Mainland China has 2538 nature reserves, covering approximately 15% of its total land area. However, little is known of their effectiveness in capturing the country's ecological diversity. We calculated the degree of representation of terrestrial ecoregions, biodiversity priority areas, and vegetation types within 2217 of these reserves for which spatial data were available. Of the total area set aside as nature reserves, almost 56% was concentrated in the three western provinces of Tibet, Qinghai, and Xinjiang. Of the 53 ecoregions found in China, 29 had over 10% of their land protected through the reserve system; in addition, most (81%) of China's natural vegetation communities were represented in at least one nature reserve. On the basis of these findings, we recommend that China should (1) conduct a nationwide ecoregional biodiversity assessment; (2) establish a georeferenced (spatially referenced) database of nature reserves and other types of protected areas; (3) increase efforts to improve international cooperation regarding management of cross-border ecoregions; and (4) create or expand reserves in eastern and southern China, with a focus on protecting ecosystem services to help sustain local communities' economies

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In the high-speed translocal social setting, intergenerational solidarity is arguably weakening in Chinese society. The proposed study adopts an interactionist perspective, using semistructured interviews as well as communicative behavior records provided by interviewees to analyze the interactions between young adults and their geographically distant parents through a mobile instant messaging (MIM) service application. Taking WeChat as a case, this study focuses specifically on the use of MIM to manage and maintain parent–child relationships in a translocal context. Findings confirm the interaction patterns of “connected presence” and further suggest an emerging “panoptic-presence” consciousness among the young adults, leading to a performative mode of interaction with their parents. Meanwhile, though individualism prevails among the younger generation, family values and norms rooted in traditional Chinese culture are found to be both explicitly and implicitly practiced. Limitations and future directions are also discussed.