I just found this : a virtual tour of the famed Forbidden City in Beijing, China. If you have been there, it’s worth a revisit in the Cyberspace. If not, you’ll see why so many people feel drawn to it and may want to plan a visit in the future. If you have some experience with Second Life, you’ll find navigate very easy. If you register, which is free, you can find a tour guide to show you around. Give it a try. It needs quite some download though, just like what you do when you install Second Life. The URL is http://www.beyondspaceandtime.org/FCBSTWeb/web/index.html#link=download.
Yes, they are gone wild, but just to this far (PG-13). But this is already a great leap forward from only a few decades ago, when in the Mao Era, girls could only wear drab Mao suits and sing a few “revolutionary” songs available between breaks while sweating in farms or factories. This is one little window from which one can see what China is becoming after 30 years of economic reform and opening to the outside world.
The entire world was shocked when a magnitude-8 earthquake hit a large part of Sichuan Province, China and rocked half Asia on May 12, 2008. The death toll could reach 40,000 to 50,000. Although not the deadliest, it is one of the dozen strongest earthquakes in China’s recorded history. From my satellite TV, I felt the pain of the affected people and the resolve of those who came to their rescue. I mourned for the dead and was profoundly moved by the choice some of them made in face of death. Their images are deeply etched in my mind and, I am afraid, will never fade: a teacher threw himself upon his lectern before tugging as many students as possible beneath it; a mother used the last bit of energy she had left to breastfeed her baby; another mother knelt on the floor and supported her body with her hands so her two-year old girl survived her in the safety of her bosom…… I wish I were an artist so I could made these images into sculptures. I wish I were a playwright so I could immortalize the images in a script. But I am none of them. What I can do is to remember them and to value life. While living my life, I must do what I can to make life better for my family and others.
I have been working on my second book titled Princess Peacock: Tales from Other Peoples of China, a companion to my first, The Magic Lotus Lantern and Other Tales from the Han Chinese.
What about the second book? Let me copy what my publisher says, “China, the most populous country in the world, is also a nation of great diversity. In addition to the majority population of Han Chinese, there are some 56 officially recognized national minorities–including Tibetan, Mongol, Manchu, Zhuang, Dai, and Gaoshan. The folklore of these minorities is often obscure and difficult to find, as is information about the people, their cultural histories, and their traditional customs. This book fills a gap by offering more than 50 representative folktales from China’s minorities, as well as background information on each of the ethnic groups.”
You may find a mistake on the Amazon web site: They mistook the writer of the foreword to my book as my co-author. But who cares.
Indiana University at Bloomington is my Alma Mata. I graduated from her School of Library and Information Science (SLIS) in 1995 and have become a SLIS alumnus since. Recently, the web version of SLIS’s newsletter featured me as the author of my new book The Magic Lotus Lantern and Other Tales from the Han Chinese. It’s so gracious of them! I am grateful for the care they show for their alumni! Here’s the link to the article: http://www.slis.indiana.edu/news/story.php?story_id=1347.
Soak glutinous rice for half a day, rinse till clean and drain;
Add water to steamer, spread sanitized linen on the steamer’s lattice and turn on the heat till steam comes out of the steamer. Spread drained glutinous rice over the lattice and steam for about an hour. Taste the rice to see if it’s cooked.
Crush a ball of distiller’s yeast into fine pieces;
Empty steamed rice into a container and let it cool till room temperature (86 F). Sprinkle a little cold water on the rice and loosen it with a spoon. Spread crushed distiller’s yeast onto rice little by little and mix evenly. Leave a little of the yeast for use later;
Empty the mixed rice into a container where it will be fermented. A rice cooker will do. While emptying rice, press it till it’s a bit firm. Spread the rest of the yeast over surface. Sprinkle a little water and press the rice till surface is smooth;
Cover rice with clear plastic wrap and cover the rice cooker. Keep the fermenting process at room temperature (86 F);
The rice wine is ready in three days. It will smell mellow and taste sweet.
Note:
If the rice mixture dilutes, the grains become empty and the wine smells pungent, then it is over fermented.
If the rice tastes raw and the wine is not sweet enough and smells blank, then it’s under fermented.
I’d like to bring your attention to one of my web sites, an audio tutorial of basic Chinese. Those of you who have adopted or plan to adopt children from China may find the “Parenting” unit interesting and helpful. It has such phrases as “You are safe with us,” “Come to Mom,” “Go potty?” and more….
You are welcome to give ideas on how to improve the site. Thanks!
On the evening of September of 21, I gave a presentation on Chinese culture to the Bowling Green community, including my university students and faculty. The title of my presentation is “What Do the Han Chinese Tales Tell Us?” The podcast of the presentation is finally ready. It is at It is at http://www.wku.edu/Library/podcast/index.html. You may subscribe to it and listen go the go. Thanks!
I just found this : a virtual tour of the famed Forbidden City in Beijing, China. If you have been there, it’s worth a revisit in the Cyberspace. If not, you’ll see why so many people feel drawn to it and may want to plan a visit in the future. If you have some experience with Second Life, you’ll find navigate very easy. If you register, which is free, you can find a tour guide to show you around. Give it a try. It needs quite some download though, just like what you do when you install Second Life. The URL is http://www.beyondspaceandtime.org/FCBSTWeb/web/index.html#link=download.
