South China Morning Post

Two days ago, on Saturday afternoon, I was desperately hungry and looking for food in the heart of Beijing’s financial district. 

But on a normally booming day for business, all the shops in the area had closed early in order to keep the crowds at bay.

For the second weekend in a row, as the People’s Republic geared up to celebrate its 70th birthday on October 1, Beijing’s usually bustling central districts were quiet.

The main roads leading to Tiananmen Square at the heart of the city were…

Hong Kong’s embattled police force has received 650 boxes of mooncakes sent from supporters in mainland China responding to an online campaign initiated by the country’s top law enforcement body.

The cakes were delivered to police stations and the force’s dormitories ahead of the Mid- Autumn Festival, China’s most important holiday after the Lunar New Year, which is happening on Friday.

The festive gifts were sent after an online campaign called “I want to send hometown delicacies to Hong…

Hong Kong protesters are on the streets calling for democratic reforms, but the Chinese state media says it’s something else that’s fueling their anger: unaffordable housing. 

In an online commentary on Thursday, Communist Party mouthpiece the People’s Daily urged the Hong Kong government to seize idle land from property developers to solve the city’s housing crisis. 

The article titled “Hong Kong cannot wait any more to solve the housing problem!” said young Hongkongers have taken part in…

Fenella Sung sits across from Victor Feng at a narrow bench table at Bubble Queen on Vancouver’s Oak Street.

She’s nursing a hot rose jasmine tea – a somewhat radical choice in a bubble-tea joint – but it’s “fantastic,” she assures Feng, who sips a cold milk tea with tapioca balls, the classic variant of the genre.

“I like to keep things simple,” he says.

Three weekends earlier, they had faced each other under very different circumstances in this Canadian city that has 188,000 mainland…

On a chilly day in February 1974, seven men gathered over breakfast at a soy milk stall in Taipei to map out Taiwan’s foray into semiconductor manufacturing.

In an anecdote that is now legendary, Pan Wen-yuan, who was then a US-based research director at Radio Corporation of America (RCA), advised Sun Yun-suan, the minister for economic affairs, to develop integrated circuits.

It would cost $10 million and four years for the technology to take root in Taiwan, Pan said.

The plan was approved,…

Japanese retailer Muji has apologized in China after using the term “French Concession” to refer to a historic neighborhood in Shanghai in a marketing campaign.

The term, which is still commonly used in the megacity, angered some Chinese internet users who found it insulting because it invoked an era in which China had to grant a number of concessions to countries such as France, Britain, the US and Japan.

The former French Concession was an area run by French diplomats from 1849 to the 1940s…

A pair of newborn pandas in Germany is unlikely to be called Hong and Kong despite calls for the twins to be named in honor of Hong Kong’s continuing pro-democracy protests.

The panda cubs, born at the Berlin Zoo on August 31, have made international headlines following suggestions that they be named after Hong Kong, where protesters have demanded greater accountability and democracy.

The names Hong and Kong finished first in a poll conducted by German tabloid Der Tagesspiegel this month to…

US congressional representatives on Tuesday introduced a bill seeking to ban sales of riot control equipment to Hong Kong, following accusations that the city’s police have used excessive force against anti-government protesters. 

If passed, the bill would prohibit US companies from exporting so-called non-lethal crowd control items such as tear gas, as well as defense articles and services, to Hong Kong police. 

Since mass demonstrations began in June over a proposed extradition bill,…

The Silicon Valley startup Impossible Foods makes a business out of convincing carnivores that vegan burgers can taste just as beefy as the real deal.

But as the company’s founder, Patrick Brown, has set his sight on China, calling the country an “essential” market at a forum on Wednesday, the world’s largest meat consumer has responded with skepticism.

Given China’s long history of making and eating faux meat, a Buddhist tradition that is also widely followed by non-believers, some…

Auto sales in the world’s most populous country fell for 13 months since last July. They are expected to keep falling.

The slowing sales of vehicles in the world’s largest auto market is not just bad news for automakers worldwide. It is also a sign that the US-China trade war and a slowing economy are weighing on Chinese consumers.

“There are a series of reasons for stalled sales: tighter terms for vehicle financing, the increased popularity of ride-sharing and a heightened environmental…