Golden Moment

August 19, 2020 / by China Daily Lifestyle Premium

Gold has emotional, cultural and financial value, and different people around the world buy it for a variety of reasons. It also has unique properties as a metal, with reliability and versatility that make it indispensable in engineering and electronics. Since gold conducts electricity, is resistant to corrosion and is biocompatible, its most recent application as a nanomaterial offers new solutions for a range of global health and environmental challenges.

Throughout history, gold has been treasured as an object of natural beauty and radiance. For that reason, many cultures, such as the Egyptians, felt that gold best represented the sun. The elemental symbol of gold is Au – and it comes from the Greek word “aurum”, which means “glow of sunshine”.

Hallmarking gold jewellery also became a form of consumer protection, dating back to King Louis IX of France and Edward I of England in the 13th century. Their prescribed mark, and subsequent ones for individual goldsmiths and production dates, became a prerequisite for any gold offered for public sale.

Over the past two decades, China has become the world’s leading gold market. Gold in China currently accounts for about 35% of overall global supply and demand, and for 28% of the world’s jewellery. As both the largest consumer and producer of gold in the world, China plays a key role in perpetuating and protecting gold’s future on the planet. Remarkably, that echoes the country’s first interactions with the substance: in the realm of medicine.

Indians and Egyptians used gold-based medicinal preparations, but China seems to have been the earliest to cure sickness with it, dating as far back as 2500 BCE. Since the discovery of gold, people thought it had an immortal nature, given its resistance to chemical corrosion, and associated it with longevity. In Huan Kuan’s On Salt and Iron (81 BCE), it’s stated that “immortals swallow gold and pearls, so that they enjoy eternal life in heaven and on earth”.

Indeed, gold became the Eastern Jin Dynasty’s (317–420 CE) “superfood”. In scholar Ge Hong’s Baopuzi: Gold Elixir, he wrote that to eat gold “tempers the body of a human being, and he enjoys eternal life”. Alchemist and writer Wei Boyang of the Eastern Han Dynasty (22–220 CE) wrote in Zhouyi Cangtong Qi: “Gold is the most valuable thing in all the world because it is immortal and never gets rotten. Alchemists eat it and they enjoy longevity.”

Though people in ancient times knew very little about gold’s immortal nature from the perspective of science, they were curious about its effect on human life. Thus, gold took on a therapeutic role in China, and was widely used by physicians and surgeons. Pure gold was used to treat furuncles, smallpox and skin ulcers, and to remove mercury from skin and flesh; some ancient references noted that gold drugs could cure joint disease and disease in lungs. There were also prescriptions containing gold for curing measles and other diseases. Plant and animal medicines were used in ancient prescriptions, and many of these contain gold as a trace element.

Contemporary analysis reveals that the horns of the rhinoceros, antelope, deer and other species contain traces of gold. It’s believed the substance concentrates in protein (such as in the horns and hair), possibly as gold-protein complexes. Many medicinal herbs contain a trace of gold and their extracts might contain a trace of a gold complex that could cure sickness.

The Lace Flower

June 17, 2020 / by China Daily Lifestyle Premium

Natural Wonder

May 20, 2020 / by Leung Pui Yee

If you had to imagine a plant, what would instantly spring to mind? A shrub full of leaves with flowers blooming, or a tree with a trunk and a series of interconnecting leaves and branches? Here’s an alternative: a natural wonder of the botanical world that goes beyond your expectation.

Welwitschia mirabilis is the only living genus (with only one species) of the family Welwitschiaceae. Endemic to the Namib desert within Namibia and Angola, it was discovered by the Austrian botanist and doctor Friedrich Welwitsch in 1859, and features on Namibia’s coat of arms. The Angolans calls the plant m’tumbo (stump) and in Afrikaans it’s known as twee-blaar-kanniedood (two-leaf-can’t-die).

It’s estimated that this “miracle” plant’s average age is in the hundreds of years, and some can even live for 2,000 years; as a result, the plant is sometimes referred to as a living fossil. It is protected by Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (the Washington Convention).

Despite its remarkable longevity, Welwitschia is not a rare plant, and forms of a large part of the diets of antelopes, zebras and rhinos, which consume it in large quantities.

Welwitschia is dioecious. The stem is short and the plant only grows two leaves in its whole lifetime. The stomata on the leaves are designed to absorb water in the atmosphere, and roots can grow from three up to ten metres – extensive enough to source underground water. They have a strong taproot, which once damaged, causes the plant to die easily. The root, however, is very long, which makes artificial cultivation difficult.

Making Your Work Space Work

May 6, 2020 / by Jon Braun

During this pandemic, many people have discovered that working from home is easy in theory, but difficult in practice. What initially sounds like a marvellous time to multitask and catch up on chores can just as quickly turn into a dishevelled, unshowered dystopia. Though it’s not without its challenges, you can make your work-from-home experience that much better with a few simple rules.

Get into a routine. Don’t immediately turn on your laptop or check your email when you roll out of bed. Wash your face, shower, brush your teeth, exercise, and have breakfast and coffee. When the day is over, create a ritual to signal your brain it’s time to shut down; don’t obsessively check your work email before you go to bed.

Change into work clothes. It’s tempting to work in your super-comfy PJs, but they won’t put you in the proper mind state for an efficient day of work. You don’t have to suit up, though – remember that every day is Casual Friday.

Maintain regular hours and take breaks. Start and end your day around the same time, and have lunch in the middle. You need mental and physical breaks, so get up from that chair to stretch, and get some sun and fresh air.

Create a physically separate work space. Work in the same space every day. If you don’t have a door, put up a room divider or curtain. Make sure it’s quiet or use noise-cancelling headphones to focus. Minimise digital distractions, stay off social media and consider muting notifications on your phone.

Set clear boundaries when sharing. Communicate this to other people in your home; working uninterrupted should be the goal. If you have an important meeting, make sure they know it’s not a great time to finish that noisy woodworking project. 

Invest in proper equipment. Buy a proper desk, a comfortable chair, and a decent keyboard and mouse. Multiple monitors are amazing, and they’re a great way to separate between your work and personal space. Buy a good router so that your home internet doesn’t fall to pieces.

Improve your posture. If you’re slumped over at weird angles all day, that fancy chair doesn’t matter. Buy a lumbar support pillow for your lower back. Place your monitor at an appropriate height so the top of the screen is at or slightly below eye level. Sit up straight, with your feet flat on the floor.

Brighten up your desk. Just like at the office, decorate your space with plants, pictures and personal items. Use lavender or aromatherapy to create an atmosphere that feels distinctly your own.

Don’t over-snack. Are you actually hungry? Have a glass of water – snacking, especially for sweets, is often driven by dehydration. A healthy body leads to a healthy mind.

No Soil, No Problem

October 30, 2019 / by China Daily Lifestyle Premium

Some people have conflicting feelings about plants. They like that touch of green, but they don’t like the dirt and insects that often come with it. However, that’s one reason Tillandsia (the air plant) has become so popular. This resilient, easy-grower may get your busy life in full bloom – whether you’ve got a green thumb or you’re new to the world of plants.

Tillandsia is a genus with around 650 species under the Bromeliaceae family. They grow natively in the forests, mountains and deserts of Central and South America, the southern United States and the West Indies. 

Uniquely, they’re evergreen and perennial-flowering plants, and they normally grow without soil. Most of them are epiphytes – attached to other plants through their roots. Unlike most of the plant kingdom, they use their leaves (instead of roots) to absorb moisture and nutrients through tiny scales called trichomes. 

Web of Deception

April 3, 2019 / by China Daily Lifestyle Premium

Forget e-sports and competitive video gaming – there’s an increasingly popular blood sport that’s sweeping internet video sites. Known as “scam baiting”, a typical ruse goes like this: “White hat” (ethical) hackers trawl the web for malware that, once downloaded, produces a pop-up window suggesting a virus has infected the computer and provides a phone number for “tech support”. These are generally aimed at the unwitting and gullible, but those taking the bait here are well-intentioned hackers. 

Once contacted by phone, the scammer seeks to remotely take control of the caller’s computer using remote access software. For the purposes of deception, as well as for amusement in the accompanying real-time video and audio of the computer screen and audio activity, the “victim” plays dumb as the phony tech support person goes through the nefarious motions of locking the computer’s data files and completing the actions with a flourish – a scary-looking ransom note on the screen. 

At this point, the “victim” will reveal himself or herself as a highly knowledgeable computer expert. Sometimes they merely question the scammers over the phone about the moral aspects of their trade. More satisfyingly, often they will have covertly gained access to the scammer’s computer network during the remote-access link-up. Turning the tables, they will torment the scammer as a cat does a mouse, or simply cut to the chase and erase the scammer’s entire network. 

Selling History 

November 21, 2018 / by China Daily Lifestyle Premium

As an enduring symbol, the Forbidden City has always been a must-visit in China. In the age of e-commerce, it has also gained huge popularity among the younger generation by promoting creative products that feature “cute” elements of Imperial China. Popular products include tiny dolls (whose images usually show officials or maids), fashionable handbag tags, stationery and much more. Among these, masking tape is particularly sought-after and always sells out lightning-fast; people use it to decorate their notebooks, phones or lipstick tubes. The black lacquer pattern originates from the palace’s collection and, with the use of laser technology, shows various colours in different directions. 

With more than 900,000 followers on its online shop’s Weibo account, this stately palace has become an internet celebrity in its own right. In 2015, its sales volume surpassed RMB 1 billion and its stories attracted more than 100,000 views. Its target customers are people in their 20s or 30s who appreciate individuality and are enthusiastic about fresh topics on the internet. Unlike in the old days, when the palace focused on staid historical stories, it’s now committed to connecting famous people and anecdotes in history with cute and creative products. For one, quotations from emperors can be a great resource for designers. Emperor Yongzheng’s “I miss you a lot” was applied to a fan design, becoming a big hit. 

Forest Therapy 

June 6, 2018 / by China Daily Lifestyle Premium

Shinrin-yoku, or “forest bathing”, is a term that was first coined as part of a national public health programme in Japan in the 1980s as a practice for relaxation and preventative healthcare – by just being in the presence of trees. Inspired by ancient Shinto and Buddhist practices, this green concept has been growing in global popularity. 

Numerous studies have pointed out that being in nature can bring health benefits – including lowering the heart rate and blood pressure, reducing stress hormone production and improving the overall feelings of well-being. In the 2012 book Your Brain on Nature, written by US physician Eva Selhub and biophilosopher Alan Logan, nature-based therapies are being introduced as a countermeasure to today’s technology-addicted lifestyle. 

Forest bathing is simple and has little barrier to entry – just go to the woods and open all your senses in the embrace of the trees. As follows are a couple of great places to practices in Hong Kong and, if you’d like to try it with a professional coach, Jasmine Nunns’ organisation Kembali provides such services, including guided walks into a number of local forests.

Sai Kung East Country Park

Officially designated in 1978, this country park takes up a vast area on the Sai Kung Peninsula. Two tree walks are available here: Tai Tan and Wong Shek.