Lyrics of the relics

Many archeological discoveries in China last year have shed a new light on the history of the Silk Road and have the potential to trigger the rewriting of textbooks.

At a glance

Top 10 list of new archeological discoveries in China in 2014 (chronological order):

Ceramic artists gather for dialogue

For thousands of years, ceramic art has been displayed on shelves as pots and vases. But in the post-industrial era, the way it is being presented has changed.

Out now: Series on Chinese cultural relics abroad

Lin Shuzhong (1926-2014), a professor with Nanjing University of the Arts, visited many museums in the United States in 1985. He was on a yearlong assignment to teach the history of Chinese painting at a university. He came across collections of rare and ancient Chinese paintings and antiquities at US, and later, other foreign museums. He kept a record of what he saw.

Painting for masses

Julien Seth Malland calls himself a street artist, but since April 8 he has been painting the wall of a pigsty in suburban Shanghai's Wuxing village.

Ulysses comes to life on Chinese stage

Veteran theater director Yi Liming bought a copy of Ulysses several years ago. He couldn't finish reading Irish writer James Joyce's classic novel because it was too hard to understand.

Sounds from Sweden

The national orchestra of Sweden has completed a successful tour in China in celebration of the 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Sweden.

Afternoon delight

Afternoon teas are popping up at five-star hotels all over China, offering classic sips with elegant repasts.

Traditional matcha tea gets whirled, dusted, infused in US

More than a thousand years ago, Buddhist monks in Japan began a daily ritual of grinding green tea leaves into powder, mixing it into hot water with a bamboo whisk, then sharing the tea from a single cup.

Hell on a bun

Right at home with flowers

Smarter residential landscaping means we can savor the spring season without joining the crowds at formal public gardens, Xu Lin discovers.

Beijing in bloom

Thanks to the high temperatures this spring, some flowers in Beijing, such as cherries and peach blossoms, have started to bloom early.