culture holic

Welcome to my tumblr. Here I will post some interesting culture of Xinjiang, recommended local food and my views on music, movies,etc.

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So, after my short review of Thailand, it’s time to write a blog more specifically on foods. Still, I’m going to focus on Thai foods. Miss my posts about Xinjiang foods? I will definitely posting new ones after my posts of Thailand, lol. OK, let’s start.

1.       Tom Yum Goong

Tom Yum Goong is my favorite dish in Thailand. Literally, I think it’s the most typical dish in Thailand that can represent Thai cuisine. Unlike foods in China, Thai foods are flavored by all kinds of tropical spices like some leaves. Tom Yum soup is really magical with sour, spicy and creamy flavor at the same time. Besides, the shrimps in the soup are really big and fresh. Also, I’m a huge mushroom lover. The mushroom in Tom Yum soup satisfies my requirement for delish. I would highly recommend every one visiting Thailand to try the soup. Aside from Tom Yum soup, there are also fried rice, noodles, even instant noodles in Tom Yum flavor and they are all delicious.

2.       Green curry and Red curry

Basically, I didn’t find any differences between these two kinds of curry. Thai curry is very different from that in Japan or India. It has a strong taste of coconut (I think they add lots of coconut milk in the curry). Thai curry is not that spicy, but it is worth trying.

3.       Mango sticky rice

This is a very typical dessert in Thailand. It’s really easy to make. Cut a mango into slices; get some sticky rice and some coconut milk. Done! I love the mango in Thailand so much. It’s juicy and sweet. Best mango I’ve ever eaten! However, I’m not really into coconut milk, so I would rate the dessert 7.5/10. If you are a mango lover, you definitely need to try the dish. There is also a very famous mango theme restaurant in Bangkok and Chiang Mai called Mango Tango, heaven for mango lovers.

4.       Pad Thai

Pad Thai is the favorite street food of Push, a Thai actor. You can find it almost everywhere. Thai are super into street food. You can see people selling Pad Thai on almost every street. Rice noodles there are very thin and chewy. They fried the rice noodle with shrimps, leaves and bean sprouts. Bean sprouts in Thailand are super big and fresh. I love its crispy tastes. I would recommend you to taste it at some local night market. Asiatique the Riverfront is a good one for tourists with amazing ferry’s wheel.

5.       Satay BBQ beef and chicken

This is the most common food you can find on every street. Satay is a popular sauce in southeastern Asia. I’ve had Satay when I was in Singapore. It’s a little bit sweet with some curry flavor as well. Pretty hard to describe the flavor, but it’s worth trying. BBQs are so cheap, for only 10 Baht each (about 30 cents each).

In conclusion, you can feel and experience Thai culture through their cuisine. These are flavors that you will never have in other parts of the world. If you have very limited time in Thailand or if you are not as foodie as I am and want to eat all the dishes in one place, you should go to Nara, one of the best Thai restaurants in Bangkok. It’s located in Central World, the biggest shopping mall in Bangkok. Fruits, on the other hand, are highly recommended. You can find the most ASIAN and tropical fruits here. Try durian or go home! LOL…

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Review of Thailand

Hey, guys. I’m now writing after my short trip to Bangkok. Bangkok is really a crowded city. Too much traffic. And I should have learned a little Thai before the trip. It may be a little hard for non-Thai speaking tourists to communicate with local merchants and drivers. So, I’m now giving a short review of my trip.

Where to visit: because I was in Bangkok for three days (Afterall, ACT test was my priority), I only visited the Grand Palace and several temples around it. OMG, it was gorgeous! I can’t believe my eyes. How can such a poor developing country build such a masterpiece! Every thing was built by real gold. Every tourist there prayed for good luck. Well, there is certain dress code. But no need to worry, there are many people selling dresses with local patterns in front of the entrance. The dress is 100 Thai Baht (about $2.5). It would be better if you bring bottled water with you, since you will get very thirsty walking around the large place and there isn’t water sold there. BTW, there are juicy and sweet baby pineapples sold outside the palace and I strongly recommend you to have a try. 

There are also other amazing places to go in Thailand, such as Crocodile Lake, water market and shopping centers. I went to Central Plaza Laprao and Big C supercenter. But I don’t recommend you to visit if you have very limited time. I would say malls in US are way better than those in Bangkok.

What to eat: I highly recommend Tom Yum Goong Soup. It’s the most traditional and typical Thai food with sour and spicy flavor. The main ingredients are shrimps, mushroom, coconut milk and chili. I love it so much. It’s the only food that I would love to eat every day in Thailand. I had Tom Yum Fried rice, many kinds of Tom Yum soup in different restaurants and even bought Tom Yum instant noodles back home. Besides, curry is also very famous in Thailand, including red curry, green curry and other types. But I still can’t tell the difference. Street foods are very popular in Thailand. If you have time, Asiatique the Riverfront is a must-visit night market. There are many local foods there, Pad Thai, curry crab, mango sticky rice and some BBQ. Thailand is also famous for tropical fruits. The Durian in Thailand is the best I’ve ever eaten. All the fruits are super cheap in Thailand. A big Durian is about $5. Juicy and sweet mangosteen is only 1 dollar per kilo. You can also try the chewy jackfruit.

Tips: 1. Learn some Thai before visit. It will be hard to communicate with locals in English sometimes. But if you are in some tourists spot, things will get easier.

   2. Bargain with merchants.

   3. If you can’t find some place, Taxi is a really good choice. It’s cheap to take a taxi.

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Going to Thailand!

Right now I’m waiting for my flight to Bangkok at the airport. I have to say that the whole delaying thing is super annoying; sometimes I just don’t get it why airline corporations can’t schedule their flight more accurately. I understand that there will be uncontrollable emergency happen, but can you believe what I have been through today. When it is supposed departure time, I asked the employee here to assure everything goes right; however, what I got was that the plane was still in another city! I was shocked!

Well, after my little complains, I’m still looking for my trip to Bangkok. Well, more accurately, my ACT test day! I’m really anxious, nervous, meanwhile super excited! This is my first time to travel to a Southeastern Asian country. I have read lots of reviews and recommendations about Thailand with all those fancy Buddhist temples, unique local foods and nice people. I can’t wait to explore and experience Southeastern Asian culture now! I believe it will be way different from the culture of my hometown, Xinjiang, where there is more Mideast influence. What I’ m dreaming about Thailand are Durians, mangos and Pad Thai. Besides, I heard they have good curry and other spices. Wow, it’s gonna be amazing for a girl growing up in the city farthest from the ocean to go to a tropical city. Imagine I’m wearing a floral dress and standing in the tropical forest.

In the coming a week, I’ll hang around in Bangkok and seeking for authentic Thai food and Thai culture. Even though I’m not a Buddhist, I still believe in Buddha and will love to go to a temple to pray. I will continue updating the reviews and recommendation of Thai food.

Wish me good luck with my upcoming ACT test and a good trip!

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Besties in Harvard Summer! Really miss you guys!

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Harvard Summer School

Wow, it’s been a really long time since I last posted. Literally, I had my best summer ever in my life. During the past two months, I went to Harvard summer school, went on a college visit alone in California and attended a training camp in Shanghai. Rich experience, huh? Before I went to Boston, what I expected for the summer would be the nerd life-studying all the time. But there in Harvard, I met the best professor and the nicest people I’ve ever known.

I chose 2 courses- political communication and writings on social and ethical issues. Actually, political communication is not really like what I expected. I thought it would be a class full of high school students, however, in my class only 3 out of 24 students is in high school. Most of them are undergrad, grad and even college professors. I was really inspired when I saw retired man keep learning in my class. I have 70-80 pages of readings to do every day, which is a lot to me who has been studying science in Chinese public high school. The other course is more interesting. It feels like a seminar more than a class. Every day before class, we need to read several ethical cases. The next day in class, we will discuss the case and express our opinions on it. Fun but still can’t compare with local kids in writing.

I have to say in this summer, I met a bunch of kids having the same interests and same dream, who become my closest friends. We hang out all the time, study together till midnight and share our little secrets. We went to a beach in Boston, even though not really nice beach but did have fun with all my besties. I still remember the time when we stayed all night up writing papers before due in science center. Believe it or not, some students even brought their blankets to the classroom to sleep. God, that’s crazy! There was a book once super popular in China, talking about how Harvard undergrads study till 4 am in the library… But from what I’ve learned, Widener Library closed at 10 pm on weekdays. I totally have no idea where this 4am story came from.

What Harvard summer school brought me are only those nice people and beautiful memories, but also a new perspective of seeing myself. I was asked what my passion is when I was in junior year. I’ve thought about the question the whole year and did not find an answer. During my 2 months in Harvard, I found out that dancing has become a part of my life. I used to hate it a lot, considering it as something I was forced to do by my mom. All my memories of dancing are those hard time doing gymnastic pieces to keep my body flexible. In the summer, I first find myself immersed in dancing on a dance party. Without any limitation of dancing rules, I moved my body along with the music and enjoyed so much. Then, it was the dance practice with my friends in ball room, where I was first confident about my talent. I performed a solo Xinjiang dancing on talent show, one of the biggest events in Harvard summer school. I still remember the screams, the applause and all the compliments. I even got flowers from a boy I used to have a crush on after the show! Amazing！I feel like I’ve become a more outgoing and more independent person. I have a different way of seeing the world and finally accept who I really am, instead of living in the limited figure other people created for me. I can be myself, a crazy social girl with a passion in dancing and communication, instead of being the figure other people created for me, a nice kid obeying every order from parents or teachers and getting perfect score all the time. I know that’s not me so clearly now.

I will never forget the summer I spent in Harvard, and I will never forget all of you wonderful people I met in Harvard. See you guys in one year!

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Liangpi

Summer is coming. It is pretty hot today, which makes me think of Liangpi in Xinjiang. Liangpi is the best food to keep you away from hotness in Xinjiang, especially for girls. If rice noodle is top 1 favorite for Xinjiang girls, Liangpi will be the second. Along with Liangpi, Xinjiang people often have Kebabs and Kawaz ( a local beer). Liangpi is made from flour. With its ice-like looking, liangpi tastes like cold jelly. Usually, people will put vinegar and chili in liangpi, to make it more delicious. Aside from liangpi, we have some other similar choices, including handmade one, beef tendon noodles and rice one.

 There are many small business selling liangpi everywhere in the city. You can also find the dish in fancy, big restaurants. The prices vary, but the tastes are nearly the same. Remember when you are ordering the dish, tell the cook your special requests on chili. Chili in Xinjiang is pretty hot.

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Modern Uyghur Girls. A Uyghur TV star in China-Dilireba

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Traditional Uyghur Girls.

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Inclusion of my last few weeks

 I’ve been really busy these days preparing for my standardized tests, so I haven’t upload any blogs, sorry to all my followers, even some just followed me for one or two days. It’s been a really hard time doing ACT practices. Math and science are fine with me, but as for English and reading, things are getting pretty complicated. Time is so limited and I was filling forms till the last second. For my first ACT, I got 32, still I’m not really satisfied with the score.

 I’m writing this on my flight to Hong Kong, not really a pleasant journey though. My flight has been delayed for more than two hours. Can you believe that, really a huge disaster! I used to consider Hong Kong airline as one of the best airlines. Now it seems that my assumption is completely wrong! Anyway, hope that my AP tests can go well.

 So, here are several things I’ve done and wanted to talk about in the past few months. As I just mentioned before, I went to Hong Kong in April and wanted to share some of my feelings. Because of my test center, I lived in the industrial area in Hong Kong, therefore I had a chance to view Hong Kong from a local perspective instead of that from a tourist. This time, Hong Kong is only a small city with high population density, instead of a prosperous tourism and shopping paradise. Even though public transportation is really convenient, it’s still easy to get lost for a stranger. I often get confused at a subway station for too many exits to choose. I’m really amazed at the intelligence of Hong Kong people; they perfectly solved the lack of area by building many exits to totally different directions and how they built their tiny roads. As well as the buildings and roads, people there are also of S size- short and slim. In my hometown, I’m nearly the shortest girl in my class, but in Hong Kong, I felt like being a giant. Here in Kwai Fong, the industrial area, foods are not as delicious and diverges in the city center. Local people here prefer to eat food from mainland, some kind of food mixed with Peking style and Hong Kong style. The last day in Hong Kong, I went to Tongluowan, the biggest shopping center there. Designers’ clothes, bags and cosmetics are way too much cheaper than those in mainland. So, in conclusion, Hong Kong is a paradise for the rich and a hell for the poor.

 Wish me luck with my AP Calculus BC tomorrow!

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Summer School

By now, I’ve been admitted to Harvard Secondary School Program and Stanford Summer College. I can’t describe how exited I am now! Even though the admission rate of summer school is much higher than that in undergraduate admission, I’m still looking forward to my chance to know my dream school better. Both university have their charming point. Since I want to major in mass communication, which is a pretty good major in Stanford, I want to go to Stanford more. But considered the urgent situation of getting an I-20, I chose to attend Harvard SSP.(I received offer from Harvard several weeks ago, but Stanford today) So to fix my pity of not going to Stanford, I plan to visit my dream school after the SSP program.

 Here is my plan. In Harvard SSP program, students can volunteer in local food bank. Despite the amazing academic courses, college fair and college tour really attract me. During the 7 week, I will study hard and get 8 credits successfully. Since I’ve already learned AP Calculus BC and Physics C by myself, I chose to take a wring course and a politics course. These two are something I will never get an access to in China. On Friday, I would like to play sports, read in the library and visit museums. Saturday will be devoted to voluntary work. I would also like to take an internship on Sunday. I would never miss any chance to go on a college trip and attend college fair. I would like to visit Yale, Brown, Northwestern(if possible),and Pennsylvania. As for liberal arts colleges, I would like to visit Williams and Amherst.

 Then I will fly to California to visit my Stanford. I would like to spend as much time as I can with this charming school. The free academic environment really drives me crazy. Besides, I will visit Pomona College and Claremont McKenna College. I can’t wait to bath in California sunshine and walk between palm trees.

 It will be my first trip to the US, a place that I will spend my coming 4 years. During this trip, I will get to know the differences between education of the West and the East. Can’t wait to feel the classic of Northeast and the youth of West.

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Summer college & descendants of the Sun

 It has been a long time since my last blog. Lots of things happened during these days. I’m now applying for summer college of Stanford and Harvard. There is really a lot of work to do, but really worthwhile. I’ve always dreamed to study in one of the top universities in the United States. And I can gain this valuable experience from summer college. Even just thinking, I feel extremely satisfied and excited. I’ve already spent a week working at night writing essays and filling in forms. If I can get admitted in any of these two program, I would definitely try my best to get A in every course I choose, learn from students all over the world, make friends, get familiar to college life and most importantly get professor’s appreciation and recommendation letter.

 Now, it’s March 23rd. And I am admitted into Harvard secondary school program.

Aside from my application, there is another thing made me crazy. A new released Korean TV series called the Descendant of Sun. There is no doubt that it is the best TV series this year, and for me, the best one I’ve ever watched. The story, the actors and the music-every aspect of this TV series satisfies my imagination of a perfect boyfriend and a romantic relationship. I mean, literally in my friends’ circle, no one can refuse the charisma of this TV series. The appearances of leading actor and actress are amazing. No one can compare with them. The story happened in South Korea and Uruk. The leading male character is a captain in special forces and the leading female character is a famous doctor. They met each other in hospital with a misunderstanding. The love story between them is much different from typical Korean romance. Their love build on the understanding of the other one’s faith of life. The soldier kills lives to protect more lives, while the doctor save lives. The diverge makes their relation hard to develop until one day they met each other accidentally in Uruk for their tasks. Unlike those boring and unrealistic romance when a handsome rich boy fell in love with a poor girl, this series create a love between two equal-power people, both the elite of their areas. Besides, love is not the only element in the series. There are more thoughts on peace, life and humanity. I am amazed at the development of South Korean entertainment industry, from K-pop to TV series. 10 years ago, Korean series were still unrealistic and nonsense including car accident, amnesiac and DNA tests showing lovers are siblings. However, stories of Korean TV series apparently focus on depth of thoughts now- a leap.

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Nang-3

This is how Nang is made.

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Nang

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Nang

 I guess many of you have read the famous Chinese novel called Journey to the West. Then you may be familiar with Mountain Fire and the food they ate while walking in the desert. It’s Nang, a kind of dried food that can be preserved for more a month. Nang has a long history, maybe was invented when nomadic people first moved to Xinjiang. Since previous residents here in Xinjiang made a living on herding sheep and cattle, they didn’t have a settled house. Kitchens couldn’t be moved all around, which made it hard for nomadic people to cook. Nang was then invented as an energetic and nonperishable food to avoid hunger during the journey.

 There are many kinds of Nang in Xinjiang, including those with raisins, original ones and those with sugar and walnut. Nang is easy to make with flour and eggs, sometimes milk too. Still, they were baked in the special oven, which looks like a deep well with coal burning inside. Nang is really an indivisible part of Xinjiang people’s life. Especially Uyghur people, we buy all kinds of Nang and store them. So whenever we feel hungry, we will grasp a piece of Nang. Besides, Nang is really healthy. It can treat enterogastritis. When I was in primary school, I travelled a lot, which lead to an unhealthy eating habit. Then I got stomachache all the time. Since then I started to eat Nang and porridge every morning and finally recovered.

 Nang is selling everywhere in Xinjiang. The best way to find delicious Nang is to find the most crowded store. Come to Xinjiang and wander to find your favorite type of Nang.

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Wu Zetian- the only FEMALE emperor in Chinese history

 In the long river of history, there is no other woman than Wu Zetian that can cause so much controversy in more than 5000 years. She was a woman born for power and died for power. No one actually knows what her real name is, but she is remembered to be the only female emperor in Chinese history.

 Born in a business family, Wu Zetian started to observe the unfairness and the hierarchical status in the society. In ancient times, businessmen were treated as the lowest people in power though they were rich. Wu Zetian’s father tried to improve his social status by supporting army, which was a really risky action. He was so brave that he did not care the destroying consequence that might occur. Wu definitely got the gene of fearless from his father. At the age of 14, Wu Zetian married the King that time called Tang Taizong. She was not so beloved by the King, as she was treated more like a naïve teenage girl and a toy. She did not get what she wanted from this 60-year-old husband. After Tang Taizong got sick, she took care of him every day and that is when she started to charm his son, the future king. Soon, the future King fell in love with her but could not marry her, a girl that was actually his aunt. After the death of Tang Taizong, Wu was consigned to Ganye Temple to be a nun according to the law of Tang Dynasty. Wu was in her feminine and sexual prime at that period. She was not satisfied with her arranged destiny of being a Buddhist nun. She was patient enough to wait for an appropriate time to get back to the palace. She kept observing trend in Palace, especially conflicts between the emperor’s hundreds of wives.

Finally, her fortune came when a severe quarrel happened between the queen and Consort Xiao. She helped the queen harmed Consort Xiao, which resulted in her marriage with the King. As we all know, Wu was born for power. There is no doubt that she would defeat all other wives and became the queen. To steady her status, she even killed her own new-born baby girl. After the death of the young king, which was her second husband, she started to manage her controlling the whole country and becoming an emperor. I have to say that she was such a wicked and merciless woman that she killed every member of Li’ family and ministers who were against her. She then sat in the throne of Tang Dynasty and became the only female emperor in Chinese history.

      Many people criticized her as a cruel woman who even killed her own child to get authority. Her tough and strict rules and punishment were also considered as unwise management strategies. Those who insisted on male-powered society condemn her that she obeyed the doctrine of women. However, in my sight, she is definitely the model of modern women.

      First, she was the first woman who stood out to call for the equal rights between men and women and practiced her belief. She was never shamed of her background of being the daughter of a unknown businessman. She fought for her rights to seek for her happiness. Though I do not accept that she married her husband’s son, I still admire her spirit of do everything to achieve what she wanted. Her intelligence and effort brought her fame and countless fortune. Once she decided, nothing could stop her from success.

      Besides, she was a brilliant expert at human resources. She knew how to win over hearts and build up her own relation group. Ministers and even maids were so loyal to her that Wu knew everything happened in every corner of the enormous palace. This intelligence helped her too defeat other concubines and any other potential enemy. In her late years, her cousin planned to assassinate her to be the king. Before his plan was carried out, spies of Wu have already got familiar to every aspect of this secret plan and reported every detail to Wu. Security army was arranged and destroyed the carefully-plotted plan.

      Legends could never be replaced. The story of Wu Zetian was created under such circumstances that her husband was too weak and easy to be controlled, her sons let her down. She had no choice but to strengthen herself in the dangerous dynasty, otherwise she may lose her life. I do admire Wu Zetian for her spirit and intelligence. There is no doubt that Wu Zetian was, and still is, the most influential Chinese woman in Chinese history.

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Robots

I read one interesting article from official subscription on Wechat. It’s about robots created by Boston Dynamics. The robots made by that company are so advanced; they have a really good sense of balance. Somehow, in my eyes, they’re pretty cute like a 3-year-old kid. They want to carry boxes. Even if a person keeps moving the box away, they still follow the box and behave like a kid. I could even feel the disappointment of the robots from the screen. Therefore, I started to think about something that do robots have emotions or will they?

I know this question may seem really stupid since theory behind robots is of physics or mechanics. Nothing has to do with biology. A robot is never created with nerve system. Instead, its brain is just a small piece of chip; its eyes are sensors. “There is no need for people to worry about whether one day artificial intelligence will become automatic intelligence.” Many people might say. However, I’m still a little bit concerned. Though the day when robots are able to think independently won’t come in several decades, there is still such possibility eventually, which may harm our descendants and destroy their life. Someday, the scene in Terminator might come true.

I know it may sound insane. But think about what scientists now are trying to invent. Japanese scientists are trying to invent one robot with human-like appearance and touch for sexual use. Come on! Are you kidding me? They claim that the new invention can overcome many disadvantages of inflatable dolls. Many may feel it hilarious. I’m strongly against this scientific research. As human’s desire is endless, eventually, in order to satisfy customers’ command, producers will invent a robot which can think independently. Besides, what robots should be doing is to finish task that human can’t, like exploring inner pyramids. Do robots really need to replace human. Using robots for sex obeys moral and it is somehow blasphemy women. If scientists continue inventing robots for inappropriate usage, one day thinkable robots will emerge.

In my dream, robots should be helpers in our life. But they should never be treated like slaves. One can never ask a robot to do all the chores without taking a rest. I know they are emotionless. But there is no reason to torture someone who keeps helping you without complaining. Robots should be treated like friends. Chat with your robots and share happiness. Give them some time to relax. Always treat them equally. Instead of a assistant, I’m more willing to see robot appears as a friend.

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Roasted Stuffed Buns

This is where roasted stuffed buns are made. Really amazing, huh?