ARCHAEOLOGISTS FOUND wooden business cards 18 centuries old, it was revealed this week. Searching in ruins and abandoned wells in Chenzhou, Hunan province, they located nearly 10,000 thin wooden strips.
These would have been ordinary throwaway documents at the time they were written—but today provide a priceless window into how people lived 1,800 years ago,…

Culture
WANT TO LEARN the history of western art in a single afternoon? The Hong Kong Palace Museum is showcasing the UK National Gallery's prestigious painting collection - with 52 of the world’s finest masterpieces painted by fifty influential artists over a 400-year period.
All the big names are there, including Botticelli, Raphael, Titian, Caravaggio, Rembrandt,…
Chinese filmmakers have created a dramatic animated movie in the Disney-Pixar style, with 3D characters in thrilling adventures. Yet at the same, "30,000 Miles From Chang'an" is also very different. It celebrates Chinese history, telling the story of China's most famous poet, and it is unapologetically educational: it has 48 classic Chinese poems scattered throughout…
THE ORIGINAL SILK ROAD quietly crept into existence over many years, but ended up transforming much of the world.
China’s new Silk Road is already doing the same.
A total of 151 countries were represented at the Belt and Road Initiative gathering last week—and 215 new BRI projects were announced for the coming months.…
THE UNEARTHING OF STRANGE and sometimes grotesque bronze artefacts at the Sanxingdui (三星堆) site in Sichuan has been regarded as one of the most astounding archaeological discoveries in China, shedding light on the mysterious ancient Shu civilization that flourished about several thousands of years ago.
A golden mask unearthed in Sanxingdui is displayed in the…
MADAM SOONG CHING LING, the wife of modern China’s founder Dr Sun Yat Sen, was a woman of charisma who served the underprivileged women and children of the country.
Her life spanned many momentous events in modern China’s development. As the daughter of a missionary Charlie Soong, Madam Soong was in the first batch of…
FEEL LIKE ASIAN FOOD for dinner tonight? Chances are that one Hong Kong family will play a key role in flavoring your meal—and that’s true, whether you live in the US, Asia, Australia, or anywhere else.
A Hong Kong firm has quietly become the global king of sauces—and made the family behind it remarkably wealthy.…
AN ANCIENT ASIAN remedy is becoming popular worldwide – just do a web search on “Psyllium Husks” to see how much it is being talked about. In medical dispensaries around the world, it can be found formed into a pill called Metamucil, but more than 200 new psyllium husk products have been launched in the…
AN EXHIBITION OF ARTIFACTS from the life of Madam Soong Ching-ling (宋慶齡), the wife of Dr Sun Yat-sen (孫中山), open in Hong Kong next week, with items put on display in the city for the first time.
A qipao (Chinese dress) she wore, historical photos with leaders, news clippings and other items will be on…
ONE OF THE MOST charming things about historical Chinese officials is their reverence for poetry, and the incorporation of that fact into hiring practices. A love of literature was not seen as a dilletante interest, but a necessary qualification for high rank in the Chinese government.
And perhaps the most extreme example is the famous…
