Manzhouli, a city in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is home to a rare fusion of Russian, Chinese, Mongolian, and European cultures, all in one city. It’s also the largest land border port city in China, and serves as a window to East Asia for trade.

Known around the world and especially in Asian cultures, Lunar New Year is a time of joyous gathering and celebration. Central to this momentous holiday and many others in Asia is the moon. Every fall, you’ll find Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations on par with any other major holiday in China, and overseas Chinese also take part in the festivities. In this episode, our Host James Chau shares the mythology behind the festival, and how lunar-oriented cultures recognize the holiday.

The oldest known metal tools date back thousands of years, and were made from metals such as copper and even iron from meteorites. Today, many of the world's most famous metal tools and hardware products are produced by the crafters of Yongkang, China.