6 h. ago China firm offers annual weight loss bonus; 1 person earns US$2,800 for losing 18kg

A Chinese company has triggered widespread discussion online by offering a one-million-yuan (US$140,000) bonus to encourage weight loss among employees, with one staff member receiving 20,000 yuan after shedding over 20kg in just 90 days. On August 12, Shenzhen-based tech firm Arashi Vision Inc., more commonly known as Insta360, made headlines with its annual “Million Yuan Weight Loss Challenge.” This initiative, held each year, aims to motivate employees to adopt healthier lifestyles by...

Economics

34 h. ago Hong Kong’s top talent scheme succeeds if people are really staying

Since its launch late in 2022, the Top Talent Pass Scheme has become a central component of Hong Kong’s global competitiveness strategy. By July this year, the scheme had attracted close to 140,000 applications. Of these, around 110,000 were approved, resulting in more than 90,000 new arrivals to the city. This influx of skilled residents is a sign that Hong Kong remains a strong magnet for talent. However, as former chief executive Leung Chun-ying and other commentators have warned, the real...

Politics

34 h. ago Success of Hong Kong’s top talent scheme must go deeper than numbers

Since its launch late in 2022, the Top Talent Pass Scheme has become a central component of Hong Kong’s global competitiveness strategy. By July this year, the scheme had attracted close to 140,000 applications. Of these, around 110,000 were approved, resulting in more than 90,000 new arrivals to the city. This influx of skilled residents is a sign that Hong Kong remains a strong magnet for talent. However, as former chief executive Leung Chun-ying and other commentators have warned, the real...

Politics

50 h. ago China mum, 50, gets into law school after using books of son who failed same test

A 50-year-old woman in China who suffered debilitating and disfiguring long-term injuries in a fire more than a decade ago has been admitted by a top university after she studied the books her failing son had used. In July, the woman, known as Yang, received an admission letter from the graduate school of Southwest Forestry University in Kunming, Yunnan province, southwestern China, where she will study law, Hubei TV reported. She sat the graduate school’s entrance test twice. “I once had an...

Events

54 h. ago China family left let down after spending US$140,000 on lavish panda

The experience of a Chinese family who spent an extravagant 960,000 yuan (US$140,000) on a luxury “Panda Express” train tour has shocked many people online. The lavish purchase has sparked a lively discussion because of claims that the experience promised in promotional materials fell far short of the reality. On August 25, a Chinese netizen posted a video revealing that their family, from Jilin province in northeastern China, embarked on a 17-day “Panda Express Tour” in July. The 26-member...

Economics

54 h. ago China family feel let down after spending US$140,000 on lavish panda

The experience of a Chinese family who spent an extravagant 960,000 yuan (US$140,000) on a luxury “Panda Express” train tour has shocked many people online. The lavish purchase has sparked a lively discussion because of claims that the experience promised in promotional materials fell far short of the reality. On August 25, a Chinese netizen posted a video revealing that their family, from Jilin province in northeastern China, embarked on a 17-day “Panda Express Tour” in July. The 26-member...

Economics

7 d. ago China’s population decline laid bare as Shanghai school enrols only 22 pupils

A primary school in Shanghai has attracted national attention after its student body shrank to just 22 this year, highlighting the dramatic impact China’s plunging birth rate is having on the education system. Sanqiao Primary School in the Pudong New Area now has more full-time staff than pupils – with 22 children and 23 teachers – despite being located in one of China’s largest cities, according to enrolment data released on the local education authority’s website. The information was first...

Culture

1 week ago Chinese Student's Debut "Arangetram†(Bharatanatyam) Performance In Beijing Wows The Internet

Chinese Student's Debut "Arangetram†(Bharatanatyam) Performance In Beijing Wows The Internet  NDTV

Politics

1 week ago Remote testing for US law school exam fueled market for cheating in China

Remote testing for US law school exam fueled market for cheating in China  Reuters

Society

2 w. ago Undocumented renters caught between fire and ICE in LA burn zone

Blanca and her family fled a deadly wildfire in January that devastated her Los Angeles area neighbourhood and burned the clothing alterations business she had owned for six years to the ground. Her rented flat in Altadena was spared but uninhabitable, with no gas, electricity or hot water, and contaminated with toxic ash and soot. But she was ineligible for federal help for her business or her home because she is undocumented. Now 48, she came from Mexico more than 20 years ago with one...

Events

2 w. ago China firm slammed for praise of overtime; 1 worker logs 160 extra hours in a month

A company in China has landed itself in hot water for praising employees who work extra hours after it emerged that the longest overtime total for one employee was 160 hours in a month. On August 6, the Yisai e-commerce Company in Shanghai issued a notice of commendation for the overtime performances of its staff. The document soon went viral on mainland social media, the China Youth Daily reported. “After gathering the data of our workers’ clock-off times at the entrance guard system, we found...

Economics

2 w. ago Chinese woman seeks refuge from rain in shop, buys lottery ticket, wins US$140,000

A Chinese woman who sought shelter from the rain in a lottery shop and casually bought a scratch card has won a million yuan (US$140,000), astonishing and delighting many people online. On August 8 in Yuxi, Yunnan province, southwestern China, an unidentified woman was caught in a sudden downpour and stepped into a lottery shop in the Hongta District to take cover. According to the store owner, the woman asked: “Do you have scratch cards here? Since I am stuck in the rain, I might as well play a...

Economics

2 w. ago China school in hot water over US$140,000 cash prize for top performing student

A privately run secondary school in China has landed in trouble after it offered a controversial one million yuan (US$140,000) cash reward to a graduate who has been admitted to the prestigious Tsinghua University. In early August, Dajiang International School in Guigang, a small city in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region in southwestern China, held a graduation ceremony for its Class of 2025 students. The cash awards prompted the Guigang Municipal Education Bureau to intervene and stop the...

Economics

2 w. ago Cheating concerns shut down US law school admissions test in China

Cheating concerns shut down US law school admissions test in China  Reuters

Society

2 w. ago Chinese man turns old factory into shelter for ‘orphans’; lives on leftover food

A Chinese man who used his savings to support a free shelter for 348 “orphans” over the past 17 years has moved many people online. Huang Meisheng, 65, founded De Ren Garden, a house for orphans and children who do not receive proper care from their families, in 2008 in Fenyi County, Jiangxi province, eastern China. Huang became a teacher at 20 and a secondary school headmaster 10 years later. At the age of 40, he became the deputy director of Fenyi Education Bureau and headmaster of a local...

Society

3 w. ago China dam dumps Western chips, second Hong Kong school suspended: 7 highlights

We have selected seven stories from this week’s news across Hong Kong, mainland China, the wider Asia region and beyond that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Chinese mega dam stops using Western industrial chips over security concerns China’s Xiluodu Dam – one of the world’s largest hydropower stations – has fully transitioned away from Western-made industrial control chips over national...

Politics

3 w. ago Mainland China tutorial centre undeterred by warning over Hong Kong school ties

A mainland Chinese tutorial centre has pressed on with promoting a programme costing nearly HK$200,000 (US$25,480) a year that it claims can help pupils attend a Hong Kong subsidised secondary school with accommodation and “intensive training”, despite warnings from authorities, the Post has found. A Post reporter posing as a parent was sent marketing materials on Wednesday, a day after Hong Kong’s Education Bureau demanded a report from Caritas St Joseph Secondary School over joint promotion...

Events