Traditional Medicine

1. Manga comic about Uygur woman’s ordeal in China a viral hit, despite lack of publicity and shunning by publishers

   A Japanese comic book telling the powerful and tragic tale of a 29-year-old Uygur woman from China has become a surprise viral hit.What Has Happened to Me – A Testimony of a Uygur Woman recounts the story told by Mihrigul Tursun, a member of the Muslim minority in western China that has faced relentless crackdowns from authorities in Beijing.The manga – as all comic-style works are known in Japan – describes Tursun’s imprisonment and torture by the Chinese government, the death of one of her…

2. Why Blake Coleman and Frances Tiafoe drink pickle juice, a natural, low-calorie alternative to sugary sports drinks

   When you finish that jar of pickles this holiday season, you may want to think twice about pouring the extra liquid down the sink. Runners at marathon finish lines are frequently being greeted with packets of pickle juice. So are US high school football players coming out of a game, to help them prepare to go back in.What’s so special about the pungent green liquid?Long touted as a natural, low-calorie alternative to sugary sports drinks, pickle juice has received recent endorsements from…

3. The Foundry Suites: a boutique chic hotel in Athens’ coolest neighbourhood

   Kalimera, kyrie! Well, it sure is good to be back in Athens, just as the city emerges, Venus-like, from the financial doldrums of the past few years. For savvy travellers, this translates into a promising cache of boutique hotels, especially in off-the-beaten-track neighbourhoods.Like The Foundry? Absolutely. Built in the 1930s as a – spoiler alert – foundry, it was later converted into a newspaper office and then a performing arts venue. Now it’s a thoroughly slick, modern boutique prop­erty…

4. Hong Kong Philharmonic deliver monumental Mahler and Shostakovich 10th symphonies under van Zweden’s baton

   Perhaps for programming reasons, the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra opted for the truncated and less often performed Willem Mengelberg version of Mahler’s incomplete Symphony No. 10. Pitted with Shostakovich’s 10th symphony, this was an evening devoted to monumental music.The orchestra delivered a well-constructed and gratifying account of Mahler’s Adagio first movement. From the opening notes for violas, its music director, Jaap van Zweden, drew bleakness and longing – a prelude to a…

5. Where to eat the best dumplings in Hong Kong, according to a mega fan, and the city’s best coffee

   Public relations executive Ivan Theodoulou is Newell PR’s regional director, and a resident of Sai Kung.My tastes tend to be more Chinese-oriented although there are lapses. I also have an airline mentality, ie, chicken or fish, when it comes to choosing dishes because I’ve never been a big red meat eater. And for lunch, I tend to go “al desko” – bring my own to work.For some time, I’ve been on a mission to discover the best salmon eggs Benedict in Hong Kong. The clear winner is The…

6. Adventure, sea views, temples and a meal of seafood – Cheung Chau island’s southwest is ripe for exploring

   Now is the perfect time for a leisurely ramble around the southwest corner of Cheung Chau, and a day far away from the disturbances wrought by protests elsewhere in Hong Kong. These days the usually busy streets of the outlying island 10km (6 miles) southwest of Hong Kong Island are quiet, with barely a tourist in sight.Once you step off the ferry on the west coast of Cheung Chau, on the waterfront road called the Praya, the main beach is a couple of minutes’ walk away, just in front of you…

7. In historic first, five black women now hold world’s top beauty pageant titles

   The crowning of Miss World 2019 has closed out this year’s historic pageant circuit, marking the first time that the titles for all five top beauty contests were won by black women.On Saturday, Jamaica’s Toni-Ann Singh was named Miss World, joining a 2019 cohort of advocates for prison reform, women’s rights and music education who used their platform to address conventional beauty standards: Miss Universe 2019 Zozibini Tunzi, Miss America Nia Franklin, Miss USA Cheslie Kryst and Miss Teen USA…

8. From Bhutan to Boston: the best places to visit in 2020, according to travel industry experts

   It’s that time of year again. Airlines, guidebook publishers and accom­modation platforms are counting down their top places to visit in 2020. Established favourites vie with up-and-coming destinations for inclusion.Some are creating a stir in travel-industry circles and are on the verge of being discovered by the masses. Others are celebrating anniver­saries (100 years of the Salzburg Festival) or are spending an extended period in the global spotlight (Galway, in Ireland, and Rijeka, in…

9. 20 world events in 2020: medical, science, sport, technology and political milestones to watch out for

   The next 12 months will be dominated by politics, and the civil unrest that has marked 2019 is likely to further intensify as citizens worldwide rally against corruption, climate inaction and the growing divide between rich and poor.As we move into 2020, we look at 20 things that will define the first year of a new decade – and it’s not all gloomy.1. Summer Olympics in TokyoOn July 24, the Summer Olympics will return to Tokyo, 56 years after its first games, at a projected cost of 400 billion…

10. How the ‘hellish cityscape of Beijing’ inspired a cookbook by Taiwanese-Canadian

    Taiwanese-Canadian Mandy Lee’s first attempt at cooking was not a success. In one of the chapters of The Art of Escapism Cooking (2019), she writes that when she was 16 and growing up in Vancouver, her mother and three “aunties” would have all-day sessions of mahjong. Each of the players would pay $5 for Lee to buy ingredients and cook them a meal, and whatever money was left over was hers to keep.“As a teenage girl whose cooking experience amounted to counting calories and microwaving face…