Blog Band – Page 19 – Fridayeveryday

Silent but radiant history-tellers in ancient Chinese tombs

GOLD ISN’T JUST BEAUTIFUL AND RARE. It is also durable. No historian can document every detail of history, but burial objects in gold often tell a story better than other records. Thanks to the generous donation from the owners of Mengdiexuan (夢蝶軒), Betty Lo(盧茵茵) and Kenneth Chu (朱偉基), the public has the opportunity to remember…

August 10, 20230Comments ByEmily Zhou

Zodiac relics from destroyed Summer Palace now in Hong Kong

SURVIVING ZODIAC HEAD STATUES from a glorious imperial garden destroyed by British and French soldiers in the Opium War in 1860 are on show at City University of Hong Kong. The Old Summer Palace, known as Yuanmingyuan (圓明園), was a huge area, covering more than 3.5 square kilometres of land in Beijing. Historians say it…

August 10, 20230Comments ByH.C. Lu

China news

Chinese train engineers challenge pilots to a race

CHINESE ENGINEERS SET a new record for the fastest train in the world, and are eyeing their ultimate target—to create railway transport that’s faster than commercial aircraft. The country’s next-generation high-speed train recently set a record of 453 kmh (281 mph) during a test run along a section of the railway from Fuqing to Qianzhou…

August 10, 20230Comments ByNury Vittachi

Features

Hello, Computer: A brief history of artificial intelligence

Advances in artificial intelligence were initially seen as an uncomplicated boon to mankind. But almost every day now, positive reports about developments are interspersed with voices warning about impending AI-caused disaster as the technology damages the education system, replaces human journalists with bots, and threatens to put people out of work. How did we get…

August 9, 20230Comments ByOliver Tedja

Chinese history

The emperor treated everyone harshly—except one man

IT WAS EXTRAORDINARILY RISKY to be the brother of Yinzhen (胤禛), the fourth son of Emperor Kangxi (康熙帝). Yinzhen wanted the throne really badly. A cold-blooded man, he imprisoned some of his 23 brothers and killed one who had the same mother as he did. He wanted to get rid of competition to become the…

August 3, 20230Comments ByEmily Zhou

China news Chinese history

Forbidden City cats become celebrities in their own right

CATS AT THE FORBIDDEN CITY in Beijing have become celebrities. They now regularly appear in TV programs and on social media. They also count as part of the historical tale of the complex. In ancient times, emperors and other royal family members owned cats which they pampered, just like modern cat-lovers. In the Ming…

August 1, 20230Comments ByH.C. Lu

News Opinion

Hong Kong’s fugitives and Canberra’s remarkable response

The Hong Kong authorities recently issued arrest warrants for eight individuals living offshore who are alleged to have breached the National Security Law. Canberra has swiftly jumped to express concern for the two fugitives who live in Australia. It is hard to avoid the conclusion that this rash response reflects, in part, a felt-need in…

July 18, 20230Comments ByRichard Cullen

Culture

In a village above the clouds

IN A SNOWY VILLAGE high above cloud level, two fur-clad young girls travel to a frozen mountain top lake and stand on the surface, surrounded by elders. They smash through the ice to take a ceremonial ladleful of sacred water, and then everyone sings and dances. It is the most ancient of rituals in a…

July 18, 20230Comments ByNury Vittachi

News

China set to lead world to cashless society: UK professor

CHINA CAME FROM nowhere to become a leader in cash-free purchasing, a top London professor said this week. It is now on track to becoming the world's top country for cash-free transactions, said Kent Matthews, professor of banking and finance at Cardiff University. In China, the proportion of the total amount of money in circulation…

July 6, 20230Comments ByNury Vittachi

China news Chinese history

Teacher Ye refused to retire

MEET AN ACTUAL COMMUNIST PARTY MEMBER. When teacher Ye Lianping hit retirement age, he felt he was still able to contribute to society, but had been left behind by the world. So he turned part of his home into a school and re-started work as a teacher, focusing on children “left behind” by society because…

July 5, 20230Comments ByNury Vittachi