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Historians find toothbrush, eleven centuries old

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.…

May 4, 20220Comments ByEmily Zhou

Culture

Chinese had pet manicures a thousand years ago: historians

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?…

April 28, 20220Comments ByEmily Zhou

Culture

A stodgy state-owned enterprise becomes an innovator

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…

April 20, 20220Comments ByEmily Zhou

Culture

‘We’re still Hong Kongers’ say non-Chinese young people

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…

April 19, 20220Comments ByAleesha Naqvi

Culture Videos

1967: When western pop discovered Chinese culture

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,…

April 19, 20220Comments ByNury Vittachi

Culture

Bright lights and bars: the birth of Song Dynasty night life

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…

April 14, 20220Comments ByEmily Zhou

Culture Features

Chinese had trendy chai-lattes 1000 years ago, historians find

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.…

April 11, 20220Comments ByEmily Zhou

Culture

Foodpanda-style service existed in China ten centuries ago

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…

April 6, 20220Comments ByEmily Zhou

Culture

Online access to Tang Dynasty art classics

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…

April 4, 20220Comments ByH.C. Lu

Culture Videos

Suhanya Raffel: Hong Kong’s visual art revolution

An Englishman's visit to a Guangdong village brickmaker led to the creation of a piece of art about China's people and the future of the world For years considered a cultural desert, Hong Kong now aims to be a world leader in appreciation of the arts Having overtaken London as an art investment hub, the…

March 28, 20220Comments ByNury Vittachi

Culture

Historians find toothbrush, eleven centuries old

Chinese had pet manicures a thousand years ago: historians

A stodgy state-owned enterprise becomes an innovator

‘We’re still Hong Kongers’ say non-Chinese young people

1967: When western pop discovered Chinese culture

Bright lights and bars: the birth of Song Dynasty night life

Chinese had trendy chai-lattes 1000 years ago, historians find

Foodpanda-style service existed in China ten centuries ago

Online access to Tang Dynasty art classics

Suhanya Raffel: Hong Kong’s visual art revolution

Starmer meets Xi today, hopes to rebuild UK’s relationship

Treasures from 800-year-old sunken vessel exhibited in Hong Kong

At the Great Wall, I learned how the Chinese dealt with their enemies