Latest news with #YangLi
Borneo Post
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Borneo Post
Chinese adults head back to school at sundown to chase passions
Trainees practice classical dance at a cultural center in the Xiangjiang New Area, central China's Hunan Province, July 9, 2025. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan) CHANGSHA (Aug 13): After taking up Chinese painting classes, 52-year-old Yang Li began dressing in brighter colors and plating meals so artfully that her son said they looked like a painter's palette. A white-collar worker in Changsha, capital of central China's Hunan Province, Yang enrolled in a local night school this May, trading her usual evenings of housework for hours spent painting in the classroom. 'It unlocks a second life for me,' she said. 'It has taught me patience. Now I'm willing to pause for a falling leaf and take time to admire a flower from every angle.' With a growing number of night schools now offering courses in video editing, musical instruments, artificial intelligence and more, Chinese adults are heading back to classrooms after work to explore new interests and reconnect with themselves through lifelong learning. Meituan, a Chinese e-commerce platform, has reported a surge of over 78 percent in online discussions about night classes since the beginning of 2025, with comment sections now filled with course suggestions, learning tips and personal stories mostly from the hobby-driven learners. Wang Haodong, a 24-year-old community worker, learns to play the guitar at night. 'The affordable classes are a great gift to young people like me. When I lose myself in music, the day's stress disappears,' he said. While some people attend night schools to pursue hobbies, others enroll to keep up with the rapidly evolving society. A teacher (C) instructs trainees Chinese painting and calligraphy at a cultural center in the Xiangjiang New Area, central China's Hunan Province, July 9, 2025. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan) Witnessing the rise of automation and digital transformation in the factory workshop, former industrial worker Yang Baohua, 46, signed up for a course in AI training. Here, he has learned to use AI for writing documents and creating PowerPoint, and is gradually starting to learn basic coding. 'Studying AI sparked my interest. I'll keep learning and aim for an AI trainer certification to find a better job,' he said. Trainees practice ukuleles at a cultural center in the Xiangjiang New Area, central China's Hunan Province, July 9, 2025. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan) In Changsha, the price for a single session ranges from 30 yuan (4.2 U.S. dollars) to 60 yuan, and teaching materials are provided free of charge. Classes run on weekday evenings, leaving weekends free. 'The popular courses are filled within minutes,' said Tan Ting, director of a night school in the city, adding that such schools are quickly becoming a vital part of the education system. Statistics show that over the past two years, various night schools in Changsha have offered courses benefiting over 100,000 participants. Courses are regularly updated based on student feedback, with new classes added and less popular ones phased out. A teacher (C) teaches guitar playing at a cultural center in the Xiangjiang New Area, central China's Hunan Province, July 9, 2025. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan) In Shanghai, night schools offer more than 2,300 classes in the upcoming autumn term across more than 600 venues. Night schools are also common in other cities such as Shenzhen, Nanchang and Nanjing. Market research firm Frost & Sullivan predicts that China's adult education market will hit 1.04 trillion yuan by 2027, fueled by rising incomes and a surging demand for lifelong learning. Du Yizhu, an assistant researcher at Chongqing University, noted that modern life's fast pace has fueled a strong demand for nighttime public education. 'Night schools allow individuals to embrace their hobbies in a high-quality yet affordable way,' Du said. – Xinhua adults China education passion
Scroll.in
16-07-2025
- Science
- Scroll.in
Is population decline good for nature? Japan shows that may not be the case
Since 1970, 73% of global wildlife has been lost, while the world's population has doubled to 8 billion. Research shows this isn't a coincidence but that population growth is causing a catastrophic decline in biodiversity. Yet a turning point in human history is underway. According to UN projections, the number of people in 85 countries will be shrinking by 2050, mostly in Europe and Asia. By 2100, the human population is on course for global decline. Some say this will be good for the environment. In 2010, Japan became the first Asian country to begin depopulating. South Korea, China and Taiwan are following close behind. In 2014, Italy was the first in southern Europe, followed by Spain, Portugal and others. We call Japan and Italy 'depopulation vanguard countries' on account of their role as forerunners for understanding possible consequences in their regions. Given assumptions that depopulation could help deliver environmental restoration, we have been working with colleagues Yang Li and Taku Fujita to investigate whether Japan is experiencing what we have termed a biodiversity ' depopulation dividend ' or something else. Since 2003, hundreds of citizen scientists have been collecting biodiversity data for the Japanese government's Monitoring Sites 1,000 project. We used 1.5 million recorded species observations from 158 sites. These were in wooded, agricultural and peri-urban (transitional spaces on outskirts of cities) areas. We compared these observations against changes in local population, land use and surface temperature for periods of five to 20 years. Our study, published in the journal Nature Sustainability, includes birds, butterflies, fireflies, frogs and 2,922 native and non-native plants. These landscapes have experienced the greatest depopulation since the 1990s. Due to the size of our database, choice of sites and the positioning of Japan as a depopulation vanguard for north-east Asia, this is one of the largest studies of its kind. Japan is not Chernobyl Biodiversity continued to decrease in most of the areas we studied, irrespective of population increase or decrease. Only where the population remains steady is biodiversity more stable. However, the population of these areas is ageing and will decline soon, bringing them in line with the areas already seeing biodiversity loss. Unlike in Chernobyl, where a sudden crisis caused an almost total evacuation which stimulated startling accounts of wildlife revival, Japan's population loss has developed gradually. Here, a mosaic pattern of changing land use emerges amid still-functioning communities. While most farmland remains under cultivation, some falls into disuse or abandonment, some is sold for urban development or transformed into intensively farmed landscapes. This prevents widespread natural succession of plant growth or afforestation (planting of new trees) that would enrich biodiversity. In these areas, humans are agents of ecosystem sustainability. Traditional farming and seasonal livelihood practices, such as flooding, planting and harvesting of rice fields, orchard and coppice management, and property upkeep, are important for maintaining biodiversity. So depopulation can be destructive to nature. Some species thrive, but these are often non-native ones that present other challenges, such as the drying and choking of formerly wet rice paddy fields by invasive grasses. Vacant and derelict buildings, underused infrastructure and socio-legal issues (such as complicated inheritance laws and land taxes, lack of local authority administrative capacity, and high demolition and disposal costs) all compound the problem. Even as the number of akiya (empty, disused or abandoned houses) increases to nearly 15% of the nation's housing stock, the construction of new dwellings continues remorselessly. In 2024, more than 790,000 were built, due partly to Japan's changing population distribution and household composition. Alongside these come roads, shopping malls, sports facilities, car parks and Japan's ubiquitous convenience stores. All in all, wildlife has less space and fewer niches to inhabit, despite there being fewer people. What can be done Data shows deepening depopulation in Japan and north-east Asia. Fertility rates remain low in most developed countries. Immigration provides only a short-term softer landing, as countries currently supplying migrants, such as Vietnam, are also on course for depopulation. Our research demonstrates that biodiversity recovery needs to be actively managed, especially in depopulating areas. Despite this there are only a few rewilding projects in Japan. To help these develop, local authorities could be given powers to convert disused land into locally managed community conservancies. Nature depletion is a systemic risk to global economic stability. Ecological risks, such as fish stock declines or deforestation, need better accountability from governments and corporations. Rather than spend on more infrastructure for an ever-dwindling population, for example, Japanese companies could invest in growing local natural forests for carbon credits. Depopulation is emerging as a 21st-century global megatrend. Handled well, depopulation could help reduce the world's most pressing environmental problems, including resource and energy use, emissions and waste, and nature conservation. But it needs to be actively managed for those opportunities to be realised.
South China Morning Post
29-01-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
China's gender conservations must go offline to empower everyone
Last week, a friend suggested something unexpected: 'Why not invite our husbands to see the Chinese feminist movie Her Story? ' Everyone agreed and we watched the film as a group. Afterwards, we discussed the movie as men and women sharing perspectives, in a way I had rarely experienced before. Throughout my 26 years in China, open discussions about gender that involve both men and women have been nearly nonexistent. The only other time I had a real conversation like this was, unexpectedly, with my father. One evening, as we walked along the river after dinner, my father hesitated before speaking. 'I raised you without gender expectations,' he began. 'But at a recent business dinner, someone said I should have taught you that family matters most for women. Now, I wonder if I did the right thing.' His vulnerability caught me off guard. For the first time, we discussed his fears, my dreams and my values. I deeply appreciated his non-biased way of raising me. Now, he proudly tells me how he challenges people who hold traditional gender values while advocating for diverse life choices. However, I couldn't help but wonder: why are these moments of connection so rare? While such moments of connection bring hope, the dominant conversation around gender plays out online – and in a much more divisive way. In 2020, the comedian Yang Li brought gender issues to the centre of China's public discourse with a controversial line: 'How can he look so average and still have so much confidence?' The show on which she made that joke garnered about 100 million views per episode on average. That single sentence caused an uproar on social media, sparking a 'gender war' that has only intensified since then. 02:07 China's new wave of young women stand-up comedians tackle stereotypes China's new wave of young women stand-up comedians tackle stereotypes
