Everyday China
Could a cabinet be sent away to get dressed?
Some furniture forms crossed seas so that Chinese workshops could finish them for European buyers.
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Everyday China
Why did Europeans try to copy lacquer?
East Asian lacquer was admired in Europe, but makers could not simply copy the material.
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History, Arts & Traditions
Why does an inkstone carry two dates centuries apart?
One object at the Met has inscriptions that do not sit neatly together. That makes it more interesting.
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Chinese food
Does Sichuan food have only one setting?
Chengdu’s food profile talks about a range of flavours, not a single level of heat.
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Chinese food
Can a recipe hold two histories at once?
Macao’s tourism guide lists bacalhau cakes: croquettes made with minced salted cod and mashed potato. It also describes roast duck rice, in which duck sits…
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History, Arts & Traditions
Why does embroidery belong in a modern city?
Suzhou’s account of Jiangsu Week at the 2025 Osaka Expo names a maker at work: Yu Junyao, demonstrating a goldfish pattern in silk embroidery. The report…
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Everyday China
Can an old landfill become a garden?
The C40 account dates the landfill’s closure to 2005 and describes restoration work beginning in 2014 across about fifty-two hectares. The project then…
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Everyday China
Could bridge design become a city’s signature?
The Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge gives those design questions a real structure. It opened in October 1957, linking Hanyang and Wuchang across the river.…
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History, Arts & Traditions
Why would a tea city need stone carvers?
Hangzhou’s creative identity includes tea, silk and stone carving. A city can hold several crafts at once.
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Chinese food
What did the port leave on Quanzhou’s menu?
Quanzhou’s food story is tied to centuries of maritime exchange.
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Chinese food
Can “light” food still take serious skill?
One Shunde preparation makes that puzzle wonderfully concrete: Daliang fried milk. In a 2013 report, food writer Pauline D. Loh describes milk thickened…
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Chinese food
What does “between mountains and sea” taste like?
Chaozhou beef meatballs are a useful example because the city’s food programme does more than place them in a flattering photograph. A May 2021 notice…
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