Today in Chinese Culture, we started our day off by watching traditional Chinese opera. We watched three different types: Cantonese, Shanghai area, and northwestern China. The kind of opera differs by region. Then, we watched a few videos about Chinese Tea Ceremonies. We got to sample Pu’erh tea, which is a type of fermented tea that comes in a block shape. We drank the tea in traditional Chinese porcelain tea cups.
Then, we were greeted by Hong Lao Shi, the Tai Chi teacher. She first started her introduction explaining how Tai Chi works, and all its health benefits, but that’s not all! She continued as we went to the Blue Gym, where she had special Tai Chi swords (real ones!) and fans. We learned different combinations of moves, and every single one took an immense amount of balance. The sword routines are different from the fan routines, and there are specific ways to hold each of the objects! After Tai Chi, we watched a dragon dance, which is usually performed on Chinese New Year, and we got to experience a real lion dance costume. We also started to brainstorm about what we are doing tomorrow. You may ask, what are we doing tomorrow? Well, we’re going to Chinatown! All of the students paired up into groups of two and chose different Chinese food items to prepare for their classmates on Friday. Since some of these ingredients are special and can only be found in Chinatown (and such shops), so we had to think in advance. Come back for the wide variety of food on Friday!
– Zainab & Aashi