Sixth Tone

Gu Xintong has a Ph.D. in directing from the Central Academy of Drama in Beijing, and is currently an associate researcher at the Palace Museum.

“Every time fishermen head out to sea, they have to face the uncertainty of the ocean. When a storm hits — you can only head back to port.” Zhuge Yiyang, an essayist and podcaster better known online as Zhong Shu, stares lost in thought from the pier at Jiaoshan Fishing Port Town, part of Wenling City in the eastern Zhejiang province. Facing her own storm, she’s returned home.

Xiong Zhiying is a postdoctoral researcher at the School of Liberal Arts at Nanjing University.

Editor’s note: This is the second of a two-part series on how AI is reshaping China’s ultrashort-drama industry. Read part 1. JIANGSU, East China — Chen Hao’s old desktop still has more than 10 versions of Nuke, a standard editing tool in the visual-effects industry. Over nearly a decade, he learned each new release, picked up 3D animation software Autodesk Maya and the 3D graphics game engine Unreal Engine, and taught himself enough English to use them.

China’s booming ultra-short drama industry is being reshaped by the rapid rise of AI-generated video. In Zhengzhou, one of the country’s major production hubs, directors, actors, crews, and film bases that once fueled the industry’s explosive growth are now facing shrinking budgets, fewer shoots, and an uncertain future. Meanwhile, in other cities like Wuxi, AI studios are embracing the same technology to produce dramas faster and at a fraction of the traditional cost.

China has landed an orbital rocket’s booster, rather than discarding it, for the first time, paving the way for sustainable rocket launches and potentially cutting future launches’ costs by tens of millions of yuan. The Aug. 19 milestone by Chinese aerospace startup LandSpace also makes China the second country after the U.S. to successfully recover rocket boosters on both solid ground and at sea — the latter feat accomplished last month.

“We bought three tickets,” a teenager says to a woman asking to use the empty seat beside her — occupied by snacks — her sister sitting on the other side. “We’re all in the same carriage,” the standing woman says. “Shouldn’t we help each other out?” She calls a train attendant for help. “Places 5, 6, and 7 — those seats are theirs,” the attendant says after checking the teens’ tickets. “You need to talk to them about it. Telling me won’t help.” This scene, which took place Aug.

Chinese social media influencer Zhuge Yiyang, also known by her online alias Zhong Shu, has been accused of plagiarizing content across multiple podcast episodes and a Chinese article.

Poorly animated yellow cows walking on two legs, raw voice acting, and extremely slow pace — these are characteristics of China’s most recent box office hit and viral phenomenon. Released Aug. 5 after virtually no promotion, the movie, “Niu Lai,” or “Cow Comes,” is named for its titular character: a calf who struggles to stand.

Peter Guohua Fu is the founder of KFS Architects, a named professor at McGill University’s School of Architecture, and an adjunct professor at Tongji University’s College of Architecture and Urban Planning.