Life in China 2016: A Picture A Day, February 25 – A Visit to Singapore: Today we returned to China. While at the Singapore Chiangi Airport, we visited the Peranakan display since we hadn’t made it to the Peranakan Museum. The Chinese Peranakans, also called “Straits Chinese,” are the descendants of the wealthy merchant immigrants who arrived in Singapore in the 1600-1700’s, then stayed and married local women and raised families. Peranakan is a Malay word which means “local born”. Today they continue to have a unique culture of food, dress and a beautiful type of porcelain which the large replica (probably 6 feet high) in the picture represents (but the REAL porcelain is far more beautiful than this replica!). The other picture shows a Peranakan bridal couple in the late 19th to early 20th century.
Life in China: A Picture A Day, February 25, 2016
A visit to Singapore: Today we visited the Singapore Zoo and the River Safari. In the Yangtze River exhibit, there was a Chinese Giant Salamander. Can you find it in the picture? It looks just like one of the rocks! These are the largest living amphibians today: They can grow up to over 5 feet long and weigh well over 100lbs. They supposedly make a noise like a crying baby, so in Chinese, they are called “wawa yu” or “baby fish.” Unfortunately, they are critically endangered because they are considered a luxury food item by the wealthy Chinese. There are many salamander farms, but the ones in the wild also continue to disappear.
Life in China: A Picture A Day, February 22, 2016
Today my daughter and I flew to Singapore. I thought a Chinese airline meal may be interesting to see for those who have never had one! We flew Air China, economy class. We had a choice between fish or chicken and chose the chicken, vegetables and rice. It also came with pickled kohlrabi, a salad (lettuce, tomato, and I think some kind of processed meat?), fruit (watermelon, cantaloupe type melon they call hami melon, and dragon fruit) and dried date slices. Overall, I think it beat the United meals I’ve gotten my past couple trips back to the USA!
Life in China: A Picture A Day, February 21, 2016
The traditional end of the Spring Festival celebration will be tomorrow, Monday, February 22, on what is called 元宵节 yuán xiāo jié or “Lantern Festival.” It is the first full moon of the new year, 15 days after the new moon which began the new year. This is also considered the start of spring.
Solving lantern riddles is a popular activity for the Lantern Festival. Riddles are written on papers attached to lanterns (originally they were written on the lanterns), if you think you know the answer, you take the paper down, and if you are correct, you get a small gift. This tradition dates way back to the Song Dynasty from 960-1279.
Since the children here return to school tomorrow, the management where we live had a little “party” this afternoon. Riddles to answer, a snack, and also there were people doing shoe repair, clothes mending and knife sharpening (and they were all busy!).
The riddle in the picture says “a bowl of rice gruel poured on a head (clue: a celebrity)” The answer is 周润发Zhou Run Fa, an actor, because “zhou” with a different character, but same tone, can mean rice gruel, “run” can mean moist, and “fa” can mean hair. You can see some of these aren’t easy to understand if you don’t know Chinese culture! Other riddles were about animals, place names, songs, etc. (Thanks to my daughter Leah for the riddle explanation)
Life in China: A Picture A Day, February 20, 2016
Many countries around the world drink raw sugar cane juice and China is one of them. Most often, we see vendors who you can buy a piece of sugar cane from. They cut the outer part off, then you chew the pulp, suck the juice out, and spit the pulp back out once you’ve gotten all of the juice. I tried it years ago and wasn’t crazy about the pulp chewing. Sometimes, you see stands where they have machines to extract the juice, then you can buy a cup or bottle and just drink it. It’s really not bad, and is actually lower than Coca-Cola on the glycemic index! Coke is in the 60’s, raw sugar cane juice in the 30’s -40’s. This stand is at a Food Festival at the shopping plaza near us. We bought a small bottle for 5rmb ( 75 cents usd). Just took a few sips, but I’m going to try it as a sweetener in some baking.
Life in China: A Picture A Day, February 19, 2016
Red Lanterns are a universal symbol of Chinese culture. Lanterns are seen throughout the year in China, and during special occasions like weddings, but red ones especially are seen during Chinese New Year, as they symbolize good fortune. If you’ve followed my pictures the past month, you’ve already seen quite a few red lanterns! They are pretty much everywhere you go during Spring Festival in China. Many homes and businesses keep them hanging year round, and Spring Festival is the time to purchase new ones. Red lanterns come in many sizes and shapes, although round is the most popular. They can be plain, have pictures or calligraphy, and usually have gold or red tassels hanging from the bottom.
Life in China: A Picture a Day, February 18, 2016
Today we received a Christmas card from my wonderful cousin who lives in the USA :-) Yes, you read that right, a Christmas card, and she did mail it on time! But, it took 10 ½ weeks to get here! She even printed our address in Chinese characters, which usually assures delivery from the USA in about 3 weeks. Unfortunately, there were a few characters that didn’t print and just showed up as blocks, ones which SHOULDN’T have been a problem. A postmark showed that it was in our province on Dec 24th. I’m sure the Chinese New Year holidays delayed it more since China Post, the official mail service, completely shuts down for 9 days during the holiday! We were still happy to get the card. We usually get ONE piece of mail per month! … the bill for our administration and utility costs, not much fun. We don’t even get junk mail where we live now! So, when I went out today after receiving the card, I saw this mail carrier and took his picture.
Life in China: A Picture A Day, February 17, 2016
In China, it’s fairly common in casual restaurants to have to pay for your napkins. They usually come in a little box or plastic package of about 6 napkins and cost 1 or 2 rmb/15 to 30 cents usd. Yesterday, the restaurant we went to advertised free snacks and fruit, free water or tea, and free WIFI, then when we got the bill, we were charged for our dishes! 2 rmb per setting! This was a new one for me, but I don’t even attempt to question it! Also, the “3 free of charge (charoe as they wrote)” were the only English words on the menu other than the name of the restaurant, “WIFI’, and another section that said “2 commitments.” See more about Chinese menus in my blog post today. www.myownchnesebrocade.com
Life in China: A Picture A Day, February 16, 2016
Roasted chestnuts! I wish I could take a picture of the way that warm little paper bag feels and smells! But, sorry … I can’t L Roasted chestnuts are my second favorite winter street food after sweet potatoes. I’ve thought of trying to roast them myself and then I think “Why??? These are readily available (except for last night when I asked Jim to get me some at 9PM on a chilly Monday night and the vendors had finished for the day!). So, today when Leah and I were out, we got some. They have a wok style pan with a rotating blade in which the chestnuts are roasted with little black pebbles, supposedly to keep the temperature even. A paper bag full (contents on the plate pictured) costs 15rmb or about $2.30usd. The Chinese also use chestnuts in cooking and Traditional Chinese Medicine. Being gluten intolerant, we regularly use chestnut flour for our baking.
Life in China: A Picture A Day, February 15, 2016
Pomelos are very popular during Chinese New Year because the Chinese word for pomelo sounds like “to have.” It is also used as a decoration in people’s homes and symbolizes “family unity.” It is a large citrus fruit, native to southeast Asia, and tastes kind of like a mild grapefruit. Great for eating fresh, I like to score the peel in quarters, peel it off, then separate the sections, peel the membranes off, and enjoy the fruit! I’ve read that it is good sprinkled with salt, but I haven’t tried that. It has a very thick skin which can be dried and used, often candied or made into marmalade. I remember on one of our trips in China, we saw a fence full of pomelo peels hanging to dry. I enjoy a Korean tea made from pomelo peels (another picture some day!). The fruit is also made into a paste for cooking. I paid 7.80rmb, or $1.20usd for the pomelo pictured, we used it with breakfast two days and still had some for snacking.
Chinglish Bird Sign
Life in China: A Picture a Day 2016, Feb 14 - Today we went for a 7.5 mile ride by the lake! Farther than we have gone before, so we saw some new areas. China has been cracking down on people hunting songbirds, so I was glad to see this sign posted, and it gave us a good chuckle too :-) someone made a good effort…and we did get the point! Seeing how in 2.5 hrs, we only saw one other foreigner, and he was with a Chinese girl, I guess we should be thankful they even have it in English!
Supermarket Fun
Life in China: A Picture a Day 2016, Feb 13 - Saturday Night at the supermarket…. A giant live Kinder egg, pandas having hot pot, furniture polish without the spray cap (we had to go to customer service and have them get it and put it on?), and chocolate covered taro candy …. there’s ALWAYS something new to find when grocery shopping in China!
God of Wealth
Life in China: A Picture a Day 2016, Feb 12 - Today is the 5th day of the Chinese New Year and the day considered to be the birthday of the God of Wealth. In many places, the day is welcomed in with abundant fireworks to honor and please this God. He is seen frequently in Chinese New Year decorations, often with coins or yuanbao. Many people will also eat dumplings called jiaozi today because they are shaped like yuanbao. (check picture from Jan. 21)
Daffodils
I’ve always loved daffodils, so it’s the one flower I especially like to buy each year at the Spring Festival Flower Fair. In Chinese, it is called shui xian 水仙, which is literally “water immortal” and the English translation is often either “water fairy flower” or just “water narcissus”. They are put in shallow bowls, of all sizes, with just water or water and pebbles. It is believed that if they bloom on New Year’s Day, it will bring good fortune for the upcoming year, so, they are cultivated very carefully to do just that; And mine did have its first few blooms on New Year’s Day, today there are many more! The blooms are quite small and have a very sweet smell. I bought a small dish with a dozen bulbs and it cost 20rmb or about $3usd. Sometimes, you will also see “narcissus carving” where the bulbs have been cut a certain way in order to bloom with a certain curve, then they are put in a dish to grow as a bird or something else. I found this interesting article about the Chinese bringing daffodil bulbs to the USA in the late 1800’s: http://www.pacifichorticulture.org/articles/relict-gold-the-long-journey-of-the-chinese-narcissus/
Goldfish
Life in China: A Picture a Day 2016, Feb 9 - If you’ve read what I’ve previously shared about gold and fish… I’m sure you'll understand why goldfish are considered to be “lucky fish!” What better activity for kids (and adults!) at a New Year’s celebration than fishing for goldfish! There is a food fair, with some carnival type games, at our nearby shopping plaza and this “fish pond” is set up there. I’ve seen fishing like this at quite a few other places throughout the year, but in much smaller pools!
Fireworks
Life in China: A Picture a Day 2016, Feb 1 - Happy Chinese New Year! Fireworks are a HUGE part of the Chinese New Year celebration! Here in Songshan Lake, the real firecrackers started about 10 am on New Year’s Eve and went off every so often throughout the day. Then the frequency picked up about 10pm and just before midnight, they were constant. But, it was nowhere near as noisy as other places we’ve lived. I remember our first Chinese New Year in Shanghai where it seemed like a war zone! The practice of setting off fireworks comes from an ancient myth about a monster named “Nian,” the same word for “year.” He came once a year and attacked and killed villagers and their livestock as the New Lunar year arrived. An old man supposedly figured out that Nian was afraid of loud noises, lights and the color red. So, each year, houses are decorated with red, and fireworks are set off to scare away the “evil spirits”. This morning, I took a walk, and if the red paper left from the fireworks is any indication, the people living here were successful at scaring Nian away! In modern times, fireworks are popular as decorations as well as the real ones.
Fish Decorations and as Food
Life in China: A Picture a Day 2016, Feb 7 - One of the most popular sayings for Chinese New Year is “Nian nian you yu 年年有余” The basic meaning of this is “May you have abundance through every year.” The word for abundance, surplus, or plenty, is “yu余.” This sounds the same as the word “yu魚 ” which means fish, so, you can see why fish are such popular decorations during Spring Festival! Today is New Year’s Eve in China and families will gather for their “reunion dinners.” A very important dish to serve is fish, usually served whole as a symbol of prosperity, with the head and tail representing the beginning and ending of the year. A portion of the fish is saved for finishing in the new year, indicating that there is “surplus” for the New Year!
New Clothes
Life in China: A Picture a Day 2016, Feb 6 - On Chinese New Year, It’s important for everyone to wear a complete outfit of new clothes, as it symbolizes a new start for the new year. In the stores, you see much more traditional style clothing than at other times, and of course the favorite color is red! Gold is also popular, and pink and purple for girls and ladies. Many people prefer Western styles nowadays, it seems the traditional styles are most popular for children. Colors can also vary, but the big no-no’s are black and white, these are the colors symbolizing funerals and death and are believed to bring bad luck if worn on New Year’s Day. Many people also have their hair washed and cut just before the New Year. Washing it on New Year’s Day is believed to wash away your luck, and using scissors for anything the first few days of the new year is considered bad luck because you are “cutting” your wealth.
Chubby Women Sculpture #1
Life in China: A Picture a Day 2016, Feb 5 - I have seen three sculptures around the lake that have caught my eye as something different for China. Usually, women are portrayed as very petite, so I was curious about these. I have been looking for information about them and was so excited that I finally found it! It turns out that they are a part of a well-known series, from 2010, by Xu Hong Fei 許鴻飛, president of the Guangzhou Sculpture Academy. He did the series because he wanted to challenge Western ideals of beauty. “His ‘Chubby Women’ are not limited by their size and enjoy active and fulfilling lives.” The statue series have made a couple world tours and have been loved! So, here is the first one I saw at Songshan Lake, titled “Under the Sun.” As I explore more of the lake, I expect to find more statues!
Spring Festival Flower Fair
Life in China: A Picture a Day 2016, Feb 4 -Today we went to the Dongguan Spring Festival Flower Market or Flower Fair. I love these because there are so many beautiful flowers and other interesting things to look at! Since flowers represent the arrival of spring, they are a very important part of the Spring Festival celebration. Probably the most popular flowers are orchids and daffodils. The daffodils aren’t blooming yet, because they are supposed to bloom for New Year’s Day. In addition to flowers, there are Spring Festival decorations, gift items, toys for the children, cuttings from fruit trees, orange trees, nipplefruit “trees”, snacks and more! This particular fair is only open for one week. I bought some daffodils, colored pussy willows, a small plant that translated to “long life plant”? and some small hexagonal lantern decorations. It was really hard to choose a few pictures to represent this! If you are interested in seeing more pictures of the Flower Market, my daughter has started a blog and has quite a few pictures she posted. https://meitianadventure.wordpress.com/2016/02/04/dongguan-flower-fair/
