Places such as Hong Kong that accepted refugees benefited from admitting highly motivated people who pushed their children to serve, author Helen Zia says What do American writer Amy Tan, Tung Chee-hwa, Hong Kong’s first head of government under Chinese rule, and former Hong Kong chief secretaries for administration Henry Tang Ying-yen and Anson Chan…
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Mainland Chinese spending has cemented Hong Kong’s position as Asia’s most important luxury hub, but the recent wave of Mainland Chinese shoppers — drawn to the city by new transport links — tends to have smaller budgets and different tastes than earlier visitors. With no sales tax, a friendly business environment and a voracious appetite…
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Anyone over a certain height is at risk of losing an eye in the city If you’re five foot eight or taller, the rainy season can be a dangerous time. I nearly lost an eye last week. The man toting the umbrella that crashed into my face didn’t even break stride. Surely that counts as…
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More than half the Hong Kong workforce is made up of women, but they are not well represented at senior levels The corporate world looks nothing like it did 50 years ago – it’s faster, super hi-tech and, critically, there are women in the workplace in numbers that couldn’t have been imagined half a century…
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Dr Ramesh Pattni has been researching psychological techniques embedded in ancient spiritual texts to improve modern meditation and yoga practices As a teenager growing up in Kenya, Dr Ramesh Pattni was interested in Hindu scriptures. He was particularly interested in the ancient text known as The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, a collection of 196 Indian aphorisms…
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Transformative travel enables people to break away from the stresses of modern life by finding eco-villages, social projects and farms David Casey was in his early 20s, a fresh University of California, Berkeley, graduate, when he first encountered the gift economy through the phenomenally successful Couch Surfing website. He was blown away by the way…
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The musical artist found fame after his songs appeared on television shows and streaming services End of empire My mum is from Singapore and my dad, a barrister, is from Cheshire, in England. They met at a party in Hong Kong. I was born at the Matilda hospital (on The Peak) in 1984. My elder brother,…
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Rise programme focuses on bringing women into a safe environment to work through their substance use, and to see what trauma caused it Growing up in Belfast in the 1970s – in the time of the “Troubles” when there were bombing campaigns and shootings across Northern Ireland – Paula Shields saw a “traumatised generation” around…
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After meeting and befriending director Bernardo Bertolucci, Basil Pao was offered a part in The Last Emperor For two months over the summer of 1986, photographer Basil Pao watched sunrise at the Meridian Gate, the largest gate at the Forbidden City in Beijing. As part of the team working on The Last Emperor, the early starts…
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Travel à la Carte stores everything needed for a trip in one central place and includes a multi-functional digital wallet and an AI-powered assistant Ivana Hronova and her sister Olga Grillova’s first trip to Cuba started off as a nightmare. Their flight landed in the evening, the local system did not recognise their credit card…
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The Cabin in Chiang Mai offers a rehab programme for young male addicts but, at US$15,000 a month, it’s out of reach for many
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The application of technology in financial services has risen dramatically in a matter of a few years. Can Hong Kong become a leading “fintech” hub? Henri Arslanian of PwC explains why the city is well positioned to support such development
Multitasking, adventure-loving, billionaire Jim Rogers on his latest big thing
As the country is wracked by power shortages, some of the fences are live and some aren’t. Good luck figuring out which is which
The group estimates that about 40,000 merchants will participate in this year’s festival, including luxury brands such as Burberry, Paul Smith, Estee Lauder, L’Oreal and Guerlain.
Jonathan Spence – historian, intellectual and eminent China scholar – is not one for a snappy answer.
Planning a trip to North Korea’s seldom visited north-east? Kate Whitehead provides a guide to the best hotels