China issues ‘once in a century’ flood warning for Guangdong’s Bei River zone

Northern and western Guangdong have been battered by intense rainstorms since Friday, breaking rainfall records for April in many places. The cities of Qingyuan, Shaoguan, Huizhou and capital Guangzhou have been particularly hard hit, prompting flood alerts and rainstorm warnings for three days in a row. According to the National Meteorological Centre, most of the … Read more

Plains, trains and uncommon zeal: China’s varied landscapes photographed via railways that traverse them

Since leaving full-time employment in 2015 – a seven-year, post-university stint as an accountant for professional services network Deloitte – Wang’s interest in railways, and photographing them, has morphed from a hobby into his raison d’être. Photographer Wang Lu. He spends three to five months of every year travelling to photograph railway scenes in China. … Read more

Once a backpacker hot spot, how China’s Yangshuo has succumbed to mass-market domestic tourism – though some holdouts from its ‘cooler’ past remain

“I’d guess that over 50 per cent of establishments along West Street were foreign-run when I first showed up,” says Scott Spencer, who visited in 2002 but settled in 2003, during the 2002-04 Sars outbreak, a precursor to the Covid-19 pandemic. Karst mountains rise above the town of Yangshuo on the Li River. Photo: Shutterstock … Read more