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South China Morning Post
32 minutes ago
- South China Morning Post
How China's aerospace rise is reshaping global skies
Date and time: Thursday, June 26, 2025 | 10.30-11.30am HKT Add to calendar: iOS | Android | Outlook The webinar will be live-streamed on this page on June 26, 2025, at 10.30am HKT. Bookmark this page or add it to your calendar to stay informed. You may also submit your questions to the panel and get them answered during the webinar. China's aerospace ambitions are taking flight, with the homegrown C919 narrow-body jet expanding commercial operations and plans for the wide-body C929 aircraft under way. This ascent, spearheaded by the state-owned Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac), seeds a potential shift in a global aviation market long dominated by Boeing and Airbus. The implications speak to China's overall industrial development strategies, its quest for technological self-sufficiency and international trade dynamics. However, this rapid ascent also brings to the forefront complex challenges about China's ability to rival established players. How can Comac scale aircraft production when global supply chains are in flux, for example? How does it plan to attain Western certification and navigate fast-changing geopolitical currents? To address these critical issues, SCMP will host a webinar with external guest speaker Jason Li Hanming, a US-based aviation analyst, and SCMP reporters Frank Chen and Ralph Jennings. Submit your questions today and get them answered during the webinar. They will explore key areas including:
South China Morning Post
40 minutes ago
- South China Morning Post
4 travel tips on where to stay, drink and shop for a stylish summer: from Gucci luggage stickers and a book on Chateau Marmont, to Rome's new Aquazzura Bar and Officine Universelle Buly's spa
Globetrotters take note: here's a fresh crop of inspo to drive your wanderlust. Start with a book about a storied Sunset Strip stay, one that has been home to generations of A-listers; then hot foot it to a new Roman bar courtesy of Aquazzura. Finish your world tour with a spot of shopping at a Parisian boutique, stocking up on perfumes and skincare, before you head home – perhaps even having added a couple of Gucci stickers to your case. 1. Chateau Marmont Chateau Marmont is a famous hotel on Los Angeles' Sunset Strip. Photo: Handout Advertisement Located on Sunset Strip just below the Hollywood Hills, Chateau Marmont is a Los Angeles institution. The celebrity magnet has been home to some of the most legendary Hollywood parties and, after more than a century, is still Los Angeles' hottest hang-out. Edited by André Balazs, the hotelier who saved the property from demolition in 1990, this lavishly illustrated book from Rizzoli tells the story of the property through the words of authors such as William Faulkner, Eve Babitz and Gore Vidal, and photography from the likes of Helmut Newton, Wolfgang Tillmans, Sofia Coppola and Bruce Weber. 2. Aquazzura Bar Aquazzura Bar at Rome's Hotel de Russie. Photo: Handout This summer, the garden at Rome's Hotel de Russie gets a fashion makeover courtesy of luxury label Aquazzura. Hidden in the property's courtyard, the Aquazzura Bar is decorated with striped awnings and lemon-tree designs inspired by 18th century illustrations. 'To me, hosting is an act of love – you create an experience for your guests, from the music to the food, to how the table is set. It has always been a dream of mine to translate the world of Aquazzura into a hospitality space,' says Aquazzura founder Edgardo Osorio. 3. Buly Saintonge boutique Buly Saintonge boutique in Paris. Photo: Handout Officine Universelle Buly, the apothecary known for its precious lotions and fragrances, has a cult following around the world. While the house has boutiques in Hong Kong, Tokyo and other cities, to get a full immersion into its world you have to check out one of its Paris outposts. The shop, located on Rue de Saintonge, in the city's third arrondissement, is the only one with a built-in spa room, where you can enjoy signature treatments such as the Body Plenitude Energetic Massage.
South China Morning Post
an hour ago
- South China Morning Post
Man refuses to relocate, rebuilds village bungalow among demolished homes in China
Surrounded by the rubble of his old neighbour's demolished homes, Chen Tianming's ramshackle tower juts into the sky in southwestern China. It is a teetering monument – one made of faded plyboards and contorted beams – to the man's stubbornness. In 2018, authorities razed most of Chen's village to build a lucrative tourist resort in a region known for spectacular rice paddies and otherworldly mountain landscapes. Chen, 42, refused to leave. And after the project faltered, he defied a flurry of demolition notices to build his family's humble stone bungalow higher and higher. He now presides over a bewildering 10-storey, pyramid-shaped warren of rickety staircases, balconies and other add-ons, drawing comparisons in Chinese media to the fantastical creations of legendary Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki. 'I started building out of practicality, trying to renovate and expand our home,' Chen told Agence France-Presse on a sweltering May afternoon as he climbed ladders and ducked wooden beams in his labyrinthine construction. 'Unique' former Hong Kong village school set for demolition 'But then it became more of an interest and hobby that I enjoyed,' he said. Chen's obsessive tinkering and lack of building permits continue to draw ire from the local government. The higher floors where he sleeps sway in the wind, and dozens of ropes and cables tether the house to the ground as if the whole thing might one day float away. 'When I'm up here … I get the sense of being a nomad,' Chen said, gazing out at residential blocks, an airport and distant mountains. 'People often say it's unsafe and should be demolished … but I'll never let anyone tear it down.' Chen, 42, has spent seven years and over 100,000 yuan (US$13,900) defying authorities' demolition notices. Photo: AFP Local authorities once had big plans to build an 800-acre tourist resort – including a theatre and artificial lake – on Chen's native soil. They promised to compensate villagers, but Chen's parents refused, and he vowed to help them protect the home his grandfather had built in the 1980s. Even as neighbours moved out and their houses were bulldozed, Chen stayed put, even sleeping alone in the house for two months 'in case [developers] came to knock it down in the night'. Six months later, like many ill-considered development projects in highly indebted Guizhou, the resort was cancelled. Virtually alone among the ruined village, Chen was now master of a 'nail house' – a Chinese term for those whose owners dig in and refuse to relocate despite official compensation offers. Cha Guo film captures Hong Kong village's developing changes in face of urbanisation A quirk of China's rampant development and partial private property laws, nail houses sometimes make headlines for delaying money-spinning construction projects or forcing developers to divert roads or build around shabby older homes. Even as Chen forged ahead, completing the fifth floor in 2019, the sixth in 2022 and the seventh in 2023, he continued to receive threats of demolition. Last August, his home was designated as an illegal construction, and he was ordered to destroy everything except the original bungalow within five days. He says he has spent tens of thousands of yuan fighting the notices in court, despite losing several preliminary hearings. But he continues to appeal, and the next hearing has been delayed. 'I'm not worried. Now that there's no one developing the land, there's no need for them to knock the place down', he said. Chen's family home was originally a humble stone bungalow, but has become a bewildering 10-storey pyramid-shaped home Photo: AFP In recent years, ironically, Chen's house has begun to lure a steady trickle of tourists itself. On Chinese social media, users describe it as China's strangest nail house, likening it to the eccentric buildings in Miyazaki's Studio Ghibli masterpieces Howl's Moving Castle and Spirited Away. As dusk falls, Chen illuminates his home with decorative lanterns, and people gather on the nearby dirt road to admire the scene. 'It's beautiful,' local resident He Diezhen told Agence France-Presse as she snapped photos. 'If there are no safety issues, it could become an [official] local landmark,' she said. Chen said the house makes many visitors remember their whimsical childhood fantasies. '[People] dream of building a house for themselves with their own hands … but most can't make it happen,' he told Agence France-Presse. 'I not only thought of it, I made it a reality.'
