LATEST ARTICLES

Lu Zhi: panda protector

Lu Zhi: panda protector

In February, China more than doubled its number of protected species, with 517 additions, including the wolf, large-spotted civet and golden jackal. It was the first update since 1989, and to pioneering conservationist, Lu Zhi, it was a good sign. “I think the government is changing, especially the top leaders, who are sincerely into the …read more

Diamond debate is not so clear-cut

Diamond debate is not so clear-cut

The different directions are as sharp as the angles on a multi-faceted brilliant. Pandora, the Danish company that makes the world’s most jewellery pieces, mostly inexpensive High Street ware, has announced it will no longer use naturally-mined diamonds.

There’s a fashion revolution happening: made-on-demand clothes

There’s a fashion revolution happening: made-on-demand clothes

The dark side of fashion is a ravaged landscape of waste and environmental damage, but a retailing revolution could change that picture. On-demand manufacturing will eliminate oversupply and waste, proponents say, ensuring only those items that have already been paid for will get made.

Becky Li, Chinese KOL who sold 100 cars online in four minutes, on brands’ new tool to gauge influence: ‘They are cruel’

Becky Li, Chinese KOL who sold 100 cars online in four minutes, on brands’ new tool to gauge influence: ‘They are cruel’

With 20 million followers on social media, Becky Li is considered a top key opinion leader, or KOL. Her income depends on the sales she can generate, and these days her influence in China is directly measurable, she says. Luxury brands operating in China now give each KOL a different link to attach to a post …read more

Rolex winners, Swatch losers after Swiss luxury watch industry’s devastating year

Rolex winners, Swatch losers after Swiss luxury watch industry’s devastating year

Joe Biden chose to wear a classy US$7,000 stainless steel Rolex Datejust when he was sworn in as US president on January 20, giving the up-market Swiss watch brand a fillip after a diabolical year for luxury watches. Unlike a number of his predecessors who chose to wear utilitarian brands as men of the people …read more

Plunders never cease

Plunders never cease

Qing dynasty treasures, including a carved white jade figure of the star god of longevity, Shulao, are scheduled for auction in Hong Kong on November 30 in a sale titled Imperial Glories from the Springfield Museums Collection.

A bittersweet history

A bittersweet history

Considered an important medicine in China for 2,000 years, rhubarb has been discovered over and over again in its long history. Full of oxalic acid, rhubarb leaves might have poisoned a US president; smuggling valuable rhubarb root warranted death in Russia, and, centuries later, when the heavily sugared stalks were used in desserts, rhubarb was mercilessly …read more

Champion of the cause

Champion of the cause

A group of wealthy and respectable middle-class Sydney women gathered in a tea room in the 1890s, where they “sat by favour of that Chinese gentleman” Quong Tart while they considered how best to fight for the right to vote, a movement that was gaining ground in England.

Plucked from obscurity

Plucked from obscurity

The wiry bird scuffling around in the mountainous jungles near the northern Thailand-Myanmar border doesn’t look like much, but this scrawny red jungle fowl has been tapped as the primary ancestor of the modern world’s all-important domestic chicken.

Buoyed by hope in the midst of crisis

Buoyed by hope in the midst of crisis

Dr Xiaoling Liu, the newly appointed chancellor of the Queensland University of Technology, is well-placed to advise on the coronavirus crisis engulfing Australian universities. Born Chinese, she worked as a metallurgist and executive for Rio Tinto for many years before retiring from her executive position and later joining company boards.