Nadia Lam

Mushrooms are finally having their moment.  Long regarded in China for their medicinal benefits, mushrooms – including reishi, lion’s mane and chaga - have become one of the hottest health and wellness trends in North America.  “We’re living in increasingly stressful times and studies have established a direct connection between mental and physical health,” said Ben Stocker, Hong Kong’s leading retailer for mushroom powder.  “Mushrooms are at the forefront of this trend” as they help to fight stress and aging while providing energy and a better night’s sleep, he said. Among its biggest proponents in the US is wellness guru Gwyneth Paltrow who says she adds mushroom powder to her morning smo

Chinese women are choosing money over marriage - and it’s all because of what’s on TV, according to a recently released study. The report released by research firm Bernstein found that as television dramas become more focused on wealth and materialism, so too have young Chinese women. Their idea of success has switched from “marrying well” to “being the architect of your own success.” In the last four decades, China has experienced an unprecedented rise in prosperity as one of the world’s fastest-growing economies. “Chinese television series have evolved as a mirror of society, moving wealth and money to a center stage position,” the study found. According to the report, the number of femal

A Chinese artist and academic has painted himself into a pickle with art lovers who have accused him of plagiarising cultural icons. But the artist, Feng Feng, a professor at one of China’s top fine-art academies, has hit back at critics, saying the works achieved his goal of getting people to talk about art. Feng stands accused of plagiarising Miffy, the world-famous cartoon rabbit created by a Dutch artist in 1955.  But he refuses to apologize for putting a duck’s beak on the cultural icon in his “Rabbitduck” series. “Plagiarism and appropriation represent two different attitudes,” Feng told Inkstone.   “Those who plagiarise often try to hide the original by making changes to it, and they

Border restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic have apparently paved the way for a comeback of a rare creature in Hong Kong waters, the Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin, also known as Chinese white dolphin or pink dolphin. Seas off southern Lantau Island have been quieter than usual with fewer high-speed ferries crossing the marine mammals’ natural habitat. Researchers say that sightings of the dolphins are up by as much as 30% and the animals they see appear to be less “stressed”