Zafar Uddin Mahmood, former Special Assistant to the Prime Minister of Pakistan and President of the Pakistan-based initiative Understanding China Forum, first came to China in the 1970s and spent decades here as a diplomat. Having personally witnessed China’s reform and opening-up from the late 1970s onward, he offers his perspective on why understanding China matters not only to Pakistan but to the wider world.

​Li Qiuyi is a leading railway engineer whose innovative work has been instrumental in shaping China's world-class high-speed rail network. He has overcome great technical barriers, such as designing seamless points on bridges, enabling trains to maintain high speeds safely and smoothly. Today, Li continues to pioneer intelligent and sustainable rail technologies, driving China's rail industry into the future.

In this episode, researchers reveal the true colors of the Terracotta Warriors―the underground army of China's first emperor, Qin Shihuang.

​Veteran electrician Zhang Dong has advanced power maintenance in China, developing live-line tools that prevent blackouts during repairs. His robotic innovations and training programs save hundreds of outage hours annually. Honored as a national model worker, he proves that electricity service can and should never stop.

​In this episode of "Friendship in War Fires", we honor Tang Duo, a Chinese aviation pioneer who fought in World War II as a Soviet attack pilot before shaping China’s Air Force education. His daring combat missions and postwar legacy reveal a life of service, heroism and resilience.

​In this episode of "Friendship in War Fires", we honor Grigori Kulishenko, a Soviet pilot who dedicated his life to defending China against Japanese aggression during World War II. His heroism has been deeply cherished by the Chinese people since the moment he made the ultimate sacrifice in a fierce battle against Japanese forces.

In this episode of "Friendship in War Fires" series, we uncover the extraordinary story of Qian Xiuling – a Chinese-Belgian scientist who saved nearly 100 lives in Nazi-occupied Belgium during World War II. Her actions created an astonishing bridge between wartime China and Europe, proving courage knows no borders.

Young Kazakhstani Ruslan Tulenov is the first non-Chinese Global Media Officer for Trade and Investment Promotion in China’s tropical island province of Hainan. He is affectionately known across China as the “Panda Man” or the “Panda Hero.”

In this podcast, Ruslan takes us behind the scenes of how he became one of the most famous foreign faces in Hainan. How did he earn those endearing monikers and how has he been sharing the island’s story with the world?

In this episode of "Friendship in War Fires" series, we honor the extraordinary courage of Minnie Vautrin – an American educator who risked her life to protect over 10,000 women and children during one of history's darkest chapters in Nanjing. Her harrowing diary entries provide an unflinching record of the Nanjing Massacre – a testament to both the cruelty of war and the resilience of humanity.

For 14 grueling years (1931-1945), the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army stood as China's northernmost force of resistance against Japanese aggression. Deep in the forests of Jilin Province, their first guerrilla base was set up in a remote area called Hongshilazi. Spanning 32 square kilometers, this battlefield has become an active archaeological site, revealing more than 3,300 ruins and 900 artifacts. In this episode, we follow Meng Qingxu, the lead archaeologist behind the dig, as he reveals how the past is being pieced together.