‘I stopped short of eating sheep brains’: Irish Times reporters abroad on their favourite foods and restaurants
To celebrate Food Month, Irish Times writers abroad reveal favourite foods and restaurants in their various postings
Beijing
Beijing parents keep an eye on blind date corner
Beijing Letter: Notices in a park advertise young people in search of a partner
‘They just want us to work and have babies.’ Exasperation in China as Halloween falls foul of authorities
Beijing Letter: Bars and clubs abruptly called off their Halloween parties and sent out instructions that patrons should not show up in costume
Beijing Letter: Stock market rally fizzles out as Chinese hope for effective fiscal measures
Stimulus package might need Communist Party U-turn on opposition to property market speculation
A new global order: Rising China and Russia rewrite the international rulebook
The era of the United States as unrivalled global leader is over. Small alliances of like-minded countries are growing in importance
African flags fly in Tiananmen Square for China-Africa co-operation summit
China backs call for reparations to be paid for slave trafficking and colonialism, while African leaders remain committed to ‘one China principle’
Xi Jinping and Joe Biden likely to meet by year’s end despite little progress in preparatory talks
Meetings involving US national security adviser and Chinese officials part of an effort to to reduce the temperature in the relationship
Blame traded between China and Philippines over collisions of boats
Beijing claims maritime incidents caused by dangerous actions of Philippines coast guard vessels in contested waters of South China Sea
China’s policy-makers have the stomach for raising retirement age
Men in China retire at 60 and women at 55, apart from those in manual labour who can finish up at 50
Chinese comedy about ‘manipulation’ of child taps into wider sociological issues
Zhua Wa Wa or Successor has echoes of The Truman Show and Succession but it reflects very specifically Chinese concerns about education, parenting and getting the best for your offspring
My apartment had too much yin and not enough yang... the landscape had to go
Beijing Letter: China’s economy is in trouble, but the cost of living is coming down for many people
Ireland’s mild approach could help peace prevail as tensions rise between US/EU and China
Some advocates of the democracy-against-autocracy paradigm are gripped by the same level of moral certainty that drove the global war on terror
EU diplomats visit schools, religious sites and prison in Tibet in dialogue with China on human rights
Visit was organised by Chinese authorities but EU diplomats specified where they wished to go
‘You’ll cry next time’: a night to remember at the Chinese opera
Beijing Letter: A moving performance at the city’s 300-year-old wooden theatre
Wearing my tweed suit in Beijing I didn’t just look and feel Irish, I was the very incarnation of the nation
The drop in temperature after the storm meant it was cool enough to wear the summer suit I had picked up from the tailor last week and which I was eager to show off
South China Sea: Manila says Beijing damaged Philippine coast guard vessel with water cannon
China claims sovereignty over reefs, islands and other maritime features and took action against vessels entering waters near Scarborough Shoal
How did China build a children’s hospital six times cheaper than Ireland in just three years?
Baoding’s hospital and the vast Xiong’an model city 50km away show the virtues of design, planning and state ownership of land
In the West, security would have been called for this nuisance of a man. In this uncensored Beijing club, nobody minded
Every other live venue in Beijing must submit detailed information about every musical act to the local cultural department at least three days in advance
China at ‘fork in the road’ on reforms to boost demand, IMF head says
Kristalina Georgieva’s remarks at Beijing conference come as China export glut tensions rise
China’s food deliverers: ‘Online order platforms don’t treat their riders well. They don’t have kind hearts’
Biking food from Beijing’s cafes and restaurants, some six million drivers work long hours daily for low pay in dangerous traffic conditions. Liu Wei is one of them who works hard and draws dignity from his seven-day-a-week labour
Ring fades as antique snapshots trace a Chinese family circle
Exporting antiques was a good way to make money but Communist Party restrictions turned traders into smugglers
Meet the Irish man who is China’s top whiskey influencer
A 36-year-old from Downpatrick, Co Down, has become China’s top whiskey influencer
China’s National People’s Congress highlights Xi’s dominant position and diminishing profile of collective leadership around him
The focus was on ‘new productive forces’, a new slogan for what amounts to a dramatic reshaping of the Chinese economy
China strengthens Communist Party’s control over central government
Move puts State Council, which oversees ministries and local governments, under direct authority of party
China’s foreign minister criticises Washington and EU while lauding Sino-Russia relations
Annual legislative meeting in Tiananmen Square includes a lengthy press conference to lay out Communist Party’s global agenda
‘There are just too many people moving here’: The popularity problem in China’s idyllic Yunnan province
The province of Yunnan attracts people in pursuit of their dreams with its idyllic setting, openness and low cost of living. But the classic processes of gentrification and spiralling rents inflict cultural damage on the local community
‘Don’t come back’: Messi not the first high-profile target of online anger in China
Intense and sometimes destructive social media storms have been a regular occurrence for more than a decade
US accused of ‘sabre-rattling’ over Taiwan
The view that Washington is acting provocatively is shared across much of Asia
Rebel Island: The incredible story of Taiwan: a brisk narrative related with style and brio
A splendid portrait of layers of identity and resistance in what is no less a settler society than the United States
Beans spilled over secret coffee with a friend’s husband
The Year of the Dragon brings marriage-related suspicions and a sour response over lunch
Chinese markets jump as state investment fund pledges to buy more shares
Regulator has promised to clamp down on what it describes as market manipulation and ‘malicious short-selling’
As bears return to China from zoos around the world, some ask if panda diplomacy era is over
China retains ownership of any cubs born to pandas on loan overseas and zoos must agree to send cubs back to China when they reach the age of four
A snapshot of house prices in five cities around the world and how they compare to Ireland
Tight supply and a shortage of affordable housing are common themes despite recent cooling of prices in several markets
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