One of my childhood regrets is never learning how to jump double Dutch. By the 1990s, I’m not sure it still guaranteed you cool-kid status (a few decades earlier, I imagine it might have). Still, there’s something undeniably impressive about skipping rope. There’s a level of agility that suggests you might just be a little more on it than everyone else.
Skipping came back into my life in my mid-20s during a short stint of boxing training. Never have I felt so clumsy. Strange how often things children do for fun are repurposed by adults as forms of punishment. So, needless to say, this week’s cover feature brought up a lot of memories for me, as Salomé Grouard explores
how rope skipping has found a new cultural standing in Hong Kong, helped along by Instagram, creative choreography and a competitive team that just came back from the World Championships with three world records and a suitcase full of medals.
What was once playground filler is now recognised as an athletic endeavour in its own right and, crucially, something cool kids do. The city has become a global powerhouse for the sport, thanks to a mix of social media savvy, relentless training and, something I never thought I’d credit, Hong Kong’s limited space.
From fast feet to ancient steps, Thomas Bird retraces the layered history of
Angkor in Cambodia. He revisits the former Khmer capital through the lens of Zhou Daguan’s 13th century travelogue, a rare surviving account that has shaped how the city has been understood, curated and consumed, from the region’s history as a French colony to modern-day tourist mecca.
Then there’s Goa. Or rather,
the version of Goa that lives in collective nostalgia: psy-trance raves, dirt-cheap food and naked dancing on the beach. Ian Lloyd Neubauer returns to these Indian shores after 30 years to find a place that’s been reshaped by domestic tourism, development and social media. But he also discovers Palolem Beach, which still holds some of the slow, easy charm that first pulled him in.
Hope you find something that sticks with you. Even if it’s just the urge to pick up a skipping rope.
