Attempts are being made to tell what is arguably the most important story of the modern era: how a huge proportion of humanity has recently been raised from starvation level poverty to health and dignity. And, finally, someone has told the story really well – and in a suitably modern way, as an exciting, episodic…
Culture
SMILE PLEASE! Archeologists have found toothbrushes more than a thousand years old – and they are remarkably similar to modern ones. They had the same shape, although were made of bone, not plastic. And instead of the nylon brushes of today’s equivalents, the ancient ones had hog bristles. There were different varieties, just like today.…
TEMPTED TO CHUCKLE at Hong Kong women who have pampered dogs which they hand-carry to expensive grooming and manicure services? Historians have discovered that such activities have a long history—and in ancient times there were even centers where Chinese noblewomen could get their pets’ fur trimmed and their claws dyed.
How do we know this?…
THE POSTMAN’S AT THE DOOR. Is he holding a bundle of letters? No. He hands you a week’s worth of choi sum, some gai laan and a bag of onions. During difficult periods of Covid-19, China Post started providing a hassle-free home delivery service of vegetables for local communities.
But that’s not all. If you…
Teenage reporter Aleesha Naqvi interviewed non-Chinese youngsters in Hong Kong to ask if they felt they belonged here - and discovered that despite the differences, they're proud to call this city home.
WHO CARES WHAT COLOR your passport is? Or your skin, come to that! Despite having foreign passports, many non-Chinese children identify as Hong…
GARY BROOKER DIED RECENTLY. Most people won’t know that name. But huge numbers of people around the world would recognize the 1967 tune he wrote with his bandmate Matthew Fisher: which became a worldwide hit song called A Whiter Shade of Pale.
Scroll down to read the rest of the text version of this report,…
Imagine a late-night scene: Restaurants, bars, revellers, and a lit-up sign advertising a hostelry. Is this modern Shanghai? Hong Kong? Vancouver? Las Vegas? Actually, such scenes were already taking place a thousand years earlier. Emily Zhou reports.
AN ANCIENT PIECE OF ART shows a lightbox advertising a hotel: perhaps the earliest evidence of a light-powered…
ENJOYED A NICE trendy cup of foam-topped matcha-flavored lactose-free caffeine recently? Well, guess who invented that drink? Starbucks? Maybe a Japanese branch of Starbucks?
No. The Chinese did, a thousand years ago. It has become almost a cliché for historians to search for things that we think are modern, and then locate ancient Chinese versions.…
From a single ancient scroll painting, shown in part below, historians discovered three items of food history the Chinese may have pioneered: the three-meals-a-day tradition, the hot food delivery service, and the drive-in cafe. Emily Zhou reports.
THE CHINESE HABIT of painting large, hyper-detailed landscapes on giant scrolls has been a boon for historians. And…
SOME OF THE GREATEST classic art in the region came from the Tang Dynasty -- extraordinary murals, capturing life more than a thousand years ago. Click here to join a virtual journey which takes you back in time into the heart of Chang’an, the biggest city in the world at that time.
The video…