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2013 Qixi Festival in China 中国的七夕节

Magpie Festival/Qixi Festival, also known as Magpie Festival, falls on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month on the Chinese calendar. It falls on 13th August in 2013.

Magpie Festival/Qixi Festival comes from the ancient story of Niulang and Zhinv:

A young cowherd named Niulang, came across seven fairy sisters bathing in a lake. Encouraged by his mischievous companion the ox, he stole their clothes and waited to see what would happen. The fairy sisters elected the youngest and most beautiful sister Zhinv to retrieve their clothing. She agreed to do so, but since Niulang had seen her naked, she agreed to his request for marriage. She proved to be a wonderful wife, and Niulang to be a good husband. They lived happily and had two children. But the Goddess of Heaven found out that Zhinv, a fairy girl, had married a mere mortal. The Goddess was furious and ordered Zhinv to return to heaven. On Earth, Niulang was very upset that his wife had disappeared. Suddenly, his ox began to talk, telling him that if he killed it and put on its hide, he would be able to go up to Heaven to find his wife. Crying bitterly, he killed the ox, put on the skin, and carried his two beloved children off to Heaven to find Zhinv. The Goddess discovered this and was very angry. Taking out her hairpin, the Goddess scratched a wide river in the sky to separate the two lovers forever, thus forming the Milky Way between Altair and Vega.

Zhinv must sit forever on one side of the river, sadly weaving on her loom, while Niulang watches her from afar and takes care of their two children.

But once a year all the magpies in the world would take pity on them and fly up into heaven to form a bridge (鹊桥, "the bridge of magpies", Que Qiao) over the star Deneb in the Cygnus constellation so the lovers may be together for a single night, which is the seventh night of the seventh moon.

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Chinese Women Star: Cecilia Cheung(张柏芝)

Cecilia Cheung Pak-Chi is a Hong Kong actress and pop singer. She's famous for her roles in "The Lion Roars" (2002), "Lost in Time" (2003) and "The Promise" (2005). Cheung married actor and singer Nicholas Tse in 2006 and has two sons with him. Cheung can be most recently seen in this year's "All's Well, Ends Well 2011." Her income reached 30.5 million yuan (US$4.72 million) in the assessment period.

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Chinese Food 29: Beijing’s Traditional Specialty Dish Su Zao Rou 老北京特制菜苏造肉

Su Zao Rou (meat in broth) is unique to Beijing. It is neither homemade nor prepared for banquets. However, locals cherish a great fondness for this dish. The words “Su Zao” do not mean that the dish is cooked in the Suzhou style, but it is a common assumption. The recipe was from the court of the Qing Dynasty. Cooked with several traditional Chinese medicines and spices, the dish is appetizing and has many benefits for the spleen. Braising and simmering are very important in the cooking process. What the words “Su Zao” actually mean is that this dish is both soft and crisp.苏造肉是老北京特制菜肴，既不是家常自做，也不是筵宴所备。可是老北京人着实喜欢这一道菜。所谓“苏造”，并非仿照苏州口味烹造。原来是由清宫传出的做法，用多种中药和香料配合，有开胃健脾之功效。烹制时，着重于文火煨焖，“苏造”包含“酥造”的含义。
Main ingredients of Su Zao Rou are pork and pig offal. The secret of delicious Su Zao Rou lies in the stock and Su Zao broth. Famous braised pork with soy sauce depends on the proper preparation and preservation of stock. For example, Tianfu Restaurant is expert at stock, thus its famous braised pork shoulder with soy sauce is highly spoken of.做苏造肉的原料主要是猪肉及猪内脏，关键在于使用“老汤”和“苏造汤”。谁家酱肉出名，取决于它的“老汤”配制保存得法，如闻名的天福斋酱肘子就是以老汤取长。
Boiling the meat in the stock is the first procedure. The second and also the last procedure is making it soft and crisp. When preparing the Su Zao broth, add a proportional amount of soy sauce and salt into water. Grind the traditional Chinese medicines into powder, seal them in a small well-sewed cloth bag, and put the bag in the boiling soup. When the scent of medicines and seasoning is clear and fragrant, the Su Zao broth is ready and it can be used for simmering meat. Remaining Su Zao broth is preserved, increased and recycled just like stock.用老汤煮肉是做“苏造肉”的第一道工序。“苏造肉”是第二道工序，也是成品工序。调汤时也是用一定比例的水和酱油、盐，开锅后，把需要使用的中药品种碾成粉末，用布袋缝制装好放入汤中同煮，汤中发出药料及调料的香味时，即成苏造汤。用以煨肉。用后，剩下的苏造汤，其贮藏、保管和增加的方法，会与老汤相同，也是更迭使用。
Slice the meat and put it in a bowl (or pot or jar as appropriate), sprinkle the meat with the stock, and no other seasoning is necessary (spicy food lovers may add some spicy sesame oil). It is then ready to eat. It can be eaten together with wine or sesame pancakes. The broth is thick and fresh, and the meat is soft and crisp. Su Zao Rou is a unique and tasty dish suitable for people all ages.切好放在碗中（或盆、罐），浇上原汤，不需再放什么调料（若吃辣的可加辣椒香油），就可以吃了，或佐酒，或就着芝麻烧饼，芝麻火烧吃。其汤很浓，很鲜，肉也很酥烂绵软，糯香柔韧，老少皆宜，别具一格，回味无穷。 

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Baimu furniture

Cypress is Baimu, Bomu wood in China. Cypress is categorized along with nanmu in the Song dynasty Yingzao fashi categorizes as a "miscellaneous soft wood" (za ruanmu). Late Ming connoisseurs noted the use of Sichuan cypress as a suitable furniture-making material, and Qing dynasty records from the Yuanmingyuan also indicate that southern cypress was of comparable value to nanmu.

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Chiristmas food in China 中国圣诞节的传统食物

The safe fruit may be called the apple, because “the apple” also is the safe harmonics, moreover is the safe fruit's harmonics, therefore delivers the apple. Most starts to deliver the apple also is the source in China. The Christmas day day before, is called the Christmas Eve. Christmas Eve coming soon time, the people deliver the named “the safe fruit” gift.平安果可以叫苹果，因为“苹果”也是平平安安的谐音，而且是平安果的谐音，所以送苹果。 最开始送苹果也是源于中国。圣诞节的前一天，被称为平安夜。 平安夜即将来临之际，人们就送叫做“平安果”的礼物。

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