https://www.scmp.com/rss/502547/feed Demi Y. Guo is a New York-based journalist covering culture, finance, and martial arts. Her work has appeared in BESE, Fusion TV, National Geographic, The Real Deal, The Wall Street Journal, and WNPR. Follow her on Instagram @demi.guo. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com It’s considered the most expensive tea in the world. In 2002, a mere 20 grams of Da Hong Pao was auctioned off to a purchaser for $28,000, worth more than its weight in gold. For centuries, this dark oolong tea, cultivated in the mountains of Fujian Province in China, held an air of luxury. Six so-called mother trees, believed to contain the original leaves, are protected by armed guards. The highest-quality leaves reserved for “honored guests.” One story goes that Chinese premier Zhou Enlai... https://www.scmp.com/food/da-hong-pao-worlds-most-expensive-tea/article/3123090?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/food/da-hong-pao-worlds-most-expensive-tea/article/3123090?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 25 Feb 2021 08:54:35 +0000 “I wanted to portray a love story,” says director Patrick Liu, “not strictly an LGBTQ story.” Still, it’s hard to get away from identity politics with his latest film, Your Name Engraved Herein, now playing on Netflix. The romantic drama follows an intimate relationship between two high school boys. It became the highest-grossing LGBTQ film in Taiwan when it premiered there in September, just over a year after the self-ruled island legalized same-sex marriage. Critics have compared the film to... https://www.scmp.com/identity/your-name-engraved-herein-netflix-taiwan-lgbtq/article/3121145?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/identity/your-name-engraved-herein-netflix-taiwan-lgbtq/article/3121145?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 09 Feb 2021 09:00:12 +0000 Over the Moon is Netflix’s first animated musical, and it’s based on the Chinese legend of the moon goddess. The film is set in a modern-day water town in China and follows a 12-year-old girl named Fei Fei, who hears the story from her mother. In the tale, the goddess Chang’e swallows her husband’s elixir of immortality and floats to the moon. Her husband lives out the rest of his days without her on Earth. Fei Fei interprets the tale as a symbol of undying love. So when her mother passes away,... https://www.scmp.com/culture/how-netflix-made-over-moon-culturally-authentic/article/3106679?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/how-netflix-made-over-moon-culturally-authentic/article/3106679?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 27 Oct 2020 03:57:31 +0000 One of the most compelling films to come out of Hong Kong in the past year is about the city’s oldest generation of gay men. Suk Suk tells the story of two closeted grandfathers who are proud of the families they’ve built but feel the pressure of keeping their sexual identities secret. Hoi is a 65-year-old divorcee who lives at home with his adult son, though their relationship is strained by the generational gap between them. Pak, a 70-year-old cab driver, and his children make sacrifices in... https://www.scmp.com/identity/hong-kong-suk-suk-lgbt-film/article/3077133?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/identity/hong-kong-suk-suk-lgbt-film/article/3077133?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 26 Mar 2020 10:42:43 +0000 Polluted gray skies open Knite, a web comic by Chinese-American graphic novelist Yuumei. They are, she says, her most consistent memory of the place where she was born. “China is a constant presence in the topics and themes of my work,” she says. In her introduction to Knite, about a group of Chinese teens who fly strings of lights at night to replace the stars in the sky, she dedicates the story to “the land of my birth.” Born Yan Wenqing, she chose the pen name Yuumei when she joined the... https://www.scmp.com/identity/yuumei-knite-china-environmentalism-deviantart/article/3033391?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/identity/yuumei-knite-china-environmentalism-deviantart/article/3033391?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 17 Oct 2019 09:01:57 +0000