Yaling Jiang: Through Chinese Eyes

Yaling Jiang is a writer and researcher helping people understand China through real individuals, rather than through headlines or stereotypes. Yaling is a former journalist and translator and founder of the popular newsletter Following the Yuan. She is also the founder of the research and strategy consultancy ApertureChina. Today, Yaling joins us to talk about what it really means to explain China to the outside world—and why seeing Chinese people as individuals matters. We talk about what it’s like to have your country, your culture, and your own identity be misunderstood. We also talk about the growing desire among Chinese women to have more control over the lives they choose to live. We talk about dating, marriage, motherhood, gender expectations and the fear of becoming “leftover”. We explore how younger generations are challenging traditional norms and whether China’s changing social attitudes are pointing toward a more equal future. We also talk about the loneliness of a world that feels increasingly divided, and Yaling’s hope that we can learn to see each other as individuals rather than stereotypes. It’s a conversation about identity, agency, belonging—and the fragile hope that we might find our way back to each other.

________________________

00:00 Name pronunciation

02:40 Yaling’s mission: human stories about China

11:30 Growing up in a globalized China

14:00 Gender, ambition, and what Chinese women want

18:00 Dating in Shanghai and the numbers problem

23:00 “Leftover women” and changing expectations

32:50 Are gender norms actually changing?

39:00 Marriage, birth rates, and who carries the cost

44:00 Egg freezing as a safety net

49:00 Dating across cultures