VJG Niche Notes

Food

Chinese culture food can be roughly divided into the Northern and Southern styles of cooking. In general, Northern Chinese cooking dishes are oily without being cloying, and the flavors of vinegar and garlic tend to be more pronounced. Pasta plays an important role in Northern Chinese cooking; noodles, ravioli-like dumplings, steamed stuffed buns, fried meat dumplings, and steamed bread are favored flour-based treats. the cooking of Peking, Tientsin, and Shantung are perhaps the best known area styles of Northern Chinese cuisine.
Representing Southern Chinese cooking styles are Szechwan and Hunan cuisine, famous for their liberal use of chili peppers; the Kiangsu and Chekiang styles, which emphasize freshness and tenderness; and Cantonese food, which tends to be somewhat sweet, and full of variety. Rice and rice products such as rice noodles, rice cakes, and rice congee, are the usual accompaniments to Southern style cooking. In Chinese cooking, color aroma, and flavor share equal importance in the preparation of each dish. Normally, any one entree will combine three to five colors, selected from ingredients that are light green, dark green, red, yellow, white, black, or caramel-colored. Usually, a meat and vegetable dish is prepared from one main ingredient and two to three secondary ingredients of contrasting colors. It is then cooked with the appropriate method, seasonings and sauce to result in an aesthetically attractive dish.
A dish with a fragrant aroma will whet the appetite. Ingredients that contribute to a mouthwatering aroma are scallions, fresh ginger root, garlic, chili peppers, wine, star anise, stick cinnamon, pepper, sesame oil, dried Chinese black mushrooms, and so forth. Of foremost importance in cooking any dish is preserving the fresh, natural flavor of the ingredients, and removing any undesirable fishy or gamey odors. In Western cooking, lemon is often used to remove fishy flavors; in Chinese cooking, scallions and ginger serve a similar function. Soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, and other seasonings add richness to a dish without covering up the natural flavor of the ingredients. A well-prepared dish will be rich to those who like strong flavors, not over spiced to those who like a blander taste, sweet to those who like a sweet flavor, and hot to those who like a piquant flavor. A dish that is all of these things to all of these people is a truly successful dish.
Color, aroma, and flavor are not the only principles to be followed in Chinese cooking; nutrition of course the first concern. A theory of the harmonization of foods can be traced back to the Shang dynasty (Chinese culture 16th to 11th century B.C.) scholar Yi Yin. He related the five flavors of sweet, sour, bitter, piquant, and salty to the nutritional needs of the five major organ Systems of the body (the heart, liver, spleen/pancreas, lungs, and kidneys), and stresses their role in maintaining good physical health. In fact, many of the plants used in Chinese cooking, such as scallions, fresh ginger root, garlic, dried lily buds, tree fungus, and so forth have properties of preventing and alleviating various illnesses. The Chinese culture have a traditional belief in the medicinal value of food, and that food and medicine share the same origin. This view could be considered a forerunner of nutritional science of China. Notable in this theory is the concept that a correct proportion of meat to vegetable ingredients should be maintained; one third of meat-based food should be vegetable ingredients, and one-third of vegetable-based dishes should be meat. In preparing soups, the quantity of water used should total seven-tenths the volume of the serving bowl. In short, the correct ingredient proportions must be adhered to be in the preparation of each dish or soup in order to ensure full nutritional value.
The Chinese culture have a number of rules and customs associated with eating. For example, meals must be taken while seated; there is a set order of who may be seated first among men, women, old and young; and the main courses must be eaten arranged on a per table basis, with each table usually seating ten to twelve persons. A typical banquet consists of four appetizer dishes, such as cold cut platters or hot hors d'oeuvres; six to eight main courses; then one savory snack-type fish and a dessert. The methods of preparation include stir-frying, stewing, steaming, deep-frying, flash-frying, pan-frying, and so forth. A dish may be savory, sweet, tart, or piquant. The main colors of a dish may include red, yellow, green, white and caramel color. Food garnishes, such as cut or sculptured tomatoes, Chinese white radishes, cucumbers, and so forth, may be used to add to the visual appeal of a dish. All of these elements contribute to making Chinese food a true feast for the eyes and nostrils as well as the taste buds.
In the cosmopolitan world, Chinese culture food is available in practically most cities around the world. However, experts tend to agree that Taipei is the on place in the world where you can find the "genuine" version of just about any kind of Chinese food imaginable. In fact, in any large city or little village in Taiwan, you do not have to walk very far to find a small restaurant; a few more steps will take you to a large and elaborate one. Even in home cooking, whether for everyday family meals or entertaining guests, food is prepared with sophistication and variety. Northern style dishes may included peking duck, smoked chicken, chafing dishes with sliced lamb, fish slices in sauce, beef with green pepper, and dried scallops with Chinese white radish balls. Representative of the Southern style of cooking are duck smoked with camphor and tea, chicken baked in salt, honey glazed ham, flash-fried shrimp, eggplant in soy sauce, Szechwan style bean curd... the variety is endless


Clothing
A clatter and crash of drums and gongs sound at a theater of Chinese Opera in Taipei as a young warrior appears on stage in traditional Chinese costume. From his head ascend two tall plumes, tracing in the air each movement and gesture he makes. Some might think these plumes are simply ornamental, but in fact they originate in the battle wear of the Warring States period (475-221 B.C.). Two feathers of a ho bird (a kind of pheasant good at fighting) were inserted into the headwear of warriors of this period to symbolize a bold and warlike spirit, that that of the ho. An outstanding characteristic of traditional Chinese clothing is not only an external expression of elegance, but also an inter symbolism. Each and every piece of traditional clothing communicates a vitality of its own. This combination of external form with internal symbolism is clearly exemplified in the pair of fighting pheasant feathers used in headwear.
Objects found in archaeological remains of China's Shantingtung culture, which flourished over 18,000 years ago, such as bone sewing needles, and stone beads and shells with holes bored in them, attest to the existence of the concept of ornamentation and the craft of sewing already in that age. Variety and system in clothing were roughly established by the era of the Yellow Emperor and the Emperors Yao and Shaun (about 4,500 years ago). Remains of woven silk and help articles and ancient ceramic figures further demonstrate the sophistication and refinement of clothing in the Shang dynasty (16th to 11th century B.C.).
The three main types of traditional Chinese clothing are the pien-fu, the ch'ang-p'ao , or long robe, and the shen-i. The pien-fu is an ancient two-piece ceremonial costume, including a tunic-like top extending to the knees, and a skirt reaching to the ankles; one had to wear a skirt on certain occasions in order to be properly dressed. A pien is a cylindrical ceremonial cap. Typical of these three types of clothing, besides their wide cut and voluminous sleeves, were a design utilizing mainly straight lines, and a loose fit forming natural folds, regardless of whether the garment was allowed to hang straight or was bound with a sash at the waist. All types of traditional Chinese garments, whether tunic and trousers or tunic and skirt, unitized a minimum number of stitches for the amount of cloth used. And because of their relatively plain design and structure, embroidered edgings, decorated bands, draped cloth or silks, embellishment on the shoulders, and sashes were often added as ornamentation. These decorative bands, appliquéd borders, and richly varied embroidered designs came to be one of the unique features of traditional Chinese dress.
Darker colors were favored over lighter ones in traditional Chinese clothing, so the main color of ceremonial clothing tended to be dark, accented with elaborate embroidered or woven tapestry designs rendered in bright colors. Lighter colors were more frequently used by the common people in clothes for everyday and around the house. The Chinese associate certain colors with specific seasons, for example, green represents spring, red is for summer, white for autumn, and black for winter. The Chinese can be said to have a fully developed system of matching, coordinating, and contrasting colors and shades of light and dark in apparel.
Fashion designers today in the Taiwan are finding new ways to freely combine modern fashion aesthetics and trends with traditional Chinese symbols of good fortune. The great wealth of source material has resulted in a plethora of eye-catching designs for children's and young people's clothing, including guardian  deities, lions, the eight trigrams, and masks of Chinese opera characters. Another more ancient source of printed, woven, embroidered, and appliquéd design for clothes is Chinese bronzes. Some of these distinctive and unusual designs include dragons, phoenixes, clouds, and lightning. Motifs from traditional Chinese painting, whether bold or refined, often find their way into woven or printed fashion designs, creating a beautiful and striking look.
Traditional Chinese macramé has broad applications in fashion; it may be used to ornament borders, shoulders, bodices, pockets, seams, and openings, as well as in belts, hair ornaments, and necklaces. Some successful examples of combinations of modern and traditional fashion elements are the modern bridal tiara, based on a Sung Dynasty design originally worn over a coiled coiffure; the Hunan Province style embroidered sash made in the traditional Chinese colors of pure red, blue, and green; and traditional sachets and pendants.
The ch'i-p'ao is a traditional Manchu design still popular today.
In modern Taiwan society, men are frequently seen at social occasions wearing the dignified and refined traditional Chinese long gown, Women often wear the ch'i-p'ao, a modified form of a traditional Ch'ing Dynasty fashion, on formal occasions. There are endless variations of height, length, width, and ornamentation in the collar, sleeves, skirt length, and basic cut of this elegant and very feminine Oriental fashion. From these examples, it can be seen how traditional Chinese dress is the spring of modern fashion.
In the wax museum of the Chinese Culture and Movie Center in Taipei, and at the Museum of Costume and Adornment of Shih Chien Home Economics College, you can see comprehensive and carefully researched collections of traditional Chinese men's and women's fashions from over the ages. A visit to one of these collections is both enjoyable and educational.
The people of Taiwan not only incorporate traditional Chinese dress into modern life; they have taken the silk making, spinning, and weaving techniques developed by the ancient Chinese a step further, and created modern textile industries around them. Through these industries, Taiwan residents can enjoy beautiful fashions with traditional features and modern chic.
























Housing
The basic feature of Chinese architecture is rectangular-shaped units of space joined together into a whole. Temples in ancient Greece also employed rectangular spaces, but the overall effect tended to austerity. The Chinese style, by contrast, combines rectangular shapes varying in size and position according to importance into an organic whole, with each level and component clearly distinguished. As a result, traditional Chinese style buildings have an imposing yet dynamic and intriguing exterior.
The combination of units of space in traditional Chinese architecture abides by the principles of balance and symmetry. The main structure is the axis, and the secondary structures are positioned as two wings on either side to form the main rooms and yard. Residences, official buildings, temples, and palaces all follow these same basic principles. The distribution of interior space reflects Chinese social and ethical values. In traditional residential buildings, for example, members of a family are assigned living quarters based on the family hierarchy. The master of the house occupies the main room, the elder members of the master's family live in the compound in back, and the younger members of the family live in the wings to the left and right; those with seniority on the left, and the others on the right.
Another characteristic of Chinese architecture is its use of a wooden structural frame with pillars and beams, and earthen walls surrounding the building on three sides. The main door and windows are in front. Chinese have used wood as a main construction material for thousands of years; wood to the Chinese represents life, and "life" is the main thing Chinese culture in its various forms endeavors to communicate. This feature has been preserved up to the present.
Traditional rectangular Chinese buildings are divided into several rooms, based on the structure of the wooden beams and pillars. In order to top the structure with a deep and over hanging roof, the Chinese invented their own particular type of support brackets, called tou-kung, which rise up level by level from each pillar. These brackets both support the structure and are also a distinctive and attractive ornamentation. This architectural style was later adopted by such countries as Korea and Japan.
Some special architectural features resulted from the use of wood. The first is that the depth and breadth of interior space is determined by the wooden structural frame. The second is the development of the technique of applying color lacquers to the structure to preserve the wood. These lacquers were made in brilliant, bold colors, and became one of the key identifying features of traditional Chinese architecture. Third is the technique of building a structure on a platform, to prevent damage from moisture. The height of the platform corresponds to the importance of the building. A high platform adds strength, sophistication, and stateliness to large buildings.
The highly varied color murals found on a traditional Chinese building have both symbolic and aesthetic significance, and may range from outlines of dragons and phoenixes and depictions of myths to paintings of landscapes, flowers, and birds. One notable architectural development in southern China, particularly in Taiwan, is fine wood sculpture. Such sculptures, together with the murals, give the structure an elegant and pleasing ornamental effect.
Most traditional architecture in Taiwan today traces its origins to southern Fukien and eastern Kwangtung provinces. There are many different types of traditional style residences in Taiwan, but most are variations and expansions on the central theme of the san-ho-yuan ("three-section com-pound," a central building with two wings attached perpendicular to either side) and the szu-ho-yuan ("four-section compound," a san-ho-yuan with a wall added in front to connect the two wings). Two examples of relatively large and well-known residences of these types are the Lin Family Compound in Panchiao, a suburb of Taipei, and the Lin Family Compound in Wufeng, near Taichung. In the past, relatively wealthy Chinese people would often set up a garden in the back or to the sides of the compound. Such gardens are to be found in the two Lin residences in Panchiao and Wufeng. They are larger in scale even than the Soochow Gardens in the Yangtze River Valley area.
A broad variety of architectural styles are employed in Chinese temples. The religions of the temples vary from Buddhist to Taoist to ancestral and folk religion, but all share the same basic temple structure. With Taiwan's rich folk religious tradition, temples are to be seen everywhere; they are one of the island's unique cultural features. A conservative estimate numbers Taiwan's temples at over 5,000, many of which have particular architectural significance. Some of the more famous and important examples of traditional Chinese temple architecture in Taiwan include the Lungshan Temple and Tienhou Temple in Lukang, the Lungshan Temple in Taipei, and the Chaotien Temple in Peikang. The Lungshan Temple in Lukang is particularly noted for its long history and sophisticated artistry.
The ornamentation on traditional buildings in Taiwan is especially exquisite; it is like a comprehensive Chinese folk art exhibit. Its main elements include color painting; calligraphy; wood, stone, and clay sculpture; ceramics; and cut-and-paste art. Thus an acquaintance with Chinese traditional architecture in Taiwan can at the same time be a gateway to understanding China's rich folk culture










Transportation
It is stated by leading authorities that no form of wheeled vehicle existed in China prior to the introduction from Central Asia of the chariot around 1200 b.c. For example, Stuart Piggott states in his most recent book that "Shang chariotry appears to mark the first appearance of any wheeled transport in the area which was to become the nucleus of Imperial China." And Edward Shaughnessy declares, "There is no evidence of any type in China to suggest a vehicular development leading up to the mature chariot." Furthermore, Western scholars maintain that early Bronze Age China only possessed the borrowed technology of the chariot and never possessed or invented any other forms of conveyance or hauling such as carts or wheelbarrows. For instance, in his recent survey on the origins of the Chinese chariot, Edward Shaughnessy declares that in the Shang period, "there is absolutely no artifactual evidence for other types of wheeled or tractive conveyance."



Rickshaws became a popular hit during the 19th and early 20th century. Rickshaw is a mode of human-powered transport: a runner draws a two-wheeled cart which seats one or two persons. They were later replaced by cycle rickshaws and auto rickshaws.

Motorized bicycles, motorcycles and other motorized vehicles are growing in numbers in Asian countries. The vehicles come in many shapes, sizes and forms. You will see some of the strangest motorized vehicles in both the cities and the country-side. This is especially true in the larger cities as affluence grows. The motorized bicycle is quickly replacing the bicycle. You can see their growth in numbers with each visit.

Subways and subway systems exist only in the major cities. They are insufficient for the population to take significant advantage. Inadequate subway systems is a major issue to the growth and health of these cities. Shanghai is a good example, where traffic congestion, air pollution from factories and a growing number of motorized vehicles is already a problem .