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Chinese culture

Chinese culture
Latest news and updates on Chinese culture including the country’s traditions, food, values, history and festivals.
A bronze ritual food vessel (gui) from the 9th to 8th century BC is displayed at “The Royal Academy International Exhibition of Chinese Art 1935-36: A Commemorative Tribute”, at Christie’s Hong Kong until November 6. The show revisits the original 1935 London exhibition, which marked a watershed moment in Chinese-Western diplomatic relations. Photo: Christie’s
Art

Landmark Chinese diplomatic exhibition reinvented in Hong Kong 91 years on

The ‘commemorative tribute’ to the Royal Academy’s 1935 show of Chinese art includes a book launch and the reuniting of 15 objects.

Asian cinema: Chinese films

Why Zhou Xun risked it all for that long take in The First Taste of Loneliness

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Performing arts in Hong Kong

Can Chinese and European instruments mesh? This Belgian composer proves so

Performing arts in Hong Kong

Composer Huang Ruo on opera, ‘the last dance of humanity’, and his Hong Kong show

Chinese-American composer discusses the threat of AI in music and using tech to unite in City of Floating Sounds, coming to Hong Kong in 2027.

Chinese-born, US-based composer Huang Ruo at the Asia Society Hong Kong Centre on October 12, 2026. Photo: Jonathan Wong
Lessons from China's history

Reflections | How Confucius’ teachings still apply today and what we can learn from them

Confucius died in 479BC, but the Analects, the foundational text of his teachings, offers wisdom that remains strikingly relevant today.

Chinese history

Chinese incense: why a new generation is turning to an ancient craft

An expert shares how incense went from the preserve of Chinese nobles to modern office workers, and how making and burning it have changed.

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Art

A real-life Tang dynasty tragedy is the focus of this popular AI microdrama

By mixing romance, time travel and real history, Yanbian Qingmei has revived interest in revered Tang dynasty calligrapher Yan Zhenqing.

A still from Yanbian Qingmei, the AI microdrama that has stirred interest in Tang dynasty history and the calligrapher Yan Zhenqing. Pictured are the time-travelling female protagonist Li Youwei (right) and Yan Jiming, the calligrapher’s nephew. Photo: Weixin
Science

China’s Terracotta Army may have been mainly built by women and children: study

Qin dynasty artisans included women and children assigned to pottery crafting, legal records and physical evidence show.

Food and Drinks

A Lucas Sin cookbook champions the magic of Hong Kong comfort food

Lucas Sin’s Cha Chaan Teng cookbook celebrates Hong Kong comfort food – think scrambled egg sandwiches, baked pork chop rice, French toast.

Food and Drinks

Behind the carton: the story of the classic US Chinese takeaway container

Patented in the US in 1894 to carry oysters, the one-piece cardboard box became a favourite of Chinese restaurants for packaging takeaway.

A US-style Chinese takeaway container with the iconic pagoda design. Photo: AP
Hong Kong society

Flowers, roast pork and paper ingots: families keep Chung Yeung traditions alive

From elaborate rituals to simple bouquets, Hong Kong families observe festival, although shops selling offerings say times are tough.

Grave sweepers make offerings to ancestors at Diamond Hill Cemetery on Chung Yeung Festival. Photo: Sam Tsang
China consumption

‘China haul’: why foreign tourists are shopping up a storm on the mainland

With easier payments and tax refunds, a greater number of foreign visitors are heading to China for shopping sprees.

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Lessons from China's history

Reflections | How China’s macabre practice of human sacrifice in burials came to an end

In China, elites were buried with human companions as far back as the Neolithic period. Over time, symbolic figures replaced real people.

Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Why The Wild, Wild Rose is the late Grace Chang’s greatest film triumph

Mambo Girl made Grace Chang a star but, arguably, her finest role was Sijia, the sexually charged nightclub singer in The Wild, Wild Rose.

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Grace Chang in a still from The Wild, Wild Rose (1960). Photo: courtesy of Cathay-Keris Films
China-Australia relations

Australia returns Buddha statue to China amid lasting mystery over its origins

The Ming dynasty artefact was found buried by the roadside in 2018 and no one can say how it came to arrive in the country.

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The statue was found buried by the roadside in Western Australia. Photo: ABC
Chinese history

This ancient Chinese warrior queen led huge armies and stole a king’s heart

The 1976 excavation of Fu Hao’s tomb revealed a revered general and priestess, shifting perceptions of women’s roles in Shang dynasty China.

US-China relations

Opinion | Young Americans are key for the US to better understand China

With fewer preconceptions, this could be the generation that breaks through the mistrust built up over decades.

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Hong Kong

Chung Yeung Festival: history, traditions and how the Chinese holiday is celebrated

From hiking and grave-sweeping to sharing a meal, the Double Ninth Festival brings families together to honour their roots and wish for longevity.

Hongkongers at the Diamond Hill Cemetery during the 2019 Chung Yeung Festival. The festival blends hiking, ancestral veneration and family feasts. Photo: Nora Tam
China-UK relations

Cracks in security? Qing dynasty ceramics damaged in British Museum display

Incident involving 300-year-old Jingdezhen ceramics puts museum display safety under global scrutiny.

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Lessons from China's history

Reflections | The Chinese emperor whose sudden death sparked a 1,000-year-old mystery

Was Song dynasty founder Zhao Kuangyin’s sudden death the doing of the brother who succeeded him, like Czech St Wenceslas 40 years earlier?

Hong Kong

Why the Dajiao Festival on Hong Kong’s Kat O island is held once every 10 years

As Kat O welcomes visitors to its Dajiao Festival, heritage advocates hope to reconnect younger generations with the island’s traditions.

On Lung Ching Chiu, or the ritual for settling the dragon, during the Dajiao Festival on Hong Kong's Kat O island in 2016. Photo: The Conservancy Association
Hong Kong

Rare Chinese calligraphy scroll resurfaces, sells for US$22.6 million

‘Priceless classic’ by early Tang dynasty calligrapher Yu Shinan is snapped up at auction in Hong Kong.

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The work called Jishi Tie, by early Tang dynasty calligrapher Yu Shinan, goes under the hammer at China Guardian Hong Kong’s autumn auction on Wednesday. Photo: Handout
Horoscopes

Horoscopes: what’s your luck like in October 2026, the Earth Dog month?

The Dragon clashes with the Dog, but not all is negative, while the Sheep and Monkey have a smooth ride; the Rabbit needs to watch for double-crossing.

Food and Drinks

How Vietnam’s twist on Hainan chicken rice tells a rich story of migration

In Hoi An, on Vietnam’s central coast, com ga is a dish steeped in migrants’ history and tangy flavours.

US-China relations

Chinese art takes long march home from US museums

Works amassed by America’s Gilded Age tycoons are returning to Chinese hands as wealthy collectors reshape a centuries-old art trade.

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Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen
Food and Drinks

Meet the doctor baking some of the UK’s best Cantonese-inspired bread

Doctor by weekday, baker by weekend, Hai Lin Leung runs her award-winning microbakery Lucky Yu from her East London home.

Hai Lin Leung, the founder of Lucky Yu Bakery, a home bakery based in Walthamstow, East London. The doctor’s Cantonese-inspired bakes are sold through her kitchen window. Photo: Instagram/luckyyubakery
Fashion

Appropriation or appreciation? Artisans on the great Chinese fashion debate

The owners of Hong Kong’s Sindart and Qipology discuss when brands using traditional designs is cultural promotion – and when it is not.

Lessons from China's history

Reflections | The surprising history of beer in China, from li to Tsingtao

From ancient China’s fermented grain drink li to the founding of Tsingtao Brewery, China has a long history of brewing.

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