Pawnbrokers for prosperous accept wine as collateral

Loans were also secured on various vintages of the five First Growths Bordeaux: Chateau Haut-Brion, Chateau Lafite-Rothschild, Chateau Haut-Brion, Chateau Margaux and Chateau Mouton Rothschild - top wines regularly sold at auctions where cases fetch tens of thousands of dollars.

$3.6m - Singapore’s most expensive car

Singapore’s most expensive car is being launched this weekend and its distributor aims to sell as many as three units a year. The Pagani Huayra starts from $3.6 million and Melvin Goh of Euro- Sports Auto believes he can move ‘one to three cars a year - maximum’.

Location, location, location: Myanmar’s the hot new neighbourhood

Property agent Kyaw Saw leafs through a thick pile of real-estate listings in Myanmar’s faded commercial capital, Yangon.

“Our customers used to be all people from the east -- from China, Taiwan and Japan,” said the portly businessman.

That’s changing fast.

Row over denial of massacre rages on

Nagoya mayor unrepentant even after Beijing complains to Tokyo about his comments, and incident threatens to cloud anniversary of Sino-Japanese ties

China complains to Japan over Nanjing massacre denial

China said Wednesday it had made an official complaint to Tokyo after the mayor of a Japanese city denied the well-documented massacre of Chinese civilians by Japanese troops in 1937.

China decries Japan mayor for denying Nanjing massacre

China denounced a Japanese mayor on Wednesday for denying that Japanese troops inflicted a wartime massacre on Nanjing, and warned Tokyo to tread carefully over sensitive historical terrain that has long soured ties.

See this mother fucker face? His people dared to murder, rape and torture but dare not own up.  That's why Japs cannot be forgiven like the Germans. The last earthquake and tsunami to hit Japan was perhaps too gentle - they deserve more.

Chinese city halts ties with Nagoya over massacre denial

Chinese authorities in Nanjing have suspended official contacts with Nagoya after the Japanese city’s mayor cast doubt over the well-documented massacre of Chinese civilians by Japanese troops in 1937.

China’s unofficial lending falters, savers protest

Ms. Zhang, a schoolteacher in the central city of Anyang, lent $43,000 last year to entrepreneurs who couldn’t get loans from state banks. Now as growth cools and Beijing cracks down on informal credit, Zhang and thousands of other small lenders are unpaid and angry.

Economic miracle in Myanmar may take time to materialise

Country has great potential, analysts say, but its currency and banking problems will slow growth

Top mainland resorts get back to peasant roots

Once a maligned style, traditional Chinese architecture is making a comeback as hotels and homes follow elegant designs of imperial past

It’s full speed ahead for sgCarMart

Online car portal sgCarMart’s annual turnover is some $5m with over 10,000 listings on its site

Shanghai dialect fights to survive in modern China

When professor Qian Nairong published his dictionary of the Shanghai dialect in 2007, he was in some ways documenting a dying language.

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Pain of integration

Anthony Cheung says the acrimony in Hongkongers’ relations with the mainland can be traced to a loss of local pride and direction as the city grapples with its changing role in a surging Chinese economy

Some retailers worry buyers will abuse law

Consumers welcome move, but some wonder about its effectiveness

‘Lemon law’ to protect consumers

Those stuck with faulty goods can get them repaired or replaced

Chinese snap up Aussie vines in hunt for top drop

The coal-rich hills of Australia’s Hunter Valley have long fed China’s steel furnaces but the winemaking region is riding a fresh boom as the Asian power’s middle classes toast their new wealth.

Rules on expert opinion, hearsay evidence eased

The law was liberalised yesterday to allow greater use of hearsay evidence and expert opinion in court.

Where bitterness reigns

The animosity that has flared over the flood of mainlanders coming to Hong Kong is nasty and worrying but also not surprising, some observers say