With over 4,000 years of history, hanfu declined during the Qing dynasty amid Manchu rule and the rising influence of Western fashion trends. While hanfu regained some popularity among youths in the 2000s, it wasn't until the mid-2010s, with increased visibility on social media, in period dramas and through cultural heritage promotion programmes, that it truly thrived.
Fashion
Economy
In 2012, Christian Louboutin shoes made their debut in the Chinese market, two years after an application to have their distinctive appearance protected under the Trademark Law sparked a legal tussle that would unfold over the ensuing decade and continues today.
Economy
Chinese e-commerce giants Temu and Shein are currently locked in a heated battle for the US market and Chinese supply chain. As both sides are digging in their heels and accusing the other side of unsavoury business practices, who will emerge victorious?
Society
Are women in China getting more conscious about their body image? Or is the clothing industry part of the problem as it makes smaller-sized clothes that could even fit children? Lianhe Zaobao’s China Desk looks into the trend in clothes manufacturing and its impact on Chinese women’s body image.
Culture
Rather than addressing the symptoms of gender inequality such as restrictions on career prospects and freedom, says Cheng Pei-kai, we need to look at the deeper issue of the objectification of women. Chinese history and literature texts are replete with examples of this tendency. Mindful reading of the classics and an awareness that women are still objectified in modern life will go some way in changing mindsets. Whether in art or life, women are complex like anyone else and their characters and emotions need to be fleshed out before they can be truly seen for who they are.
Culture
What is fashion to Singaporean fashion designer Andrew Gn and Chinese fashion designer Ji Wenbo? How do they stay true to themselves in an ever-changing fashion world? Though each designer has different styles, each is adept at stitching together a fabric of different influences. As their creations are sashayed down the catwalks of Paris and Milan, we see glimmers of East and West, the traditional and modern, the classic and the avant-garde — all in one place. Chinese Media Group correspondent Ng Yimin speaks to fashion designers Gn and Ji as part of a series of fireside chats put together to commemorate the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Singapore and China.
Society
China’s gaokao began yesterday, with millions of students taking this national university entrance exam (gaokao). One phenomenon that got Zaobao correspondent Yang Danxu curious was students wearing purple underwear to the exams. She examines this and other superstitions that give students a mental boost in the exam, and says that the gaokao needs to remain fair.