Asia Insight - Season 13 / Year 2024

In India, looking for a marriage partner has long been a family affair, but with more women taking an active role in society, the method and priorities of the search are starting to change.

For just two months every year, more than 1,000 men brave the dangers of the dense forest in order to hunt for wild honey, providing them the chance for an income where few other options exist.

Mongolia's capital Ulaanbaatar suffers from severe air pollution. New designs use sunlight to ensure warm, smoke-free homes. We explore the technology and its challenges.

In the Philippines, where natural disasters and poverty are a continuing issue, people depend on their barangays for help and assistance. Barangays are the smallest administrative units in the country, carrying out various services, from health and welfare to disaster management. In Manila's Chinatown, community ties are especially close due to a history of persecution of people of Chinese descent under Spanish rule. We focus on one barangay's community bonding in the lead-up to Christmas.

For just US$9 a night, young people stay in a "Job-hunting Hotel" in Shanghai while seeking post-graduation employment, even as the stagnating economy causes the number of available positions to drop.

Spurred by a series of deadly accidents during the zero-COVID policy, young people in China have begun to express their political objections with blank white paper, symbolizing the people's inability to criticize the government. The gesture spread across China, with protestors holding large gatherings speaking out against the government in over 20 cities nationwide. This episode shares the voices of young protestors who took part in the demonstration in Shanghai.

For the sake of their families, Nepalese men are working for the Russian military. Wages 10 times higher than in Nepal are promised, but as many go missing, their families await word on their fate.

The exile of President Marcos Sr. was hailed as a victory for democracy in the Philippines, but with the election of his son 36 years later, shifting views affect how history may be perceived.

In China's rapidly growing food delivery industry, deaf workers who call themselves "voiceless knights" use apps and other tools to perform work, gaining new independence within society.

A new high-speed rail line has sparked a massive rise in tourism to Laos's historic capital Luang Prabang. It's had a major effect on traditional local life in this World Heritage town.