Wednesday, 22 September 2010

Video: Mid-autumn day in China CCTV News

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!



I just found a link about the festival on CCTV, as the newscaster said, it is a day for family reunion.Ohh...now I am OFFICIALLY missing my family back home indeed.

Video: Wednesday marks Mid-autumn day in China CCTV News - CNTV English


Also there are different versions of the origin of Mid-Autumn Festival; personally, I prefer the Chang E one (sad & romantic). So have a look as if you may find different opinion from mine.

Legends of Mid-Autumn Festival CCTV News - CNTV English


What do people normally do on Mid-Autumn Festival? Not only appreciating the beauty of the BRIGHT & BIG full moon, but also having the delicious moon cakes of many different flavors.

VideoPick up your favorite moon cake CCTV News - CNTV English



Tuesday, 21 September 2010

Link : Typing Pinyin in Word

Finally! Finally! I don't need to insert any symbol to show the tone of each character!

My friend has found me a very useful software called "Pinyinput" - with it, you can just type Pinyin with tone marks in Word! No more symbol, no more copy and paste! Please check the link and download for your typing practice at home.

http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/10274-pinyinput-type-pinyin-with-tone-marks/

After installing, do Alt-Shift to cycle through the languages available on the toolbar (of course, we shall go for Chinese first), then Ctrl-Shift to cycle through the different Chinese input methods available (Pinyinput is one of the options).

So if you type "ni 3 hao 3", it shows "nǐhǎo" instead. Then you can save lots of your time to go shopping or having a cuppa with your friends.

Special thanks to Imron for sharing this fantastic tool and my lovely friend who passed me this link! Now we can all enjoy it! ^__^


Wednesday, 18 August 2010

Revolution


關於這一篇,我想用中文記錄,會更精準。

最近認識很多新的人,接觸新的事物,輸入新的能量。有舒服也有不舒服的。

我喜歡,會眾齊唱讚美的話語
我喜歡,孩童手足舞蹈跟不上節奏的可愛
我喜歡,盡力而為也接受失敗
我喜歡,刮去尖銳的誠實
我喜歡,追根究柢的過程因為不是無知接受
我喜歡,你打開了一點門縫悄悄地說出難得的真話
我喜歡,蝴蝶在我胃裡打轉的沉浮騷動
我喜歡,總是替人設想也愛自己的
我喜歡,自我表達但不亢不卑
我喜歡,春風一般溫柔的關懷
我喜歡,一見鍾情的詫異及驚嘆
我喜歡,人是脆弱非萬能的才能見到蟄伏的潛質

我懷疑,挑戰風格的對話只為引起注意
我懷疑,不同信仰就無法一起過一輩子
我懷疑,宗教只拿來貼標籤跟分班分小組
我懷疑,很多話都是言不由衷
我懷疑,人到底比動物高尚到哪去
我懷疑,真理總是在他方卻無法從自己開始

我喜歡的比懷疑多一點。
開心嗎最近?我是常常笑著的沒錯。

挑合適的鞋,但不要讓鞋挑選你。

腦袋打架,需要沉浸世俗的快樂,感受是個"人"。



Tuesday, 17 August 2010

It's all about TEA - Tea Processing Procedures



凍頂茶屬青茶類,是茶葉中兒茶素經氧化20~25%的輕醱酵素,外觀色澤新鮮墨綠,香味清香撲鼻,滋味圓滑醇厚,無窮甘潤的韻味怎麼來的呢?



1.日光萎凋

茶菁入場後應立即攤開散熱,藉太陽光之熱能加速茶菁水分蒸發,減少水分含量,使細胞中各化學成分得以藉酵素及氧化作用引起發酵之進行。

Fresh tea leaves should be spread separately right after entering the tea field. Then the heat of sunshine will accelerate the evaporation of the water within the fresh tea leaves to reduce the water content so that chemicals in the cells can proceed with fermentation by enzymes and oxygenation.

2.室內萎凋和浪青

茶菁日光萎凋後移入室內間隔靜置萎凋與攪拌動作,歷經十小時以上,讓茶葉進行發酵作用,自然產生香氣與醇厚滋味。

After drying in the sunshine, the tea leaves are moved indoors to be shrivelled by being placed still and tossed, in turns for at least ten hours. The tea leaves will ferment and emit natural fragrance and flavor during this stage.

3.殺青

以約350℃高溫熱炒破壞茶菁內部酵素活性,去除茶葉菁味及水份,使葉質柔軟便於揉捻成形。

Then the leaves are stir-fried with a high temperature of about 350℃ to stop the activity of the enzymes, thus reduce the fresh tea leaves’ smell and their water content.

4.揉捻

將炒熟的茶菁,使用揉捻機將茶菁揉捻成條型,破壞茶葉組織,使茶汁黏附於芽葉表面,留住茶之精華。

The stir-fried leaves are then rolled and ground into rolls, using a rolling machine, to break the cell structure of the leaves. This process keeps tea juice on the leaf surface and retains the astringent taste of the tea.

5.初乾

將揉捻葉解塊置於乾燥機初乾,蒸發茶葉表面水分,握之柔軟有彈性不黏手。加工至此已深夜,將茶葉靜置隔日再行團揉。

The leaf rolls are then separated and put into a dryer to evaporate the water content in the leaves’ surface so that they are soft, flexible and not sticky. It is late night already after this process. The leaves are left still until next morning.


6.熱團揉

布揉捻團揉是藉著回鍋加熱,並用白色布巾包裹成球形,再以揉捻機揉捻數分,反覆此動作。

This process consists of two actions: the leaves are heated by a heating machine and then wrapped in white cloth in a shape of ball to be rolled and ground by the rolling machine for several minutes. These two actions take turns repeatedly.

7.再乾

揉捻出來之茶葉加以解塊,茶葉才不致一團一團絞結在一起。再將揉捻後之茶葉以甲種乾燥機再次進行乾燥,降低茶葉中之含水量使其乾燥。

The leaves are then separated so that the leaves will not be twisted up with each other.The leaves are dried again using the rotary dryer to reduce the leaves’ water content.

8.揀梗

經過乾燥完成後之茶葉,以人工挑撿方式撿去枝梗,使茶葉整體更具價值,並提升茶質。

The leaves after the drying process are picked manually to remove the stems. This method increases the value and quality of tea.

9.烘焙

毛茶在乾燥不足或精製過程中回潮時,以再乾將茶葉含水量降低至4%以下。再利用焙火之火候改善茶葉品質。烘焙出凍頂茶固定的焙火香、甘醇、喉韻及杯底香。

The crude tea is then passed through the refining process and the second drying process to reduce the water content to below 4%. Then the tea quality is further improved by the baking process which gives Dongding tea a baking fragrance, sweetness, and a special taste in the throat.

茶的商品包裝應該在茶之製造工序全部完成後為之,包括精製再乾以及必須的加工。茶之商品包裝應盡量減少開封包裝的次數,最好製作完成後一次包裝,直到消費者打開享用。

The packaging of tea products should be made after the whole process of tea manufacturing, including the refining, second drying and other necessary processes. The frequency of package opening should be reduced during product packaging; it is better to package tea products at one time, so they are not opened again until customers are about to enjoy them.

圖片來源:鹿谷鄉農會

Sunday, 15 August 2010

Happy Chinese Valentine's Day!


According to the Chinese legend, the 7th evening of July (in the lunar calendar) is the Chinese Valentine's Day (七夕情人節: qīxì qíngrénjié ; literally qīxì means " the 7th evening of the 7th lunar month" and qíngrénjié means "lover's day"). So, HAPPY CHINESE VALENTINE'S DAY, EVERYONE! It is on 16-Aug this year due to solar calendar!

And actually there is an old love story for this day that is about the 7th daughter of "Emperor of Heaven" (玉皇大帝:Yùhuángdàdì) called "Weaving Maid" (織女:Zhīnǔ) and an orphaned "cowherd" (牛郎:Niúláng). In fact, you can guess what they do or what they are good at from their names.

"Weaving Maid" (織女:Zhīnǔ) is good at handcrafting, especially weaving clothing. The Emperor likes her skill to weave rainbows and clouds to beautify the world. "Cowherd" (牛郎:Niúláng) is a poor orphaned boy living with his elder brother and sister-in-law. His brother inherited the land and house after their parents passed away. Poor "Cowherd" only owned an old ox and need to work on the farm with it everyday. So he took very good care of that old ox.

One day, when Cowherd rested under the tree after the farm work, he glimpsed at many beautiful fairies taking a river bath. It was love at the first sight when he saw "Weaving Maid". To repay Cowherd's kindness, the old ox helped Cowherd get to know the beautiful Weaving Maid. They fell in love and Weaving Maid broke the rules to marry an ordinary person on the earth.

Their happy life didn't last long until the Emperor of Heaven knew his beloved daughter broke the rules of Heaven and separated them. The 7th daughter was forced to move to the star Vega and the Cowherd moved to the star Altair. Unfortunately, they are allowed to meet only once a year on the day of 7th day of 7th lunar month. It is a sad love story indeed.

Nowadays, people in love like to go to the temple of Matchmaker and pray for their love and the possible marriage on this day. People still single will do the same thing to ask their luck of love in the Matchmaker temple.

For me, it would be great to have somebody special around to spend this day with but being single and remembered by friends and patient for the right one is more important. People need to learn to get along with ourselves first, so we can get along with the others. Simple philosophy but difficult to put into practice sometimes.