06/09/2025

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Farmer and livestock breeder Dimitar Danchev poses for a picture.

Chinese participants of the Yoghurt Festival prepare a rice cake in the village of Momchilovtsi, Bulgaria.

Bulgarian village draws Chinese travellers E VERY year, hundreds of Chinese tourists flock to the Bulgarian mountain village of Momchilovtsi for o Hundreds flock to Momchilovtsi for famed yoghurt

A local producer showing Bulgarian yoghurt displayed during the festival.

bacterial strain isolated from homemade yoghurt has distinct properties,” she said. A number of recent scientific studies have found fermented dairy products from Bulgaria have beneficial health properties. Dimitar Danchev, 37, a fourth-generation livestock breeder from the region, said local yoghurt is made from both cows and sheep’s milk and its properties vary according to the season. “In spring, when animals graze on fresh grass, the yoghurt has specific characteristics while in autumn, when the grass is drier, the milk is thicker.” Mitra Pareva, 95, said yoghurt has been part of her daily diet for her whole life. “Yoghurt is good for me. The first foods on my table are bread and yoghurt,” she said. – Reuters

visiting Momchilovtsi since 2009, when a Chinese dairy company first imported the bacteria found in the local yoghurt. The company’s product, branded Mosilian, is now sold in most Chinese supermarkets. In the early 20th century, Bulgarian microbiologist Stamen Grigorov and Russian zoologist Élie Metchnikoff found that consuming yoghurt helped Bulgarian peasants to live longer. Bulgarian yoghurt contains Lactobacillus bulgaricus and other bacteria unique to the region, which boost health, immunity and longevity, said Prof Dr Penka Petrova, director of the Institute of Microbiology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. “Bulgarian yoghurt may be the world’s first probiotic and has been used to treat various ailments. Each

a festival celebrating the local yoghurt, which is renowned for its health benefits and has become a hit among consumers in China. The Chinese visitors mingle with locals in the village in the Rhodope Mountains near the Greek border. On a stage in the village square, singers and bagpipers in traditional embroidered costumes perform folk songs in the late summer sun. Yoghurt and cheese producers from the region, many of whom speak some Chinese, offer samples and products for sale. “Bulgarian yoghurt is very popular in China... so we want to try the pure yoghurt here,” said Ge Lin, 37, a tourist from China. Chinese tourists have been

Villager Rumiyana Cholakova (left) explaining the process of making yoghurt to a Chinese tourist. – ALL PICS FROM REUTERS

Big dreams but no protein shake: Yemeni bodybuilder fighting to make it I N a dimly lit, suffocatingly hot gym in Yemen, bodybuilder Saleh Hussein al-Raidi wraps his hands around rusty barbells, training with steely-eyed resolve for his dream of entering major competitions abroad. than the strict nutrition regimen required by his sport, his meals often limited to a small piece of fish with rice – more affordable but not as rich in protein as products such as eggs and chicken. Yemen, the Arabian Peninsula’s poorest country. With power cuts common, Raidi often trains without even fans at the cramped King Gym in Mukalla, whose 18 square metres are crammed with equipment. 2014. It was a chastening experience. “They gave me a medal, a certificate and 12,000 Yemeni riyals (less than RM43),” he said – barely enough to cover his travel expenses. When Raidi was later selected to compete in neighbouring Saudi Arabia, a plane ticket was too expensive, so he boarded a bus. proper means of travel.” Supporting his family is already a daily struggle, even before he pays for what little specialist food and supplements he can afford.

When times get tough, he has to cut back on his workouts to avoid exhaustion, pushing his goal of reaching top regional competitions such as the Dubai Pro Bodybuilding Championship even further out of reach. But “seeing my body respond (to training) and improve keeps me going, no matter how tough things get”, said Raidi. “Bodybuilding has taught me discipline in every part of my life.” – AFP

To support his wife and child as well as his parents, he works from morning to night unloading ships at Mukalla’s port in southern Yemen, while maintaining a side-hustle free-diving for octopus and cuttlefish. “I work hard, but even then, I barely scrape together enough to buy the supplements I need,” Raidi said. Years of civil war and a crippled economy have put ambitions of all kinds on hold for millions in divided

But the 24-year-old, who works two jobs to support his family, lacks the means to buy the supplements and protein-rich foods he needs to build bulk, setting him up for a more gruelling fight than many of his opponents. Barefoot among the battered machines, he sweats as he runs through his workout in a blue singlet, ignoring the traffic noise blaring through the open door. Raidi is fuelled more by passion

Despite a muscular physique and tiny waist, his circumstances give him little chance of emulating his idols: Ahmed Shokry, the pneumatically pumped Egyptian, and six-time Mr Olympia Christopher “CBum” Bumstead. ‘My body just crumbled’ Raidi was 18 when he first competed in Sanaa, the Yemeni capital controlled by Iran-backed Houthi rebels since

But he was stuck for two days at the border crossing, where Yemenis undergo strict checks, depleting his stock of protein-rich food while he waited. By the time he arrived at the venue, he had lost 2kg and “my body just crumbled”, Raidi said. “I was exhausted and placed seventh because I couldn’t afford the