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Longtime Beijing residents recount the transformation of China over the past 3 decades

Melinda Liu. (Scott Tong/Here & Now)
Scott Tong/Here & Now
Melinda Liu. (Scott Tong/Here & Now)

Melinda Liu moved to Beijing in 1980. She later opened Newsweek’s Beijing bureau and has made Beijing her home for decades.

Here & Now‘s Scott Tong talks with her in a historic neighborhood about the ways China has transformed since the 1980s and the rural poverty that remains despite the modern leaps forward.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

Copyright 2026 WBUR

Before joing Here & Now in 2021, Scott Tong spent 16 years at Marketplace as Shanghai bureau chief and senior correspondent. Scott has reported from more than a dozen countries, including Venezuela, Ethiopia, Burma and Japan.
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