The New York Times' China correspondents complete intensive Mandarin classes to improve their reporting ability. But its employees based in New York also have the opportunity to study Chinese in weekly in-office classes during their lunch break.

Initiated in 2009 by the newspaper's Asian Heritage Network, which is one of seven employee-led affinity groups, the courses are offered at beginning, intermediate and advanced levels.

Reporter: Yuhan Liu

Video: Yuhan Liu & Derek Bosko

Photo Research: Chen Ziyan

Supervising Producer: Chen Weihua, Flora Yue & Calvin Zhou

Senior Producer: Larry Lee & Ji Tao