Whiffenpoofs gains deeper insight into country, people during China tour

Touring across China, Yale University's Whiffenpoofs, a cappella group, connected with locals through songs and gained deeper insight into the country and its people.

Have spent much of 2026 performing around the world, the Whiffenpoofs also visited a number of destinations in China. The trip was made possible by assistant musical director Zhang Yixiao, a Beijing native.

"I had this dream of planning Whiffenpoofs tour to let the Whiffs not only see the China that's on the social media, like the neon lights and the tall buildings, but really going to see a lot of aspects of how diverse China is," said Zhang.

The group's 15-day tour across China back in March visited nine cities including Zhangjiajie, Guizhou, Tianjin, Beijing, and Xi'an. During this period of time, they learned about the local culture as well as got to interact with the locals at both a musical and heart-to-heart level.

The performance that local Zhuang ethnic group put on in southwest China's Guizhou Province left a deep impression to Eunice Oh, a member of the group.

"They are the originators of this close-part harmony that you have. And so to hear there, I think it was like hundreds of people in their choir and they sing completely together. There's no conductor, there's no background music. It's just their voices and just the power and the impact. And it's just so moving to hear their performance," said Oh.

Most young people nowadays communicate online. However, the Whiffs are willing to take a gap year from college to travel around the world to have in person musical exchanges and experiences.

For them, such experiences are invaluable, as apart from the music, the people they met along the way and the different cultures they get to know are also meaningful parts of their journey.

"We can tell that it's not the same impact as actually standing there in front of people in Beijing or Chongqing or any of these places and seeing them hear a cappella for the very first time. I think there's nothing that can replicate that online," said Lucas Oland, a member of the Whiffenpoofs.

Whiffenpoofs gains deeper insight into country, people during China tour

The average daily raw coal production by large-scale industrial firms in China during the first half of 2026 hit the second-highest historical level for the period, the China National Coal Association reported, underscoring coal's continued status as the mainstay of China's energy security.

Enterprises with annual main business revenue of 20 million yuan or more produced 13.07 million tonnes during the first six months, the association revealed.

As the backbone of China's energy system, coal output has maintained steady operation in 2026, delivering solid support for national energy security amid high seasonal demand.

China has now entered the peak summer energy consumption season, with temperatures in most parts of the country above the perennial average and some regions struck by periodic heatwaves.

To cope with extreme weather and shore up coal supply for the summer peak, the coal sector has tapped into the strengths of large-scale modern and intelligent coal mines, keeping national coal production and distribution stable and orderly.

"Across major coal-consuming industries, coal-fired power generation grew roughly 3 percent year on year in the first six months, serving as a vital bottom-line guarantee for peak summer power supply. Coal consumption for chemical production rose 7.3 percent from a year earlier, driving steady growth in overall coal demand," said Zhang Hong, vice president of the China National Coal Association.

Looking ahead to the second half of 2026, experts said they expect China's macro-economy to sustain steady and relatively fast expansion. With wider application of "AI plus" scenarios and surging energy demand from big data and computing power, overall energy consumption will continue climbing. In this context, coal will remain the mainstay of China's safe and stable energy supply and a key force providing fundamental backup.

China's coal output remains sufficient in H1, bolstering summer power supply