Manchester China Institute

📢 Event Announcement — Highway Trekking to Lhasa and the Reproduction of Tibetan Remoteness

Join Yanke Wang for a research talk exploring how highway travel to Lhasa shapes ideas of remoteness, place and modernity in Tibetan regions.

🗓 Thursday 26 March 2026
🕧 12:30 PM
📍 Manchester China Institute, University of Manchester
🎟 Free registration:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/highway-trekking-to-lhasa-and-the-reproduction-of-tibetan-remoteness-tickets-1977306941289
of Manchester

📢 Event Announcement — Community Engagement in Shanghai’s ‘Old residential redevelopment’ Project
Join Yang Zhao for a workshop exploring how community voices and participation shape old residential area redevelopment in Shanghai.

🗓 Thursday 19 March 2026
🕧 12:30 PM
📍 Manchester China Institute, The University of Manchester
🎟 Free registration:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/community-engagement-in-shanghais-old-residential-redevelopment-project-tickets-1977493560472

of Manchester

Earlier today we hosted Curating China: Two Blockbuster British Exhibitions, part of the MM x MCI Talk Series at The University of Manchester.

The event explored how major exhibitions about China are curated and presented to international audiences, offering valuable insights into the research, interpretation, and collaboration behind large-scale museum projects.

Thank you to our speaker Dr. Jessica Harrison-Hall and everyone who joined us for this engaging discussion.

With thanks to our partners@ The University of Manchester, Manchester Museum, British Museum

📢 Event Announcement — Structural Inequality in China’s Digital Transformation.

Join Sicheng Wei as they explore how digitalisation in China can both transform and entrench structural inequalities in society.

🗓 Thursday 12 March 2026
🕧 12:30 PM
📍 Manchester China Institute, The University of Manchester
🎟 Free registration:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/structural-inequality-in-chinas-digital-transformation-tickets-1977492791171

of Manchester

🎨 Curating China: Two Blockbuster British Exhibitions
📍 Manchester Museum
📅 10 March 2026

The Manchester China Institute at The University of Manchester is delighted to present this MM x MCI Talk Series event.

This discussion examines how China has been curated and presented in two major British exhibitions, reflecting on representation, interpretation and audience engagement.

🎟 Registration is free but required:

Curating China: Two Blockbuster British Exhibitions (MM x MCI talk series) The talk will prompt discussion about the role of a curator and how narratives dominated by text can be challenged.

Manchester China Institute at The University of Manchestercelebrated the 2026 Year of the Horse with our Friendship Programme students in Manchester’s Chinatown. 🐎🧧

An evening of authentic Chinese food, handkerchief-spinning, a lucky draw, and lots of laughter — but most importantly, meaningful cross-cultural connections. 🤝

At MCI, we’re proud to create spaces where students build community, empathy, and global understanding. 🌍

Here’s to a Year of the Horse filled with energy, connection, and new opportunities. 🐎✨

📢 Event Announcement — Longing and Belonging: the Chinese in Jamaica and the Wider Caribbean

Join Yichi Zhang as they explore how Chinese Jamaican and wider Caribbean communities experience feelings of longing, belonging and cultural connection across place and time.

🗓 Thursday 5 March 2026
🕧 12:30 PM
📍 Manchester China Institute, The University of Manchester
🎟 Free registration:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/longing-and-belonging-the-chinese-in-jamaica-and-the-wider-caribbean-tickets-1977204383536
of Manchester

📢 Event Announcement — Gendered Everyday Nationalism in China’s Hanfu Revival

Explore how the feminised revival of Hanfu shapes everyday, soft yet assertive expressions of cultural nationalism in China with Fuyun Wei.

🗓 Wednesday 26 February 2026
📍 Manchester China Institute, University of Manchester
🎟 Free registration:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/gendered-everyday-nationalism-in-chinas-hanfu-revival-tickets-1978275179315

of Manchester

Today the Manchester China Institute jointly hosted with Manchester Museum Islamic China: An Asian History, a book release conversation with Rian Thum.

The event explored the deep historical roots of Islam in China and examined how Chinese Muslim communities have shaped social, cultural, and intellectual life over more than a thousand years.

We are grateful to all attendees for contributing to such a thoughtful and engaging discussion, and to our partners at Manchester Museum for the event.

📌 6 February — Conference Day 3

We wrapped up The Economics and Politics of Inequality in China conference with another full day of research, discussion, and collaboration at University of Manchester.

Highlights included keynote talks from Lina Song (University of Nottingham), who explored how children’s gender and age influence household investment holdings, and Terry Sicular (Western University), who examined the measurement of the urban–rural income gap during China’s period of rapid urbanisation (2002–2023).

The day concluded with engaging panel sessions addressing China’s evolving landscape of income, wealth, housing, and social inequality. Across the three days, the conference provided an excellent opportunity for knowledge exchange, impact generation, and meaningful networking.

A sincere thank you to all presenters, partners, and participants for contributing to such a valuable and impactful event.

📌 5 February — Conference Day 2

Day 2 of The Economics and Politics of Inequality in China focused on urban–rural inequality, social mobility, education, housing, welfare, and regional development, with scholars joining us from across the UK, China, Europe, and North America.

🕔 Late afternoon keynote (17:00–17:50)
Björn Gustafsson (University of Gothenburg)
The Evolution of Rural Inequality and Space in China (1988–2023)

📍 The University of Manchester

We had a great time at our Friendship Programme Zumba class 💜
Led by MCI’s Sha Zhou, the session was full of energy and offered a welcoming space for participants to move, unwind, and connect with others.

Activities like this are a lovely way to support wellbeing and build community across The University of Manchester