Disappearing Traditions

The tradition of the Chinese street barber still survives on the margins of the country, but for how much longer?

The Miao have have been resisting extermination and assimilation for thousands of years, living far out in the mountains of south-central China. But for how much longer can they remain?

Can China’s few remaining historic communities continue existing in the face of rampant progress?

The ancient neighborhood of meandering alleyways and centuries-old grey brick homes that occupied this area for hundreds of years had already been demolished, cleared away –effectively erased from the slate of modern China. There was only one reminder that this ancient neighborhood ever existed at all, and that was the house I was standing in.

Not everything should get a fresh coat of paint (ancient frescoes included).

Cormorant fishing is still practice in China, but for how much longer?

Traditional Mongolian script is written everywhere right next to Chinese in Inner Mongolia, but that’s no guarantee that anybody is going to read it.

As Hong Kong’s economy rises, many of it’s old traditions are fading away. Lunch singing, a type of lounge act that is performed in eateries, is one such tradition that’s on the verge of disappearing for good.

I heard the squeaking of a Chinese fiddle and the screeching of a female Chinese voice as I walked through the streets of an old neighborhood in Taizhou. Though people have been living here for millenia, this community just had its hundred year anniversary. The houses were arranged in hutong style and everything was constructed [...]