Apr 6, 2011 0
by Christopher Shay
When Central Market opened in 1939, the prewar Bauhaus-style structure housed one of the largest and most modern indoor food marts in Asia. These days, some 70 years later, the largely empty building sits decrepit at the foot of Hong Kong’s Central district escalator system. Only a newly renovated walkway hides the decaying interior from pedestrians. Read the rest of this entry »
Jan 31, 2011 1
by Christopher Shay
Hong Kong had its worst-ever year in terms of roadside pollution in 2010, according to government data. It also hosts the world’s highest traffic density, says the Clear the Air, a local antipollution organization. But despite rising concern over roadside pollution levels and a government campaign to get consumers and companies to adopt zero-emissions vehicles, electric cars aren’t yet creating much spark. Read the rest of this entry »
Dec 16, 2010 0
by Christopher Shay
The idea of eating local and organic food has gone mainstream in the United States. But in Hong Kong, where most food is imported and agriculture space is limited, the sustainable-food movement has struggled to gain momentum. Read the rest of this entry »
Dec 7, 2010 0
by Christopher Shay
My slideshow of some of Hong Kong’s most beautiful urban trees. In a city known for its skyscrapers, there are a few stunning old trees still hanging on. Read the rest of this entry »
Dec 7, 2010 0
by Christopher Shay
Before Nathan Road was a busy shopping street, it was home to majestic trees, not high-rises. Three rows of banyan trees, planted in the 1860s, formed a bucolic landscape of dark wispy roots and leaves that lined the entire street. But as real-estate developments started to block the sunlight and new asphalt prevented growth, the trees began a slow decline. Read the rest of this entry »
May 15, 2010 0
by Christopher Shay
Paul Ferber was scuba diving in Cambodia’s Sre Ambil River shortly after ships had finished dredging the area. As director of Marine Conservation Cambodia, Ferber was used to seeing the Cambodian estuaries teeming with marine life. He was shocked: Over 15 kilometers of river, he saw exactly one fish and two shrimp. “It was crazy to dive and see nothing,” he says. Read the rest of this entry »
Jan 7, 2010 0
by Christopher Shay
Anti-whaling activists accused a Japanese harpoon ship of intentionally ramming and sinking their high-tech boat, the Ady Gil, during what has become an annual confrontation between whale hunters and activists in the southern seas. One crew member, a cameraman hired by Animal Planet for the reality TV show Whale Wars, sustained minor injuries in the incident, but Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, said after the incident occurred on Wednesday that it was “miraculous that lives were not lost.” Read the rest of this entry »
Oct 28, 2009 0
by Christopher Shay
The image of an old wooden junk with orange sails is ubiquitous in Hong Kong lore. It’s on matchbooks, advertisements and postcards in this famous port city, but the traditional wind-powered Chinese boat cruising Victoria Harbor is a rare site these days. The reality is a bit less picturesque: the second busiest port in the world is filled with diesel-powered ships, ferries and fishing boats that belch toxins into the infamously polluted Hong Kong skyline. Read the rest of this entry »
Sep 28, 2009 0
by Christopher Shay
Right now, bird-eating frogs with fangs wait for their prey in the streams of eastern Thailand. Technicolor geckos scurry up trees on the Thai-Malaysian border, and ruby-red fish — previously only found in the Ukrainian ornamental fish trade — are swimming in the rivers of Burma. These are three of the 163 species discovered by various researchers in the Greater Mekong region of Southeast Asia last year, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) announced on Sept. 25. Read the rest of this entry »