https://www.scmp.com/rss/16454/feed A newspaper journalist for many years, Sian Powell has lived and worked in Australia, Indonesia, Thailand and Hong Kong, covering everything from presidential elections to polio outbreaks. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Three sleek, gleaming second-hand watches lay on a simple tray for customers to look at, their value astronomical – and increasing by the day. These luxury, artisanal pieces – collectively worth just over US$1 million – are elegant symbols of a world awash with Covid-19 recovery cash, with prices for prestige real estate, cars, jewels, art and watches soaring into the stratosphere. The three watches – a Patek Phillipe, an A Lange & Söhne and an F.P. Journe – are on display in the sleek Hong Kong... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3159014/why-pre-owned-rolex-patek-phillipe-or-audemars-piguet-can?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3159014/why-pre-owned-rolex-patek-phillipe-or-audemars-piguet-can?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 09 Dec 2021 23:15:09 +0000 A slightly marked white sofa bed; a pair of cream-coloured patent leather shoes (size 40); boxes of N95 masks; bags of peanuts in the shell (“no expiry date, consume at your own risk”); gravel for a fish tank or plant pot – these free items were all recently listed on the Reduce Reuse Recycle Free Hong Kong page on Facebook. Members give away things they no longer need and don’t want to go to waste. We can all make a difference. “Thanks for helping us reduce Hong Kong’s staggering 15,000 tonnes... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/3158756/shop-less-and-reduce-reuse-and-recycle-christmas-how-reverse-cycle-buying?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/3158756/shop-less-and-reduce-reuse-and-recycle-christmas-how-reverse-cycle-buying?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 07 Dec 2021 23:15:08 +0000 A Rolex Oyster Perpetual stainless steel sports watch with a Tiffany blue dial was described in the auction catalogue as having the manufacturer’s stickers and being in “practically unworn condition”. It sold in early November for 18,900 Swiss francs (US$20,700), four times the Rolex catalogue price of a brand new watch of the same type. Bought new from an authorised retailer, this model should cost about US$4,900 – at the lower end of the Rolex range. Yet Rolex stainless steel sports watches... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3156656/why-rolex-sports-watches-such-rolex-oyster-perpetual-are?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3156656/why-rolex-sports-watches-such-rolex-oyster-perpetual-are?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 21 Nov 2021 10:15:16 +0000 Originally from the Netherlands, Frederieke van Doorn has worked in high-end fashion in Europe and Asia for many years. She has now launched a women’s workwear brand, Frey, at a new store in Hong Kong’s Central district, which opened with a ready-to-wear collection in September. The brand’s “Create Your Own” tailored clothing will be available in December, as well as a specialist app for accurate measurements for both bespoke and off-the-rack clothing. What inspired your new brand,... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/fashion/article/3156395/most-mens-tailored-hong-kong-suits-are-glued?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/fashion/article/3156395/most-mens-tailored-hong-kong-suits-are-glued?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 18 Nov 2021 00:15:22 +0000 Athletic wear, fashion and cosmetics have been flying out of e-commerce warehouses since the pandemic began as consumers concentrated on buying for their health and their looks, and from home. This year, several primarily direct-to-consumer online firms featuring these items have launched initial public offerings (IPOs). As both manufacturers and retailers, the brands have surged in popularity and drawn widespread investor interest. The IPOs have had a largely positive reception from market... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3155848/6-direct-consumer-fashion-retailers-have-launched-ipos?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3155848/6-direct-consumer-fashion-retailers-have-launched-ipos?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 14 Nov 2021 23:15:18 +0000 This article contains spoilers. Squid Game is one of the most successful Korean drama series ever, with millions of people worldwide revelling in the explosive climaxes, the unflinchingly bloody sequences and the slow disintegration of some characters’ honour and morality. Using children’s games in a deadly (and fatally greedy) competition for the big prize was an inspired choice. Yet the series, seemingly set in present-day South Korea, leaves more uptight viewers dismayed when loose ends are... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/k-pop/k-drama/article/3151454/squid-game-plot-holes-and-loose-ends-undermine-netflix-hit?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/k-pop/k-drama/article/3151454/squid-game-plot-holes-and-loose-ends-undermine-netflix-hit?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 07 Oct 2021 05:15:15 +0000 June Wong So-kwan picks up plastic takeaway cups and boxes, bottles, wrappers and containers on her regular rubbish collection trips to Hong Kong’s beaches. “When I do beach clean-ups in Hong Kong, I find a lot of these kinds of wrappers, the prepack containers,” she says. “This is what you can usually find in the supermarket. I think it’s a very big issue.” One of many volunteers who patrol the coast in their spare time, the manager for marine pollution at WWF-HK collects the trash in an... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3150420/hong-kong-doing-enough-limit-plastic-pollution-supermarkets?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3150420/hong-kong-doing-enough-limit-plastic-pollution-supermarkets?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 30 Sep 2021 23:15:23 +0000 A diamond ring can signal joy, love, commitment and, maybe these days, environmental awareness. Global demand for ethically sourced and environmentally sound jewellery is growing steadily, and big names – from the world-famous Tiffany brand to the Asia-based Chow Tai Fook group – have developed deep sustainable jewellery policies. Still, while the tide of consumer demand seems to be turning, miners around the world continue to wreak havoc on ecosystems and exploit vulnerable communities. Usually... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3148304/luxury-brands-pivot-sustainable-jewellery-consumers-demand?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3148304/luxury-brands-pivot-sustainable-jewellery-consumers-demand?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 12 Sep 2021 20:15:11 +0000 The latest development in pampering could be the individually tailored shirt. Sit on a sofa and look through hundreds of fabric samples to choose a linen, or a cotton twill or poplin or even a silk or denim. Pick the pattern: maybe a check, stripe, spot, paisley or floral or a solid in a vast range of colours. Discuss the fit, shape, collar and cuff type and buttons. Get measured – neck, arm, wrist, back, shoulders, bust and waist. Discuss personal body asymmetries or the particular peculiarity... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3148150/hong-kong-tailored-shirts-women-woman-doing-measuring?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3148150/hong-kong-tailored-shirts-women-woman-doing-measuring?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 11 Sep 2021 06:45:16 +0000 Since Helen Wu’s wedding last year, her friends and colleagues have repeatedly asked her when she will have a baby, but her answer doesn’t change. “No,” says the committed environmentalist, who is in her 40s and childless. “As I grow older, more and more I think human beings are very destructive to the world.” A production stage manager at a theme park, Wu first started paying attention to the natural world as a keen hiker in high school. She says there are a number of reasons why she lives an... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/family-relationships/article/3145466/should-you-have-kids-if-you-worry-about-climate?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/family-relationships/article/3145466/should-you-have-kids-if-you-worry-about-climate?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 19 Aug 2021 21:15:19 +0000 Lung Lung Thun is one of a rare breed of women watch collectors. She researches the history of individual watches, she discusses watches, she understands watches and she buys watches – often larger men’s watches with complicated mechanical movements. She recently bought her first vintage Patek Philippe – the 3970, a wildly expensive perpetual calendar chronograph designed for men – and she is delighted with it. “Once you get into vintage, and vintage Patek, you can never go back again,” she... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3143441/rolex-patek-philippe-audemars-piguet-why-these-women-watch?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3143441/rolex-patek-philippe-audemars-piguet-why-these-women-watch?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 02 Aug 2021 20:15:19 +0000 The Covid-19 pandemic has brought Hong Kong’s world-famous tailoring industry to its knees, says Stanton Ho, co-founder of menswear establishment Refinery. Dressy social occasions have been lost in the dust of lockdowns and social distancing rules. Office rules and dress codes have changed, perhaps forever. The world is distracted by an unfolding tragedy that has paralysed businesses and upended lives, and stylish formal workwear has been shelved – at least for a while. The tailored business... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3142661/suit-not-dead-its-getting-more-casual-say-tailors-amid?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3142661/suit-not-dead-its-getting-more-casual-say-tailors-amid?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 28 Jul 2021 23:15:19 +0000 As plastics horror stories pile up, consumers across the world are turning away from the modern convenience of plastic packaging – or at least trying to avoid single-use plastic as much as they can. There have been too many dead whales found full of disposable bags and bottles; river mouths choked with trash that never rots; beaches carpeted with plastic rubbish. The mood has shifted, and sustainability is becoming a watchword. The beauty industry, once a massive user of plastic sachets, packs,... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3142501/naked-soap-refillable-lipstick-use-less-plastic-beauty?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3142501/naked-soap-refillable-lipstick-use-less-plastic-beauty?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 26 Jul 2021 23:15:17 +0000 Over the centuries, Hong Kong’s lush subtropical woodlands have been burned, accidentally and deliberately – cut down for fuel, slashed to make way for agriculture, flattened by typhoons, replanted to stabilise hillsides, cut down to make way for development, devastated by insect plagues and replanted again. Whatever happens, they keep coming back. Now the tracts of green trees that blanket mountains and valleys are spreading naturally, making Hong Kong one of the few largely urban places in the... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3139868/forests-expand-hong-kong-they-lack-diversity-researchers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3139868/forests-expand-hong-kong-they-lack-diversity-researchers?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 Jul 2021 23:15:04 +0000 Transforming fluffy white silkworm cocoons nurtured on Chinese mulberry trees into high-fashion silk shirts, blouses, jackets and other garments is a long, multi-stage process of harvesting, washing, spinning, weaving, dying and sewing.  One privately owned Hong Kong company will soon own and manage every stage of this silk journey.  Bombyx, named after the Latin word for the silkworm, was established in 2018 by Andrew and Hilmond Hui, father-and-son entrepreneurs who have invested in the social... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3138471/bombyx-organic-silk-producer-j-crew-madewell-bets-rise?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3138471/bombyx-organic-silk-producer-j-crew-madewell-bets-rise?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 27 Jun 2021 23:15:16 +0000 Forking over a handful of cash to make an international telephone call used to happen all the time. People would call from their home phones and within a few weeks a phone bill would arrive in the post with calls neatly itemised and added into frightening totals. Travellers abroad rang home on hotel phones, public phones or from ancient phone shops with glass cubicles.  These days it almost seems easier for Chinese President Xi Jinping to chat via video link with three weightless astronauts on... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/gadgets/article/3138624/free-international-calls-internet-and-live-video-links-space-are?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/gadgets/article/3138624/free-international-calls-internet-and-live-video-links-space-are?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 24 Jun 2021 20:15:12 +0000 Musty. Dank. Sharply antiseptic. Covid-19 has left not just a trail of misery and illness, but lasting memories of its smells: of sanitisers and antibacterials, of mouldy shops left locked up for too long, of stuffy homes filled with too many people working, learning, surviving. So people everywhere have turned to fragrances to banish such memories – from warm, woody scents that evoke comfort to the crisp clean aromas of citrus and herbs to set a new direction. The sense of smell is powerful and... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3136509/essential-oil-diffusers-scented-candles-bath-oils?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3136509/essential-oil-diffusers-scented-candles-bath-oils?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 09 Jun 2021 21:15:00 +0000 Pineapple leaves, fungus fibres, sugar cane, cactus: all botanical elements used in the production of various kinds of plant-based leather. Inspired by the environmentally sustainable thinking now sweeping the world, these so-called vegan leathers have become increasingly popular alternatives to hide leather. Allbirds, a New Zealand-US firm, has produced a type of sneaker partly made from eucalyptus tree fibre. Pangaia, based in London and New York, has developed a shoe made partly from grape... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3136292/shoes-made-grapes-bags-made-mushrooms-vegan-leather-has?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3136292/shoes-made-grapes-bags-made-mushrooms-vegan-leather-has?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 07 Jun 2021 18:30:16 +0000 The different directions are as sharp as the angles on a multifaceted brilliant. Pandora, the Danish company that makes more jewellery than anyone else in the world, most of it inexpensive, has announced it will no longer use naturally mined diamonds. Instead, as a “testament to our ongoing and ambitious sustainability agenda”, said chief executive Alexander Lacik this month, Pandora would use only diamonds grown in laboratories. He used the occasion to announce the Pandora Brilliance range... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3134438/pandora-says-lab-grown-diamonds-ethical-choice-not-so-say?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3134438/pandora-says-lab-grown-diamonds-ethical-choice-not-so-say?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 23 May 2021 23:15:11 +0000 The robot arm zooms back and forth in the workshop of LifeArt in Hong Kong, shaping a sheet of thick, hard cardboard into a modern and environmentally kind cardboard coffin, or eco-coffin. Wilson Tong, chief representative of LifeArt, the only manufacturer of eco-friendly cardboard caskets and coffins in Hong Kong, believes they are the way of the future. Tong has a vision of automation, precision, environmentalism and growing eco-coffin exports across Asia. “We use board imported from Germany... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/3133163/cardboard-coffin-maker-eyes-green-funerals-potential-east-asia-meets?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/3133163/cardboard-coffin-maker-eyes-green-funerals-potential-east-asia-meets?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 15 May 2021 01:15:13 +0000 Ever-creeping climate change is spelling the end of the lawn as we know it. Environmentalists everywhere see the neat and weed-free grass lawn as an ecological disaster in an age of ever-increasing heat, shrinking water resources and increasingly scarce wild habitat. Gavin Coates, a senior lecturer in landscape architecture at the University of Hong Kong, says lawns are “massively inefficient” in many of the world’s geographical regions.  But not in Hong Kong. The city’s relatively few grassy... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3130797/lawns-are-thirsty-luxury-many-amid-climate-change-yet-hong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3130797/lawns-are-thirsty-luxury-many-amid-climate-change-yet-hong?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 26 Apr 2021 06:45:16 +0000 Alex Metcalfe started experimenting with non-alcoholic beer about five years ago. Originally from Britain, he lives in Hong Kong’s Sai Kung district with his wife and two small children, and is a teacher in a Hong Kong school.  “I started drinking non-alcoholic beer because I wanted to reduce my alcohol intake,” he says. “If you’re going on a night out, or round to somebody’s, it’s an option. You don’t have to go down the public drunkenness route.” Drinking full-strength beer, wine and mixed... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3127892/non-alcoholic-beer-and-low-alcohol-beer-are-trend-among?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3127892/non-alcoholic-beer-and-low-alcohol-beer-are-trend-among?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 02 Apr 2021 04:45:07 +0000 Grace Wu and Jenny Leung first met as 12-year-olds at St Francis’ Canossian College in Hong Kong. Though they have since been living in different countries for decades – Wu left the city when she graduated from secondary school in 1990 and went to the United States to study – common interests helped them stay connected, including a love of food and food culture. Now the long-term friends are organising an international cooking class fundraiser through their website World Kitchen Club. Set up in... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3127408/you-can-learn-yoga-interactively-online-so-why-not-cooking?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3127408/you-can-learn-yoga-interactively-online-so-why-not-cooking?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 29 Mar 2021 23:15:17 +0000 Loaves of bread from a popular chain bakery outlet will not be fresh enough for customers by tomorrow, so tonight they will be collected by a volunteer and taken to a charity for distribution to the hungry.  Containers of soup won’t be ordered by restaurant customers for a set lunch today, so tonight they will go to a discount food rescue app for a flash sale. The cupcakes and luxury desserts left over in an elite bakery will be marked down by half to get them moving to food rescue customers... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3126742/food-rescue-restaurants-shops-and-apps-reduce-food-waste?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3126742/food-rescue-restaurants-shops-and-apps-reduce-food-waste?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 24 Mar 2021 23:15:06 +0000 The dark side of fashion is a ravaged landscape of waste and environmental damage, but a retailing revolution could change that picture. On-demand manufacturing will eliminate oversupply and waste, proponents say, ensuring only those items that have already been paid for will get made. Designers, manufacturers, retailers and logistics companies are championing the on-demand way to shop. Fashion designer Misha Nonoo, who has collaborated with Meghan Markle on a capsule collection, has instituted... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3126728/theres-fashion-revolution-happening-made-demand-clothes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3126728/theres-fashion-revolution-happening-made-demand-clothes?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 24 Mar 2021 20:15:11 +0000 With 20 million followers on social media, Becky Li is considered a top key opinion leader, or KOL. Her income depends on the sales she can generate, and these days her influence in China is directly measurable, she says.  Luxury brands operating in China now give each KOL a different link to attach to a post or blog to calculate their influence, Li explains in a Bernstein Research report released in February.  “So, the brand is going to give me a link when I’m writing an article, and this link... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3122361/becky-li-chinese-kol-who-sold-100-cars-online-four-minutes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3122361/becky-li-chinese-kol-who-sold-100-cars-online-four-minutes?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 20 Feb 2021 14:15:07 +0000 Joe Biden chose to wear a classy US$7,000 stainless steel Rolex Datejust when he was sworn in as US president on January 20, giving the upmarket Swiss watch brand a fillip after a diabolical year for luxury watches. Unlike a number of his predecessors who chose to wear utilitarian brands as men of the people – both Bill Clinton and George Bush wore Timex watches – Biden chose to have his wrist clasped by a statement of Swiss luxury. After years of success, Switzerland’s luxury watch industry... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3121096/rolex-winners-swatch-losers-after-swiss-luxury-watch?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3121096/rolex-winners-swatch-losers-after-swiss-luxury-watch?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 10 Feb 2021 10:45:14 +0000 Edwin Lau Che-feng sweated his way through last summer, trying to avoid using air conditioning in his home. The Hong Kong conservationist, and founder of environmental organisation The Green Earth, wanted to show that energy-guzzling air cons aren’t always necessary, even on the hottest and stickiest of days. Lau says he trained himself to endure the heat, working from home through the hottest months of 2020 – the hottest year on record in Hong Kong. “I didn’t turn on the air conditioning at all... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/3120213/air-conditioning-adds-global-warming-making-us-use-it-more-how-break?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/3120213/air-conditioning-adds-global-warming-making-us-use-it-more-how-break?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 02 Feb 2021 23:15:15 +0000 American and European museums are reassessing whether and how to return artefacts claimed in Asia and Africa during conflicts and colonial eras as global sentiment changes over their rightful ownership. Museums are considering which items should be given back to their countries of origin, whose governments have been asking for decades for the return of pieces of their heritage, with activists becoming increasingly strident. Treasures from China’s Qing dynasty, including a carved white jade... https://www.scmp.com/arts/will-western-museums-return-treasures-taken-asia-and-africa/article/3111021?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/arts/will-western-museums-return-treasures-taken-asia-and-africa/article/3111021?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 23 Nov 2020 11:51:30 +0000 Qing dynasty treasures, including a carved white jade figure of the star god of longevity, Shulao, are scheduled for auction in Hong Kong on November 30 in a sale titled “Imperial Glories from the Springfield Museums Collection”. The decision by Springfield Museums in the US state of Massachusetts to sell the 12 important China pieces, worth millions of dollars, follows recent government-commissioned reports in the Netherlands and France recommending the restitution of “war booty”, plundered... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3110637/western-museums-pressed-return-stolen-treasures-asia-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3110637/western-museums-pressed-return-stolen-treasures-asia-and?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 20 Nov 2020 21:15:20 +0000 Considered an important medicine in China for thousands of years, rhubarb has had many ups and downs over its long history of human consumption. Its leaves, packed with toxic oxalic acid, might once have poisoned a US president; in the 1600s, smuggling valuable rhubarb root warranted death in Russia; and centuries later, when the heavily sugared stalks were used in desserts, rhubarb was mercilessly lampooned as a horrible British school pudding. Rhubarb has now come full circle, from important... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3103436/history-rhubarb-medicinal-uses-recipes-and-why-owning-it?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3103436/history-rhubarb-medicinal-uses-recipes-and-why-owning-it?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 01 Oct 2020 04:15:07 +0000 A group of wealthy and respectable middle-class Sydney women gathered in a tea room in the 1890s, where they “sat by favour of that Chinese gentleman” Quong Tart while considering how best to fight for the right to vote, a movement that was gaining ground in England. Writing in The Sydney Morning Herald decades later, Maybanke Anderson, one of the city’s prominent women’s activists, remembered the moment in 1891 when she and a comrade, Rose Scott, “first spoke a few words on the subject of... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/3097208/quong-tart-chinese-man-who-played-key-role-australias-fight-womens?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/3097208/quong-tart-chinese-man-who-played-key-role-australias-fight-womens?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 13 Aug 2020 21:15:12 +0000 The wiry bird scuffling around in the mountainous forests near the northern Thailand-Myanmar border does not look like much, but this scrawny red jungle fowl has been tapped as the primary ancestor of the modern world’s all-important domestic chicken. The wild fowl’s descendants can be found on the tables of people everywhere, roasted with beans and potatoes, glazed, grilled, skewered, stuffed, and transformed into soups and stir-fries. About 7,500BC, when humans were learning how to cultivate... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3093154/history-chickens-how-bird-became-worlds-primary-protein-source?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3093154/history-chickens-how-bird-became-worlds-primary-protein-source?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Jul 2020 23:45:08 +0000 French couture house Dior this week remembered a time of crisis 70 years ago, when the bloody upheaval of World War II pushed French fashion designers to dig deep to revive the fashion industry. Rising to the challenge, in 1945 designers dressed miniature mannequins in high fashion collections and sent them on a tour of Europe and then the United States. This week, in reaction to the global coronavirus pandemic that many see as another historic global crisis, Dior unveiled its haute couture... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3092275/diors-dolls-couture-inspired-miniatures-another-time?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3092275/diors-dolls-couture-inspired-miniatures-another-time?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 08 Jul 2020 04:37:52 +0000 Hongkonger Eric Lee Tsun-lung has been on more than 50 ocean cruises since he was a youngster and looks forward to going to sea again soon, regardless of the spate of coronavirus outbreaks on cruise liners, frequently dubbed “floating Petri dishes” by commentators. The 36-year-old joined his first cruise in 1994 with his parents. He remembers it well; a three-day and two-night stay on the Star Pisces, operated by Star Cruises, from Hong Kong to Xiamen in southeast China’s Fujian province. “I... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3090749/how-cruise-ship-industry-plans-get-passengers-back-board?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3090749/how-cruise-ship-industry-plans-get-passengers-back-board?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 28 Jun 2020 23:15:12 +0000 To stretch his legs and breathe fresh air during Hong Kong’s partial lockdown, Edwin Lau Che-feng took walks in parks and along the city’s greener streets. Like other Hongkongers, he mostly abided by social distancing restrictions during the coronavirus crisis – he stayed home, avoided shopping centres and steered clear of crowds. The natural world, though, can have a calming effect in chaotic times, and he felt that – on deserted, tree-lined streets and paths – he could breathe deeply. “You can... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3088717/why-hong-kong-needs-more-trees-and-whats-preventing-it?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3088717/why-hong-kong-needs-more-trees-and-whats-preventing-it?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 14 Jun 2020 02:15:15 +0000 Writers once travelled through Asia in a leisurely fashion, steamers gently rolling between Bangkok and Batavia, rickshaws wheeling through the streets of Singapore, pleasure boats pulling into Penang. European wanderers, adventurers and authors drank gin slings while waiting for sumptuous dinners; colonial matrons sipped tea on hotel balconies; and the business of empire rumbled on. Colonial Asia (or the Far East, as it was then known) was replete with hotels for the well off, and well... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3031820/five-historic-asian-hotels-hosted-famous-writers-conrad?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3031820/five-historic-asian-hotels-hosted-famous-writers-conrad?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 07 Oct 2019 10:00:11 +0000 Children from Hong Kong and China are not immune to the global epidemic of obesity. About one in five Hong Kong schoolchildren are now classed as overweight or worse, according to the Hong Kong Department of Health’s latest survey, released last year. They were not eating enough fruit and vegetables, but eating too much salt and not getting enough exercise. Experts everywhere have thought long and hard about how to keep kids slimmer, fitter and healthier. Former US first lady Michelle Obama was... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3025515/should-children-diet-app-may-help-them-lose-weight-wont?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3025515/should-children-diet-app-may-help-them-lose-weight-wont?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Sep 2019 21:00:08 +0000 A serious attack involves fever, sweating, vomiting, muscle spasms, driving thirst, thumping pain behind the eyes and in the joints. Weeks pass, tossing and turning in hellish delirium. And right now, a deadly wave of dengue fever is sweeping across Asia, killing hundreds and leaving tens of thousands sick, over­whelming health services and creating panic among politicians. The Philippines has seen more than 146,000 confirmed cases of dengue so far this year, and at least 622 Filipinos have died... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3024736/dengue-fever-progress-made-fight-halt-deadly?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3024736/dengue-fever-progress-made-fight-halt-deadly?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 01 Sep 2019 01:15:14 +0000 Could it get any more poetic? Sitting on an open verandah, drinking a bottle of Wind Flower Snow and Moon lager, gazing across a garden of deepening shadows to the distant Jade Dragon Snow Mountain range: only a Chinese Coleridge could do this scene justice. Sorry, what are we talking about? The Bruce Chalet, which is in Shuhe Old Town, on the outskirts of Lijiang, Yunnan province, and is set almost on the edge of a field. Inspired by the architecture of the local Naxi people, the 12-room hotel... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1337127/hot-spots-bruce-chalet-lijiang?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1337127/hot-spots-bruce-chalet-lijiang?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 26 Oct 2013 14:52:46 +0000 The mainland's internet universe is a closed book to nearly all Westerners - few know even the most rudimentary basics of spoken Putonghua, let alone have a grasp of the written language. Yet an explosion of interest in mainland microblogging sites, known as weibos (" weibo" loosely translates as "micro-blog"), has lured even resolutely monolingual foreigners to take the plunge. (It helps that they can post in English and rely on the services of facilitators, assistants or translators to make... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1077833/character?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1077833/character?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 10 Nov 2012 16:00:00 +0000 On a sultry summer’s day, with thunderclouds hanging heavy above them, a team of street artists spray-paint murals across the walls of a gallery in Beijing’s Songzhuang Art District. Locals Biskit, Zyko, ANDC and Sack coat concrete slabs set up around the perimeter of G-Dot Art Space, alongside Tkid, one of the first graffiti artists to decorate the streets of New York, in the 1970s, Binho, a renowned Brazilian street artist, and Noe Two, a Frenchman whose works include funked-out portraits of... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1068733/united-colours-beijing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1068733/united-colours-beijing?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 27 Oct 2012 16:00:00 +0000 What's the story? Staying overnight in an old garage might not be everybody's idea of classy. But this isn't your standard shed, stuffed higgledy-piggledy with tins of paint, bits of bicycle, bottles of oil and screwdrivers. This is an Edwardian-era mews - two-storey rows that were used for sheltering carriages and providing accommodation for syces, or drivers. The building, in Unesco-listed George Town, Penang, has been transformed into a sleek and carefully appointed boutique hotel.... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1056888/hot-spots-muntri-mews-penang?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1056888/hot-spots-muntri-mews-penang?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 13 Oct 2012 16:00:00 +0000 If nothing else, the torrent of revelations released on the WikiLeaks whistle-blower website has changed our understanding of how the world works. It has also landed key WikiLeaks figures in an ocean of trouble. Legions of supporters view founder and editor-in-chief Julian Assange and his faithful insiders as rebellious truth-seekers; dodging lawsuits and criminal investigations, doing battle with global finance and taking on the might of the United States government. Critics, on the other hand,... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1025418/truth-hurts?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1025418/truth-hurts?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 01 Sep 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Thida Thavornseth stands at the edge of Bangkok's Democracy Monument, surveying the crowd of 40,000 men, women and children, who are rallying to demand change. Dressed in red, they are carrying banners and posters, and making a lot of noise. The acting chairwoman of the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) movement, better known as the 'red shirts', Thida smiles as she begins to address the anti-government protesters. She calls herself a 'left leader', one of the few... https://www.scmp.com/article/739999/painting-town?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/739999/painting-town?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 05 Mar 2011 16:00:00 +0000