logo
episode-header-image
Jul 2021
50m 25s

Beijing: Beyond the masks

Bbc World Service
About this episode

Over a year after the Covid-19 pandemic hit the headlines in China, Liyang Liu explores the hidden impacts on people in her home city Beijing. Life has in some ways got back to normal in China’s capital, especially compared to many other global cities, but Liyang discovers things have changed in more subtle ways beyond the masks in this mega city of over 20 million people. We hear from business owners and entrepreneurs about the economic impacts of pandemic restrictions, and from those in the tourist industry about how the year has affected this vast industry in Beijing.

Up next
Today
Diving for Yuko
In coastal Japan, Yasuo Takamatsu has spent nearly 15 years diving for the remains of his wife, Yuko, who was swept away in the 2011 tsunami. With on-location recording of Yasuo on his 763rd dive, this Heart and Soul documentary explores his search as an act of devotion shaped by ... Show More
26m 41s
May 2
Mapping Epstein's global connections
The personal correspondence, photographs and papers of the late convicted sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein have been released to the public in stages, beginning in December 2025, after an almost unanimous vote in the US Senate. The released files run to three and a half ... Show More
26m 29s
Apr 25
Inside the Mugabe dynasty
Late Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe died in 2019, but in the years before and since his death, his three children with his former wife, Grace, consistenly made headlines for all the wrong reasons. In April 2026 Bellarmine Mugabe pled guilty to a firearms offence in South Afri ... Show More
26m 29s
Recommended Episodes
Apr 2020
Life After Lockdown in Wuhan
Millions in Wuhan, China, the city where the novel coronavirus first emerged, are trying to figure out what life looks like in the bustling industrial city after the worst pandemic in a century. Bloomberg’s Beijing bureau chief Sharon Chen went to Wuhan recently to explore life a ... Show More
11m 55s
Jun 2020
Live through the Pandemic
Since the beginning of 2020, the covid-19 pandemic has brought dramatic changes to the lives of Chinese people. Some lost their jobs, while others found new business opportunities out of the crisis. 
25m 1s
Jan 2023
China's Covid nightmare: Can Beijing bounce back?
China has this week reopened its borders for the first time in nearly three years. There have been scenes of joy and relief for many Chinese citizens after years of isolation. Ed Butler asks whether this is a turning point, as some are describing. What are the longer term economi ... Show More
19m 7s
Apr 2022
The cost of China’s zero-Covid policy
Millions of people have been locked down in China for weeks, as the country battles a surge in Omicron cases, with a zero-Covid policy.We follow one young woman’s journey across the country as she tries to reach her home in central China amid layers of bureaucracy and travel rest ... Show More
17m 28s
Mar 2015
China
Linda Yueh travels to Shanghai to find out how the economic slowdown and the government’s anti-corruption drive is changing how people do business in China.As part of the A Richer World season we go around the world in 40 days, visiting six key countries and meeting the people wh ... Show More
26m 47s
May 2022
Voices From Lockdown In Shanghai As The City Battles A Surge Of COVID Cases
Cases of COVID-19 have been surging throughout China. The country has implemented a stringent "zero-COVID" strategy that includes mass testing, limited travel and large-scale lockdowns. In Shanghai, many residents haven't been able to leave their homes. It's an eerie reminder of ... Show More
15m 23s
Dec 2022
Will China's protests over zero-COVID spark lasting change?
<p><strong>Guest:</strong> Joanna Chiu, staff reporter</p> <p>China saw its largest protests in a generation this week. In more than 20 cities across the country, protesters demanded an end to Beijing's draconian zero-COVID policy, which expanded to dissent against President Xi J ... Show More
21m 53s