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Mark Graham
Hong Kong
SCMP Contributor
Mark Graham has reported from most parts of Asia, with a particular focus on the monumental changes in China. He has spent 15 years in the capital, Beijing, filing feature stories for international newspapers and magazines.
Serendipity led Nik Zanella to discover the origins of Chinese surfing in a random temple – now, he’s living on Hainan Island and coaching the next generation of China’s Olympic surfing hopefuls
Jo Lusby recalls halcyon days in Beijing, early career success with Penguin that saw her handle books from Peter Rabbit to Michelle Obama’s memoir, and a move to Hong Kong. Now she’s dealing with another hit.
Spurred by the pandemic, ultra cycling is booming in Beijing, with enthusiasts heading out of the city to ride day and night on ‘probably the most beautiful roads in the world for cycling’.
Jimmy and Tommy Lindesay ran 3,000-plus kilometres along the Great Wall of China, braving hostile villagers amid the pandemic – a route their explorer father ran 35 years ago.
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Perfumer David Huang Ganjun is a ‘nose’ – a highly skilled fragrance creator – for French company Robertet in China, and says business for scents that resonate with Chinese people is booming.
A journalist in Hong Kong for 40 years for publications including the Post, Lynam was a consummate professional, a ‘real gentleman’ and a man with no ego.
Chinese fragrance brands including To Summer, Scentooze, and Scent Library are using local elements to appeal to young, affluent customers who want to support home-grown brands.
Veteran China-based TV presenter Dominic Johnson-Hill recalls the challenges of shooting a recent ecology-themed documentary in Yunnan, in the country’s southwest.
Tony Nicholson stands 1.9 metres tall, weighs 112kg and, thanks to his regular TV appearances promoting fitness, is a surprisingly familiar face in China.
Up to 40,000 people every day pass through the doors of TX Youth Energy Centre, which houses an eclectic mix of shops, clubs and restaurants aimed to chime with young people in China’s second city.
Surfing has become cool in China, particularly among young women, and Chinese tourists are flocking to the popular holiday island of Hainan to learn how to ride the waves.
By focusing on his native China and his couture clients there, Huishan Zhang has weathered the pandemic better than most fashion designers. ‘The future is definitely bright,’ says fellow designer Masha Ma.
The Beijing-based milliner talks about some of her quirkier creations, her A-list clients and moving back to the Netherlands.
Lockdowns hit fashion sales badly, but designers like Huishan Zhang are hopeful of a rebound. Uma Wang, though, is unsure what mood her next collection should project. Chictopia is moving sales online, Masha Ma is not.
Mark Graham, husband of Vogue China editor-in-chief Angelica Cheung, explains how daughter Hayley’s appreciation of high-end fashion was awakened after the lockdown prompted a tidy-up of her mum’s wardrobes.
Uma Wang has built her eponymous label into one of China’s top designer brands in just a decade. She talks about her Italian-made clothes, designing costumes for film sets, and why kids fear her on the basketball courts.
Australian woman in a hurry has morphed from teenage blogger into a formidable entrepreneur, Instagrammer, model and stylist. Oh, and she’s 27 years old and now the editor-in-chief of Vogue China.
Despite a rise in big companies offering looks similar to hers, Chinese fashion designer Alicia Lee’s outfits are still a cut above the rest.
Babochka, the predominant luxury fashion retailer in St Petersburg, Russia, offers around 130 luxury and lifestyle brands including Gucci, Prada, Stella McCartney and Valentino. But no one ever expected it to last so long.
The world’s largest producer of cashmere, Erdos, is becoming a force in the fashion world, with a five-line range of clothing overseen by experienced European designers. Sustainability has always been part of the company ethos.
David Yang spent his teenage years overweight – now he spends his days modelling for fashion brands including Zara, Valentino and Balenciaga.
Beijing-born, Hong Kong-raised Christine Lau’s collection for spring/summer next year is loosely inspired by the feminist movement, as well as the punk aesthetic, of the 1970s.
Fashion MA students’ prize for winning a contest is a trip to China to design a mini-collection for Hong Kong’s Izzue chain; their journey is one that growing numbers of Chinese fashion students are making in reverse, as applications to London college rise.
There aren’t too many tall, handsome, muscled, university-educated actor triplets of Chinese descent. Raised in Canada, the film-star Luu brothers are making the most of their unique assets and carving out a niche in China.
CCTV show Fashion Master is a grander, and more patriotic, version of the US reality show, and as the final show airs this Saturday, we take a closer look at the competition that has attracted up to 20 million viewers an episode.
Up to 100 hours of work goes into sewing each replica of a costume worn in the gold-mining town of Ballarat in the mid-19th century at the Sovereign Hill open-air museum – a draw for tourists from China, Hong Kong and elsewhere
Bored of playing golf, designer with the Midas touch went back to work. He talks about his latest venture in the Chinese capital, which has become a must-visit destination for the city’s fashion, arts and design crowd
Diners at Beijing's hottest new Chinese restaurant, Country Kitchen, would search in vain for any of the usual clichéd hotel-restaurant leitmotifs - there is a total absence of red in the pillars, lanterns, dragons and tablecloths. Designers at the Beijing Rosewood hotel's restaurant eschewed the elaborately ornate approach, opting for a stripped-down look with lots of wood, in keeping with the theme of northern China home-style dining.
