Spaghetti In China

  Take your popcorn, because we are going to talk about one of my favorite latest Marvel movies. This movie is deeply interconnected with Chinese culture of course, can you guess which film I am talking about? Yes, it is Shang-Chi, and if you didn’t watch it yet I highly recommend you to do it. Don’t worry there will be no spoiler. An interesting fact about this movie is that even if it well represents Chinese culture, it is banned in China.  Let’s be precise, not “officially banned”, but it never reached cinemas, the same happened to other Marvel movies such as Black Widow and Eternals. Going back to Shang-Chi, it is not the perfect representation of China and its culture, but I consider it a big step forward as there are a lot of reliable elements. First of all, it is the first movie on a big scale where most of the actors are Chinese native or Western-born Chinese.   One of the things that I enjoyed and appreciated were the dialogues that have been left in Chinese, without translati

  Today we will talk about one of the most iconic items of Asia: chopsticks. Why do countries like Japan, China, Thailand, and more use chopsticks to eat? It is also pretty difficult, especially if you are used to enjoy your meals with a spoon, fork, and knife. Nowadays the use of chopsticks is a bit more spread, thanks to the presence of a lot of Asian-style restaurants all over the world.  But remember that if on one side, at a Chinese restaurant that you might find in Europe you can still ask for a fork and knife, if you are in China you have to use chopsticks, and make a fool of yourself in front of everybody while learning how to use them. It’s part of the process, trust me. 😀 When I first came to China they told me that there was an international canteen in my dorm, and I thought that being “international” they would have had some western food and, of course, forks. Well, I was completely wrong🙈, the only reason why it is called international is that is part of the dorm for int

Today we will talk about Fengshui 风水 , known all over the world with different pronunciations and believes.   I have been asking some people what they know or think about it, and, also looking for information on the web, I understood that many people don’t really know what 风水 is, there are thousands of different definitions, from who thinks it is just magic to who says it is science.   To understand what it is, we should start from its origin. The 风水has a long history, it is attributed to Fuxi and Huangdi, the first Chinese emperors, that lived more than 5000 years ago.   Fengshui is without any doubt connected to Taoism, which focuses on the effects that changes have on humans. (all the theory of yin and yang is based on continuous change, I’ll write another article about it)   The name: 风水, literally wind and water. 风means wind, maybe as breath, and represents the yang. 水means water and it represents the component yin and brings prosperity. Just looking at the name, we can see how th

Welcome back to Spaghetti In China! Today we will talk about the fortune cookies.  When you go to a Chinese restaurant you generally receive one of them at the end of your meal ant you curiously open to see what written in the little paper inside the famous cookie.  I have to admit that, when I was younger I was literally dying to know what the quote inside it would have “told” me, now I’m just curious.   The fortune cookies are from a long time considered as Chinese icon, but are they really from China? The answer is no!  The story of these popular cookies connects three different cultures: Japanese, American and Chinese.   It is said to be a Japanese creation, borrowed from Chinese and deeply American. Let’s find out why! Everything starts in Japan, where some tea shops started selling these cookies called “tsujura senbei”(please don’t ask me about the pronunciation) in which inside there was a paper with a message. A part from the shops, these crackers were mostly sold close Shintoi

If you are in China you must have seen the picture of the Chinese Female Volleyball Team somewhere, in the subway, at the bus stop, or on some products in the market. But why are them so famous and popular?   The answer is, for the ones who follow volleyball, as clear as crystal. They are one of the leading and most successful teams in the world! They won ten titles in the most important international competitions, including five World Cups, two World Championships and three Olympic Games. It already sounds considerable, but just to be sure that nobody misunderstands, we have to specify that those mentioned are only the Golden Medals won by this mazing team, without counting all the times they got on the podium obtaining silver or bronze medals.     After the last victory in 2019, the World Cup that took place in Japan, the team went back to China and has been received from president Xi, that greeted them and told them how he sees the ideals and traits of China itself reflected in thei

  If you are going to China, for sure you will also visit Shanghai, city that is a must. Shanghai is the most international city of the country and, as that, you can literally find anything there, from Italian ice cream to Mexican food, of course the price is going to be pretty high for this products, but if you are in China from a while or you are just missing something about your own culture, that is the right place where to find it. I personally don't like that much, I prefer hidden gems, but still I think it is worth a visit. The city is simply enormous and the story behind it is amazing, it is impossible to describe it all in only one article, so I will talk about my experience in this huge metropolis. First of all, one of the greatest things of Shanghai is that, being that big and important is well linked to other cities, for example, thanks to the fast train, you can reach it in just few hours from Hangzhou, and the ticket has a reasonable price. Before going there it