Peking Hotel | 何流｜Liu He | Substack

Will China’s Social Volcano erupt? — with Martin Whyte

Harvard professor Martin Whyte talks about the setbacks and surprises of doing sociological surveys in China, and remembers his mentor Ezra Vogel, who…

Feb 4 • 何流｜Liu He

52:00

An Unfinished Business: A World AIDS Day Special with Joan Kaufman

Professor Joan Kaufman, a leading expert on HIV/AIDS and China, talks about her experiences in public health while working in China with the UN, the…

Dec 1, 2025 • Ruby Wang and 何流｜Liu He

1:05:41

Decoding Beijing: How a CIA analyst tracked down Chinese politics in the '80s — with Alice Miller

"It’s a competition in international affairs. The basic rule of thumb is everybody spies on everybody."

Nov 2, 2025 • 何流｜Liu He

57:31

The Souls of China — with Ian Johnson

Author Ian Johnson talks about how he returned to China in 2009 to write his books ‘The Souls of China’ and ‘Sparks,’ which both deal with China's…

Oct 19, 2025 • 何流｜Liu He

“Think of your pension” — and other writing tips from esteemed China hands

Peking Hotel interviewees talk about how to become a better writer, how to write a book, and how not to go broke doing it.

Oct 7, 2025 • Anise Broccoli

Most Popular

Decoding Beijing: How a CIA analyst tracked down Chinese politics in the '80s — with Alice Miller

Nov 2, 2025 • 何流｜Liu He

When I taught at the Central Party School in Beijing - with Larry Diamond

Nov 13, 2024 • 何流｜Liu He

Deng Xiaoping, Democracy Wall, and the Dialetics of China — with Orville Schell

May 25, 2024 • 何流｜Liu He

“Think of your pension” — and other writing tips from esteemed China hands

Oct 7, 2025 • Anise Broccoli

Talking China Candidly.

Susan Shirk

“Think of your pension” — and other writing tips from esteemed China hands

Peking Hotel interviewees talk about how to become a better writer, how to write a book, and how not to go broke doing it.

Oct 7, 2025 • Anise Broccoli

The death of U.S.-China engagement and the political future of China — with Susan Shirk

"I know that the level of dissatisfaction is high. It’s not stable. I can’t predict what will happen, but when it happens, I won’t be surprised."

Jan 21, 2025 • 何流｜Liu He

1:00:09

How NATO Accidentally Bombed The Chinese Embassy in Belgrade - with Susan Shirk

“The problem was that the Chinese government and people had huge respect for American competence, and they believed that it was impossible for us to…

Dec 21, 2024 • 何流｜Liu He

1:07:10

WTO Negotiations, life inside State Department, and the peak of American unipolarity — with Susan Shirk

The former academic-turned-State Department official talks about how she joined the Clinton administration and took part in the landmark WTO deal with…

Dec 5, 2024 • 何流｜Liu He

1:05:52

Podcasts

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Hong Kong, China, and Staying Hopeful in an Era of Authoritarian Resurgence — with Larry Diamond

"I can’t imagine anything more important to the future of freedom in the world than this question: Will China democratise?"

Mar 11, 2025 • 何流｜Liu He

1:11:57

When I taught at the Central Party School in Beijing - with Larry Diamond

The moderator tried to control things, but people weren’t waiting for their turn. “We need democracy in the Chinese Communist Party,” and suddenly…

Nov 13, 2024 • 何流｜Liu He

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何流｜Liu He

Will China’s Social Volcano erupt? — with Martin Whyte

Fox Butterfield

“Think of your pension” — and other writing tips from esteemed China hands

Peking Hotel interviewees talk about how to become a better writer, how to write a book, and how not to go broke doing it.

Oct 7, 2025 • Anise Broccoli

My China Journey - with Fox Butterfield

The first New York Times correspondent in China after 1949 opens up on his life-long journey with China.

Oct 29, 2024 • 何流｜Liu He

55:06

How I Opened The New York Times’s Beijing Bureau – with Fox Butterfield

Yes, they thought The New York Times was the People's Daily of America.

Oct 18, 2024 • 何流｜Liu He

54:01

Fairbank’s Rice Paddies, Pentagon Papers and the Making of an Asia Correspondent — with Fox Butterfield

Fox Butterfield started The New York Times’ first Beijing Bureau. Now he recounts his personal history in the early years.

Oct 7, 2024 • 何流｜Liu He

44:31

Peking Hotel

Peking Hotel

Stories of what China used to be and what it is capable of becoming.

Judith Shapiro

47:15

Mao vs Xi: politicking China’s environment — with Judith Shapiro

Prof. Judith Shapiro reflects on how the environment used to be a cause for which Chinese civil society was allowed to fight, until that too became…

May 29, 2025 • 何流｜Liu He

42:30

When a Deng Xiaoping-Approved Marriage Spurred the Hunan Democracy Movement — with Judith Shapiro

Before her career switch to researching environmental politics, Prof. Judith Shapiro spent a whirlwind decade teaching, writing, and living in and about…

Apr 30, 2025 • 何流｜Liu He

Honoring Jimmy Carter

Jimmy Carter, the Unlikely Champion of China’s Village Elections — with Liu Yawei

The Carter Center’s Senior China Advisor talks about the late U.S. President’s relationship with Deng Xiaoping, how China invited him to observe…

Mar 29, 2025 • 何流｜Liu He

Honoring Jimmy Carter: When Chinese students arrived in the US after the Cultural Revolution - with Thomas Fingar

It became clear, certainly by 1978, that educational exchanges, access to training, export controls — these were going to be litmus tests of US-China…

Jan 11, 2025 • 何流｜Liu He

Ian Johnson

57:31

The Souls of China — with Ian Johnson

Author Ian Johnson talks about how he returned to China in 2009 to write his books ‘The Souls of China’ and ‘Sparks,’ which both deal with China's…

Oct 19, 2025 • 何流｜Liu He

“Think of your pension” — and other writing tips from esteemed China hands

Peking Hotel interviewees talk about how to become a better writer, how to write a book, and how not to go broke doing it.

Oct 7, 2025 • Anise Broccoli

53:57

China’s Spiritual Revival and the Rise (and Fall) of Falun Gong — with Ian Johnson

The Pulitzer-winning writer recalls his reporting on Falun Gong at the end of 1990s.

Feb 20, 2025 • 何流｜Liu He

42:11

Finding relics among the ruins of the Cultural Revolution — with Ian Johnson

The Pulitzer-winning journalist tells the story of his first trip to China and how it changed his views on foreign reporting.

Nov 22, 2024 • 何流｜Liu He

Orville Schell

“Think of your pension” — and other writing tips from esteemed China hands

Peking Hotel interviewees talk about how to become a better writer, how to write a book, and how not to go broke doing it.

Oct 7, 2025 • Anise Broccoli

55:51

Real Ideals and False Hopes: Seeing China in the Vietnam War — with Orville Schell

The war re-alchemised the notion that a scholar’s job – and even a reporter’s – is to understand the world, not help the government.

Sep 10, 2024 • 何流｜Liu He

59:27

I Was Locked In A Cave On My First Trip to China — with Orville Schell

And the first thing they said was: who are you spying for? Who do you work for? And I thought, holy shit, I'm really in trouble here.

Jul 3, 2024 • 何流｜Liu He

39:38

Deng Xiaoping, Democracy Wall, and the Dialetics of China — with Orville Schell

When Deng Xiaoping arrived, they lost their minds. Overnight, all the corporate leaders were gathered; everybody wanted to wear a Mao suit.

May 25, 2024 • 何流｜Liu He

Perry Link

Tiananmen Papers, Charter 08 and Liu Xiaobo: My Activism Through Translation — with Perry Link

Prof. Perry Link talks about bringing the works of Chinese pro-democracy activists to a global audience.

Jun 5, 2025 • 何流｜Liu He

Rescuing Fang Lizhi and Questioning Memory — Perry Link on his June 4th Story

Fang Lizhi asked for my help when his life was in danger. Of course, I couldn't say ‘screw you’. I was going to help him, geopolitics was none of my…

Jun 5, 2024 • 何流｜Liu He

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