Port on old maritime Silk Road was famed for its exports of Chinese tea, silk and ceramics – and reminders of that time still exist. China’s third city, less than an hour from Hong Kong by high-speed train, is more convenient than ever to visit.

Asians are more tolerant of discomfort, Westerners are prone to drunken brawls, and no one behaves quite like unruly Chinese passengers – they misunderstand the guest-servant relationship, according to a Hong Kong academic.

A single cruise liner berthed at a passenger terminal emits as much sulphur dioxide as 25,000 diesel buses. As the waters of the Greater Bay Area get ever busier, is enough being done to clean the emissions of ocean-going vessels?

Tilapia is the world’s second most farmed fish, mainly due to its resistance to disease, but stocks are threatened by a lethal virus. Most production is in Asia, where social and economic catastrophe would occur if the species is wiped out.

A local NGO wants to help people discover the history, architecture, festivals, crafts and traditions of Hong Kong’s islands, with a map guiding locals and tourists alike to some 100 cultural treasures.

Supported financially by wealthy Western men in exchange for long-term sexual relationships, the women, mostly from the Tanka ethnic minority, were integral to the city’s evolution.

The Hinrich Trade Negotiation Simulation offers students a rare insight into the reality behind the scenes of trade talks, with experts leading students from seven Hong Kong universities last month through what it takes to be successful.

Most of the Chinese capital’s historic lanes have been razed, but increasingly the social and heritage value of those that remain is being recognised; From hip to authentic, we visit five of the best hutongs to take in on your next visit.

The 1894 plague outbreak sowed the seeds of representative democracy in Hong Kong, triggered improvements in sanitation and urban planning, and helped heal social divisions, as Contagious Cities show at Tai Kwun recalls.

Christine Lew and Florian Wegenast have created a striking range of desirable items out of trash collected from Hong Kong’s seas and beaches.

Corals that can survive Hong Kong’s ‘apocalyptic environment’ offer insight into how to better protect reefs elsewhere.

Official Yuan Geng reported to State Council on special industrial zone idea before Deng Xiaoping got backing for reform, exhibition shows; Yuan launched reforms in Shekou a year before Deng okayed Shenzhen special economic zone.

An exhibition at the Hong Kong Maritime Museum explores the first century of trade between the US and China, and illustrates how the problem of trade deficits is nothing new.

Travelling economy class on one of Asia’s cheap short-haul carriers can be a stressful experience for even the most hardened travellers. Here are our top tips for staying sane and safe on your next trip.

When the wreck of the Dmitrii Donskoi was supposedly discovered by a South Korean company, investors jumped aboard to get a share of US$133 billion of gold. The only problem? It has never materialised.

The drummer of influential British punk bands says he’s still rocking in his 60s because, ‘What the hell else am I going to do?’

Student advocacy group members say sexual minorities deal with stigma on a daily basis. They blame inadequate sex education, religion and traditional Chinese culture for the way they are treated.

One of 14 children from a poor family, Carina Dayondon was not on course to be a world-class climber, but is preparing to become the first female from the Philippines to scale the highest peaks on each continent.

Private museum’s touch-and-sniff show of Ming and Qing dynasty furniture and artefacts is intended to demystify what otherwise would be ‘just old wood’; as a recent accident shows, it’s a policy that’s not without risk.

Ancestral halls, temples, heritage inns, an international jazz festival, vegetarian food – Beishan Art District shows another side to Pearl River Delta city; just 6km from delta bridge, its narrow alleys and tree-shaded squares are inviting.

Recent revelations in the UK about two Russian suspects in the attempted assassination of a former KGB agent and his daughter serve as a reminder of Hong Kong’s own history of combating KGB spies.

Five ideas for making the best use of new high-speed rail link to Guangzhou and bridge to Zhuhai to visit heritage sites in Guangdong quicker than ever before.

Hong Kong is beset by vested interests, prosecutes Uber drivers, considers Airbnb a threat and rejects renewable energy, say critics. Experts suggest ways the city can contribute to the 11-city Greater Bay Area project.

Sarah Driver remembers her stepfather, the lawyer, politician and social reformer Brook Bernacchi, and roaming free in the wilds of his Lantau tea plantation

John Fleming left the British navy to be a Hong Kong prison officer, and recalls his nerves at his first execution. He enjoyed some bit-part film roles, and, now 85 and single father to a rebellious teenager, says he won’t marry again.

Seven sailors died when a Chinese gunboat attacked a Royal Navy launch in 1953. A naval inquiry blamed the deaths on the commanding officer, who had a gung ho reputation, but the sole living survivor says he was made a scapegoat.

When 28 cases of the mosquito-born virus were confirmed, it was scaremongering statements and the rumour mill that provoked panic, not the disease itself.

Hong Kong has been slower than some Chinese ports to trumpet its role in the history of East-West maritime trade, but a new exhibition at Hong Kong’s Maritime Museum shows the importance of places such as Tuen Mun and High Island to ancient mariners and is a timely reminder of the broader benefits to society of trade.

Powered by online booking sites, hospitality entrepreneurs in China are pioneering a new range of budgets inns and small hotels that offer links to the local community and culture that are often missing at large, corporate chains.

From the 1966 riots to the 2014 ‘umbrella movement’, Hongkongers have hit the streets to air their grievances. But after authorities recently handed down harsh prison sentences and banned some protesters from politics, it seems the city no longer has the heart to demonstrate