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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.
The annual Mid-Autumn Festival fire dragon dance is performed in Tai Hang, Hong Kong on September 16, 2024. The fire dragon dance is listed on the Representative List of the ICH of Hong Kong, under social practices, rituals and festive events. Photo: Dickson Lee
Chinese history

Language Matters | What to know about intangible cultural heritage amid Hong Kong celebrations

With Hong Kong Intangible Cultural Heritage Month in full flow, a look at ICH’s five main domains and the importance of linguistic heritage.

US-China relations

Opinion | Thanks to Trump, US threat of a ‘peaceful evolution’ recedes for China

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Hong Kong society

Chinese legends, Disney characters compete in Hong Kong dragon boat races

Asian diaspora

How China’s diaspora became both an asset and a source of anxiety

Once marginalised, overseas Chinese have become a vital bridge for China – and a lightning rod for global tensions.

Yaowarat Road is the main thoroughfare of Chinatown in Bangkok, Thailand, renowned for its lively street food scene and rich cultural heritage. Photo: Shutterstock
Fashion

Hong Kong tie-dye fashion brand has a hands-on co-founder, 8

Shek O Beach Club makes sustainable clothes with the help of ethnic minority craftswomen. They’re practical too, 8-year-old co-founder says.

Chinese overseas

Why China’s leaders seek a culture that is both modern and distinctly Chinese

Historian Wang Gungwu on China’s quest for a unifying national ethos, fusing global insights with heritage to ensure stability in a changing world.

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Lessons from China's history

Reflections | Oxen, sheep or pigs? Ancient Chinese rules on animal sacrifices

Muslims celebrate Eid al-Adha this weekend, which involves ritual animal sacrifice, something Chinese started performing in the Zhou dynasty.

A sacrificial offering is displayed in a Chinese Confucian temple circa AD500 in an image from Hutchinson’s History of the Nations, published in 1915. Photo: Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Horoscopes

Chinese horoscopes: your luck for June 2025, the Water Horse month

This may not be a great month for those born in the year of the Rat – or in fact Horses themselves, which include Greta Thunberg, Rowan Atkinson and Joe Biden.

Food and Drinks

Cognac char siu? Hong Kong chef tries ‘new things’ at Paris restaurant

After 10 years in Paris Samuel Lee Sum opened Sensation, a casual fine-dining joint serving exciting Chinese dishes with a French accent.

China consumption

Mission: Impossible? China faces box office blues during Dragon Boat Festival

Film ticket sales estimated to decline compared to previous holiday – but analysts say long-term trends remain positive.

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(250504) -- BINZHOU, May 4, 2025 (Xinhua) -- People walk past movie posters at a cinema in Boxing County of Binzhou City, east China’s Shandong Province, May 3, 2025. People across China enjoy the ongoing May Day holiday in various ways. (Photo by Chen Bin/Xinhua)
Hong Kong environmental issues

Hong Kong display strikes gold at Chelsea Flower Show with rare orchids

Vibrant display, with orchids from Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden, sent powerful message about need to protect the endangered plants.

Kadoorie Farm’s Stephan Gale and Candy Ip with the prized gold medal from the Chelsea Flower Show. Photo: Cliff Buddle
Trending in China

‘Disgusting’: China scholar’s reproof of table dishwashing triggers online debate

Experiment indicates that when water is heated to 80 degrees Celsius or higher, washing a bowl for 30 seconds can reduce bacteria by half.

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Hong Kong tourism

High spirits as Hong Kong’s Dragon Boat Festival kicks off amid strong winds

‘We will do our best and enjoy the event,’ paddlers say, with authorities expecting 16 per cent increase in number of mainland visitors.

Lunar New Year

Being Chinese | People laugh in my face when I say I’m Chinese. So what?

I don’t look Chinese. But it’s the tiny things, values and cultural touchpoints that collectively make a Chinese person Chinese.

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People walk past a mural of a Chinese letter writer in Chinatown in Singapore in February 2021. Photo: AFP
Lessons from China's history

Reflections | Qu Yuan, Chinese poet whose death is marked in Dragon Boat Festival

Whether or not customs of Duanwu or Tuen Ng Festival can truly be ascribed to Qu Yuan’s drowning in 278BC, his life is worthy of celebration.

Dragon boat teams cross the finish line at the end of a race in Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour in 2024. Dragon boat racing is one of the traditions of the Duanwu Festival, or Tuen Ng Festival, said to have arisen from the death of poet Qu Yuan in ancient China. Photo: Dickson Lee
Asian diaspora

How does this influencer speak Hakka Chinese? She even teaches it to others

Of Chinese and Guyanese descent, Jephina Lueche posts Instagram videos focusing on Hakka culture and her multicultural family background.

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Chinese zodiac predictions

Is Year of the Snake’s fifth 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 health, love, finances and careers.

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Hong Kong economy

Opinion | Hong Kong’s role as global mediation hub will bring untold benefits

The International Organisation for Mediation will raise Hong Kong’s profile and boost the city’s soft power.

A view of the Hong Kong skyline from The Peak on February 4. Photo: Sam Tsang
US-China relations

War of the words: why top US diplomat Rubio is lost in China’s translations

Linguistic, cultural and political differences make interpretation difficult, but analysts also point to factors like the target audience.

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Food and Drinks

Cold, or fried with XO sauce? Creative ways to serve sticky rice dumplings

Drizzled in honey, fried with a fish sauce dip. Hong Kong chefs share inventive ways to serve Dragon Boat Festival snack we usually steam.

US-China relations

Editorial | Heritage items belong in their home country

The return of 2,300-year-old silk books from the US to China is not only ethically correct but can also restore faith at a low point in relations between the two nations.

The ancient Zidanku Silk Manuscripts from the Warring States period are displayed during a handover ceremony at the Chinese Embassy in the United States in Washington on May 16. Photo: Xinhua
China-Vatican relations

Pope Leo prays for Chinese Catholics to be in communion with Rome

Pope prayed that Catholics in China ‘obtain the grace to be strong and joyful witnesses of the Gospel, even in the midst of trials’.

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Pope Leo waves before a holy mass in the Roman Cathedral in the Papal Basilica of Saint John Lateran in Rome on Sunday. Photo: dpa
Food and Drinks

Korean-Chinese food, and the 2 dishes that make it so popular

Two noodle dishes are the soul of Korean-Chinese cuisine – jjambbong and jajangmyeon. Discover how they evolved, one of them via Japan.

China's military weapons

The wheels on the tank go … Chinese children’s songs get a military makeover

Anthemic videos show off Beijing’s military as internet users celebrate Chinese-made weapons used in Kashmir conflict.

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Accidents and disasters in China

Historic Chinese building’s roof fall revives concerns about shoddy construction

The Fengyang Drum Tower’s roof fell in just months after the conclusion of renovation works on the Ming dynasty site.

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The Fengyang Drum Tower recently had extensive repair works done on its roof. Photo: Handout
Mahjong

How mahjong helped a Chinese-American connect more deeply to her roots

Mahjong became a big part of Nicole Wong’s life after learning it in her 20s. Now she’s written a book on its rules across the Asian diaspora.

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A photo from Nicole Wong’s book, Mahjong: House Rules from Across the Asian Diaspora. The photographs in the book feature personal props, as well as hands from multiple generations of Wong’s family. Photo: Andria Lo
Food and Drinks

Chinese entry wins global food-focused photography contest

‘These people enjoy a beautiful life,’ China’s Xiaoling Li says of winning entry in food-focused photography competition, taken in Sichuan.

Law

Legal Tales | Modern matrimony in Hong Kong: prenuptial agreement or ‘deed of love’?

Instead of viewing prenups as harbingers of conflict, can they be seen as a way of securing marital bliss before the honeymoon begins?

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