Advertisement
Advertisement
-
TOPIC

Chinese culture

Chinese culture
Latest news and updates on Chinese culture including the country’s traditions, food, values, history and festivals.
“Chinamaxxing”, in which the norms and traditions associated with Chinese culture are embraced, is trending, but “maxxing” has roots older than you would think. Photo: SCMP composite/Shutterstock/RedNote
TikTok

Language Matters | Gen Z loves ‘Chinamaxxing’, but where does ‘maxxing’ come from?

Chinamaxxing, lookmaxxing, moneymaxxing and gymmaxxing might be new terms, but the practice of ‘maxxing’ has been around for a while.

Year of the Horse 2026

What is the Lantern Festival? Plus 6 ways to celebrate it in Hong Kong in 2026

Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Love ‘A Better Tomorrow’? The Hong Kong director and film that inspired it

videocam
Performing arts in Hong Kong

Hong Kong group brings ancient Silk Road murals’ musical depictions to life

The Hong Kong Gaudeamus Dunhuang Ensemble’s musical compositions are inspired by ancient artworks from China’s Mogao Caves.

videocam
Musicians from the Hong Kong Gaudeamus Dunhuang Ensemble perform in front of the Nine-Storey Pagoda at the Mogao Caves at Dunhuang, in northwest China’s Gansu province. Photo: Simon Song
History

How AI is helping bring Hong Kong history to life on Instagram and beyond

Cultural preservationists use generative AI to breathe life into photos from the past, but does this practice promote or distort history?

Lessons from China's history

Reflections | After Andrew’s arrest, how high-born criminals were treated in ancient China

The long-spoken Chinese maxim that nobles were punished like commoners when breaking the law is not upheld by history.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Food and Drinks

Why Hangzhou’s 2-Michelin-star Ru Yuan is ‘a restaurant unlike any other’

Ru Yuan’s chef Fu Yueliang shares why everything from local dishes to design at his restaurant is about transcending Song-dynasty tradition.

Ru Yuan’s signature braised pork belly and seasonal vegetables with soy sauce. At the restaurant in Hangzhou, China, chef Ru Yuan takes classic Zhejiang dishes and elevates them for modern diners. Photo: Ru Yuan
Asian cinema: Chinese films

Review | Scare Out: Zhang Yimou tackles national security in subpar Chinese spy thriller

A story of a mole inside a state security team in China, Scare Out is slickly executed but narratively muddled, and far from Zhang’s best.

videocam
Performing arts in Hong Kong

Review | Trump is abducted by aliens and has Chinese ‘twin’ in chaotic Cantonese opera

Showing in Hong Kong, Trump on Show 4.0 combines political satire and surreal Sino-US commentary but feels like a ‘paper tiger’ with no bite.

Lunar New Year

Sharing the luck: inside Southeast Asia’s embrace of Lunar New Year

Malay and Indian households are increasingly embracing the festivities, tossing ‘yusheng’ and giving hongbao to show ‘unity in diversity’.

videocam
5
The Lourdes family take part in the traditional “yusheng” toss on Lunar New Year’s Eve. Photo: Alyssa Ann Lourdes
Style Edit

Style Edit: L’ÉCOLE Asia Pacific’s new engagement ring course

Today, the engagement ring takes pride of place in Hong Kong alongside Chinese ceremonial gifts – L’ÉCOLE, School of Jewelry Arts’ new course will offer a closer look.

L’ÉCOLE, School of Jewelry Arts is offering a course on engagement rings in Hong Kong. Photo: Handout
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

How these 2 films became classics of Hong Kong’s Chinese folk opera cinema

Love Eterne and Dream of the Red Chamber are two very different ‘huangmei diao’ films from legendary Hong Kong director Li Han-hsiang.

videocam
Social media

Ancient Chinese astrology gets a Gen Z rebrand in Southeast Asia

Forget rituals and superstitions, today’s young professionals are using ‘bazi’ 10-year luck forecasts to plan their next career pivot.

videocam
Asia travel

The Chinese city where waffles, watchtowers and world history meet

Guangdong’s ‘hometown of overseas Chinese’ is where architecture and cuisine created by returning émigrés reveal how culture flows both ways.

The Tower of Heavenly Success with the Tan River in the background, in Majianglong, Taishan. Photo: Graeme Kennedy
Chinese zodiac predictions

Feng shui tips for all 12 Chinese zodiac signs for the Year of the Horse 2026

Feng shui master Andrew Kwan shares where each Chinese zodiac sign can place items for good luck in the Year of the Fire Horse.

videocam
Customers choose colored glaze snake handicrafts for the coming Chinese New Year, the Year of Snake, in Xiye Colored Glaze Studio in Boshan district, Zibo city, Shandong province, China, on Jan. 9, 2025. With a long history of colored glaze, Boshan is regarded as China’s Hometown of Colored Glaze and has 12 colored glaze enterprises and 65 art studios. (Xinhua) 新华社照片，淄博（山东），2025年1月9日 1月9日，消费者在淄博市博山区西冶工坊展销厅内挑选蛇年主题琉璃工艺品。 春节临近，山东省淄博市博山区的琉璃生产企业推出众多蛇年主题创意琉璃制品，受到市场青睐。博山区被誉为“中国琉璃之乡“，琉璃生产历史悠久，当地已发展琉璃生产企业12家、工作室65个。 新华社记者 朱峥 摄
Food and Drinks

Chinese food, but make it fine dining? Chefs push back against stereotypes

Forget fast food in boxes: chefs at upscale restaurants in the US are elevating Chinese cuisine to fine dining status, tasting menus and all.

Chinese zodiac predictions

Feng shui advice for Snakes for luck in money, health and romance

Feng shui master Andrew Kwan shares where Snakes can put lucky coloured items at home and work for luck in the Year of the Fire Horse.

videocam
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Banking & finance

HK$10,000 bonus, extra day off: Hong Kong banks reward staff returning to work

Bank of China (Hong Kong) is giving away hampers, ZA Bank is paying a HK$10,000 bonus, while HSBC and Hang Seng are offering HK$500.

Banks in Hong Kong are offering generous return-to-work lai see packets and gifts to their employees. Photo: Jelly Tse
US-China relations

Born in China, raised in US: adoptees explore their identity at Lunar New Year

Growing up Chinese-American has not been easy for LuLu Grant and Phoebe McChesney, both wanting to fit in, while never too far from the past.

videocam
4
Lunar New Year

Video | 12 killed by Lunar New Year fireworks blast in China

The explosion at a shop in Hubei came days after a similar incident in Jiangsu that prompted government calls for prevention efforts.

Lunar New Year

Letters | As we celebrate the Lunar New Year, let’s ensure we do better by horses

Readers discuss the exploitation of equine animals, the spirit of Ramadan in Hong Kong, and why members of the ethnic minority community should master Chinese.

Horse-themed goods on sale at the Lunar New Year market at Victoria Park in Causeway Bay on February 15. Photo: Dickson Lee
Food and Drinks

Why do Chinese love water chestnuts? All about the lucky ‘horse’s hoof’

A humble and vastly underrated ingredient, water chestnuts are used in a popular Lunar New Year dessert and also have many health benefits.

The water chestnut, a versatile ingredient known as “horse’s hoof”, is celebrated for its crisp texture and auspicious meaning in Lunar New Year dishes. Photo: Jonathan Wong
Lunar New Year

Opinion | Lunar New Year doesn’t need a home-cooked feast to be full of flavour

The most important thing isn’t if you cooked the food yourself or followed tradition to the letter – it’s being with people you care about.

videocam
Hong Kong society

Breaking the cycle: Hong Kong parents wrestle with impact of their own abuse

Experts urge cultural change to end intergenerational violence as landmark study reveals childhood trauma still shapes parenting patterns.

4
Food and Drinks

On the Menu | What do an American reality TV show and Chinese aunties have in common?

A Chinese millennial woman talks fat and fortune as she contrasts the toxic culture of the early noughties with today’s body positivity.

Contestants from the first season of America’s Next Top Model in 2003 in Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model. The reality competition, wildly popular during the noughties, often told women that they were “too big” for the runway. Photo: TNS
Hong Kong society

Editorial | Hong Kong should temper optimism with caution in Year of the Horse

Another neutral prophecy puts the onus on the city to proceed with prudence and act to bring about its own good fortune.

Kenneth Lau, chairman of the Heung Yee Kuk, takes part in the fortune stick drawing ritual at Che Kung Temple in Sha Tin on February 18, the second day of Lunar New Year. Photo: Jelly Tse
Chinese zodiac predictions

Feng shui advice for Dragons for a lucky, healthy Year of the Horse 2026

Feng shui master Andrew Kwan shares where Dragons can put auspicious items at home and work for fortune in the Year of the Fire Horse.

videocam
Hong Kong society

Hong Kong’s Lunar New Year fireworks dazzle as visitor numbers gallop ahead

City leader John Lee vows to carry out reforms at full speed, says to public ‘let’s march forward bravely and confidently together’ in new year.

videocam
6
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Help preserve 120 years of quality journalism.
SUPPORT NOW
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement