RICE IS RICE, RIGHT? Wrong! Rice is a whole range of wonderfulness. It’s a miracle food, it’s a staple, it’s a delicacy, it’s a business and it’s a whole culture. In Hong Kong, people say "if you haven't had rice, you haven't eaten" and this writer totally knows what they mean.
Rice connoisseur Anthony Lam…
Culture
NIUJIE ("OXEN") STREET in Beijing is home to a long-standing ethnic Muslim community. Visitors will find mosques in which to pray and many halal restaurants in which to eat. The aroma of mutton hotpot and other Islamic dishes drifts over the area.
In the late 13th century, 60 years after the mighty cavalry led…
HONG KONG MASTER CHEF HU ZHU has become a legend for his knowledge about the Manchu-Han Imperial Feast of 1720.
More than 40 years ago, in 1977, he presided over a multi-day recreation of the event in Hong Kong.
And even today, he gives talks and hosts dinners recreating dishes from the famous menu of…
STORIES SAY THAT on his birth anniversary in 1720, Emperor Kangxi (康熙皇帝) held the most spectacular banquet of all time in the Forbidden City, Beijing.
The “Manchu-Han Imperial Feast” (满汉全席) has become a legendary event, featuring in books, movies, TV shows, and even as the inspiration for the plot of a Kung Fu Panda film.…
IT WAS ARGUABLY the most mismatched war in history. The British invaded the Chinese state of Tibet in 1903, leading to the deaths of an estimated 2,700 Tibetans.
And just five British officers.
This extraordinary story has three main elements:
First, the presence of a western superpower, known for its unmatched weaponry, acting…
IN HONG KONG IN THE 1960s, a teacher looked at her daughter and wondered how to instil in her a love of culture. They were not a rich family, but strongly believed that parents should help to generate a love of books, literature and the arts in every child, whatever their social status.
The girl,…
IN 1928, RAILWAY WORKERS were digging deep into the ground in Luoyang during the construction of the Longhai railway (隴海鐵路). They uncovered a large Tang Dynasty tomb, more than ten centuries old. The diggers unearthed a large number of pottery items. Many were delicate figurines, with unusual colors: mostly creams, browns and greens.
Hong Kong…
AT THE FOOT of Diamond Hill in Hong Kong, an elegant public park called Nan Lian Garden (南蓮園池) is a rare tranquil place nestling in the busy metropolis.
Neat paths paved by smooth cobblestones connect a variety of elements of wooden architecture in classic "oriental garden" style. At the centre is an orange-red bridge,…
FOR HALF A CENTURY, Malaysians and Singaporeans have been fighting over the ownership rights to a dish called Hainan chicken rice, the star element of which is chicken lightly poached in a way that makes the flesh very white and tender. And of course the people of Hainan also stake a claim to it, noting…
SOUP DISHES ARE SO popular in Hong Kong that you can order them by app or stop on your way to work for some quick broth. And multi-course Cantonese dinners are not complete without a soup course.
Cantonese people believe that savouring regular bowls of soup can help reduce water retention in the body, prevent…