Dim Sum - Core culture of Canton and Southern China

by Ellie

        If you have been to Chinatown before, you must have heard about "dim sum" or "yum cha", namely drinking tea.  Yum Cha or Dim Sum culture is essential to lives of residence especially in Guangzhou city, Hong Kong and Macau. 

        

        What is dim sum? It is the Cantonese style of bite size food,that people eat when they drink tea together with friends or family weekly or even daily, usually 3 to 4 pieces per serving. The cooking methods range from steam, bake, fry, boil,etc. Mostly, they taste either salty or sweet. Now, I would like share some photos I took when I "yum cha" with my friend in Chicago Chinatown.

Maybe the most famous dim sum is the shrimp dumplings.

chicken feet in special sauce
i know you may think chicken feet is strange or even disgusting,
but trust me, it's really delicious!

 pork porridge

you see, how exciting my ABC and Suzhou friend!  

rice crepe with deep fried Chinese donut

pan fried water chestnut cake

stir fried sticky rice

almond tea

almond ice-Mt bread

        Yum Cha is a cultural tradition that links people in Canton. That is, every weekend, holiday or family gathering events, people like to spend a hour or two in chatting with each other while they are eating diverse dim sum and tasting fine Chinese tea during yum cha, like cookout in the U.S. family at the weekend, which provides a chance for people to better communicate with each other. 

         So, next time when you go to any Chinatown around the world, you can try some dim sum with your partners and enjoy the exploration of Southern China Culture!

it's me, haha. i love dim sum! 

The eternal classic and fashion --- Qipao

The eternal classic and fashion --- Qipao

By. Lucy (Xue Feng)

In China, the word “qipao” also known as "cheongsam” simply means "long dress”. It is derived from the dialect of Guangdong Province in China.

In Chinese dress history, qipao often represents an image of elegant and charming for Chinese women. It is a one-piece dress featured with a high neck collar and straight skirt which reflects the spirits and virtues of Chinese culture – harmony and unity. Qipao was traditionally made of silk and decorated with complex embroidery.

The History of Qipao
In Qing dynasty, Chi-pao is worn as robe in the palace.

The golden time of qipao is between 1911 and 1949. And in the 1930s, Shanghai had been advocating western lifestyle. So qipao was changed to shape the curve instead of covering the entire body, which made it popular among celebrities and the upper class at that time and gradually became Chinese fashion with the unique orient style. However, in 1949, the Communist Revolution banned qipao. Fortunately, Shanghai emigrants to Hong Kong was able to maintain the popularity of this fashion in the 1950s. In Hong Kong, Working women often wore Chi-Pao with jackets. At that time an off-the-rack qipao could cost about a hundred dollars while modified ones cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars.

Qipao in Modern Times
In the movie “In the mood for love” (《花样年华》), Maggie Cheung changed 23 different qipao which fully interpreted the beauty of orient women and the conventional Chinese dress.

Nowadays, qinpao usually appears in public and international occasions as a formal costume which symbolizes Chinese culture. And you can also see attendants wearing qipao as a uniform at many restaurants, hotels, and on airplanes in Asia. For Chinese students who study abroad like us, we would prefer to wear qipao as traditional costumes when attending parties and formal events.