Christmas Specials | Difficult languages
In search of the world’s hardest language

|New York |10 min read
Illustration by W. Vasconcelos
This article appeared in the Christmas Specials section of the print edition under the headline “Tongue twisters”

From the December 19th 2009 edition
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The rise and fall and rebirth of lapsang souchong
A smoky tea is fading in the West; in China, a better version survives

A journey along East Asia’s hidden artery
How a mighty ocean current shapes societies
Two centuries ago, Russian revolutionaries tried to change the world
Bloodied and exiled, the Decembrists failed. But they made a start
The most friendless place on earth
If you think rich, individualistic societies are the loneliest, think again
How wolves became dogs
The strange symbiosis between two hyper-predators: humans and hounds