Short Reads
Reflections | ‘The religion that pulls out the sinews’: history of China’s Kaifeng Jews
A Jewish community has existed in the Chinese city of Kaifeng, in Henan province, for centuries, with one of the earliest mentions in history pointing to the construction of a synagogue in 1163.
3-Michelin-star New York restaurant’s vegan dishes come to Hong Kong
New York City’s Eleven Madison Park, the three-Michelin-star restaurant that switched to vegan cuisine in 2021, is having a pop-up collaboration with Rosewood Hong Kong at Asaya Kitchen from November 14 to 18.
When a Hong Kong bank crushed safe deposit boxes that hadn’t been emptied
A Hong Kong branch of DBS bank, being renovated in 2004, sent old safe deposit boxes to an industrial crusher, but 83 still contained customers’ items. The contents couldn’t be rescued and the bank had to pay out millions.
Reflections | Never mind the purists – what’s ‘original’ about Chinese food?
Self-appointed guardians of the purity of Chinese food disparage innovations such as Chinese-American food. They forget the Chinese diet has for millennia co-opted foreign ingredients such as chilli peppers.
Then & Now | Why ‘Night Vibes Hong Kong’ campaign is ‘doomed to fail’
Once famous for its vibrant nightlife, Hong Kong has lost its mojo, and unimaginative attempts to revive it are only ‘doomed to fail’, as officials are apt to say these days.
Hong Kong show for French photographer who found beauty in the mundane
‘Capturing Life: The Photography of Willy Ronis’, a Hong Kong exhibition, showcases the work of the late French humanist photographer, who was known for capturing the poetry of everyday life.
Language Matters | Artemis to Chang’e, moon goddesses and how homage has been paid to them
Many mythologies feature moon goddesses – from the Greco-Roman deity Artemis to Chinese mythology’s Chang’e – and homage has been paid to them in several lunar missions.
‘A dream come true’: when Hong Kong won its first Asian Games gold medal
Hong Kong won its first Asian Games gold medal in 1986, when 34-year-old accountant and bowler Catherine Che – known as ‘The Cat’ – won the women’s singles tenpin bowling event.
Then & Now | Who killed the cheongsam? A look at its history and demise
Once wildly popular across the Chinese world, cheongsam have largely vanished into the pages of history – no thanks to Suzie Wong, and elite Hong Kong girls’ schools.
Home from Home | Why did I bother bringing my Hong Kong luxury brand clothes back to the UK?
I got hooked on designer clothes in Hong Kong but in the UK countryside it’s all about practicality. Was all the effort and expense that had gone into those luxury-brand purchases worth it?
Goodbye, Hong Kong: celebrity hairstylist Kim Robinson closes up shop
With his Chater House salon a victim of redevelopment, hairstylist to the rich and famous Kim Robinson has decided the universe is hinting he should quit while he’s ahead. He recalls good and bad times.
Reflections | As China goes cashless, how did ancient Chinese carry their money around?
Pockets concealed in sleeves, bags similar to modern-day bumbags, pouches that dangled from the belt – the ancient Chinese had plenty of ways of carrying cash and other small objects.
Fashion student upcycles his parents’ tent, wins sustainable fashion award
A fashion student in Düsseldorf, Germany, Nils Hauser upcycled an old tent into a bomber jacket and a vest. His work won him the Redress Design Award, and a trip to Tokyo to work with Timberland on its 2025 collection.
When Australian designers ended a decade-long fashion drought in Hong Kong
It had been years since couturiers regularly showed seasonal collections in Hong Kong when, in 1986, leading Australian designers George Gross and Harry Watt put on a charity fashion show called Made in Australia.
When an oil spill from a ship that ran aground ruined Hong Kong fish farms
A Danish container ship ran aground in 1977, releasing crude bunker oil that left 110 tonnes of fish dead. Lamma Island fish farmers were later compensated for their losses.
Why Netflix host Phil Rosenthal is ‘excited’ for Hong Kong return: the food
Phil Rosenthal, best known for the Netflix food show Somebody Feed Phil and for creating comedy Everybody Loves Raymond, shares the places he is most looking forward to eat at when he revisits Hong Kong.
Language Matters | India’s renaming to Bharat would erase vestiges of British and Islamic rule
At the 2023 G20 summit in New Delhi, host India referred to itself as Bharat. Both that name and India have roots in the ancient Sanskrit tongue, so why might one be favoured over the other? History.
Then & Now | How vanishing of Hong Kong’s letter writers reflects city’s biggest success
A century ago most of Hong Kong’s Chinese population was illiterate. The disappearance from the city’s streets of the professional letter writers they used is a reflection of its greatest societal achievement.
Free-flow beer, music, food and fun: Hong Kong’s Better With Beer festival
The Better With Beer festival in Hong Kong this weekend has it all: 150-plus craft beers, live and DJ music, outdoor games, festival food, drag bingo and lip-sync battles.
When triads firebombed a Hong Kong restaurant, killing 6 and injuring 24
A Hong Kong restaurant and mahjong club was firebombed in 1990 after refusing to pay local gangsters. Six men, including two shareholders in the King Ford Moon Restaurant and Mahjong Club, were killed.