Do you cast a covetous eye at the steamed crabs? There is no denying that it is the time to taste steamed crabs. But, how to have healthy bite is a worthy of your attention.

2013-02-07 17:08 View：3838

It is a breathtaking sunset sight in a late summer in Zhangjiajie. There are gorgeous pictures shot by photographers,just take a deep breath and have a look at them. How magnificant the nature is!

2013-10-23 17:06 View：1873

The 2013 Jishou International Drum Cultural Festival sponsored by the CPC Jishou Municipal Committee and Jishou Municipal People's Government is slated for November 8 to 10 in western Hunan's Jishou City. Performances of various famous drums from different places such as Miao Drum from western Hunan, Wooden Drum from Guizhou, North Korean Long Drum from Jilin, Bronze Drum from the Zhuang nationality in Guangxi, Ten Drum from Taiwan, and African Drums are expected to get together to "inspire" the world. This is the first time for Jishou to hold such an international level drum cultural festival which is themed "International Drum Dances Inspire the World". The drum corps invited are mainly those included in the national level intangible cultural heritage projects. Six theme activities are set to be held, including the opening ceremony under the Aizhai Bridge, the championship between the 6th generation of Chinese Miao Nationality Drum Queen and the 3rd generation of Chinese Miao Nationality Monkey Drum King in Dehang Scenic Spot, the drum cultural festival and Western Hunan Cultural Tourism Summit Forum in Jishou University, the international drum cultural exchange exhibition in the People's Square of Jishou City, the Tiangu Hotel investment attraction signing ceremony, and the Aizhai Sky Way Bicycle Riding Championship. The drum dance performed at the Jishou International Drum Cultural Festival Press Conference impresses the audience.Miao nationality toasting songs are filled with enthusiasm and characteristics.Translator: Hao JingruSource: Hunan Official Web Portal

2013-10-22 17:03 View：1130

The 23rd Chinese Chef Festival kicked off in Changsha on October 19. A giant dish of steamed fish head from Dongting Lake with diced hot peppers was cooked on-the-spot in an effort to apply for a Guinness World Record, making it the highlight of the opening ceremony of the festival. 1.4 meter in length and 51 kilograms in weight, the rarely seen bighead carp is now the biggest steamed fish head with diced hot peppers in the world.This being a typical Hunan cuisine, has a special flavor which incorporates the delicate fish head and spicy hot peppers. The dish is accessible in any Hunan restaurant. Given its big head, bighead fish is the best food material for the dish. After on-site measuring and notarization, representatives of Guinness World Record issued a certificate to the dish. And later, the dish was put up for auction and was offered to citizens for free. All money obtained through the auction would be donated to impoverished students in Hunan.Translator: Zhu MengxiaSource: Hunan Official Web Portal

2013-10-22 17:02 View：651

BEIJING, Oct. 22 (Xinhuanet) --Oscar-winning composer Tan Dun has brought his new concerto, called "Nushu: the Secret Songs of Women", to the Shanghai International Arts Festival. Culture Express caught up with the music maestro to talk about his latest creation as well as his musical aesthetics. After five years of research, Tan Dun has returned with a 13-movement micro film symphony to capture the musical life and spirit of Nushu, a secret code language between women in Hunan Province. Originally whispered in corridors and hidden on fans, the language now navigates entirely new boundaries of time, place and culture through music.Tan Dun talks to CCTV about his latest creation and musical aestheticsSource: CNTV.cn  

2013-10-23 17:00 View：673

Another 42 villages in Hunan Province enter the second batch of 915 Traditional Chinese Villages List. The list was released by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, and the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Finance. Villages with this title in the province now total 72, 30 of which were approved in 2012.Winners were selected among applicants recommended by different provinces across the country. Candidate villages were evaluated by an Expert Committee for Traditional Chinese Village Protection and Development based on a specific evaluation criteria. Among Hunan's 72 traditional villages, 25 are located in the Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture with the rest scattered in Changsha, Loudi, Yongzhou, Chenzhou, Shaoyang, Huaihua, Hengyang and Yiyang.Translator: Guo YanSource: Hunan Official Web Portal

2013-10-24 16:59 View：735

38 provincial standards such as Hunan Cuisine Industrialization Standard System, A Hunan Cuisine Banquet, Home-Cooked Hunan Cuisine and Hunan Style Breakfast were officially released on October 21, after four years of intensive debate, study, innovation, unification and consultation with masters and standardizing experts of Hunan cuisine. The typical features of modern Hunan cuisine has been summarized as "sour and spicy with strong aroma, greasy smoked meat, tender quality and bright color".So far, the Administration of Quality and Technology Supervision of Hunan Province has issued 159 provincial standards for Hunan cuisine, based on 42 dishes and desserts, 70 raw and subsidiary materials, 9 prepackaging, 24 catering subsidiary products, 14 food test methods, etc. A platform of Hunan cuisine standard system has been put forward in shape of the book, China Hunan Cuisine Standards.Translator: He YaoSource: Hunan Official Web Portal

2013-10-25 16:58 View：959

Vehicles run below the statue of Lei Feng in Changsha, capital of central China's Hunan Province, Oct. 24, 2013. The 30 meters high statue of Lei Feng was built at Wangcheng district of Changsha which was the hometown of Lei Feng. (Xinhua/Li Ga)A motorbike runs below the statue of Lei Feng in Changsha, capital of central China's Hunan Province, Oct. 24, 2013. The 30 meters high statue of Lei Feng was built at Wangcheng district of Changsha which was the hometown of Lei Feng. (Xinhua/Li Ga)The statue of Lei Feng is shaded in trees in Changsha, capital of central China's Hunan Province, Oct. 24, 2013. The 30 meters high statue of Lei Feng was built at Wangcheng district of Changsha which was the hometown of Lei Feng. (Xinhua/Li Ga)Source:Xinhua

2013-10-24 16:41 View：990

I have been living in Shanghai for a year and a half now, and take every chance I get to escape the urban jungle and explore China's beautiful countryside. In July, my friend Henry, from my hometown of Boston, came to visit, and we took the opportunity to go to Hunan province so we could get some fresh air. We flew into Zhangjiajie, and spent a night wandering the alleys and backstreets of this gritty, laidback little city. The Hunan people were quite relaxed compared to people in Shanghai. Few men bothered to wear shirts, and it seemed most locals were content to hang out in the street markets, smoking and gobbling down snacks in the moist, humid climate. Given the heat, sleeping outside on a reclining chair was the norm. In the morning, we went to Wulingyuan, the national park which provided the scenic inspiration for the movie "Avatar".  The locals were very proud of this and there were all sorts of Avatar nick-nacks on sale from the peddlers. Upon entering the park we were taken aback by the remarkable beauty there. Peaks soared up like giant teeth from the lush, dense jungle. For a second, I almost felt as if we were in some sort of prehistoric land before time, and I would not have been surprised if I had seen a dinosaur come rumbling down the trail. We hiked up one of the peaks and surveyed the landscape from above. The jagged mountains stretched on and on, the towers of stone providing a strange parallel to the towers of apartments and offices that surround me in Shanghai. As we hiked, we came across the monkeys who make their home up on the mountaintops. There were signs along the trail warning people not to feed them, but of course, many hikers found it funny, and could not resist giving the monkeys something. This was actually very bad, because it gave the monkeys the idea that it is ok to approach humans for food. One monkey was so bold as to steal a water bottle from a young lady! We kept on hiking past dark, trying to find a lodge on top of one of the mountains. We couldn't find it, so we stopped at a little police station and asked for help. They ended up driving us to the lodge, where we had a comfortable, if slightly buggy evening. In the morning, we decided to try out a trail that very few other people hiked on. The narrow trail zig-zagged alongside the steep cliff-face, which offered sweeping views of the undulating waves of green below us. We finally came to a place where a farmer had a small plot of vegetables on top of one of the peaks. She cooked us a little meal and then told us how to get down from the mountain. It proved harder than we thought and we ended up getting lost, until we finally got to a place where they actually built an elevator into the side of the mountain. At the bottom, there was a group of around one hundred students, who were carrying an enormous dragon made of cloth, and were marching it around a field, as patriotic music blasted from loudspeakers. Upon exiting the park, we hired a driver, named Chen, to take us to the airport. However, since we had a few hours to kill, Chen very generously gave us a tour of Zhangjiajie, making sure to show us the most amazing places. He was very curious about America, and asked us such questions as, "What percentage of Americans own cars?", and "Is it true that every American has a gun?" It turned out that Chen has a friend who is studying in the US, and he plans to go there to visit him. However, Chen did not know what state his friend lives in, and said that he hopes it is Massachusetts, so that he can visit me as well. My two days in Hunan were superb, and I found myself missing it as soon as I got on the plane back to Shanghai. The author is a mathematics teacher who has been living in Shanghai for the past year and a half. Source:China DailyAlexander Gladstone poses for a photo at Zhangjiajie.

2013-08-09 01:06 View：2596

Lingzhi is called lucid ganoderma in English. Lingzhi Valley scenic spot is famous for the stalactites formed there that look like lucid ganoderma.Lingzhi Valley is located in Wugang Village, Luochaojin Town, the western part of Fenghuang County. It is 30 kilometers away from Fenghuang County. By the way to Xiangxi Lingzhi Valley, you can see famous southern great wall, Huangsi Bridge ancient city. So the traffic there is really convenient.Xiangxi Lingzhi Valley combines folk customs, natural sceneries with karst caves, which makes it original, unique landscape in western Hunan. Over there, water and mountains are commonly seen. Generally speaking, it is also a natural air anion bar. At the foot of the hill, Niaochao River flows around the mountain. Ancient plank roads wind along the mountain ridges. In the mountains, water curtains made by springs make it look special. Within the caves, stalactites are in different poses. At the summit the mountains, Five Finger Mountain stands straightly. Ancient Miao villages can lead you to appreciate the cooking culture of Miao Nationality.For you, the beautiful sceneries have kept waiting for thousands of years.Translated by Becky

2013-07-10 01:02 View：4217