Dragon Festival in St. Paul, Minnesota

Dragonboat races aren't just for China and the coastal cities: for 12 years the Dragon Festival in St. Paul, Minnesota has been celebrating the vibrant and growing Asia-Pacific culture here in the Midwest.  This year's event took place July 12-13, right in the thick of Minnesota's festival season. The venue as always is Lake Phalen Regional Park, where a number of dragonboats are permanently stationed for practice through the warm season.

The Twin Cities area is home to a number of businesses and educational institutions with deep links to Asia, and many of them sponsor dragon racing teams, such as Wells Fargo, Boston Scientific, Medtronic, Seagate, Hormel, and Target. There are also community and family groups who participate. My daughter's school, Yinghua Academy, also had a team this year!

Team booths

The racing is really a chance to get friends and family together for a day at the lake 

Many corporate sponsors also set up advertising tents. Political candidates' teams were out in force, as well as local cultural centers and gift & bookshops.

Wells Fargo makes a really strong / cute effort to tune its messaging to specific cultural audiences.  The company has also just recently opened its first office in Beijing & they brought materials used to kick things off there to show folks here in MSP.

In addition to the boat races and vendor / sponsor booths, there were also a number of stages for performances and fun-fair activities for kids.

The festival has consistently advertised and gotten PR from local media - free events are always popular but it is nice to see strong turnout from the general Twin Cities population (also helped by the diverse participation among the racing teams.)

Practice sessions took place during morning hours, and competitive heats in the afternoons.  Competitive matches would be between two teams, two races each, best time overall advancing to the next tier. There would be four boats on the water at any given time so you would get to see a race every five minutes or so; one pair racing while the other pair paddled back to the starting point and rested... 

From the shore it was easy to hear the drumming and chanting of the race teams

And plenty of excitement for each heat!

Food of course is terribly important when celebrating Asian culture! I think back to our first visit in 2006 and being disappointed at the range & quality of offerings -so was thrilled at the diversity available this year!  Food trucks are catching on in MSP & were here, as well as a half-dozen local East and SE Asian restaurants.  Two different places selling bubble tea! 

We need to get some of these guys into the Minnesota State Fair! They all certainly proved they could crank out high-quality tasty dishes for a festival crowd.

Cherry Blossom time in Tokyo!

This videographer's work is always top-quality; I love how he takes you through the neighborhoods just as you would as a tourist.

Recipe time - Korean Beef Skewers & Ramen Noodle Salad

We love to try new dishes at our local Asian restaurants - and on the road, of course - but we also have a lot of fun making favorites at home, too. Our recent Mid-Autumn Festival meal featured a couple of company-pleasers I'd like to share with you today:

Clockwise from top: steamed rice (from our Zojirushi rice-cooker), deep-fried sesame-red-bean balls, the Ramen Noodle Salad, carrots and edamame, grilled pork tenderloin marinated in Cha Siu sauce, Korean beef skewers, and a lazy-susan of various fruits.

My wife suggested I try making Korean beef skewers based on a recipe from Oprah's magazine. I compared it to several other recipes I found on the internet and ended up borrowing some of this, some of that...  The pear is the special ingredient, and it adds sweetness to the slightly spicy sauce. You'll want to prepare this the day before you grill; the marinade works best if you let it soak in overnight.

Ingredients:
About 2 lbs. beef - a sirloin or similar grilling steak - cut into large cubes, about 1.5" to 2".

1/2 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 to 2 tablespoons of sriracha (a common Asian hot sauce)
4 teaspoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil (check your Asian market for this)
2 cans of sliced pears - drain the juice
1 teaspoon five-spice powder (the ultimate Asian staple seasoning)

Preparation:
Everything goes in the mixer (except the steak... ) for a quick and rough blend.  Pour the mixture into a gallon Ziploc bag, add the beef cubes, and let it sit in the refrigerator overnight.

Grill these on bamboo skewers that you've soaked in water for about 20 minutes.  Rotate the skewers for even heating - I find about 15-20 minutes total cooking time is sufficient.

The marinade is a nice rich orange color going on.

This Ramen Noodle Salad has been a consistent winner at potlucks, and packed with all sorts of good nutritious things. You'll want to use your largest mixing bowl, as it makes enough for a full office party...

Ingredients:
1 bag of pre-chopped coleslaw salad mix (or you could do it the hard way with a head of Napa cabbage, carrots, red cabbage...)
5 green onions, sliced (I like to cut them on the diagonal instead of straight down; this is a Cantonese cooking trick that brings out more of the oniony flavor)
1/2 cup sesame seeds (most recipes have you sautee them in butter; not worth the time & trouble)
1/2 cup roasted almonds
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup sunflower seeds (pumpkin seeds make a nice seasonal touch, you could use pine nuts too)
1 small head broccoli
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
3/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon five-spice powder
1/2 cup salad oil (canola or something very light, I keep cutting back on the oil)=
1/4 cup toasted sesame oil (this adds unique nuttiness)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 cup cider vinegar (I've tried xiaoxing wine but haven't been happy with the results)
2 packages dried Ramen noodles, crushed

Preparation:
Thoroughly mix the sugar, five-spice, and liquid ingredients in a smaller bowl and set aside.

Place the coleslaw mix, ramen noodles (take out the seasoning packets...), and all the fruits, nuts, and vegetables in your large bowl. Toss these ingredients a couple times.

Whisk the liquid mixture again - you're wanting the oil, vinegar, and sugar to be well-blended - and pour over the dry ingredients.

Again toss the salad - thoroughly distribute the dressing and make sure the smaller pieces are evenly spread through the bowl.  Cover this with clear wrap and let sit in the fridge for several hours / overnight before serving.

Media review: Teach Me Chinese... and More Chinese

Teach Me Tapes is a Minnesota company that for many years has created and distributed workbooks and music for teaching many world languages, including Japanese, Russian, Korean, Hebrew, as well as Spanish and the other workhorse European tongues. In addition, they also produce materials for teaching English as a second language. I had dinner with the owner and manager several years ago at an education-industry convention, where I learned much about the disconnect between social interest in a language-learning product and the actual sales results; plus the investment needed to put a professional product together. (However, I purchased this title at list price this year from my local Lakeshore Learning store.)

This book compiles the company’s two original titles (Teach Me Chinese - A Musical Journey Through the Day, and Teach Me More Chinese - A Musical Journey Through the Year) and includes an hour-long CD with 41 tracks.

The songs include a fair number of classic English-language nursery rhymes such as The Wheels on the Bus, and Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes. These songs are used for the company’s other language workbooks, too, but of course the songs and translations are unique to each book. So while this does mean the songs are not intended to teach about Chinese culture, it does mean that the content cover a great many common words including:

• family members
• animals
• parts of the body
• daily routines
• clothing
• colors

The songs are primarily sung in Mandarin, without English translation, although a few extended tracks are performed in English. [This is in contrast with the Sara Jordan materials reviewed previously in which every song is half-English-half-Mandarin.] The instrumentation is simple; the music stays in the background so the listener can clearly hear the Mandarin words. Extra care has been taken to accurately present Mandarin tones, too.

My daughter - currently a kindergartner at a Mandarin immersion school - quickly recognized several of these songs the first time I played her the CD. (I’ll take that as an endorsement!)

The accompanying workbook/coloring book has all the song lyrics in Pinyin, with English translations further back; the images and text, however, are all hand-drawn - literally handwritten Chinese characters, Pinyin, and English words. Some characters and words are crammed into the frame of the picture - readability is not consistent. This seems to be a missed opportunity when this twin-title book was compiled. On the other hand, the drawings are of Chinese kids and families (in Western settings and with Western friends) - it would have been easy for a publisher to recycle ethnic-ambiguous artwork from a book for some other language, so these illustrations are a well-thought and appreciated effort.

The primarily-Chinese songs and all-Chinese activity pages make this compilation attractive for immersion settings. The presentation is simple and easy to follow for non-native speakers, though, so it should be considered for home use, too. For preschoolers to second-graders, you’ll get a great deal of play out of the CD, and the activity pages could be kept as good reference materials. The price also makes this a solid value compared to the individual books.

For more media, product, and service reviews about traveling through and learning about Asian culture, please visit http://www.weninchina.com/Reviews/Reviews/Reviews.html

Book Review - Exploring Hong Kong by Steven K. Bailey

This travel guide recently appeared at my local Barnes & Noble and immediately set itself apart from the traditional books on its shelf. After leafing through a few pages I recognized Mr. Bailey’s approach to travel writing had much the same spirit as what we are trying to do here at weninchina.com.

The book is oriented by geography much like other travel books (Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, New Territories, etc.), runs a similar page length (just over 180 pp) and price ($14.95). However, it is different from the usual Fodor’s or Lonely Planet guides in two important ways: first, it does not go into any depth on which restaurants / clubs / hotels are in the must-see-and-be-seen-at category; no HK Disney reviews; and no interviews with local tastemakers. (After all, despite its recent 2009 copyright, these things change in a blink in HK.) Second, the author uses very specific activities - such as riding the Travelator from Central up to the Mid-Levels, hiking down from Victoria Peak, or crossing Lamma Island by foot - as a framework to tell longer stories of the history and people of Hong Kong.

And instead of trying to cover every neighborhood, Steven goes into depth on a narrow set of places that a first- or second-time visitor may be more likely to explore. His chapter on Victoria Peak, for instance, runs 22 pages. Steven also dedicates multiple pages to specific enthusiast activities that I’ve never seen in traditional guides - airplane spotting, train watching, military history, law enforcement, and several more. (I learned about a pair of excellent airliner-watching spots that I’ll have to try next time!)

Another unique and handy section is dedicated to activities especially appropriate for hot and rainy days, that kids and parents can all enjoy.

There is a thoughtful emphasis throughout the book on how to get around Hong Kong quickly but inexpensively - often including walking directions from MTR stations or ferry terminals (as that’s how the locals really move about).

Photography in the book is by Steven’s wife, Jill Witt, and is of high quality, although I’d have liked to see much more to accompany and illustrate the conversational text. There is some repetition in the book’s “how to get there” sidebars as well, although not noticeable if you aren’t reading the book straight through. Maps of local neighborhoods give the basics but could be a bit more fleshed-out (although if you’re also using a conventional guidebook or one of the many free maps you can get in HK, that is perhaps not a big issue.)

Overall, the book strikes the tone of a friend who lives in HK and wants to take you to the things people don’t see when in an organized tour group - often just a block off the ‘beaten path’ or around the corner of a building. My family’s experience holds this to be true, too - we found Victoria Peak to be a much more relaxed and friendly place once we walked to the back-side of its shopping center so our daughter could ride on the playground equipment and we could watch the Pacific Ocean - or in walking along the footpath on the side of the mountain almost to ourselves. Along with the expected and still-exciting activities like riding the Star Ferry and watching the evening laser light show on the harbor, Steven shows us the quieter and less-stereotyped vision of Hong Kong that is no less fascinating.

If you’re planning to spend three or more days in Hong Kong, even if you have been there before, this book is highly recommended reading, especially for families.

For other reviews of media, products, and services around travel in Asia and understanding Asian culture, visit http://www.weninchina.com/Reviews/Reviews/Reviews.html

Our Hong Kong-related articles can be found at:

http://www.weninchina.com/Travel/Hong_Kong_Stopover.html

http://www.weninchina.com/Airports/Hong_Kong.html

Yum, yum, Dim Sum!

We just didn't have the time to take in a real Guangzhou dim sum brunch when we were there to adopt our daughter. However, in our travels since then we've experienced a Saturday brunch in Chicago's Chinatown, and done the weekday dim sum at a great place in Hong Kong. We've also sampled the dim sum dishes at restaurants in other places in North America, too.

We have posted an article recently to share dim sum background and tips.

The single best piece of advice is to go with as many people as you can! The more your group can order, the more each person can try. Don't worry about ordering too much, as each dish is literally just a few bites. It's more fun in a big group, and you can be more fearless about taking items you don't recognize.

Take as long as you like - the food just keeps coming. Wow, I'm getting hungry just writing about it...

Dim Sum: http://www.weninchina.com/Food/Dim_Sum.html

They're out there, waiting for you...

Take a deep breath and pull it together before walking through those doors. Yes, your family is hiding behind one of the banks of arrival monitors, with balloons and stuffed animals and cameras. They're happy and proud and excited, and they have no conception of how exhausted you are. (And of course, your new child has no idea who these loud strangers are.)

One last dose of patience and composure is what you have to leave for yourselves, to use at this moment. These are people you love. And you don't have the strength or the mental wherewithal to tell them to leave you alone for a few days while you figure out where your bathroom is and how to cook for yourselves and get over the China Colon Syndrome.

Be kind. You're almost home.

Love of Groceries

We enjoy shopping at our excellent local Asian Market (United Noodles in Minneapolis) and usually go at least once a month. Not only is it a great way to stay connected to Chinese culture, but prices and selection for vegetables, spices, rice, noodles, and frozen foods are amazingly good, even better than the warehouse stores!

When we walk in the door, the scents immediately remind us of China. Our daughter gets to see many more faces that look like her own. It feels like "home."

And we get to explore the great variety of familiar and unfamiliar foodstuffs on the shelves. The labels remind us of what American food used to look like twenty or thirty years ago.  (How I miss the old Red Owl chain...) Love the artwork - check out that mackerel in the bottom photo!