August 16-22, 2013
St on e s t h at
l a e H
| August 16-22, 2013
August 16-22, 2013
Contents Economy
Made in Asean, made in the world
Health
Art of hot, holistic healing
Environment
The dangers of e-waste
August 16-22, 2013
| August 16-22, 2013
Contents Health
Drinking water to death
Environment
Guardians of the forest
Fashion
Inner circle of luxury
August 16-22, 2013
Contents
Culture
Food
The new tea party
Travel
Shaved ice revolution
Location, location, location
>>DATEBOOK
Happenings around Asia
WRITE, FAX, EMAIL Please include sender’s name and address to: asianewsnet@gmail.com | Asia News Network Nation Multimedia Group Plc 1858/129 Bangna-Trad Road (Km 4.5), Bangna, Bangkok 10260 Thailand.Tel: (662)338 3333 Fax: (662)338 3964 SUBSCRIPTION INQURIES: Nation Multimedia Group Plc 1854 Bangna-Trad Road (Km 4.5), Bangna, Bangkok 10260 Thailand. Tel: (662)338 3333 Call Center: (662)338 3000 press 1 Fax: (662)338 3964
| August 16-22, 2013
ECONOMY
Made in Asean, made in the world
As the Philippines positions itself for AEC, the name of the game is finding a strategic place Kevork Djansezian/AFP
CIELITO F. HABITO Philippine Daily Inquirer Manila
T A file photo of the Apec summit in 2011 in Honolulu, Hawaii. The US hosted the Apec summit, with leaders from the 21 member economies including Philippine President Benigno Aquino III.
wo significant economic events will be coming to the Philippines in two years’ time. First is the advent of the Asean Economic Community (AEC) unifying its 10 membereconomies into a single market and production base marked by free or freer flow of goods, services, investment, capital and skilled labour across their borders. Second is the country’s hosting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) Summit, the second since 1996, consisting of sectoral ministerial meetings that will culminate in the meeting of
| August 16-22, 2013
ECONOMY heads of government of the Apec member-states. AEC and Apec both aim for closer economic integration, with the latter having a wider geographical scope now covering 21 countries spanning both sides of the Pacific Ocean. Things have come a long way in over two decades since the launch of the Asean Free Trade Area (Afta) in 1992 and the birth of Apec in 1989. In both groupings, the aim is to foster wider economic linkages, closer economic cooperation, and regional economic integration through liberalised trade and investment among member economies in goods and services. I was among the senior officials from the Philippines, led by then Trade and Industry Undersecretary Lilia Bautista, who negotiated the country’s position in Afta and the Common Effective Preferential Tariff that preceded it, back in 1991-1992. At that time, there was much doubt
on the usefulness of pursuing Afta at all. The sceptics reasoned that the six member-economies then—Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand—produced largely similar products, hence limiting the scope for wider trade among them. They would be more likely to compete with each other, they argued, rather than complement one another through trade. The sceptics were to be proven wrong. Total trade within Asean more than doubled from US$161 billion to $351 billion between 1996 and 2006, and grew faster than Asean’s overall trade did within that period. For the Philippines, whose trade had traditionally been dominated by the United States and Japan, trade with Asean has similarly assumed greater prominence over the years. Such increased intra-regional trade has been the result of deliberate moves by Asean to establish international and
regional production networks through cross-border investment schemes. These included the Asean Industrial Joint Venture and Brand-to-Brand Complementation schemes, among other programmes deliberately established to create value chains that span across national borders within the regional group. The theory underlying this approach is simple enough. Rather than have every member establish its own complete manufacturing industry for a complex product, say appliances or motor vehicles, each one is better off specialising in particular components, thereby being able to serve a much larger market than its own. In so doing, everyone benefits from economies of scale (that is, lower unit costs made possible by larger volumes of production). Clearly, cars or appliances would cost much less if produced under such regional or international production
| August 16-22, 2013
ECONOMY networks, rather than if each country insisted on having its own complete car or appliance industry where the entire value chain lies within their respective national borders. It is therefore not surprising— and in fact perfectly logical—that the country’s top exports to Asean neighbours Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore are electronics, even as our top imports from them are also electronics. The country exports to them electronic components such as semiconductors and circuit boards, but also certain finished products like disk drives and wristwatches. Meanwhile, it imports both basic electronic components and finished consumer electronic products from the same neighbours. Similarly, the top export to Thailand is motor vehicle parts and components, while the top import from them is motor vehicles. In each case, the country forms with neighbours a regional
value chain or production network in a complementary trade relationship that proves to be a win-win arrangement for all. This, then, is the new shape of international trade, both regionally and globally. It’s no longer just the textbook case of specialising in and exporting products the country possesses comparative advantage in and importing those where it doesn’t. In a world of increasingly complex products and expanding value chains, international trade is now about taking part in a production network that transcends many national borders, leading to finished products with no clear national identity. In a recent international forum in Manila, Dr Sherry Stephenson pointed out that a Boeing aircraft is not quite “Made in America”, but more aptly, “Made in the World”, having various major components manufactured in different countries. For the same reason, neither
should those ubiquitous iPhones or iPads be seen as made in China or made in the United States. These are prime examples of products arising from an international value chain that brings about active trade not only in goods, but also in services. The latter is quite important, especially for services-dominated economies like in the Philippines. Embodied in many of these global products are services that Filipino outsourcing firms could have provided, such as product and engineering design, service support, and backroom operations like financial accounting, among others—things the country is already a world leader in. As the Philippines positions itself for the AEC, Apec, Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership or Trans-Pacific Partnership, the name of the game is regional and global value chains—and it must find the country’s strategic place in these. ¬
ENVIRONMENT
| August 16-22, 2013 Farooq Naeem/AFP
The dangers of e-waste LACK OF REGULATIONS TO OVERSEE THE DISCARDING OF ELECTRONIC WASTE PUTS WORKERS TASKED TO PROCESS THEM IN GRAVE DANGER
UNREGULATED E-WASTE PROCESSING POSE SERIOUS HEALTH THREATS TO WORKERS, ESPECIALLY CHILDREN, WHO WORK IN WAREHOUSES THAT CONTAIN AND RECYCLE E-WASTE. THE DISCARDED ELECTRONICS ARE “DUMPED” ONTO DEVELOPING COUNTRIES SUCH AS PAKISTAN, INDIA AND BANGLADESH BY THE DEVELOPED WORLD.
| August 16-22, 2013
ENVIRONMENT
Manjunath Kiran/AFP
AAMIR SAEED Dawn Rawalpindi, Punjab
A
kash Ali is a nineyear-old labourer who works at a warehouse on Rawalpindi’s College Road in north Punjab. He suffers from asthma, but he seems unaware of the health and environmental hazards attached to his job. Akash works in a warehouse of that contains and recycles electronic waste (e-waste). “My father has died and now I’m the only breadwinner of my family,” he told Dawn. com, adding that he has to support his mother, two younger brothers and a sister. E-waste includes old computers, television sets, mobile phones, batteries, printers, fax machines and electronic games. Most of the material contain toxins
E-WASTE, INCLUDING BATTERIES, COMPUTERS, TELEVISION SETS, PRINTERS AND MOBILE PHONES, CONTAIN TOXIC MATERIAL THAT, IF NOT PROCESSED ACCORDING TO PROPER PROCEDURES, BECOMES A HEALTH HAZARD TO WORKERS HANDLING THEM.
which pose serious health risks, especially to the labourers who physically handle the material. Akash earns 90 Pakistani rupees
(US$0.88) daily from cleaning old computers and their accessories, which includes keyboards and printed circuit boards.
| August 16-22, 2013
ENVIRONMENT
Manjunath Kiran/AFP
“Sometimes I am also assigned to burn the discarded electronic material. I think this was how I contracted the asthma,” he says. The owner of the warehouse, meanwhile, declined to comment on the health hazards faced by his employees. What is certain, however, is that the relevant authorities have been unable to devise a cogent policy to handle the e-waste problem. Pakistan has virtually become a dumping ground for such toxic material. It receives thousands of tonnes of e-waste every year from developed countries like the United States and United Kingdom. A report titled “Recycling: From e-waste to resources” prepared by the United Nations Environment Programme and released in July 2009, says that e-waste has become a huge and growing problem in the modern world. In the US alone, over 112,000 laptops
A UNEP REPORT SHOWED THAT AROUND 40 MILLION METRIC TONNES OF E-WASTE ARE PRODUCED GLOBALLY EACH YEAR.
and desktop computers are discarded every day. According to the report, around 40 million metric tonnes of e-waste are produced globally each year, and about 13 per cent
of that weight is recycled mostly in developing countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka. About 9 million tonnes of this waste is produced by the European Union.
| August 16-22, 2013
ENVIRONMENT China and India have since strengthened their laws about the import of e-waste from developed countries, so it is likely the amount of waste will increase manifold in Pakistan in the coming months. Shershah town in Karachi remains one of the major markets for e-waste in Pakistan, where all sorts of electronic and electrical goods, spare parts, computers and smuggled goods arrive by sea and land for sale or further distribution to other cities. A report by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) titled, “The global impact of e-waste: Addressing the challenge", says the demand for e-waste began to grow when scrap yards found a way of extracting valuable substances such as copper, iron, silicon, nickel and gold during the recycling process. The report says that even a low level of exposure of children and pregnant women to lead, mercury, cadmium and other
heavy metals can cause serious neurological damage. Child scavengers who pick up things from e-waste sites are the most likely victims of related diseases. The main risks to human health and the environment arise from improper management of heavy metals, persistent organic pollutants, flame retardants and other potentially hazardous substances found in e-waste. Asif Shuja Khan, directorgeneral of the Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), says that e-waste processing activities are posing a serious threat to the environment and human health, because agricultural lands and livestock are getting contaminated by the waste in some parts of the country. He says the risks can be lowered if proper measures are adopted and the recycling industry is legalised through proper legislation. “Proper ventilation and light
should be ensured at the recycling and dumping sites to minimise the health risks,” he said. Khan says workers at e-waste sites should wear the appropriate safety equipment such as goggles, gloves and arm protection. “Smoking, eating and drinking should be prohibited at the work areas and workers should also be advised to wash their hands with proper detergents before meals.” He says that a number of foreign companies have contacted the EPA to state their interest in working with Pakistan's e-waste recycling industry, if the business is given legal covering through proper legislation. “We will take up the issue with the relevant authorities both in the Centre and provinces, to obtain proper legislation on the import, handling and management of e-waste,” he says. He added that if the industry is given proper legislation and businesses legalised, not only will the health and environmental
| August 16-22, 2013
ENVIRONMENT risks be minimised, but it also has the potential to contribute significantly to the country's economy and provide thousands with jobs. To date importing and recycling e-waste remains illegal under the Basel Convention on control of trans-boundary movements of hazardous waste and their disposal, to which Pakistan is party, but this has gone unchecked. The convention bans the exchange of hazardous waste, which includes e-waste, between developed and developing countries. As Pakistan has no specific rules and regulations to oversee the e-waste issue, importers are benefitting from it using loopholes. E-waste is imported
from developed countries disguised as “second-hand goods” and then recycled here. Under Articles 4 and 5 of the Basel convention, Pakistan is bound to take “appropriate and legal measures, and establish a competent authority to manage and regulate e-waste". The country's relevant ministries including commerce and information technology, have so far done nothing in this regard. Commerce Ministry Deputy Secretary Muhammad Ashraf admits that no specific rules and regulations have been framed to regulate and manage e-waste. He was, however, quick to clarify that the ministry itself has not initiated any policy on the issue as it is the responsibility
of the stakeholders to highlight a problem and submit their proposals to the ministry to come up with a formal policy. "So far, the ministry has only looked into the environmental and health risk from plastic waste that is being imported into Pakistan from other countries," he says. Ashraf says a formal strategy on the import of e-waste may be formulated if certain health and environmental hazards linked to the waste are brought to the ministry's attention. IT ministry officials have also claimed ignorance over the health and environmental hazards posed by e-waste, and no initatives have been suggested on how to address the issue. ¬
ENVIRONMENT
| August 16-22, 2013 Photos by Darran Tan/The Star
REFORESTATION PROJECTS IN KINABATANGAN, SABAH, ARE BENEFITING VILLAGERS LIKE ISNIDAH JANGAI, WHO GROWS TREE SEEDLINGS FOR NESTLE’S RILEAF PROJECT.
Guardians of the forest
| August 16-22, 2013
ENVIRONMENT SONJA MUSTAFFA The Star Kinabatangan, Sabah
I
HAJI AWANG AZIS HAS INCORPORATED A POULTRY FARM INTO HIS SMALL OIL PALM ESTATE.
t was an act we could look back and pat ourselves on the back for. Our tiny group of town mice braved leeches to plant trees in Kinabatangan, Sabah. Our deed for posterity could bring an end to the conflict between man and nature, especially animals. Our saplings will grow to create habitats and passageways for animals like the pygmy elephant and orang utan to dwell in and get to food safely. It is a rare opportunity to receive an assignment that jives with your philosophy of life. Visiting Lower Kinabatangan in eastern Sabah with other journalists at the invitation of food and beverage manufacturer Nestle — whose tree-planting project here is called RiLeaf—was a truly pleasurable experience. Considered one of Southeast Asia’s biodiversity hotspots, the site is paradise for nature lovers who are attracted by the plenteous flora and fauna like the 624 bird species and 998 orchid species found here. The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Malaysia started carrying out projects along Sungai Kinabatangan, Sabah’s longest river at 560km, in the late 1970s.
| August 16-22, 2013
ENVIRONMENT
Darran Tan/The Star
The Kinabatangan Corridor of Life (KCoL) project, launched in 2007, determined that teamwork between government agencies, oil palm companies (plantations occupy 85 per cent of the area), tourism operators, nongovernmental agencies and the local community is vital in protecting the biodiversity of Lower Kinabatangan, where human activity is rife. The stakeholders needed to switch to sustainable palm oil production and tourism, rehabilitate the forest and river, set up a management committee to oversee the area and ensure ongoing funding for conservation.
RETURN TO GREEN
Kertijah Abdul Kadir, ex-WWF senior programme officer and now Nestle agricultural officer, has been working on forest restoration in Kinabatangan since 2004. She plans, administers and implements activities with the help of five staffers. The Kinabatangan Restoration Road Map drawn up in 2009 by the Sabah Forestry Department determined that 32,000 hectares of Lower Kinabatangan needs to be reforested. This includes reconnecting fragmented forest (in both state and private land) to form wildlife corridors, reinvigorating degraded forest and enhancing the riparian forest to help control soil sedimentation and filter industrial
NESTLE AGRICULTURAL OFFICER KERTIJAH ABDUL KADIR PLANS AND IMPLEMENTS THE COMPANY’S TREE-PLANTING EFFORT AT KINABATANGAN.
| August 16-22, 2013
ENVIRONMENT runoff (fertiliser, pesticide and oil palm mill effluent). “RiLeaf is aiming to plant 2,400 hectares,” says Kertijah. “So far, we have covered 1,560 hectares in 106 demarcated blocks out of 137 within forest gaps in wildlife sanctuaries. More than 100,000 trees have been planted to date.” One of RiLeaf ’s partners is Komuniti Anak Pokok Kinabatangan (Kinabatangan Saplings Community, or Kapok). The cooperative of locals helps safeguard the environment by growing saplings for the tree-planting. “I plant eight types of trees. My children and I gather seeds from the forest in our spare time to help grow more than 1,000 trees at a time,” says Isnidah Jangai who runs the Seratu Balai Gapi homestay business where she has her nursery. Isnidah was handed the business to look after by her sister in 2006. She says she is glad to contribute in this way because it also brings her
an income. Each six-monthold sapling propagated in a polybag is sold for 1.50 ringgit (US$0.46) to RiLeaf. Tourists buy young trees from her too. A WWF study has recommended that city folk visiting Kinabatangan plant one tree to offset his carbon dioxide emission, while anyone flying from Mexico or the United States should plant seven. Kertijah doesn’t believe in vilifying oil palm smallholders, instead favouring to instil good agricultural practices which have proven in the past to produce a bigger and better harvest. She is working with a handful of oil palm planters like Haji Awang Azis, 70, and Noorazizah Pibu, 42, in a project called UpLeaf to showcase how they can vary their source of income and improve the quality of palm yield through the use of microbes. With the former, she has helped set up a poultry coop of 50 chickens that are free-ranging and given organic fodder, as well
as fish ponds full of tilapia. The palm canopy provides essential shade. There is a ready supplier (of chicks and fry) and buyer who is hoping to see similar farms get off the ground. The sprayed microbes make the soil fertile and palm trees lush. “It’s still at a trial and error stage. We only started in November. The big idea is to minimise or stop the use of hazardous chemicals and use a back-to-nature approach,” says Kertijah, whose research ally for the use of microbes is Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS). “I can see the benefits of using microbes,” says Noorazizah who tends a seven-hectare plantation with her husband. “It has helped me reap more and sweeter fruit. The fronds are also more splayed to receive more sunlight.” Kertijah’s team visits the planters every month to check on their progress and ensure that they have not fallen back on old ways. “Chemicals are expensive.
| August 16-22, 2013
ENVIRONMENT Why should they spend more if with less money, they can gain a better quality (organic) product? The commitment comes after some time. Most are willing to give it a try. What they don’t like is being forced to give up their land (for reforestration). However, I think they would be motivated if they knew why and what they were doing it for.” Smallholders should take a leaf from plantation companies which are taking measures to mend the forest. Some companies have built bridges over boundary drains to help the animals get to their food source. Gaining admission to the Roundtable On Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) through conservation activities makes good business sense for these enterprises as more and more consumers demand sustainable palm oil. Some resort operators are also
doing their part. Myne Resort in Kampung Bilit, for instance, has dedicated 40.5 hectares of forest to the observation and research of pachyderms and primates.
SCARE THEM AWAY
How do smallholders deal with elephants using their land as a highway? “We don’t give them advice on dealing with intrusions,” says Kertijah. “Usually, an Elephant Control Unit under the National Wildlife Department will come to the rescue. "At the moment, many planters erect electric fences or use burnt tyres (elephants hate the smell of burnt rubber) to keep them away.” Village folk are more emphatic. “Of course they are scared because of the size of the elephants, but they are not angry. They have traditional knowledge for handling such situations.
The animals don’t cause much damage, but this is subjective. I think if there are no obstacles in their (the elephants') way, the damage is less", says Kertijah. Have decades of conservation work paid off ? Kertijah opines that things are looking up for Kinabatangan. “People are becoming more aware of how special this place is. Many enabling factors such as corporate support, an openminded local community, scientific research, policies and standard operating procedures are in place. It is just a matter of political will for the vision to be realised,” she says. Kertijah’s great hope is for the heritage of Kinabatangan to be better protected for future generations through its gazettement as a Special Area, where only prescribed activities are carried out. ¬
| August 16-22, 2013
HEALTH
PINAKI ROY The Daily Star Dhaka
T
he presence of excessive salt in drinking water in Bangladesh’s southwestern coastal districts is posing multiple health risks, including that of high blood pressure, kidney failure and diarrhoea. It also causes pre-eclampsia to which expecting mothers are particularly vulnerable. The World Health Organisation and the Food and Agriculture Organisation recommend consuming maximum five grams of salt per day with food and drinks. But people of this salinityaffected region take up to 16 grams
Rashed Shumon
Drinking water to death
HEALTH of salt just by drinking water, according to a research. “Hypertension patients are predominant here than in any other area I have worked before,” said Mozammel Haque, medical officer of the 50-bed Dakop Upazila Health Complex in Khulna. According to its Health Bulletin 2012, more than half of the 5,384 patients admitted to the hospital in 2011 suffered form various ailments associated with salinity. And around 60 per cent of the patients admitted there in 2011 died of hypertension and other salinity-related diseases. “Salinity of water is the precipitating factor of HTN [hypertension] in this region,” the Bulletin says. Home to some 50,000 people, Dakop is a classic example of inland salinity intrusion, which is robbing the people and the region of livelihood and agriculture. Like in many other adjacent areas of this region, fresh
LACK OF RAIN DRIES UP A PADDY FIELD AT BALIA BHEKUTIA IN JESSORE AT A TIME OF THE YEAR WHEN THE CROPS ARE USUALLY SEEN IN ANKLE-DEEP WATER. THE SITUATION IN THE AREA REMAINS ALMOST UNCHANGED SINCE THIS PHOTO WAS TAKEN IN EARLY JULY.
drinking water is scarce in the entire upazila (districts), thanks to extreme salinity. But it is not just Dakop. A 2011 bulletin of Khulna Medical College Hospital shows that more than half of all the patients admitted to the hospital in 2011 had various diseases linked to salinity. Earlier, a research on expecting mothers visiting
the Dakop health complex for treatment identified a range of health problems with potential links to increased salinity, including hypertension, miscarriage, kidney failure, skin disease, acute respiratory infection and diarrhoea. The research conducted by the Imperial College of London and Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies (BCAS) between July
HEALTH 2008 and March 2010 found that when the region runs out of drinking water in summer, salinity level in its ground water and river water rises. Up to 39 per cent of expecting mothers who drink shallow tube well water suffered from hypertension, with another seven per cent suffering from pre-eclampsia. Researchers found that many people take water with high salt contents, not knowing the amount of sodium they consume. “Awareness has increased now. And people, especially the pregnant women, mostly drink rainwater. But still a significant number of people suffer from hypertension,” noted Santosh Kumar Majumder, assistant health officer of Dakop Upazila Health Complex. He is also one of the researchers. Aniere Khan, a researcher of the Imperial College, in her paper titled “Climate change, water salinity and health impacts in
coastal Bangladesh” described salinity as something that is “not only breaching our coasts, but is approaching the very shores of motherhood in the womb.” Kartik Chandra, a development worker in Dakop, said most people collect as much rainwater as possible and preserve it for drinking in dry season. Otherwise, people have to buy drinking water that comes in 20-litre jars from Khulna by boat. Each container costs 30 taka (37 US cents), he added. Md Habib, assistant health officer at Shyamnagar Upazila Health Complex in Satkhira, said the situation is no different in Gabura union, where he works. Worse, salinity has badly affected agriculture in the area and farmers now cannot grow vegetables due to extreme salinity, he said. In total, 93 upazilas of 18 southwestern districts are affected by salinity in different degrees. Of them, Khulna and Satkhira
are among the worst-hit districts. The problem continues to worsen, with around 20 million people of the coastal region already affected, according to Soil Resource Development Institue. “It is necessary to do extensive research to determine various health impacts on people. The situation may be worse than what we know,” said Atiq Rahman, executive director of BCAS. Last month, elderly Mofazzal Molla of Sabuj Palli village under Chalna was admitted to the Dakop upazila health complex with a second cardiac attack. His son, Yasin, told The Daily Star over the phone that his mother and sister and many of his neighbours were also suffering from high blood pressure. Asked about the source of their drinking water, Yasin said they were drinking pond water at the moment, which is slightly salty. But they prefer it because it is better than the high saline water. ¬
HEALTH
| August 16-22, 2013
Art of hot, holistic healing Traditional therapies have embraced hot rocks for their restorative powers, and spas are taking advantage of the trend
| August 16-22, 2013
HEALTH WANG HONGYI China Daily
T Shanghai
he summer's sizzle has already made people around the country sweaty and restless. While people are longing for the end of these hot days, experts suggest summer is the best season to discharge your body's toxins and recover your energy. According to traditional Chinese medicine, summer is the season of yang, a time when the body undergoes vigorous metabolic or body-energy processes. The yang energy is the power for viscera, integral to the function of various organs. "Traditional Chinese medicine attaches great importance to the harmony between people, environment and season. People can take advantage of this time to improve their health, and make a good preparation for next winter," says Zhang Chaoming,
a TCM expert from Shanghai Landseed International Hospital. One popular option is hot-stone massage. Therapists use smooth, heated stones, usually basalt or river rocks, to massage certain area of the body, or place them on key points of the anatomy. "The warmth of the hot stones will improve blood circulation and also help relax muscles, while sweating is also believed to be good for discharging the body's toxins," Zhang explains. The therapy is gaining wide popularity among white-collar workers, who have jobs in cool air-conditioned rooms, says Fei Fei, who works with Rubis Spa in Shanghai. She says the hot-stone therapy can be used to cure many ailments, such as back pain, osteoarthritis and arthritis pain.
Using hot stones for healing dates back to ancient times, but the modern revival of hot-stone massage is generally credited to Mary Nelson, a native of Tucson, Arizona, whose trademarked "LaStone Therapy" has a Native American spiritual component. Variations on this style of massage have become popular in spas around the
A STONE BATH DETOXIFIES AND IMPROVES BLOOD CIRCULATION.
| August 16-22, 2013
HEALTH world, including in China. “We also have special therapy for feet," says a woman surnamed Yang, a staff member at Zen Palace Massage in Shanghai. "The hot-stone therapy will help the body discharge toxins and humidity that accumulated during the last winter. We have many clients during summer, which is the best season to recuperate good body."
HOT TREND
Almost every beauty salon has such hot-stone therapy right now, says Wang Yan, who once worked with a beauty salon in Shanghai. "But the service varies considerably in its quality." There is a big demand for trained therapists with this skill, Wang says. One well-known Japanese variation is called Ganbanyoku, literally translated as a bedrock bath or stone bath. Rather than use water or steam to heat and wash the body,
people simply wear a gown or something comfortable, and then lay on heated stone tablets made of granite or silica, which are warmed to around 45°C. "The body will gradually warm up and circulation will also be improved. More sweat will come out quickly. The sweat is smooth and fresh, not smelly and sticky like that released after sports activities. Such sweat comes from the deep inside of the body," says a worker surnamed Tan at Shanghai Yishengtang, a hot-stone bath provider. "Many clients come here to seek this detoxification effect, especially in summer," he says. Ganbanyoku service providers claim such baths bring a number of health benefits, such as anti-aging, improved blood circulation, body detoxification and stress relief. The slimming effect of dieting can even be boosted, they say. Compared with hot-stone therapy on the body, such a
hot stone "bath" is relatively rare in China, though it can be found in some big cities like Shanghai and Beijing. For such a spa treatment, it's necessary to rest and relax beforehand. Also, do not eat too much before the massage, Tan notes. "Hot-stone therapy is not suitable for everyone, and it is not recommended for people with infectious skin disease, open wounds or heart diseases. Pregnant women are also not advised to have it," he says. "I used to feel chilly and have cold feet in winter. It's really comfortable when feeling the warmth of the hot stones, and the whole body is getting relaxed," says Sophie Chen who works with a multinational company in Shanghai. "Sweating is a good thing. It will help release negative impurities. When I finish the whole course of a stone bath, I feel my body is cleaned up," she says. ÂŹ
FASHION
| August 16-22, 2013
INNER CIRCLE OF LUXURY WANG HONGYI China Daily Shanghai
A
couple of hours before the end of the workday Friday, a young woman could be seen darting in and out of the dressing room at a Louis Vuitton store in Beijing. She put on a lacy black cocktail dress and matching peep-toe high heels, then presented the ensemble to a man relaxing on one of the store's plush sofas.
Changing standards of living means new levels of demand for luxury
| August 16-22, 2013
FASHION Outside the store's glass doors, a crowd began to form around the installed velvet ropes, waiting for some of China's biggest movie stars to walk down the red carpet and grace the opening of Louis Vuitton's first women's store in Beijing in July. Two decades after entering the Chinese market, the French fashion brand has become one of the country's most sought-after names in luxury. Now, its most pressing challenge is to maintain the image of exclusivity—built from its beginnings as a trunk maker to European royalty— even as it continues to push for bigger sales in China. Louis Vuitton's new women's store at the Shin Kong Place in Beijing, with sections dedicated to luggage, handbags, clothing, shoes and accessories, is seen as a way to highlight among Chinese consumers the brand's heritage of exclusivity. The Chinese are now the world's top
THE LABEL'S FALL/WINTER 2013 COLLECTION FEATURES SLIPS AND SILK PAJAMAS PAIRED WITH FUR COATS AND JACKETS.
luxury spenders, making one out of every four luxury purchases globally, according to a report by consulting firm Bain & Company. "With this new store … we would like to take a step further and provide adapted shopping experience and service for our sophisticated clientele," Philippe Fortunato, president of Louis Vuitton China, says in a statement. Last year, in the annual China Luxury Study conducted by Bain, the French label fell to second place among Chinese women's "most desired luxury brands"—after being in the top spot the previous two surveys. Among Chinese men, it remained in first place. In the second World Luxury Index China released last month, the brand dropped to No. 2 among the most sought-after fashion brands in the country. "Louis Vuitton has been pushing very hard in the
| August 16-22, 2013
FASHION Chinese market, suffering from saturation," says David Sadigh, founder and CEO of Digital Luxury Group, the firm that conducted the report. "(Its mother company) LVMH understood this very well, reacting immediately, announcing price increases and the production of higherend leather products."
UNDERSTATED LUXURY
A tour of the Shin Kong Place store shows another way that Louis Vuitton has adjusted to the quickly maturing tastes of Chinese luxury buyers. Its leather bags, in calfskin, python, ostrich and crocodile skins, come in a rainbow of colours— but many no longer have the brand's popular L-and-V logo emblazoned on their surface. Understated luxury is now the growing thing in China. Since the store offers women's products only, this will also help the label to deepen ties with
female customers by offering them tailor-made products and services, say analysts. "To create special events, to deliver special products, to really be able to do this marketing game that you are not able to do anymore because your consumer base became so wide and huge around the world," says Jonathan Siboni, president of Luxurynsight, a Paris-based luxury consultancy, which has worked with other brands in the LVMH Group. "I think Louis Vuitton, they will try to find new ways to renew this personal connection," Siboni says in a phone interview. China has two other women's stores, in Shenyang and Hangzhou. To mark its launch, the Beijing women's store is the first among Louis Vuitton's 47 Chinese branches to offer the fashion house's Fall/Winter 2013 collection. This is advertised in an installation at the mall's atrium, which recreates the look
of the Paris runway show where the collection was presented. The pieces, which feature slips and silk pyjamas paired with fur coats and jackets with gradient embroidery, as well as skirt suits and velvet dresses, received glowing reviews from industry insiders. "In its unabashed aching romance, and in its desire to create a personal, human-scaled sense of what Louis Vuitton can be, it was a collection that touched heart and mind," Vogue magazine says of designer Marc Jacobs' latest work. Before the film celebrities came, the male customer had already finished shopping for his wife. It turned out that the woman modelling the clothes for him was a Louis Vuitton sales personnel helping him pick out shoes and dresses. Such are the privileges of being in the inner circle of luxury. ÂŹ
| August 16-22, 2013
FASHION
AN INSTALLATION OUTSIDE THE STORE RECREATES THE LOOK OF LOUIS VUITTON'S FALL/ WINTER 2013 RUNWAY SHOW IN PARIS. Provided to China Daily
| August 16-22, 2013
FASHION
THE LABEL'S ICONIC TRAVELLING TRUNKS AND BAGS ARE AVAILABLE AT THE STORE.
| August 16-22, 2013
FASHION
FROM LEFT: PHILIPPE FORTUNATO, ACTRESS SUN LI, CEO OF LOUIS VUITTON MICHAEL BURKE AND ACTOR WU XIUBO AT THE STORE OPENING. Zhang Wei/China Daily
CULTURE
The new tea party
Tea is a cultural and historical heritage of China, and like all aspects of culture, it is always evolving
| August 16-22, 2013
| August 16-22, 2013
CULTURE PAULINE D. LOH China Daily Beijing
TEA IS NOT JUST A DRINK IN CHINA.
T
ea, like wines, mellow as they age, developing smoothness and subtlety in taste that is lacking in brash new brews. Similarly, Chinese tea culture traces its roots back to Lu Yu (AD 733-804), the patron saint who elevated tea drinking to an art about 1,300 years ago. In the current economic climate, tea in China is enjoying a renaissance of awareness and appreciation that crosses psychographic and demographic barriers, with tendrils of influence reaching far across the seas. Tea culture has always reveled in the attention of the upper classes whenever the country is settled and prosperous. It used to be the drink that lubricated gentle prose and poetry from scholars of classic literature. It was the drink of the gentry and equally the drink of the agrarian poor, whose daily solace after a hard day's work in the fields would be a pot of hot water flavoured
by a few precious leaves. It's no different now, although rare are the rough brews thrown together in large copper pots meant only to quench the thirst of the sweaty manual class. Instead, there is a whole new order, where leaves are carefully classified according to taste, terroir and the ting-a-ling of cash registers and whole new support industries are flourishing alongside catering to the new tea connoisseurs. New kilns and old kilns are producing tea wares that range from rustic ceramics to delicate porcelains. There are tea pots of every size and shape, cups as delicate as eggshells, tiny jugs that allow the brew to breathe before being poured into cups, holders that support tea colanders, ewers that hold tea cups between brews, tea urns that store the leaves. Then there are the tea slabs and tables made from blocks of sculpted tree roots and slabs of black stone and marble.
| August 16-22, 2013
CULTURE
LOOSE TEA LEAVES ARE PRESSED INTO INGOT-SHAPED BRICKS. THEY WERE TRADITIONALLY CARRIED ON THE BACKS OF HORSES TO TIBET ON THE CHAMA GUDAO, THE ANCIENT TEA AND HORSE CARAVAN ROUTE.
For a price, tea connoisseurs can enjoy their tea-making with the full paraphernalia, although tags are seldom fewer than four figures and the zeroes may stretch to hundreds of thousands of yuan for the true collectors. Tea is big business. And the collectors and connoisseurs are willing to pay. In Kunming, the capital of Southwest China's Yunnan province, specialist shops display tea tables created from ancient tree roots, mostly imported from Myanmar. The tabletops are smoothed and carved, and matching stools make it a set. The going price for a good set is no less than 10,000 yuan (US$1,629), and the better woods can cost up to 100,000 yuan. Tea slabs sculpted from a single block of black stone start from 5,000 yuan upward. In Kunming, too, the tea merchants are laughing all the way to the bank, especially those
who have had the foresight to bank up on stocks of pu'er tea. Orders are pouring in all over the country and from abroad. Even outside China, specialist teashops are mushrooming all over the United States, Europe, Australia and even Africa. They sell loose-leaf teas in boutiques that are educating the world on how to appreciate teas like Dragon Well tea plucked before the spring rains, monkeyharvested silver needles, peonyscented white teas and the furry buds of the gigantic ancient pu'er tea trees from southern Yunnan. Cheng Yu, a middle-aged wholesale tea merchant in Kunming, is a major supplier to these teashops. His family's Jiuwan Tea has its own factory and tea plantations, and Cheng is a one-man reference library on all things tea. In fact, he is so respected that he is quoted often in the locally published
| August 16-22, 2013
CULTURE Encyclopedia of Yunnan Tea, where his family business has an entire chapter to itself. Ed Grumbine, 56, a research scholar with the Chinese Academy of Sciences at the Kunming Institute of Botany, was drinking black tea from China back in the United States long before he arrived to work here. As soon as he had settled in Kunming, he started exploring the city's famous wholesale tea markets, which are more like tea towns. He soon found a tutor in Cheng Yu. Grumbine took us to visit Cheng recently, and it proved an extremely educational experience. There was a huge motorcycle outside Cheng's shop, a 1,800-cu-cm monster with upholstery that looked as if it was hijacked from a car. Images of Jack Kerouac on the road in designer jeans refuse to fade. Indeed, when we meet Cheng, he looks more like a
Beat Generation poet than a tea merchant, with long wavy locks and an easy confidence culled from a lifetime in the business.
And he is wearing designer jeans. We are invited to join him for tea at the table that is a fixture in every tea merchant's
CAKES OF PU'ER TEA ARE COLLECTOR'S ITEMS, CAREFULLY KEPT AND AGED LIKE FINE WINES.
| August 16-22, 2013
CULTURE shop in Yunnan, with its supply of water at hand and a kettle almost constantly on the boil. The pu'er Cheng was drinking was very mellow—its natural tannins so tempered by age that it slid smoothly down the throat like the finest silk. As we settle, he cues the two young ladies brewing tea to make a new pot. This time, the fragrance wafts up as soon as the hot water hits the leaves, and the room is scented with the unmistakable bouquet of jonquils, daffodils, narcissus— whatever you called the flower. "This is a tea that has been recently developed," Cheng says, adding that it first came out around 2005. It's a very floral black tea named zhongguohong, or China Red, linking it to a much
older sister, the traditional dianhong cha, or Yunnan Red. It is a tea very much in demand, but the harvest is small, and Cheng is reluctant to part with too much. The asking price here is 400 yuan per 100 grams, but by the time it is retailed abroad, the price may be $400. Even in Beijing, where small amounts are sold in the tea distribution centre of Maliandao, the cost will be double what it is in Kunming. This is a fair indication of how tea-buying habits are changing. The most expensive teas are now finding a market, and so Qimen red tea is no longer exclusively for the Queen's afternoon cuppa, for example, but is offered in the specialist tea bars of international hotel chains all over the world. There are some teas that can be
drunk young, such as green teas or the jasmine teas so popular in the hutong courtyards of Beijing. Tea is generally divided into black, red and green. The categories refer more to their processing rather than their colour. The varieties are vast, and, like wine, different terroir also produce different tastes, aromas and colours. There is a quiet revolution going on now that involves not only Chinese tea drinkers but also those abroad. More Westerners are getting in on the act and developing a sophisticated taste for tea—without sugar or milk, if you please. ¬ *US$1=6 yuan
| August 16-22, 2013
FOOD JEAN OH The Korea Herald Seoul
C Shaved ice revolution Korea’s favourite summer treat goes retro-fusion
afe Oven’s milk patbingsu derives its addictive interplay of textures and flavours from three basic components—red beans, shaved ice and milk sauce—three elements that seem deceptively easy to master. Fans of this traditional summer treat know better. When the red beans are good, when the shaved ice is perfect and when the ice’s sweet milk drizzle is spot-on then a bingsu, in its classic and simplest form, becomes transcendent. Perhaps that is why Korean shaved ices like Cafe Oven’s old school rendition are some of this summer’s hottest bingsu. Pared down, devoid of nouveau toppings or syrups, these cool retro desserts not only stir up feelings of nostalgia, when done right, they also taste very good. Superfine ice, satiny on the tongue, rich with the slightly sweet flavour of milk sauce, acts as the perfect foil for the beans, which are not mushy, still intact, and velvety, nutty and lightly sugary.
FOOD
| August 16-22, 2013
That trio of flavours and textures is exactly what makes the patbingsu at Cafe Oven so memorable. “I think it is all about how much care is put into it,” said Cafe Oven chef Han Seong-eun, who revealed that over four hours of hovering over the stovetop, keeping a sharp eye on the red beans, is crucial to the shop’s bingsu. “My mom started to cultivate red beans and we use them to make our bingsu,” said owner Choi Chang-seo, husband to chef Han, explaining that a year after the shop opened in 2006, his mother decided to provide a helping hand by growing the beans herself. According to Choi, the beans are grown in South Chungcheon Province and when the supply runs low red beans from North Jeolla Province are also used to craft Cafe Oven’s bingsu. “Now people eat bingsu for the red beans,” Han, 35, explained. Red beans, it seems, are the linchpin to Cafe Oven’s shaved ice as well as to bingsu in general. Banyan Tree Club and Spa Seoul sous chef Ahn Dae-won, who helms the kitchen at the resort’s Granum Dining Lounge, agrees that beans are this summer’s star ingredient, with places putting the spotlight on them, “advertising that the red beans
| August 16-22, 2013
FOOD are made in the shop.” With red beans taking centre stage, Cafe Oven owner Choi recommends eating his establishment’s bingsu without mixing the beans and ice together. “If one eats each layer separately one can feel the textures of the red beans and ice,” said Choi, 39. Naturally, if the spotlight is on the beans, then it seems almost inevitable that, “the focus is homemade this year,” as Ahn says. “Make it simple, homemade,” Ahn, 34, elaborated. In short, because the quality of the beans and how they are made matters, that in turn, results in a pared down bingsu that allows the red beans to take the lead. According to Haba Cocina senior manager Hwang Jinsu, “the more well-known bingsu spot it is, the more simplified the bingsu”. “Places are going simple because those spots have confidence in their ice, their milk sauce and their red beans,”
Hwang, 33, explained. Both Granum and the newly-minted red bean cafe, Haba Cocina, are no exception to the rule. Granum Dining Lounge’s retro treat features madefrom-scratch red beans over a bed of shaved ice soaked in a sweet milk sauce. A smattering of walnuts and almonds and a scoop of housemade vanilla ice cream crown the bingsu. This, according to Ahn, is a significant departure from last year’s more “complicated”, fruit laden variation. At Sinsa-dong’s Haba Cocina, “our red beans are 100 per cent domestic”, said Hwang, who added the red beans are prepared in-house along with the milk sauce. Haba Cocina’s most basic bingsu, the Haba ice flake, is truly pared down. Soft shaved ice soaks in a sweet milk drizzle. Heaps of red beans are piled on and topped with several pieces of rice cake. The resulting treat is tasty,
a pleasant combination of creamy milk, silken ice and sweet red beans. While the bingsu has gone retro, Hwang is quick to note that this is not a true-tolife old school formula. “Unlike the past, when the ice was more granular, the ice is very fine and melts in the mouth now,” said Hwang. Cafe Oven owner Choi agrees, “Today’s bingsu suits this era’s tastes.” “Fruit or fruit cocktail was used to top bingsu, which was eaten mixed altogether,” Choi recalled the colourful, sweet shaved ice of yore when powdered milk was often used. Now, condensed milk and milk are generally used to create that lip-smacking, rich drizzle. According to Choi, not only has the bingsu been modified to suit today’s palates, it has also gone more high-end, where now it is a major headline dessert at hotels and a growing number of shops whose primary
| August 16-22, 2013
FOOD specialty is the bingsu itself. “Now it has become an upscale dessert,” said Choi, explaining how there was a time when the bingsu was considered more of a lowbrow treat, a sideline act. “Three years ago bingsu became very popular,” Be Sweet On and La Pomme co-owner Joung Eungdo, whose own dessert cafes sell a Japanese-style bingsu, pinpointed the moment when he believes the shaved ice treat took off. Ever since bingsu became the ultimate sweet of the summer, it seems competition has gotten fierce. “With the emergence of shops that specialise in bingsu and with bingsu now a leading dessert, competition has become extreme,” said Cafe Oven’s Choi. In the midst of a heated battle to draw bingsu lovers and in the quest to keep it fresh, Ahn revealed that bringing a multicultural slant to the sweet is one way of doing something new. To that end, a halohalo-inspired bingsu was
developed for the Granum. “We specialise in Southeast Asian cuisine,” Ahn explained why he took his cue from the shaved ice treat that hails from the Philippines. Housemade purple sweet potato ice cream adorns a red bean-free dessert decorated with slivers of coconut flesh, dragon fruit and cherries. Ahn says that it is the novelty factor that brings in the orders. “People order halo-halo because they do not know what it is,” said Ahn. At Be Sweet On, a Hongdaebased cafe that specialises in French-by-way-of-Tokyo desserts, and its new second store, La Pomme, customers can dip into a Japanese version of the bingsu. “We serve a run-of-themill Kyoto-style bingsu,” said co-owner Joung, 33. Kakigori, a Japanese shaved ice treat, was first introduced to the menu of Be Sweet On approximately three years ago and is now also available at La
Pomme in Garosugil, which opened about a month ago. “Our bingsu was popular from the beginning,” said Joung. Meant to be ordered for two, though it can be ordered for one, the green tea kakigori at La Pomme and Be Sweet On is a massive dome of soft ice, doused with syrup fashioned from Japanese matcha, topped with homemade domestic red beans and homemade matcha ice cream. Rice cakes soaked in sugar syrup, a slice of matcha roll cake, green tea and extra matcha syrup accompany the dessert. Decadent and ginormous are the words that come to mind when presented with this delectable summer treat. Watching customers’ faces light up when this heaping tray of sweet goodness arrives gives light to the realisation that while it may be tough competition for bingsu makers, for bingsu lovers if it means more treats like this then let the games begin.
FOOD
| August 16-22, 2013
RECIPES FOR THE HEATED SOUL
Dak gomtang Based on the lunar calendar, Koreans mark the hottest summer period with three distinct days: chobok (beginning), jungbok (middle) and malbok (end). On these days, Koreans traditionally eat samgyetang, ginseng chicken soup, which is believed to be an energy-boosting dish. The dak gomtang is a healthy and delicious chicken soup that you can make even if you don’t have ginseng. Gomtang generally refers to a soup made by simmering beef bones and meat for several hours. The result is a comforting milky broth with tender meat. Dak gomtang is a variation made with a whole chicken, but the chicken does not take as many hours to simmer. The key is to use a lot of garlic. Make this flavourful chicken soup, and beat the heat the Korean way!
| August 16-22, 2013
FOOD INGREDIENTS:
. . . . . .
. . . . .
1 whole small chicken 10-12 garlic cloves 1 small piece ginger 1/2 medium onion 2-3 scallion white parts 1/2 teaspoon whole black peppers (optional) 10-12 cups of water 3 scallions, finely chopped to garnish Salt and pepper to taste
Place the cleaned chicken in a stock pot large enough to hold the chicken and 10-12 cups of water. Add the garlic, ginger, onion, scallions, optional peppers and the water (or enough to cover the chicken). Bring it to a boil over high heat. Skim off any foam on top. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, for about 40-50 minutes, depending on the size of the chicken. Cut through the thickest part of the breast with a knife to see if the chicken is cooked and tender. Turn the heat off and carefully remove the chicken. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, remove the meat off the bones. Shred the meat into small bite-size pieces. You can strain the broth, remove the excess fat, and serve at this point, but I put the bones back in the soup and simmer again for more flavourful broth (see optional step). To serve, place some rice in a serving bowl, add chicken pieces, and then ladle the hot broth on top. Typically, chopped scallions, salt and pepper are served separately so each person can season to taste. Serve piping hot with kimchi.
OPTIONAL STEP:
Put the bones back in the broth and simmer over medium low heat for an additional 30 minutes to an hour. Strain the broth, remove the excess fat, and serve.
| August 16-22, 2013
FOOD
Oi sobagi Oi sobagi is stuffed cucumber kimchi. It is best made in the summer time when cucumbers are in season. Always look for cucumbers that are firm and slender. For the kimchi, the cucumbers are first salted in boiling hot salted water before being stuffed with the filling. Don’t worry, the hot water won’t cook the cucumbers. This is the method traditionally used for Korean pickled cucumbers, called oiji, to keep the cucumbers crisp and crunchy for a long time. Hope you get a chance to make this quick and refreshing summer kimchi before the summer is over.
INGREDIENTS:
.
5 Korean cucumbers (10 kirby/pickling cucumbers)
SALTING WATER:
. .
6 cups water 6 tablespoons coarse sea salt
| August 16-22, 2013
FOOD STUFFING:
. 110 grams Korean garlic chives (buchu) . 80 grams Korean radish (mu) or carrots . 5 tablespoons Korean 1 1 1 1
. . . .
red chili pepper flakes (gochugaru) tablespoon salted shrimp (saeujeot) tablespoon fish sauce tablespoon minced garlic teaspoon finely grated ginger
To clean, rub each cucumber with a little bit of salt and rinse. If using long Korean cucumbers, cut in half crosswise. Add 6 cups of water with 6 tablespoons of salt in a medium-size pot. Bring it to a rapid boil. Turn the heat off. Pour the boiling water over the cucumbers in a bowl. Keep the cucumbers submerged by weighing them down with a bowl or plate. Let it sit for about two hours. Meanwhile, cut the chives into about 1 centimetre lengths. Julienne the radish, and then cut into the same lengths. Combine all the stuffing ingredients and mix well. It should taste a bit salty. Drain the cucumbers. Holding the top end of the cucumber on the cutting board, run a small knife through the middle lengthwise. Leave about 1.5 centimetres uncut at both ends. Turn the cucumber and make another cut through the middle lengthwise to make a cross cut, again leaving about 1.5 centimetres uncut at both ends. Repeat with all the cucumbers. Gently open each slit and insert about a teaspoonful or two of the stuffing. Be sure to fill all four slits of each cucumber. Repeat until all the cucumbers are stuffed. Place them in a jar or an airtight container. Leave it out at room temperature for half a day or so. Then, store in the fridge. This cucumber kimchi can be eaten right away and will keep well for a few days. This is a quick kimchi not intended for weeks of storage. ÂŹ See more recipes at www.koreanbapsang.com.
TRAVEL
| August 16-22, 2013
Location, location, location Zhangjiajie cashes in on the visitors who flock to see the floating mountains made famous in ‘Avatar’
TRAVEL KITCHANA LERSAKVANITCHAKU The Nation Zhangjiajie
A
city whose history can be traced back more than 2,000 years, Zhangjiajie, in the northwest of Hunan province, is permanently awash with local and foreign tourists, most of them in town to marvel at the nearby sandstone peak forest that inspired Avatar. While tour buses often clog the roads and infrastructure can be a little strained during peak holidays, the municipality is delighted at the revenue the tourists bring to the town. "From the statistics of Zhangjiajie's immigration department, tourist numbers in the first half of this year are equivalent to the whole year of last year, that is 2 million visitors. They include 300,000 Koreans, 150,000 Taiwanese, and 50,000 Thais. Since April 15, flights between Taipeii and Zhangjiajie have increased to seven a week," says Chen Danfeng, vice mayor of Zhangjiajie Municipal People's Government and member of Zhangjiajie Municipal Standing Committee of the Party.
| August 16-22, 2013
| August 16-22, 2013
TRAVEL The airport, which formerly supported just 700,000 tourists, now has a capacity for 1.2 million, the expansion taking place after the Hallelujah Mountain was chosen as a location for the American science fiction action film. Danfeng says further work is underway, which will bring the capacity up to 5 million tourists. The increasing tourist numbers have also led to greater investment in fivestar luxury hotels. "We are looking at ways to boost tourism from Thailand. We had planned to officially promote Zhangjiajie in Thailand and also to formulate a relationship between Pattaya and Zhangjiajie in April but postponed the campaign to December because of the change in China's government in March. "The number of Thai tourists to Zhangjiajie is the highest in Southeast Asia and the third in the world. That's why we are placing so much
importance on tourists from Thailand," says the vice mayor. Formerly known as Dayong, Zhangjiajie City was inaugurated in 1988 and given its new name in 1994, two years after the Wulingyuan Scenic Area was designated a Unesco
World Heritage Site. The three characters of Zhangjiajie, derived from "Zhang", a Chinese common surname, "jia" meaning "family", and "jie" meaning "homeland", read "Zhang family homeland" conveying the idea of opening the door to welcome the world.
| August 16-22, 2013
TRAVEL Zhangjiajie is on its way to becoming a world-class tourist destination. Covering 951.6 square kilometres, it boasts not just the sandstone peaks, valleys and caves but also hot springs, lakes, creeks, forests and a wealth of cultural heritage. "Zhangjiajie has four factors going for it," says Danfeng. "The first factor is the beauty of Zhangjiajie's valley and the rock column forest at Wulingyuan. "The second factor is the greenness of Zhangjiajie. Zhangjiajie's slogan this year is 'fresh air, clean water, green
food for good health'. A survey by the Ministry of Science and Technology found that one cubic metre of pure and fresh air in Zhangjiajie is equal to 100,000120,000 units of oxygen. Clean water comes from the Xiangjiang, Zishui River, Yungjiang and the Lishui rivers. Vegetables are grown 2,000 metres above sea level and the salamander fish, which date back some 380 million years, reflect the great environment in Zhangjiajie. "The third factor is a variety of people in Zhangjiajie. There are more than 150 ethnic
groups in China and 33 out of them in Zhangjiajie. "The fourth factor is opportunity. Zhangjiajie has been just only 25 years but has the spots to draw the tourists. In addition to the Avatar movie, we've had wingsuiters flying over and passing through Heaven Gate in Tienmen Mountain and in June, a French spiderman climbed up the glass elevator. Next month, we will be the venue for a country music festival and next year, we plan to make Zhangjiajie as a heaven for outdoor lovers from Asia and Europe." ÂŹ
TRAVEL
| August 16-22, 2013
TRAVEL
| August 16-22, 2013
TRAVEL
| August 16-22, 2013
TRAVEL
| August 16-22, 2013
DATEBOOK
| August 16-22, 2013
Singapore
IGNITE! MUSIC FESTIVAL Put together by the students of Republic Polytechnic, this is the sixth-year running for Ignite!, one of Singapore’s largest music festivals that attracts music revellers from all across the globe. Talents that are lined up for the event include Tiramisu, Youthwreck, We The Thousands, The Sam Willows, The Summer State, A Vacant Affair and Caracai. Other events held in conjunction with the festival are the RP Band Competition finals, music workshops, photography workshops. When: August 23-24 Where: 5 Woodlands Avenue 9 Info: www.timeoutsingapore.com
Kuala Lumpur
Hong Kong
ANIMANGAKI 2013
UNDER THE SAME SKY 130 YEARS
Anime fans and cosplay photographers come together at this event to share their mutual love for Japanese animation. Shutterbugs can participate in a cosplay photography competition while those with a skilled hand can compete with other artists to create the best anime artwork.
To celebrate its 130th anniversary, the Hong Kong Observatory has teamed up with the Hong Kong Museum of History to display some of the most catastrophic natural disaster that have ever struck Hong Kong due to climate change.
When: August 24-25 Where: Sunway Pyramid Mall Info: www.animangaki.com
When: Until September 2 Where: Hong Kong Museum of History
DATEBOOK
| August 16-22, 2013 SEOUL
SEOUL FRINGE FESTIVAL Japan
OBON The Obon week in mid-August is one of Japan's three major holiday seasons. It is an annual Buddhist event for commemorating one's ancestors. It is believed that each year during obon, the ancestors' spirits return to this world in order to visit their relatives. Traditionally, lanterns are hung in front of houses to guide the ancestors' spirits, obon dances (bon odori) are performed, graves are visited and food offerings are made at house altars and temples. At the end of Obon, floating lanterns are put into rivers, lakes and seas in order to guide the spirits back into their world. The customs followed vary strongly from region to region. When: August 10-18 (peak season)
Taipei
INT'L ROBOT SHOW TAIPEI The festival will provide a showcase of independent artists. Individual artists or groups can freely perform drama, dance, mime, music and arts at the festival, which will allow the performers and the audience alike to enjoy the freedom of expression and selection. A total of 140 individual artists and teams will put on performances in various indoor and outdoor venues like small theatres, live clubs, galleries and streets near Hongik University in western Seoul. When: August 29-September 14 Where: Seoul World Cup Stadium Info: www.seoulfringefestival.net
This is a trade fair for robotics where exhibitors from all over the world present future trends in the industry. In addition, the exhibition offers a perfect platform for expanding or establishing new business contacts in the Asian market. In addition, many parallel events, such as robot competitions, seminars and conferences are offered. When: August 28-31 Where: Nangang Exhibition Hall, Taipei World Trade Centre Info: www.tiros.org.tw/
| August 16-22, 2013