featuring - Chen Qiufan (陈楸帆): Writer & Futurist - Liu Jue: TWOC – Managing editor - Su Wan (苏皖): Maziren Bookstore (码字人书店) - Owner To go further - "The Dark Room Problem" short story...

Not sure if you could stand my broken Chinese, but I started a new show regarding China's latest box office called 票房指南 as a part of an ongoing effort to become a true 网红... The Middle Earth Podcast will return next week. Links Subscribe to 票房指南 on podcast app 小宇宙 : Link Subscribe to 票房指南 on social media Bilibili : Link 原本担心这会是一部古装特效烂片，看过后却成为今年暑期的一大惊喜。 但是，《封神第一部》还有哪些地方可以改进？号称30亿预算的封神三部曲能实现盈利吗？ 涉及到的电影：  《阿修罗》2018年 《指环王》2001-2003年 《蜘蛛巢城》1957年 《七武士》1954年

It's not every day that a magazine publishes its 100th issue—but Middle Earth's distributor, The World of Chinese, has reached this important milestone after 17 years of publication. We want to look at how an English-language magazine based in Beijing sustains itself and evolves into a multimedia platform (including podcasts) for human-centered stories from China. Featuring - Hatty Liu: TWOC - Former managing editor 2019-2023 - Liu Jue: TWOC - co-managing editor - Doug Hughes: International...

Women perform up to 50 percent of the jobs in China's cultural industries, but are they getting equal opportunities and compensation as men? In this episode, guests from the world of film, TV, visual arts, and journalism discuss the barriers female leaders and employees still face in their industries, and the benefits of more gender diversity in the workplace. Featuring - Li Muyuan : Gushi FM - Producer - Hatty Liu :  Journalist & Former TWOC Managing Editor - Luka Yang : Visual Artist...

Today I plug in a new show that I'm working on where we interviewed Georges Berne, a true master in the art of lighting design who worked on the Mona Lisa. Today, he reflects on his long career and shares his thoughts on his work. Winland Art Podcast Architecture is solidified art, and art is the soul of architecture. Created by the Carte Blanche art team from in Beijing, Winland Art Podcast show focuses on the global art stage. In our show we discuss the challenges faced by those working in...

A billion internet users means a lot of followers for some content creators in China. But with ad revenue dropping China’s economy is slowing down, are tips and patrons a viable alternative for creators? Featuring - Lulu | 璐璐 : LHH Speak Easy ( 璐璐的英文小酒馆 ) - Founder - Luigi Liu :  BtoZ-Movie - Founder  To go further - "Career Fans" article by The World of Chinese Magazine - Middle Earth episode #87 How local government & foundations sponsor culture in China - Middle Earth episode #50...

Culture is expensive, and China makes no exception to that. Without the support of public and private entities, many artists could not create anything or be overly commercial. After getting through the regulations hurdle, what kind of art are supported by the big companies and local governments? Featuring - Yilin Chen : Winland Group - Art Project Director - Elie Rosenberg : Impromptu - Co-Founder  - He Xin : former real estate consultant To go further - "Dream Factory" article by The...

For a decade or more, rural Chinese have been setting up online stores in their homes, hoping to make a living through e-commerce rather than factory work or farming. But any easy money there was in online selling is beginning to dry up. Village neighbors have been pitted against each other in competition for customers, unscrupulous merchants copy products and images from competitors with impunity, while rural residents also struggle to keep up with evolving trends like livestreaming. For...

As China becomes more assertive on the global stage with its diplomacy and state media, “patriotic KOLs” have appeared on domestic Chinese social media platforms, influencing the political opinions of their millions of fans. But how do KOLs craft their message to be successful, and who’s paying their bills? Featuring - Fang Kecheng : The Chinese University of Hong Kong - Assistant Professor - Miro Li : Double V. Consulting - Founder  To go further - Middle Earth episode #50 Xiaohongshu :...

NFTS are legal to be bought in China, but reselling them is an all other matters. Yet a local scene of buyers and artists keeps growing, while some lost a great amount of money as they were hoping for a quick return on investment. How does the scene keep growing while local regulations are put into place? Featuring - Ellwood Chen : Digital Artist & Pills Labs Founder - Rory Mencin : Curator & Art Critic - Reva : Crypto artist To go further with Chinese art collectors - Middle...

While China struggles to export its cultural abroad, neighbors like Korea and Japan seem immune to this problem. Apart from local regulations in art, what are the issues creators from China face when trying to take their cultural products abroad, and what are some products that actually became hits? Featuring - Li Jianbin: Beijing Inmost Media - Senior BD Director - Alex Taggart: Outdustry - Head of International - Vivian Ying: Film International Sales To go further - Middle Earth...

In 2021, there were 2 billion visits to China’s outdoor tourism sites, such as nature reserves and natural scenic areas. How is this part of the tourism industry coping with a growing demand for outdoor experiences, and did that influence the creation of the country’s national park system? Featuring - Justin Culkin : A Trails - Business Development Director - Rose Niu 牛红卫 : Paulson Institute - Chief Conservation Officer - Yefren Nye : TWOC contributor & innovative Green Development...

As the year 2023 starts, we review our top 3 stories from 2022 and make a few predictions for trends in China’s culture industries in 2023.  Featuring - Aladin Farré : Founder of Middle Earth Podcast - Hatty Liu : Managing editor at TWOC - Jesse Appel, Sara Huang, Yang Yu, & Jingtong Zhu To go further - our podcast top 3 stories of the year #79 Exploring Wuxia #67 Creating Games for the West #64 Gambling in China : How Covid-19 helped the industry grow - Peter Chan's interview...

Greater China is now the biggest art-market in the world, but thousands of galleries in the middle kingdom have closed up, while many artists are struggling to make a living. How are gallery curators, artists, and tech companies keeping up with this ultra-competitive art market?  Featuring - Ashley Qin – YITIAO Art Director - Lin Zi – SANTO HALL Gallery curator - Sima Yuan – Artist To go further - The article Photo Shop: Art in the Age of the Influencer by TWOC - The article Zhao Xiaoli...

Wuxia, martial arts stories about heroes and outlaws, used to be one of the most popular genres of literature in the Chinese-speaking world. After countless novels, films and video games, how are the people creating China’s “knight errant” stories modernizing the genre?  Featuring - Gigi Chang: wuxia translator - Lai Jingping: Wuxiaworld founder and CEO - Felix Lou: former vice-managing director of Xiangshan Film Studio & Skywood Founder To go further - Wuxia novels published on...

After being ostracized for years, motorbike culture is slowly building momentum among Chinese youths. Between 2016 and 2019, the number of bike sales doubled, and since the pandemic especially, a lot of entrepreneurs are jumping on new business opportunities provided by people craving the open road. Featuring Steven Tsui :  BG Performance - CEO Zhang Shuren : Pansaki North Station - Founder Li Huaqi : Student & Entrepreneur Middle Earth is distributed by The World of Chinese...

With over 1 billion internet users, China’s online video and music platforms are the place to be for every creator trying to grow their audience. What does it take for international talent to make it in this cutthroat market?  Featuring Tinko Georgiev: Kanjian - VP of Int'l Business Raffi Kamalian: Collab Asia - Head of Greater China Middle Earth is distributed by The World of Chinese (www.theworldofchinese.com). Every two months, both in print and online, the team at TWOC takes a...

Dear listeners, just a quick announcement after more than two years in China, I’m going to take my chance to travel across Asia this October.   So in case you are at the upcoming Busan Film Festival, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and want to meet-up, don’t hesitate to contact me!   My Twitter (@Aladin_F) My LinkedIn (Aladin Farré)   Have a nice day,  Aladin