Lifestyle

Why buy when you can trade? That's the question asked by some young Hong Kongers who are staging barter events so people can dispose of their unwanted items without creating waste. Varsity discovers that more and more young people in Hong Kong are taking part in these cash-less transactions.

A study finds that most foreign domestic workers in Hong Kong do not feel they have saved enough money when they return to their own countries, and end up having to work overseas again. Varsity looks at how some domestic workers are learning to save up to realise their business dreams at home.

Hong Kong has a long tradition of poking fun at society through satire; now political satire is everywhere in light of events like Occupy Central and Hong Kong’s fraught relations with China, to the point where a spoof awards show can pack Queen Elizabeth Stadium.

Hong Kong's young people lead hectic lives - stressing out about how to maintain a balance between study, work and family. Recent political tensions have only made matters worse. Many are turning to mindfulness and meditation to provide relief, insight and inner peace.

Living in a city with traditional gender norms, cross-dressing is prone to misunderstanding and controversy. For many corss-dressers, wearing the clothes of the opposite sex is a way of expressing their individuality and is not neccessarily related to sexual orientation.

Attracted by routes that take them through city centres and past scenic sights, more and more Hong Kong runners are participating in overseas marathons.

When others bunker down with instant noodles and television updates at home, Hong Kong's weather geeks put on their waterproof clothing, grab their wind meters and rush out to chase the storm. But there is also more to metereology than just typhoons. Varsity meets the amateur meteorologists who form Hong Kong's weather underground.

Virtual reality - or VR - has been touted as the future for some time now, and many big-name corporations have invested millions of dollars. Yet VR hasn't quite taken off as expected. Are we on the cusp of the breakthrough that will make VR seem like a necessity?

Science isn't just the preserve of professional scientists conducting sophisticated experiments in state-of-the-art laboratories. Enthusiastic amateurs - citizen scientists - can also connect with nature and help to conserve and preserve it.

With the spread of the internet, newspapers around the world are suffering from falling advertising revenues and shrinking circulations. District newspapers, which were once an important source of local news and information in Hong Kong had nearly all disappeared by the end of the 1980s. But a renewed interest in community and neighbourhood in community in the city has led to revival of district papers. Varsity meets the people behind them.