Culture & Leisure

It was Nov. 3, He Xun was supposed to have self-study class in the classroom instead of putting on nice make-up and opening NetEase Music on her smartphone in the dormitory. It was her first time skipping the class just for watching the online concert of Arashi, a J-POP idol group.  Ms He is a 19-year-old student who lives in Baoding, a northern city in Hebei Province near Beijing. She has been a fan of Arashi since middle school and dreamt of watching the live concert.  In February, Arashi announced that the concert scheduled for April at Beijing's Bird's Nest stadium would be cancelled due to the epidemic, so as the concert in May at National Arena of Japan. To meet their fans' expectations, Arashi decided to conduct an audience-free concert on their debut anniversary day, with no recording provided. "As they will suspend the group activities from the end of 2020, this online concert might be their last concert so I couldn't miss it at all," Ms He said. Although unable to attend the concert personally, she still took out her hand lantern and turned off the lights, pretending to be sitting in the Arena. In the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, live shows, unfortunately, became a victim at the hands of gathering restrictions. According to the China Association of Performing Arts, the COVID-19 outbreak in the first quarter of this year led to the cancellation of 20 thousand performances nationwide and a box office loss of more than 2 billion RMB. When the artists can't perform normally and fans feel down because of the cancellations of musical events, online concerts popped up with the ubiquity of digital music and advanced technology. Tencent Music Entertainment Group has launched TME Live by utilizing a variety of scenes, innovative performance modes, …

It's time for another family gathering… Eugenia Chow, a Hong Kong vegan blogger, pushed up a forceful smile and sat in front of a table filled with traditional Chinese dishes with her family. "One of the main difficulties I face with being vegan is the cultural aspect of eating in Hong Kong," said Ms Eugenia Chow. With Hong Kong's traditional food mainly consisting of animal products, she said eating with family is often difficult, especially as a younger member of the family, "It's difficult to be picky with food in front of elders as it may seem disrespectful." Concerned about the sustainability of eating meat and the effect of animal farming on the environment, Ms Eugenia Chow started an Instagram account three years ago to blog her vegan lifestyle in an effort to encourage more people to start a vegan diet by proving that it is not a difficult task to be a vegan in Hong Kong.  Today, she has more than 8,000 followers on Instagram, alongside a blog and podcast of her own, where she discusses topics such as sustainability and environmentalism. Ever since she started blogging on her social media accounts, more people have asked her for advice on their diets.  Within two years, there was a 50% increase in the number of vegetarians in Hong Kong, according to a 2018 survey conducted by Green Monday, an organization based in Hong Kong that promotes green eating habits.  Ms Eugenia Chow commented that the sudden growth in interest in veganism is because documentaries about animal cruelty have gone viral and people started to be more conscious about their food choices. Another part of the reason is the growing concern on the environment as well as their personal health.  A twofold increase in both the number of Deliveroo's restaurant partners …

Burnt smell of incense, flaming joss sticks and cheering of the people... the Fire Dragon have been parading along the streets of Tai Hang since a century ago. However, this year Mr Chan, who is the commander in chief of the Dance, felt hopeless about the spectacle's first cancellation ever. "A lot of customers and residents from Tai Hang still came to support us [despite we did it differently this year]," said the 74-year-old Fire Dragon Commander in Chief and Organizer proudly with a twinge of sadness in his voice. Tai Hang Fire Dragon Dance is held during Mid-Autumn Festival every year. The tradition was legended to drive away diseases. Yet, the Tai Hang Residents' Welfare Association announced in early September that the annual ritual would be cancelled this year in view of the COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing measures.  Chan Tak-fai has been the Fire Dragon Commander in Chief for over four decades.  "I was told that it was my passion towards Fire Dragon Dance that made me chosen as the Commander in Chief," said the 74-year-old. Since the Tai Hang Fire Dragon Dance was first held in 1880, the annual ritual was only cancelled once during the Japanese Occupation in December 1941 to August 1945.  Even during the SARS pandemic in 2003, it was held as usual. "The Dance was performed earlier than it usually was in mid-May that year, hoping to drive away the SARS," Mr Chan added.   The Dance that year was seen as effective in driving away the SARS pandemic.  As stated by the World Health Organization, Hong Kong has removed from the list of SARS affected areas on June 23 that year as there were no new cases for 20 consecutive days.   Yet, so far, there is not any scientific proof that the Tai …