CHINESE FESTIVAL

  APRIL :
      CHINESE NEW YEAR

  
Chinese New Year - often called Chinese Lunar New Year although it actually is lunisolar - is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. Despite its winter occurrence, in China it is known as "Spring Festival," the literal translation of the Chinese name (Pinyin: Chūn Jié), owing to the difference between Western and traditional Chinese methods for computing the seasons. The festival begins on the first day of the first month  in the traditional Chinese calendar and ends with Lantern Festival which is on the 15th day. Chinese New Year's Eve, a day where Chinese families gather for their annual reunion dinner, is known as Chú Xī  or "Eve of the Passing Year."
Chinese New Year is the longest and most important festivity in the Chinese Lunisolar Calendar. The origin of Chinese New Year is itself centuries old and gains significance because of several myths and traditions. Ancient Chinese New Year is a reflection on how the people behaved and what they believed in the most.
Chinese New Year is celebrated in countries and territories with significant Chinese populations, such as Mainland China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Macau, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and also in Chinatowns elsewhere. Chinese New Year is considered a major holiday for the Chinese and has had influence on the new year celebrations of its geographic neighbors, as well as cultures with whom the Chinese have had extensive interaction. These include Koreans, Tibetans and Bhutanese, Mongolians , Vietnamese, and the Japanese before 1873.
In countries such as Australia, Canada and the United States, although Chinese New Year is not an official holiday, many ethnic Chinese hold large celebrations and Australia Post, Canada Post, and the US Postal Service issue New Year's themed stamps.
Within China, regional customs and traditions concerning the celebration of the Chinese new year vary widely. People will pour out their money to buy presents, decoration, material, food, and clothing. It is also the tradition that every family thoroughly cleans the house to sweep away any ill-fortune in hopes to make way for good incoming luck. Windows and doors will be decorated with red colour paper-cuts and couplets with popular themes of "happiness", "wealth", and "longevity". On the Eve of Chinese New Year, supper is a feast with families. Food will include such items as pigs, ducks, chicken and sweet delicacies. The family will end the night with firecrackers. Early the next morning, children will greet their parents by wishing them a healthy and happy new year, and receive money in red paper envelopes. The Chinese New Year tradition is to reconcile, forget all grudges and sincerely wish peace and happiness for everyone.
Although the Chinese calendar traditionally does not use continuously numbered years, outside China its years are often numbered from the reign of the Yellow Emperor. But at least three different years numbered 1 are now used by various scholars, making the year 2011 "Chinese Year" 4709, 4708, or 4648.

FESTIVAL IN APRIL

 QINGMING FESTIVAL

     Qingming,meaning clear and bright, is the day for mourning the dead . It falls in early April every year. It corresponds with the onset of warmer weather, the start of spring plowing, and of family outings.

Before we talk about Qingming, we must say something about another ancient event, Hanshi, which always comes one day before Qingming.

Hanshi literally meanscold food.It is said that in the seventh century BC during the Spring and Autumn Period, Duke Xiao was the monarch of the state of Jin. His eldest son, Shen Sheng should have inherited the throne on the death of his father. But Duke Xiao had other plans. He wanted the son of his favorite concubine, Li Ji,to succeed him as the ruler of Jin. Not exactly a loving father, Duke Xiao had Shen Sheng murdered and would have done the same to his second eldest son, Chong'er, But Chong'er got wind of this and fled.

For 19 long years, Chong'er and his entourage of loyal officials and servants wandered homeless, no sterangers to cold and hunger. One day, Chong 'er was actually starving and close to death. one of his most faithful followers, Jie Zitui, cut a slice of muscle from his own leg and served it to his master, thereby saving his life. Finally in 636 BC ,Chong'er managed to take the throne that was tightfully his and took the official title of Duke Wen of the state of Jin.

After becoming the ruler of the state, Chong'er decided to reward the officials who had stayed with him through his years of wandering. But he forgot about Jie Zitui who had sacrificed the flesh of his leg. Jie Zitui was heartbroken and went away. Later Chong'er remembered Jie Zitui's sacrifice and sent people to look for him. Eventually they found him. Chong'er went in person to apologize and ask him to return to the royal court. But Jie itui left them and went deep into the mountains, so no one could find him again. Someone advised Chong'er to set fire to the area in order to force Jie Zitui into the open, where he could be talked into returning to the comforts of life in the royal house. Chong'er took this advice and set fire to the mountain where Jie Zitui was believed to be hiding. The fires raged for three days and Jie Zitui was found leaning against a large tree, carrying his old mother on his back. Both Jie Zitui and his mother were dead .

Chong'er was deeply saddened by this tragedy. He ordered that a temple be built in memory of his most loyal follower. he also ordered that no fires were allowed on the anniversary of Jie Zitui's death. So people had to eat their cold food on that day, or the day of Hanshi. In addition, people began to visit Jie Zitui's tomb and pay their respects to his memory.

It was not until the Qing Dynasty about 300 years ago that the practice of Hanshi or eating cold food was replaced by that of Qingming , which had now become an important occasion for people to offer sacrifices to their ancestors.

In ancient China, Qingming was by no means the only time when sacrifices were made to ancestors. In fact such ceremonies were held very frequently, about every two weeks, in addition to other important holidaysand festivals. The formalities of these ceremonies were in general very elaborate and expensive in terms of time and money.

In an effort to reduce this expense, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty declared in 732 AD that respects would be fomally paid at the tombs of ancestors only on the day of Qingming.This is the custom that continues to date. People will visit their ancestors' graves. They will tidy up, remove weeds and sweep away leaves. This is why Qingming is also known as the Grave Sweeping Day. Beijing's subway is particularly crowded around Qingming as people flock to Babaoshan, Beijing's most famous cemetery and crematorium, to pay respects to their departed loved ones.

Q ingming is not just a day of remembrance, it is also a day to celebrate the coming of spring, often by going out for a picnic. With the coming of spring, nature wakes up, dressing the world in green. All is new, clean and fresh.

FESTIVAL IN JULY

   DRAGON BOAT FESTIVAL

   
   Similar to outrigger canoe  racing but unlike competitive rowing and canoe racing, dragon boating has a rich fabric of ancient ceremonial, ritualistic and religious traditions. In other words, the modern competitive aspect is but one small part of this complex of water craftsmanship. The use of dragon boats for racing and dragons are believed by scholars, sinologists and anthropologists - for example George Worcester, authoritative author of 'Junks and Sampans of the Yangtze River' - to have originated in southern central China more than 2,500 years ago, along the banks of such iconic rivers as the Chang Jiang, also known as Yangtze (that is, during the same era when the games of ancient Greece were being established at Olympia). Dragon boat racing as the basis for annual water rituals and festival celebrations, and for the traditional veneration of the Asian dragon water deity, has been practiced continuously since this period. The celebration is an important part of ancient agricultural Chinese society, celebrating the summer rice planting. Dragon boat racing activity historically was situated in the Chinese sub-continent's southern-central "rice bowl": where there were rice paddies, so were there dragon boats.

There aonly mythical creature is the dragon. The rest are not mythical (e.g. dog, rat, tiger, horse, snake, rabbit, rooster, monkey, sheep, ox, pig - all of which are familiar to agrarian peasants.) Dragons are traditionally believed to be the rulers of rivers and seas and dominate the clouds and the rains of heaven. There are earth dragons, mountain dragons and sky or celestial dragons (Tian Long) in Chinese tradition.

It is believed rificsaces were involved in the earliest boat racing rituals. During these ancient times, violent clashes between the crew members of the competing boats involved throwing stones and striking each other with bamboo stalks. Originally, paddlers or even an entire team falling into the water could receive no assistance from the onlookers as their misfortune was considered to be the will of the Dragon Deity which could not be interfered with. Those boaters who drowned were thought to have been sacrificed. That Qu Yuan sacrificed himself in protest through drowning speaks to this early notion.

Dragon boat racing traditionally coincides with the 5th day of the 5th Chinese lunar month (varying from late May to June on the modern Gregorian Calendar). The Summer Solstice occurs around 21 June and is the reason why Chinese refer to their festival as "Duen Ng". Both the sun and the dragon are considered to be male. (The moon and the mythical phoenix are considered to be female.) The sun and the dragon are at their most potent during this time of the year, so cause for observing this through ritual celebrations such as dragon boat racing. It is also the time of farming year when rice seedlings must be transplanted in their paddy fields, for wet rice cultivation to take place.

This season is also associated with pestilence and disease, so is considered as a period of evil due to the high summer temperatures which can lead to rot and putrification in primitive societies lacking modern refrigeration and sanitation facilities. One custom involves cutting shapes of the five poisonous or venomous animals out of red paper, so as to ward off these evils. The paper snakes, centipedes, scorpions, lizards and toads - those that supposedly lured "evil spirits" - where sometimes placed in the mouths of the carved wooden dragons.

Venerating the Dragon deity was meant to avert misfortune and calamity and encourage rainfall which is needed for the fertility of the crops and thus for the prosperity of an agrarian way of life. Celestial dragons were the controllers of the rain, the Monsoon winds and the clouds. The Emperor was "The Dragon" or the "Son of Heaven", and Chinese people refer to themselves as "dragons" because of its spirit of strength and vitality. Unlike the dragons in European mythology which are considered to be evil and demonic, Asian dragons are regarded as wholesome and beneficent, and thus worthy of veneration, not slaying.

Another ritual called Awakening of the Dragon involves a Daoist priest dotting the bulging eyes of the carved dragon head attached to the boat, in the sense of ending its slumber and re-energising its spirit or qi (pronounced: chee). At festivals today, a VIP can be invited to step forward to touch the eyes on a dragon boat head with a brush dipped in red paint in order to reanimate the creature's bold spirit for hearty racing.

FESTIVAL IN SEPTEMBER

                                                                                                MID- AUTUMN FESTIVAL

                                                                                                                                                                                                                      The festival has a long history. In ancient China, emperors followed the rite of offering sacrifices to the sun in spring and to the moon in autumn. Historical books of the Zhou Dynasty had had the word "Mid-Autumn". Later aristocrats and literary figures helped expand the ceremony to common people. They enjoyed the full, bright moon on that day, worshipped it and expressed their thoughts and feelings under it. By the Tang Dynasty , the Mid-Autumn Festival had been fixed, which became even grander in the Song Dynasty . In the Ming  and Qing dynasties, it grew to be a major festival of China.

Folklore about the origin of the festival go like this: In remote antiquity, there were ten suns rising in the sky, which scorched all crops and drove people into dire poverty. A hero named Hou Yi was much worried about this, he ascended to the top of the Kunlun Mountain and, directing his superhuman strength to full extent, drew his extraordinary bow and shot down the nine superfluous suns one after another. He also ordered the last sun to rise and set according to time. For this reason, he was respected and loved by the people and lots of people of ideals and integrity came to him to learn martial arts from him. A person named Peng Meng lurked in them.

Hou Yi had a beautiful and kindhearted wife named Chang E. One day on his way to the Kunlun Mountain to call on friends, he ran upon the Empress of Heaven Wangmu who was passing by. Empress Wangmu presented to him a parcel of elixir, by taking which, it was said, one would ascend immediately to heaven and become a celestial being. Hou Yi, however, hated to part with his wife. So he gave the elixir to Chang E to treasure for the time being. Chang E hid the parcel in a treasure box at her dressing table when, unexpectedly, it was seen by Peng Meng.

One day when Hou Yi led his disciples to go hunting, Peng Meng, sword in hand, rushed into the inner chamber and forced Chang E to hand over the elixir. Aware that she was unable to defeat Peng Meng, Chang E made a prompt decision at that critical moment. She turned round to open her treasure box, took up the elixir and swallowed it in one gulp. As soon as she swallowed the elixir her body floated off the ground, dashed out of the window and flew towards heaven. Peng Meng escaped. When Hou Yi returned home at dark, he knew from the maidservants what had happened. Overcome with grief, Hou Yi looked up into the night sky and called out the name of his beloved wife when, to his surprise, he found that the moon was especially clear and bight and on it there was a swaying shadow that was exactly like his wife. He tried his best to chase after the moon. But as he ran, the moon retreated; as he withdrew, the moon came back. He could not get to the moon at all.

Thinking of his wife day and night, Hou Yi then had an incense table arranged in the back garden that Chang E loved. Putting on the table sweetmeats and fresh fruits Chang E enjoyed most, Hou Yi held at a distance a memorial ceremony for Chang E who was sentimentally attached to him in the palace of the moon.

When people heard of the story that Chang E had turned into a celestial being, they arranged the incense table in the moonlight one after another and prayed kindhearted Chang E for good fortune and peace. From then on the

custom of worshiping the moon spread among the people.

People in different places follow various customs, but all show their love and longing for a better life. Today people will enjoy the full moon and eat moon cakes on that day.The moon looks extremely round, big and bright on the 15th day of each lunar month.

CHINESE TRADITONAL CLOTHES

   A Magua  is a short-sleeved, loose outer garment of Manchu origin, designed for ease to put on and take off by wearers on horseback. This clothing was the standard military uniform for the Qing Dynasty Manchu's Eight Banners soldier.
     Since this is a military uniform & due to the fact that Manchu's Eight Banners soldiers had played big roll in implementing Queue and Costume Order, it is considered by many that this clothing was stained with the bloods of millions Chinese.

In 1645, just right after Qing Dynasty * was established in China, the Qing government enacted a law which is called the Queue and Costume Order . The law on queue imposes only on Chinese and not other ethnics in China and in this law, the government required all Chinese’s male to cut their hair half bald and the rest of the hair should be turned into a queue (pigtail) in the same time, all Chinese along with other ethnics should change their clothing into Manchurian clothing. Anyone that defies the law will have to face death sentence through beheading. Basically, the Qing government wants to forcefully force Manchurian clothing and culture (head half bald and queue) on the Chinese.

In order to protect the Chinese culture & ethnic costume from being perverted & destroyed by the new law, Chinese in the whole of China started to resist the order fiercely by taking up arms & rebel against the Manchu Qing government. In retaliation, the Qing government struck back with deadly force, massacring all who refused to follow the new law all around the country. This has caused lots of tragedies (plundering, kidnapping beautiful looking girl as an offer to the imperial court and rape) and genocides, one of the famous massacre is the Jiading Three Massacres with estimated death tolls in the tens (or even hundreds) of thousands.

The imposition of this order was not uniform; it took up to 10 years of martial enforcement for all of China to be brought into compliance with a death toll estimating 30millions(mostly Chinese). The purpose of the law is to let the Qing government detects any Ming Dynasty loyalist (considered rebel) and in the same time destroyed the pride of the Chinese in order to let the Qing government an easy control of the Chinese so that the day to day governance will run smoothly.

CHEONGSAM

 
   When the Manchu ruled China during the Qing Dynasty, certain social strata emerged. Among them were the Banners (qí), mostly Manchu, who as a group were called Banner People . Manchu women typically wore a one-piece dress that retrospectively came to be known as the qípáo . The generic term for both the male and the female forms of Manchu dress, essentially similar garments, was chángpáo . The qipao fitted loosely and hung straight down the body, or flared slightly in an A-line.. Under the dynastic laws after 1636, all Han Chinese in the banner system were forced to wear a queue and dress in Manchurian qipao instead of traditional Han Chinese clothing, under penalty of death. (along with the July 1645 edict (the "haircutting order") that forced all adult Han Chinese men to shave the front of their heads and comb the remaining hair into a queue, on pain of death.) Until 1911, the changpao was required clothing for Chinese men of a certain class, but Han Chinese women continued to wear loose jacket and trousers, with an overskirt for formal occasions. The qipao was a new fashion item for Han Chinese women when they started wearing it around 1925.
The original qipao was wide and loose. It covered most of the woman's body, revealing only the head, hands, and the tips of the toes. The baggy nature of the clothing also served to conceal the figure of the wearer regardless of age. With time, though, the qipao were tailored to become more form fitting and revealing. The modern version, which is now recognized popularly in China as the "standard" qipao, was first developed in Shanghai the 1920s，partly under the influence of Beijing styles. People eagerly sought a more modernized style of dress and transformed the old qipao to suit their tastes. Slender and form fitting with a high cut, it had great differences from the traditional qipao. However, it was high-class courtesans and celebrities in the city that would make these redesigned tight fitting qipao popular at that time. In Shanghai it was first known as zansae or "long dress", and it is this name that survives in English as the "cheongsam".

The modernized version is noted for accentuating the figures of women, and as such was popular as a dress for high society. As Western fashions changed, the basic cheongsam design changed too, introducing high-necked sleeveless dresses, bell-like sleeves, and the black lace frothing at the hem of a ball gown. By the 1940s, cheongsam came in a wide variety of fabrics with an equal variety of accessories.

The 1949 Communist Revolution curtailed the popularity of the cheongsam and other fashions in Shanghai, but the Shanghainese emigrants and refugees brought the fashion to Hong Kong where it has remained popular. Recently there has been a revival of the Shanghainese cheongsam in Shanghai and elsewhere in Mainland China; the Shanghainese style functions now mostly as a stylish party dress.

 

HANFU

       
    Hanfu has a history of more than three millennia, and is said to have been worn by the legendary Yellow Emperor. From the beginning of its history, Hanfu  was inseparable from silk, supposedly discovered by the Yellow Emperor’s consort, Leizu. The Shang Dynasty, developed the rudiments of Hanfu; it consisted of a yi, a narrow-cuffed, knee-length tunic tied with a sash, and a narrow, ankle-length skirt, called chang, worn with a bixi, a length of fabric that reached the knees. Vivid primary colors and green were used, due to the degree of technology at the time.
The dynasty to follow the Shang, the Western Zhou Dynasty, established a strict hierarchical society that used clothing as a status meridian, and inevitably, the height of one’s rank influenced the ornateness of a costume. Such markers included the length of a skirt, the wideness of a sleeve and the degree of ornamentation. In addition to these class-oriented developments, the Hanfu became looser, with the introduction of wide sleeves and jade decorations hung from the sash which served to keep the yi closed. The yi was essentially wrapped over, in a style known as jiaoling youren, or wrapping the right side over before the left, because of the initially greater challenge to the right-handed wearer (the Chinese discouraged left-handedness like many other historical cultures, considering it unnatural, barbarian, uncivilized and unfortunate).
In the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the "deep robe" (shenyi) appeared a combination of tunic and skirt. The upper and lower halves were cut separately but sewn as a single unit. An additional change was the shaping of the left side of the costume into a corner, fastened on the chest. Perhaps because of Confucian influence, disapproving of a hierarchical society in favour of social mobility based on personal merit, the shenyi was swiftly adopted. There still existed an elite however, and they monopolised the more ornate fabrics and grandiose details.

CHINESE TRADITIONAL FOOD

   
  STEAMED FISH

INGREDIENTS :

• 2.5 lbs fish
• 1 small onion
• 2 stalk escallion
• 2 oz butter
• cooking oil
• ½ cup water
• vinegar
• 2 sprig thyme
• 3 cloves garlic
• salt and black pepper.
• 5-12 Grains of Pimento
• Vinegar
• 1 large Onions
• 1 whole scotch bonnet                                                                                                                                            METHODS :
• Wash fish with salt water or vinegar & water.
• Season fish with with garlic, salt and blackpepper.
• Cut up tomato
• Sauté sliced onions in oil (butter optional)
• Remove and place onions in a dish
• Stir fry escallion, thyme and all other vegetables in oil and .
• Add water, butter & teaspoon Vinegar
• Allow vegetables to cook.
• Add fish, pimento and onions.
• Add 1 whole scotch bonnet (do not allow to burst - must have a stem)
• Simmer for 15 minutes or until cooked.

ROASTED CHICKEN

  INGREDIENTS :

1 kg chicken in cut pieces
1 tsp pepper powder
1-1/2 tsp jeera owder
2 tsp any ready curry masala.
1/4 tsp garam masala powder
1-1/2 tsp ginger-garlic paste
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vinegar
2 tbsp Oil

WHOLE SPICES :

2 elaichi
2 cinnamon
2 cloves
5 pepper corns
2 red chilles
2 bayleaves

 

METHODS :

* Heat oil hot and fry the whole spices lightly and rub the powdered spices well onto the chicken pieces.
* Fry the chicken pieces till all are lightly browned.
* Put into the pressure cooker, and cook for one whistle.
* Remove from cooker and dry up the slight gravy on high heat.
* Serve hot, with salad.

 

RECIPE OF SPRING ROLL

       INGREDIENTS :

  

• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 thumb-size piece galangal OR ginger, grated
• 2 green onions, sliced into matchstick pieces
• 1 red chili, minced, OR 1/2 to 1 tsp. cayenne pepper (omit if you prefer very mild spring rolls)
• 1/2 cup shredded or finely chopped cabbage
• 4-6 shiitake mushrooms, cut into matchstick pieces
• 1/2 cup medium to firm tofu, sliced into matchstick pieces (If non-vegetarian: add 1/2 cup cooked baby shrimp)
• approx. 2 cups bean sprouts
• 1/2 cup fresh coriander, roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh basil, roughly chopped
• 2 Tbsp. oil, plus more for deep-frying
• 1 pkg. spring roll wrappers
• STIR-FRY SAUCE:
• 2 Tbsp. regular soy sauce
• 2 Tbsp. fish sauce OR vegetarian stir-fry sauce 
• 2 Tbsp. lime juice
• 1/4 tsp. sugar
• TO SERVE:
• Thai sweet chili sauce

    PREPARATIONS :

1. Place 2 Tbsp. oil in a wok or large frying pan over medium to high heat. Add garlic, galangal, shallots, and chilli. Stir-fry until fragrant . Stir-frying Tip: Add a little water to the wok/pan when it gets too dry instead of more oil.
2. Add cabbage, mushrooms, and tofu . As you stir-fry, add the sauce. Stir-fry 1-2 minutes, until vegetables have softened.
3. Remove from heat and add bean sprouts, tossing to mix in.
4. Do a taste test for salt, adding 1 Tbsp. more fish or soy sauce if not salty enough.
5. To assemble rolls, place a spring roll wrapper on a clean working surface. Place one heaping Tbsp. of the filling on the wrapper . Tips: Spread the filling lengthwise along the spring roll wrapper nearer the end closest to you. Also, try not to include too much of the liquid left in the bottom of your wok/pan (a slotted spoon works well for this - drier filling is better.
6. Now sprinkle some of the fresh coriander and basil over the filling.
7. Fold the left and right sides of wrapper over filling, then lift up the wide end nearest you and tuck overtop. Roll to the other end. Secure the roll by dipping your fingers in some water and wetting the end, "pasting" it shut.
8. To fry spring rolls, place some oil (about 1 inch deep) in a wok or deep-sided frying pan over medium-high heat. When bubbles rise, or when the oil begins to form snake-like lines across the bottom of the pan, the oil may be hot enough. To test it, dip one corner of a spring roll into the oil. If it beginsto sizzle and cook, the oil is ready. If not, wait another 30 seconds to one minute and try again.
9. Using tongs, place spring rolls in oil, allowing them to fry about 1 minute on each side. Spring rolls are done when they turn light to medium golden-brown . Place on paper towels  to drain while you finish frying the rest.
10. Serve spring rolls while still hot with Thai Sweet Chili Sauce, or your own dipping sauce. ENJOY!

JIAOZI

The word jiao zi has a fascinating history where it has taken on different meanings throughout the centuries. The end result is a multi-definitive term which does not simply mean dumpling, but is symbolic of the way money is viewed in the Chinese culture.

The history of the jiao zi dates back to the Northern Song Dynasty. During this time, merchants in Chengdu distributed one of the earliest known paper money. The currency was called ‘jiao zi.’ With the high circulation of the currency, the local government of Chengdu established the earliest administrative and savings bank known as the Office of Jiao zi (Chengdu Government). The word jiao zi then began to be used as a general term for money.

In ancient China, yuan bao was used as currency before the use of jiao zi paper money. According to (Beijing Trip), jiao zi looked like shoe shaped gold and silver ingots known as yuan bao. In the Chinese culture, jiao zi are made during the New Year to resemble the gold and silver ingots. People in Henan and Sanxi provinces enjoyed boiling dumplings with noodles and serving them together. “They name the serving ‘golden threads piercing through silver ingots,’ or ‘silver threads stringing together calabash.’ Golden or silver threads mean noodles while silver ingots and calabash refer to jiao zi” (CCTV). Eating the dumplings during the New Year is a metaphor for eating money; when people eat jiao zi during the New Year celebration, they hope that it will bring prosperity and good luck for the forthcoming year.

The term jiao zi has multiple meanings, one of the meanings means “midnight or the end and the beginning of time.” This is why the jiao zi are made the midnight of the last day of the passing lunar year. Another meaning of the term comes from the literal translation to “sleep together and have sons” which is a long lost good wish for a family (Salisbury). Not only does the shape of the jiao zi resemble the golden ingots, it also represents a crescent moon and symbolizes the hope for a year of plenty (Wellington). Occasionally people will add specific fillings to select dumplings in order to symbolize certain wishes. Those who receive sweets will have a sweeter life, peanuts symbolize long life, and dates and chestnuts represent the imminent arrival of a son. Because the word “dates” is homonymic with the word “early” in Chinese, so are chestnuts (zhenzi), the syllable “zi” is homonymic with children (Latsch 7). The tremendous amount of food prepared at this time was meant to symbolize abundance of wealth in the household.

Rich families in ancient times added gold, silver, and other precious stones in their dumplings. To get one of these dumplings was considered good luck. Later this transitioned to adding coins in the dumplings. Copper coins, for example, meant that one would never lack money. In contemporary times, only a few coins were washed and add to the batch of dumplings, the person who discovers the coin would enjoy good luck and make a lot of money in the coming year.

When the Chinese began immigrating to Southern California, they brought over their cultural practices in order to preserve their heritage.

  

      

ABALONE

     Abalone are a favorite food for some marine species including sea otters. Otters are one of the few tool-using mammals and they are known to carry a rock that they use to crack the shell of the abalone underwater so they can remove it from its substrate. They then use the rock, at the surface, to crack the shell off and eat the yummy abalone. An occasional shark or large fish may be able to get small abalone off the rock for a meal, but, in general the abalone is well protected by its strong shell. For thousands of years the abalone existed with its natural marine predators.

Native Americans harvested abalone from the intertidal zone. The numbers of harvesters and their small area of harvesting (restricted to ‘picking’ abalone at low tide) probably had a relatively minor effect on the population of abalone. Abalone shell pieces are found in Indian middens along the coast of California, showing that this was a common food item for hundreds of years.

OYSTERS

     Ancient Greeks used to serve oysters as an incentive to drink. Romans imported them from England, placed them in salt water pools, and fattened them up by feeding them wine and pastries. Many cultures consider oysters an aphrodisiac.

Native Americans on both coasts of North America considered oysters a staple foodstuff. Great piles of oyster shells in many different areas of the shoreline are evidence of the early voracious appetite for these mollusks.

  Native Americans on both coasts of North America considered oysters a staple foodstuff. Great piles of oyster shells in many different areas of the shoreline are evidence of the early voracious appetite for these mollusks. Early Colonial settlers would eat oysters by the gross (144), rather than by the dozen, with per capita consumption at 10 bushels per year.

Abraham Lincoln used to throw parties at his home in Illinois where nothing but oysters was served.

The "Oyster Line" brought oysters westward via stagecoach to settlers with unwavering penchants who ventured into the wild frontier in search of new land. Hangtown Fry, a then-expensive dish of oysters and eggs, was created in 1849 at Cary House during the Gold Rush Days.

Nowadays, in Europe, a dozen (12) is considered a standard serving size for a course, whereas in the US, a half-dozen (6) is the norm. Americans alone consume over 100 million pounds of oysters per year.

CHINESE TRADITIONAL GAMES

 WEIQI (ENCIRCLEMENT CHESS)

     Go is a kind of chess that originated in China. Born of war, it was probably the creation of a strategist of antiquity. In Chinese it is known as "weiqi" ("encirclement chess"), as players try to conquer territory on a square wooden board by completely enclosing vacant points with boundaries made of their own stones. Go has a history of more than 4,000 years in China, where it became fashionable as early as the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476B.C.). It found its way into Japan during the Sui and Tang dynasties (581-907A.D.). With the steady expansion of international cultural exchanges, go has spread to Europe and North America during the last few decades and is becoming a global game. The chessboard of go in its early days was checkered by 11, 15 or 17 vertical lines until it finally settled at 19 vertical lines and 19 horizontal lines to form 361 intersections. It is played between two persons, one with 181 black go-shi (flat, round pieces called stones) and the other 180 white ones. The person holding black stones makes the first move if it is a game between two opponents of equal calibre, and the person holding white stones makes the first move according to special handicap rules if the game takes place between two opponents of unequal skills. A player's final score is his number of walled-in points less the number of his stones lost by capture, and the player with more points is declared the winner. The 19-line chessboard can be seen in traditional Chinese paintings dating back to the Tang Dynasty (618-907A.D.).

TIAO QI (CHECKERS)

       Chinese checkers  is a board game that can be played by two to six people. According to Hoyle® Puzzle & Board Games User Guide, five people can not play, because one player wouldn't have an opponent opposite him or her. It is a variant of Halma; the objective of the game is to place one's pieces in the corner opposite their starting position of a pitted hexagram by single moves or jumps over other pieces.
   Despite being called “Chinese Checkers”, the game did not originate in China or any part of Asia, nor is it a variation of checkers.  The game was invented in Germany in 1892 under the name “Stern-Halma”, as a variation on the older American game of Halma. The “Stern”  refers to the star-shape of the board . The name “Chinese checkers” originated in the United States, as a marketing scheme by Bill and Jack Pressman in 1928. The Pressman company's game was originally called "Hop Ching Checkers".
The aim of the game is simply to enter all of one's ten marbles into the opposite "Home base"  on the opposite side of the board before any other player in the game finishes entering his/her pieces likewise.
In the "hop across", most popular variation, each player puts his or her own colored marbles on one of the six points or corners of the star and attempts to relocate them all to the opposite corner. Players take turns moving one marble, either by moving it one single adjacent step or moving a chain of one or any other number of available hops or 'jumps', as they are often called. A step consists of moving a marble to an adjacent unoccupied space in any of the six available directions. In the diagram at right, Green might move the topmost marble diagonally one space down and to the left. A hop consists of jumping directly over a single adjacent marble, either one's own or an opponent's, to the unoccupied space directly over and beyond the adjacent marble. In the diagram at right, Red might advance the indicated marble by a chain of three hops in one single move. It is not mandatory to advance the marble by as many hops as is possible in the chain. In some instances a player may choose to stop the move part way through the chain to impede the opponent's progress or to align their marbles for planned future moves.
Essentially, the basic strategy is to find the longest hopping path that leads closest to, or immediately into, the "home" base (star point) on the opposite side of the board instead of moving step by step, as it obviously requires fewer moves to finish when using multiple jumps in one single move. However, since one or more players can make use of whatever hopping 'ladders' an opponent creates, more advanced strategy requires a player hindering opposing players in addition to helping himself or herself find jumps across the board. Of equal importance are the players' strategies for emptying and filling their origin and destination triangles. Games between experts are rarely decided by more than a couple of moves.
In the fast-paced variant, which is played mainly in Mainland China, game pieces may hop over non-adjacent pieces. A hop consists of jumping over a distant marble to a symmetrical position on the opposite side. For example, if there are two empty spaces between the moving marble and the marble over which it is hopping, it lands on the opposite side with a gap of two empty spaces. As before, a single move may be a chain of hops, as shown in the diagram at left.
Usually, in the fast paced version, a marble is allowed to enter into an empty corner in the middle of a series of hops but must hop out again before the move is over.
Jumping over two marbles in a single hop is not allowed. Therefore, in this variant even more than in the original version, it is sometimes strategically important to keep one's marbles bunched in order to prevent a long opposing hop.
An alternate variant allows hops over any symmetrical arrangement, including pairs of pieces, pieces separated by spaces, etc.
In a five player game, the situation mimics the six player game except that one player moves toward the unoccupied corner. Because this player is in an advantageous position, usually a weaker player  would take that position.
The four player game is same as the six player game except two opposite corners are unused.
In a three player game, all players play either one or two sets of marbles each. If one set is used, the game pieces are moved across the field into an empty corner. If two sets are used, each player starts with two color sets at opposite corners.
In a two player game, each player plays one, two or three sets of marbles. If one set is played, the pieces usually go into the opponent's corner. If two sets are played, the pieces can either go into the player's own opposite corners or into the opponent's corner. If three sets are played, the pieces usually go to the opponent's corners.
Each layout takes different game strategy. For example, if a player's pieces go to that player's own corner, the player can arrange his or her own pieces to serve as bridges between the two opposite ends. On the contrary, if a player's opponent occupies that player's target corner, the player might have to play a waiting game until all of the pieces are moved out.

MAJIANG (MAHJONG)

   
     One of the myths of the origin of mahjong suggests that Confucius, the Chinese philosopher, developed the game in about 500 BC.The three dragon  tiles also agree with the three cardinal virtues bequeathed by Confucius. Hóng Zhōng , and Bái Ban, sincerity, and filial piety, respectively. represent benevolence

The myth also claims that Confucius was fond of birds, which would explain the name "mahjong" .

Many historians believe it was based on a Chinese card game called Mǎdiào. This game was played with 40 paper cards similar in appearance to the cards used in the game Ya Pei. These 40 cards are numbered 1 to 9 in four different suits, along with four extra flower cards. This is quite similar to the numbering of mahjong tiles today, although mahjong only has three suits and, in effect, uses four packs of Ya Pei cards.

There is still some debate about who created the game. One theory is that Chinese army officers serving during the Taiping Rebellion created the game to pass the time. Another theory is that a nobleman living in the Shanghai area created the game between 1870 and 1875. Others believe that two brothers from Níngpō created mahjong around 1850, from the earlier game of Mǎdiào.
This game was banned by the government of People's Republic of China when it took power in 1949. The new Communist government forbade any gambling activities, which were regarded as symbols of capitalist corruption. After the Cultural Revolution, the game was revived, without gambling elements, and the prohibition was revoked in 1985. Today, it is a favorite pastime in China and other Chinese-speaking communities.

  MAHJONG IN THE WESTERN WORLD

   

In 1895, Stewart Culin, an American anthropologist, wrote a paper in which mahjong was mentioned. This is the first known written account of mahjong in any language other than Chinese. By 1910, there were written accounts in many languages, including French and Japanese.

The game was imported to the United States in the 1920s. The first mahjong sets sold in the U.S. were sold by Abercrombie & Fitch starting in 1920. It became a success in New York, and the owner of the company, Ezra Fitch, sent emissaries to Chinese villages to buy every set of mahjong they could find. Abercrombie & Fitch sold a total of 12,000 sets.

Also in 1920, Joseph Park Babcock published his book Rules of Mah-Jongg, also known as the "red book". This was the earliest version of mahjong known in America. Babcock had learned mahjong while living in China. Babcock's rules simplified the game to make it easier for Americans to take up, and his version was common through the mahjong fad of the 1920s. Later, when the 1920s fad died out, many of Babcock's simplifications were abandoned.

The game has taken on a number of trademarked names, such as "Pung Chow" and the "Game of Thousand Intelligences". Mahjong nights in America often involved dressing and decorating rooms in Chinese style.Several hit songs were also recorded during the mahjong fad, most notably "Since Ma is Playing Mah Jong" by Eddie Cantor.

Many variants of mahjong developed during this period. By the 1930s, many revisions of the rules developed that were substantially different from Babcock's classical version (including some that were considered fundamentals in other variants, such as the notion of a standard hand). The most common form, which eventually became "American mahjong", was most popular among Jewish women. Standardization came with the formation of the National Mah Jongg League (NMJL) in 1937, along with the first American mahjong rulebook, Maajh: The American Version of the Ancient Chinese Game.

While mahjong was accepted by U.S. players of all ethnic backgrounds during the Babcock era, many consider the modern American version a remake of a Jewish game, as many American mahjong players are of Jewish descent. The NMJL was founded by Jewish players and is considered a Jewish organization. In addition, players usually use the American game as a family-friendly social activity, not as gambling. In 1986, the National Mah Jongg League conducted their first Mah Jongg Cruise Tournament, in conjunction with Mah Jongg Madness. In 2010, this large scale seagoing event hosts its 25th Silver Anniversary Cruise, with players from all over the States and Canada participating.

In recent years, a second organization has formed, the American Mah Jongg Association. The AMJA currently hosts tournaments all across North America, with their signature event being at the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

British author Alan D. Millington revived the Chinese classical game of the 1920s with his book The Complete Book of Mah-jongg (1977). This handbook includes a formal rules set for the game. Many players in Western countries consider Millington's work authoritative.

Mahjong is not the first re-appearance of the Chinese game in the western world. It was also introduced in playing card form by an official of Britain's Consular Service named William Henry Wilkinson, author of "Chinese origin of playing cards," under the name of Khanhoo. This card game does not seem to have made much impression. The later success of mahjong came in part from the elegance of its mechanism as embodied in the domino-like pieces.

GU PAI (DOMINOES)

  
   Domino pieces were historically carved from ivory or animal bone with small, round pips of inset ebony. The game's name comes from the pieces' resemblance to Venetian Carnival masks known as domini, which were white with black spots. These masks were so named, in turn, because they resembled French priests' winter hoods, being black on the outside and white on the inside. The name ultimately derives from the Latin dominus, meaning "lord" or "master."
The oldest domino sets have been dated from around 1120 A.D. Modern dominoes, as most of the Western world knows them, however, appear to be a Chinese invention. They were apparently derived from cubic dice, which had been introduced into China from India some time in the distant past. Each domino originally represented one of the 21 results of throwing two dice. One half of each domino is set with the pips from one die and the other half contains the pips from the second die. Chinese sets also introduce duplicates of some throws and divide the dominoes into two classes: military and civil. Chinese dominoes are also longer than typical European dominoes. Over time Chinese dominoes also evolved into the tile set used to play Mah Jong, a game which swept across the United States in the early to mid 1920s and has enjoyed moderate popularity, especially in its "solitaire" form, since that time. It is played a lot in the Caribbean, especially in Barbados and Jamaica.
The early 18th century witnessed dominoes making their way to Europe, making their first appearance in Italy. The game changed somewhat in the translation from Chinese to the European culture. European domino sets contain neither class distinctions nor the duplicates that went with them. Instead, European sets contain seven additional dominoes, with six of these representing the values that result from throwing a single die with the other half of the tile left blank, and the seventh domino representing the blank-blank (0–0) combination.
Ivory Dominoes were routinely used in 19th century rural England in the settling of disputes over traditional grazing boundaries, and were commonly referred to as "bonesticks".

CHINESE CULTURAL DANCES

               FAN DANCE
   The history of the Chinese fan dates back approximately 4,000 years. It was originally used as shelter from the sun and a shield to blowing sand. Since its beginning, hundreds of types of fans have developed, including folding, feather and silk. China, known as "the kingdom of fans," has historically sold its product to Japan, Europe and the Americas. The fans were, and still are, created using materials such as bamboo, ivory, jade, bird feathers, plant leaves and various others.

    The history of Chinese dance can be traced back to the fourth millennium B.C. with the Neolithic Yangshao culture. About three millennium later, the Chinese developed two types of dance, those being civilian and military. To this day, every aboriginal or minority group in China has its own form of dancing. There are at least three types of Chinese dance. Traditional Chinese dance includes numerous fan dances, as well as a sword dance and dragon dance. Chinese folk dance involves the dances of minority and aboriginal Chinese groups. Chinese modern dance is an art form involving live music and movement. The Chinese word for dance is "ou." Chinese dance became ritual in ceremonies around 2255 B.C. with the help of Emperor Shun. Chinese dance tends to focus on hand posture, having obvious masculine and feminine dance techniques.

QIANSHOU KAUYIN

   The Qianshou Kaunyin (Bodhisattva with a 1,000 Hands) Dance is a showy dance in which a bunch of dancers stand behind each other, so only the person in front is visible to the audience. The dancers move their arms and hands so that it looks like the person in the front has a multitude moving of arms. In recent years the dance has been performed publically by 21 hearing-impaired Chinese women who move their hands and arms to the rhythm even though they are unable t hear it.

  One of the most dramatic forms of Chinese dance is the sleeve or ribbon dance in which a dancer uses long silk sleeves to accentuate her hand and arm movements, whirling then around like banners or ribbons and snapping them like whips. The opening scene of the film House of Daggers features Ziyi Zhang repelling an attack of stones and trying to assassinate a leader with a knife hidden in here long sleeves while doing such a dance.

   Extra-long sleeves are associated with Confucian moral conduct, which promoted covering the entire body from sunlight. The sleeves are used as both extension of the hands or are thrown back to reveal sensitive and beautiful hand movements of the dancer. A.C. Scott wrote in the International Encyclopedia of Dance, “The long white silk cuffs, the ‘water sleeves,” are “a functional extension of the ordinary sleeves of an actor’s robe, as much as two feet log, and the sweeping pheasant plumes of six to seven feet, worn in pairs and attached to certain headdresses. These are manipulated while being held between the first and middle fingers of each hand.”

YANG GE

   Old people like to do the yang ge  a traditional northern Chinese folk dance accompanied by singing, drums and gongs and featuring colorful fans, which are held over the head. Developed as a fertility dance by farmers planting in their rice fields, it was introduced to all parts of China by the People's Liberation Army as part of campaign to its win supporters in World War II and was popular in the 1950s and allowed in the Cultural Revolution. Today it is most often seen in Beijing and other cities in the north.

 Yang ge is very easy to do. It consists of three quick steps forward, one step backward, pause and repeat, accompanied by hand clapping and swaying movements. In the old days it was performed by male and female dancers facing each other with farm implements such as rakes or hoes, and accompanied by call-and-response singing between the males and females. The dances movement were often sexually suggestive. In World War II, the Communists replaced farm implements with rifles and flags. After the they came to power a number of yang ge troupes were organized and children who showed talent for dancing were recruited and trained for these troupes, which were used to convey political messages to the general public. In many parts of China, yang ge performances were weekly events, with some productions lasting four hours or more.

In the mid 1990s yang ge experienced a dramatic surge un popularity. It became so popular that the government set up regulations prescribing when and where the dance could be performed. One official told the Washington Post, "I don't think the old folks are paying too much attention. They're pretty much doing whatever they please.” The popularity of the dance is attributed to a desire to have fun, nostalgia and desire for good health among the elderly. Many of those who do it say the dance has helped them lose weight and cure their back problems. One woman in her 50s who performs the dance every morning in Ritan Park in Beijing told the Los Angeles Times, “If you are happy, you won’t get sick. Dancing gives me energy.”

BALLET AND MODERN DANCE

     The Chinese love ballet and has a special fondness for Swan Lake.It was the first full-length ballet performed after the founding of the People Republic of China . A ballet version of Raising the Red Lantern has drawn some attention.
Margot Fonteyn started her long dance career in Shanghai, in 1933. A number of Russian dancers taught in China and had great influence there until the 1960s when relations between China and the Soviet Union began falling apart.
Chinese have done very well in international ballet competitions. Chinese classical dance and ballet have many similarities and Chinese dance training is in tune with the training required of ballet dancers. Beryl Grey, a British ballerina who was recruited to whip the Beijing Ballet into shape in the 1960s wrote: “I had not expected to see such good limbs and well arched feet. Their backs were unusually supple and their extensions high without any apparent forcing. The oriental fluidity of their arm movements was particularly suited for Swan Lake as were their long slender necks. But I was perhaps most impressed by the dignity and poise, the quiet composure and concentration with which they tackled everything.”
Shen Wei is a highly acclaimed choreographer. Trained in Chinese opera, he was a found member if China's first modern dancer company and now works mostly out New York. Some pieces have featured near nude dances. Other were inspired by the painter Francis Bacon.
Huang Dou Dou is an internationally-known dancer and choreographer. Born in 1977 and based in Shanghai, he is known for creating elegant dances that combine martial-art-like movements with Peking Opera gestures.

CHINESE LION DANCE

     Lion dance  is a form of traditional dance in Chinese culture, in which performers mimic a lion's movements in a lion costume. The lion dance is often mistaken as dragon dance. An easy way to tell the difference is that a lion is operated by two people, while a dragon needs many people. Also, in a lion dance, the performers' faces are covered, since they are inside the lion. In a dragon dance, the performers can be seen since the dragon is held upon poles. Basic lion dance fundamental movements can be found in most Chinese martial arts.

   
     The story goes that once upon a time a monk had a dream in which there were many sorrows and evils plaguing the land. The monk prayed and asked the gods how he could prevent these evils from occurring. The gods told him that a lion would protect them and fight back the evils. The Chinese people had never see a lion before, but had heard stories that the lion was the king of all the other animals, so the monk combined all the lucky or magical animals he could think of and so made a lion.
If you look closely at any lion you can see a red sash tied on its horn. It is told that the lion got too arrogant and told the gods that he was more powerful than all of them combined. This of course caused the gods to get very angry, so as a punishment they chopped off his horn (the source of his power) and told him to fight off a thousand evils without his power. The lion of course couldn't and people were dying because the lion couldn't protect them from the evils. The Goddess of Mercy  felt bad for him so she tied his horn back on with a red sash.
Lion dances can be broadly categorised into three styles, Chinese Northern , Chinese Southern, and Taiwanese . The Chinese Northern dance was used as entertainment for the imperial court and elsewhere. The northern lion is usually red, orange and yellow (sometimes with green fur for the female lion), shaggy in appearance, with a golden head. The northern dance is acrobatic and may include dangerous stunts.
The Chinese Southern dance is more symbolic. It is usually performed as a ceremony to scare away evil spirits and to summon luck and fortune. The Chinese southern lion exhibits a wide variety of colour and has a distinctive head with large eyes (of an eagle), a mirror on the forehead (demons are supposedly scared of their own reflection), and a single horn at center of the head (the horn of a unicorn mentioned earlier). Lion dance costumes are considered to be spiritually protective when used as they are traditionally blessed before usage.
The Taiwanese dance integrates with martial arts. The focus on martial arts is very different from the Chinese southern dance whose fancy style is more suitable for circuit shows. In addition to dance steps, the differences between the Taiwanese and the Chinese Southern dances lie in the lion appearance and music. Unlike the Chinese Southern lion whose eyes and mouth can be moved, the Taiwanese lion is less elaborate and can be roughly divided into two categories: open-mouth lion and closed-mouth lion....

DRAGON DANCE

      
      The history of the Dragon Dance can be dated back to the Han Dynasty  in ancient China and, like the lion dance, plays an important part in Chinese culture. The Dragon itself has always been regarded as a Sacred creature, symbolising power, courage, righteousness and dignity amongst others. For this reason, the Chinese show great respect towards the dragon, and have always referred themselves as being Descendants of the Dragon as a sign of ethnic identity.
The dance signifies the end of the year and welcoming a new start, driving away evil spirits, bringing good luck and fortune to the people.
The Dragon Dance has always been a great spectacle to watch and is usually performed on big occasions or grand openings, especially during the festive Chinese New Year (or Lunar New Year) celebrations.

      A Dragon Dance requires many dancers due to its sheer size and length. The number of dancers vary depending on a number of factors, including human resources, financial power, skills and the space available. The size can range from the recommended 112 feet (9 people) or more. The same musical instruments for lion dancing are used to accompany the dragon's movements, which includes the drum, cymbals and a gong.
In order to make a Dragon Dance successful and entertaining, the dancers must properly coordinate their movements with each other, thus correct timing is crucial to avoid tangling up or falling over. A mistake from any one person can disrupt other dancers as this creates a "ripple effect", which would spoil the performance. Equally important is the precise timing between the Pearl, Dragon's head and the tail. The Pearl initiates the pattern of moves for the Dragon's head and body, whilst the tail keeps in time with the head movements.
The movements are based on footwork and hand coordination to execute different combination of patterns. Each team member must be able to leap, crouch and change the direction and pace of movements, requiring discipline, stamina and a substantial amount of practice.