more stories

Intricate carvings on royal throne

Feature | Vibe
2010-1-31

IN ancient China, chairs were divided into different categories. The throne was the highest class of chair and only emperors were permitted to sit on it. As they were only housed in royal palaces, most thrones...

---

Eagle saved from poisons

Feature | Vibe
2010-1-31

WHITE-TAILED eagles are carnivorous birds that rank high on the food chain, and, to most people's thinking, they are far removed from our daily lives. But the reality is closer to home than we think. They feed...

---

Insights into comics

Feature | Vibe
2010-1-31

TWO new books center on the collision between comedy and the old establishment. "Last Words," a posthumous autobiography from George Carlin, is a jazzy, inward-looking piece of work. Its strength lies in its documentation...

---

When the city of lights drowned

Feature | Vibe
2010-1-31

PARIS may be known as the City of Light, but "the City of Water" would be just as apt. Since its origins as an island outpost in the middle of the Seine, the city owes some of its greatest advantages -- trading routes,...

---

Murky mystery of an executed queen

Feature | Vibe
2010-1-31

THE story of Anne Boleyn, second wife of Henry VIII, ended in May 1536, when the master executioner of Calais -- sent for specially, and said to be an adept in his art -- separated her clever head from her seductive...

---

Elegant scenes and relaxing options in Taicang Road's diversity

Feature | Vibe
2010-1-31

SITUATED on the fringe of Xintiandi, Taicang Road is a mix of old and new Shanghai. Starting from the junction of Madang Road, you cannot help but be in awe of the rich and elegant building styles of old Shanghai....

---

On the frontline in Haiti

Feature | Vibe
2010-1-31

WITH eight peacekeepers killed, China was not spared from the tragedy of the recent earthquake in Haiti. Its forces have served with honor in the small country in the past, and Ni Yinbin talks with Zhu Hua about her...

---

Many jobs lead to Shanghai bar

Feature | Vibe
2010-1-31

IT'S a long way from a swanky restaurant in the Eiffel Tower to a wine bar in Shanghai, but for Frenchman Vincent Landais the journey has enabled one of his life's ambitions to be realized. A Shanghai resident...

---

Exquisite style from Taiwan seamstress

Feature | Vibe
2010-1-31

BORN in a small town in Taiwan, Wang Chen Tsai-Shia started her fashion career as a seamstress in a clothing store where she met her husband, the son of the owner. In 1978, the couple left their hometown for Taipei...

---

Bronze ox vessel kept wine warm

Feature | Vibe
2010-1-17

XI Zun, literally meaning "wine vessel in the shape of a sacrificial ox," was a bronze container used in ritual ceremonies in the late Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC). It was typically used for storing and...

---

Happier bath times

Feature | Vibe
2010-1-17

WATER is to cats as kryptonite is to Superman. So you should never expect your feline fur ball to jump into the bathtub just like a golden retriever. A cat's natural aversion to water is all that matters to it...

---

Animal News

Feature | Vibe
2010-1-17

BRITAIN'S 'goat' talent Darren, a waving goat, is a star already with tens of thousands seeing him on YouTube. Producers of the TV show "Britain's Got Talent" now want to sign him for next month's live auditions...

---

Weighing the value of relative morality

Feature | Vibe
2010-1-17

CAN you examine the moral life of someone without morals? Does someone without morals have a moral life? And is the amoral life worth living? Jonathan Dee's intelligent new novel, "The Privileges," asks these questions...

---

Pensive myth maker

Feature | Vibe
2010-1-17

AS a boy in Chippawa, Ontario, James Cameron once sent some mice over the edge of Niagara Falls in a small submersible made from old mayonnaise jars, an Erector Set and a paint bucket. Another time, he made a hot-air...

---

Candy capers vivid and violent

Feature | Vibe
2010-1-17

ALTHOUGH we have always craved sweets, until the Industrial Revolution many of us made do with candy manufactured by bees, that most industrious of species. Factories and assembly lines made modern candy at once possible...