Chinasage : All about China

With tension all around us in the world it is comforting that Chinese people are still able to see the funny side. The comedy form becoming increasingly popular is stand-up comedy. Comedians are filling theaters with people seeking a community able to have a laugh together at themselves and the world. The popularity of the simple set up of a comedian and a microphone took root in the UK and US some years ago and some US comedians ➚ have succeeded in importing this new form of entertainment in China using Hong Kong as the initial test of popularity (including Jo Wong ➚). Just telling non-stop jokes has not been a Chinese tradition and in the early days Chinese comedians could only afford to do it part-time. Now theaters are packed out and tickets command high prices. Some were recruited at 'open mic' evenings when anyone could turn up and have a go.

Guangzhou and Beijing now have a number of small theaters dedicated to stand-up comedy. Let's hope they can help make everyone a little less stressed out!

Fine vinegar has always been important in Chinese cuisine. It is far more complex than making a standard Western malt vinegar as like a fine wine different ingredients and processing give the vinegar unique and subtle flavors. Also like a fine wine vinegar is matured and a old vintages can command high prices. There are four main areas in China with renowned vinegars:

Zhenjiang black vinegar comes from Jiangsu province. It is made from rice, wheat, barley and peas. Different types of mold are used to produce the acid with some sweetness maintained.

Sichuan Baoning vinegar is produced further to the west and has its origin in the Ming dynasty. It is made from wheat bran with dozens of different herbs.

Fujian Yongchun red vinegar comes from the Eastern coast. The red color of the vinegar is imparted by a different kind of mold. The complex maturing process takes three years to complete.

Lastly Shanxi mature vinegar has the longest history - probably at least 2,500 years. It is produced from sorghum, barley and peas. No rice is used. It is matured in three and five year vintages. It is Shanxi vinegar that is in the news because the producers are making a lake of vinegar. The maturation process needs sunlight in summer and the winter cold so it needs to be exposed to the elements. The lake is part of a park created as a tourist attraction by the Shanxi Mature Vinegar Group Co Ltd. The lake is 886 feet [270 meters] long and up to 79 feet [24 meters] wide and can hold over 15,000 tons [13,607,775 kgs] of vinegar. It is said of Shanxi's citizens that they can't eat a meal without fine vinegar - it remains a passion in this northern province.

Because Chinese vinegar is made from herbs and some legumes it has a much more subtle flavor and is more nutritious. Many vinegars claim to be beneficial to health.

China is one of the few large countries that does not have an official national flower . England and the U.S. have the rose, Scotland the thistle, France the iris and India the lotus. China's National Flower Association has conducted a survey with the top candidates being: peony, plum (blossom) and orchid. The peony came top with 80% of the vote. It has long been used to symbolize beauty. It is a common garden plant in China and should the peony fall sick it was considered a bad omen form the family.

The big new page we've added attempts to summarize the Mongol conquest of China and Asia. Although Genghis khan is widely covered elsewhere we found very few maps that clearly show the expansion of the Mongol Empire and this made it hard to understand. We've also found some nice illustrations of the Mongol people and paintings of the Mongol conquest.

We've also added a new translation of the Thousand Character Classic ; Steles; Chinoiserie and the South China Sea. If there is a topic you would like us to cover then please let us know.

The Mongols in Hungary 1241. Hungary. Ink and paint on pergament. King Bela on the flight from the Mongols. The Mongol leader might be Qadan, a son of Ogedei. Painted 1358. Image by Szechenyi National Library available under a Creative Commons License ➚

The performing arts in China have a long history. Although modern media has reduced audiences there are still dedicated practitioners who spend their lives honing their skills at puppetry, story-telling, street theater, lion and dragon dancing.

We have added a page describing these art forms and by using a dozen carefully selected YouTube videos you can see these art-forms brought to life.

Our page on Chinese opera has proven very popular and we hope this new page will bring the less well known performing arts to wider attention.

The stimulus to writing this brief survey was the recent death of the noted Pingshu story-teller Shan Tianfang.