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Chinese culture

Chinese culture
Latest news and updates on Chinese culture including the country’s traditions, food, values, history and festivals.
A screenshot from The Laid-off Girl, one of more than 275,000 AI microdramas released online this year. Photo: Douyin
New Zealand

Slow is beautiful: China’s war against AI drama goes beyond algorithms

Rapid expansion in production has intensified concerns over copyright and the mounting pressure on human creators.

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Food and Drinks

What truly defines the melting pot that is Cantonese cuisine?

China consumption

As Chinese retirees boost consumption, some hope for greater respect in society

Mainland China

Remote section of China’s Great Wall damaged by 20 years of mine waste dumping

Whistle-blowers were repeatedly ignored as mining interests removed Ming dynasty stones to create a short cut to slag dump, CCTV reports.

China’s state broadcaster says local authorities did not respond to repeated reports by whistle-blowers. Photo: CCTV
Lessons from China's history

Reflections | When centuries of Chinese knowledge were destroyed by warlord who burned a city

Xiang Yu’s razing of the Qin capital Xianyang, which left libraries full of vital texts in ruin, was echoed centuries later in Warsaw.

Food and Drinks

Chinese Restaurant Awards 2026: Mott 32 takes Canadian top spot

Mott 32 locations in Toronto and Vancouver were crowned the best Chinese restaurants in Canada in the 17th edition of the awards.

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China consumption

Mooncakes for the dog? How China is reinventing its iconic festive snack

China’s consumers appear to be going off the dense Mid-Autumn Festival treat, but tiny mooncakes for pets are a different story.

Dog mooncakes have become a popular new trend ahead of this year’s Mid-Autumn Festival in China. Photo: Handout
Chinese history

Who was Wang Zhenyi? Chinese female scientist who defied gender expectations

Wang shot for the stars with her work in astronomy and mathematics at a time when learned women did little more than write poetry.

Fashion

How Chinese first lady Peng Liyuan is a symbol of China’s fashion soft power

Peng once again shows off exclusively Chinese designs as she accompanies President Xi Jinping on Washington visit.

Music

Pipe dream: traditional wind instruments blow up a storm in Hong Kong

Wind instruments from China, Japan, Laos and beyond joined the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra to close the International Sheng and Reeds Festival 2026.

Russian musician Olene Uutai playing the Jaw Harp during “Thousand Reeds, One Universe” Yang Zhengping playing the Lusheng during “Love Song from the Countryside”, in an arrangement by Ngai Kwun-wa for the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra Reimi Miura playing the shō, a traditional Japanese free-reed mouth organ
Hong Kong society

From moongazing to bus tours: how to celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival in Hong Kong

Here’s a round-up of things to do and see for the Mid-Autumn Festival, which falls on Friday this year.

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The World Lantern Boulevard at Victoria Park. Photo: Dickson Lee
Food and Drinks

History of mooncake moulds and their designs, and those preserving the craft

Mooncake artistry flourished during the Ming and Qing dynasties, carved onto wooden moulds depicting flowers, birds and even deities.

Mid-Autumn Festival

Few still make Mid-Autumn Festival lanterns the classic way. This artisan does

Hong Kong lantern artisan Wan Wong explains why she keeps the traditional craft alive, barriers she faced as a woman and the key techniques.

Food and Drinks

Hong Kong-style milk tea that has customers queuing out the door – in Tokyo

Despite none being from Hong Kong, the three founders of Urushi to Hibi have created a unique – and popular – cultural fusion experience.

Strong brewed tea is poured at Urushi to Hibi, a cafe in Tokyo serving authentic Hong Kong-style milk tea. Photo: Urushi to Hibi
Style Edit

Style Edit: Chow Tai Fook’s Song collection draws on the Chinese drum

Double-drum forms, gourd motifs and diamond-set details express blessings, family ties and traditions passed down through the generations.

Chow Tai Fook’s Song collection transforms the Chinese drum into contemporary jewellery. Photo: Handout
Wellness

All about Hong Kong’s herbal teas and how Gen Z is reviving the health tradition

These century-old ‘leung cha’ cooling teas for ailments such as excess internal heat are finding new fans among health-conscious Gen Z.

Lessons from China's history

Reflections | A Polish priest’s perilous mission to save a doomed Chinese dynasty

In 1651, the embattled Ming court, which included several Christian converts, sent Michal Boym to seek the Pope’s aid. It never came.

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Chinese history

Being Chinese | The unspoken reason my Chinese friends choose America

When friends say they can just ‘exist’ in the US, they mean they can stop performing to the Confucian expectations that define Chinese life.

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A noodle restaurant along a largely deserted pavement in Arcadia, California. Outside the Confucian system, there is no perpetual appraisal of your earning power, your waistline or your marital status. Photo: Getty Images via AFP
2026 Xi-Trump summits

US hands over 64 artefacts to China in diplomatic push before summit

Beijing praises repatriation of looted treasures as concrete proof of constructive US-China cooperation before high-level talks.

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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

From Cheng Pei-pei to Michelle Yeoh, Hong Kong’s history of action heroines

Hong Kong studios embraced female action stars long before Hollywood. Here’s how some of the biggest triumphed in wuxia and kung fu films.

Chinese history

The tragic Qing politician whose legacy lives on in descendant’s new novel

The life of Duanfang inspires E.L. Shen’s novel Foreigners, about identity, queer awakening and the immigrant experience in modern America.

Chinese politician Duanfang (left) and his great-great-great-granddaughter E.L. Shen, a Chinese-American author whose new novel Foreigners follows three family members in different times who experience marginalisation in China and modern America. Photos: Wikipedia, Cassie Vu
China society

Opinion | Why women in China are still at risk of abduction and forced marriage

The latest incident has exposed many failings in local authorities’ work in a country where a mindset of favouring sons over daughters still exists.

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A wedding takes place in Kaizhou city, Chongqing, in 2014. As long as a preference for sons exists, daughters will continue to be seen as good for little more than marrying a man and bearing his children. Photo: Shutterstock
Wellness

He trained Jet Li. Wu Bin, 89, shares his secrets to great health in old age

Martial arts legend Wu Bin talks about mentoring Jet Li and other wushu stars, and how building good habits is key to health in older life.

Vietnam

Asian Angle | Politics aside, young Vietnamese are warming to China

Hit dramas, trendy consumer brands and economic opportunity are drawing a new generation into China’s cultural orbit.

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Trending in China

A symbol of harmony: ancient China tomb discovery reveals oldest dragon-phoenix pairing

The two mythological creatures represent the peaceful balance created when opposing forces come into union.

Regarded as the ultimate Chinese symbols of cosmic harmony and marital bliss, the earliest known dragon-phoenix pairing was recently discovered in an ancient tomb in northern China. Photo: Xinhua
Lessons from China's history

Reflections | Amid ‘Lake America’ stink, the Chinese emperor whose renaming campaign backfired

Two thousand years ago, Wang Mang’s renaming of places, peoples and titles fuelled rebellions that ended both his regime and his life.

People take photos in front of a sign reading “Lake Ontario Now and Always” on August 29, 2026. The sign was unveiled by Ontario Premier Doug Ford at Fifty Point Conservation Area in the Canadian city of Hamilton after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order renaming the lake as Lake America. Photo: Reuters
Chinese history

Famous Chinese women in folklore, from Mulan to a dynasty-toppling consort

These women have inspired countless poems, books, movies and TV shows over the centuries, but what are their stories and why do they endure?

Chinese zodiac predictions

Is the Year of the Horse’s eighth month lucky for you? Forecasts for all signs

Feng shui master Andrew Kwan breaks down this lunar month’s prospects for all 12 Chinese zodiac signs in work, finances, romance and health.

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