For Western journalists, the Chinese internet might seem like an impenetrable landscape upon first glance, with linguistic challenges and copyright infringement popping up at every turn. Furthermore, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube – the typical go-to trinity for finding user-generated content – are blocked in mainland China, and even services like Weibo, China's homegrown version of Twitter, are no longer as popular as they were five years ago.

But while finding and verifying videos from the world's most populous nation can certainly pose a challenge, a little time spent familiarizing yourself with the current social networks of the region (as well as useful translation software) can go a long way. In this edition of the Storyful podcast, Esther Chan, Jeremy Blum and Sophia Xu from our Hong Kong office chime in with a basic introduction on the ins and outs of Weibo, WeChat and Miaopai, as well as a deeper ​​discussion on the evolution of Mainland China's ever-changing social media scene.