Tales of the Orient by Simon Ostheimer

Sparkling Debut

From Yunnan’s ancient tea plantations to global tables, how one distiller pivoted from gin to sparkling tea and tapped into a cultural and consumer…

Jan 2 • Simon Ostheimer

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December 2025

Into the Wild

How a side journey on the way to climb one of China's most famous peaks, became an adventure all of its own

Dec 12, 2025 • Simon Ostheimer

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July 2025

That's City Talk

In a life long ago, when print was still king, I was a magazine editor in China, from entertainment titles in Shanghai to Beijing's first design and…

Jul 4, 2025 • Simon Ostheimer

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June 2025

Forever Shanghaied

In 1992, former chartered engineer Ben Zabulis visited Shanghai (in fact, China) for the first time, a trip of exploration that began a lifelong love…

Jun 20, 2025 • Ben Zabulis

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Put It On a T-Shirt

Meet Dominic Johnson-Hill, artist, raconteur, and former owner of the coolest t-shirt shop in Beijing (possibly China), who has found a new home in the…

Jun 6, 2025 • Simon Ostheimer

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In Memoriam

On the anniversary of my father's birthday, I've compiled several tributes that came in when he passed away in March 2020, which I felt unable to…

Jun 4, 2025 • Simon Ostheimer

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April 2025

That's Life

Meet Mark Kitto, former British army soldier turned China media mogul, who lost it all and reinvented himself as an author and actor - including a turn…

Apr 25, 2025 • Simon Ostheimer

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March 2025

Jungle Brother

He gave his life to the land, and - in establishing a protected nature reserve dedicated to preserving the indigenous trees of Malaysia - has left a…

Mar 14, 2025 • Simon Ostheimer

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February 2025

Panda-pocalypse

How we went to the southwest Chinese city of Chengdu on a trip to see the pandas, and entered a pollution-filled haze that the air quality index said…

Feb 28, 2025 • Simon Ostheimer

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Gateway to China

Welcome to Xiamen, 'China's Gate', a remarkable city on the country's southeast shores that has a long and illustrious history, fantastic weather, and…

Feb 21, 2025 • Simon Ostheimer

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January 2025

Basket Case

Food writer and one-time chef Chris St Cavish leads me on a xiao long bao tour, where we discover how the famed soup dumpling can help tell the story of…

Jan 24, 2025 • Simon Ostheimer

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It's a Long Way to the Top

To mark the end of 2024 I did something unexpected, and possibly foolhardy. Inspired by a (fitter) friend, I climbed to the top of China's famed Yellow…

Jan 17, 2025 • Simon Ostheimer

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