https://www.scmp.com/rss/811/feed Mark Graham has reported from most parts of Asia, with a particular focus on the monumental changes in China. He has spent 15 years in the capital, Beijing, filing feature stories for international newspapers and magazines. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Nik Zanella had long suspected that surfing had been around in China for a thousand years or more. During extensive academic research, numerous references had cropped up in ancient poems and literature, suggesting that wave-riding may have featured as early as the Tang and Song dynasties. But the Italian had failed to unearth any significant visual evidence until, by chance, he came across a mural at Qiongzhu temple in landlocked Kunming, Yunnan province, back in 2006. Right before Zanella’s... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3275643/were-chinese-monks-original-surfer-dudes-how-italian-coach-discovered-sports-chinese-roots-kunming?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3275643/were-chinese-monks-original-surfer-dudes-how-italian-coach-discovered-sports-chinese-roots-kunming?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 23 Aug 2024 23:45:19 +0000 When newly appointed Penguin China general manager Jo Lusby hosted her international bosses in Beijing for the first time, in 2005, she suggested the publishing executives meet the author of a then-bestselling book, Wolf Totem. On the face of it, a Chinese-language novel about wolves and shepherds written by a pseudonymous Beijing intellectual seemed unlikely to captivate an international audience. But the writer, Jiang Rong, charmed the executives with his atmospheric descriptions, based... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3268250/early-coup-peppa-pig-michelle-obama-and-harry-potter-ex-penguin-china-chief?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3268250/early-coup-peppa-pig-michelle-obama-and-harry-potter-ex-penguin-china-chief?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 29 Jun 2024 23:45:08 +0000 Just over an hour from central Beijing, hard-pedalling cyclists astride sleek, light, multiple-gear bikes rid themselves of suburban high-rises and glide into a pollution-free and lushly forested landscape. Another 80 minutes of wheel-spinning takes faster riders to the Great Wall itself, cruising smooth roads alongside the Ming dynasty structure that present challenging hills and gentle curves. It is the kind of two-wheel nirvana that has led to explosive growth in Beijing ultra-cycling over... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3264806/beijing-ultra-cycling-boom-riders-enjoy-day-night-adventures-most-beautiful-roads-cycling?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3264806/beijing-ultra-cycling-boom-riders-enjoy-day-night-adventures-most-beautiful-roads-cycling?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 01 Jun 2024 03:15:09 +0000 Running the 3,262-kilometre (2,027-mile) length of the Great Wall of China would be a gruelling undertaking at the best of times. Completing such an epic expedition during a pandemic – as brothers Jimmy and Tommy Lindesay did – was a herculean feat that involved perseverance, ingenuity, stamina and a measure of subterfuge. They were following in the footsteps of their explorer father, William Lindesay, who ran a similar route 35 years ago – the first foreigner to do so. A Briton, Lindesay... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3203560/they-clearly-had-genes-brothers-run-length-great-wall-china-35-years-after-their-father?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3203560/they-clearly-had-genes-brothers-run-length-great-wall-china-35-years-after-their-father?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 19 Dec 2022 23:15:09 +0000 For David Huang Ganjun, the path to becoming a world-class perfumer was one littered with obstacles. He worked in a detergent factory, learned two languages and beat off competition to enter a top French scent-training institution, funded by a loan from a soldier pal. Huang, from the Chinese city of Luoyang, is nothing if not determined and his perseverance paid off. Three decades after beginning his studies, he heads the China operations of French company Robertet, a fragrance and flavour... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3174370/turning-memories-beautiful-moments-chinese-perfumer-art?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3174370/turning-memories-beautiful-moments-chinese-perfumer-art?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 18 Apr 2022 08:15:20 +0000 Speak to anybody who knew journalist Robin Lynam well and they would extol his in-depth knowledge of fine wine, malt whisky and gourmet food and his encyclopedic fund of arcane information on rock and jazz music. But most of all, they would cite his unfailing kindness, instinctive courtesy, incisive wit and keen intellect. Lynam, who died on February 20 after a long and stoic battle with illness, was a consummate professional who arrived in Hong Kong in the early 1980s and embarked on a long... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/3168096/tributes-flow-robin-lynam-real-gentleman-respected-hong-kong-journalist?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/3168096/tributes-flow-robin-lynam-real-gentleman-respected-hong-kong-journalist?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 23 Feb 2022 10:56:59 +0000 Virtually every scent line To Summer produces is a sell-out, snapped up by online customers who are captivated by the headily nostalgic fragrances such as osmanthus flower and cedarwood that evoke powerful childhood memories and emotions. Another characteristic that endears buyers is that the scents are created and manufactured in China, carefully crafted to match the specific sensibilities of discerning, affluent, young Chinese consumers. The distinctive whiff of the osmanthus flower in... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3160094/how-luxury-chinese-perfumes-are-riding-china-cool-and-c?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3160094/how-luxury-chinese-perfumes-are-riding-china-cool-and-c?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 21 Dec 2021 04:15:09 +0000 Children playing in a village in Yunnan, southwest China, were dumbfounded at the sudden appearance of a shaven-headed, bare-chested European sprinting, screaming, down the main street. The agitated individual in question was Dominic Johnson-Hill, who had shed his T-shirt after being stung by a hornet and was trying to escape the rest of the swarm. The kids gazed in slack-jawed amazement: an encounter with anyone non-Chinese was a rarity, let alone a lanky, bald and shirtless Briton moving at... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3159542/documentary-film-presenters-adventures-china-getting-stung?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3159542/documentary-film-presenters-adventures-china-getting-stung?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 13 Dec 2021 23:15:18 +0000 Passengers boarding a recent flight from Shanghai to Beijing were treated to the extraordinary sight of a burly, military-trained Briton supervising a group of youngsters as they performed vigorous press-ups in the aircraft aisle. Few Chinese people would have been totally surprised by the scene, unlikely though it sounds. The instructor, Tony Nicholson, is a familiar face in China, thanks to his regular television appearances promoting fitness. A 1.9 metre (six foot, two inches) hunk of... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3134857/personal-trainer-chinas-wealthiest-social-media-star?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3134857/personal-trainer-chinas-wealthiest-social-media-star?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 26 May 2021 20:15:09 +0000 During the day on the lower floors, upwardly mobile young people browse the cornucopia of consumer options, marvelling at snazzy clothing, cutting-edge art and slick sneakers. At night, on the top floor – to a thudding soundtrack of techno music and a mesmerising, room-wide light show – cash-rich financiers and successful start-up entrepreneurs party until the small hours. The venue is TX Youth Energy Centre in Shanghai where, on a busy day, up to 40,000 people pass through the doors, anxious... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3130086/gen-z-shopping-centre-china-most-vibrant-spot-shanghai?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3130086/gen-z-shopping-centre-china-most-vibrant-spot-shanghai?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 19 Apr 2021 23:15:14 +0000 Close to foam-flecked rocks, where the big waves roar and crash, a posse of China’s elite surfers are in action, performing dizzyingly complex twists, turns and flips on their short boards. Slightly further down the beach, groups of athletic young women catch gentler waves, hollering with delight when they manage to stand up and gently guide their long boards towards the shore. This scene plays out daily at Shimei Bay, on Hainan island, where serious wave riders and neophyte surfers share ocean... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3125636/bikini-brigade-chinese-women-take-surfing-big-way-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3125636/bikini-brigade-chinese-women-take-surfing-big-way-and?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 17 Mar 2021 20:15:17 +0000 Despite the pandemic, Huishan Zhang is still clocking up significant air miles and is possibly one of the few international designers whose points total has soared during the past year. All Zhang’s post-March travels have been within China, zipping from city to city to check on stores and paying personal visits to couture clients. The latter have proved to be a particularly fertile source of business during the nine months Zhang has been based in his home city of Qingdao, instead of the company... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3115284/chinese-fashion-designers-well-positioned-boom-domestic?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3115284/chinese-fashion-designers-well-positioned-boom-domestic?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 27 Dec 2020 18:30:11 +0000 How did you come to be a milliner in Beijing? “My husband was posted here as a diplomat in 2007, and I started with a studio in the spare room of my home for the first four years. At that time there was nobody making traditional hats or with millinery expertise. Yes, there were hat factories, but my high-end hats were made by hand and sold for 3,000 yuan and up. Everyone said, make use of the fact that you are in China to produce a lower price label, so I launched Elisabeth Koch Millinery Blue... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/fashion/article/3090398/hats-elisabeth-koch-dutch-milliner-whose-creations?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/fashion/article/3090398/hats-elisabeth-koch-dutch-milliner-whose-creations?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 25 Jun 2020 06:45:07 +0000 Humour is hard to come by at the moment, but a T-shirt design depicting a baijiu bottle logo on a disinfectant spray container by Beijing-based brand Plastered has had people cracking a wry grin. (Baijiu is a fiery Chinese spirit.) Not that the brand’s owner, or many other independent Chinese designers, have much to smile about when they look at fashion sales during the current coronavirus pandemic. Many companies rely on selling their clothing in physical stores and malls, which have mostly... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3081231/sell-more-online-or-hope-brick-and-mortar-sales-recover?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3081231/sell-more-online-or-hope-brick-and-mortar-sales-recover?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 25 Apr 2020 05:00:11 +0000 It took an extended Beijing lockdown to make my daughter begin to truly appreciate the inherent style, class and quality of high-end fashion. With Vogue China editor-in-chief Angelica Cheung as her mum, Hayley has, of course, spent her entire life in and around the fashion world, sitting on the front row at Chanel, Dior and Burberry shows with the kind of studied nonchalance that is de rigueur for prime-position regulars. She regularly encounters designers Victoria Beckham, Jason Wu and Alber... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3077248/vogue-china-editors-daughter-gets-fashion-awakening?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3077248/vogue-china-editors-daughter-gets-fashion-awakening?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 29 Mar 2020 01:15:13 +0000 Talented and commercially successful designer Uma Wang may be celebrating her eponymous brand’s 10th anniversary this year, but when the chance came to create costumes for a historical movie, nerves began to flutter and doubts set in. The fears were unfounded. Wang’s silver screen debut, designing costumes for the 1930s Beijing-set drama Hidden Man – directed by Jiang Wen and starring Liao Fan and Eddie Peng – was deemed an unqualified success. The film even got a nomination for best make-up and... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3050597/chinese-designer-uma-wang-her-italian-made-clothes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3050597/chinese-designer-uma-wang-her-italian-made-clothes?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 17 Feb 2020 04:30:15 +0000 Influencer and front-row regular Margaret Zhang has been appointed as the editor-in-chief of Vogue China and will succeed founding editor-in-chief Angelica Cheung, who left the glossy last year and recently announced her new role as a partner at investment fund Sequoia Capital China. “Margaret creates content on so many different platforms and brings a new perspective and voice to Vogue China,” said Anna Wintour, global editorial director of Vogue and chief content officer of Condé Nast. “When... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3048352/there-anything-influencer-margaret-zhang-cant-do-shes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3048352/there-anything-influencer-margaret-zhang-cant-do-shes?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 03 Feb 2020 07:00:13 +0000 When Alicia Lee launched her own fashion label, more than seven years ago, it was something of an uphill struggle. In many ways the design part was the easiest. Finding distributors and factories prepared to commit to smaller production runs was the trickiest part. It was particularly difficult for the Beijing-based designer, who was located some distance from where most China garment factories are. Being in the capital, however, did offer one huge advantage – the concentration of media... https://www.scmp.com/business/beijing-based-alicia-lee-designs-clothes-chinas-working-women/article/3048221?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/beijing-based-alicia-lee-designs-clothes-chinas-working-women/article/3048221?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 30 Jan 2020 09:42:23 +0000 When Alicia Lee launched her own fashion label, more than seven years ago, it was something of an uphill struggle. In many ways the design part was the easiest. Finding distributors and factories prepared to commit to smaller production runs was the trickiest part. It was particularly difficult for the Beijing-based designer, who was located some distance from where most China garment factories are. Being in the capital, however, did offer one huge advantage – the concentration of media... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3048011/chinese-fashion-designer-alicia-lee-antidote-chain-store?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3048011/chinese-fashion-designer-alicia-lee-antidote-chain-store?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 29 Jan 2020 23:15:08 +0000 There is a good reason Russian fashion boutique chain Babochka is named as it is. The word means butterfly in Russian and, with it being the first private business established in the then Soviet city of St Petersburg, its founder, a former ballet dancer, thought it might have a similarly short but beautiful life. Despite the seemingly doomed notion of opening a private luxury business in a rigidly socialist system, Babochka thrived. It became the predominant luxury fashion retailer in St... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3047295/how-russian-luxury-fashion-retailer-babochka-became-style?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3047295/how-russian-luxury-fashion-retailer-babochka-became-style?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 26 Jan 2020 07:00:13 +0000 Jane Wang’s current favourite Erdos product is a delicate scarf of boundary-pushing thinness and lightness, created though a combination of cutting-edge technology, carefully refined traditional techniques and, of course, the very best cashmere fibre, taken from contented goats that graze on the Inner Mongolian plains. The scarf, prices for which start at HK$7,000 (US$900), is a personal passion – Wang is a Cambridge University engineering graduate who fully understands the technical issues... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3046131/sustainable-fashion-finest-wool-world-and-why-erdos-king?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3046131/sustainable-fashion-finest-wool-world-and-why-erdos-king?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Jan 2020 21:00:09 +0000 In the space of mere months, David Yang went from a novice model to being featured on a billboard in Times Square in New York. Yang’s whirlwind rise to fame began when he received a call from his agent while in Kyoto, Japan. The model was told to fly to London to get a US visa and to book a ticket to New York for a potential shoot with H&M. Within weeks, Yang found himself on a beach shooting the images that would ultimately see him become the campaign poster-boy for the Swedish fast-fashion... https://www.scmp.com/arts/mere-months-david-yang-went-novice-drawing-comparisons-david-bowie-jim-morrison-and-rolling-stones/article/3042583?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/arts/mere-months-david-yang-went-novice-drawing-comparisons-david-bowie-jim-morrison-and-rolling-stones/article/3042583?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Dec 2019 10:12:43 +0000 In the space of mere months, David Yang went from a novice model to being featured on a billboard in Times Square in New York. Yang’s whirlwind rise to fame began when he received a call from his agent while in Kyoto, Japan. The model was told to fly to London to get a US visa and to book a ticket to New York for a potential shoot with H&M. Within weeks, Yang found himself on a beach shooting the images that would ultimately see him become the campaign poster-boy for the Swedish fast-fashion... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3042421/how-chinese-model-went-novice-fashion-industry-darling?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3042421/how-chinese-model-went-novice-fashion-industry-darling?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 17 Dec 2019 21:00:18 +0000 Punchy colours, impactful prints and whimsical humour – these are all trademarks of designer Christine Lau. The founder of fashion brand Chictopia makes flamboyant clothing designed to be worn for parties, or special occasions, by confident young women, and it shows in her collections. It certainly takes a certain verve to hit the town in a dress that is plastered with images of shellfish, or an oversized fluorescent green T-shirt overlaid with the word “famous”, floral shorts and fishnet... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3039345/bold-fashion-chinese-designer-and-founder-chictopia?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3039345/bold-fashion-chinese-designer-and-founder-chictopia?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 27 Nov 2019 07:00:07 +0000 Every year the highly rated Master of Arts course in fashion at the world’s best-known design college is bombarded with applications from would-be students from around the world – including more than 400 from China. Unlike in the past, most of the hopeful Chinese students submitting their résumés meet the academic, creative and linguistic requirements of Central Saint Martins in London, but the majority are turned down, to maintain a balance of nationalities on the hugely oversubscribed... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/2164654/hong-kongs-izzue-gives-central-saint-martins-fashion?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/2164654/hong-kongs-izzue-gives-central-saint-martins-fashion?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 18 Sep 2018 23:15:00 +0000 The Luu triplets were once on course for a fairly standard middle-class Canadian life – graduate from college, embark on a career, settle down. Then Hollywood intervened with a more exciting script that saw the trio star in a blockbuster film, rise to fame in Asia, model for major international fashion brands and act alongside their all-time action hero, Jackie Chan. Yet for all their new-found celebrity status, which sees them being stopped for selfies every time they venture onto the streets... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/2154129/acting-jackie-chan-making-it-big-china-fashion-and-film?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/2154129/acting-jackie-chan-making-it-big-china-fashion-and-film?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 Jul 2018 13:18:53 +0000 Fashion shows are not entirely new to Chinese television – but there has never been anything remotely as slick, professionally produced and well-funded as Fashion Master. The programme, which airs at prime time on Saturday nights on China Central Television (CCTV), showcases the work of 32 local designers – some at the start-up stage, others already established – and invites them to produce a mini-collection based on a specific Chinese cultural theme. Chinese fashion designers ignore sneers to... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/2150342/chinas-answer-project-runway-has-fashion-designers-and-tv?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/2150342/chinas-answer-project-runway-has-fashion-designers-and-tv?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 13 Jun 2018 00:31:05 +0000 Deep in rural Australia, around a two-hour drive from the city of Melbourne, a small team of artisans produce fabulously ornate, couture-level gowns, made with the same meticulous attention to detail as at the renowned maisons of Paris. Pair’s personalised leather accessories start-up an e-commerce hit The difference is that the sumptuous frocks created by costume manager Erin Santamaria and her two colleagues are not intended to be worn for partying. The dresses are exact replicas of the... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/2148680/australia-artisans-recreate-gold-rush-fashions-couture?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/2148680/australia-artisans-recreate-gold-rush-fashions-couture?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 02 Jun 2018 06:18:29 +0000 After banking the lucrative proceeds from the sale of his self-founded brand, Nautica, designer-entrepreneur David Chu had a plan in place, to play golf as often as possible, and generally enjoy a life of leisure. This early retirement scheme did not last long. Chu, just 49 at the time, realised that he still had a head full of ideas, with the requisite business knowledge and experience to implement them effectively. The Taiwan-born, America-raised amateur golfer was finding it difficult to find... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/2123283/how-nauticas-david-chu-gave-retirement-and-created-hugely?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/2123283/how-nauticas-david-chu-gave-retirement-and-created-hugely?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 10 Dec 2017 05:17:30 +0000 Heritage, character and charm come as standard at Ignace Lecleir's ever-expanding range of Beijing dining establishments. There is Temple Restaurant Beijing (TRB), located in a Ming dynasty-era compound once used to print Tibetan Buddhist scriptures; the just-opened TRB Bites@The Courtyard, overlooking the moat, and vermillion walls, of the Forbidden City; and Copper, an event venue in a former hutong nail factory. It is an impressive spread of options, but far from the full panoply. The... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/1856986/how-entrepreneur-ignace-lecleir-became-beacon-excellence?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/1856986/how-entrepreneur-ignace-lecleir-became-beacon-excellence?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 10 Sep 2015 16:35:12 +0000 Diners at Beijing's hottest new Chinese restaurant, Country Kitchen, would search in vain for any of the usual clichéd hotel-restaurant leitmotifs - there is a total absence of red in the pillars, lanterns, dragons and tablecloths. Designers at the Beijing Rosewood hotel's restaurant eschewed the elaborately ornate approach, opting for a stripped-down look with lots of wood, in keeping with the theme of northern China home-style dining. The result is a hotel restaurant like no other in Beijing,... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/1826413/meet-new-kids-beijings-culinary-block?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/1826413/meet-new-kids-beijings-culinary-block?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 25 Jun 2015 22:09:30 +0000 In years gone by, the giant wine company Torres made special decorative gift boxes for Lunar New Year, confident there would be plenty of corporate buyers in China seeking expensive, elaborately packaged wine to give to contacts. But not for the Year of the Horse. The demand for such special gift packaging has fallen so dramatically that it is no longer worth making special editions for significant festivals, such as the New Year or Mid-Autumn. The government clampdown on gift giving has also... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/1422088/mainland-wine-importers-optimistic-despite-clampdown-gift?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/1422088/mainland-wine-importers-optimistic-despite-clampdown-gift?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 07 Feb 2014 01:37:42 +0000 Brew pubs offering hearty English-style real ales and beers with unusual ingredients such as watermelon, Sichuan peppers and tea are proving to be hugely popular in Beijing, packed with drinkers who, at last, have an alternative to bland local offerings. The main three newcomers, Great Leap Brewing, Slow Boat Brewery and Jing-A Brewing Company, initially targeted their craft beers at expatriates. They knew they would have a ready-made clientele of British, Americans and Germans pining for the... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/1362053/brewery-alehouses-beijing-bring-european-style-craft-beers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/1362053/brewery-alehouses-beijing-bring-european-style-craft-beers?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 21 Nov 2013 12:00:00 +0000 When the going gets tough for a bunch of cyclists undertaking a marathon ride around southern and eastern China, they will not lack the inspiration to keep their wheels turning. Money raised by the Shangri-La Hotel bicycle team's 2,000-kilometre mega-pedal from Shenzhen to Shanghai - called Ride for Hope - will improve the lives of some of the mainland's poorest people. The team of six cyclists set off at the weekend on a three-week adventure that will see them pass through four provinces and 22... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health/article/1359438/shangri-la-hotel-bicycle-team-sets-charity-ride-across-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health/article/1359438/shangri-la-hotel-bicycle-team-sets-charity-ride-across-china?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 19 Nov 2013 00:42:13 +0000 Merely listening to veteran golfer Gary Player recite his daily fitness regimen is enough to induce feelings of weariness and breathlessness, not to mention awe and admiration. Player, who turned 78 this month, does about 1,000 press-ups or sit-ups almost every single day and often puts in a round of golf at one of the 300 courses he has designed in different parts of the world - including Kau Sai Chau, off Sai Kung, in Hong Kong. The way we are going, the world is becoming desperately... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health/article/1350845/veteran-golfer-gary-player-explains-why-its-crucial-look-after?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health/article/1350845/veteran-golfer-gary-player-explains-why-its-crucial-look-after?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 11 Nov 2013 06:54:04 +0000 NO PLACE LIKE HOME I went to the Peak School, a very British school, and the influence was massive. When you grow up as an expatriate, you have a very clear concept of what it means to be British, your sense of "home" is much stronger, and I think that was a factor in me wanting to join an army regiment that rides up and down the Mall (in London) in fancy uniforms. I saw that as being very British. I think all around the world expatriates are more in touch with their sense of nationality. We... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1300315/my-life-ed-olver?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1300315/my-life-ed-olver?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 31 Aug 2013 16:00:00 +0000 When Dr Richard Saint Cyr tells people he voluntarily swapped the spotlessly clean air of California for the grey, grungy skies of Beijing, he is met with raised eyebrows and incredulous expressions. Why did he do it? His financier wife, Joanna Wang, was posted back to her home city, and he followed. Once there, Saint Cyr, 44, saw a chance to combine his profession with his self-confessed geeky passion for computers and the internet. The result is the expat-oriented website myhealthbeijing.com... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health/article/1297160/beijing-blog-gives-expats-hand?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health/article/1297160/beijing-blog-gives-expats-hand?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 18 Aug 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Athlete Suzy Walsham is hard to beat on a flat surface, be it a road or a track. When bounding up steps to the top of a skyscraper, she is virtually uncatchable. Walsham is the poster girl for tower running, whereby competitors race to the top of iconic skyscrapers such as the Empire State Building in New York City and, two weekends ago, the 330-metre-high China World Summit Wing hotel in Beijing. At the top of the building, you can barely walk. You try to take back your breath Clement... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health/article/1296138/tower-running-gives-worlds-athletes-new-high?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health/article/1296138/tower-running-gives-worlds-athletes-new-high?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 12 Aug 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Wherever he is - warming up a crowd of marathon runners in Tiananmen Square, or leading a pack of joggers in a Beijing park - Linus Holmsater is easy to spot. A shock of blond hair, a pair of fluorescent pink shorts and a voice that bursts with enthusiasm are the unmistakable trademarks of the Swedish fitness instruction entrepreneur. He is a man on a mission to prevent China becoming a nation of computer-screen-watching fatties, intent on persuading people, by vigorous action and loquacious... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health/article/1158299/fitness-entrepreneur-spreads-message-mainland?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health/article/1158299/fitness-entrepreneur-spreads-message-mainland?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 25 Feb 2013 16:00:00 +0000 A back-alley bar that serves real ale, a Prohibition-era- speakeasy themed lounge, a trendy lounge in the arts district and a gourmet restaurant with fabulous views of the Forbidden City are among Beijing's new drinking and dining options. The grim winter weather and the perpetual thick smog have not dampened the spirits of the capital's nightlife lovers, who have embraced the recently opened bars and restaurants with enthusiasm. In the case of Janes and Hooch, a two-storey lounge modelled on... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/1149437/real-ale-prohibition-cocktails-among-wealth-new-beijing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/1149437/real-ale-prohibition-cocktails-among-wealth-new-beijing?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 13 Feb 2013 16:00:00 +0000 A photo shoot for a calendar proved to be a career-making moment for Zhou Xun. The resulting picture was spotted by mainland director Xie Tieli, who saw big-screen potential in her distinctive looks and impish smile, and tracked her down. It was an astute piece of talent spotting that led to the offer of a movie part, the first step on a professional path that has seen Zhou, 38, notch up about 30 feature films to date, starting with that 1991 debut Old Grave and leading to her recent Hollywood... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/1131002/actress-zhou-xun-having-moment?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/1131002/actress-zhou-xun-having-moment?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 19 Jan 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Midnight has come and gone at the swishest, most star-studded fashion party Beijing has ever seen, and the tuxedoed and ballgown-clad celebrity guests are jabbing at their phones to summon limousines to take them home. But the oldest VIP in the house - a man who, with the turn of the hour, has entered his 59th year - is merely limbering up for some serious, early-hours moving, grooving and schmoozing. He stands surrounded by a phalanx of glamorous models young enough to be - whisper it - his... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1082996/making-scene?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1082996/making-scene?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 17 Nov 2012 16:00:00 +0000 A slew of new bars and restaurants have opened in the Sanlitun district of Beijing, reinforcing its position as the city's prime nightlife zone. What makes the district so appealing is the broad mixture of options, from hole-in-the wall local bars serving cheap bottles of Yanjing beer to fine-dining establishments that will put a serious dent in your wallet. At least three new wine bars - a rarity in the capital until recently - have opened, reflecting the increasingly sophisticated and... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/1082375/destination-sanlitun-beijing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/1082375/destination-sanlitun-beijing?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 14 Nov 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Long before ultra-running became popular, William Lindesay embarked on a wacky solo mission to run the length of the Great Wall - an adventure that saw him endure fiercely painful blisters, live in constant fear of arrest, and risk the possibility of a lonely and painful death in the wilderness. The Briton ran the entire 2,500-kilometre distance without a support crew, often in intense heat on sections that were far from the nearest settlement. This year marks the 25th anniversary of that epic... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health/article/1067231/man-who-hit-wall-and-ran?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health/article/1067231/man-who-hit-wall-and-ran?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 22 Oct 2012 16:00:00 +0000 High-powered Italian motorcycles are a rarity on the car-clogged roads of Beijing - so when a Ducati roars down the road, the chances are the rider is restaurateur Alan Wong. The California-born Wong operates at a fast pace in every area of his life: when not opening restaurants at the rate of one a year, whizzing around city streets, or blasting around a racetrack on one of his nine superbikes, Wong can be found snowboarding down mountains at breakneck speed. Yet the 37-year-old has no swagger... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/1057878/profile-alan-wong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/1057878/profile-alan-wong?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 10 Oct 2012 16:00:00 +0000 The Shepherd's Field orphanage aims to give orphans with special needs a second chance in life. Children at the centre, outside Beijing, come from orphanages all over China and usually need complicated medical treatment. Wherever possible, the orphanage pays for specialist operations that give the children a fighting chance of leading a normal life. The youngsters are then put up for adoption overseas with families that fit the criteria laid down by the orphanage and the Chinese... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/family-education/article/1016989/adoption-and-shepherds-field-orphanage?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/family-education/article/1016989/adoption-and-shepherds-field-orphanage?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 18 Aug 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Home-schooling children is a tough challenge, even with a support group in the neighbourhood and the help of internet resources. American doctors Bill and Ana Moody made it even harder by moving to an out-of-the-way Chinese village where, despite the many obstacles, they successfully home-schooled their sons. The upside of being in an isolated environment where little English is spoken or understood was that their boys learned to speak fluent colloquial Chinese. The eldest son, Matthew, is now... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/family-education/article/1016988/home-schooling-american-kids-chinese-village?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/family-education/article/1016988/home-schooling-american-kids-chinese-village?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 18 Aug 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Even though it was a mere six-table restaurant and cost him only 20,000 yuan to set up in Beijing in 1997, Wang Yong set high standards. He made sure there were proper tablecloths, attentive and polite waiters, menus in both Chinese and English, and, of course, tasty food with no MSG. That meticulous attention to detail and big-picture thinking have paid off in a big way. There are now four branches of Xiao Wang's Home Restaurant in the capital that jointly seat more than 1,500... https://www.scmp.com/article/1014344/love-food-takes-wing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/1014344/love-food-takes-wing?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 08 Aug 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Proper pub grub is hard to find in Beijing, so Will Yorke aims to fill that culinary gap by serving authentic, beer-battered fish and chips with mushy peas, Scotch eggs, pork pies and ploughman's lunches comprising crusty bread, cheddar cheese, chutney and piccalilli. His first task, though, was to ensure that real ale was on tap at the Vine Leaf, a newly opened gastropub just off the capital's up-and-coming Wudaoying hutong (alleyway) that's home to scores of new bars, cafes and restaurants.... https://www.scmp.com/article/1005191/roll-little-bite-britain?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/1005191/roll-little-bite-britain?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 27 Jun 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Recently, while out for a long training run in the fields, bridleways and woods near the village where I grew up, it struck me how much I had hated running cross-country at school. Yet here I was, more than 40 years later, volunteering to stride across muddy terrain in brutally cold weather. What changed my mind? It was a posting overseas, to one of the most sports-mad places on the planet, that initially prompted me to invest in a pair of trainers, tackle a race or two, and gain a new... https://www.scmp.com/article/1003000/never-run-out-options?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/1003000/never-run-out-options?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 04 Jun 2012 16:00:00 +0000