I arrived in Shanghai in the summer of 2014, eager to cover the story of China’s rise as a global economic power and to explore the intricacies of my ancestral homeland, my grandparents having left south China in the 1930s for Singapore. Shanghai, China’s commercial hub, was back then and still is a feast for the senses – a combination of the old and new, with some of the world’s tallest skyscrapers mixed in with early 1900s architecture, remnants of the city’s Art Deco building boom. There are highways choked with snazzy electric vehicles and sleepy boulevards lined with trees and cafes. People walk past a lane lined with restaurants. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang My arrival here coincided with the boom years, as state-to-private enterprises jostled to expand abroad and Shanghai pitched ...
Read MoreDay: November 10, 2024
The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree arrived in New York City on Saturday, signaling the start of the holiday season in the Big Apple. The 74-foot Norway spruce was driven into Manhattan’s Center Plaza, where it was hoisted in place by a crane. It will take 5 miles (about 8 kilometers) of light strands with more than 50,000 multicolored LED bulbs to wrap the tree, whose diameter measures 43 feet (13 meters). A Swarovski star crown sparkling with 3 million crystals will top it. The towering conifer, donated by the Albert family in West Stockbridge, Massachusetts, was cut down Thursday morning and loaded onto a flatbed truck for the 140-mile (225-kilometer) trip. It is the first Rockefeller Center Christmas tree to come from Massachusetts since 1959. It was met in New Yo...
Read MorePrincess Cruises debuts 131-day Circle Pacific cruise in early 2026 Princess Cruises has announced the cruise line's most destination-rich voyage ever offered with its new 131-day Circle Pacific Voyage departing January 2026 and visiting 60 ports in 19 countries around the Pacific Ocean. This voyage replaces the previously announced 2026 World Cruise to bypass the Red Sea and surrounding region. On sale now, this new itinerary aboard Coral Princess departs Ft. Lauderdale on January 5, 2026, and sails through Hawaii, French Polynesia, the South Pacific, New Zealand and Australia, before continuing north on a tour of Asia highlighted with an extensive journey through Japan, followed by a Pacific crossing to experien...
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