I was scrolling through Instagram, as one does, when a particularly arresting image stopped me. Roughly hewn wooden beams and rafters holding up a high ceiling. Puffs of steam caught in the light. A floor blanketed in white snow-like powder. "I really thought this was AI or game art" read one comment.
In fact, it was a photograph of a salt well in Sichuan province posted by Shanghai-based writer Christopher St. Cavish - the first in a carousel of photos from a week-long research trip to Zigong, once known as China's "salt capital", for an episode to air on his newly launched YouTube channel with photographer Graeme Kennedy. I messaged him immediately. It sounded like a story too good to miss, an expertly woven tale of how centuries of history can shape the way we eat today. The piece that came from it - this issue's cover feature - is accompanied by a striking image of Sichuan's salt drilling fields, taken by Swiss geologist Arnold Heim in 1929, along with photos of contemporary Zigong that Kennedy shot earlier this year.
Bibek Bhandari transports us to the Chinese capital (and back to the mid-noughties) as he chats with Glen Loveland, the American author of the recently published Beijing Bound . In 2007, Loveland moved to Beijing, which he describes as unexpectedly open. My first visit there was three years later and it was exactly that feeling that convinced me to make the move from New York. For Loveland, this openness led to a self-described gay awakening, and while I didn't have the same story, reading his made me recall my own early years in the city and the particular energy of mainland China at that moment.
Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge , our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team.
The rest of the issue takes us on a tour around Asia. Traversing Cambodia and Vietnam, David Swanson takes a cruise down the Mekong on the AmaDara where he reckons the region's violent past with its present. It's a beautiful and powerful journey that juxtaposes megacities against bucolic rural scenes.
In Osaka, Julian Ryall gets a sneak peek of the Expo 2025. He previews its many pavilions - I'm particularly intrigued by the Saudi Arabian one, which Ryall describes as "a tangle of alleyways, sheltered courtyards and water features like oases". I've never been to a World Expo, but it turns out this is my year. I'll be in Osaka in May. And you?
More Articles from SCMP
Number of deals involving non-local homebuyers in Hong Kong more than triples
South Korea’s Jeju unsettled by rise in crime as Chinese tourists return in droves
In Fantasy Premier League, Southampton appears headed towards relegation, putting managers at risk of facing dual challenges.
Harry Bentley believes that Helene Feeling and Flash CURRENT have a good chance of winning at Sha Tin.
The article initially appeared on the South China Morning Post (www.scmp.com), which serves as the premier source for news coverage of China and Asia.
Copyright © 2025. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
