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Chinese culture
Latest news and updates on Chinese culture including the country’s traditions, food, values, history and festivals.
Illustration: Davies C. Surya
China technology

International Museum Day: how China is aiming for cultural superpower status

While investment in cultural heritage is declining in the US and other countries, the ‘unique’ Chinese model is flourishing, observers said.

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Chinese overseas

How Mexico’s oldest and largest Chinatown rose despite terrible xenophobia

Hong Kong tourism

Dragon Boat competition in Hong Kong to draw 4,500 athletes from 12 countries

Chinese overseas

Melbourne’s Chinatown, born from 1850s gold rush and thriving today

Things to do in Melbourne’s Chinatown, which survived ‘White Australia’ laws limiting non-British migration to become a vibrant cultural hub.

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A dragon dance troupe perform in Chinatown in Melbourne, Australia during Lunar New Year festivities in 2024. The Chinatown is one of the world’s oldest. Photo: Getty Images
Horoscopes

What’s your Chinese horoscope for May 2025?

Most of the signs are in for a pretty good month, but Tigers, Dogs and Pigs should stay vigilant – famous Snakes include Oprah, Taylor Swift, Brad Pitt and Bob Dylan.

US-China relations

Opinion | Why China has refused to back down in the face of Trump’s tariffs

China’s elites, going back to the late Qing, have been waiting for this moment – to push back against the world’s strongest power.

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Art

Q&A | How this artist transforms historical Chinese symbolism into paintings

New York-based Dominique Fung speaks about her creative journey, Empress Dowager Cixi, and why she wants audiences to leave her show feeling expansive.

Artist Dominique Fung at the Massimo de Carlo gallery in Tai Kwun, Hong Kong. Photo: Jocelyn Tam
Chinese overseas

How Toronto’s Chinatown is fighting back against existential threats

Young Asian-Canadians in Toronto are trying to keep its Chinatown’s heritage alive as downtown development and real estate speculation rise.

Art

How this artist uses rice to connect to her community – and ancestors

Hong Kong environmental artist and farmer Monti Lai uses her rice harvest to connect the community and commune with her ancestors.

Art

How pupils of Chinese ink painter Lui Shou-kwan went their own way

Lui Shou-kwan’s teaching influenced students from the New Ink Movement’s Wucius Wong to graphic designer and artist Kan Tai-keung.

Untitled I (2002) by Irene Chou, one of several artists who studied under master ink painter Lui Shou-kwan in Hong Kong in the 1960s who developed distinctive styles of painting. Photo: courtesy of Alisan Fine Arts
Hong Kong society

How the story of Hong Kong’s ‘dumpling queen’ beat Hollywood’s Thunderbolts*

Daughter of founder of Wanchai Ferry recalls family’s difficult journey in building business empire that has been turned into film leading box office on mainland.

Chong Kin-wo (middle) at her dumpling factory in Hong Kong in 1996. Photo: Joanne Wong
Taiwan

Taipei Palace Museum struggles with tourist numbers amid cross-strait tension

Opposition lawmaker questions massive drop in visitors from mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau.

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Art

Liu Dan’s Chinese ink art with Western influences on show in Hong Kong

Known for his paintings of rocks, 72-year-old who fuses Chinese and Western artistic practices presents 26 works at Phillips auction house.

Art

Discovering calligraphy: how a traditional art is experiencing a resurgence

From traditional scripts to modern styles, this art form offers a creative outlet and a chance to connect with history – here are tips from Hong Kong artists Samantha Cheung, Kalo Chu and Kaye Shu.

Hong Kong artists share their tips on calligraphy with Style – including Samantha Cheung, a self-taught calligrapher and mural artist. Photo: Handout
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Review | ‎The Dumpling Queen: founding of a Hong Kong food brand

Andrew Lau’s rags-to-riches biopic streamlines and rather sugarcoats the story of the Wanchai Ferry brand’s Zang Jianhe, played by Ma Li.

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Ma Li as businesswoman Zang Jianhe in a still from ‎The Dumpling Queen (category IIB; Cantonese, Mandarin) directed by Andrew Lau. Kara Wai and Ben Yuen co-star. Photo: Handout
Food and Drinks

Recap | Unveiling the best of Cantonese cuisine

Explore the global influence of Cantonese cooking, from the kung fu secrets of wok hei to Michelin-starred fine dining around the world, to the worldwide embracing of XO sauce and shrimp paste.

History

Recap | China’s religious history features many faiths and a cult that started a war

Traditional Asian beliefs and Abrahamic religions have existed in China for centuries, columnist Wee Kek Koon looks at their impact.

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China's population

More Chinese leave the knot untied as marriage registrations drop

Marriages saw a year-on-year fall of 8 per cent in China for the first quarter of 2025 – a worrying sign as demographic decline continues.

Marriage registrations in China continued to drop in 2025, a worrying sign as the country attempts to combat demographic decline. Photo: AFP
Science

A fiery conquest in 112BC may have led to decline of the Chinese swamp cypress

Han military campaign toppled the rebel Nanyue kingdom but also decimated vast stands of cypress, study finds.

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Chinese zodiac predictions

Is Year of the Snake’s fourth month lucky for you? Forecasts for all 12 signs

Feng shui master Andrew Kwan breaks down this lunar month’s prospects for health, love, finance and career for the 12 Chinese zodiac signs.

Lessons from China's history

Reflections | What China’s shift from feudalism can teach about today’s political climate

China’s first emperor ended 800 years of feudalism, then the imperial system was replaced in 1912. Political shifts are a constant of history.

A painting of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China. Photo: Wikipedia
Diplomacy

Opinion | China showcases its neighbourhood diplomacy across Southeast Asia

President Xi Jinping’s recent trip to Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia highlighted China’s commitment to fostering regional harmony.

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Illustration: Craig Stephens
Diplomacy

Opinion | In Africa, China must focus on both the infrastructural and the emotional

Unlike the West’s approach, China’s aid is mostly state-led. The lack of a strong grass-roots presence leaves it open to misconceptions.

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United States

The changing faces of New York’s 3 most prominent Chinatowns

From Manhattan’s Cantonese enclave to Flushing, where Mandarin rules, the food and language in city’s Chinatowns tell stories of immigration.

History

Truth behind a martial arts legend played by Jet Li and Jackie Chan

It has been 100 years since the death of kung fu master Wong Fei-hung who was little known during his lifetime.

Members of the Wong Fei-hung martial arts team perform at the Wong Fei-hung Memorial Hall in Foshan. Photo: Getty Images
Food and Drinks

Michelin chefs in Europe are embracing China’s culinary repertoire

Japan has long been a major source of culinary inspiration in the West, but the gaze is shifting to other Asian cuisines.

A flattened chicken head at Alchemist, in Copenhagen, Denmark, designed to be held by the beak and eaten in its entirety. Photo: courtesy Alchemist
Food and Drinks

MasterChef Italia’s first ethnically Chinese winner on food and identity

Former model Anna Zhang Yilan, who wowed judges by fusing Italian and Chinese cuisine, talks about her childhood and cooking with her mother.

US-China relations

Being Chinese | I’m a Cannes-going Chinese showbiz producer. It’s fun – except when it isn’t

I make deals with international studios and platforms. Often, I face a wall of Western presumption about the Chinese way of doing things.

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