china
6 free lessons tagged china across Business, History. Each one is a short sequence of focused steps with narration and a five-question quiz at the end — take them in any order, no signup required.
Why China's internet evolved separately
Two internets, same technology, different shapes. Learn the operating requirements that platforms in China work under, from licensing and real-name accounts to filing recommendation algorithms with the regulator, how compliance became a core product function rather than a legal afterthought, why micro-dramas became a format with no Western equivalent, and what all the differences add up to.
How shopping ate social media in China
More than half of China's internet users buy things through live broadcasts, a habit the West has never come close to. Learn why livestream selling worked there and stalled elsewhere, the mechanics of a selling stream, why conversion runs far above normal e-commerce, the difference between renting reach and owning an audience, and the costs the model carries.
Who's who in Chinese social media
Douyin is not TikTok, Xiaohongshu is not Instagram, and Weibo is not quite Twitter. A guided map of the platforms 1.1 billion people actually use: what job each one does, which conglomerate stands behind it, why the ecosystems were walled off from each other, and which Western analogy helps you versus which one quietly misleads you.
Why one app does everything in China
Western phones hold a dozen apps for a dozen jobs. In China, one app is the messaging, the payments, the taxi, the bill, the government form, and the shop. Learn how the super-app model works, why mini-programs made bundling possible, why a market that skipped credit cards produced a different shape of internet, and what the design actually trades away.
The China Games Market: Scale, Gatekeepers, and Going Global
Navigate the world's most complex games market: Tencent and NetEase's dominance, the ISBN licensing system and its freeze years, the 2021 minors' play-time rules, how WeChat and Douyin mini-games work, and what it actually takes for a Western studio to earn revenue in China.
The Chinese Political System: Institutions and Structure
A descriptive overview of how the People's Republic of China is organized: the role of the Communist Party of China, the Politburo Standing Committee, the National People's Congress, the State Council, the Central Military Commission, and the People's Political Consultative Conference. Focus is on institutions and how they fit together.