About Us

Over 250 million people use Chinese social media, many every day. We manually distill its best, most interesting stories. So you can sip them like your morning tea, instead of chugging from a fire hose.

Tea Leaf Nation is an e-magazine founded in 2011. We aspire to be a must-read source for China experts of all stripes–journalists, diplomats, academics, analysts–while remaining fun and accessible to casual China watchers. Our founding team, based in China and the United States, scours Chinese social media every day to spot trends, gauge sentiment, and carry major news stories one level deeper.

Above all, we hope to deliver content that brings China to life, humanizing the countless millions behind the text. We don’t use algorithms or bots, just hard work and intuition based on many years spent experiencing and studying China. That means each story is handpicked, just like the best tea. We hope you enjoy our brew.

 

FAQs

Who are you?

Tea Leaf Nation’s editors and founders met as Harvard students, and soon discovered a shared interest in the dark art of tea leaf reading.

David first encountered China as a Peace Corps Volunteer ten years ago. Since then, he has lived, worked and studied in Beijing, Chongqing and Hong Kong. While at Harvard Law School, he was co-president of the Harvard Asia Law Society. He lives in Washington, D.C.

Jimmy hails from the shores of China’s northern seas. He has lived abroad for many years in the U.S. and Canada. He was a co-president of the Harvard Asia Law Society where he learned much about the art of tea leaf reading. He currently lives in China.

Rachel traces her ancestry to Southern China. She spent much of her childhood memorizing Chinese poetry. After long stints in New York, New Haven and Cambridge, she has returned to China to bear witness to its great transformation. She is currently based in China.

We also have an amazing stable of authors at Tea Leaf Nation. Learn about them here.

What are your sources?

We source our materials from major social media services in China, including, but not limited to, Sina Weibo, Sina Blog, Tencent Weibo, Sohu Weibo, Mop Community and Tianya Community.

Can I quote your articles?

Of course! We would highly appreciate a heads-up at editors@tealeafnation.com. Thanks!

How do I contact you?

Please email us at editors@tealeafnation.com.

Can I submit an article?

We welcome submissions! Please email editors@tealeafnation.com with “Submission to Tea Leaf Nation” in the subject line. You can learn about our submission guidelines here.

We regret we may not be able to respond to all submissions.

Buzz about Tea Leaf Nation

Tea Leaf Nation has been featured on or referenced in a number of well-known organizations or publications, some of which include: