Every summer when we welcome Beijing’s international school teens to the Jingkids summer internship to learn how the media industry works and put together the annual Teen Takeover issue, I can’t help but be awed by their creativity and dedication. At such a young age these teens already know what they want to do, and most importantly, they’re eager to put in the work and dedication to make that happen. Without fail, the annual Teen Takeover is the issue that I love working on the most.
Created entirely by Beijing’s teens, this year’s Teen Takeover issue covers what every teenager will eventually have to face: leaving the nest.
Hélène Wang shares real insights on how Beijing’s teens are choosing a college (P. 10) while Cindy Luo and Sissi Ma share the lesser-known local favorites (P. 12) and great Beijing vegetarian dishes (P. 14) that everyone must gorge on before they leave. For the kids leaving Beijing for the next chapter of their lives, Tina Cui takes them on a nostalgic look at the Beijing hutong culture that you won’t find anywhere else in the world (P. 20). And of course, let’s not forget the Beijing bucket list (P. 46) as prepared by Gwendolyne Depoorter.
Every year our biggest section in the Teen Takeover is Student Voice. Here we give the teens a platform to share their generation’s views and thoughts on the city they call home. In this issue, Emma Sortais polls students on a topic that most adults don’t like to discuss in public – finances (P. 32) and Amber Ker-Foz shares a heartwarming story of spending her senior year of high school as an only child after her big brother leaves for college (P. 36).
I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all the students who worked on this year’s Teen Takeover for their hard work and dedication. I hope you all enjoyed your time working with us at Jingkids, I know I certainly enjoyed every moment of it.
Mina Yan
Managing Editor
Images: Uni You
This article appeared in the jingkids 2022 Teen Takeover issue
