Why Banning Shark Fins is Controversial in Hong Kong
On this Sunday afternoon on a crowded street of Mong Kok, one of Hong Kong’s most bustling districts, following a whistle, dozens of people jumped on a blue sheet, lying face down with card-board fins strapped to their backs, protesting in silence the practice of shark finning and expressing their will for Hong Kong to ban the sale of shark fins.
“I feel strongly about this cause,” says Theo Moodley, a 16-year-old South African who participated in the event. “I think people here will eventually get to realize the cruelty of shark finning and stop eating shark fins.”
New Possibilities for China's Oil Painting Village
He is sitting facing a large canvass in a tiny room, in silence, with his right arm – his only arm – stretching out and moving constantly but subtly, working on an oil painting depicting what looks like a young Tibetan couple standing in a mountain covered by snow, their baby held in the father’s arm. Their dark brown skin forms a contrast with the pure white background.
“I love drawing people,” says Tang Dijian, 32, referring every once in a while to the printout of the original painting on his left. It is called “Sacred Mountain,” a work of a Chinese painter, Ai Xuan. Tang has spent almost a month imitating the painting.
Beat the Devils Away
“Pad, pad, pad …”
Suddenly, a series of strong beating sound burst out from under Ngo Keng Kiu, or Goose Neck Bridge, competing with the constant buzz at the bustling intersection of two major roads swarmed with traffic and people in Hong Kong’s Central District. Accompanying the sound, a smell of incense swelled and rolled into the air, haunting every passerby.
“Pad, pad, pad …”
Life Between Soul and Reality
As the organ burst into a solemn anthem, and the choirmaster accompanied it with her crystal voice, all the chandeliers and candelabra sconces suddenly lit up simultaneously, like torches of golden fire – the mass began. In a second, the Catholic cathedral in Guangzhou, the largest city in southern China, was flooded with streams of flaming light and dancing gem-like colors projected on the walls from the stained glass windows.
