bak chang festival

[leetahbar]

today is DUAN WU JIE or the Dumpling Festival.

have u eaten your bak chang?

 

[halsey02]

today is DUAN WU JIE or the Dumpling Festival.

have u eaten your bak chang?

I like those perky ones off the chest!! ha ha ha

 

[leetahbar]

Re: bak chang festival - free bak changs@meil ling's

i dunno how to put it. this real incident which i just encountered while breakfasting with my li'l brother leetahsar.

there was a frail old auntie who was at mei ling market going tables to tables selling her home-made bak chang. many stallholders who were also selling bak changs frowned upon her. she was spoiling the market by selling her bak chang for only $1.

sadly and strangely, nobody dare to buy from her. dejectedly she approached a table where there were many aunties who gathered there for their breakfast after their tai chi session. the poor old auntie started canvassing her bak changs to them but to no avail.

finally instead of walking away, she gave up. she gave all her bak changs to the table of aunties and told them no need to pay. all free. the she walked away despondently.

one of the gang of aunties spotted leetahsar at my table. she smiled, approached our table and handed a bunch of bak changs to LTS saying it was free.

what to do? of course, LTS accepted and thank the auntie. we unwrapped and began to devour the changs. what do u know? they were pretty good!!

LTS was rather disappointed. he was disappointed that none of the aunties offered to pay something to the poor bak chang auntie. and i almost choked on my yummy nyonya chang :(

 

[leetahbar]

I like those perky ones off the chest!! ha ha ha

u mean the organic pairs with a big grapeseed on the tip?

 

[halsey02]

u mean the organic pairs with a big grapeseed on the tip?

Firmly steamed ones...past expiry dates ones..not accepted. Grapeseed must be fresh, not too big, not too small, not inverted...ha ha ha

 

[leetahbar]

Yahoo! Singapore Newsroom
Happy 端午节 (pronounced "duan wu jie"), everyone who celebrates it! Also known as the day where everyone eats dumplings or "Ba Zhang", it commemorates the patriotic poet Qu Yuan, who threw himself into a river out of grief, and people tossed rice dumplings into it to protect his body from the fish. Today, we bring you three places where you can try some dumplings with interesting variations of ingredients: http://bit.Iy/19oWaH1

 

[halsey02]

Yahoo! Singapore Newsroom
Happy 端午节 (pronounced "duan wu jie"), everyone who celebrates it! Also known as the day where everyone eats dumplings or "Ba Zhang", it commemorates the patriotic poet Qu Yuan, who threw himself into a river out of grief, and people tossed rice dumplings into it to protect his body from the fish. Today, we bring you three places where you can try some dumplings with interesting variations of ingredients: http://bit.Iy/19oWaH1

Thanks for the enlightenment, to me, it is dumpling day..yummy!!..especially if it is firm 'dumplings' with dimples..after eating the dumpling, wash down with tea ( tit goon yum) then eat the "dumplings with dimples"..yummy!!

 

[leetahbar]

The original is best.....the type with added salted ege yolk is the limit.

those restaurant trying to reinvent the wheel or fix what is not broken by those abalone, expensive ingredients are waste of time.
no longer bak chang.....taste like expensive glutinous rice only.
the only new variant i dun mind is the spicy shrimp versions.....

salted egg yolk is canto style.

there is a dessert stall selling such bak chang at $5 which is quite a big chang.

 

[leetahbar]

a teochew pal's wifey yesterday delievered a few dozens personally home-wrapped teochew bak chang.

there was a surprising filling within. the first few bite into her peppery chang was heavenly. then at the last bite, it was sweet and that was filled with tau sha.

very interesting chang combination of salty and sweet

 

[lianbeng]

lianbeng asked leetahbar: why must everybody eat bak chang or rice dumpling on this day? why other days nobody likes to eat? that would give sellers the signal to up prices right?

 

[leetahbar]

lianbeng asked leetahbar: why must everybody eat bak chang or rice dumpling on this day? why other days nobody likes to eat? that would give sellers the signal to up prices right?

why must everyone buy bak kwa during cny? same reason. all sheep to be butchered siong siong by evil profiteers. so if u extend this question: why pap is always voted in every 5 yrs?

answer? cos everyone can't live without loving being screwed daily by them . :p

 

[lianbeng]

why must everyone buy bak kwa during cny? same reason. all sheep to be butchered siong siong by evil profiteers. so if u extend this question: why pap is always voted in every 5 yrs?

answer? cos everyone can't live without loving being screwed daily by them . :p

lianbeng thanks u for reply!

 

[leetahbar]

tuan wu jie is china's lst gay festival???

Is China's Duanwu Festival the world's first gay Valentine's Day?
By Kenneth Tan and Horace Lu
A growing chorus of voices is challenging the official narrative of the great Warring States poet Qu Yuan (屈原) as a patriot who, in an apparent suicide in 278 BC, threw himself into the Miluo River holding a heavy rock to protest against the alliance of the state of Chu with the hegemonic Qin state.
The poet's memory is honoured annually today on Duanwu Festival (端午节) by millions of ethnic Chinese around the world with the eating of rice dumplings, which according to legend, were thrown off dragon boats by locals to feed the fish so they would not feed on his corpse.
Academics have proferred another reason for Qu Yuan's suicide than his supposed love for the nation. The poet, they say, was more of a romantic than a patriot, and it was his love for -- and subsequent abandonment -- by the King Huai of Chu (楚怀王) that led him to immerse himself into the river.
The thesis that Qu Yuan was a homosexual and a lover of his king was first put forth in 1944 by the Sichuan scholar Sun Cizhou. In Li Sao 《离骚》 ("Departing in Sorrow"), an allegorical poem in the Chuci 《楚辞》 poetry anthology, Qu Yuan falls into depression after his rejection by his lord and slanderous attacks by jealous officials surrounding the king.
Qu Yuan's references to the king as "美人" (beautiful man, or beautiful person) and "灵修" (restoration of the soul) were both terms widely used by women at that time to characterise their lovers, according to Sun. The poet's eventual suicide because the king had found other new lovers was a love story, not a patriotic story, said Sun.
Sun's views, while widely controversial at the time, came to be accepted by other notable academics. The Chuci expert Wen Yiduo (闻一多), for instance, described Sun's thesis as "completely correct.”
“Sun’s idea that Qu Yuan was a ‘弄臣’ [Editor's note: someone who offers entertainment to kings or emperors] is completely correct and grounded on historical facts...To be frank, Qu Yuan’s significance in literature will not only be diminished but might be enhanced. I believe we literature critics would welcome the facts Sun has presented, and not reject them.” wrote Wen at the time.
Chi Zhen (池桢), a history researcher at Tianjin-based Nankai University, later noted that Qu Yuan in fact had the ambition to improve his country's politics through his relationship with the king.
“‘美政’ (beautiful politics) was Qu Yuan’s ultimate ideal. It was the politics based on his pure and everlasting love with King Huai of Chu. In this relationship, both people have a shared and noble political ideal and, pushed by love, both strive for the well-being of the country and people,” wrote Chi in an essay published in 2007.
Such an idea was once close to reality when Qu Yuan was, at the height of his career, loved by King Huai of Chu. However, as the king gradually deserted him and the power struggle worsened, Qu’s dream soon shattered, and his “ Utopia based on homosexual politics disappeared in the Miluo River.”
Fang Gang (方刚), associate professor of gender studies at Beijing Forestry University, believes that Duanwu Festival is the first gay Valentine's Day in the history of civilisation, and that the recognisation of it as such would be a big move in "rectifying the name" (正名) of both Qu Yuan and the origins of the festival.
Sociologist Liu Chongshun (刘崇顺), however, remains cynical that Fang’s attempts to reposition the festival will be fruitful.
"The image of Qu Yuan (as a patriot) is one that has been formed over two millenia, and has become an immovable fixture in the history, culture and psyche of China," wrote Liu. "Inasmuch as Fang Gang's assertions may be grounded in reality, this is not something that can be changed overnight by anyone."
The debate over whether Duanwu Festival can rightly be called a gay Valentine's Day has ignited rancorous debate on microblogging platforms in China.
”This is an utter humiliation to years of traditional Chinese culture," fumed one Sina Weibo user.
"Even if Qu Yuan was really gay, must we remember him based on his sexual orientation?" asked another.
“This makes me want to throw up!" wrote yet another. "Why should society celebrate a phenomenon so perverse and evil as homosexuality?"
The criticisms, however, have not dampened the enthusiasm of members of China's LGBT community in claiming Duanwu Festival as their own Valentine's Day.
A-qiang, a Guangdong-based gay activist, wished his followers a “Happy Gay Valentine’s Day!” on the morning of the festival, and others have been following suit.
Amidst the debate, a voice of reason was offered by Zhu Xueqin, a feminist and psychiatrist based in Shanghai.
"Some gay people in China have completely embraced gay festivals from abroad -- Pride, and Stonewall and what have you. They're ready to accept history as told to them by others because it has nothing to do with China," she observed. "Whether Qu Yuan is gay or not is unimportant. The question here is why heterosexuals can have any day they want as Valentine's -- 2/14, 11/11, 5/20, 7/7 -- but when gay people want just one day, they're expected to provide a historical basis?"
"Why is it when people are told Qu Yuan committed suicide for the love of the nation, they are able to accept it without questioning, but when they're told Qu Yuan committed suicide because of love (for another man), they demand that you show proof and evidence? Why is there this double standard?"

 

[leetahbar]

Re: tuan wu jie is china's lst gay festival???

http://shanghaiist.com/2012/06/23/duanwu-festival-gay-valentines.php

 

[lianbeng]

Re: tuan wu jie is china's lst gay festival???

lianbeng asked leetahbar: how did this dragon boat thingy come into pic at Duan Wu Jie 端午节 or Rice Dumpling Festival? when the scholar Qu Yuan 屈原 threw himself into the lake with a rock tied around his neck, people actually rowed their boats to throw (dump) rice into the water to feed those fishes so that they won't eat the flesh of the corpse. So as more and more people raced their boats to the water, it became a boat racing event! tio boh?

 

[leetahbar]

Re: tuan wu jie is china's lst gay festival???

how does bak chang prices escalate like nobody's business during this festival?

bak changs have evolved from simple to very complicated and expensive stuffs.

 

[halsey02]

salted egg yolk is canto style.

there is a dessert stall selling such bak chang at $5 which is quite a big chang.

I like the Cantonese "zhong" with the yellow beans or was it soya beans, you eat this dip with powdered sugar, not to mistaken this for the "gan shui zhong" which is darker in color with nothing inside in which you dip in powdered sugar to eat too.

The one I am talking about is hard to find these days.

 

[lianbeng]

lianbeng prefers the authentic nonya bak chang wrapped in bright green leaves stuffed with winter melon strips and water-chestnuts and lots of ngor hiong powdered bak chor! usually very big in size like Mt. Fuji!

 

[leetahbar]

lianbeng prefers the authentic nonya bak chang wrapped in bright green leaves stuffed with winter melon strips and water-chestnuts and lots of ngor hiong powdered bak chor! usually very big in size like Mt. Fuji!

if u can use cup-size to describe would be clearer

 

[leetahbar]

I like the Cantonese "zhong" with the yellow beans or was it soya beans, you eat this dip with powdered sugar, not to mistaken this for the "gan shui zhong" which is darker in color with nothing inside in which you dip in powdered sugar to eat too.

The one I am talking about is hard to find these days.

the original bak chang was a simple treat which has evolved into very complex and very expensive tradition during bak chang festival.