China has come a long way. A culture steeped in history and rich in natural beauty, but as a leading Asian nation surging to the front of the pack of late, its landscape is a curious and awkward juxtaposition of old and new. The roads often segregate the city in the most bizarre manner - [...]

Every now and again, my parents relate their childhood experiences to me. They lived in a remote village in Malaysia. Farmers by trade, my grandparents relied on their offspring to manage the household and occasionally plough the fields. Financially humble, my grandparents had no access to modern amenities and tools we take for granted today. [...]

Dong Cheng, in China, is a village where every commercial activity turns around the reproduction of… famous sculptures. The creators of these “fakes” assume a marginal position and then almost disappear behind the “real” authors that they copy… [But] what is “fake”? Couldn’t we define these people [as] “artists”? Aren’t the hands and the craft [...]

Although I grew up in a developing nation, I have been fortunate enough to live in residential areas far away from industrial sites for my entire life. I remember, when I was young, the television was inundated with commercials depicting the bright future of a fully-industrialised nation - how lives are made so much easier [...]

I heard of an altercation between man and animal over the radio the other day. This man, acting on his impulses to be at one with nature, built his house in the mountains. To protect himself from the wildlife that inevitably pay him a visit in search of food, he installed traps around [...]

Feng Zhengjie paints striking contemporary women. With their coloured hair, richly hued clothes and luscious, expressive lips, the women appear irresistibly dazzling. And yet, the wandering expressions in their eyes render them elusive and enigmatic. Reminiscent of Warhol’s screen printed celebrities, Feng’s paintings reflect a vision of futuristic pop. His generic portraits of women are [...]

When I was young, I practiced painting. It was a natural extension from Chinese calligraphy. I remember being fascinated with beautifully “watery” paintings of landscapes, wildlife and buildings produced by ancient Chinese masters, and I certainly tried very hard to mimic the natural flow of brush strokes common in many Chinese paintings, but [...]

Delicate and elegant as they are, ancient costumes have alwways been a symbol of Chinese cultural tradition, as clearly witnessed in the 2008 Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony. But as time passes by, that materialism and consumerisn gradually change the Chinese culture - Western style attire substitute traditional ones. By making a contrast between [...]

I often hear of negative impressions of life in China. Many people not only bad-mouth China’s current and past political landscape, but ridicule contemporary Chinese art, business practices, and indeed, mentality! A lot of these impressions are based on hearsay and so-called “documentaries” seemingly peppered with personal vendetta; these people have never actually stepped foot [...]

Yuan Shikai (September 16, 1859 – June 6, 1916) was an important Chinese general and politician famous for his influence during the late Qing Dynasty, his role in the events leading up to the abdication of the last Qing Emperor of China, his autocratic rule as the second President of the Republic of China, and [...]