Lunar New Year here in Los Angeles is quite different from Lunar New Year in Taiwan. First off, most Asian families here celebrate the New Year with the same traditions. The children receive red envelopes with money inside and the family feasts together. My Chinese school has put up decorations with the theme of the New Year and we will soon have a small festival to celebrate the occasion.
My family and I usually return to Taiwan to celebrate. It's risky getting taken out of school, but it is a risk we're all willing to take. Taiwan is definitely more festive on the occasion than Los Angeles. We visit our more distant relatives that still reside in Taipei and enjoy the holiday with them.
In Los Angeles County, there is an Asian-American Expo that goes on every year for three days. It's almost like the Taiwanese night markets but the feeling is a lot different. There are hundreds of booths in large buildings selling everything, from Koi fish to imitation Pradas, to contracts with insurance companies. In the middle of each building is a stage and people of all ethnic backgrounds perform dances and songs of their own culture. It's always packed with people and full of excitement. You never know what you may find at the next booth.
I myself prefer the festivities of Taiwan. Here in California, the New Year's dinner and the Asian-American Expo are the main events that occur. In Taipei, the city is bustling with movement, preparing itself for the holiday. I love being part of the excitement and getting caught up in its joyous rhythm. (JOSEPHINE LIU/LINCOLN CHINESE SCHOOL, CALIFORNIA, USA)
洛杉磯的農曆新年跟台灣的新年大不相同。這裏大多數的華人家庭都以傳統的方式慶祝新年,小孩子會到收紅包,然後家人一起吃年夜飯。我的中文學校已佈置新年,再過不久還要舉行慶祝農曆年的園遊會。
我和家人通常會回台灣過新年,雖然我們得向學校請假,可是我們不在乎,因為台灣比洛杉磯更有年味。我們會拜訪在台北的遠方親戚並跟他們一起過年。
在洛杉磯,每逢春節就會舉辦一場為期三天的華人工商大展,它有點像台灣的夜市,但感覺卻大不相同。大型建物裡有上百個攤位,展售的商品從鯉魚、Prada的仿冒品到保險商品應有盡有。每個場地中間都有舞台,各個族裔的人會表演自己文化的歌舞,那裡總是擠滿了興奮的觀眾。你永遠不知道自己在下個攤位會發現什麼。
我自己比較喜歡台灣的新年。在加州,年夜飯和華人工商大展算是重頭戲。而在台北,整個城市為了迎接新年喧鬧不已。我喜歡融入這股興奮之中,感染歡樂的氣氛!
(劉長青�美國加州林肯中文學校)
The strongest earthquake to hit Taiwan in 25 years killed at least 16 people and damaged dozens of buildings, but the destruction was largely contained thanks to decades of preparedness work. Taiwan sits on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of intense seismic activity along the Pacific Rim, and — much like neighboring Japan — has a long history of catastrophic quakes. How does April 3 compare with other recent quakes? The April 3 earthquake, which measured 7.4 on the moment magnitude scale, was felt across Taiwan. It was the most severe since a 7.6 magnitude quake in 1999 killed
A: Artificial intelligence technology has been causing controversy lately: a student was caught cheating with AI to win the grand prize in an art contest. B: That’s so absurd. Does this mean that AI paints better than humans? A: Maybe. Luckily, the student was later disqualified. B: And more absurdly, it’s becoming more and more popular to use AI technology to “resurrect” people. A: Yeah, some netizens even posted videos featuring the late singer CoCo Lee, who was “resurrected” by them with AI software. A: 人工智慧的爭議不斷,有學生違規使用AI參加美術展,甚至贏得首獎。 B: 真誇張,這是不是代表AI比人類還強大? A: 或許吧,幸好得獎資格被取消。 B: 還有更誇張的︰讓死者重現的「AI復活」技術越來越熱門。 A: 對啊,還有網友製作已故歌后李玟「復活」的影片呢! (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
Around the time of the Dragon Boat Festival in June, the streets of Taiwan are filled with the delightful aroma of zongzi, a traditional snack made of sticky rice wrapped in leaves. The leaves are folded into a cone and then filled with sticky rice and other ingredients such as braised pork belly, peanuts and salted duck egg yolks. The filled leaves are then tightly tied with kitchen twine and ready for cooking. 每到六月端午時節,街頭巷尾就會飄出粽子的香氣。粽子是將糯米包進粽葉的傳統美食,先將粽葉折成圓錐狀塞入糯米,以及紅燒肉、花生、鹹鴨蛋黃等配料,用棉線綁緊後即可烹煮。 Dragon Boat Festival (n. phr.) 端午節 aroma
Everyone has seen a piece of fruit turn brown after being cut. Have you ever wondered why that happens? It is a common phenomenon that occurs due to a chemical reaction called enzymatic browning. The appearance, flavor and nutritional value of the fruit are all affected by this reaction. Some fruits, such as apples, pears, bananas, avocados and peaches, are more prone to enzymatic browning than others. These fruits contain high levels of an enzyme called polyphenol oxidase, or PPO for short. __1__ This causes a chain of chemical reactions that ultimately transforms the phenolic compounds into