Stamps, meat, cars & islands, too

E-commerce has had a huge flow-on effect in China's economy and society

Consumption will all look different tomorrow

Old media needed this wake-up call

I've always had mixed feelings about e-commerce that has increasingly become part of our lives.

Iron arteries pump new life

The social changes that high-speed trains have wrought add up to far more than the hours and minutes saved

High-speed rail has grown at dizzying speed

The year 2008 was memorable for China and the world not least because of the hugely successful Beijing Olympics; it was also the year that China opened its first high-speed rail line, from Beijing to Tianjin. When the line opened on Aug 1 it took the metaphorical gold medal as the fastest train service in the world measured by its top speed, capturing the attention and admiration of visitors who came to Beijing to see records broken.

My life has been fast-tracked

My memories of China Daily years can be clearly traced along the railway track.

China needs to rethink innovation

The compass, paper money, moveable type printing, gunpowder and silk. These are a few of the inventions that until the early modern era put China ahead of the West as an innovator. But past glories are insufficient to address current and future challenges.

The can-do generation to the fore

Country's future rests in the hands of the bright and the young

The timing's got to be right

I began working with China Daily as a copy editor on the night desk; and to fill the long hours of the day I would seek interview assignments from editors who were short of hands.

More to it than spending and the sights

When I was assigned by China Daily to study at the University of Hawaii two decades ago, the question I most frequently faced in Honolulu was: Are you Japanese?

Suddenly, it's a small world

Heading out of the country on holiday used to be the preserve of a privileged few

Tourists will play a part in national strategy

In 2014, overseas trips by the Chinese crossed 100 million for the first time. Last year, the figure rose to 117 million and China has become the No 1 country of origin for outbound tourism.