culture
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Blog 11: Tomatoes with Sugar or Salt?
When I was growing up in China we always ate fresh and raw tomatoes with sugar as a cold dish, whether we were at home or in a restaurant. I always refused to eat them because I like salty food. I disliked the cold, sweat and sour taste of tomatoes, especially during dinner when most dishes, including the warm dishes with tomatoes, are salty. I sometime murmured that I only liked raw tomatoes when they were salty and not sweet. But neither my parents nor anyone else thought it was a good idea. They all stared at me as if I were E.T. from another planet with a ridiculous custom.…
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Blog 10: Chinese New Year
Today is Chinese New Year, also popularly known as the Spring Festival or Lunar New Year. It is the longest and most important traditional festival for the Han Chinese. The origin of Chinese New Year celebration („Guo Nian“, 过年 in Chinese) is no longer known. But the tale that most people tell as the reason is that the word year, “Nian(年)“. In Chinese this was originally the name of a monster which always preyed on people the night before new year. To save the people a kindhearted immortal transformed himself into an old man. e told people to put red paper decorations on their windows and doors and to light…