The Joy of Jiaozi Once the Stuff of Holidays, Stuffed Dumplings Now Everyday Fare

IN the northern part of China, people often say: "Dumplings are the best to eat." Indeed, because of its cold, arid climate, people spend the winters eating vegetables stored away in the fall. Jiaozi——Chinese dumplings——have become a specialty in the north. Dumplings are made by wrapping a dough around meat and vegetables. In the past, people ate dumplings only on festive occasions; now they have become common fare in the home, and several brands of frozen dumplings are available in stores. However, it is still the custom in     

Picture of Beautiful Women with Flowers in Their Hair

The painting Picture of Beautiful Women with Flowers in Their Hair is attributed by some to Zhou Fang—a well-known painter of figures in the Tang Dynasty. Painted on silk, this 46×180 cm work depicts some of the aspects of the luxurious lives of noble women during the reign of Li Kuo, an emperor of the Tang Dynasty. The painter, by employing fine lines and deep colors, creates a leisurely and carefree mood. In this scene, a group of beautiful women, five mistresses and one servant girl, are playing with dogs, catching butterflies, and enjoying the flowers on a walk in rate spring. The noble women are dressed in gorgeous silk     

Gilded Silver Crown with Double-dragon Pattern

Unearthed from a Liao tomb at Zhangjia Yingzi, Jianping County, Liaoning Province in 1956, this gilded silver crown with double-dragon pattern is 19 cm high and 20.9 cm in diameter. Its shape is suggestive of a mountain: higher in the middle and lower on both sides. On the front is a carving in the shape of a pearl surrounded by an S-shape pattern symbolizing good fortune. There is a lively dragon on either side. The complete design is based on the old theme "two dragons play with a pearl." Traditions of the Qidan, an ancient nationality of northern China, are evident in the design of the crown. It is recorded in     

Women's Art and Women Artists in Cultural Change

ON March 3rd, 1998, an exhibition titled "Century · Women" drew up its curtain at the China Arts Gallery in Beijing, and attracted a vast number of visitors with its large scale, historical overview, and representation of a great number of painters with various styles. While people strolled in the gallery, a lively forum on the topic of "Visual Angle of Gender: Women's Arts and Women Artists in Cultural Change" was also taking place in Beijing. The purpose of the forum was to corroborate the academic value of the exhibition, as well as to analyze the cultural significance of women's art through the exploration of the history and present situation of Chinese women's art, Over 30 scholars and artists presented speeches on the topic; the audience numbered in the hundreds.     

TMSKCafe

TMSK Cafe-The marriage of Liuli and culinary arts was unveiled on Beijing's Chang'an Avenue—mid much anticipation on December 20, 2005. Striking and ambitious, the space radiates like a Liuli prism, lighting up Beijing at night, with color and excitement. Abte to accommodate 33 people, the cafe utilizes 11 tons of Liuli in the decot. With the addition of wood and stone,a maesmerizing、illusory     

Pasta, Shanxi Style Hand-pulled Noodles Loved by Tourists and Residents Alike

I had my most delicious meal with noodles in a small village along the Yellow River. It was on a March day a decade ago, when I had just moved to Shanxi Province. I was out in the field as a reporter, and was exhausted and starving after traveling more than 50 kilometers on foot and by bus. A middle-aged man, whom I did not know, was standing in front of his dugout cave, the traditional dwelling of the Shanxi people." He called to me and invited me to have a meal in his home. Upon entering the cave, I was asked to sit on a kang, a brick bed, while the man's wife busied herself with cooking my meal. In no time a huge bowl of youpomian, noodles with Chinese prickly ash oil, was on the table in front of me. My nostrils were immediately filled with the strong and delicious smell of chili and prickly ash.     

Make This Column a Success!

"Editorial Mailbox" is a small but indispensable column in our magazine—Women of China. It offers our readers a forum in which to contribute their own ideas and views and letters from readers connect us to our friends all over the world. But the success of this column depends on the participation of our readers!     

Creating A Leprosy-Free World

LEPROSY has been spreading in some parts of Chinafor more than 2,000 years. With the founding of NewChina in 1949, the Chinese health departmentlaunched a comprehensive prevention and treatment actionagainst this disease. According to the EpidemiologicalAnalysis on Leprosy in China (1949—1996), from theMinistry of Public Health, the spread of leprosy has beeneffectively controlled. Based on statistics collected withprovince as the smallest unit, China has reached the goal setby the WHO that "leprosy should be abolished as a public     

Beijing's Carved Lacquervare

As early as the sixth century, carved lacquerware had already appeared in China. Usually a work must be given more than 30 coats of red lacquer, and then it is carved after drying in darkness. Carved lacquerware has always been regarded as a precious gift. In the past, however, lacquerware was only used in the palace; today common people enjoy its beauty and utility. The Beijing Carved Lacquerware Mill is reputed for its quality products, most of which find ready sale on the international market. Masters and students—most of whom are women—have played an important role in the development of carved lacquerware.     

A Queen's Dressing Set

All women love beauty,in ancient or modern times.Of allthe unearthed ancient dressing sets,the one found in 1968 inthe tomb of Don Wan,wife of Liu Sheng,the King ofZhongshanjing in the Western Han Dynasty.is the mostexquisite. Small and intricate.11.2cm tall and 9.5 cm wide(seepicture),bronze is rarely seen with such vivid shapes—amythical rosefinch carrying a ring in its beak standing on theback of a tiger-like beast,linking the twin tall-stemmed cups.     

The Rise of Gong Li

THE advance of Chinese history and the development of the film industry have brought out a new generation of movie stars. Among them Gong Li is the most charming and most well known in the world. Gong Li was born in 1963, the youngest of five children in a family of intellectuals. Both her parents teach at a university. She liked to sing and dance since childhood and early on displayed     

Maternity and Child Care in Yinan County

YINAN is a poor county in the Yimeng Mountain Area in Shandong Province. It has a population of 900,000, over 80 percent of whom live in rural areas and about 600,000 of whom are women and children. Protecting the health of women and children is not only important to reach the goal "Everyone Enjoys Health Protection by the year 2000" and the goals set out in the "Program for Chinese Children's Development in the 1990s," but also has a crucial influence on the     

A Thousand-li Journey Is Started by Taking the First Step

FOUR years ago, Hu Ping, then the Minister of Commerce, was doing an investigation in Hubei Province in central China. This busy minister took the opportunity to stroll through the market and buy himself a pair of brown mesh oxhide shoes which he put on immediately. Coming back to Beijing the next day, he took off his shoes only to find the heel of the right shoe was missing. With joy and expedition, a newly-married couple went to buy a pair of stylish women's shoes in Xidan, a shopping area in Beijing. The bride put them on at once and only walked a hundred meters before the heels dropped     

1996 To Readers

AT the golden season of 1995, women and guests from all over the world gathered in Beijing. The UN Fourth World Conference on Women was a complete success. The Conference approved the Beijing Declaration and the Platform for Action, both aiming at accelerating the implementation of the Nairobi Forward-Looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women. This will definitely exert a positive and profound influence on the international women's course in the future. Reporters of Women of China magazine went to the     

The Miao Nationality

The Miao people who live in mountainous areas live in diao jiao lou, buildings constructed into the side of a hill and partially supported by pillars. Families store their goods and raise livestock on the first level of these dwellings. These young women lean on a "beauty rest," a place where they often sing in the antiphonal style.     

妇女儿童发展取得显著成效

During a news briefing in the Information Office of the State Council on May 15, Huang Qingyi, Vice-Chairperson of the National Working Committee on Children and Women (NWCCW) under the State Council and Vice-President of the All- China Women's Federation, Chen Xiaoya, Vice-Minister of Education, and Jiang Zuojun, Vice-Minister of Health, outlined the implementation of the two national programs of action for the development of women and children in China. They also explained     

Women Athletes Climb the Heights

Wang Junxia—Super Runner Running like a deer on the track at full speed, Wang Junxia dashed to the finish line among the audience's thunderous applause and cheers. She won t he 10,000-meter long distance event in 29:31.78 at the Seventh National Games in Beijing on September 8, 1993—a full 42 seconds faster than the 30:31.74 world record set by the Norwegian Ingrid Kristiansen in July 1986 and her Previous     

Woman Sends Regards to Family and the Loess Plateau

WITH a population of ouer 8 million, the Hui nationality liue ouer the largest area of any other minority nationality in China. The Hui reside in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Gansu, Shaanxi, Guizhou, Henan, Qinghai, Yunnan, Hebei, and Shandong provinces, the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, and the Beijing and Tianjin municipalities.The origin of the Hui people can be traced back to the end of the seventh century, when Arabs and Persians often came to do trade in China along the ancient Silk Road. Some stayed on and started families. Their children have been traced to Guangzhou and Quanzhou. At the beginning of the 13th century, more Arabs, Persian and people from Central Asia came to China, where they married into the Han, the Uygur and the Mongolian nationalities. Gradually a new nationality—the Hui—was formed.With the founding of New China in 1949, the NingxJa Hui Autonomous Region was established. The industrial and agricultural output in the region in 1990 was 12 times that in 1957, when t     

Women and the Environment: Declaration Encourages Active Participation

JUNE 5, 1994 has been mandated World Environment Day. On this day the first meeting on Women and the Environment in China was held in Beijing and the Declaration of Chinese Women on Environment was established. According to the declaration, environmental pollution and the destruction of the ecology have posed a serious threat to the survival of the human race. It has become a great issue of common concern. The functions of women in procreation and social development are directly affected by the deterioration of the environment. It is the common interest of the populations of the world to protect the environment. The declaration notes that Chinese women are greatly concerned about the environmental conditions of their     

Mother—My First Teacher

MY first teacher was my mother. It was she who taught me to read. It was she who planted in my heart a profound love of Chinese literature. She was also the one who set me on the road to independence. Today, I am teaching others—I am an associate professor of Chinese language and literature at the Central Institute for Finance and Banking, a member of the Chinese Poetry Society, a member of the