Archive for the ‘Cultural’ category

Spanish Culture – Events to Watch Out for in London

October 25th, 2011

London is a cosmopolitan city and as such is home to a really diverse range of nationalities. The city has embraced the different traditions of each country, making it really culturally diverse.

Spanish-speaking people make up a large number of the foreigners who now call London home, and as a result, there are lots activities which celebrate the Spanish culture and language.

London – Spanish Film Festival

A film festival can give great exposure to Spanish customs and traditions, as well as to the Spanish art scene. The festival takes place at Ciné Lumière along with many other events that give an opportunity for the public to come into close contact with film producers, directors and actors.

Taste of Spain London

The Taste of Spain is an annual festival that encompasses various Spanish-focussed events for the Spanish community in London and the Londoners alike. Events include a Spanish food festival where you can taste gastronomic delights from various parts of Spain, along with music and dance that sees graceful Flamenco dancers twirling their hips to the folk songs of Andalucia. The festival also includes various sporting activities for the kids and adults alike, ranging from tennis, basketball, golf simulators, horse simulators and football. » Read more: Spanish Culture – Events to Watch Out for in London

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Cultural London – 5 Places You Must Visit

October 19th, 2011

The seafaring, colonial British past ensures that the British present is characterized by an abundant cultural variety: in the museums as well as in day-to-day life. Nowhere is this more evident than in London, and with summer tourism peaking during the coming months, we survey its Top 5 Cultural Attractions for your amusement and bemusement here. Good British citizens that we are, we’ve taken a lead from the Prime Minister and his proclamations of an oncoming “age of austerity”, and all the top tourists stops you read about here are, wait for it, absolutely free!

The British Museum: constantly posts the greatest visitor numbers year on year, and with good reason. The rich cultural life of the capital is displayed in all its grandeur, with the BM showcasing everything from Egyptian mummies to Parthenon sculptures. Admission is free aside from special exhibitions which require advance ticketing or forking over some cash up front.

The Tate Modern: for those of us with slightly more progressive tastes, a visit to the old Bankside Power Station offers a sense of history without all that stuffiness. Check out the Picassos, Dalis, Francis Bacons and contemporary exhibits, as well as some stunning art installations if you’d like to brush the oh-so-old dust of the British Museum or the Natural History Museum off your 21st century epaulettes. It’s free too!

The National Gallery: not quite the Louvre, but splendidly British and suitably cultural nonetheless. The Gallery houses masterworks of European painting dating from 1250 up until 1900. Look here for you Rembrandts, Van Goghs and Caravaggios, and save some dosh while you’re at it. » Read more: Cultural London – 5 Places You Must Visit

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The Meaning of Chopsticks in Chinese Food Culture

September 16th, 2011

The Meaning of Chopsticks in Chinese Food CultureI remember that, when I was little, there were lots of riddles for kids. My grandma used to ask me time to time one of them in particular: ‘There are two equally tall brothers, they have good brotherhood, and are always together, but whenever they walk, it is like they are wrestling all the time. Guess what they are?’ A pair of chopsticks! Even today, I still think this is the best description of chopsticks.

Chopsticks are definitely the symbol of Chinese food culture. On the dining table, almost everything is picked up and brought to mouth by using chopsticks (apart from soup). From picking up the rice from the bowl, every piece of food on the plate, to picking the small tiny bones from the fish or eating half meter long noodles, or even cutting off some piece into half; all can be done by chopsticks. So the traditional way of laying the table is always having a pair of chopsticks along with a spoon placed next to the rice bowl, no knives, and definitely no forks.

Chopsticks are normally made of wood, bamboo or silver, or even gold. The price can greatly vary because of the quality of the wood. Some chopsticks with good quality wood like achiote and very fine details can be very pricey.

Gold chopsticks were used by the ‘emperors’ or ‘royals’ to distinguish their unique position, but silver chopsticks were more common. It is said that using silver chopsticks was the best way to check if the food was poisoned, as there would be a mark shown on the silver chopsticks if there was poison in the food. Not surprisingly, all those emperors needed to take pre-cautions.

Furthermore, silver chopsticks are probably the most ‘healthy’ ones, as the wood ones can be rotten after washing many times, and become not hygienic.

Chinese chopsticks have normally a kind of rectangular shape, and are longer and thicker, comparing to Japanese ones, for example. This is because of the traditional metaphor of ’round sky and square ground’, so the tip of the chopsticks is always in ’round’ shape, while the other end is square. However, nowadays, the slim and all round shape chopsticks are also very popular. » Read more: The Meaning of Chopsticks in Chinese Food Culture

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