World News by Wild Rose

In ancient China, before the advent of mechanical clocks and digital devices, people relied mainly on night watchmen to keep time, prevent fires and maintain their daily routines. But how did the watchmen tell the time? Chinese night watchmen mainly used two methods: clepsydras and incense sticks. A clepsydra, also known as a water clock, measures time through the regulated flow of water from a vessel. The ancient Chinese divided the night into five gengs. Each geng lasted around two hours,...

Typhoon Champi continued to batter China’s eastern coast on Saturday, grounding over a hundred flights and prompting the authorities to relocate tens of thousands of people, while weakening as it moved towards Japan. Flights from airports in Shanghai as well as Fujian and Zhejiang provinces were grounded. China Eastern Airlines said it had cancelled 39 domestic flights to and from Shanghai’s two main airports while flights to and from the cities of Fuzhou and Wenzhou were also affected. The...

Pets in China have become deeply woven into people’s lives and romantic relationships, especially those of younger couples. When romance sours, deciding “who gets custody” is becoming a painful legal grey area for many couples. According to pet industry data, China’s urban dog and cat population reached 126 million in 2025, driven largely by Gen Z and millennial. Many young couples treat their pets like children, calling each other the “Mum” and “Dad” of their fur babies. “While love may fade,...

The powerful earthquake has killed 16 people and wounded 32 so far, local medics reported.

At least 16 people have died and dozens more have been injured after a major earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale shook China’s remote Tibet region on Thursday, state media said. Hundreds of houses collapsed in the tremor.

A strong 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck China’s western Tibet autonomous region late on Thursday and casualties have been reported, state news agency Xinhua said, citing local authorities. The report did not offer any details about the number or type of casualties. The epicentre of the quake, which struck at 10.33pm, was located in a mountainous area about 190km (120 miles) east-northeast of Nagqu and 390km northeast of the regional capital Lhasa, the US Geological Survey said. It struck at a...

As Super Typhoon Champi – now the strongest storm of the year worldwide – barrels towards eastern China, authorities are planning evacuations and urging those in its path to prepare. Airports in major Chinese cities could be affected by the storm, including Wenzhou Longwan, Fuzhou Changle, Ningbo Lishe, Hangzhou Xiaoshan, Shanghai Hongqiao, Shanghai Pudong and Xiamen Gaoqi, according to aviation data platform VariFlight. Travellers are bracing for potential disruptions, though there have been no...

An increasing number of Chinese celebrities are voluntarily sharing their histories of mental illness, rather than following the previous practice of keeping them hidden, in what some see as an effort to win empathy and audience support. These conditions include depression, anxiety, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). In January last year, famous actress Zhao Lusi’s suspension of work due to severe depression put celebrities’ mental health...

A young couple in eastern China have gone viral on social media for skipping elaborate wedding traditions and instead holding simple nuptials, spending money only on banquets and cash gifts for their guests. The bride, surnamed Zhu, is from Ningbo in Zhejiang province, while the groom, Wang, is from Taizhou, also in Zhejiang. The couple, both in their early 30s, held wedding celebrations in their respective hometowns in September, according to the Ningbo Evening News. Rather than follow...

A man in southwestern China has sparked widespread criticism after holding a wedding with one woman and a celebration for his baby with another at the same venue on the same day. According to The Beijing News, Wu Linfeng, from Liupanshui, Guizhou province, held a wedding ceremony with Kong Sihan on the first floor of a restaurant while hosting a 100-day celebration for his son with his former girlfriend, Lin Si, on the second floor. One poster at the venue showed Wu and Kong in wedding attire...

Beijing has invited White House press secretary Katie Zacharia to visit the country more often after she said in an interview that China “doesn’t even have proper toilets”. The newly appointed spokeswoman for the Trump administration made the controversial remarks in an interview on Thursday with conservative commentator Jack Posobiec, when talking about the perception around 2016 that “the gold days, the glory days of the US were over and China was on the horizon”. “I remember this very...

China and North Korea have officially opened the New Yalu River Bridge after a 12-year delay.

Authorities in the central Chinese province of Hunan have warned of the potential risks of cross-border arranged marriages, saying some relationships lack genuine emotional foundations and can lead to financial ruin or legal trouble. Marriages can be risky when they are organised by illegal matchmaking agencies that charge high fees, according to a post on the Xintian county police branch’s social media account on Tuesday. For-profit international matchmaking is illegal in China. The post...

A newlywed Chinese couple has gone viral on social media because they share exactly the same name, written with the same Chinese characters, and work in the same industry. The coincidence has caused a few practical complications, but many people see it as pure fate. On October 6, the groom, 33, and the bride, 28, both named Zhu Xiaocong, held their wedding in Zhejiang province, eastern China. Someone shared their wedding poster online, which showed that the couple had exactly the same name,...

The long-delayed bridge will formally open on Thursday, according to China's state-run Xinhua news agency.