Blog Band – Page 26 – Fridayeveryday

Failed rescue mission: amazing tale behind Dragon Boat Races

It started with a death in the river, the legend says. But no one could predict the scale of the repercussions - which are marked today, more than 22 centuries later, with international sports events. The original festival has deep mainland Chinese roots, but was popularized worldwide by the people of Hong Kong. The…

June 21, 20230Comments ByNury Vittachi

Chinese food

How a Chinese pancake inspired the invention of pizza

PIZZA AND PASTA: the hallmarks of the ever-popular Italian cuisine. For centuries, these two dishes have captivated taste buds around the world, prompting Italian food to rise to star status among the world’s hundreds of cuisines. Whether you grab a one-dollar slice on the streets of New York City or wait months for a seating…

June 21, 20230Comments ByPortia Chung

Chinese food Culture

Behind a celebrated Chinese dessert lies a tale of tragedy

IN THE MODERN DAY Qingming Festival (清明節), people in southern China and part of Southeast Asia, young and old expect to enjoy Qingtuan (青糰), a kind of green glutinous dessert with various fillings. However, some people may not know that this delicious dessert was not originally intended for Qingming, but for another important day in…

June 20, 20230Comments ByEmily Zhou

Chinese history Culture

Goujian: Defeated soldier waited years for revenge

IN EARLY APRIL this year, I went on a trip to Wuhan in Hubei Province (湖北武漢). At the Hubei Provincial Museum, I found a long queue in front of a collection. Out of curiosity, I approached the attractive treasure, and found long tin-bronze sword in front of me. It was the “Sword of Goujian” (越王勾踐劍),…

June 14, 20230Comments ByEmily Zhou

China news

Joy as China’s endangered ‘smiling dolphin’ seen growing

THE SMILING DOLPHINS are back! This critically endangered marine mammal is breeding in China’s legendary Yangtze river, new studies say. Scientists are cautiously optimistic that the tiny group of finless porpoises (江豚), has grown slightly, reversing a decades-long shrinkage in its numbers. The tiny group of finless porpoises has grown in Yangtze River in…

June 14, 20230Comments ByH.C. Lu

China news Features

Secret global empire: First whistleblower’s last interview

THE UNITED STATES is still running a covert global empire, said Daniel Ellsberg, known as the “father of whistleblowing”. And we are “on the edge of blowing up the world over Crimea or Taiwan or Bakhmut”, he warned. The U.S. has a long history of creating needless conflicts for its own advantage, and it is…

June 12, 20230Comments ByNury Vittachi

Opinion

Harvard China academic takes on the Economist

The Economist magazine recently pushed dramatic statistical claims about the USA’s apparently world-beating economic growth. These figures raised the eyebrows of a prominent Harvard professor who responded that the numbers worked just fine - but only if China was omitted! The publication responded to his impudence by going on an energetic attack with a cover…

June 7, 20230Comments ByRichard Cullen

Culture

The hidden feng shui of the Forbidden City

FOR SEVERAL DECADES NOW, the Chinese art of feng shui has been recognized worldwide as a valuable tool in the design of everything from workplaces to homes. Feng shui is an ancient system focusing on placement of objects and the layout of buildings with the aim of creating positive effects on the humans using such…

June 1, 20230Comments ByH.C. Lu

Opinion

I’m sorry, but the toxic G-7 ‘rich club’ is past its sell-by date

YET ANOTHER G-7 meeting has passed with yet another embarrassing show of insecurity by a group that is well past its sell-by date. The G-7 is such an anachronism, a relic of the past clinging on to a crumbling façade of make-believe power in a rapidly changing world. The images and the narrative all speak…

May 25, 20230Comments ByChandran Nair

News

US expert: Chip war hits ordinary Chinese, not PLA

THE US BAN on provision of powerful computer chip equipment to China is not really aimed at the Chinese military, a top defence expert revealed. It is an attack on the development of China. Only a fraction of one per cent of the chips are used by the People’s Liberation Army, said Jon Bateman, a…

May 18, 20230Comments ByNury Vittachi