“Great disaster reigns everygengziyear,” states a Chinese superstition.According to ancient astrologers, the first year of every 60-year calendar cycle is marked by calamity and chaos.This is supposedly proved by historical events such as the First Opium War (1840) and Indian Famine (1900), which all began during a dreadedgengziyear.

Though without scientific basis, this saying has been almost gleefully quoted ever since the Covid-19 outbreak shortly before thegengzilunar New Year of 2020,followed by the worst summer floods recorded in modern Chinese history. Yet natural disasters were frequent in history, and,far from being resigned to fate,people survived them through a combination of technology,ingenuity, and tenacity. And with every catastrophe, we better understand the human (rather than supernatural) agency behind them and their long-term impacts—from the consequences of climate change to the need for professional disaster relief.

In this issue’s cover story, we delve into China’s disasters—including floods that disrupt the country’s urbanization drive,earthquakes that highlight the need for psychological first aid,and forest fires that spawned the nation’s first professional firefighting force. Elsewhere in the issue, we experience long-haul truckers’ arduous life on the road,talk with a private detective and an environmental activist, translate new fiction from Inner Mongolia,and more.