Wee Kek Koon

How ‘hubing' came to China is reflected in Hong Kong's Jenny Bakery cookies smelling like Malaysia's Rotiboy coffee buns, Wee Kek Koon says

Though seen as barbaric, cremation was a common, practical choice for families in China's Song dynasty that reflected their economic reality

BEIJING (SCMP): On a recent trip to Hong Kong, I visited the Aberdeen Chinese Permanent Cemetery. The ashes of a friend, who died eight months ago, are interred there.

The evolution of ‘biluo’ in Tang-dynasty China highlights how there is no unchanging way in which a dish ought to be prepared and enjoyed.

Private inns served travelling merchants in ancient China and grew in number and sophistication as the economy and infrastructure expanded.

For premodern Chinese people, sleep was much more than daily rest – it was a cultivated discipline and a medical necessity.

Before chemical detergents and modern equipment, Chinese people kept their clothes clean with little more than river water, wood and ash.

Long before electric irons, the Chinese had already developed sophisticated methods of pressing and smoothing garments

From bamboo ventilation systems to steam power and beyond, China now leads the world in producing and consuming coal, but dangers remain.

School heads in premodern China had to lead by example above all. More recently, principal Lee Cheuk-hing's failure to do so cost him his job