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hem for taking that option a woman has the right to determine what happens in her own body what i do find incredibly sad is that even in this rapidly developing nation girls are still undervalued posted in family life in china uncategorized tagged abortion cfdna testing chinese population gender balance in china jianxi province one child policy 1 comment mind you don t cut yourself buying a knife in china posted on march 23 2019 by herschelian at the moment the uk seems to be experiencing a horrible tsunami of knife crimes some as a result of gang quarrels in the major cities but with other people being knifed on the streets at random so far the death toll in london for this year is 29 why i am not a criminal anthropologist nor a crime specialist so far be it from me to opine on what the causes of this unprecedented rise might be young people seem to think that because there is a danger of being stabbed they should carry a knife themselves for my own protection and of course that just escalates the problem britain has long had some hard but sensible laws about the carrying of kni ves i know because for 20 years i was a magistrate in the inner london youth courts and every day we had cases of young men charged with carrying knives in public actually the law never used the word knife it was always referred to as a bladed article and that covered everything from a samurai sword to a kitchen knife taken from home however the police would only discover that an individual was carrying a knife when they were apprehended for some other reason during the 2008 olympics concerned about potential violence china introduced specific legislation about the purchase and carrying of knives for security and safety reasons they restricted dangerous knives and required purchasers to register with the government when purchasing such knives these included knives with blood grooves any knife with a blade longer than 22cms 8 6 inches loc k blade knives cleavers and any knife with a blade of over 15cms in length which also has a point angle of less than 60 degrees carrying such knives was illegal whether you were chinese or a foreigner sized multi tool such as a leatherman are exempt as far as i understand three or four years ago my son visited us in china he is a keen cook and so are a couple of his friends and he wanted to buy two 菜刀 cai dao the ubiquitous chinese cleaver which is the workhorse of every chinese kitchen both domestic and commercial he had attended some cooking classes here in bj and been shown how versatile it is and how to use it there is a famous old kitchenware shop in south beijing known for its range of cook s knives so off we set it is a tiny little place crammed to the rafters with boxes of kitchen knives cleavers sieves mandolins graters tongs etc etc we explained what we wanted to the elderly chap behind the counter and he brought out a few boxes for us to make a selection which we did but then he produced a large ledger and asked us for our beijing address and some photographic id we didn t have our passports with us but he was satisfied with my uk driving license everything was duly noted in the ledger under the date and then i had to sign it a year later we moved house in bj and i decided to re vamp my kitchen equipment so my dh and i went off to ikea we chucked new tin openers mixing bowls frying pans etc into the trolley with gay abandon then i decided i wanted three new knives to join my rather meager range at home in the knife section you could see the various knives but then you had to take up a cardboard token with the details of your chosen knife you couldn t take the knife itself to the checkout when you paid you were given another receipt which you then had to take to a special counter where they demanded your id copied it you had to sign then and only then were you given the knife knives you had bought so even ikea is being careful about selling knives obviously there are thousands of knives already in circulation in beijing and other chinese cities but when it comes to trying to control the use of knives for nefarious purposes you have to start somewhere at the moment it seems it would be easier to buy a gun in the usa then it is to buy a knife in china in the uk let us start controlling the purchase of knives the youths who buy and carry knives with intent to use them will not want to be identified by having to provide a valid address and photo id and then sign a book it would be a start posted in knives uncategorized 4 comments happy new year 2019 新年快乐 posted on february 1 2019 by herschelian my warmest good wishes for the year of the pig to all those who read my blog may you have peace prosperity and good health for the coming months spring festival 春季 chun jie is a very special time in chinese life it is the time when everyone heads back to their family home to spend time with parents grandparents and all the kith and kin the days before the new year sees the biggest migrations of humans anywhere in the world chunyun 春运 as this massive movement of people is called is quite mind boggling for most westerners as hundreds of millions descend on airports and railway stations or take to the roads loaded with gifts and carrying hong bao 红包 decorative red envelopes containing money to give to family and friends they cram into every square centimeter of the trains and ferries and the queues at airports have to be seen to be believed china has two long public holiday times spring festival aka new year and golden week which is at the beginning of october they have 7 days leave each time plus weekend time whilst golden week is a fixed time each year chinese new year fluctuates according to the lunar calendar this year the date is february 5th as i may have explained before the chinese zodiac is counted in a 12 year cycle each year is represented by an animal in order they are rat ox tiger rabbit dragon snake horse ram sheep goat monkey rooster dog pig the length of the whole cycle approximates the orbital period of jupiter which is the largest planet in our solar system why is the pig the last animal of the cycle well legend has it that when the jade emperor summoned the animals the greedy little pig stopped en route for a snack fell asleep and arrived late almost missing being included chinese people often ask very direct questions when they meet you for the first time a few years ago i was with two young women who were about to visit britain for the first time one of the things you mustn t do i said to them is ask a woman her age it is considered very rude and many women don t want to divulge how old they are why i was asked well some of them have a fear of being thought of as old and would rather you thought they were younger some may have been telling people including employers that they are five or ten years younger than they really are for a variety of reasons that is ridiculous one of the girls said to me all i have to do is ask and what zodiac year she is and i will know her age immediately because if she was born a dog she is not likely to say she is a snake people born in the year of the pig are thought to be extremely fortunate and my dh who was born in a golden pig year that s a whole nother story is considered particularly lucky what do i know i m only a tiger grrrr btw chinese astrologers here have predicted that prince harry and his wife megan who are having a pig baby will be having a son who knows posted in uncategorized 9 comments beggar s chicken a sunday lunch to remember posted on november 18 2018 by herschelian once upon a time long long ago in china s ancient past there was an emperor who was fleeing from his enemies after a battle he disguised himself as a beggar and whilst on the run being very hungry he stole a chicken fearing that the locals would know he had stolen it and tell his enemies where he was he hid it in the mud at the edge of a river when the danger had passed he retrieved the chicken now completely covered with mud and put it into his fire to cook when he thought it would be cooked he took it out of the fire and broke open the muddy covering which was now absolutely hard having been in the fire when he did so all the bird s feathers came away with the mud and the chicken was succulent and delicious that is one of the legends about how beggar s chicken came to be these days mud plays no part in preparing this masterpiece of chinese cuisine the bird has already been plucked and it is stuffed then wrapped in lotus leaves these are usually bought dried and then soaked until soft and following that a wrapping of heavy salted dough or pastry is sealed round the chicken it is then cooked slowly in an oven for between four and six hours then it will be brought to the dining table still in its carapace a hammer and knife will be produced and one of the guests will be invited to break open the wrapping to expose the bird recently our friend k who is a superb cook and her husband w invited us and other friends to their hutong house for sunday lunch after several delicious cold dishes traditional start to a chinese meal lotus three ways pickled stuffed with pork and deep fried into spicy crisps steamed savoury eggplant baby tomatoes with sour plum sauce and various other delights then they brought out the beggar s chicken wow wow wow one of us was handed the hammer and knife and invited to do the honours breaking through the heavy crust of dough proved harder than he had expected serious force was required but when he succeeded in breaking it open the most wonderful aroma permeated the room everyone went aaah simultaneously k had made a fantastic stuffing of sticky rice studded with bits of sichuan bacon and chopped shitake mushrooms as a side dish she served a big platter of wilted shredded green beans with slivers of smoked tofu all in a delicious sauce the chicken was sublime tender moist and full of flavour i have never had such a delicious roast chicken in my life conversation ceased as we all tucked in this is not a dish that is usually served in a private home as it is thought that only a professionally trained chef can prepare and cook it properly i have to say that is wrong this beggar s chicken cooked by k was the real deal a chicken any beggar would have died for i feel so privileged to know such a wonderful cook thank you k and w for a memorable sunday lunch posted in food drink uncategorized tagged beggar s chicken chinese cuisine food legends roast chicken sunday lunch 7 comments chopsticks everything you need to know part 1 posted on october 27 2018 by herschelian the world can be divided into 3 areas depending on how people eat their food the first area is where people use their hands to eat this area roughly speaking comprises most of africa the indian sub continent the middle east and arabia the second area is in the west and north of the globe europe and north and south america where cutlery knife fork spoon etc is used to eat food the final area is the huge swathe of asia comprising china korea vietnam malaysia etc and all the other east asian countries where chopsticks are used for eating this means that every single day several billion people use chopsticks so i thought i should know a bit more about them i recently acquired a copy of a book by q edward wang chopsticks a cultural culinary history it is so well written and mr wang s research and knowledge shines on every page it has been a joy to read and learn from his book it would seem from archaeological discoveries that chopsticks came into being in the northern part of china during the neolithic period ie about 5000 years ago at first they were used to aid the cooking of food you can imagine the scene a pot of hot water with meat and vegetables in it food sticks to pot needs to be stirred so whoever is cooking the the food picks up a stick or sticks to do that then rather than burn their hands and fingers trying to extract cooked items from the pot or the fire they realise that two sticks could be used as pincers to lift the pieces of food from the hot liquid from that starting point it was only a question of time before people started to use individual pairs of sticks to convey food from the communal pot to their own bowl and or mouth sticks which had been whittled to neat paired lengths were ideal for doing this and so chopsticks were born over the millennia their use spread throughout all the lands with which china had contact until everyone from java to japan used them as a matter of course originally very crude they became incredibly sophisticated as they could be made from many materials bamboo lacquered wood ivory now banned bone enamel and various metals gold chopsticks which would show wealth and status were not very efficient as the metal was too soft for practical use silver was prized particularly by kings emperors and top officials as it was thought that silver chopsticks would discolour immediately when touching poisoned foods and therefore warn whoever was about to eat not to take food from a particular dish there were and are many advantages to using chopsticks they cannot be used to pick up large pieces of food so most foods are cut and cooked in small pieces because the food is cut into smaller pieces it can cook quickly and requires less fuel thus china s cuisine has been much influenced by chopsticks likewise korean and japanese cuisines ceramic spoons developed later as an adjunct to a pair of chopsticks they were used to consume soups and soft foods and to feed infants small children and the very elderly bear in mind that whilst chopsticks were becoming more and more refined in china and even the very poorest people used them we brits were still eating using our hands a spoon and a slice of bread as a plate and a knife could be used to cut foods the spoon being the only true utensil forks first appeared in the byzantine empire and arrived in europe via venice it was not until the mid 16th century that they started being widely used by the wealthy the poor used their spoons and that meant that apart from big religious feast days they lived on a form of pottage in other words china was way ahead of the game when it came to eating in a civilized manner confucius himself deplored the idea that anyone would bring a knife to a dinner table with its potential to be used in violence if a dispute arose lord mccartney king george iii s envoy to china in 1793 was patronising in the extreme when he encountered chopsticks he said that the european methods of eating using knife fork and spoon were so superior that the chinese would quickly see the error of their ways and start using western cutlery ha ha he got that and so much else wrong about china of course the chinese do not call chopsticks chopsticks that is the name by which they are known in the english speaking world in mandarin chinese they are called kuaizi 筷子 which can be loosely translated as quick things so where did the name cho...