China is rarely out of the international spotlight, but seldom does anyone hear from the human actors that live out its incredible modern transformations. For over a decade, magazine has been providing long-form, people-driven storytelling in English on the characters and communities behind the headlines. This anthology collects 20 recent features on the lives of China’s relocated villagers, the wit of its stand-up comedians, the dreams of its small-town live streamers, and more, delivered with the incisiveness and humor that will be familiar to longtime magazine readers—and will surely enchant the new.