Editor's Picks

Following poets' footsteps to find Heaven Terrace Mount

Feature | Travel
2009-11-7

ALMOST Heaven Legendary poet Li Bai extolled the peaks, magical valleys, swirling mists and waterfalls in Mt Tiantai, or Heaven Terrace Mountain. Zhu ...

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Chiang Mai motto: Take it easy

Feature | Travel
2009-11-7

I reached Chiang Mai on a foggy morning, after a dreadful night in seething Bangkok -- I had a sensation of being haunted. The flight took me one hour and 10 minutes. I didn't expect the northern Thai city...

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Century Park beckons in autumn

Feature | Live in Shanghai
2009-11-6

SPRAWLING Century Park in Pudong New Area offers lots to do: strolling and picnicking, boating, fishing, bird watching. There's a musical fountain light show and holiday fireworks. Dong Jing takes a walk. Sprawling...

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Taiwan director films self, son, dad

Feature | Film and TV
2009-11-6

MANY documentary film makers turn the camera outward to explore social changes, and some turn it back on themselves, hoping to understand truths that eluded them earlier. One of the inward-looking film makers is...

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In search of a 'Made in China' china that's really smashing

Feature | Culture and history
2009-11-6

WHAT'S the dish on China? A major ceramics fair "China Unlimited" opens today at ShanghaiMart. It asks why China these days isn't making world-famous china. Wang Jie is fired up. You'd think that China, the cradle...

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Tibetan culture seen in White Tara sculpture

Feature
2009-11-8

AMONG the thousands of artifacts on display at Shanghai Museum, there is a bronze sculpture of White Tara from Tibetan Buddhism that gives a small glimpse into the rich culture of Tibet. In Tibet Buddhism, White...

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Controversy on the high seas

Feature
2009-11-8

AUTHOR Gavin Menzies' theory that the Chinese discovered the New World decades before European explorers has drawn mostly scorn from historians. Nancy Zhang reports on the seagoing tale. In person and on paper, author...

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Jackson tribute accents talent

Feature
2009-11-8

WATCHING "Michael Jackson's This Is It" will have fans grieving once again, but this time, it won't only be for the fallen King of Pop, but for what we lost - a brilliant entertainer who gave every inch of his body...

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St. John unveils Caviar series

Feature | Fashion
2009-11-8

BLACK is the foundation of most women's wardrobes. However, have you ever noticed that there might be slight differences between two of your black dresses, or two pairs of black trousers? Marie Gray, founder of...

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Armani prepares team for his eventual retirement

Feature | Fashion
2009-11-8

GIORGIO Armani said in October that he had begun assembling a close circle of executives to take over his company when his reign as one of the world's top designers comes to a close. "I understand that eventually...

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Bring on the new

Feature | Fashion
2009-11-8

A major restructuring project is currently underway at Plaza 66, Shanghai's most prestigious luxury shopping destination. High-end fashion houses, including Fendi, Prada, Dolce & Gabbana and Tod's, either plan to...

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Savoring Venice at the St. Regis

Feature | Dining
2009-11-8

IT'S easy to forget that Italian cuisine, like Chinese food, is made up of diverse regional flavors and variety. The ancient culinary traditions of Venice for example are not well known outside of Italy. But for...

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Highs and lows on deadly K2

Feature | Literature
2009-11-8

K2 is no Mount Everest. It's some 700 feet shorter - and a lot more deadly. Located in the Karakoram Range of northern Pakistan, K2, the second-tallest mountain in the world, clocks in at 28,251 feet. Unlike at Everest,...

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The people's favorite

Feature | Literature
2009-11-8

SHORTLY after the British Army's rousing triumph over Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps at El Alamein in November 1942, Prime Minister Winston Churchill warned his countrymen to avoid over-confidence. "Now this is not...

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'Lacuna' chock-full of resonating truths

Feature | Literature
2009-11-8

A skinny young boy holds his breath and dives into the mouth of an underwater cave - a lacuna - swimming toward pale blue light as his lungs scream for oxygen. He emerges, gasping, in a ghostly cenote, a sinkhole...

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Former stray finds a loving home

Feature | Pet Connection
2009-11-8

DAIDAI, a six-month-old tabby cat with beautiful colors and markings, has large ears and a small head. Just like other kittens, Daidai is active, energetic and curious about everything. He likes to play and is also...

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望梅止渴 (wang4 mei2 zhi3 ke2) The power of illusions

Feature | Idioms
2009-11-8

WHEN Chinese say that someone is trying to satisfy his or her desires by illusion, they frequently use the phrase "wang4 mei2 zhi3 ke2" The literal meaning is to quench one's thirst by looking at imaginary fresh plums. ...

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Sink or swim: Young go-getters take startup business plunge

Feature
2009-11-6

MOST Chinese college grads want nice, secure white-collar jobs. Striking out on their own and starting a business isn't on the agenda - it's hard and risky, and it's not what their parents paid for. But the...

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Staging thriller, sleuth classics

Feature | Film and TV
2009-11-6

MIX a Hitchcock masterpiece with a thrilling spy novel, add a dash of Monty Python, and you have "The 39 Steps," a comic thriller for anyone from nine to 90. One of the best-received dramatic plays in both the...

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Direct marketing: New clout for ages-old tool of sales

Feature
2009-11-5

DIRECT marketing is growing fast in Asia where personal relationships are highly valued and word-of-mouth is reassuring. From beer and garments to consumer goods and services, consumers like being wooed. Ralph Jennings...