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Ningbo-style marinated virgin crab is served at Zao Feng Lou in Cixi, Ningbo. The region’s unique cuisine, blending umami, salty and stinky flavours with innovative techniques, showcases its rich culinary heritage. Photo: Hei-kiu Au

Lifestyle

China’s Ningbo cuisine; Hong Kong goes Back to the Past: 7 Lifestyle highlights

From the rise of Korean-style cafes in Hong Kong to dementia’s link to ‘brain drains’, here are seven stories from SCMP’s recent reporting.

Japan woman mocked for ‘ugly’ looks, resists cosmetic surgery, uses make-up

China midwife accidentally severs baby’s finger, results in reattachment surgery

Trending in China

China factory error gives toy horses’ mouths pouty curves, wins hearts, boosts sales

Sewing mistake spawns unlikely retail hit seen as fitting mascot for approaching Lunar New Year of the Horse.

A production error at a Chinese factory led to soft toy horses with pouting mouths, dubbed the “crying face” horse, winning hearts online and boosting sales to tens of thousands daily. Photo: SCMP composite/Shutterstock/RedNote
A production error at a Chinese factory led to soft toy horses with pouting mouths, dubbed the “crying face” horse, winning hearts online and boosting sales to tens of thousands daily. Photo: SCMP composite/Shutterstock/RedNote

Trending in China

China entrepreneur promises football players a car each, retracts offer after big win

Team members express private discontent after withdrawal of vehicle pledge; soccer association say they ‘understand’ businesswoman’s position.

Trending in China

China teen makes bogus returns on cosmetics platform, profiting US$570,000 from resale

17-year-old makes 11,900 deceptive refund applications after discovering loophole; splurges ill-gotten gains on new mobile phones, friends.

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Trending in China

China ‘dead or alive’ app allows solo users check in daily, alerts contacts if they miss it

‘Entertaining’ phone app that flirts with taboo notion of death and cost US$140 to develop now valued at US$1.4 million.

videocam
A viral Chinese app called “Dead or Not” helps people who live alone check in daily to confirm that they are alive. Photo: SCMP composite/Shutterstock/Sohu
A viral Chinese app called “Dead or Not” helps people who live alone check in daily to confirm that they are alive. Photo: SCMP composite/Shutterstock/Sohu

Trending in China

China girl, 12, pens essay to thank ‘second dad’, offers him US$140 after job loss

Youngster says she was left ‘shivering in the wind’ after death of father; love from uncle saved her from the darkness.

Trending in China

China woman buys US$28 ‘love insurance’, claims US$1,400 after marriage a decade later

Husband says he thought his wife had been scammed when told about policy; couple opt for cash payout over 10,000 roses.

China Personalities

Profile | Zhou Qunfei: ex-security guard becomes world’s richest self-made woman entrepreneur

Woman who began life in destitution goes from factory floor to US$16 billion fortune; says success comes from ‘refusal to accept defeat’.

Zhou Qunfei, the daughter of a poor village family in China with only a college diploma, began her career as a factory security guard and is now one of the country’s richest entrepreneurs. Photo: SCMP composite/guancha.cn/Lens Technology

Trending in China

China nurse suspended after posting photos of boyfriend writing reports, sorting IV bags

Woman’s films partner ‘preparing drugs’ for patients to show how ‘considerate’ he is; ‘there is something wrong with her brain’, say officials.

A Chinese nurse has been suspended after she shared images of her boyfriend helping her during a night shift. Photo: SCMP composite/Shutterstock/Douyin
A Chinese nurse has been suspended after she shared images of her boyfriend helping her during a night shift. Photo: SCMP composite/Shutterstock/Douyin

People & Culture

Filipino woman worships green statue for 4 years, finds out it is animated character Shrek

Woman treats green ogre figure with great reverence; says she will continue to worship ‘kind-hearted’ cartoon statue.

Trending in China

China wife shocked that ‘People’s Armed Police officer’ husband is convicted killer

‘Disgusted’ wife of fraudster introduced to her by an uncle discovers that he is serving a suspended death sentence; has child with another woman.

People & Culture

Explainer | How ancient Chinese ‘borrowing longevity’ custom helps to extend lifespan

In ancient China, people believed that fate predetermined lifespan, yet they also thought life expectancy could be borrowed or exchanged.

Urban legends warn that picking up a red envelope from the street can unknowingly entangle strangers in life extension rituals, incurring karmic debt. Photo: Shutterstock

People & Culture

Explainer | China ‘hair-shaving’ ritual for newborns uses stones, coins, eggs, symbolises success

Ancient custom sometimes saw babies’ eyebrows completely shaved by a highly skilled barber; tradition believed to remove ‘misfortune, evil’.

A traditional Chinese “hair-shaving” custom for newborns involves placing 12 stones, 12 coins, and 12 red eggs in water, symbolising intelligence and future success. Photo: Shutterstock
A traditional Chinese “hair-shaving” custom for newborns involves placing 12 stones, 12 coins, and 12 red eggs in water, symbolising intelligence and future success. Photo: Shutterstock

Business

Changing tastes: China’s new affluent consumers seek quality not extravagance

Rise of upper middle class reshapes China’s retail market, driving demand for quality goods and creating a battleground for global brands.

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Trending in China

China woman, 23, exercises 6 times a week, stops menstruating due to rapid weight loss

Intense workouts see woman’s female hormone levels slump to that of a 50-year-old; doctors warn her to slow down, try yoga instead.

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People & Culture

Indonesian wife, 24, surprised husband, 62, was groom at event she attended at 9

After a young Indonesian woman married a much older man who had wed twice before, she realised they had met at one of his other nuptials when she was a child.

A 19-year-old Indonesian woman finds out after marrying a man aged 57, that she attended a previous wedding of his when she was just nine years old. Photo: SCMP composite/QQ.com
A 19-year-old Indonesian woman finds out after marrying a man aged 57, that she attended a previous wedding of his when she was just nine years old. Photo: SCMP composite/QQ.com

China Personalities

Profile | Mystery Chinese woman steals show at 2024 Cannes Film Festival, but who is she?

A mystery woman from China, who stole the show on the red carpet at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, has been revealed to be a rich online influencer and wife of a famous mainland musician.

Trending in China

Singaporean influencer becomes grandmother at 34, jokes that she ‘inspired’ son

A popular online influencer in Singapore who has become a grandmother at the age of 34 has pledged to support and guide her 17-year-old son.

Trending in China

Man has child by surrogate without telling family as he wants to be grandfather

A 50-something woman in China was shocked to find a baby in her home when she got in from work one day, and that the child belonged to her husband who had hired a surrogacy agency without telling her.

A man had secretly hired a surrogacy agency to get a baby girl after his only daughter told him she did not want to have children. Photo: SCMP composite/Shutterstock
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HIGHLIGHTS FROM
Pete Sabine, aka DJ Fabsabs (right), and Joshua Wolper DJ a Cantomania set at the after party for the Black Eyed Peas’ gig at the AXA x Wonderland, in Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Cultural District, on November 19 last year. Photo: Alan Yiu Photography

Where Hong Kong’s teens and an 88-year-old share the dance floor

As Leslie Cheung and Faye Wong echo through the nightclub, a love letter to Cantopop gives the city a space for joy and belonging.

Reading Time:6 minutes
Shanghainese tailor George Kay at his shop, Baron Kay’s Tailor, in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong, in 1987. Photo: SCMP Archives

How Hong Kong’s tailoring industry has evolved through the ages

Reading Time:3 minutes
Ng Sze Kiat, founder of Bewilder, a Singapore-based design studio that works with fungi. Photo: courtesy Bewilder

Mushroom magic: is mycelium set to be the next ‘it’ material in homeware?

Reading Time:5 minutes
Aric Chen, director of the London-based Zaha Hadid Foundation, is co-curator of the Design Futures Forum, one of the highlights of Singapore Design Week. He’s pictured here in Milan, in 2021. Photo: Getty Images

Q&A | Aric Chen asks: will design-led solutions create more problems?

Reading Time:2 minutes
Saicho is just one of many labels offering non-alcoholic beverage options today. Photo: courtesy Saicho

5 premium sparkling teas in Hong Kong to try during Dry January

Reading Time:2 minutes
David Michael Webb (born 29 August 1965) is an activist investor, transparency advocate and public data archivist/analyst. Long based in Hong Kong, he was formerly an investment banker. He maintains a large, open set of highly synthesised public data records, at Webb-site.com, photographed in Mid Levels Hong Kong, 29May25 SCMP / Jocelyn Tam

He held Hong Kong’s elites to account. Now he’s running out of time

Reading Time:5 minutes
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MULTIMEDIA
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Stalking, illegal tracking, assault: is China’s fan culture off the rails?

When obsession tips over into stalking a number of studies have found that the stalked celebrity often represented an idealised version of the stalker. Photo: CGTN
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His son’s rare disease turned this Chinese father into a home-grown drug-maker

Despite having only a high-school education, a father in Kunming taught himself how to produce drugs for his son who suffers from Menkes disease. Photo: Weibo
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