Chinese paper cutting is a folk art with close to 2000 years of history. Below are some amazing samples of great craftsmanship; most of the graphics are symbols of luck and prosperity, animals & pets, as well as reflections of daily folk lives…
The 2nd Falconry Festival was held on March 21st at a village in Akqi County, Xinjiang, China. Hundred of falcon tamers, mainly Kyrgyz people, performed various demonstrations during the event.
Falconry (hunting with eagles/falcons) has a long history in the region; Kyrgyz nomads have been hunting with golden eagles for thousand of years. The eagles are known as Berkut in local language, and the activity is called Berkutchi.
A photo taken on the 2nd day of Chinese New Year 2009, of my niece and nephew playing with fireworks. Kids are always the most joyous people during CNY…
Today (Feb 9) officially marks the end of CNY 2009; CNY is traditionally celebrated from New Year’s Eve to the 15th day on the New Year, each day with its own significance.
Chinese these days don’t have the luxury to celebrate the entire festival though; most people would have resumed their daily (working) routine by the 5th day of CNY, and waited until the last day (the Lantern Festival) for some final celebrations.
Happy Chinese New Year once more… best wishes to everyone.
Manggong Cake (盲公饼 – literally blind-man biscuit) is a speciality of Foshan city in Guangdong province, China. It’s a traditional biscuit (despite officially named as cake) made of ground nuts and sesame seeds, first created in 1800 by a blind fortune teller… hence the name.
The Manggong Cake is a popular souvenir for foreigners who visit Foshan or Guangdong… and the most well known brand is Heji (pic above). Not the tastiest biscuit I’ve had to be frank, but we got to appreciate a traditional recipe that has existed for over two centuries.
A Chinese banquet is normally held during special occasions, like weddings, new year, festivals, or sometimes a family gathering or business meeting. A typical Chinese banquet will have 8-10 dishes on its menu.
Some photos of a Chinese banquet, taken during my family dinner at Kok Thai Restaurant in Ipoh, Malaysia last weekend…
The appetiser, or the ‘cold dish’ in Chinese, is often the indicator of how good the restaurant is; the food presentation is vital and sometimes more important than the taste
Some bizarre yet amazing works from a Beijing based Chinese artist, Li Wei…
The photos are not photoshopped, but a combination of performance art and photography. The illusions are created with the help of mirrors and wire-cables etc… and despite some dangerously looking scenarios, the artist said that the stunts were done with reasonable safety.
So, what do you think about the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on Friday night? It’s a decent show for me; not great, but nice.
The ceremony started off well. The fou (the drum like instrument) performance managed to draw the crowds’ attention, the giant footsteps’ fireworks were cool, and the countdown managed to boost the mood very well.
Then came the splendid fireworks, followed by the formalities of flag raising and national anthem singing.
The masterpiece of the show was revealed after that… the giant paper scroll, which was quite captivating at first. The initial performances still managed to keep me in front on the TV, but things started to turn boring for a few reasons…
Another day to go before the opening ceremony of Beijing Olympics. Some random news and information about Olympics and happenings in Beijing…
The game has started
The women’s soccer tournament of the Beijing Olympics kicked off at 17:00 Beijing time on Wednesday, two days before the opening ceremony. It’s common for soccer (and some other team sports) to start the games earlier.
