https://www.scmp.com/rss/16083/feed Tessa Chan is an editor and multimedia journalist, with a focus on exploration and conservation. She has studied photojournalism, feature journalism, and is a qualified drone pilot. Before joining the Post she worked for Leo Burnett Worldwide, Contagious Magazine and Warner Music Spain. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Foreigners are still a novelty in the Xuefeng Mountains. Laden with firewood, the villagers who pass us react with curiosity and amusement at the sight of luyou 驴友, literally “donkey friends,” wandering through this remote part of Hunan Province in central China. Donkey friends, or independent back­packers, may become a more common sight, though, as a new trail that’s marked, defined, and easy to follow is being built along the mountain range. The trail stretches for 60 miles across Hunan, from... https://www.scmp.com/travel/china-hunan-xuefeng-mountains-hiking-trail/article/3036280?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/travel/china-hunan-xuefeng-mountains-hiking-trail/article/3036280?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 04 Nov 2019 12:25:34 +0000 Foreigners are still a novelty in the Xuefeng Mountains. Laden with firewood, the villagers who pass us react with curiosity and amusement at the sight of luyao (“donkey friends”) wandering through this remote part of rural western Hunan province, central China. Donkey friends (independent back­packers) may become a more common sight, though, because China’s first world-class trail – generally accepted to mean one that is safe, well defined and easy to follow, well provisioned and that passes... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3035452/chinas-first-world-class-hiking-trail-mapped-out?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3035452/chinas-first-world-class-hiking-trail-mapped-out?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 31 Oct 2019 06:30:13 +0000 If there’s one good thing about a 13-hour road trip across Mongolia, it’s the endless opportunities for a pit stop: you just swerve off the highway and onto the plains. All this wide open space is particularly helpful if your fellow passengers include 11 boisterous puppies. Also in the car are two members of the Mongolian Bankhar Dog Project team, Soyolbod Sergelen and Batbaatar Tumurbaatar. The non-profit organisation is reintroducing the ancient guardian dog to Mongolia’s steppe to prevent... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3013514/dogs-could-stop-mongolian-grasslands-turning-desert-return?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3013514/dogs-could-stop-mongolian-grasslands-turning-desert-return?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 09 Jun 2019 23:30:04 +0000 In a remote town in southwest China’s Yunnan province, a team of researchers scrambles down slippery rocks into an abandoned Buddhists’ cave with only torchlights leading the way. Tiny leeches and microsnails glisten on the damp, green walls. This cave in the town of Menglun is part of a vast system of limestone caves called karsts, which spans across more than 300,000 square miles in Southeast Asia and China. The karsts are home to an untold number of unidentified animal and plant... https://www.scmp.com/travel/inside-chinas-caves-where-countless-animal-and-plant-species-could-go-extinct-theyre-discovered/article/3007545?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/travel/inside-chinas-caves-where-countless-animal-and-plant-species-could-go-extinct-theyre-discovered/article/3007545?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 24 Apr 2019 13:36:03 +0000 We’re scrambling up slippery rocks inside an abandoned Buddhist tourist cave near Menglun, a town in Yunnan province in southwest China. Head torches illuminate dripping stalactites and damp green walls on which tiny leeches and microsnails glisten and cave crickets lurk. I try to mirror the enthusiasm of the two students accompanying me, who seem to delight in every creepy-crawly that scuttles past. Reaching out to hoist myself up, I sink my hand into something mulchy. It’s bat dung, says... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3002465/inside-chinas-caves-where-thousands-species-are-vulnerable?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3002465/inside-chinas-caves-where-thousands-species-are-vulnerable?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 21 Mar 2019 22:00:15 +0000 Everybody loves giraffes, with their long lashes and gangly features, but they have, until recently, been largely overlooked when it comes to conservation research. Thanks to the efforts of one man who has dedicated himself to their study for the last two decades, however, things are changing. Dr Julian Fennessy, co-founder and executive director of Namibia-based Giraffe Conservation Foundation (GCF) and co-chair of the IUCN SSC Giraffe and Okapi Specialist Group, has pioneered research and... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/2150250/giraffe-expert-raises-fears-animal-faces-extinction-if?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/2150250/giraffe-expert-raises-fears-animal-faces-extinction-if?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 12 Jun 2018 00:32:07 +0000 The tiny, iced-over pier at Longyearbyen, in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, is so slippery when I get out of the taxi that I can barely stand, let alone walk to the gangplank with my two heavy rucksacks. The packing list for a week-long sailing trip in the Arctic is, unsurprisingly, long. A mining outpost at latitude 78 degrees north, halfway between mainland Norway and the North Pole, Longyearbyen is the world’s northernmost town with a permanent population – just over 2,000... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/2146817/arctic-sailing-gets-tourists-close-nature-and-melting?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/2146817/arctic-sailing-gets-tourists-close-nature-and-melting?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 20 May 2018 10:30:17 +0000 Former Cathay Pacific captain Paul McIntosh has been fundraising to support wildlife conservation in Africa since the 1980s. Now he is calling on travellers from Hong Kong and beyond to donate their extra miles to the protection of some of Africa’s most endangered species, at Kenya’s Lewa Wildlife Conservancy. “There are 10 million Asia Miles members,” he says. “And nobody spends all of their miles. You spend some of it on an upgrade and then you’ve got some left over, and these miles get... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/2135471/why-travellers-should-donate-asia-miles-fight-wildlife?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/2135471/why-travellers-should-donate-asia-miles-fight-wildlife?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 04 Mar 2018 23:45:15 +0000 Scientists have reported four new species found during an unprecedented top-to-bottom rainforest study at Penang Hill, Malaysia. The recent two-week “BioBlitz” saw 117 scientists and students from Malaysia and around the world join forces to thoroughly document the area’s flora and fauna, from the treetops to beneath the soil. “We exceeded our expectations,” says expedition leader Dr Meg Lowman, the Lindsay chair of botany at the California Academy of Sciences, which partnered with The Habitat... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/2124782/penang-hills-2018-bid-unesco-status-boosted-findings-worlds?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/2124782/penang-hills-2018-bid-unesco-status-boosted-findings-worlds?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 19 Dec 2017 00:45:30 +0000 In May, Esther Röling and Paul Niel climbed, scrambled and swam their way around Hong Kong Island, on a first of its kind ‘coasteering’ expedition. The Hong Kong-based couple spent a week out on the rocks, braving the elements – including a black rainstorm – day and night to create the city’s first coastal pollution map in partnership with the Open University of Hong Kong, which provided them with a device for measuring water quality along the coastline. “A lot has happened since then,” says... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/2116215/hong-kong-adventurers-launch-assault-trash-pioneering-beach?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/2116215/hong-kong-adventurers-launch-assault-trash-pioneering-beach?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 20 Oct 2017 04:30:30 +0000 I was born in Iran in 1955, and my love of horses and photography is due to my parents. My mother took me horse riding at the age of nine, and my father gave me a box Brownie then, too. It’s a wonderful old film camera, very basic. My father was always taking pictures, so I thought it was a normal thing to do. After studying marketing at univer­sity in Colorado, in the United States, I returned to Iran to join my father’s import and export business. But then the 1979 revolution happened, so we... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/2100542/henry-dallal-how-he-got-meet-queen-and-photograph?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/2100542/henry-dallal-how-he-got-meet-queen-and-photograph?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 29 Jun 2017 10:30:30 +0000 Hong Kong photographer Andy Yeung was just eight years old when demolition of the city’s notorious Kowloon Walled City, began 24 years ago. Drone photos of Hong Kong: Andy Yeung’s unique perspective “When I was a child I lived near Kowloon Walled City,” he says. “Near enough that I could actually watch from my home how it was being torn down. I have childhood memories of how the big iron ball knocked down the buildings.” Yeung’s latest aerial photography series, taken over two months across... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/2098138/watch-birds-eye-view-claustrophobic-hong-kong-living-local?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/2098138/watch-birds-eye-view-claustrophobic-hong-kong-living-local?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 13 Jun 2017 09:15:15 +0000 I’m third-generation African, with Swedish origins. I manage Garamba National Park (in the Democratic Republic of Congo) for South African NGO African Parks. Garamba is one of the oldest parks in Africa, created in 1938. I am 31 and was born and raised in the Central African Republic – one of those lost corners of the world, which only recently got a bit of media attention because there is a civil war going on there. I spent my whole childhood trying to run away from the house, people and school... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/2097441/why-hong-kong-should-say-no-ivory-chopsticks?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/2097441/why-hong-kong-should-say-no-ivory-chopsticks?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 Jun 2017 23:45:57 +0000 Paul Niel and Esther Röling emerged wet, exhausted, but elated when they arrived at Siu Sai Wan, Chai Wan on Sunday evening after a groundbreaking journey around Hong Kong Island. The couple successfully completed a round-the-island expedition in which they combined climbing, swimming and scrambling to get around the city’s coastline. Six days prior, they set out to create Hong Kong’s first ever coastal pollution map in partnership with the city’s Open University, which provided them with a... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/2096011/couple-successfully-circle-hong-kong-island?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/2096011/couple-successfully-circle-hong-kong-island?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 28 May 2017 12:25:13 +0000 Hong Kong adventurers Esther Röling and husband Paul Niel set off yesterday on a mammoth task: to climb and swim around the entire Hong Kong Island coastline and to create the city’s first biodiversity, coastal water quality and pollution map. SCMP will be talking to them throughout this week to track their progress, so watch this space for exclusive updates. Watch: Esther Röling and husband Paul Niel hit the halfway point Couple who’ll walk, climb and swim around Hong Kong Island to create... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/2095467/out-rocks-hong-kong-couple-braves-storm-create-pollution?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/2095467/out-rocks-hong-kong-couple-braves-storm-create-pollution?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 24 May 2017 03:40:12 +0000 Curious lifeguards and fishermen watch as Paul Niel and Esther Röling leap from rock to rock around the cliffs at Chung Hom Kok beach. They are “coasteering”, and on their last reconnaissance mission before embarking on the “Round The Island – Hong Kong” expedition later this month. Their goal? To climb, scramble and swim their way around the entire island, taking water measurements as they go, to create Hong Kong’s first full coastal pollution map. A team from the Open University is lending... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/2093160/couple-wholl-walk-climb-and-swim-around-hong-kong-island?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/2093160/couple-wholl-walk-climb-and-swim-around-hong-kong-island?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 07 May 2017 22:45:15 +0000 Dubbed the 4x4 of the seas, the RIB (rigid inflatable boat) is a vessel special forces and rescue services use when they need to cross large expanses of water quickly. It’s a craft you’d associate more with a James Bond chase than a day trip – but Zoom Ribs founder Nigel Davis hopes to change that. Davies, who grew up on the seas around Britain’s Isles of Scilly, says his adventure tour company is the first to commercially operate an RIB in Hong Kong.     “RIBs offer a completely different... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/2092993/sail-hong-kong-waters-inflatables-2x-faster?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/2092993/sail-hong-kong-waters-inflatables-2x-faster?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 06 May 2017 23:45:15 +0000 Hong Kong Australian Trilby White, 39, has just returned from Tehran, where she ran a first-of-its-kind all-female race. It was her first event since recently overcoming a two-year battle with tuberculosis, which has caused her permanent lung damage and saw her spend nearly a month in strict isolation. Yet today she looks the picture of health – and not only is she back on track with her training, she’s also a busy mother of two and veterinary practice manager at East Island Animal Hospital in... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-beauty/article/2089527/how-hongkonger-trilby-white-overcame-tb-and-took-part-women?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-beauty/article/2089527/how-hongkonger-trilby-white-overcame-tb-and-took-part-women?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 22 Apr 2017 04:45:45 +0000 I’m in Kenya’s Maasai Mara game reserve with Marc Goss, chief executive of the Mara Elephant Project (MEP), when he gets a call from his team saying they’ve found an elephant calf that’s got her trunk caught in a snare. She was spotted the previous night and they’ve been searching for her because the snare – set by bushmeat poachers – has ripped through more than half her trunk. She’s still walking around and it will get infected if it’s not treated soon. Goss, who has worked in the Mara for 10... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/2081512/we-join-mission-save-injured-baby-african-elephant-kenyas?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/2081512/we-join-mission-save-injured-baby-african-elephant-kenyas?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 25 Mar 2017 02:45:27 +0000 “Not everyone can do this job,” says Rianto, deputy head of the anti-poaching team at the Borana Conservancy, a wildlife reserve in Laikipia, central Kenya. “As rangers, we have to be constantly aware, asking ourselves, ‘What would I do if I came face to face with a poacher on this road? Or an elephant, or a rhino?’ Because it happens.” We’re at a lookout with panoramic views over the conser­vancy – lush, fertile grasslands that stretch as far as the eye can see – and Rianto has been showing me... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/2081461/hong-kong-dithers-ivory-trade-ban-wildlife-teams?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/2081461/hong-kong-dithers-ivory-trade-ban-wildlife-teams?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 25 Mar 2017 00:45:15 +0000 TAKING FLIGHT I was born in Colchester, England, and we moved to Hong Kong in 1976, when I was a year old. [Simp­son’s father] secured a job with the Trade Development Council and my mother took a job at the German Swiss School, where she worked for 30 years. I was at the Peak School, and then Island School – where I did five years. I had a friend who was a para­glider pilot and one day I watched him and his dad fly up at High Island Reservoir. The second I saw that thing leave the ground, I... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/2077368/hong-kong-raised-helicopter-pilot-ben-simpson-has-flown?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/2077368/hong-kong-raised-helicopter-pilot-ben-simpson-has-flown?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 09 Mar 2017 05:15:15 +0000 Collected Hong Kong Stories by David T.K. Wong Blacksmith Books 4 stars While most authors build a following in their home country before venturing abroad, Hong Kong’s limited outlets for literary fiction led to local author David T.K. Wong taking his work to the US, Europe and Southeast Asia before publishing them here. Now, however, he brings us 30 years worth of his short stories in one book, a rich and complex portrait of Hong Kong told through the lens of its varied inhabitants, their... https://www.scmp.com/culture/books/article/2071101/book-review-collected-hong-kong-stories-love-shattered-dreams-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/books/article/2071101/book-review-collected-hong-kong-stories-love-shattered-dreams-and?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Feb 2017 23:32:26 +0000 Mission impossible The first time I travelled overseas was for an internship in Kenya, working on a microcredit project in the slums in Nairobi. I was 21. I come from a very ordinary Hong Kong family, my parents didn’t even finish high school. But they’d tried their best to provide everything I needed to enter the University of Hong Kong. At the youth centre I was working with, the mothers would come with their kids and some of them were infected with HIV or had a sister or brother who had died... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/2069458/hong-kong-banker-who-gave-his-career-negotiate?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/2069458/hong-kong-banker-who-gave-his-career-negotiate?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 10 Feb 2017 03:02:37 +0000 One of the most important questions visitors to Hong Kong ask when they get here is, “Where is the best place to eat?” The answer, of course, depends on who you’re asking. We’ve had nearly 200 local foodies, entrepreneurs and influencers share their favourite restaurants and bars with us in the past three and a bit years. In a city of more than 14,000 restaurants serving scores of different cuisines, it’s not surprising that hundreds have earned recommendations. Still, there are some that make... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2065696/top-10-most-recommended-hong-kong-restaurants-visitors-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2065696/top-10-most-recommended-hong-kong-restaurants-visitors-and?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 26 Jan 2017 22:33:07 +0000 HEAR the mighty Metallica perform tracks from their new album Hardwired … to Self-Destruct live when they stop by Hong Kong’s AsiaWorld-Arena tonight as part of their world tour WATCH James McAvoy flit from one role to another as he plays a mental patient with a multiple personality disorder in creepy psycho-thriller Split . NUMB your lips tasting some fiery Sichuan cuisine in a romantic setting at Deng G in Wan Chai. SEE a zombie frog ballet and muse about the deadening effect of politics on... https://www.scmp.com/culture/arts-entertainment/article/2063947/hit-list-five-things-do-hong-kong-week-january-20-26?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/arts-entertainment/article/2063947/hit-list-five-things-do-hong-kong-week-january-20-26?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 20 Jan 2017 08:03:55 +0000 SEE a bird’s eye view of Hong Kong at award-winning photographer Andy Yeung’s ‘From the Sky’ exhibition, featuring drone photos of the city. PONDER the possibility of an alien visit as you watch Amy Adams star in intelligent sci-fi drama Arrival, from the director of Sicario. DRINK in the nostalgia at Lee Lo Mei on Lyndhurst Terrace, a cheekily named new bar that evokes old Hong Kong. HEAR six of Australian composer Brett Dean’s genre-defying works performed at this month’s Hong Kong... https://www.scmp.com/culture/arts-entertainment/article/2061880/hit-list-five-things-do-hong-kong-week-january-13-19?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/arts-entertainment/article/2061880/hit-list-five-things-do-hong-kong-week-january-13-19?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 13 Jan 2017 05:30:15 +0000 LIGHTEN up with a night with prolific Aussie stand-up comedian Dave Hughes, who will get you laughing at life’s little annoyances when he brings his stand-up show to Wan Chai. SPLASH out on some of the mouth-watering dishes at two-Michelin-star chef Bjorn Frantzen’s newly opened Frantzen’s Kitchen in Sheung Wan VISIT one of four historic Hong Kong buildings hosting a series of collaborative art projects that invite the public to ponder the link between past and present. BRING out the tissues and... https://www.scmp.com/culture/arts-entertainment/article/2059907/five-things-do-hong-kong-week-january-6-12-comedy-cinema?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/arts-entertainment/article/2059907/five-things-do-hong-kong-week-january-6-12-comedy-cinema?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 06 Jan 2017 05:31:01 +0000 SMALL TOWN, BIG WORLD VIEW I was born in Tudela, in northern Spain, in 1937. Although it seems paradoxical, I believe that growing up in a small town gave me a more complete perspective of life. A city child has a reduced view of the world, revolving around his home, his school; whereas a village child has more freedom, which allows him to understand the world better. SOLID FOUNDATIONS I was a very restless student at high school. I enjoyed studying philosophy but was more drawn to painting. My... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/2059281/spanish-architect-rafael-moneo-working-his-heroes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/2059281/spanish-architect-rafael-moneo-working-his-heroes?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 06 Jan 2017 05:18:13 +0000 Torn between sharing a list of our favourite stories this year or yours, we decided to share both. Below are some of the top reads produced by our culture and lifestyle team in 2016. There’s food, bare bums, murder and property speculation on both lists, as well as some of those simple stories that remind us of Hong Kong’s true colours. 10 of our favourite SCMP.com lifestyle and culture stories this year Why every Hong Kong MTR station is a different colour – the reason may surprise you When... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/2057660/property-sex-nudity-and-mtr-top-10-stories-you-liked-most-2016-and-our-own?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/2057660/property-sex-nudity-and-mtr-top-10-stories-you-liked-most-2016-and-our-own?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 29 Dec 2016 00:16:37 +0000 RETURN to the Star Wars universe with the first in a series of spin-off films, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story , a tale of sci-fi warfare, rebel spies, assassins and saboteurs. TASTE the freshly shucked oysters, house-made marinated salmon and other value-for-money dishes at A.O.C. a new and tiny French café in Wan Chai. CATCH award-winning musical Wicked, featuring a more challenging choreography and new story elements that Broadway and West End didn’t get. GET on the dance floor at Pacha Macau as... https://www.scmp.com/culture/arts-entertainment/article/2055158/hit-list-five-things-do-hong-kong-and-macau-week-december?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/arts-entertainment/article/2055158/hit-list-five-things-do-hong-kong-and-macau-week-december?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 16 Dec 2016 07:49:26 +0000 WATCH Natalie Portman shine as the widow of assassinated US president JFK in Jackie , just one of the films to catch at Macau’s first international film festival. LAUGH along to British comedian Bill Bailey’s jokes as he draws on his 20 years as a travelling comedian, when he brings his Larks in Transit tour to Hong Kong on December 14. TASTE the dim sum, fresh noodles and Peking duck at Dragon Noodles Academy, served in a tongue-in-cheek Chinatown setting. VISIT British artist Eddie Peake’s... https://www.scmp.com/culture/arts-entertainment/article/2053242/hit-list-five-things-do-hong-kong-and-macau-week-december?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/arts-entertainment/article/2053242/hit-list-five-things-do-hong-kong-and-macau-week-december?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 09 Dec 2016 08:16:41 +0000 As a teenager, Richard Craggs got his kicks leaping across rooftops and scrambling up buildings – long before parkour went mainstream in Hong Kong, where he grew up. Now 42, and based in Shenzhen, he’s taken another leap of faith: this time into one of the toughest food and beverage markets in the world. The Briton moved to China 10 years ago, working in the retail gift industry, so has eaten his fair share of canteen fare. “I’ve visited thousands of factories, many of them out in the sticks... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2052510/how-chinas-jamie-oliver-changing-factory-canteen-food-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2052510/how-chinas-jamie-oliver-changing-factory-canteen-food-and?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 Dec 2016 21:47:03 +0000 EXPERIENCE a sensory overload courtesy of the Chemical Brothers, who headline alongside M.I.A., Sigur Ros and other big acts at Hong Kong’s biggest musical event, Clockenflap. CHEER on the teams behind the 41 home-made flying machines that will attempt to take flight from Hong Kong’s Kai Tak runway at the Red Bull Flugtag this weekend. WATCH Fan Bingbing as a village woman in search for justice, in Feng Xiaogang’s dark satire on China’s petty bureaucracy and obsession with materialism I Am Not... https://www.scmp.com/culture/article/2049172/hit-list-five-things-do-week-hong-kong-november-25-december-1?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/article/2049172/hit-list-five-things-do-week-hong-kong-november-25-december-1?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 25 Nov 2016 04:30:16 +0000 STEP back into the Potter-verse with J.K. Rowling’s somewhat more adult – but equally magical – Harry Potter prequel, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them . SAMPLE some of the 500 craft brews on offer at this weekend’s Beertopia festival, and watch local breweries compete in the first Hong Kong Beer Championships CHECK out Mamasita’s Cantina, a colourful Cuban cantina serving tasty Mexican street food and an impressive range of rums, tequilas and mescals. LEARN about the vanishing art of... https://www.scmp.com/culture/arts-entertainment/article/2047263/hit-list-five-things-do-hong-kong-week-november-18-24?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/arts-entertainment/article/2047263/hit-list-five-things-do-hong-kong-week-november-18-24?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 18 Nov 2016 08:00:15 +0000 See our multimedia presentation at scmp.com/genghis for an interactive journey to find Genghis Khan’s tomb. “I could tell you where Genghis Khan is buried,” says Alan Nichols, the first time we speak. “But then I’d have to shoot you.” We laugh, but I am not sure the American explorer isn’t serious: after all, it’s a mystery that’s endured for nearly 800 years. There have been many attempts to find Genghis’ tomb by grave robbers, adventurers and archaeologists. Most have been centred on Burkhan... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/article/2046934/search-genghis-khans-tomb?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/article/2046934/search-genghis-khans-tomb?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 18 Nov 2016 03:30:00 +0000 CATCH Bosnian-German DJ and producer Solomun, known for his warm, euphoric deep house and eclectic remixes, when he plays a set at Dragon-i on November 16. ENJOY Japanese anime at its best, with Makoto Shinkai’s visually stunning time travel romance Your Name, the seventh-highest grossing film ever released in Japan. HEAD to Oris Private Club in SoHo, for generous servings of classic cocktails (plus some with a twist) at value prices in a no-fuss setting. SEE Thai artist Sutee... https://www.scmp.com/culture/arts-entertainment/article/2045106/hit-list-five-things-do-hong-kong-week?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/arts-entertainment/article/2045106/hit-list-five-things-do-hong-kong-week?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 11 Nov 2016 08:00:15 +0000 DANCE to the sounds of drum ’n’ bass pioneer Goldie, back in town for a set at the W Hotel, on November 4. CHECK out American street artist Shepard Fairey’s solo exhibition “Visual Disobedience”, featuring 300 of his prints, at the Hong Kong Contemporary Art Foundation, and keep an eye out for his three murals across the city. EXPLORE Hong Kong island’s wilder side with our guide to five hikes you can take on, all in one day. FIND out why our food editor has nothing but glowing praise for... https://www.scmp.com/culture/arts-entertainment/article/2042991/hit-list-five-things-do-hong-kong-week-november-4-10?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/arts-entertainment/article/2042991/hit-list-five-things-do-hong-kong-week-november-4-10?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 04 Nov 2016 05:30:45 +0000 When they found Dolgoon, the 18-month-old girl had been left alone, her hand tied to a mattress, in a small home in one of the poorest suburbs of the Mongolian capital, Ulan Bator. It was mid-October, minus 6 degrees Celsius outside, and she was cold, thirsty and hungry. Her mother, a single parent of four who struggles with alcoholism, had left her in the care of her older brother, six, who’d gone to a friend’s house to escape the cold. “We went to search for her brothers and we found them in... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/2042995/hong-kong-photo-auction-help-mongolias-suffering-tent?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/2042995/hong-kong-photo-auction-help-mongolias-suffering-tent?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 04 Nov 2016 05:15:15 +0000 WATCH Benedict Cumberbatch shine as Marvel’s latest superhero in the psychedelic, visually engrossing Doctor Strange – featuring a showdown in Hong Kong. GET your face paint on and head to one of the city’s many Halloween parties this year, including Japanese hip hop at Dead not Alive, and Volar’s terrifying mash-up of Trump America and Chinese Zombies. SAMPLE food and drink from 400 booths at this weekend’s Hong Kong Wine & Dine Festival, including offerings from the chef behind Asia’s best... https://www.scmp.com/culture/arts-entertainment/article/2040941/five-things-do-hong-kong-week-october-28-november-3?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/arts-entertainment/article/2040941/five-things-do-hong-kong-week-october-28-november-3?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 28 Oct 2016 05:29:05 +0000 SEE innovative Hong Kong new-media artist and composer GayBird team up with indie filmmaker Tsai Ming-liang for One Zero, part of Hong Kong’s New Vision Art Festival. TASTE some innovative Japanese-Brazilian fusion cuisine surrounded by the works of Takashi Murakami and Brazilian street artists at the newly opened Djapa in Wan Chai. JOIN in the action at Secret Theatre, an immersive theatrical production at an undisclosed location, where the play, the actors and your role remain a mystery... https://www.scmp.com/culture/music/article/2038986/hit-list-five-things-do-week-hong-kong-now-typhoon-past?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/music/article/2038986/hit-list-five-things-do-week-hong-kong-now-typhoon-past?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 21 Oct 2016 06:45:00 +0000 COMB your quiff and pull on your leather jacket for Hong Kong’s only rockabilly music festival, featuring Los Rizlaz, The Pringles, The Boogie Playboys and DJ Dave Ross WATCH Oliver Stone’s take on the story of Edward Snowden, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt as the man who revealed how the Western security agencies are spying on their own citizens, in Snowden. SCRAMBLE along Hong Kong’s shoreline with our complete guide to coasteering, an adventurous way to see another side of the city. HEAR... https://www.scmp.com/culture/article/2026034/hit-list-five-things-do-hong-kong-october-7-13?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/article/2026034/hit-list-five-things-do-hong-kong-october-7-13?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 07 Oct 2016 08:03:20 +0000 PARTY to the sounds of Jamaican ska pioneers The Skatalites who are bringing their lively set to Hong Kong on October 4. SEE the heavyweight works of British-Indian sculptor Anish Kapoor, known for the his monumental and sometimes controversial creations, at the Gagosian Gallery until November 5. WATCH Jesse Eisenberg fall for Kristen Stewart in Woody Allen’s witty Hollywood romance, Café Society. TASTE an all-natural Italian gelato from Grom, by Federico Grom and Guido Martinelli – who took... https://www.scmp.com/culture/arts-entertainment/article/2024045/hit-list-five-things-do-hong-kong-week-30-september-6?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/arts-entertainment/article/2024045/hit-list-five-things-do-hong-kong-week-30-september-6?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 30 Sep 2016 09:31:21 +0000 Steve McCurry is not the easiest man to interview. The New-York based photographer best known for his cover shot of an Afghan refugee girl for National Geographic tends to speak in half-phrases and float from one subject to another. He’s friendly enough when we first meet, but soon becomes prickly when the conversation touches on topics that he’d rather avoid. Who can blame him? McCurry’s work depicting conflicts, ancient cultures and traditions has won him numerous awards, including an... https://www.scmp.com/culture/arts-entertainment/article/2021599/photographer-steve-mccurry-capturing-humanity-single?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/arts-entertainment/article/2021599/photographer-steve-mccurry-capturing-humanity-single?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 26 Sep 2016 04:30:15 +0000 For nearly 800 years, archaeologists, treasure hunters, scientists, and explorers have been searching for the tomb of 13th century Mongolian emperor Genghis Khan. Many have dedicated their lives to the search, and yet no one has found him. The problem is, according to 86-year-old American explorer, author and lawyer Alan Nichols, they’re all looking in the wrong place. Explorers Club’s Michael Barth on how Hong Kong can lead new golden age of exploration A former president of the New York-based... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/2020903/why-everyones-looking-wrong-place-genghis-khans-tomb?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/2020903/why-everyones-looking-wrong-place-genghis-khans-tomb?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 20 Sep 2016 21:32:53 +0000 I was born and brought up in Widnes, England. It was a poor, working class, Catholic family. I was the youngest of five children and we all slept and basically lived in one little room. I spent a lot of time in the local parks, in the train station ... I lived a lot in my own imagination. I was fascinated with the Catholic Church. I became an altar boy, so I was around for some of the great rituals of life – baptisms, weddings, funerals – very early on. After the ceremonies, I could still smell... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/arts-music/article/2019362/michael-kenna-altar-boy-photographer?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/arts-music/article/2019362/michael-kenna-altar-boy-photographer?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 15 Sep 2016 05:30:45 +0000 The word “hacker” usually conjures images of a youth in a hoodie, plotting a cyber attack from his basement. Hong Kong-based genetic biologist Gert Grobler doesn’t fit that description – he’s a hacker of a very different sort. Grobler, who hails from South Africa, is the founder of DIYbio, a grass-roots initiative set up in March to build a community laboratory in Hong Kong where citizen scientists can come together to conduct biological experiments. These do-it-yourself scientists have set the... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/2017906/biohackers-diy-biologists-out-barcode-all-hong-kongs-plants-insects-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/2017906/biohackers-diy-biologists-out-barcode-all-hong-kongs-plants-insects-and?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 10 Sep 2016 23:00:42 +0000 ENJOY a dose of absurd humour as Jeeves and Wooster bring London West End hit comedy Perfect Nonsense to Hong Kong. RELAX at Thaiwan – an unpretentious, family-owned bar on Ship Street serving Hong Kong craft beers, Thai and Taiwanese themed drinks and tapas, at decent prices. SEE how an unlikely bond forms between a homeless youth and a lonely landlady in bittersweet dramedy Happiness , hailed as one of Hong Kong’s best films this year. PARTY Miami-style to the hip hop and EDM hits of rapper... https://www.scmp.com/culture/article/2017959/hit-list-five-things-do-week-hong-kong-and-macau?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/article/2017959/hit-list-five-things-do-week-hong-kong-and-macau?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 09 Sep 2016 05:29:11 +0000 LAUGH (then feel guilty for doing so) at the antics of Miles Teller and Jonah Hill, who play young international arms dealers in Todd Phillips’ latest comedy, War Dogs . CHECK out British graffiti artist Pure Evil’s tribute to Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and Chow Yun-fat, at his first solo exhibition in Hong Kong, at Above Second Gallery in Sai Ying Pun. TASTE one of the refreshing hotpots at Hainan Season, where heavy, oily broths are replaced with light young coconut broth, and served with handmade... https://www.scmp.com/culture/music/article/2012980/hit-list-five-things-do-hong-kong-week-september-2-8?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/music/article/2012980/hit-list-five-things-do-hong-kong-week-september-2-8?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 02 Sep 2016 07:15:30 +0000 One piece of advice if you’re planning a trip to Mongolia: never ask a local, “When will we arrive?” Not only is it bad luck, it’s also considered extremely rude. When our guide, Australian adven­turer, filmmaker and author Tim Cope, tells us this, I presume it’s a romantic reference to nomadic life being all about “the journey”. A few car breakdowns later, I realise it’s to be taken literally: in this vast, unpredictable country, it’s pointless trying to predict how long it’ll take you to get... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/2012227/mongolias-nomads-masters-their-destiny-changing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/2012227/mongolias-nomads-masters-their-destiny-changing?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 02 Sep 2016 04:00:45 +0000 WATCH out for the gory, inventive zombies thriller that’s breaking box office records in South Korea, Train To Busan. PARTY for the last time at Hong Kong’s longest-running nightclub Club ’97, and celebrate the end of an era at their farewell bash on August 27, featuring former resident DJ Teng Boon. SIP on some local artisanal ale and sample the East-meets-West snacks at the newly opened Second Draft in Tai Hang, a collaboration between Young Master Ales and Little Bao’s May Chow. SEE Hong Kong... https://www.scmp.com/culture/arts-entertainment/article/2009368/hit-list-five-things-do-week-hong-kong-august-26?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/arts-entertainment/article/2009368/hit-list-five-things-do-week-hong-kong-august-26?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 26 Aug 2016 05:30:24 +0000