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Culture

Death-defying risks for a cup of tea

When the civil war of China ended in 1949, Tibetans carried bags of silver dollars on a long journey along a thousand-year old path through the mountains on an important mission: to ensure their tea supply. Emily Zhou reports THE PEOPLE OF TIBET and the surrounding high-plateau lands had a problem. They needed tea.…

March 21, 20220Comments ByEmily Zhou

Culture

Sorry, cafe society, tea-drinkers are still ahead

CHINA’S NATIONAL DRINK, tea, is the most popular drink in the world. More of it consumed than all the cappuccinos, lattes and espressos in the world. At least one study says more tea is drunk than all other drinks put together -- coffee, fizzy drinks, wine, beer, juice and everything else. The daily number of…

March 21, 20220Comments ByH.C. Lu

Culture

Suzhou’s eternal gardens touch the soul

IN APRIL OF 1977, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was taken on a visit to one of the many legendary classical Chinese gardens of Suzhou. The one chosen for her was called The Garden of the Futility of Politics. The extraordinary name surely stuck in the British leader's mind--particularly as she would go on to…

March 15, 20220Comments ByH.C. Lu

Culture

Her message of love was received 40 years too late

A classic poem about of a couple destined for each other, but cruelly kept apart by time and circumstances, is still popular 1000 years after it was written AMONG THE FEW Chinese musical pieces well known on international stage is “Butterfly Lovers” (梁祝), composed by He Zhanhao (何占豪) in 1958. But the composer created many…

March 14, 20220Comments ByEmily Zhou

Culture

Landscapes filled with quiet messages

CHINESE ART IS ONE of the oldest continuous visual styles in the world. It is instantly recognizable, whether the painting was created today or a thousand years ago. And the most extraordinary genre of Chinese art is landscape painting, known as Shan shui (山水), literally meaning "mountains and rivers". For more than 1500 years, Chinese artists…

March 10, 20220Comments ByH.C. Lu

Culture

Mi Yue: The extraordinary life of a lowly concubine

It seemed unlikely that the teenage girl would achieve anything in her life: but fate would take her to the top of the ladder Yet even when she was the most powerful woman in the land, she faced an impossible decision, asked to prove her loyalty by killing the man she loved Two thousand years…

March 7, 20220Comments ByEmily Zhou

Culture

Art dance revives interest in tragic Song Dynasty painter

A teenage painter's extraordinary skill marked him out for a great career, but fate had other plans. The "Emperor of Art" who mentored him came to an even sadder end. That happened 900 years ago, yet the story of the boy and his royal teacher, and the one painting he created, has inspired…

February 28, 20220Comments ByEmily Zhou

Culture

The girl who was married to the edge of the world

MORE THAN TWO millennia ago, a 14-year-old girl was sent on an epic journey to unite two great powers and change the course of history. She was a Chinese orphan named Liu Xijun, and she had an important job to do. To the north of China lived the powerful empire of the Xiongnu, a which…

February 24, 20220Comments ByEmily Zhou

Culture

Virus silences Cantonese opera, but just for a while

A major Cantonese opera event was due to take place in Hong Kong this week. But the Arts Festival's 50th anniversary celebration of the signature Cantonese operas of Sun Ma Sze Tsang, has been postponed due to the city's Covid precautions. The star, who died in 1997, was due to have his works interpreted by…

February 23, 20220Comments ByLee Chack Fan

Culture Life

There’s a pharmacy in your kitchen, tradition says

AN OLD MAXIM says: “Food is the medicine you take every day.” This is a relatively new idea in the west, popping up in books like Food Pharmacy (2018). But food therapy is an old belief in China, known Shi Liao. The Chinese have long believed that all naturally occurring foods, including fruits, vegetables, meat…

February 22, 20220Comments ByH.C. Lu

Culture

Death-defying risks for a cup of tea

Sorry, cafe society, tea-drinkers are still ahead

Suzhou’s eternal gardens touch the soul

Her message of love was received 40 years too late

Landscapes filled with quiet messages

Mi Yue: The extraordinary life of a lowly concubine

Art dance revives interest in tragic Song Dynasty painter

The girl who was married to the edge of the world

Virus silences Cantonese opera, but just for a while

There’s a pharmacy in your kitchen, tradition says

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