We’re entering new universes in August, exploring both virtual and IRL spaces as new frontiers for social and creative scenes. Everything from gaming, e-sports, and immersive culture is a reflection of power, play, and possibility.
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This is what it looks like when China‘s biggest shopping platform runs a photography contest.
Taobao’s brief was simple: post the most abstract, inexplicable photo you‘ve got.
What showed up was not nonsense. Everyone quietly brought their best work anyway, cross-tagging #alexwebb under a contest that called them unhinged.
A lot of contests in China seem to run this way: show the real skill, but file it under a joke title so nobody can accuse you of being performative — the same naming logic behind 发疯文学 (fāfēng wénxué, ”unhinged literature“) and 废话文学 (fèihuà wénxué, ”nonsense literature“).
Swipe to see the ”unhinged“ photos >>>
#radii #radiimedia #streetphotography #xiaohongshu chineseinternet taobao
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This is what it looks like when China‘s biggest shopping platform runs a photography contest.
Taobao’s brief was simple: post the most abstract, inexplicable photo you‘ve got.
What showed up was not nonsense. Everyone quietly brought their best work anyway, cross-tagging #alexwebb under a contest that called them unhinged.
A lot of contests in China seem to run this way: show the real skill, but file it under a joke title so nobody can accuse you of being performative — the same naming logic behind 发疯文学 (fāfēng wénxué, ”unhinged literature“) and 废话文学 (fèihuà wénxué, ”nonsense literature“).
Swipe to see the ”unhinged“ photos >>>
#radii #radiimedia #streetphotography #xiaohongshu chineseinternet taobao
...
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Somehow the ghosts in these Chinese horror games are the least scary part.
Long before jump scares, Chinese horror lived in objects: paper effigies, joss money, a red bridal dress that reads as funeral white. But sometime around 2019, a handful of indie developers stopped drawing haunted mansions and started drawing the ‘90s instead.
The developer behind 烟火 and 三伏 gave the look a name: 电子包浆 (diànzǐ bāojiāng), ”digital patina.“ 包浆 is the soft sheen an antique picks up from decades of being handled.
Five games. All five bet on the same thing: you’re more unsettled by something you‘ve actually seen before.
#radii #radiimedia #chinesehorror #indiegames #gameart
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Somehow the ghosts in these Chinese horror games are the least scary part.
Long before jump scares, Chinese horror lived in objects: paper effigies, joss money, a red bridal dress that reads as funeral white. But sometime around 2019, a handful of indie developers stopped drawing haunted mansions and started drawing the ‘90s instead.
The developer behind 烟火 and 三伏 gave the look a name: 电子包浆 (diànzǐ bāojiāng), ”digital patina.“ 包浆 is the soft sheen an antique picks up from decades of being handled.
Five games. All five bet on the same thing: you’re more unsettled by something you‘ve actually seen before.
#radii #radiimedia #chinesehorror #indiegames #gameart
...
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August, peak heat season. RADII`s August buzzwords are here to add a little teasing to all that restlessness. Maybe you`re 丫够燥的 (Yā Gòu Zào De), running too wild for the weather. Or maybe the confidence has tipped over into 中国人能飞 (Zhōngguó Rén Néng Fēi), Chinese people can fly. And when it dips again, no big deal, just remember to 向上叹气 (Xiàngshàng Tànqì). Sigh upward.
Then there`s the biggest thing Gen Z is dealing with right now: no job. So what do you do about it? You say 没有工作的天 (Méiyǒu Gōngzuò De Tiān), day of no job. Because having a job comes with its own set of problems. Welcome to skill season, where your coworker might just be a 同事skill (Tóngshì Skill).
August`s buzzwords say more about the mood than the temperature does. Fall into the crazy heat and the Chinese words with us, follow @radii_media for more Chinese internet slang like this!
#radii #radiimedia #chineseslang #chineseinternet #genzchina
Comment "RADII" below to join our newsletter and never miss content like this again.
August, peak heat season. RADII`s August buzzwords are here to add a little teasing to all that restlessness. Maybe you`re 丫够燥的 (Yā Gòu Zào De), running too wild for the weather. Or maybe the confidence has tipped over into 中国人能飞 (Zhōngguó Rén Néng Fēi), Chinese people can fly. And when it dips again, no big deal, just remember to 向上叹气 (Xiàngshàng Tànqì). Sigh upward.
Then there`s the biggest thing Gen Z is dealing with right now: no job. So what do you do about it? You say 没有工作的天 (Méiyǒu Gōngzuò De Tiān), day of no job. Because having a job comes with its own set of problems. Welcome to skill season, where your coworker might just be a 同事skill (Tóngshì Skill).
August`s buzzwords say more about the mood than the temperature does. Fall into the crazy heat and the Chinese words with us, follow @radii_media for more Chinese internet slang like this!
#radii #radiimedia #chineseslang #chineseinternet #genzchina
...
Comment ”RADII” below to join our newsletter and never miss content like this again.
The last thing you`d expect to become a romance game: Outlaws of the Marsh (水浒传), one of China`s four great classical novels. It follows 108 outlaws who gather at Mount Liang to form a rebel army against a corrupt imperial court.
Bing, a director by trade, has been sitting on the idea for eight years. She was fed up with otome games where female leads are always quiet, artsy, and waiting to be saved. Her demo went viral on Xiaohongshu, where women started debating which hero they`d date.
When the market won`t give you the game you want, you build it yourself. With a dream, a laptop, and 108 outlaws.
#radii #radiimedia #otomegame #水浒传 #chinesegaming
Comment ”RADII” below to join our newsletter and never miss content like this again.
The last thing you`d expect to become a romance game: Outlaws of the Marsh (水浒传), one of China`s four great classical novels. It follows 108 outlaws who gather at Mount Liang to form a rebel army against a corrupt imperial court.
Bing, a director by trade, has been sitting on the idea for eight years. She was fed up with otome games where female leads are always quiet, artsy, and waiting to be saved. Her demo went viral on Xiaohongshu, where women started debating which hero they`d date.
When the market won`t give you the game you want, you build it yourself. With a dream, a laptop, and 108 outlaws.
#radii #radiimedia #otomegame #水浒传 #chinesegaming
...
In 1923, China’s first wireless station went on air from Guangdong Road in Shanghai on a 50-watt transmitter. It needed a license, a tower, and a lot of paperwork. In 2026, it needs a laptop and a corner of a room somebody‘s already paying rent on.
That’s the shift this guide is about. Across mainland China, community radio has quietly become the connective tissue of the underground. Telling the stories of Asia‘s youth culture that the world keeps missing is what RADII exists to do, so we went looking for stations that are still active, still archiving, and still reachable: 24 of them across 10 cities.
Part One is live now. Save this one for the next time your algorithm runs dry.
Email:
[email protected]
Lead Researchers & Producers:
The RADII Team
Charlie(@luuofeiyu )
Alex Lendrum(@ale_n_drum )
Tanya GK(@tansgk )
Coordinator:
Jace (@replica.psd )
Photographers:
Kirill Sokolov (@sokolll.kirilll)
Suki (@sukiwongwong_)
Special Thanks:
Chuan (@chuan_p)
echocatcher (@echocatcher)
Emily (@latherrinserepeat_)
Tim (@timothee.lft)
Walt (@w.wynnchesta)
Zean (@its_zean )
#radii #radiimedia #communityradio #chinesemusic #undergroundmusic
In 1923, China’s first wireless station went on air from Guangdong Road in Shanghai on a 50-watt transmitter. It needed a license, a tower, and a lot of paperwork. In 2026, it needs a laptop and a corner of a room somebody‘s already paying rent on.
That’s the shift this guide is about. Across mainland China, community radio has quietly become the connective tissue of the underground. Telling the stories of Asia‘s youth culture that the world keeps missing is what RADII exists to do, so we went looking for stations that are still active, still archiving, and still reachable: 24 of them across 10 cities.
Part One is live now. Save this one for the next time your algorithm runs dry.
Email:
[email protected]
Lead Researchers & Producers:
The RADII Team
Charlie(@luuofeiyu )
Alex Lendrum(@ale_n_drum )
Tanya GK(@tansgk )
Coordinator:
Jace (@replica.psd )
Photographers:
Kirill Sokolov (@sokolll.kirilll)
Suki (@sukiwongwong_)
Special Thanks:
Chuan (@chuan_p)
echocatcher (@echocatcher)
Emily (@latherrinserepeat_)
Tim (@timothee.lft)
Walt (@w.wynnchesta)
Zean (@its_zean )
#radii #radiimedia #communityradio #chinesemusic #undergroundmusic
...
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