Me & City (Suzhou, China)

You may already have made plans about the holiday of Chinese New Year while you still want to know that with what are those Chinese messing around during Chinese New Year, So the date would still work..

Jiaozi Party & culture activity
Date & Time: 6th, Feb. AM 11:00
Location: ROOM1101 BUILDING B  Rainbow Shopping Center (above it), NO.388 Su Ya Road, SIP, Suzhou
Organizer: HanTao Chinese Language School
Contact: E-mail: info@hantaochinese.com/Call: 86-512-6272 2117

It will be fun to celebrate it together with you by
Making Jiaozi and eat it,
Making Chinese “Fu” and “Chunlian” which will be sticking on door frames during Spring Festival.
Experience Chinese calligraphy.
Enjoy Guqin music
Play games with new friends.

So the plan is if you are interested and want to come, please write to HanTao Chinese by e-mail before the 1st of February.

P.S.: you all will be welcomed if any of your family or your friend wants to come. If you are a vegan please let HanTao know.
Then according to how many of you will come we will let you know how much we need you to bring. For your reference, last time ten people came and each of them paid 25RMB.

Today is Winter Solstice Eve, also known as Midwinter Eve!  First let me tell you in short, it’s a big day for Suzhou natives!

Winter Solstice, one of the 24 solar terms in the lunar Calendar and usually falls in the fourth week(around the 22nd) of December in the Gregorian Calendar. It is the day of the year with the fewest hours of daylight.

The custom of  celebrating Winter Solstice Day by Suzhou natives dates back more than 2000 years ago，when the Kingdom of Wu adopted the Calendar of the Zhou Dynasty from which Winter Solstice is recognized as the first day of new year. So there is an old local saying in Suzhou  that “Natives celebrate Winter Solstice Day as big as New Year’s!”.

Just as in Christmas, the most important moment is the eve of the festival—Winter Solstice Eve.  A sumptuous dinner is usually well prepared to have a wonderful family reunion on the eve . Among all the elements of the fancy meal is Dong Niang Wine (冬酿酒), literally translated as Wine Brewed in Winter. It’s a rice brewed wine prepared about two months before the Midwinter Day made up with glutinous rice, sweet osmanthus and water is a must.

In Suzhou, Dong Niang Wine is a special seasonal wine, tastes  light and naturally sweet only made for the Winter Solstice. As the holiday approa ches , you can find the wine easily in many markets,  from big supermarkets to little grocery  stores. Besides, some Suzhou time-honored brand shops supply Dong Niang Wine brewed on their own every year as a tradition, such as Yuan Da Chang.  Most older natives prefer to wait in line for the wine brewed by these old shops,  maybe because the wine has accompanied them since their childhood!

Just as everybody know “When you in Rome, do as the Romans do”, I’d like to say when you in Suzhou, especially if you spend the Winter Solstice Day here, drink the Dong Niang Wine as the Suzhounese do! Cheers!

Annual Farm Produce Annual Fair will be held from Dec. 18th to 20th in the Suzhou International Expo Center.

It is said that the fair this year is the most grand one compared to those held in the past 7 years; the total booths cover about 20000 square meters. More than 300 categories and over 2000 classes of farm produce products will be showed and the exhibitors include local, nationwide and international which means Suzhou locals have a great chance to try something new this time, probably those never seen and heard of. Cool! Don’t miss the opportunity to have a troll at the EXPO this weekend!

Date: Dec. 18th-20th.
Address: 3A and 4A Hall of Suzhou International Expo Center (On the road of Xiandai Avenue)
Bus No. 28, 129, 812, 100, 2, 47, 106, 108, 138, 156, 156, 158, 206.
Get off bus stop: International Expo Center and Northern International Expo Center

I was waken up by osmathus fragrance this morning. Was the season already over? I wandered. It’s raining outside. What a day! As I went downstairs the sweet fragrance got stronger. I knew where it came from as I approach to the kitchen.
“Morning, want some tangyuan”( very traditional suzhou food, made of sticky rice powder) my mom turned over with a warm smile on her face.
“So you used your secret weapon, is this the last year sweet osmathus sauce” I asked.
“No. I made it last month, it’s fresh new one.
“I am so gonna screw up my diet plan” I murmured. Well I have to do it next time.

You can easily find sweet osmathus sauce at traditional sweetmeat shop like the Cai Zhi Zhai and the Ye Shou He confectionery shops any season. It’s been widerly used in traditional dessert and beverage. I especially like to add into plum juice. It’s not easy to find accurate words to describe the taste, but only imaging the mouthful of flower fragrance after sipping it.

The weather of recent days is going mad. Today, the temperature soared to 39.2 C that is almost 103F. I wish I could have a mobile air conditioner setup on my shoulder.

Luckily, I still have Syrup of plum to help me survive. Syrup of plum, a kind of traditional drink, is very popular in hot summer days at local. It is made by plum, haw, licorice root, Sweet Osmanthus, crystal sugar and honey. Not only it tasted nice, the syrup is also a kind of healthy & green drink help cool down and promote appetite.

I have tried much syrup in different stores and finally found the one from Ye Shou He is the best I’v ever tasted. So pure and sweet-scented, love it! A bottle (750g) of raw juice of plum from Ye Shou He this year costs 11 RMB. Just  have it diluted with 6-7 times  of water and then enjoy!