Whither Tokyo’s Summer Olympics?
byWill the games come off next year as planned or will this be 1940 all over again?
China
Tough grrls
byCivilization may have given men the upper hand for millennia as they lorded it over women politically, economically and physically, but in the natural world, the females of the various species still call the shots. So what’s that got to do with all the single young women in China?
Glittery time
byGraff trends in new timepieces.
A paean to the peony
byThe varied peony has become a protean metaphor, including for healing after violence.
The lure of the thunder dragon
byAudrey Ronning Topping was 10 years old when she heard the song “Faraway Places” and knew it was beckoning her. Now, eight-decades later, those “faraway places” are wonderful memories. Among the most wonderful memories and strangest-sounding-name was that of Bhutan, Kingdom of The Thunder Dragon, so she had to go.
China’s heavenly eye
byChina’s new Mandate of Heaven lies in astronomy, specifically the new 500-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope.
China’s shadow play
byOnce banned under the Communists, the beloved folk art form of shadow puppetry has enjoyed a resurgence in China.
Journey along the Eighth Wonder of the World
byWith China creating a New Silk Road, Seymour Topping recalls a moment in the not-too-distant past when he and journalist-wife Audrey traveled along the treacherously beautiful Karakorum Highway that links Pakistan and China.
Dynasties and dust: The Met’s new ‘Age of Empires’
byWAG’s resident Sinologist, Audrey Ronning Topping, considers the ruthless magnificence of the Qin and Han Dynasties – and the fleeting nature of empire – in a new Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibit.
Bye bye, Bao Bao
byAfter six days of goodbye events, including a dumpling party and heart-shaped ice cake feedings, the Chinese Ambassador to the United States, Cui Tiankai…
Unique designs in the Kingdom of The Thunder Dragon
byEvery nation creates its own distinctive culture expressed in its literature, music, art, architecture and design, which is usually inspired by the surrounding environs. …
Vintage valentines
byA rickshaw full of red roses delivered to a beautiful young woman living in Nanking, China, nearly 70 years ago was the catalyst for…
In China, charity begins at home
byDespite its legion of 569 billionaire titans now topping the U.S.’ 537 billionaires, China has comparatively few charity organizations or private philanthropic donors. One…
An encounter worthy of Shelley
by“Art for art’s sake” is the theme that motivates most contemporary artists. Yet paradoxically, much of history’s most striking classical artwork has been created…
Robots in China
byPerhaps the most fashionable figures in China today are enhanced robots. These romanticized jiqiren, meaning “mechanical people,” dispense basic advice in banks in high,…
Disney and China blend cultures in new resort
byJust when Western tourists feel they have experienced all the historical sights worth seeing in China, Shanghai comes up with a spectacular attraction that…
Moonstruck
byTo this day, when I bite into a mooncake, I taste and feel the magic of the Moon Festivals I celebrated as a student…
Journey between two Chinas: The Battle of the Huaihai
byWritten by Seymour Topping During my years as a foreign correspondent for the Associated Press and later The New York Times, I traveled to…
Chinese Reaganomics
byWritten by Seymour Topping Reading the news out of Beijing nowadays, you may very well be puzzled as to what philosophy is guiding the…
Life of Pei
byIn November 1971, shortly after I returned from a journalistic assignment to China, I was surprised to receive a phone call from I.M. Pei. I was thrilled. I knew…