Babyccinos and Reel Making: Who is Really Playing?

Vermeeren, Laura

Laura Vermeeren

Laura Vermeeren is an Assistant Professor of Cultural Heritage and Cross Media at the University of Amsterdam and sinologist. She is interested in, and has published on, Chinese creativity, urban creativity, youth cultures in China, digital Chinese writing practices and nostalgia. A monograph on contemporary practices of Chinese calligraphy is forthcoming with Singapore University Press.

Dossiers, no. 3, vol. 10November 10, 2025<November 12, 2025

Babyccinos and Reel Making: Who is Really Playing?

Laura Vermeeren

A children’s menu, a play kitchen, a coloring book: Is that what makes a space #kidsproof? Laura Vermeeren explores how Instagram’s aestheticized content increasingly shapes what family leisure in the city should look like.

Dossiers, no. 2, vol. 8June 9, 2023<June 9, 2023

A caring Beijing through public fitness equipment

Laura Vermeeren

Laura Vermeeren examines the proliferation of state-sponsored outdoor fitness areas in Beijing. Often used by retirees, these “senior playgrounds” embody both Chinese philosophies of wellbeing and neoliberal practices of self-care.