Jietou Xiaofan and “Little Street Eats”
Checking out the street food in an exotic location is a sign of culinary adventurousness for people in the West, but not if it’s in China. Opinions are divided between those who appreciate it like street food from any other country and the highly suspicious who believe a mere whiff would give them diarrhea or food poisoning. As the Chinese street vendor, jietou xiaofan (街头小贩，literally small street seller, “fan” meaning to buy and sell), long-time scourge of the authorities, is now encouraged by the very same entities, as a means of post-COVID_19 micro-economic recovery, I thought it would be a good time to look at China’s tradition of jietou xiaofan, in particular, those selling jietou xiaoshi (街头小食, or “little street eats”).
Posted in Blog and tagged china, Chinese, COVID19, culture, economy, society, street vending
Ye Yonglie: An Obituary
On the 15thof May 2020, one of the forefathers of Chinese science fiction, Ye Yonglie, passed away.
Born in 1940 in Wenzhou (Zhejiang), Ye was a literary prodigy who published his first work at the age of 11, and his first book at the age of 19. After graduating in chemistry from Peking University, he continued his love of writing, and went on to create a wide range of short stories, journals and longer fictional works.
Posted in Blog and tagged children's fiction, china, Chinese, culture, fiction, novel, orbituary, science fiction, SFF, Ye Yonglie
A Quick Guide to Wangluo Xiaoshuo
This week was World Book and Copyright Day. I wanted to write a little about Chinese internet novels. A phenomenon that came into being in the early 2000s, as the world entered the Age of Internet, the wangluo xiaoshuo had a particularly deep impact on Chinese literary creativity, due the relatively scarcity of commercial fiction published in China before this time. As its arts become more and more available to the world, it’s also become apparent that doesn’t necessarily mean more accessible For many genres have developed in China that don’t exist in the West, or are different from our understandings of them. Here’s a quick guide to the main genres of wangluo xiaoshuo.
Posted in Blog and tagged china, Chinese, culture, fiction, genres, guide, Internet, net novel
Cheeseburger Jiaozi
Usually, “fusion food” is a worrying term for me. However, having come across the cheeseburger dumpling, it seemed like a dongsi recipe that could work well, so we tried making them at home.
Posted in Blog and tagged cheesburger, china, Chinese, culture, dumpling, food, fusion food, Jiaozi, recipe
Tientsin Mystic: A Review
I really enjoyed Tientsin Mystic back in 2018 and wanted to wait for a suitable occasion to write about it. Now that we’re in Novel Coronavirus lockdown, I am, as usual, working my hours in publishing, as well as being in the middle of a Chinese culture project, in this case, my new book. However, apart from staying in and social distancing, looking after your mental welfare, is something that I can use my particular skills to contribute to. It’s been a while since I’ve seen the series, but this means I can write about the salient themes that have stood the test of time, without spoiling much of the plot.
Posted in Blog and tagged china, Chinese, culture, drama, fantasy, historical, novel, review, TV
Five Fabulous Chinese Goddesses: Tian Hou
Even though China’s pantheon is mammoth, there does tend to be more male deities than female, it’s an imbalance I’ve tried to redress in my book. For Chinese goddesses are fabulous indeed, they come in many types – deities of the elements, the trades, protectors, creators. Most of the Nü Shen, Chinese for female deity, are very powerful. They also have amazing stories, and are some of China’s oldest supernatural beings. In this mini-series I write about 5 of them.
Posted in Blog and tagged china, Chinese, culture, deity, goddess, International Women's Day, sea
Five Fabulous Chinese Goddesses: Lei Zu
Even though China’s pantheon is mammoth, there does tend to be more male deities than female, it’s an imbalance I’ve tried to redress in my book. For Chinese goddesses are fabulous indeed, they come in many types – deities of the elements, the trades, protectors, creators. Most of the Nü Shen, Chinese for female deity, are very powerful. They also have amazing stories, and are some of China’s oldest supernatural beings. In this mini-series I write about 5 of them.
Posted in Blog and tagged china, Chinese, culture, deity, goddess, International Women's Day, Leizu, silk
The Danwei Community
Last week, we received the terrific news that Wuhan, a city that I and many others around the world have been cheering on for months, has officially come out of quarantine. As I watched some videos during the quarantine period, the organized volunteer help in local compounds really demonstrated to me how China’s old-style residential living have come in useful during this time of crisis. Known as the Danwei community, this remnant of the Communist Era had still been the prevalent style of living in China until the early 1990s, and it was very much part of the first dozen years of my life.
Posted in Blog and tagged china, Chinese, commentary, community, Coronvavirus, culture, Danwei, life style, society