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The story behind the now famous Louis Vuitton Monogram that has adorned the luxury brand’s luggage for 130 years. Photo: Handout
Style Edit

Style Edit: The story behind the Louis Vuitton Monogram

Designed to defeat counterfeiters 130 years ago, the motif has become one of the most recognisable in all of fashion, seen on everyone from Audrey Hepburn to Zendaya.

Timepieces

Horology’s most storied addresses: watch museums, workshops and archives

Lessons from China's history

Reflections | What a Chinese hero’s fatal love of raw fish warns us about uncooked food

Chinese culture

7 horse-themed Chinese idioms to use during the Year of the Horse

Horses symbolise strength, speed and health in Chinese culture. Here are seven sayings based on the animal, with Cantonese pronunciations.

Horses are the subject of many Chinese idioms. Here are seven of the most popular horse-related expressions in Chinese, how to pronounce them in Cantonese and the stories behind them. Photo: Shutterstock
Ukraine war

Opinion | Why Russia is gambling on a protracted war in Ukraine

Despite a stagnating economy and mounting casualties on the battlefield, Moscow believes it can wait out Ukrainian and Western resolve.

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Chinese culture

What the Chinese surname Ma, meaning ‘horse’, symbolises and how it spread

Ma is one of mainland China’s most common surnames and is interestingly even prevalent among Chinese Muslims. We look at its history.

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From our archives

In Pictures: majestic sailing ships that made Hong Kong a port of call

Hong Kong waters have long attracted some of the world’s most impressive sailing boats, harking back to the days when wind power ruled the waves.

Ship ahoy ... the Sail Training Association of Japan’s full-masted brigantine, the Kaisei, visits Hong Kong to drum up support for an Asian society of novice sailors, in 1994. Photo: SCMP Archives
Lessons from China's history

Reflections | How ancient Chinese dental practices were often similar to those used today

From gargling with medicinal concoctions to chewing sticks, people in China addressed dental health with considerable ingenuity.

Legacy of war in Asia

Opinion | Amid historical tensions with Japan, Hong Kong must engage for the future

Remembering the pain of the Nanking massacre does not preclude engagement, but ensures lessons of the past strengthen our shared commitment to peace.

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Rolex

Think platinum trumps gold? The Rolex Day-Date proves you wrong

Gold is more desirable than platinum in the jewellery market, and is worth more – so why is the platinum version of this watch more expensive?

The 40mm Rolex Day-Date in white gold and platinum are mechanically identical – but the different metals result in a US$17,000 price difference. Photo: Handout
Fashion

History of Chinese-style ‘frog buttons’, seen on viral Adidas jacket

Used in China for centuries, frog buttons are a key feature of a limited-edition Adidas jacket that has become a huge hit on social media.

A model wears Adidas’ “Tang-style” jacket that combines streetwear cool with Chinese details including “frog buttons”. The jacket has become a viral hit on social media. Photo: Adidas Power of Three
Obituaries

Anne Frank’s stepsister, Holocaust survivor Eva Schloss, dies at 96

Schloss co-founded the Anne Frank Trust UK foundation in 1990 to pass on the memory of the Holocaust to young people and combat prejudice.

Science

As I see it | We can now watch our own genes dance

Modern biology reveals a real miracle: how broken pieces of molecules evolved into a species that became conscious of its own genetic make-up.

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US-China relations

US poet laureate Arthur Sze on slowing down to translate poetry across cultures

As the first Asian-American poet laureate, Sze reflects on Chinese cultural inheritance and poetry’s role beyond borders.

Arthur Sze has woven the translation of classical Chinese poetry into his work across a five-decade career. Photo: by Shawn Miller
Luxury Hotels

Review | Old-world charm meets modern refinement at The Edison George Town, Penang

Set in a heritage colonial building dating back to 1906, the hotel underwent a 4-year restoration to bring it up to contemporary standards of luxury.

The Edison George Town is housed in a 1906 heritage colonial building in the heart of George Town, capital of the Malaysian island of Penang. Photo: Handout
China economy

Opinion | As history makes clear, a powerful China is not expansionist

China was an unmatched power in the Song and Ming dynasties, with greater concentrated authority. But it consolidated, rather than colonised.

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From our archives

Hong Kong swimmers braving the cold on New Year’s Day, from the 1970s to 2000s

A perennial test of courage, the city’s New Year Winter Swimming Lifesaving Championships race celebrates its 50th year in 2026.

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Chinese culture

The Chinese cowboys challenging narratives of the American Old West

Whether through art or immersion in the rancher lifestyle, these Asian men are redefining what it means to be a cowboy in the American West.

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Self-professed Chinese cowboy Bruce Wang Shibo stands with a horse. The Chinese national is one of those rewriting narratives of the American West. Photo: Bruce Wang Shibo
Asia travel

Travel stories from 2025 that will fuel your wanderlust for the year ahead

We recall 7 travel stories from the past year to inspire you in 2026, covering China food trips to a Hongkonger’s life-changing adventure.

Special Report - Jewellery

Mughal jewellery shines bright at Hong Kong Palace Museum exhibition

The Mughal dynasty’s opulent jewellery tradition continues to inspire contemporary designers and captivate collectors worldwide.

Hong Kong Voices

A fifth-gen shop owner on closing the business despite his umbrella obsession

The 73-year-old owner of Sun Nga Shing Umbrella Store in Sham Shui Po recently announced that he would be closing the family business, which dates back to the Qing dynasty.

Yau Yiu-wai, owner of Sun Nga Shing Umbrella Store in Hong Kong, which he plans to close after five generations. Photo: Jocelyn Tam
Lessons from China's history

Reflections | Chinese historical myths that are accepted as fact, and why they’ve endured

Like Singapore’s ‘ejection’ from Malaysia, Chinese history contains fallacies, including ones about Sun Yat-sen and Empress Dowager Cixi.

Sun Yat-sen, widely regarded as the founding father of modern China, is credited with “leading” the 1911 Revolution that overthrew the Qing dynasty, but in fact he was not even in China at the time of the Wuchang Uprising, the trigger of the revolution, and only learned about it afterwards. Photo: Getty Images
From our archives

In pictures: Hong Kong’s parties of Christmas (and New Year’s) past

The festive season is a good excuse to let your hair down – and Hongkongers do love to party.

Chinese culture

How the horse paintings of Xu Beihong have galloped through history

Known as the father of modern Chinese art and famed for his horse paintings, Xu Beihong blended Western techniques with Chinese tradition.

Science

Bronze Age cemetery offers clues on how ancient Chinese brewed red rice wine

Vessels found in tombs at Mogou in modern-day Gansu contain traces of a fermentation starter of the type still used to make sake today.

Processes similar to Bronze Age brewing techniques are still used today. Photo: Shutterstock
Africa

Algeria brands French colonisation a crime, demands reparations, apology

France’s rule over Algeria from 1830 until 1962 remains a sore spot in relations between the two countries.

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French troops in Algiers in 1956. The North African nation of Algeria suffered some of the most brutal forms of colonial rule. Photo: AP
Hong Kong

How Cantopop created Hong Kong’s own Christmas soundtrack

Joyful and jubilant, melancholic and mournful … the marriage of Cantopop and Christmas has resulted in a unique musical genre with a very Hong Kong vibe.

Science

China urged to sue over Japanese royal’s role in Unit 731 crimes

Emperor Hirohito should be held accountable, according to scholars who say the wartime ruler was shielded from prosecution by US policy.

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