https://www.scmp.com/rss/7254/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Alien nation It was 1987, the golden era of Hong Kong. I moved to France because my father’s business had gone under and he was turning over a new leaf, joining a friend in Strasbourg to run a Chinese restaurant. I was 11. I thought it was normal to migrate to another country because many people in Hong Kong were doing that back then. But once the new life began, the sadness and homesickness set in. My brother and I went to an international school where there was only one other Chinese kid. I... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/arts-music/article/2174460/trans-comedian-sony-chan-i-dont-play-gender?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/arts-music/article/2174460/trans-comedian-sony-chan-i-dont-play-gender?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 22 Nov 2018 11:00:00 +0000 Yau Wai-ching voters: Banky Yeung Ping-Kei, theatre worker “I was not expecting smart moves from Youngspiration so what they did in the oath-taking process was not surprising. I voted for them because they have no political experience and are not sophisticated with their words. I still believe only people like this can challenge the stuck and static situation in Hong Kong.” Maisie Wong, 19, year two social sciences student “The outcome of them being disqualified is actually a positive one.... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2049328/what-people-who-voted-hong-kongs-youngspiration-pair-think-now?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2049328/what-people-who-voted-hong-kongs-youngspiration-pair-think-now?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 27 Nov 2016 03:01:12 +0000 Residents in Sai Ying Pun are afraid their neighbourhood will be destroyed by a surge in new hotels drawn to the area by the city's newest MTR station, which is set to open this month. The latest hotel project is at the eastern end of Third Street, which is lined with mainly walk-up apartment buildings and garages in the heritage-rich residential district. The plan was approved five years ago but many locals were not aware of the proposal until the developer sought to revise the plan... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1744125/hotel-influx-ahead-mtr-opening-worries-sai-ying-pun-residents?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1744125/hotel-influx-ahead-mtr-opening-worries-sai-ying-pun-residents?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 21 Mar 2015 22:15:17 +0000 THE MADONNA AND ME I was born shortly after the end of the second world war. In my hometown, Munich (in Germany), boys like me used to play over the ruins of damaged buildings. I loved drawing and was good at it. At school I would make portraits of my classmates and sell them. Once I drew a portrait of the Madonna with a chalk on the classroom blackboard. None of the teachers wanted to wipe it off and it stayed there for three days. That was an enormous boost to my confidence! ARTS AND GRAFT All... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1741038/interview-frank-burbach-swaps-art-diplomacy-art?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1741038/interview-frank-burbach-swaps-art-diplomacy-art?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 21 Mar 2015 14:40:56 +0000 The governor of Tokyo said he believed a rift-healing summit would take place between the leaders of China and Japan next month, as he touted the economic benefits Chinese tourists brought to his city. Yoichi Masuzoe, who this year became the first Tokyo governor to visit Beijing in 18 years, made the comments as Japan's government continued to lobby Beijing for a summit between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and President Xi Jinping during the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec)... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1623251/tokyo-governor-confident-xi-jinping-will-agree-meet-shinzo-abe?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1623251/tokyo-governor-confident-xi-jinping-will-agree-meet-shinzo-abe?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 23 Oct 2014 14:45:15 +0000 For years, it has been the exception rather than the norm for local university graduates with a degree in China business studies to carve out a business career on the mainland. Opportunities for them to head north have always seemed less than abundant. But things may be starting to change, thanks to a Hong Kong businessman who is keen to equip local young people with the skills to build a career up north. Andy Lee, founder of the Hong Kong Brand for China Market Association, has undertaken... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/family-education/article/1454071/initiative-helps-hong-kong-students-get-mainland-business?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/family-education/article/1454071/initiative-helps-hong-kong-students-get-mainland-business?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 24 Mar 2014 01:48:14 +0000 C HILD OF THE WORLD When my family celebrated my fifth birthday, I cried and asked my mum why there were no elephants around. We had just moved back to Paris from New Delhi, where we lived for two years, because my father worked there as a diplomat. I vaguely remembered India as a hectic melting pot, and the elephants. I was born in Washington (in the United States), in 1988. Before we moved back to France, I had a somewhat patriotic feeling towards that country, so I was happy to go there and... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1441679/my-life-arthur-de-villepin?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1441679/my-life-arthur-de-villepin?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 08 Mar 2014 15:31:24 +0000 COPING AND COPYING I was born in 1960 in a Shanghai temple, which was demolished a few years ago. My father worked in an abattoir and my mum in a factory. We were a poor but reasonably happy, simple family. At school, I was known as the best art student. The Cultural Revolution was on but my life as a student was not complicated at all. I loved painting and that was my main focus. At that time, we had to go to propaganda class. Those who could draw well would be chosen to draw propaganda... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1367756/my-life-chinese-artist-yan-peiming?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1367756/my-life-chinese-artist-yan-peiming?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 30 Nov 2013 15:00:15 +0000 These days, the trick to up the style quotient of a product is to give it a French name. Or at least that's what some local businesses seem to believe, even if there's nothing Gallic about their products. In Tai Hang, a café-bar serving cakes and savoury hot pies goes by the name "C'est La B". In Sheung Wan, "Chinoiserie" is a bridal gown shop that "serves the fashion elites" with exquisite Chinese gowns with a modern twist. In Kowloon City, a new residential development is called "Billionaire... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/money/article/1347485/savoir-faire?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/money/article/1347485/savoir-faire?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 10 Nov 2013 15:00:15 +0000 Going to medical school is the dream of many, but it can also be daunting when the invitation for an interview arrives. Trying to stay ahead of the pack, Dr Christopher See did something unconventional a month before his interview with Cambridge University about 12 years ago. "I talked to people randomly," See says. "I'd go up to people in a coffee shop and say: 'Hi, I'm preparing for an interview, and I'd love you to listen to why I want to study medicine.' I was looking very nervous, and... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/family-education/article/1329346/how-local-candidates-uk-medical-schools-can-prepare-key?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/family-education/article/1329346/how-local-candidates-uk-medical-schools-can-prepare-key?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 13 Oct 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Osiao, Zhinuo, Denza … Struggling to pronounce these unfamiliar names? You are not alone. But soon, they will become the talk of the mainland, or so hope Estée Lauder, BMW and Mercedes-Benz, the luxury brands behind these so-called hybrid brands targeting mainland consumers. Over the past decade or so, Western high-end brands have been vying to expand their share of the massive mainland market with high-profile promotion campaigns and the spread of retail outlets. Now it looks like some of these... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/money/article/1309079/hybrid-hothouse?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/money/article/1309079/hybrid-hothouse?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 22 Sep 2013 16:00:00 +0000 A STAR IS BORN I was born in Hong Kong in 1951 without siblings - nor a father. (Lau's mother) said he was a military man from Taiwan. She was a writer, a beautiful, mysterious woman. Occasionally she would disappear from home for days. Sometimes we lived in a big house in Kowloon Tong, sometimes an apartment in Tsim Sha Tsui. I was too young to know what was going on. I stopped using the expression "my mother" when I was 11, when she said to me: "Stop calling me mother; I am not your mother any... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1280208/my-life-eddie-lau?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1280208/my-life-eddie-lau?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 13 Jul 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Liao Yiwu walks in, expressionless. It is a sunny afternoon and warm in the cafe of Berlin's Academy of Arts. He makes eye contact from across the room but immediately breaks it and turns to his literary agent. When he finally steps forward, a minute later, he holds out his hand - a shy shake. He has no intention of making chit-chat, the Chinese dissident says, but he is, apparently, in the mood to congratulate himself. Two minutes into our meeting, he points out that his new book sold 20,000... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1259038/way-words?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1259038/way-words?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 15 Jun 2013 16:00:00 +0000 As a health-conscious mother of two, Carrie Fong used to face a dilemma between buying mainland produce of questionable quality, or paying exorbitant sums for imported organic food. But she has a solution: ad hoc farmers' markets that sell cheap locally grown organic produce. "These markets are one of the best things to have emerged in Hong Kong in recent years. The vegetables are organic, fresh and inexpensive," Fong says. "You can nearly halve your organic food bill by shopping here than at a... https://www.scmp.com/business/money/spending/article/1187874/shoppers-take-fresh-look-farmers-markets?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/money/spending/article/1187874/shoppers-take-fresh-look-farmers-markets?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 10 Mar 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Sandy Mok loves taking mini breaks outside Hong Kong during public holidays. She's dubbed "the big spender" by her travel companions, always wining and dining at swanky restaurants and visiting luxury spas. But somehow, the 34-year-old career coach manages to spend less than her friends on the same trip. No, she doesn't have a rich dad or a generous husband. She just happens to have an alternative source of income when on holiday: renting out her flat on short-term rental websites. "I charge a... https://www.scmp.com/property/hong-kong-china/article/1078748/rent-out-your-property-short-term?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/property/hong-kong-china/article/1078748/rent-out-your-property-short-term?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 11 Nov 2012 16:00:00 +0000 The mooncakes that many Hong Kong people munched on yesterday to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival are no luxury food. They are made of cheap ingredients such as red bean and lotus seed paste that hardly make a dent in a mooncake maker's profit. But on the mainland, the festive delicacy can take luxury dimensions. In Tianjin, for example, a mooncake with a diameter of 64cm - about four times bigger than a human face - sold at a supermarket a few weeks ago for 5,888 yuan (HK$7,200). This was... https://www.scmp.com/business/money/spending/article/1049511/dark-side-mooncake?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/money/spending/article/1049511/dark-side-mooncake?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 30 Sep 2012 16:00:00 +0000 It's been more than nine months since one could walk unhindered through the area under the HSBC headquarters. Before October 15 last year the area was mostly unoccupied, except on Sundays when domestic helpers met for a boisterous rendezvous. Then the Occupy Central campaigners moved in. The site became a community, drawing anti-capitalists, homeless people and travellers who set up tents and stayed. They trucked in the comforts of daily life, such as couches, desks, gas cookers, lamps, African... https://www.scmp.com/article/1014119/lingering-within-tents?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/1014119/lingering-within-tents?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 05 Aug 2012 16:00:00 +0000 During the 1980s and '90s, it was all the rage for some Hong Kong celebrities and tai-tais to disappear from public view and re-emerge a few weeks later looking much younger. And the key to this magical makeover? Sheep - or more precisely lambs residing in the Swiss Alps. Wealthy Hongkongers were checking into beauty resorts in the country and receiving anti-ageing injections extracted from sheep organs, usually the placenta or liver. Nowadays, this unconventional and expensive form of live... https://www.scmp.com/article/1005609/thats-sheep-shot?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/1005609/thats-sheep-shot?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 01 Jul 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Mao-tai is at a crossroads. Prices for the highly alcoholic drink have collapsed after a de facto ban on its use at official functions. Meanwhile, global luxury brands are circling the market and snapping up stakes in distillers that make sorghum-based spirits. The two trends are not contradictory. The market has hit a wobbly patch, partly due to a slowing economy and partly because of a recent desire among officials to play down the role of mao-tai at official gatherings. But the drink's... https://www.scmp.com/article/1004279/spirit-free-enterprise?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/1004279/spirit-free-enterprise?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 17 Jun 2012 16:00:00 +0000 When Spain's King Juan Carlos was revealed to have made a secret elephant-hunting trip in Botswana last month, his people roared with anger, slamming him for squandering Euro44,000 (HK$435,000) on a lavish tour while his country grapples with an economic crisis. Some politicians called for his abdication. Eventually, the 74-year-old king, also the honorary president of the World Wildlife Fund in Spain, made a public apology and vowed not to repeat the 'mistake'. It wasn't clear, however, whether... https://www.scmp.com/article/1001539/happiness-warm-gun?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/1001539/happiness-warm-gun?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 20 May 2012 16:00:00 +0000 PHOTO START I was born in Taipei and moved to New York with my family when I was six. As a kid I did a lot of drawings and paintings. When I was about 15, a family friend who was a photographer with a local newspaper showed me how to develop photos. I fell in love with photography and my parents bought me a second-hand enlarger. Our laundry room became my temporary darkroom. My mum worked with children with disabilities and my dad worked in marketing at Kodak. They are liberal people and not at... https://www.scmp.com/article/1000794/lucas-lai?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/1000794/lucas-lai?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 12 May 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Dolce & Gabbana sparked local outrage in January, when a shop guard stopped Hongkongers from snapping photos of the Tsim Sha Tsui storefront. Online chat rooms were filled with speculation that the store was protecting the identities of the predominantly mainland clientele inside, on the view that D&G's powerful patrons did not want to be photographed spending lavishly on luxury goods. At the height of the episode, when 1,000 protesters surrounded D&G's flagship store, thus shutting it down,... https://www.scmp.com/article/1000287/its-better-part-value?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/1000287/its-better-part-value?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 06 May 2012 16:00:00 +0000 London is only weeks away from the opening of the Olympics. And with each day, the city puts the squeeze on tourists just a little more firmly. Hotel prices for August have doubled since the same time last year, according to Hotels.com. Flight costs are also rising: a Hong Kong-London round trip with British Airways in late July costs HK$11,560, and that's economy class. But for the mainland's top tier of spenders, the pricier the better. High prices keep out the riff-raff and turn luxury travel... https://www.scmp.com/article/999615/nothing-succeeds-excess?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/999615/nothing-succeeds-excess?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 29 Apr 2012 16:00:00 +0000 What is it? It looks like a tiny red cube plonked down in a green field in the Haute-Marne countryside of France, 55 kilometres from Dijon. Up close, it's an off-grid holiday home that has become a hotbed for romantics and nature lovers. Conceived by France-based German artist Gloria Friedmann, Le Carr?Rouge ('the red square') is somewhere between conceptual art and a gite. There's no electricity and no running water. If you're allergic to modern comforts and prefer living like a Spartan,... https://www.scmp.com/article/996537/le-carre-rouge-haute-marne?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/996537/le-carre-rouge-haute-marne?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 24 Mar 2012 16:00:00 +0000 At a recent luncheon at the Foreign Correspondents' Club in Central, business executives, lawyers and journalists mingled while feasting on sole fillet and beef goulash. It was the sort of event at which people do not take themselves - or anything - too seriously. By the time coffee was served, however, the atmosphere had turned gloomy; guest speaker Ian McFeat-Smith had taken to the rostrum to expound on the vulnerability of Hong Kong to a major earthquake. 'I believe we are a big, fat sitting... https://www.scmp.com/article/995060/could-it-happen-here?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/995060/could-it-happen-here?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 10 Mar 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Hong Kong is expensive. No kidding, you say. But while most of let our property overlords, grocery oligarchs and telecoms monopolists roll over us on a monthly basis with breathtakingly inflated charges, some are fighting back, albeit unconventionally. These consumer heroes are, well, cheap. They go beyond thrifty. They are zealously stingy. They hate to pay out. Their idea of a good time is to spend hours on comparison shopping, doing agile price-per-gram calculations in their head. They let... https://www.scmp.com/article/986824/cheapskate-champions?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/986824/cheapskate-champions?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 04 Dec 2011 16:00:00 +0000 Hong Kong presents many mysteries to the everyday consumer. There is so much variance in prices and so many opportunities to make money. The goal, of course, is to maximise value and one's opportunities. But how to proceed? Here is a guide to navigating some basic, utterly practical issues many Hongkongers face, with advice from people on the inside. How to change jobs As explained by headhunters By Shirley Lau So you want a better job? You're not alone. About 40 per cent of Hong Kong... https://www.scmp.com/article/985431/all-consuming-desires?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/985431/all-consuming-desires?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 20 Nov 2011 16:00:00 +0000 If the Occupy Wall Street movement has a ring of deja vu about it for Hong Kong, that's because the city has its own version of street occupation in protest of 'corporate greed' and 'devil banks'. Almost every weekday since December 2008, the pavements outside various bank branches across Hong Kong have been occupied by disgruntled Lehman Brothers minibond holders seeking compensation from the banks that sold them the minibonds, which became worthless or nearly so after the unexpected demise of... https://www.scmp.com/article/983401/rebel-without-pause-how-activists-did-it?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/983401/rebel-without-pause-how-activists-did-it?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 30 Oct 2011 16:00:00 +0000 Even in the darkest of Berlin nightclubs, DJ Zhao Bei stands out from the crowd. Chinese faces are a rarity in the European DJ scene, but even more unusual is the variety of African dance music he plays, from a continental version of salsa to Afro-jazz to kuduro, from Angola. Born in Beijing and educated in the United States, Zhao has never visited Africa but he is fascinated by the diversity of its music. Much of his time is spent on searching for ethnic tunes and mixing them with hip-hop... https://www.scmp.com/article/965925/diaspora-diaries?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/965925/diaspora-diaries?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 23 Apr 2011 16:00:00 +0000 Michelle Chuang Mei-lien has reason to be excited: she's about to produce a Chinese pop-rock album, perhaps the first of its kind to be made in the French capital. 'In Paris, Chinese music usually comes in the form of lion dances, oldies or traditional music. People do listen to Canto- and Mando-pop, but no one creates this kind of music. I'm looking forward to being the first,' says Chuang, originally from Taiwan. The 45-year-old has been preparing for the album for two years, dipping into... https://www.scmp.com/article/738083/diaspora-diaries?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/738083/diaspora-diaries?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 12 Feb 2011 16:00:00 +0000 When the mainland authorities cancelled a Norwegian musical that was scheduled to be performed in Beijing and Wuhan, recently - apparently in response to the award of the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize, which is given by the Norwegian Nobel Committee, to dissident Liu Xiaobo - Joe Chung's friends were baffled. They wondered why China couldn't separate politics from art. With a shrug, Chung replied: 'It's just a way of saving face.' In his neck of the woods, Chung is somewhat of an authority on... https://www.scmp.com/article/729092/diaspora-diaries?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/729092/diaspora-diaries?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 30 Oct 2010 16:00:00 +0000 When Liu Zhenchen finished art college in Shanghai, he felt lost. While his classmates wasted no time in finding jobs, he 'thought it was meaningless to work for the sake of making a living. I couldn't accept doing something I didn't like just for the money'. Liu believed his attitude had no place in booming Shanghai - or anywhere else in China. Art-loving France might suit him, he thought. So, in his early 20s, he began a life of 'escapism', studying year after year in France as he tried work... https://www.scmp.com/article/727777/diaspora-diaries?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/727777/diaspora-diaries?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 16 Oct 2010 16:00:00 +0000 'I would walk down the street smiling and feeling overwhelmed by happiness. I thought I was extremely lucky to live in this cool city,' says Effie Wu of her first two years in Berlin. For the 37-year-old multimedia artist from Taiwan, the German capital is 'cool' because she feels it accepts her offbeat style - Wu makes self-portrait videos showing her in off-the-wall outfits and moving in odd ways. 'I've been told by my Taiwanese friends I look awkward and lose face because I hum all the... https://www.scmp.com/article/726453/diaspora-diaries?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/726453/diaspora-diaries?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 02 Oct 2010 16:00:00 +0000 Having spent his first three decades in money-obsessed Hong Kong and America, architect Joseph Lau She-chin hadn't given much thought to socialism. That changed when he moved to France. Living in Paris, which is run by socialist mayor Bertrand Delanoe, Lau, 34, is impressed by how often citizens' needs are met. When he wants to move around the city, he picks up a Velib - a bicycle available through a no- or low-cost rental programme launched by Delanoe - and rides for free for the... https://www.scmp.com/article/724595/diaspora-diaries?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/724595/diaspora-diaries?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 11 Sep 2010 16:00:00 +0000 At Yam'Tcha, a Michelin-starred fusion bistro near the Louvre Museum, in Paris, curious diners often ask owner Chan Chi-wah what 'Yam'Tcha' means. A Hong Kong native, Chan explains the word translates as 'drink tea' and reflects an unconventional menu that offers a variety of Chinese tea to match the French-with-a-hint-of-China dishes prepared by his French wife, chef Adeline Grattard. The idea is apparently a popular one; the restaurant has been booked a month in advance since its... https://www.scmp.com/article/719338/long-distance-call?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/719338/long-distance-call?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 10 Jul 2010 16:00:00 +0000 As far as his parents, who live in northern China, are concerned, Musk Ming is an art gallery worker somewhere in Europe - they aren't aware their 31-year-old son is an up-and-coming artist in Berlin, Germany. Ming does not use his real name and is coy with his parents about his life abroad for two reasons: he is a homosexual and he specialises in gay art. 'Being gay is too much to be accepted in mainland China. My parents may accept it but the people around them won't and my... https://www.scmp.com/article/716954/long-distance-call?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/716954/long-distance-call?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 12 Jun 2010 16:00:00 +0000 When Sun Shang-chi left his native Taiwan for Germany to pursue a dance career, he made sure he packed a rice cooker along with his ballet shoes, in case sausages and sauerkraut were tastes he failed to acquire. 'I couldn't cook at all. With a rice cooker, I thought I could at least have some rice,' he recalls. Eight years on and such concerns are far behind him. Now an up-and-coming choreographer, Sun has adapted to life in Germany. 'I got very homesick in the first two years. But afterwards,... https://www.scmp.com/article/696345/long-distance-call?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/696345/long-distance-call?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 24 Oct 2009 16:00:00 +0000 Who? A 26-year-old designer who wants to change the world's 'negative outlook' on China through the work of her company, Mica (Made in China Architecture). Wang joined the Hong Kong design scene 11/2years ago after finishing her studies in the United States and Europe. So far, she has completed three interior projects, including for a restaurant in Causeway Bay. She has also designed four commercial websites. How did she get into design? At the age of six, she was driven past the HSBC... https://www.scmp.com/article/691610/joyce-wang?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/691610/joyce-wang?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 05 Sep 2009 16:00:00 +0000 Who is he? The 66-year-old Hong Kong native is behind some of the city's most prominent skyscrapers, including Central Plaza and The Center. His company, Dennis Lau & Ng Chun Man Architects & Engineers, was named one of the top 10 architects in Hong Kong in 2008 by construction media group BCI Asia. His portfolio covers Beijing, Taiwan, Thailand and Ukraine. How did he get into architecture? Unsurprisingly, art was Lau's favourite subject at school and he became interested in architecture... https://www.scmp.com/article/670749/dennis-lau?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/670749/dennis-lau?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 21 Feb 2009 16:00:00 +0000 The tenant of a Peak home wanted a cosy yet masculine space to house his art collection. It may seem extravagant, given that he is away from Hong Kong as often as he is here, but for an aficionado with deep pockets, a 4,500 sqft duplex on The Peak was the logical place to house his large collection of art. When the tenant, a financier from the Middle East, approached designer Julie Wittgenstein for help, he asked for an interior that could accommodate his collection. The result is dozens of... https://www.scmp.com/article/670001/mans-world?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/670001/mans-world?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Feb 2009 16:00:00 +0000 What makes beautiful architecture? To begin with, this is the wrong question to ask, according to leading Hong Kong architect Rocco Yim Sen-kee. Calling a building beautiful immediately marks you as uninitiated. As he says, 'Of course, architecture is about aesthetics, but it's aesthetics built on many things. Is there good use of light, material and space? What does the building do to your state of mind? And can it unlock your imagination about a culture or a particular feeling?' The softly... https://www.scmp.com/article/668352/converging-lines?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/668352/converging-lines?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 29 Jan 2009 16:00:00 +0000 Antonio Marelli, resident area manager of Italian furniture-maker Minotti, recently launched the brand's One World Collection at the Andante showroom in Hong Kong. The collection features high-end furniture for residential spaces, boutique hotels, offices and airport lounges. What's this collection about? 'Minotti is known as one of the leaders in living and dining rooms, but we're not as famous in the public space domain. Public space refers to the lobby of a boutique hotel, the common area... https://www.scmp.com/article/665595/chat-antonio-marelli?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/665595/chat-antonio-marelli?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 01 Jan 2009 16:00:00 +0000 Who is he? A product designer from Britain who came to Hong Kong last year to establish the Office for Product Design with a friend from college. A graduate of the prestigious Glasgow School of Art, Boyd landed his first job at Alessi, where he worked with some of the biggest names in Italian design. But it wasn't until he left the homeware brand that he became a fully fledged designer. How did he get into product design? Boyd almost studied graphic design but plumped at the last... https://www.scmp.com/article/663714/nicol-boyd?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/663714/nicol-boyd?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 13 Dec 2008 16:00:00 +0000 Who is he? An internationally established designer from Britain whose woven steel products propelled him to fame months after he left university, at the age of 26. Young's design career has largely been smooth sailing. He has set up five studios, in Europe, Taiwan and Hong Kong, and designed everything from furniture to bicycles to MP3 players to sex toys. His client list includes Artemide, Georg Jensen and Cappellini. Based in Hong Kong since 2004, Young is behind Chivas Bar, in Tsim... https://www.scmp.com/article/654240/michael-young?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/654240/michael-young?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 27 Sep 2008 16:00:00 +0000 Who is he? A Parisian-born architect-interior designer with substantial international experience, Sebastien Saint-Jean worked in Paris, New York, El Salvador and Guangzhou before moving to Hong Kong two years ago to take on independent projects. In Paris, he designed Tokyo Eat and Tokyo Self, a restaurant and a cafeteria within the museum Palais de Tokyo. In El Salvador, he worked on public housing estates and government schools. In Hong Kong he created Shine, a fashion boutique that opened... https://www.scmp.com/article/650087/sebastien-saint-jean?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/650087/sebastien-saint-jean?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 23 Aug 2008 16:00:00 +0000 If numbers are anything to go by we can deduce from the Hong Kong Book Fair that people in the SAR are avid book lovers. The annual week-long event, which ended on Tuesday, drew a record high of 829,967 visitors, a 9.2 per cent increase on last year. That may help banish the belief that the average Hong Kong citizen doesn't read anything but celebrity gossip magazines or self-help books on how to make a fortune - although some authors continue to despair at domestic reading habits. The thousands... https://www.scmp.com/article/647678/quantity-not-quality-creed-book-fair?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/647678/quantity-not-quality-creed-book-fair?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 02 Aug 2008 16:00:00 +0000 Alberto Alessi, managing director of Italian homeware design brand Alessi, was recently in town to open the Alessi Tea & Coffee Towers Exhibition at the Landmark. The show featured 20 tea and coffee sets designed by 20 renowned architects, including Britain's Zaha Hadid, France's Dominique Perrault and Hong Kong's Gary Chang. What is the philosophy behind the Tea & Coffee Towers Exhibition? 'In Italy there is a very strong relationship between product design and architecture. Many important... https://www.scmp.com/article/644009/chat-alberto-alessi?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/644009/chat-alberto-alessi?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 03 Jul 2008 16:00:00 +0000 A Paris-born designer went back to her roots to create a child-friendly modern home with rustic charm. As Hong Kong's obsession with concrete continues unabated, the line between the city and the country is becoming increasingly blurred. Today, living in the sticks means remaining in close proximity to at least one shopping centre, two supermarkets and three restaurants. Fortunately, through the power of design, a sense of rustic peace and tranquillity, at least within the confines of a home,... https://www.scmp.com/article/632706/town-and-country?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/632706/town-and-country?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 05 Apr 2008 16:00:00 +0000 'I get up around 8am. By then, my nine-year-old son has gone to school but my younger son is still at home. I normally ask him to play the piano for an hour. It's an enlightening way to start the day. He's only four. The other day he played Beethoven's Ode to Joy and I offered him HK$20 as a reward. He only took HK$10, saying he preferred the look of that banknote. It's not a very artistic way to reward a child but this is Hong Kong, where money rules. Sometimes you've got to compromise. I... https://www.scmp.com/article/632750/chip-tsao?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/632750/chip-tsao?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 05 Apr 2008 16:00:00 +0000 Nicol Rubelli is the fifth-generation descendant of Lorenzo Rubelli, who founded high-end Venetian home fabric company Rubelli in 1858. The company director was in Hong Kong recently to launch the brand's latest collection at Altfield Interiors. What do quality fabrics mean to the home? 'The same way that quality clothes make you feel. When you wear cashmere, you feel good and enjoy caressing it. For home fabrics nothing is nicer and more precious than silk. It's beautiful and its feel is... https://www.scmp.com/article/631585/chat-nicol-rubelli?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/631585/chat-nicol-rubelli?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 27 Mar 2008 16:00:00 +0000