Going to China with Travellers? Well, there are just 2 things you have to make sure you do, you have been warned….
Peking Duck has the reputation of being the most delicious food Beijing has to offer. Eating Peking Duck is seen to be one of the two things you are absolutely supposed to do whilst in Beijing. The other one is climbing the Great Wall
The place that offers the best Peking Duck is the Quan Ju De Restaurant, which has outlets at Qianmen, Hepingmen and Wangfujing. It was established 130 years ago..
At Quan Ju De, ducks are immersed in condiments unique to the restaurant and are roasted directly over flames stoked by fruit tree wood. The best roast duck is date-red, shining with oil, but with a crisp skin and tender meat. The chef cuts the meat into thin slices at table. Then the meat is served with Chinese onions and special sauce.
Another famous restaurant offering Peking duck is the Bian Yi Fan (Cheap Restaurant), which opened in 1855, nine years earlier than Quan Ju De. At Bian Yi Fang, roasting is done in an enclosed container fueled with crop stalks.
If you’d like to find out more about our projects in China, click HERE
In China on August 16th 2010 on the 7th day of the 7th lunar month the Chinese celebrate valentines day…
The Legend of Chinese Valentine’s Day
Legend has it that the seventh daughter of the Emperor of Heaven, a weaving maid, fell in love and married a cowherd. They were overindulgent in their love and neglected their farming and weaving duties, which angered the Jade Emperor. As punishment, he exiled them to opposite banks of the Silver River [Milky Way], and only allowed them to meet each other once a year on the night of the seventh day of the seventh month. This legend has been handed down for nearly two millennia. The Chinese people believe that the star, Vega, east of the Milky Way, is Zhi Nu, and that Altair, on the western side of the Milky Way, is Niu Lang waiting for his wife. The seventh day of the seventh lunar month is the only Chinese festival devoted to love in the lunar calendar. Chinese Valentine’s Day traditions abound and this special day is celebrated differently depending on the Chinese province.
- Some of the many traditions include Chinese girls preparing fruits, melons, and incense as offerings to Zhi Nu, the weaving maiden, praying to acquire high skills in needlecraft, as well as hoping to find satisfactory husbands.
- Girls place sewing needles on water. If the needle doesn’t sink, it’s a sign of the girl’s maturity and intelligence and she is ready and eligible to find a husband.
- People in some Chinese provinces believe that decorating the horns of oxen with flowers will save them from catastrophe. Another tradition is for women to wash their hair to make it look fresh and shining.
- This festival is also known as Qixi, or sometime the Magpie festival.
On Chinese Valentine’s Day, young lovers go to the temple of the Matchmaker and pray for their love and happiness, and their possible marriage in China. In the evening, people sit outside to observe the stars. On this night, Vega and Altair are closer together than at any other time of year. Chinese grannies say that if you stand under a grapevine, you can probably overhear what Zhi Nu and Niu Lang are saying to one another.
If you’d like to find out more about our projects in China, click HERE
Ever wondered what goes on in a Chinese school? Well there is now a television programme about exactly that, we’re hooked on it here at Travellers!
It offers a great insight into the country and what it would be like to volunteer there! If you’d like to have a look yourself, click on the picture below and it will take you to Link TV where you can view the entire season:
If you’d like to find out more about our projects in China, click HERE
