Dec 29
David ChengChina China, Chinese Culture, Chinese Tea, culture, drinking chinese tea, tea, Teahouses
The evolution of Tea House is closely related with the Chinese tea culture. A tea-house has become a form of cultural life among the Chinese people. Just an ancient Chinese proverb saying goes, better to be deprived of food for three days, than tea for one, signifies the importance of it in people’s lives. Chinese tea is top listed among their basic needs.
In Chinese history, the teahouse is an important social place. They have been, and are presently common in China. Before, the teahouse was the sole non-religious, non-government, organizations and clubs and in business transactions. It is a well loved avenue for Chinese people to socialize and enjoying a drink of Chinese tea.
Chinese Tea house has many different Chinese names. In Yangtze River area it is called Chaguan. In provinces like Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan it is commonly called Chalou. A Chating in Beijing and Tianjin of north China means a tea pavilion. Chatan is a tea booth and Chaliao is a small Chinese tea house. Some other names for tea house include Chafang, Chasi, Chashe, Chayuan, Chawu and Chashi. The names may vary but the forms and contents are basically the same.
Chinese tea drinking has been a tradition among Chinese people and has been widely spread in Asia, United States and the European nations. Nowaday, designs and concepts of teahouses in China are also introduced in other places. Chinese tea is not only served in teahouses, but the history and culture of China as well.
Along the streets of China, you will definitely find teahouses everywhere. Anyone knows where to locate a perfect teahouse to stay, chat, relax, and drink their most valued Chinese tea. Other activities include writing or simply reading which go along with drinking Chinese tea. Theater performances such as story-telling and plays are held at Teahouses to entertain their customers.
To learn more about Tea houses,you may visit the online store for a wide selection of the best Chinese Tea and learn more about the benefits of Chinese Tea to your health.
Dec 04
Clare LiuAsia Apron, Asia, Chinese Culture, Miao, Miao culture, silver bracelets, silver earrings, Silver Necklaces, silver pendants, silver rings
Living in southwest China, the Miao minority group are proud of their unique handmade artworks of batik, embroidery, and silver jewelry. Miao women like to wear large silver rings and embroidered costumes during their holidays. Their beautiful aprons always sport exquisitely embroidered flowers. Here is an interesting story about the origin of this ethnic apron.
Once upon a time, a girl and her younger brother lived in a village. Their parents passed away. The girl was smart, diligent, and managed their home quite well. She even had a whole collection of silver rings. So they led a comfortable life. With the hope of educating her brother, the girl sent him to school.
The narrow-minded teacher was jealous of smart women, especially those who were even smarter than men. When he learned the girl was intelligent, smart and beautiful, he wanted to give her a difficult time.
One day the teacher told the brother, “Tomorrow morning I will go to visit your sister. Let her prepare some breakfast with a boiled radish that is red inside.” So the brother looked everywhere at home for a radish with red inside. But he couldn’t find one. The brother had to ask his sister. The sister said, “We get a full basket of new radishes with red inside everyday. How come you couldn’t find them? Don’t worry. Just take your teacher here tomorrow.”
The next morning when the teacher got to their home, he only saw a dish of sour vegetables on the table. He yelled at the brother, “Did you cook me a boiled radish with red inside?” Just then, the girl brought a big bowl of boiled eggs on the table. She broke one egg and showed it to the teacher, ” Here you are! I hope you will enjoy it! Your boiled radish with red inside and white outside.” The teacher stared at the eggs, and couldn’t say anything.
A few days later, the teacher informed the younger brother again, ” Tomorrow I will have lunch at your home. Tell your sister to cook a dish called ‘ The golden hook hanging from a jade plate”‘. The younger brother told his sister. The sister said, “I know what to do. Just bring him here.” When the teacher came, the sister brought him a bowl of white bean curd and yellow bean sprouts. It looked exactly like golden hooks hanging from a jade plate.
When the teacher went back home, he said to himself, “The books I have read could fill several rooms, why can’t I defeat that girl?” He thought over and over for a whole week. Then he went to talk to the brother again, “Tomorrow I will eat dinner at your home. Just let your sister to prepare a simple plate of salad with dragon’s claws and tiger’s ears.” The brother told this to his sister. The girl said, “This is easy. We have numerous of these two things in our village.” The next day when the teacher came, he saw a big plate of tender leaves mixed with escallonia. The leaves looked like dragon’s claws, and escallonia was similar to a tiger’s ear.
The teacher felt shamed and angry, “I must find a way to get rid of the girl’s wisdom.” So one day, he drew a pattern on a piece of paper, and sent it to the brother, “I appreciate the delicious meals your sister cooked for me. This beautiful pattern is for her. She can make herself an apron based on this pattern.”
After studying the strange and complicated design on the paper for a while, the girl understood, “The bad teacher wants to use this wizard design to block my heart and my wisdom. Ok, I will make an apron!”
Learning that the girl had made an apron based on that strange picture, the teacher went to see what’s happening at the girl’s home. To his surprise, he found there was a big red flower embroidered on the apron. The girl looked more attractive with this apron and her silver rings. The teacher said, ” In the picture I gave you, there is no flower. Why did you embroider a flower?” The girl answered happily, ” Look at it! It’s not a flower, but my heart. Your beautiful picture doesn’t block my heart, but show it much clearly!”
Since then a beautiful apron with embroidered flower became an indispensable adornment to Miao women’s ethnic clothing. Wearing their handmade spectacular silver jewels and silver rings with their embroidered clothes, Miao women can proudly claim themselves the most attractive ones in the world.
Clare L. writes about the world’s silver jewelry, especially silver rings. In particular, Miao silver rings are popular almost everywhere. Get in touch with the writer, check out the silver rings here.
Dec 03
Clare LiuAsia Asia, batik, Chinese Culture, Miao, Miao culture, silver bracelets, silver earrings, silver jewels, Silver Necklaces, silver pendants, silver rings
The Miao minority group in southwest China are famous for their great batik and silver bracelets art. They use a copper knife dipped in beeswax to draw exquisite patterns on a piece of white cloth. After the process of dying, boiling, and washing, a beautiful design will be left on the cloth permanently. Batik technique is widely applied to Miao’s clothing and bed linen. Wearing batik clothes and their unique silver bracelets, Miao women look really wonderful!
A story below explains how the Miao invented the unique batik technique:
Once upon a time, a pretty girl lived in a village with her parents and sister. One day when she went to pick up cotton in the field, she saw a dazzling butterfly flying around her. The girl stared at the butterfly, and said to herself, “What a cute butterfly! Hope I had beautiful clothes like she has! But our Miao women’s clothes are just simply black and blue, which looks really boring!”
So the girl talked to the butterfly, ” Hi, you are the mother of the Miao people, right? What a great mother! Since you delivered your children, you have never taken care of us. The garment you wear is so beautiful. But look at us! Why don’t you make a beautiful clothes for your children? Now I want your colorful wings to adorn myself.” The terrified butterfly said, “Please don’t do that! I can’t survive without a pair of wings. Yes, a butterfly is the Miao’s mom. But her children have grown up, you will have to figure out a way to make yourself beautiful.”
The girl caught the butterfly in her hand, “OK, if you don’t give me your beautiful wings, I will break your wings by myself.” The butterfly said, “Don’t do that please! OK, I will teach you how to make colorful and beautiful clothes.” The butterfly flapped her wings onto the girl’s clothes for a while, and some beautiful patterns were left on the clothes. The butterfly told the girl the secret before she flew away, “Just paint these patterns on all your clothes, and you will be more beautiful than me.”
After getting home, the girl asked her father to go to pick up some colorful stones along the riverside. Then she hammered the stones into powder and mixed it with rice soup to make color pigments. Using this pigment, the girl started to paint the patterns the butterfly gave her on her clothes. Seven days passed, and she finished painting two new skirts. One was for herself, and another one for her sister. Wearing their beautifully painted clothes and their unique silver bracelets, the two sisters looked gorgeous! Other women in the village all followed the sisters to paint colorful designs on their clothes.
But only in a few days, the painted patterns on the clothes all fainted away, as it couldn’t stand water or sunshine. The disappointed women told the girl, “Look what that sly butterfly did to us!” The girl said, “I will try to find a way to resolve this problem,.”
One day, there was a bee flying around the girl’s window and singing, ” Our nests are built on the cliff, and hardly can survive under harsh living conditions. Whoever save our lives will get the secret of batik technique. The dyed patterns on the cloth will never faint away.” The girl felt excited, “Hi, lovely bee! Please tell me that secret. I will let Dad build a solid box for you, and to give you a warm home.” The bee sang, ” We excel at making beewax and honey. Using beewax, you can draw any patterns you want on your clothes…….” Then the bee revealed to the girl the whole process of making batik.
The girl’s father crafted a wooden box for the bees, and fed them at home. Using the beewax the bees produced, the sisters dyed many of their clothes.
Since then the batik technique has been widely accepted by Miao women to dye their clothes. Designs on the batik clothing reflect the rich and interesting Miao culture. It also affects the design of Miao silver jewels, especially silver bracelets.
Go to jewelry expert Clare Liu’s site for some amazing silver bracelets. The silver jewels made by Miao silversmiths can’t be found anywhere else. Don’t miss the intricate silver bracelets here.
Nov 25
Clare LiuChina China, chinese, Chinese Culture, Chinese Food, far east, Miao, Miao culture, Miao food, silver bracelets, silver earrings, silver jewels, Silver Necklaces, silver pendants, silver rings
Residing in the mountainous areas of southwest China, the Miao minority group are famous for their beautiful silver jewels such as silver earrings and silver rings. Miao women like to wear silver jewels from head to feet in big holidays to proudly show their beauty and wealth. Holidays are also a good time for people to enjoy a big meal with friends and family. Food displayed on their table is different from any other Chinese food:
Chicken giblets roasted in bamboo
Choose a piece of old bamboo, and put chicken giblets, corn mint, the kernel of a walnut, mushroom, garlic, and salt into the bamboo. Cover the bamboo with some banana leaves, and then roast it with charcoal fire. In just a few minutes, you can see the oil coming out from the bamboo. Enjoy it. It tastes really good and smells beautifully.
Bloated meat
To prepare the delicious bloated meat, you will need a jar. First cut the meat into slices, and mix them together with glutinous rice, pepper, and salt. Then put all these things into the jar, and seal it. Two weeks later, you can smell the beautiful fragrance coming out of the jar. Take the meat out, and fry it with oil. It tastes perfect.
Braised chicken with the Chinese herbal medicine
Braised chicken with the herbal medicine has several hundred years of history. It used to be given to women who just delivered a baby. The nutrient and delicious braised chicken with the herbal medicine is believed to be able to give people vigor and strength. Today it is an important dish for the Miao to feast their guests. The chicken’s head and chicken giblets are reserved for the old people. And chicken’s wings and legs are for children.
Sour soup with vegetables
The Miao like sour food, and almost every family has a special jar to contain their famous sour soup with vegetables. To make this sour food, first mince vegetables like cabbage, leeks, carrots, and radishes, and then mix them together with glutinous rice flour, pepper, and salty water. Put them into a jar, and it will be ready in just a few days. Sour food can be served alone, or cooked together with other fresh vegetables, meat, or fish.
Miao food reflects their old and interesting history and culture. In fact, the design of some Miao silver earrings are even based on the food. Learn more about beautiful silver earrings below.
Some say silver earrings by Miao silversmiths can’t be beat by any other jewelers. The writer absoultely loves their silver earrings and jewels. There are more intricate silver earrings than people give credit for.
Nov 20
David ChengChina China, Chinese Culture, Hainan Island, Miao, Miao culture, silver bracelets, silver earrings, silver jewels, Silver Necklaces, silver rings
There are about 60,000 Miao people on Hainan Island in the south of China. They are offspring of Miao soldiers who guarded this island 400 years ago. As one of the tribes of the Miao ethnic group, they keep their unique culture and tradition quite well. Women like to dress up themselves with glistening silver necklaces and batik clothing. Young people start to look for their life partners when they are only 17-20 years old. Their funny dating and wedding customs are different from that in any other areas of China.
Singing love songs is a good way to get to know each other. Usually the men first go outside, singing loudly. Hearing the songs, girls will come out and join in the singing. Sometimes they sing for a whole day until the evening. If a man finds his lover while singing, he would tell his parents to send a matchmaker to go to the girl’s home to propose marriage.
Lots of weddings are held in lunar November or December when people are free from their farm work. On the wedding day, the groom will go to her future wife’s home to bring her back. He usually has a big team, which includes the matchmaker and groomsmen. A nice colorful umbrella is an essential decoration for the wedding.
When they arrive to the gate of the girl’s village, the matchmaker puts on a new set of clothes and a special hat. Then they set off firecrackers. Girls who wear beautiful silver necklaces in the village use a piece of rope or a branch to block the way to their village. Until they get some gifts from the matchmaker, they won’t let the groom and his team into their village.
When the groom and his team finally get to the village, they will first take a rest in a villager’s house. In the evening the wedding is held at the girl’s home. The matchmaker breaks 10 pairs of chopsticks to symbolize that the new couple will live together forever regardless of any difficulty they may have in the future. The couple then kowtows to their parents and relatives, and share one cup of wine to vow they will be together forever.
The wedding lasts until late in the evening.
Miao brides in Hainan keep an old custom during the wedding: crying loudly. Before she leaves for the groom’s home, she will cry to show she will miss home and her parents. The bride’s parents, siblings, and cousins also join to cry loudly together. The crying ceremony can last a few hours.
The wedding also offer a good opportunity for the bride and groom’s ex-boyfriends or ex-girlfriends to express their anger. When the groom goes to meet the bride, the ex and their pals will suddenly rush to pinch sharply the bride and groom.
In the evening when the bride arrives to the groom’s home, she will ask her bridesmaids to pinch the groom. While the bride is also pinched by the groomsmen.
Miao culture allows a man to live together with his wife’s family after the wedding, if there is no boys in the family.
The beautiful Hainan Island claims to be the Hawaii of Asia. Visit this island to experience Chinese Miao’s interesting life and watch their handcrafted silver necklaces, you will have lots of fun.
C. Liu writes about Chinese culture, especially Miao silver necklaces, professionally. She prefers the handmade silver necklaces with flowers. Don’t miss her website with great samples of fine silver necklaces here.
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