碎篇 // Suipian // Fragments
By TABITHA SPEELMAN
AUG 31, 2025
Welcome to the 7th edition of Suipian, my personal newsletter in which I share thoughts and resources that help me make sense of Chinese society and its relationship to the rest of the world. I am Tabitha Speelman, a Dutch journalist based in Beijing and Rotterdam. See here for more introduction to Suipian.
In its infrequent form, Suipian has existed for over a year now. I am taking this as an opportunity to rethink my rather basic newsletter practices and explore a bit more of what the platform has to offer. So far I have only made a start on a logo but let me know if you have suggestions! It’s a bit long at the top today, so if you prefer the links below you might also scroll right down. Thanks for reading and have a good end of the summer.
随笔 // Suibi // Notes
Sharing thoughts or resources related to my work as a correspondent
1. Culinary power
These last years I have been fascinated by – and personally grateful for – the overseas spread of a wider range of China’s immense cuisine. In Holland, restaurants serving the localized Chinese-Indonesian fusion that took off in the postwar era are struggling, but a new generation of eateries, with dishes and 小吃 from Chinese northern and central regions that were previously not represented, is doing really well.
For an article on this trend, which in Holland started around 2018, I talked to four Chinese entrepreneurs, who all described their business as “an experiment” that had not been easy. Chris Zhang (57), who makes Shaanxi noodles in Rotterdam, ended up as the only cook in his restaurant for three years after Covid and migration restrictions left both his noodle chefs stuck in China. Tingjun Zheng, who came to Holland as a teenager and started a business to find more community, had just renovated her “living room-style” 煎饼站 when she was evicted during the lockdowns. They were especially proud of the authenticity of their food, which, as Zhang put it, can be “better than much of what you get in China.” (See here for my story in Dutch, with great photography by Simon Lenskens.)
The same weekend, the BBC published a piece on the growing popularity of authentic regional Chinese cuisines in Singapore, framed as part of a Chinese rise in soft power that might “help soften the image of a country whose ambitions often clash with those of Western powers and neighbours”. It’s an interesting part of the same global trend story, but it also made me realize that China’s image had not come up in my conversations with the migrant-entrepreneurs or the customers I spoke to.
Rather than considering their contribution to Chinese state goals in Europe, the business owners had wondered whether they could make Chinese food for a living without adapting to Dutch taste buds as much as Chinese restaurant owners traditionally had. It’s a story of rising cultural confidence and migrant emancipation that of course has deep roots, but I think focusing on geopolitics here can be misleading. For one, it muddles distinctions that media should actually aim to clarify, such as that between the Chinese state and its ambitions and the really diverse motivations of individuals in its diaspora.
Most of us would agree China is, in fact, a major culinary ‘power’, and that more authentic Chinese food can only help its image. And I would not mind some dumping of overcapacity in this area. But what do we lose when we reduce people’s stories to a one-dimensional geopolitical bent, as often happens with stories related to China? I get it when it’s about drones or metals, but for interpreting trends in Chinese classical music, the rise of PopMart, or the appeal of “a tangy aftertaste achieved through fermented chilli peppers”, I don’t think we need to go there – or at least not only there.
Finally, this great noodle essay takes a deep dive into the historical ties between student Han Xuan’s Shanxi home cuisine and Italian pasta with tomato sauce. Han was inspired by his inability to find Shanxi noodles in Hong Kong, which, while not immune to the above trend, in culinary terms maintains a distinct identity from mainland China: “这里遍布美国、意大利、日本、泰国，甚至印度的餐厅，却很少看到兰州拉面、河南烩面.”
2. 附近
Musings on Beijing are quite a genre right now, as people continue to make it back to the capital after years away. I enjoyed journalist and researcher Lucy Hornby’s essay from July on finding Beijing “much less changed” compared to 2019 than she expected, with the biggest vibe shift she notes a relative lack of energy, both economic and political (less slogans).
I agree that central Beijing has in many ways become the more subdued 后花园 that authorities shaped it to be. So it was a surprise when I returned to Beijing this summer after some months away to find the 亮马河 area close to where I live extremely 热闹. Live-streamers advertising ‘the Chinese Seine’ had attracted big crowds that were swimming, eating and playing by the waterside, with Crocs and flip-flops lying around everywhere and informal vendors doing good business (“水烟送桨板” anybody?). The pleasant chaos of it really felt like a throwback, especially since it took place in public space and not in a mall, and I ended up writing a short article trying to contextualize it.
In general, on a neighborhood level, lots of things keep changing, although often in the ‘closing down’ kind of direction. In the last months local grocers have succumbed to the online giants, and a state-owned restaurant down the road that had been around for decades and felt like time travel, also because of the big Deng Xiaoping portrait in the lobby, is gone.
Local bookstore Kubrick, by the MOMA, is closing today I believe, and, also today, a photographer friend is flying back to Holland after twenty years in Beijing, because of the diminished art scene here. On the upside, the Din Tai Fung across the road that closed last year reopened as a Shandong restaurant with many of the same chefs and a menu that is at least 50% identical to what it was. And this week, politics returns as the city gears up for the 9.3 parade, with red ring-road banners and in this area lots of polo shirt-wearing 河道保安.
Some poorly-shot recent Liangma sights
点赞 // Dianzan // Likes
Recommendations in and out of the news cycle
I enjoyed this LARB review by Jane Hayward of two books on the roots of China’s economic reforms in the “long 1970s”, pushing back against a standard periodisation and reminding of “the contingency of history and the opaqueness of the future when viewed from the present”.
Similarly, this article argues that the late 1940s should be studied through the lens of post-war reconstruction rather than as a precursor to the Communist victory, an interesting thought. And see here for CIA maps depicting Mao-era urban development.
An interview about oral history with retired Peking University graduate Guo Li, who completed 600 interviews with elderly fellow alumni in 5 years as part of her research into 北大’s Anti-Rightist movement, saying that “大约50%愿意谈，20～30%简单回复，20%谢绝了采访.” While unable to publish them formally, Guo writes up her findings on Wechat to a sizable audience (see for instance this article about how three couples survived the political upheaval). Anecdotally, there seems to be a lot of interest in conducting “抢救式采访” right now, with journalists participating in a growing memoir-writing industry.
Short documentary about China-based French photographer Anaïs Martane’s new photobook on 2002-2005 Beijjing and the Sanlitun River Bar. (See here for the book.)
I learnt a lot from this 结绳志 reported feature on several women taking the 自考, a test-based way to obtain a degree open to anyone that is much bigger than I realized and attracts many migrant workers with little formal education: “高等教育自学考试（简称自考）是中国高考之外最大的考试，2024年全国共有538.48万人次报考，超过考研和考公，是高考人数的四成.” Also featuring women in the 珠三角 area is this excellent podcast, which tells the life stories of two “做手工皮具的女工”.
A 南方周末 feature on China’s “856万失信者”, who because of their debt are blacklisted and cannot use payment apps and key modes of transportation like high-speed rail, and who urgently need improvements in China’s personal bankruptcy law.
A rare account with details about current Xinjiang 社区管理by a Han filmmaker who decided to rent an apartment in Urumqi. “刚开始我很抵触，在内地人看来，这简直是对个人隐私和公民权利的冒犯，警察也没有权力这么做。但是也只能入乡随俗.”
After HK critic Liang Wendao’s podcast 八分半 recently got deleted from mainland platforms, likely due to a Jimmy Lai mention, he released an audio note saying that, as a “很糟糕的道教徒” , he was taking a broader view of things and calling on his listeners to not waste any emotions on it. Journalist Zhang Feng adopted a similar tone when a public lecture at his Chengdu bookstore was canceled, writing: “这个活动取消了，但是在我心中，它已经举办过了.”
“我在西班牙打黑工.” A vivid account of language student Chen Huang’s experience working part-time in a Chinese-run souvenir shop in Spain. On the new Wechat account 欧洲新客.
Well-known journalist 灵子 writes about going to the UK for graduate studies as a ‘mature student’. Nice essay about age and culture: “我们说的“年龄”，常常混杂着生理年龄、心理年龄和社会年龄.” Also on 天使望故乡，sports writer Wang Qinbo on watching his daughter learn to play football in Italy (in which football is described as ““属于身体的言论自由”).
A short study by cultural studies researcher Laura Vermeeren on contemporary Chinese font design that is inspired by historical Chinese scripts.
“高铁泡面争议，是社会变迁的缩影.” Indeed.
That’s it for now. Thanks for reading :)