In her apartment in Chengdu, China, 21-year-old Shen Man sits in front of her computer screen, a webcam pointed at her dolled-up face as she croons a love ballad into a microphone. Tens of thousands of people watch her livestream on their smartphones or computers, sending virtual gifts of flowers or lollipops—each costing between 15 cents a few dollars—to show their support. Big spenders gain VIP titles by sending bigger gifts reaching into the thousands of dollars, and in response Shen cooingly thanks them by username. Each month, Shen earns $40,000 as a top YY.com livestream host.

For three years after her husband’s disappearance, Li Wenzu had no idea where he was or whether he was even alive. Wang Quanzhang, a 42-year-old Chinese human rights lawyer who had represented political dissidents and the victims of land grabs, first went missing during a 2015 crackdown, when Communist agents detained more than 320 lawyers and activists. 

On Wednesday, a month after authorities raided Early Rain Covenant Church in Chengdu, China, police released church member Zhu Xiaoguang. He had spent 27 days in detention. Twenty other leaders and members of the church remain in criminal detention as the persecution continues for Early Rain and its church plants. 

2018 was a busy year for China reporters as President Xi Jinping consolidated power, tightened control of civil society, and increased influence abroad. The new year promises a likely continuation of Beijing’s journey toward greater authoritarianism. Here are seven stories worth following in 2019.

On Wednesday, Canadian media revealed that Chinese authorities had detained a third Canadian citizen after the Dec. 1 arrest of Huawei’s chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, in Vancouver at the request of the United States. Relations between the United States and China—as well as between Canada and China—have soured in recent weeks amid a trade war and questions of China’s growing influence around the world.

On Sunday morning, members of Early Rain Covenant Church in Chengdu, China, tried to meet together for Sunday worship only to have police detain about 60 people and shut down outdoor services. Several small groups found spaces to meet and worship without incident.

At a music concert in China’s Jiangxi province last April, Chinese officials located and arrested a man wanted for “economic crimes.” Surveillance cameras with facial recognition technology had scanned the faces of 60,000 concertgoers and pinpointed the suspect.

In Hangzhou, a school installed cameras inside its classrooms to record students’ facial expressions during class. The cameras monitored who was paying attention, who walked into class late, and what the teacher was teaching.