Hot Spot | Alberta Hope Chinese School New Year Temple Fair

Hot Spot | Alberta Hope Chinese School New Year Temple Fair (Contributed by Alberta Hope Chinese School. Written by: Xu Xuetao. Photographed by: Huang Bing and Ling Chao) ”…

(Contributed by Hope Chinese School of Alberta. Written by: Xu Xuetao. Photographed by: Huang Bing and Ling Chao) "The sound of firecrackers marks the end of the year, and the spring breeze brings warmth to Tusu. Thousands of households are always replacing old talismans with new ones." The Spring Festival is undoubtedly the most important time of the year for every Chinese. Every household is busy posting Spring Festival couplets and selling new year's goods; children are looking forward to wearing new clothes and receiving red envelopes; people who have been traveling in foreign lands for a year are also embarking on the road back home. In Phoenix, Arizona, which is far away from the motherland in the United States, the curtain of the New Year also quietly opened with the sound of gongs and drums at the New Year Temple Fair of the Alberta Hope Chinese School. This event was initiated by Hope Chinese School and received strong support from the Intel Chinese Association. Ms. Susan Liu, a member of the Chinese School Board of Directors, is also one of the leaders of the Intel Chinese Association, building a bridge for the two organizations to jointly organize the Spring Festival event. This cooperation is of great significance and has opened up a new direction for cultural exchanges between overseas Chinese schools and local communities and enterprises.

As the saying goes, "Food is the most important thing for the people." The hoped-for New Year temple fair is based on food, and combines performances, games, handicrafts, and folk customs, making it all-inclusive and colorful. You can sing a song in front of karaoke, or dance to the joyful music; if you are skillful, go to the handicraft group or the mask group to make a New Year decoration, and if you like to think, go to the brainstorming and guessing lantern riddles; The best thing is that there are professional photographers to record countless wonderful moments for everyone. Principal Tian Lin and Chairman Li Jian also distributed New Year red envelopes to each student at the end of the event.

Since it is food-oriented, the highlight of this Spring Festival temple fair is undoubtedly the various Chinese delicacies. Some people jokingly call this Spring Festival event "Hope on the Tip of the Tongue". Although it is a joke, it is appropriate. People from all over the world gather in the big family of hope for a common goal - cultural inheritance. This time, the masters from the East, West, South, North, and Middle Schools gathered together, and the six major camps not only competed but also communicated, and joined hands to present a gluttonous feast for everyone.

As the saying goes, "Nothing tastes better than dumplings." Dumplings are really the most indispensable dish for Chinese people, especially northerners, in their New Year's Eve dinner. With moderately fat and thin meat fillings, fresh and crisp vegetables, and hand-rolled thin skins, in the skillful hands of volunteers, white and fat dumplings were formed one by one. After several rises and falls in the boiling water, they were finally served on the temple fair table. Pair it with a little carefully prepared dipping sauce, take a bite, and feel the heat of the delicious food between your lips and teeth. The familiar taste will always make you feel that although you are in a foreign land, the warmth of home is actually right next to you. Let’s have another bowl of sweet and glutinous glutinous rice balls, which are sweet from New Year’s Eve to the fifteenth day of the year, and from Dingyou to Wuxu.

The rich black soil and the vast North China Plain have nurtured heroic and enthusiastic northerners. The food in the Northeast and North China region also reveals its hearty and hearty characteristics. Pancake fruit, with a dough exuding the fragrance of mung beans, wrapped in crispy fried dough sticks or thin crisps, and then smeared with sweet flour sauce and spicy sauce, it is an endless aftertaste. Dry-fried hairtail, anyone who grew up by the sea doesn't like this snack. It's golden in color, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. Even the fish bones can be swallowed in one bite. Donkey Rolling has a down-to-earth name, but it has a palace-level beauty. The soft white glutinous rice and black bean paste are layered and wrapped, and then coated with a thin layer of soybean flour, just like a beauty applying powder, which adds to the charm. The Northeastern and North China group also prepared walnut cakes, oven-roasted fruits, Zazi, Pai Chaer, soup dumplings, sour plum soup, camellia noodles, and fancy steamed buns. The variety is dazzling.

East China can be said to be the home of gourmet food. It has several of the eight major cuisines. From the sweetness and tenderness of Jiangnan water towns to the unrestrained and wantonness of Qilu land, the food in East China is also rich and full of changes. Crab shell yolk, a well-known snack in Shanghai, is made crispier by the addition of pastry. When you take a bite, the delicious aroma enters your spleen, and you can't help but pick up the fallen sesame seeds. Small sponge cake, as white as jade, soft and sweet, with the fragrance of rice flour and the lubrication of bean paste. Eat one during the Spring Festival and you will climb higher in the coming year. Vegetarian roast goose is a classic dish in the vegetarian diet. It has tough tofu skin and a slightly spicy red sauce. It is refreshing and appetizing, rich in nutrients, simple but not bland. There are also meat floss cakes, scallion pancakes, mung bean cakes, rice balls, and all kinds of Spring Festival delicacies, allowing diners to truly experience "If you go to Jiangnan to catch the spring, you can live with it."

The Guangdong, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan team is nicknamed the "United Front Team" by volunteers. The cuisine of Guangdong, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan is famous for its fresh and diverse ingredients. Because it is close to the sea, seafood is a major feature. Although it was a pity that there was no seafood in this event due to material restrictions, the New Year snacks carefully presented by the chefs were still refreshing. Curry fish balls are a familiar snack in Guangdong and Hong Kong. The chewy fish balls are boiled with curry powder and other sauces, and then served with the sweet and sour tomato sauce or the spicy chili sauce. You can’t stop eating them. New Year cake is really one of the most appropriate foods during the Lunar New Year. "Nian Niang Sheng" contains people's most sincere yearning for life. Fuzhou New Year cake uses brown sugar as raw material. The finished product shows a soft deep red color. Brown sugar is mild in nature, has the effect of replenishing qi and blood, and is delicious and nutritious. Try triangular cakes, sesame egg powder, Cantonese rice rolls, Hakka rice noodles, and youjiaozi. I guarantee that you will have more than enough in the new year, long-lasting wealth, and everything goes well.

When you think of the Southwest, what do you think of? Is it Cangshan Erhai Lake, Huanglong Jiuzhaigou, the magnificent Huangguoshu Waterfall, or the mysterious Potala Palace? For foodies, the best synonyms for the southwest region are probably hot pot Sichuan cuisine and Guoqiao rice noodles. Cloud leg mooncakes are made with ham as the main ingredient, supplemented with honey, lard, flour, etc. The filling is salty and sweet, and the skin is as white as paper and as thin as cicada wings. Take a light bite and the crumbs will fall away. Mapo tofu may seem simple, but the cooking method is quite particular. The tofu is cut into small pieces, and the fresh meat is minced. With the accompaniment of chili pepper, Sichuan peppercorns, and Pixian bean paste, the tofu is soft and tender. The numbness from the punch and the spiciness that burns your throat make you unable to help but eat one bite after another. Of course, you can’t miss twice-cooked pork, spicy chicken, Yunnan rice noodles, steamed pork with rice noodles, Guizhou-style glutinous rice, shredded chicken cold noodles and Chongqing noodles. Each of the unique delicacies is unforgettable.

The vast northwest is vast and the food customs are simple, rough and natural. There are many popular delicacies in the northwest, which are known as "Seventy-two meals are new every day", which shows the rich variety. People often argue about whether it should be called "Roujiamo" or "Mojia Mo". The buns are roasted until brown, with clear lines, thin and crispy skin, and soft inside. The meat inside is fat but not greasy, thin but not woody, tender and glutinous, fragrant and smooth. When you bite into it, your teeth and cheeks will be fragrant. The fish in the paste water has a name but no fish. Slowly pour the batter into the water, and the batter seems to be alive, turning into small white fish, swimming in the water; the fish noodles are soft, the soup is sour, and it goes down the throat. It's so beautiful! Have another bowl of warm sesame seeds or refreshing cold noodles, don't you feel that life is so beautiful?

Central China, located in the middle of the motherland, has always been an agricultural center with abundant products and food. For roasted pepper preserved eggs, roast the peppers until the skin is black and soft, and pattern-like crystals are faintly visible on the preserved eggs. Add appropriate amount of ginger, garlic, vinegar, sugar, sesame oil, light soy sauce, and salt and stir evenly. The aroma is overflowing and the taste is unique. Pearl meatballs are so named because they are wrapped in glutinous rice and look like rice pearls. The meatballs are tender and delicious. The whole dish means reunion and happiness, and is very harmonious with the festive atmosphere of the Spring Festival. Osmanthus wine glutinous rice dumplings, Osmanthus flower fermented glutinous rice balls are white in color, rich in fragrance, sweet and delicious. The dumplings are soft, waxy and cute, a great delicious combination. The Huazhong group also served fried minced pork with sour beans, lotus root balls, mustard mustard, scraped jelly, and tofu. There are different flavors, there is always one that suits you.

Spring arrives in the desert, and everything revives; learn Chinese, and the buds of love for the motherland and culture will also thrive in this warm spring breeze. Let us look forward to the new year together and all the good things and hopes!