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Culture

The greatest feast in history

STORIES SAY THAT on his birth anniversary in 1720, Emperor Kangxi (康熙皇帝) held the most spectacular banquet of all time in the Forbidden City, Beijing. The “Manchu-Han Imperial Feast” (满汉全席) has become a legendary event, featuring in books, movies, TV shows, and even as the inspiration for the plot of a Kung Fu Panda film.…

December 12, 20220Comments ByEmily Zhou

Chinese history Features

Slaughter in four minutes: Britain’s invasion of Tibet

IT WAS ARGUABLY the most mismatched war in history. The British invaded the Chinese state of Tibet in 1903, leading to the deaths of an estimated 2,700 Tibetans. And just five British officers. This extraordinary story has three main elements: First, the presence of a western superpower, known for its unmatched weaponry, acting…

December 12, 20220Comments ByFriday Writers

Culture

Winnie Tam: Hong Kong as a world-class cultural center

IN HONG KONG IN THE 1960s, a teacher looked at her daughter and wondered how to instil in her a love of culture. They were not a rich family, but strongly believed that parents should help to generate a love of books, literature and the arts in every child, whatever their social status. The girl,…

December 7, 20220Comments ByNury Vittachi

Culture

Ancient figurines reveal ‘unibrow’ was once height of fashion

IN 1928, RAILWAY WORKERS were digging deep into the ground in Luoyang during the construction of the Longhai railway (隴海鐵路). They uncovered a large Tang Dynasty tomb, more than ten centuries old. The diggers unearthed a large number of pottery items. Many were delicate figurines, with unusual colors: mostly creams, browns and greens. Hong Kong…

December 2, 20220Comments ByEmily Zhou

Culture

Classic Chinese garden in Hong Kong hides architectural treasure

AT THE FOOT of Diamond Hill in Hong Kong, an elegant public park called Nan Lian Garden (南蓮園池) is a rare tranquil place nestling in the busy metropolis. Neat paths paved by smooth cobblestones connect a variety of elements of wooden architecture in classic "oriental garden" style. At the centre is an orange-red bridge,…

November 30, 20220Comments ByEmily Zhou

Chinese food Culture

East Asia’s tender white chicken has a complex, disputed history

FOR HALF A CENTURY, Malaysians and Singaporeans have been fighting over the ownership rights to a dish called Hainan chicken rice, the star element of which is chicken lightly poached in a way that makes the flesh very white and tender. And of course the people of Hainan also stake a claim to it, noting…

November 29, 20220Comments ByEmily Zhou

Chinese food Culture

The Cantonese have a world of soups to choose from

SOUP DISHES ARE SO popular in Hong Kong that you can order them by app or stop on your way to work for some quick broth. And multi-course Cantonese dinners are not complete without a soup course. Cantonese people believe that savouring regular bowls of soup can help reduce water retention in the body, prevent…

November 24, 20220Comments ByH.C. Lu

Chinese food Culture

Chaoshan cuisine: a distinctive culinary style

GUANGDONG IS WELL KNOWN as the heartland of the Cantonese-speaking peoples, with their love of barbecued pork and dialects from the root known as Yue. But there has always been an area of the province which has been different on multiple levels. We’re referring to the area known as Chaoshan (潮汕地區). The area is considered…

November 23, 20220Comments ByEmily Zhou

Chinese food Culture

Don’t say ‘Chinese food’, say ‘Cantonese’ or ‘Sichuan’

WHILE PEOPLE AROUND the world talk about “Chinese food” as if it is a one thing, in fact there are eight great regional cuisines in China, and the most popular is Cantonese. (The other seven cuisines are Anhui, Fujian, Hunan, Jiangsu, Shandong, Sichuan and Zhejiang.) Cantonese cuisine is characterized by its light seasoning, tender…

November 8, 20220Comments ByH.C. Lu

Culture

How a Chinese working class meal conquered the world

DON’T TELL THE TEXAS TYCOONS! Foodies in the United States city of Houston, Texas, are waiting agog for the opening of a branch of Tim Ho Wan, a Michelin-starred restaurant from Hong Kong. Within weeks, they'll be spending their hard-earned cash on the eatery's speciality: traditional dim sum. But few people know that dim…

November 8, 20220Comments ByEmily Zhou

Culture

The greatest feast in history

Slaughter in four minutes: Britain’s invasion of Tibet

Winnie Tam: Hong Kong as a world-class cultural center

Ancient figurines reveal ‘unibrow’ was once height of fashion

Classic Chinese garden in Hong Kong hides architectural treasure

East Asia’s tender white chicken has a complex, disputed history

The Cantonese have a world of soups to choose from

Chaoshan cuisine: a distinctive culinary style

Don’t say ‘Chinese food’, say ‘Cantonese’ or ‘Sichuan’

How a Chinese working class meal conquered the world

Truth at last: Yes, Chinese Uyghurs ARE treated badly

Record-breaking number of deals clinched at China import expo

Mainland China, HK, now helping other nations make clean energy transition