This week in PostMag: the art of tiles, getting lost in translation, and a marathon star

South China Morning Post

13-06-2025

This week's main feature is a lesson in how almost every quotidian – might I say, boring – detail actually holds a fascinating story. You've been to many a cha chaan teng, but how often have you given any thought to the mismatched tiles plastering the walls?
For artist Adrian Wong Ho-yin, Hong Kong's off-kilter tiles became the inspiration for his current show at Oil Street Art Space in North Point. He describes how these ceramic pieces evoked the feeling of 'looking through a wormhole into the past' to Christopher DeWolf, who then dives headfirst into the design element's history.
'Tiles, really?' you might still be saying. I promise it's a good one. One detail from the story I found intriguing is how builders often layer new tiles on top of old to save time and money, creating the 'wormhole into the past' Wong mentions. I also loved his line, 'Laziness plus a couple of generations becomes charm.' Truly, so much of Hong Kong's undeniable charm is in the remnants of the past, all plain to see if you just look.
Equally layered is the art of translation. Karen Cheung finds there's a new generation of eager literary translators tackling the monumental quest of Chinese-to-English translation, particularly for works by Hong Kong authors. I've dabbled in translation from Mandarin to English, with nothing so ambitious as fiction or poetry, and it's no joke. It's a terribly hard task that one young translator notes is especially difficult because Chinese and English are further apart in so many ways, grammatically or otherwise, than other languages might be. I'm impressed by their tenacity, determination and passion.
Ultra-marathoner Sunmaya Budha brings those same qualities to the trail. The Nepalese native speaks to Bibek Bhandari about her unlikely journey from the mountainous countryside to running (and winning) international races around the world. As someone who deeply despises running, it's inspirational to say the least. Let me know if you feel moved to lace up your trainers after reading it.
Writer and photographer Daniel Allen heads to the American West where he learns about the rewilding of Yellowstone National Park, a programme that has led to a flourishing of the park's animal population. It sounds majestic to behold, though as ever, take care and respect nature – I did also read this week that a bison gored a tourist who got too close there.