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We have selected seven Lifestyle stories from the past seven days that resonated with our readers. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. 79-year-old influencer lost 30kg and has bone density of a 20-year-old. How? Joan MacDonald is an unlikely influencer. At nearly 80 years of age, she has garnered 2 million followers on Instagram since she began posting on the platform almost a decade ago. During that time, she has transformed her life and her health. Now she helps others to embrace ageing with strength and grace. 2. ‘No flights, one backpack’ – a Hongkonger’s 20,000km overland odyssey Hongkonger Kaylie Lau was working at a “fairly ordinary” corporate job in fashion marketing when she made a lifestyle U-turn. Now the 24-year-old is on an adventure, one that has already seen her travel 10,000km (6,200 miles) overland – “no flights, one backpack” – from Hong Kong to Europe, which she is documenting on her Instagram page, @kaylielau. 3. How the prosperous Tang dynasty took Chinese culture to new heights By the time China ushered in the Tang dynasty (618-907), Chinese culture was on the cusp of an unparalleled peak. Tang-dynasty China was an open and multi-ethnic country active in external exchanges. Merchants, envoys and students from Silla (an ancient Korean kingdom), Japan, Chenla (an ancient state in what is now Cambodia), India, the Arab world and the Byzantine Empire came for trade, cultural and academic exchanges. Maritime trade also expanded significantly. 4. ‘It hurts a lot’: how Hong Kong’s pro wrestling scene is back with a slam Inside an industrial building in the city’s New Territories, members of the Hong Kong Wrestling Federation (HKWF) meet weekly to run drills, practise taking punches and falling, and refine their characters. In Hong Kong, pro wrestling is far smaller and more underground than overseas. But that does not mean those involved are any less passionate or intense in their pursuit of in-ring tussles. 5. Could a grandparent’s trauma affect your health? Ancestral healing explained Could the reason for your irrational anxiety, depression or chronic fatigue lie not in your life, but in the traumas experienced by your great-great-grandparents? Once dismissed as pseudoscience, the field of ancestral healing has moved beyond the fringe and is trending on social media, such as on the Instagram account @sacredancestry, which has 165,000 followers. 6. Hong Kong’s classic cha chaan teng culture captured in nostalgic exhibition A shared love of photography and tea is the inspiration behind an exhibition of five artists now showing at the K11 Art Mall in Tsim Sha Tsui. Enoch Ho, a photographer and the spokesperson for the group, says that the main focus of the exhibition is to capture the beauty of local tea culture and the casualness, familiarity and nostalgia behind something simple but essential to the Hong Kong identity. 7. Best things to eat in Putian, culinary gem in Fujian, China, and where to find them Putian, a coastal city with 3 million people, is a hidden gem not far from Hong Kong. It is framed by the Fujian capital Fuzhou to the north, Quanzhou to the south, and the sparkling Taiwan Strait to the east. From prized razor clams to umami dishes made with special salt, Putian’s food mixes tradition and innovation.
