Festivals- Yawen

Festivals and customs in Hefei are almost the same as the traditional Chinese festivals and customs. Spring Festival, Lantern Festival in January 15 on the lunar calendar, Tomb Sweeping Day, Dragon Boast Festival on the 5th day of the fifth month in Chinese lunar calendar, Mid-Autumn Festival on August 15 in the lunar calendar and Double Nine Festival on the ninth day of the ninth of Chinese lunar month will all be celebrated in Hefei.

Hefei,China 17th February: People arrived at Hefei railway station as families gather to celebrate the forthcoming Chinese Spring Festival on February 17, 2015 in Hefei, China. 

The Mid-Autumn festival which falls on 8 August, is a big family reunion day, where all Chinese celebrate together. 

The Double Ninth Festival, also known as Chongyang Festival,  is held on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month.  It is also known as the Senior Citizens’ Festival. 

There are many more festivals being celebrated in China. In fact, some of the festivals we Singaporeans celebrate is also from China !!!

Food- Xin Hui

When you come to Hefei, the Luzhou Roast Duck must be the first recommended cuisine by the local tour guide. Luzhou Roast Duck originally was served to the royal court as the imperial dish. Until the period of Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), this cuisine could be found being cooked by local families.

You will be attracted by the duck's golden yellow shininess, crisp skin and tender meat. Compared to Beijing Roast Duck, it has moderate fat and salt, rich taste, and plenty nutrients.

In 1987 it was awarded to be the excellent food by Anhui province and commercial ministry. In 1983, it got the gold medal of the first session China Food Expo.

 2. Li Hongzhang Hodgepodge

It’s a popular dish named after Li Hongzhang (1823-1901), a top official of the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) from Anhui province, who made strenuous efforts to modernize the country that ended in several major rebellions. He became a leading figure in China's relations with the Western powers.

Li Hongzhang

It is said that when Li Hongzhang visited the United States, he invited some American friends to have dinner. After the entrée, Li mixed together all the ingredients he had left over and cooked up a new dish. All his guests praised the delicious concoction, and asked Li for its name. Li told them, in his distinctive Hefei dialect, that the dish was called "Zasui,” or “hodgepodge” in English. From then on, the dish was known as "Zasui,” or “Li Hongzhang Hodgepodge,” and became popular in both the U.S. and China. Its main ingredients include sea cucumber, fish maw, squid, bamboo shoots, dried beans, chicken, ham, egg yolk pudding, and pigeon eggs, liver and so on.

Cao Cao Chicken is also called Xiaoyao Chicken, and it is a famous local dish of Hefei.

It is said that Cao Cao as the General of Wei Kingdom stationed the army in Xiaoyaojin of Hefei. He was extremely busy with the military and political affairs that he was overtired and caught the illness. During the treatment, the kitcheners followed the words of doctors to add the Chinese traditional medicine into the chicken and made this chicken to be a medicine. Afterwards, Cao Cao gradually became better and often needed to eat this kind of chicken, so people called this chicken Cao Cao Chicken.

4. Lord Bao Fish (or Bao Gong Fish)

Lord Bao Fish is another well-known Hefei dish. This fish was originally found in a moat called Lord Bao River; hence it got the name Lord Bao Fish. This cuisine is a traditional cold dish - tender meat and dark reddish crisp skin.
In 1958, when Chairman Mao Zengdong visited Anhui province, the famous kitchener Liang Yugang specially cooked this dish and was highly praised by Chairman Mao.

Fashion- Emma

History

Based on historical discoveries, Chinese clothes dates back to the later era of Paleolithic Times (1.7 million years ago - the 21st century BC). Materials used were of animal skins and decorations were of small stones and animal teeth. The “real” clothes were not invented until about 5,000 years ago by the Yellow Emperor. By the Shang Dynasty (17th century BC - 1046 BC), the basic features of traditional Chinese attire were created, as well as the general pattern of blouse plus skirt. Later, the long gown appeared during the Zhou Dynasty (1046 - 256 BC) and it co-existed with the blouse-skirt combinations for thousands of years, improving further as time passed. Then a great change occurred with the formation of the Republic of China, when Mao Suit became popular among the males and cheongsam among the females. In the early period of the People’s Republic of China, Mao Suit stayed popular among not only males, but also females. Later in the 1970’s, when the country implemented reform and opening policy, the masses gradually turned to western-style attire.

Facts

As a vital part of Chinese civilization, traditional costumes play an important role in the country’s history and culture. Their basic features are cross-collar, wrapping the right lapel over the left, tying with sash and a form of blouse plus skirt or long gown. These features have been preserved for thousands of years till the time of the Republic of China (1912 – 1949AD), when Chinese Tunic Suit (Mao Suit) and cheongsam prevailed. Nowadays, however, most Chinese wear modern clothes in their daily lives, not much difference from their western counterparts. Traditional attires are only worn during certain festivals, ceremonies or religious occasions. However, they are often seen in Chinese television serials and movies. Many of the country’s ethnic minorities also wear their traditional costumes in their daily lives and they played an important role in the traditional Chinese clothing.  In addition to the basic features and patterns, traditional Chinese attires have many other features like appearance, cutting, decoration, color and design, etc, all of which changed over the various dynasties. For example, black is the most dignified color in the Xia Dynasty (21st - 17th century BC), white in the Shang Dynasty and red in the Zhou Dynasty. They also vary based on one’s political position, social status, occupation and gender, etc. For instance, dragon embroideries and bright yellow can only be used by emperors most of the time; in the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907 AD), purple official costumes are for the fifth or higher rank officials; in the Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911 AD), the higher a person’s social rank or the richer one was, the more embroideries and borders there were on his attires.

Pictures

Folks- Josiah

Notable figures of Hefei

Bao Zheng (999–1062), Northern Song dynasty bureaucrat and judge whose name has become synonymous with judicial wisdom and uprightness.During his twenty five years in civil service, Bao consistently demonstrated extreme honesty and uprightness, with actions such as sentencing his own uncle, impeaching an uncle of Emperor Renzong's favourite concubine and punishing powerful families.Nicknamed "Justice Bao" (包青天), Bao Zheng today is respected as the cultural symbol of justice in Greater China. What left the deepest impression in me is that when he died  It was recorded that he left the following warning for his family: "Any of my descendants who commits bribery as an official shall not be allowed back home nor buried in the family burial site. He who shares not my values is not my descendant. Built in 1066, his burial site in Hefei contains his tomb along with the tombs of family members and a memorial temple.

Han Qizhi, (b. 1970), first person to climb up the tallest building in China. He was the first person to climb the exterior of the Jin Mao Tower.^[1] At 88 stories, the Jin Mao was the tallest building in China at the time—and 5th tallest building in the world (measured by roof height). In early March 2001, Han walked around the building at ground level a couple of times with a companion before removing his jacket and starting upwards.^[2] An official report would later say he was "struck by a rash impulse" before climbing the skyscraper while barehanded and while wearing regular day clothes. What struck me most was that  Han had no professional climbing experience. Apparently a hope that his feat might bring fame to himself and to his shoe business in Hefei was a factor.

                                                  

Beliefs

A Chinese kid gets a haircut in Hefei, Anhui province. According to beliefs in traditional Chinese culture, getting a haircut on the second day of the second Chinese lunar month is likely to bring good luck.

China's culture

What are your perceptions of Chinese people and their culture?

Traditional

-Very traditional as they practice olden days methods and teachings on their younger generation.

Rude and uncivilized

-They may speak in a very rude and uncivilized manner as they are brought up differently from us.

Unfair

e.g. Beijing has better facility as it is the capital??many of the other China small countries who have lower standards.

Proud and arrogant

-Transfer students they are proud of their country and think that they are the best at everything. They are also very competitive and wants to compete with almost everything. 

Very aware of their image

-They like branded goods even if it is fake

-Students are hardcore and they want to ace every subject

Singapore's National Icon-George

Do you think the merlion is the best national icon Singapore can have?

Personally, even though many people think that the Merlion should be our national icon and many foreigners think so, I don't think or feel that the Merlion exactly defines Singapore as a country. When I was young, I didn't think much about and went along with everybody else. But now, thinking deeper, I don't feel this is so. Why not? Firstly, what the heck is a Merlion? People who never heard of it or don't know what is is may guess, is is a mermaid plus a lion? A female lion? A chimera? Who knows? A Merlion is a huge statue of a lion and a fish near the Fullerton Hotel. But what exactly does it symbolize? When Sang Nila Utama, a prince, discovered Singapore, he saw a majestic animal, who his adviser told him is a lion, a Singa. And the fish part is that Singapore has a history of a fishing village. But firstly and scientifically, there is no proven evidence in our region and regions near Singapore, there has never been lions! (Unless you count the ones in the Singapore Zoo) So the animal he saw may not even have been a lion in the first place. Secondly, common sense, nowadays, to be frank, lesser and lesser people seem to even care about the history of some place. It has even been ranked that 80% of the current teenager population don't even care about the history about the country they go to or visit. (Excluding me) They tend to focus more on the present and future, which in short, is a booming city, a metropolis. So won't a city full of skyscrapers and casinos give people a better idea of Singapore. Alright, there are many cases, but what exactly is the POINT of a national icon? To me, it symbolizes of what the people aspire to be. To others, it may be something that represents their country, or what the country is famous for. (I'm stereotyping now, but honestly, when you think about Las Vegas, you think casinos and Ferraris).  Who determines the national icon? Everybody, everybody has a right, and majority wins. Do we actually NEED one? Honestly, yes, as nowadays, as shown in a survey conducted by reputable university in Boston. (Ahem... Harvard), quite a few people lack dreams and ambitions, and do not know what to do, and everyday they may feel a lack of purpose, but if we were to have a national icon, some people would understand the qualities of what it have and also try their best to achieve their vision or something. I would agree, there are many things out there which can be chosen as the national icon of Singapore, but personally, even though I will admit that when I think about Singapore, it's when school re-openes, the Merlion, Ferris Wheel, Chicken Rice and stuff,  I don't think the Merlion actually totally defines the idea of Singapore, 

Singapore's National icon-Xinhui

Do you think the merlion is the best national icon Singapore can have?

I feel that indeed, Singapore is a prominent icon widely recognised by tourists from other countries. The merlion is a representation of a lion and a fish. The lion is based on a legend of how Singapore was discovered by Sang Nila Utama. He sailed to Singapore, and the first thing he saw on this island is a lion, also known as a singa. As for the fish, it is because in the past, Singapore was a fishing village, and thus a fish is used as a representation. I also feel that merlion also represent Singapore as adaptable to changes. The merlion shows that underwater, the merlion can swim freely like a fish, and on land, it can roar like a lion. I feel that it can accurately represent Singapore as when Singapore gained independence and seperated from the Malaysia Merger, it was a helpless and weak country with no resources, full of corruption and had no defence measures. However, under the leadership of Lee kuan yew, who made changes and new plans. Singapore quickly undergo these changes and managed to overthrow corruption, and turned from a fishing village to a prosperous city. Thus it shows that Singapore is adaptable to changes. Thus i feel that merlion is a suitable icon for singapore.