Jujubes (aka Chinese Dates)

I keep seeing these little apple looking fruits everywhere… I had to ask what they were… they are called Jujubes, or Chinese dates.  I have never seen dates in any form except dried… and only then when Mama would make Date Nut Loaf during the Christmas holidays.

Due to it's adaptability to grow in a wide variety of regions and it's abundance the shrub that grows them is hard to place.  It's original cultivation seems to stem from South Asia, possibly Syria or North India, but it has since spread across the continent and is slowly beginning to be cultivated within the U.S., Australia, and New Zealand. Indeed its ability to stand intensely cold winters and blazingly hot summers and still produce fruit abundantly has made it an easy cash crop and a staple for farmers.


So what is a jujube? Well, it's a small simple fruit that has a mellow and smooth taste of green apples but without the tartness of one. The flavor is muted with a sort of serene placidity the one might associate with a lazy Sunday. The texture is firm and crisp, and while not juicy it certainly isn't dry - it has a sort of airy freshness that comes from a small amount of petrified water within it's tense and tight fibrous body (however the fruit is tight, yet very light so one cannot call the texture fibrous, indeed the fruit's cells are so tiny that you can barely discern any fiber at all). At the center is a tiny, stone pit that holds tight to the flesh of the berry. However, when allowed to become a bit overripe they become a bit mucilaginous and are prescribed to help sooth sore throats; furthermore their taste becomes much sweeter.

The jujube is often candied or dried out and sugared like traditional dates. Wines and teas are commonly made from them as well for their subtle flavor that, when cured, becomes heady and supposedly quite an aphrodisiac. They are also used in medicine to supposedly alleviate stress and reduce anxiety. Jujubes are also very high in fiber.

It seems to last a long time in the refrigerator, which is pretty unusual for fruits or vegetables purchased in China.  My experience is that you get about 3-5 days on most things before it is spoiled.

I borrowed much of the commentary for this post from a site found on the internet when researching these little fruits. Added a few of my own comments and here ya go….

Have a blessed day!!!

October 24, 2011

Zhouzhuang Water Village… Saturday Tour Part 2

Friday, October 21, 2011

Sorry it has taken me a little while to get back to the Saturday expedition… it has been kinda crazy.  I picked up another Bible Study when the Revelations Study did not work out… it was full and I could not get in.  I talked about trying to get in for the Spring Study… Paulyn, the coordinator, asked if I would lead it… have to pray about that.   But until then, I signed up for ‘Jonah, A Life Interrupted’.  Anyway… time has gotten away from me… back to the tour.

The last leg of the tour was the Water Village.  It was charming.  And you will understand why when you read about the history.  Incredible it has survived all these centuries!!

Zhouzhuang is a township of Kunshan City - a county-level city under the jurisdiction of Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province. The town is situated between Suzhou and Shanghai, 30 km the southeast of Suzhou and 60 km the southwest of Shanghai. 

In the Spring and Autumn Period, Zhouzhuang was a part of the King of Wu and called Yaocheng. It was called Zhouzhuang after ZhouDigong donated more than 200 acres to the local Quanfu Temple during the Yuan Dynasty (1860). By the mid-Yuan Dynasty, Wanshan Shen was using its superior geographical advantage to do trade, hence, Zhouzhuang became a distribution center of food, silk, ceramics, arts and crafts in the south of China. It was officially named Zhouzhuang town on the beginning of Qing Dynasty.

Dubbed 'Venice of the East', this town boasts the best water town preserved in China. The town has a history of over 900 years and most of residencies and houses in the town were built in Ming (1368-1644) or Qing Dynasties (1644-1911).  The rivers and streams in Zhouzhuang crisscross the town and are spanned by 14 stone-arch bridges constructed in Yuan (1271-1368), Ming, and Qing Dynasties. Many thanks to these waterways, the town avoided the chaos that might be caused by wars in the past dynasties and most of its architectural layouts have eventually remained intact.

There are many fantastic places and views to visit and see, including Twin Bridges, Fuan Bridge, Shen House, Milou Tower, and more. Many bridges in the town show unique bridge traditions different from other designs. The most amazing view displays a house where a boat can enter the property through the front gate and sail through the courtyard.

The public was aware of the beauty of Zhouzhuang in 1985 after the painting, the Remembrance of My Hometown, by Chen Yifei, was presented to Deng Xiaoping, China’s most respected political veteran, by Mr. Armand Hammer, chairman the board of the Occidental Petroleum Corporation of the United States.

It was a sight to see…

We happen to walk past a candy maker pounding the mixture… just like in Chendu.  We stopped and bought the same peanut candy that we had in Chendu.  It was waaaay more expensive though.  But we had not found it again… until  now.

The canals and bridges …

Below are the Twin Bridges… one goes east and west and the other goes north to south.

The architecture of the building and the foundation are impressive.  You can see places where they have been patched with more modern materials, but the original retaining walls are visible as well.  Guard rails are new… most likely installed when they opened the city to tourists.

The first site we visited, once inside the city, was ‘The Hall of Shen’s Residence’.  Built in 1742 and located at the southeast side of Fu’an Bridge, Shen’s house was the private property of the descendant of Shen Wansan, who was the first millionaire of the south of Yantze River in the early Qing Dynasty.  

His property was envied by the king and he personally funded to repair one-third of the Nanjing Ming city wall.  He has many industries in various places, but he always made Zhouzhuang as his foundation. The whole building is Qing-style.  Shen’s house occupies an area of more than 2,000 square meters (half an acre) and over 100 rooms.  

It consists of three parts.  The first part is the wall of the water gate and pier, which is used by Shen's family moored boats and washed clothes. The middle part includes the gate tower, the tearoom and the main hall. Tea room and main hall are places for serving guests, and handling weddings, funerals and other events.  The furnishings in here are all very elegant.

The main hall called “Songmao hall” covers an area of 170 square meters and up to 6 meters. It carved very vivid figures, beast, and pavilions. The last section is the two-storied dwelling which consists of several buildings which are quite different from the main hall, more comfortable and refined in pattern and atmosphere.

Unfortunately there were a few casualties from the Cultural Revolution.  This photo is an example of that… note the carvings that have been broken and smashed.  To have survived until the 1960’s and then needless destruction... what a tragedy!

Getting our history lesson from Frank, our guide.  That is him in the pink shirt. 

In the receiving room…

A sitting room for the men… the bench across the room is quite deep… it is where the men would sit and drink tea and smoke opium.

 Mr Shen himself…

The dining room… it is a series of small tables rather than one really long one… I thought that was kinda interesting… one for the men…one for the women… and then the  children.

Back on the canals again… some are fairly wide as you see below… but others are really narrow.   In the village area we expected to see the canals and boats for the tourists, but it is a way of life here.  As we drove through other areas getting to and from the village itself… the canals were everywhere.  Boats were tied up behind houses.  We were told vendors still move their wares up and down the canals to sell to the locals… fish, fruits and veggies, and anything else one might be peddling.

No trip to a place called Little Venice would be complete without a gondola ride.  So we cruised the canals being serenaded by our gondolier.  Of course there was an expectation for donations for the songs… but it was worth it.  Oh… take note… almost all the gondoliers were women!

The gondola ride is over and time to head back to our little yellow bus.  It has been a long day and still have a long ride back.

Vendors along the walks on the way to the bus…

The lack of caffeine today had my head pounding… and I am guessing that the lack of much food probably contributed too.  I asked the driver to stop if he saw a fruit vendor… I need something to eat and figured a couple of bananas might help.  Fortunately we found several and stopped. 

As it turns out, we got into major traffic going back and what should have been about an hour and 40 minutes ended up being about three hours.  We had to drop off the others in Puxi before we would be heading across the river to Pudong.  I was grateful for the bananas by the time we got home at around 9pm. 

We were both completely exhausted when we drug ourselves into the apartment.  We enjoyed the day and were glad we had gone.  We will definitely be doing these kinds of excursions again because even though it was a long day, we got to see and experience places which we will never have this opportunity again.

 

  

Remember your fork...

I saw this posted on Facebook by a friend of mine... it was so touching I wanted to share it on the blog...

An amazing story... I hope it touches you too.

There was a young woman who had been diagnosed with a terminal illness and had been given three months to live. So as she was getting her things 'in order,' she contacted her Pastor and had him come to her house to discuss certain aspects of her final wishes.

She told him which songs she wanted sung at the service, what scriptures she would like read, and what outfit she wanted to be buried in.

Everything was in order and the Pastor was preparing to leave when the young woman suddenly remembered something very important to her.

'There's one more thing,' she said excitedly.

'What's that?' came the Pastor's reply.

'This is very important,' the young woman continued. 'I want to be buried with a fork in my right hand.'

The Pastor stood looking at the young woman, not knowing quite what to say.

That surprises you, doesn't it?' the young woman asked.

'Well, to be honest, I'm puzzled by the request,' said the Pastor.

The young woman explained. 'My grandmother once told me this story, and from that time on I have always tried to pass along its message to those I love and those who are in need of encouragement. In all my years of attending socials and dinners, I always remember that when the dishes of the main course were being cleared, someone would inevitably lean over and say, 'Keep your fork.' It was my favorite part because I knew that something better was coming...like velvety chocolate cake or deep-dish apple pie. Something wonderful… and with substance!'

So, I just want people to see me there in that casket with a fork in my hand and I want them to wonder 'What's with the fork?' Then I want you to tell them: 'Keep your fork... the best is yet to come.'

The Pastor's eyes welled up with tears of joy as he hugged the young woman good-bye. He knew this would be one of the last times he would see her before her death. But he also knew that the young woman had a better grasp of heaven than he did. She had a better grasp of what heaven would be like than many people twice her age, with twice as much experience and knowledge.  She KNEW that something better was coming.

At the funeral people were walking by the young woman's casket and they saw the cloak she was wearing and the fork placed in her right hand. Over and over, the Pastor heard the question, 'What's with the fork?' And over and over he smiled.

During his message, the Pastor told the people of the conversation he had with the young woman shortly before she died. He also told them about the fork and about what it symbolized to her. He told the people how he could not stop thinking about the fork and told them that they probably would not be able to stop thinking about it either.

He was right. So the next time you reach down for your fork let it remind you, ever so gently, that the best is yet to come. Friends are a very rare jewel, indeed. They make you smile and encourage you to succeed. Cherish the time you have, and the memories you share. Being friends with someone is not an opportunity, but a sweet responsibility.

Whoever you share this with…  I will bet they will think about it every time they pick up a fork!

And just remember...keep your fork!
The BEST is yet to come!

A Visit to Suzhou … Part 1

A Visit to Suzhou … Part 1

       and Zhouzhuang Water Village… Part 2

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

It had been a while since we had done any exploring, so we decided we would do a little day tour last Saturday to Suzhou and Zhouzhuang water village.  We thought it would be nice to get out of the city for a day since Michael’s work schedule has been so crazy.  So I booked the tour and they are coming to pick us up at 7:45am Saturday morning. 

For whatever reason, I just could not seem to get to sleep Friday night.  The alarm is set for 6am.  When it sounded I felt like I had just gotten in bed… but I rolled out like a good trooper.  I skipped the coffee as I knew it was a long ride to Suzhou and had no idea whether we would find western bathrooms or just squat pots.  And as we all know… I do not do squat pots!!!  First mistake… no coffee and no breakfast.

We are ready and out the door by 7:35am to walk to the front gate to meet our tour bus.  We are almost to the gate when we ran into a young fellow in a pink shirt.  He approaches us and sure enough he is, Frank, our guide for the day.  He has ridden the subway to meet up with us and the bus. 

Much to our dismay there has been a misunderstanding with the bus driver and he is thinking 8:45am pickup…oops!!!  So after about 20 mins of back and forth with the driver, we load up in a cab and head for Puxi to meet up with the bus at the next pickup location at a hotel close to YuYuan Gardens.  We get there only minutes before the bus so all is back on track. 

The bus is canary yellow… you can see it a mile away.  The seats are so close that leg room is non-existent!!!  Far worse than any airline I have ever taken!!  I am grateful that the bus seats about 20 people and there are only 9 of us counting the guide.  At least we can sit sideways with our legs and feet in the center aisle.  And little did we realize… the shocks were completely shot… what a day we were going to have!!!

We collect Andrea and Jada, a couple of girls from Sydney, Australia who have come to Shanghai for a long weekend.  Now that is an ambitious weekend… the flight is 11 hours from Sydney.  They were both friendly and just fun ladies.  They worked for Qantas Airlines.  They were taking advantage of one of the perks for working for an airline!  However I think the 11 hour flight would have been a bit of a deterrent for me.  But they vowed to spend very little time sleeping for the 3 days they are here… better them than I for sure!

Now… we move on to the Intercontinental Hotel off Nanjing Lu to pick up the last 4 folks of the tour group.  We get there and are one short.  He is sick and cannot join in the tour so we pick up the 3 men and we are off.  The guys we picked up are from Chicago! 

The ride from Shanghai to Suzhou is 1 hour and 40 minutes.  It was nice to see beyond the limits of Shanghai.  However it was a long time before we saw any country sides to speak of.  It was like one long metropolitan area for the most part all the way to Suzhou.

Here is a little background of Suzhou…

Suzhou (Chinese: 苏; pinyin: Sūzhōu; Suzhou dialect: 州[səu tsøʏ]), previously transliterated as Su-chou, Suchow, and Soochow, is a major city located in the southeast of Jiangsu Province in Eastern China, located adjacent to Shanghai Municipality. The city is situated on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and on the shores of Taihu Lake and is a part of the Yangtze River Delta region. Administratively, Suzhou is a prefecture-level city with an urban population of over 4 million expanding to over 10 million in the administrative area.
Originally founded in 514 BCE, Suzhou has over 2,500 years of rich history, and relics of the past are abundant to this day. The city's canals, stone bridges, pagodas, and meticulously designed gardens have contributed to its status as one of the top tourist attractions in China. Since the Song Dynasty (960-1279), it has also been an important center for China's silk industry. The classical gardens in Suzhou were added to the list of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1997 and 2000. Suzhou is often dubbed the "Venice of the East" or "Venice of China".

For more details on the city, you can visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzhou. 

First stop in Suzhou was the Garden of the Master of the Nets. The Master of the Nets garden, then called Ten Thousand Volume Hall, was first constructed in 1140 by Shi Zhengzhi the Deputy Civil Service Minster of the Southern Song Dynasty government.  Shi Zhengzhi was inspired by the simple and solitary life of a Chinese fisherman depicted in philosophical writings. After his death the garden passed through numerous ownerships and subsequently fell into disarray until around 1785 when it was restored by Song Zongyuan, a retired government official of the Qing Dynasty.  He drastically redesigned the garden and added multiple buildings, but retained the spirit of the site. He often referred to himself as a fisherman and renamed it the Master of the Nets Garden, as an allusion to the simple life of a fisherman.

Ownership passed to Qu Yuancun, a scholar well-versed in the classics and literature, in 1795. He added and remodeling buildings, planted trees, and arranged stones. The garden acquired the nickname of Qu's Garden during this period as well as its first acclaim by critics.  Ownership passed to Li Hongyi, an imperial official and master calligrapher in 1868.  About half of the steles in the garden are inscribed by him. Ownership passed to He Chang in 1940, who restored both the garden and returned the name back to Master of Nets Garden.  He stipulated in his will the garden should be donated to the government. In 1958 his daughter He Zehui gave the garden to the Suzhou government.

During the late 18th century it was recognized for its herbaceous peonies. In his Notes on the Master of Nets Garden, Qian Daxin stated, "A good integration of the delights of the village and town," and during the early 20th century it served as the studio of the celebrated landscape painter Zhang Daquin. Modern critic Chen Congzhou feels the Master of the Nets Garden is the best representation of all classical Chinese garden art, as stated in Famous Classical Gardens of China.

Our trek to the gardens…

This is a wonderful example of an official litter.  A little bit of history on the litter…

In Han China the elite travelled in light bamboo seats supported on a carrier's back like a backpack. In the Northern Wei Dynasty and the Northern and Southern Song Dynasties, wooden carriages on poles appear in painted landscape scrolls.

A commoner used a wooden or bamboo civil litter (Chinese: 民轿; pinyin: min2 jiao4), while the mandarin class used an official litter (Chinese: 官轿; pinyin: guan1 jiao4) enclosed in silk curtains.

The chair with perhaps the greatest importance was the bridal chair. A traditional bride is carried to her wedding ceremony by a "shoulder carriage" (Chinese: 肩舆; pinyin: jiān yú), usually hired. These were lacquered in an auspicious shade of red, richly ornamented and gilded, and were equipped with red silk curtains to screen the bride from onlookers.

                              Public sedan chair in Hong Kong, ca 1870

Sedan chairs were once the only public conveyance in Hong Kong, filling the role of cabs. Chair stands were found at all hotels, wharves, and major crossroads. Public chairs were licensed, and charged according to tariffs which would be displayed inside.   Private chairs were an important marker of a person's status. Civil officers' status was denoted by the number of bearers attached to his chair. Before Hong Kong's Peak Tram went into service in 1888, wealthy residents of The Peak were carried on sedan chairs by coolies up the steep paths to their residence including Sir Richard MacDonnell's (former Governor of Hong Kong) summer home, where they could take advantage of the cooler climate. Since 1975 an annual sedan chair race has been held to benefit the Matilda International Hospital and commemorate the practice of earlier days.

This is a beautiful painted map of the gardens.

All throughout the gardens there are amazing carvings.  Below are some examples of some of those carvings.  Some were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution, however many were saved.  It is a shame that so many of the historical antiques of China were destroyed.  Fortunately this garden was protected and managed to make it through without damage.

The following pictures are from our tour of this lovely garden and the house.

Isn’t this a lovely name for this receiving room for the women.  We are all aware of the ancient and not so ancient cultural sexism of China.  Women had a lower social position in their culture.  The room below was ‘their’ room.

Amazing!!!!  In the walkway…

Our Australian folks… Jada on the left and Andrea on the right!

It was truly a beautiful and tranquil garden.   Gardens of China seem to be more about rocks and trees intersecting with structures and water.  Never seems to be many flowers… if any.

From the gardens we are heading to the No. 1 Silk Factory.  Upon our arrival we are handed a discount card… which I am all too familiar with.  It is a good indication that there is a store with lots of products ready to be purchased.  Which there was!!!

But I will say… the discussion and tour of silk production was fascinating.  They grow special mulberry trees to feed the little silk worms.   They are specifically pruned to make the leaves huge with the most nutrients.

The growing silk worms are contained in large shallow baskets filled with the mulberry leaves.

These are amazing little critters.  They are smooth and soft.  And as with everything in China… nothing is wasted.  The poop from the worms is said to have properties that can ease arthritis or headaches among several other medical issues.  So they collect the poop and insert them in pillows.  They are called ‘Poop Pillows’!!

This place goes through the life cycle of the worms and then processes the silk.  The whole process is incredible.  There are racks of moths and eggs.

Where they spin their cocoons.

The full life cycle.

They heat them up to kill the larve inside.

They separate the larvae from the silk from the cocoons and it is wound onto rings.

 These are not wasted either… they are used for something too… just can not remember what the guide told us.

Raw silk is then laid out of the sun on the drying racks.

Then the silk is woven into fabric.  Did I mention this equipment they are using is ancient?  It is ancient!!  Since the factory was opened ancient.  The punch cards that are just above this picture are the templates for the design it is to weave.  They are strung together with string.  Pretty amazing stuff.

If the silk is to be used as batting for quilts, the wet cocoons are stretched.

The stretched silk is then stretched a little more…

From here we are ushered into the sales floor… where we promptly bought a silk California king quilt and cover.  Before we could get out, Michael talked me into a poop pillow!!!!  Now I sleep next to a silk worms poop!!!! What on earth could I be thinking… EEW!

Before we could leave Suzhou, we made a stop at the ancient wall that originally surrounded the city... which is surrounded by a moat… that’s right… a moat!!

What history we stepped into… humbling… just humbling.

From the wall, we went to the restaurant for a forgettable lunch.  But after lunch it just so happened that an embroidery place was right next door.  What a coincidence!  Although this was expected, I will say that the silk embroidery was unexpected.  The detail of the work was something to see.  There were 3 framed works, one of Mao, then Princess Diana, and lastly the Mona Lisa.  It absolutely looked like a fine oil painting, but in fact, was silk embroidery work.  I wish I could have taken a picture to show you, but no photos allowed.

As we moved through a few more rooms of various pictures done in embroidery, we were told that most of the works were done by experts and took years to complete.  As one might guess, we could not afford any of these that ran into the hundreds of thousands to the millions of RMB.  Even when we got to the cheap room… they were quite expensive.  So we left with no examples in our possession!

Next stop… Zhouzhuang Water Village… about 50 minutes away.