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With origins deep in southern China’s folk storytelling and music customs, Sichuan opera is characterised by traditional instrumentation, a distinctive singing style, elaborate, colourful costumes, changing masks that reflect characters’ emotional states, and daring stunts including martial arts, acrobatics and fire-breathing. Part of a video series on work in modern China by the US filmmaker Noah Sheldon, this short documentary profiles the Chongqing-based Sichuan opera singer Zhou Xing Yu as she prepares for her next show, reflecting on her abiding love of performing despite the intensity and pain of many years of training.
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Engineering
A close-up look at electronic paper reveals its exquisite patterns – and limitations
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Architecture
West Africa was once an architectural laboratory. Is it time for a revival?
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Work
A Swedish expat in the Philippines wonders: what’s up with people sleeping at work?
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Biography and memoir
The unique life philosophy of Abdi, born in Somalia, living in the Netherlands
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Art
‘If you’re creative, why can’t you create a solution?’ One artist’s imaginative activism
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The ancient world
An ancient Roman’s hilarious (and perhaps relatable) response to a social snub
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Death
A hunter’s lyrical reflection on the humbling business of being mortal
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Art
More than breathtaking, ‘The Birth of Venus’ signalled an aesthetic revolution
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Childhood and adolescence
Striking shadow puppetry illuminates a skater kid’s memories of Boy Scout camp
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