In Qinghai succulent goat can be eaten in so many ways.
Grabbed by hand - my favourite.
Covered by spices.
Boiled heart.
Boiled head.
Intestines stuffed with flour, meat, …
With noddles.
Tender, full of flavour, succulent. Qinghai is goat lovers’ heaven.
18 years ago, I was here to visit friends, and watch Muslims celebrate Eid al-Adha.
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This time, I am here in Xining in Qinghai to explore opportunities for new projects for service-learning with a small team. Xining is at the north east edge of the Qinghai-Tibet plateau. Near the center of this 3D topographical map.
The elevation is slightly more than 2,000 meters. Enough to induce high attitude reaction for some people. There are lots of minorities people here: Hui Muslims,
Salar Muslims,
Tibetan Buddhists, …
The geography, people, religion, culture, food, … are all very distinctive. Many other factors, such as a strong partner who share our interests in service-learning, have to work together to make it a good site. We are here to find out.
On the First Day of the Lunar New Year, we went to pay our respects to my aunts and their families. As per Chinese custom. On the second day, we went hiking with friends.
Starting in Tai Wai, we hiked up Amah Rock (望夫石). The hike was not particularly hazardous. But the ascent is fairly steep, and some steps are high. With my poor balance, it was a challenge, particularly coming down. Decades ago, when I was much younger, the Rock was considered quite an attraction, a popular destination for hiking. Nowadays it seems less so. Many young people might not even know what and where it is.
At the rock, one gets a panoramic view of the western part of Shatin. In the distance, once can see Taipo Road snaking down from the gap between mountains, to come to Tai Wai / Shatin. Before the opening of Taipo Road, people who wanted to travel between Shatin and Kowloon have to come through the area around Amah Rock.
The weather was great for hiking. Sunny but cool. We got to see a bit of nature. Such as the eggs of a moth forming a neat lattice on a green leaf. And early flowers such as polyspora axillaris (大頭茶). It kind of resembles a fried egg, sunny side up, with its yellow centre surrounded by white petals.
Coming down, we decided to check out the crowd worshipping at Che Kung Temple (車公廟). The third day of the Lunar New Year is the most popular day for coming to the temple. But on the second day, it was crowded enough.
The incense was so thick that the attendants at the temple had to wear gas masks. We were choked pretty badly. At one point, a man poked his incense sticks into the back of my left hand. It burned off a piece of skin and left a small wound. I yelled but was too stunned to say anything to the man, beyond “Wah!”. An older man scolded the younger culprit. It couldn’t undo the burn in my hand. But I did feel better that he spoke up for me.
Then we strolled over to Tsang Walled Village (曾大屋). It is perhaps one of best preserved Hakka walled villages in Hong Kong. It has not changed much since my last visit about 20 years ago. A lot of distinctive features: the layout of the walls, the style of the rooftops, the colouring scheme, the tiles, the gateways, the ancestor hall, the wells inside, … It is a whole story by itself. Many of the residents these days, however, are renters from the outside.
We ended up watching the fireworks at home,.
Over good food, with a couple of very good friends. A very enjoyable day to begin the New Year.
For the Chinese, it is not a proper Lunar New Year without proper food. Hence each family has been getting ready. Dried sausages, oysters, mushrooms, ducks, pork bellies, scallops, abalones, sea cucumbers, fish bladder, …
Fresh fish, shrimp, crabs, lobsters, geoducks, …
The pig, in particular, has sacrificed its whole body - every single part of it - so that we can have a proper feast. Cows, chicken, ducks, lambs, etc., as well. But the Chinese are particular to pigs.
We also like roasted ducks, geese, pork bellies, …
Big bak choi with a string attached. So that we can hang them up. So that we can eat them over several days over the New Year Festival, without having to put them in a refrigerator.
Watermelon seeds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, pine nuts, pistachios, macadamia nuts,
…
Noodles of all kinds and colours, …
Fried sugar and peanut-filled dumplings, …
…
Finished New Year’s Eve dinner only an hour or so ago. But hungry again, already!
AI (Artificial Intelligence) is no doubt very powerful. It can be very useful. But it can also be very problematic.
It can be used to create text, images and videos that are indistinguishable from real ones. Deep fakes have deceived a lot of people, causing people to trust what is not true, thereby creating lots of problems.
On the other hand, it has also caused us to not believe what is actually true. Suppose there are texts, images, and even videos that show that a person has done something wrong. How does one know that the “evidence” is not deep fake? The culprit can also claim that actual “evidence” is deep fake, even if it really is not. It is often difficult to prove one way or the other.
Of course, very often it is a matter of degree. Some people are more trustworthy than others. Some governments are more trustworthy than others. Some agencies (news and otherwise) are more trustworthy than others. Reputation takes a lot of time and effort to build up. It is perhaps even more valuable than before now.
Who do we then trust?
Is it a wheel?
A flower?
A star?
A stand for other objects?
Just a bunch of coffee stirrers as links and tooth picks as joints/hinges?
It is all of the above. My Transformer.
#SChanPalmArt
