The steep decline in the number of U.S. students there is just the tip of the iceberg during this dynamic shift between the world's two superpowers. The departure of foreign companies, a drop of international tourists, and the increasingly polarized discourse about foreigners all contribute to this trend, resulting in an ongoing exodus of expats from a country that once seemed warm to them.

Macroscopic consequences aside, there are tangible—and deeply painful—personal costs resulting from this rupture. Many of those in-betweeners were forced to leave behind the lives they had built, the languages they had picked up, the friendships they had forged, the communities they had cultivated, and an entire world they had settled into. On a broader scale, the land has become an increasingly opaque entity to the outside world, as those with firsthand experiences and the patience to navigate its intricacies are becoming growingly marginalized, both physically and culturally.

Ironically, the only way to (kind of) start processing what we've lost over these few years is to start talking about our collective loss of understanding. In this inaugural English episode of Planet Speakeasy, two friends who once spent a significant portion of their adult lives in China shared a candid discussion about their recent "homecoming" trip: the familiar, the confusing, the surprising, and the beautiful, chaotic youth in an elusive "home" that we all miss so very much.

今期行星酒馆，邀请到了两位外籍人士 Matt 和 Ling。他们都曾定居中国，在这里度过大部分成年时光。几年间选择了离开的他们，在过去半年，先后回到中国短暂停留。借着两位朋友的「外宾」视角，我想聊聊重新踏上「故土」时经历的轶事和复杂的心情；也分享他们观察到的、这片土地所上发生的微妙变化。

为了让大家更为舒适地对谈，播客主要用英文录制。访谈的翻译版可在海外《行星酒馆》文字专栏找到。希望未来，我们也可以打破语言的隔阂，用同声传译地方式呈现跨语言的对话。

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(02:05)「西安户口」的Matt和疫情中搬家的Ling

(03:58) 旅程前的复杂心绪，到刚下飞机的第一印象

(08:37) 微信支付与滴滴，国内方便的不方便

(13:51) 飞盘文化的崛起背后，一些微妙的新现实

(16:41) 失落与悵惘，地方变了还是我们老了？

(20:08) 一个反复被提起的挣扎：“为什么还没出国？”

(21:38) 失落的连接背后，中美语境下不同的创作困境

(28:10) 一场酷儿舞会背后的思考

(30:49) 面对断裂，我们还能找到主体性吗？

(40:10) 新冠后，一场百感交集的婚礼

(45:00) 记录这个地方，缺席的情感事实

(47:28) 按摩店里，一场可能不会被记录的对话

(51:59) 差点忘了，疫情间我们都逃进了工作

(57:07) 短视频与直播带货的文化冲击

09 | 微信支付不相识，笑问老外何处来? A Homecoming Vibe Check

行星酒馆 Planet Speakeasy