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SCMP

We have selected seven Lifestyle stories from the past seven days that resonated with our readers. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing.
1. Which zodiac signs must appease the tai sui in the Year of the Horse 2026?
Anyone familiar with their Chinese zodiac sign is likely to have encountered the term tai sui and discovered that their animal sometimes conflicts with this guardian deity.
2. 3 days of Lunar New Year traditions, from red envelopes to the Kitchen God
Many of these practices can be traced back more than 2,000 years, when rituals were performed for bountiful harvests and to ward off misfortune. Having evolved over the millennia, these traditions and customs vary slightly between north and south China.
3. This Singapore-based executive lost 21kg in 9 months and cured his knee pain

Ben Payet’s story is not an unfamiliar one: a high-achieving professional whose health quietly slipped down his list of priorities. The finance executive moved with his wife from London to Singapore three years ago to be closer to her family. They were building a life in a new city, but Payet was carrying excess weight.
4. When should you open your Lunar New Year red packets? The luckiest time, and why

The 15th day of the first lunar month falls on March 3 this year. In Chinese culture, not only is the day known as the Lantern Festival, it is also the last day to give out red packets. Then on and after the 16th day, you can finally count the money you collected over the Lunar New Year.
5. Why these 2 films from Hong Kong director Allen Fong are New Wave masterpieces
Hong Kong New Wave director Allen Fong Yuk-ping transitioned from television to filmmaking later than his contemporaries, but his neo-realist social dramas did prove immediately successful.
6. How Hong Kong actress Athena Chu escaped the sex symbol trap after early fame

For many of her admirers, the defining image of Athena Chu Yan remains a single, fleeting moment from 1995. As the Zixia Fairy in the two-part film A Chinese Odyssey, she gazes at the Monkey King (Stephen Chow Sing-chi) and delivers a wink – playful, radiant and hopeful. That split second transformed Chu into not just an icon of Hong Kong cinema but also one of its most popular “sexy goddesses”.
7. The origins of Hong Kong-style borscht, and where to find the real thing

The hearty take on borscht found in Hong Kong has become such a classic in cha chaan tengs, as well as in “soy sauce Western” restaurants – serving Hong Kong-style Western dishes – that it has been given a very Chinese name: law sung tong. Law and sung come from the Shanghainese word for Russia, while tong translates to soup.


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SCMP Highlights

Appeasing the tai sui, Lunar New Year customs, Hong Kong borscht: 7 Lifestyle highlights

A bowl of borscht soup at Borsch Spot in Fo Tan, Hong Kong. The restaurant offers traditional borscht quite unlike that commonly found in Hong Kong’s cha chaan tengs. Photo: Borsch Spot

Worshippers visit the Wong Tai Sin Temple in Hong Kong on Monday to pray for good luck in the Year of the Fire Horse. Photo: Sam Tsang

Ben Payet at his heaviest weight of 93kg in October 2024 (left) and at his current weight of 72kg, which he first achieved in July 2025. Photo: UP Singapore

Giving red packets (also called lai see or hong bao) is a Lunar New Year tradition, but when should you open them? Photo: Getty Images

Actress Athena Chu Yan attends the 23rd Hong Kong Film Awards Presentation ceremony in Tsim Sha Tsui in 2004. While Chu’s iconic role in A Chinese Odyssey defined her early career, she has transcended the “sexy goddess” label with a variety of gritty, diverse roles. Photo: K.Y. Cheng

70-year-old Chow Yun-fat’s endurance, feng shui advice: 7 Lifestyle highlights

How can those born in the Year of the Sheep use feng shui to improve their luck in love, money and health this coming year? Photo: Shutterstock

Actor Chow Yun-fat (middle) runs in the 10km event at the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon 2026. The 70-year-old is part of a growing number of older people competing in endurance races. Photo: Eugene Lee

Where does Hong Kong turn to when digital romance fails? More of the city’s bachelors and bachelorettes are trading algorithms for professional human matchmakers. Illustration: Henry Wong

Audience members get an up-close view of the UK’s Paraorchestra performing The Nature of Why at a previous concert. The orchestra will bring the immersive show to Hong Kong’s Kwai Tsing Theatre in late February 2026. Photo: No Limits/Dom Moore

Indian mother’s health journey, Hong Kong icon’s path to stardom: 7 Lifestyle highlights

At her heaviest, Kiran Dembla weighed 76kg. She drastically cut her weight in seven months, before becoming a competitive body builder, DJ and mountaineer, proving it is never too late to chase dreams. Photos: Kiran Dembla

Cantopop singer Hins Cheung performs during half-time at the Legends Assemble match between Real Madrid Legends and Barcelona Heroes at Hong Kong Stadium on December 20, 2024. Photo: Getty Images

One of the things that Dana Nakagawa talks about in her YouTube videos is her interpretation of the Japanese concept of ikigai. Photo: Dana Nakagawa

According to Chinese geomancy, those born in the Year of the Horse will conflict with the tai sui in the coming year, bringing potentially bad luck. Photo: VCG via Getty Images

People play Pokemon Go in Hong Kong on July 25, 2016, the day it was released in the city. The online game was one of the hottest trends in the city 10 years ago. Photo: Nora Tam

Japan’s love for Chinese noodles; AI’s Year of the Horse forecasts: 7 Lifestyle highlights

Tantanmen noodles at Szechuan Tantanmen Aun in Tokyo. The noodle dish, which has its roots in China’s Sichuan province, is found on many menus in Japan, but how did it become so popular in a country known for food with light flavours? Photo: Phoebe Amoroso

How’s your luck in the Year of the Snake’s 12th month? Feng shui master Andrew Kwan gives his predictions for all 12 Chinese zodiac animal signs. Photo: Shutterstock

Alexander Fu Sheng in a still from Chinatown Kid (1977), one of the films that saw the Hong Kong martial arts star take on projects outside his usual Shaolin kung fu genre. 

A box of Conspiracy Chocolate’s latest Lunar New Year collection showcases “mahjong tiles” displayed in a winning “13 Orphans” hand. The chocolate set has sparked a cultural appropriation debate over its unlucky symbolism. Photo: Conspiracy Chocolate

Lifestyle

Culture

From an executive’s weight loss journey to the luckiest time to open lai see, here are seven stories from SCMP’s recent reporting


From an executive’s weight loss journey to the luckiest time to open lai see, here are seven stories from SCMP’s recent reporting.


Singapore

Hong Kong

Stephen Chow Sing-chi

Appeasing the tai sui, Lunar New Year customs, Hong Kong borscht: 7 Lifestyle highlights

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}From an executive’s weight loss journey to the luckiest time to open lai see, here are seven stories from SCMP’s recent reporting

1. Which zodiac signs must appease the tai sui in the Year of the Horse 2026?

From an executive’s weight loss journey to the luckiest time to open lai see, here are seven stories from SCMP’s recent reporting