SHANGHAI (AFP) -- At the “East is Red” shop in Shanghai, every nook and cranny is packed with memorabilia of China’s Cultural Revolution, from small badges of Chairman Mao Zedong to gigantic posters of his iconic image.　Owner Guo Bing himself is a child of the Cultural Revolution, born in 1966, the year the chaotic and violent decade was launched on May 16. His parents named him with the Chinese character for “soldier,” a common practice at the time.　But now, Guo sees profits rather than Communi

May 16, 2016

The newly opened Platform Changdong 61 complex -- Seoul’s newest comprehensive cultural hub in Chang-dong, Dobong-gu -- is paving the way for northern Seoul to become the capital’s newest up-and-coming “it” district.   　Located in a revamped parking lot, Platform Changdong 61, a three-story container complex next to Changdong Station, is Seoul’s newest “container” complex, mirroring Seoul’s Common Ground container mall in Gwangjin-gu.  The newly opened Platform Changdong 61 cultural arts and per

May 15, 2016

BERLIN (AFP) - Mohamed Al-Subeeh was a senior restorer at Syria’s best-known mosaic museum, but as war swept deeper into his province, destroying artefacts and threatening his and his family’s lives, he was forced to flee.　The 64-year-old from Idlib province never dreamt that he would ever work in a museum again, certainly not in Germany, to which he had fled in a 23-day journey that involved a rubber boat ride across the Mediterranean, endless bus and train rides and hours of trekking on foot.

May 11, 2016

CAIRO (AFP) -- Egyptian Antiquities Minister Khaled al-Anani said on Sunday new technology is needed to determine whether Tutankhamun's tomb contains hidden chambers which a British archaeologist believes may hide Queen Nefertiti’s remains.　Anani spoke to archaeologists and reporters at a conference in Cairo dedicated to King Tutankhamun and his world-famous golden funerary mask.　The mood at Sunday’s conference was skeptical months after former minister Mamduh Damati said the secret chambers pro

May 9, 2016

Children’s Day, which to some may just be a day off to catch up on sleep or binge watch their favorite TV shows, has a rich history indebted to the efforts of one man -- Pang Chong-hwan.The late children’s advocate and political activist was a pioneering figure in children rights and literature, introducing the country’s first children’s magazine in 1923. He made efforts to improve children’s welfare, especially during Japan’s colonial rule of the peninsula.However, to modern day Koreans, Pang’s

April 29, 2016

Korean and Iranian poets will gather at an event in Iran next week to recite and discuss each other’s poetry.　Three Korean poets Kim Hu-ran, Shin Dal-ja and Jang Seok-nam will be meeting with Fatemeh Rakei, one of Iran’s most influential female poets, and Mohammad Ali Bahmani, who has received both popular and critical acclaim for his works.　The poets will recite each other’s works and discuss the poetry and literature of their countries. Students from the University of Tehran will recite Persia

April 28, 2016

BARCELONA (AFP) -- Faced with falling sales and the rise of ebooks, bookstores in Barcelona, the Spanish-language world’s publishing capital, are remaking themselves as cultural centers that offer concerts, classes and hard to find books to draw customers.　“We had to change. Either we reinvented ourselves or it was really impossible to stay open,” said Montserrat Serrano, the lively owner of the Bernat bookstore located just off the Diagonal, one of the main avenues in Spain’s second-largest cit

April 27, 2016

The annual Yeondeunghoe, the lotus lantern festival, is set to light up Seoul streets to celebrate Buddha’s birthday falling on May 14 this year.　The festival, designated Korea’s Important Intangible Cultural Property No. 122, will take place at Jogyesa and Bongeunsa temples and along Jongno Street on May 6-8. 　The origin of the three-day festival dates back to the Unified Silla era over 1,300 years ago, when the festival was held on Daeboreum, a day celebrating the first full moon of the lunar

April 26, 2016

The creative culture festival “C-Festival 2016” will be taking place at the Convention and Exhibition Center in Samseong-dong from May 4-8.　The annual festival, jointly launched by Coex and the World Trade Center Seoul in 2015, will present events and programs featuring K-pop, art, culture, and technology. It will also feature programs that cater to specific needs such as family time, romance, exhibitions and conventions and healing. More details can be viewed on its website www.c-festival.com.

April 26, 2016

Eli Miller Mowry was born Jan. 23, 1880, as the third of nine children to Samuel Mowry and Mary Miller in a suburb of Bellville, Ohio. 　He participated in the Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign Missions in his college years and resolved to become a missionary. After being ordained in May 1905 by the American Presbyterian Church of Worcester, he and his wife came to Korea on Oct. 2 and mainly worked in the Pyongyang Mission chapter.  　After learning Korean, he taught general biology, genetics

April 25, 2016

At the 2016 Royal Culture Festival, visitors to major royal palaces in Seoul will be able to immerse themselves in the royal lifestyle of the Joseon era (1392-1910). 　From April 28 to May 8, Joseon-era palaces -- Gyeongbokgung, Changdeokgung, Changgyeonggung and Deoksugung -- and Jongmyo Shrine will host a 10-day celebration of Joseon royal life. 　In its second year, the festival will hold some 30 programs consisting of concerts, performances, culinary events and exhibitions at the four major pa

April 25, 2016

Long before the invasion of western coffee, Korea was a tea-drinking country with a rich ceremonial tea culture and heritage preserved for more than a thousand years.　Tea has always been at the center of the country’s tradition, culture, poetry, drama, art and song. But little attention was often paid to it in the post-war era, making it difficult to maintain its significance in society.  　Korean tea eventually lost its once prominent role to coffee, as the product of the West became more access

April 22, 2016

When it comes to blood sausages, Korea has a special take on this international delicacy: sundae. The Korean blood sausage, which is cooked with vegetable fillers until it becomes thick enough, is a perfect combination of pork blood and potato starch noodles. Like with many other Korean recipes that have a lot of regional variations, food lovers will be hard-pressed to agree on which sundae to taste first -- from kimchi sundae with soybean paste to sundae stuffed with squid. But as is always the

April 22, 2016