Podcasts · Round Table China

IN VIDEO: Can you practice your way to survival?

16 Sep 2026 · 1 h 02 min

Paying to get knocked around by fake hurricane winds. Wading through a flooded garage that's dry on the other side. Getting swept up in a man-made torrent. It sounds like something to avoid — until you realize people are doing it to learn. Across China, disaster simulation venues are turning fear into a classroom. Because when the real storm hits, hesitation kills. And practice can mean the difference between hesitation and action. But as extreme weather becomes more common, are we getting better prepared, or just better at pretending we are? / Across China, people are paying strangers for what friends used to give for free — a listener to vent to, or someone to offer custom compliments and rebuild confidence. Maybe connection isn't the problem. Maybe trust is. Today, we're asking what happens when we'd rather pay a stranger than lean on the people we know (40:59). On the show: Steve, Yushan & Yushun

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