The Great Wall of China

The Great Wall of China runs 13,171 miles west-to-east. It starts in the Hushan Mountains in Liaoning Province in to the east and ends at the Bohai Gulf. Construction of the great wall began during the Qin Dynasty under emperor Shi Huagti. It great wall took hundreds of years to complete. It was not finished until the Ming dynasty; they added watch towers and expanded the width and height of the wall. The original wall was started during the Warring States Period, when the Qin emerged as the victorious state. During the Han Dynasty, the first emperor used the wall for defense purposes and for regulating trade along the silk road. Each Dynasty contributed and repaired the wall until the Ming Dynasty. They did major reconstructions to stops nomads from Mongolia invading. The Ming add 25,000 massive watchtowers, 20 feet across the bottom, 15 feet across the top and ranging from 16-26 feet in height. 

Interesting Facts:

·       The Great Wall of China has been called the longest cemetery on Earth. Over a million people died building the Wall and archaeologists have found human remains buried under parts of the wall

·       The Great Wall of China is threatened with erosion. The northwestern sections (e.g. in Gansu and Ningxia provinces) of the Great Wall are deteriorating so quickly. It is believed that these sections may disappear within 20 years, due to demolishment by nature and human. 

http://www.ancient.eu/Great_Wall_of_China/
http://www.chinatravellers.com/Artcle_Show.asp?id=157

History of Pho

Pho is a Vietnamese soup made with broth, rice noodles, herbs, meat  (beef or chicken)and often served with sriracha. Pho originated in the 20^th century in northern Vietnam, southeast of Hanoi and then in large markets. “According to villagers, pho was eaten in Vân Cù long before the French colonial period when it was popularized.”  There are two different styles of pho: Hanoi and Saigon are different “by noodle width, the sweetness of broth, and choice of herbs. A related noodle soup, bún bò Huế, is associated with Huế in central Vietnam”. After the Vietnam War Pho became popular in many countries. Vietnamese War Refugees opened restaurants that specializing in making Pho. Pho restaurants became to appear in the United States, Canada, and Australia. The first hundreds of Pho restaurant opened in Little Saigon in Orange County, CA. Pho became mainstream in the United States during the 1990s; the popularization was a result of the improved relationship between the US and Vietnam. Pho spread to Texas, California, the gulf coast, west coast and east coast. It’s recorded that Pho brought in over $500 million in annual revenue in the 2000s. In 2007 Pho was added to the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary in 2007. In 2011 Pho was rated 28 on the World 50 most delicious foods by CNN Go. It has also been adopted as a cuisine by other Southeast Asian. Pho is also on Australia menus.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pho

Sri Lanka

             Sri Lanka previously named Ceylon is an island of the Indian Ocean. It is about the half the size of Alabama. In the 5^th century B.C Indo-Aryan emigrated from India to Sri Lanka. The largest ethnic group in Sri were the Sinhalese and the second largest ethnic group are the Tamils. They emigrated between the 3^rd century B.C and A.D 1200. The Sinhalese and Tamil fought over who ruled the island. The Tamils claimed the northern part of the island and the Sinhalese claimed the southern section. Tamils follow Hindus and Sinhalese followed Buddhist. The Portuguese took control of Ceylon in 1505 until the Dutch India Company overtook it in 1658. Then the British took it away in 1796. In 1802 Ceylon became an English Crown. The British exported coffee, tea, and rubber on plantations. “On Feb. 4, 1948, after pressure from Ceylonese nationalist leaders (which briefly unified the Tamil and Sinhalese), Ceylon became a self-governing dominion of the Commonwealth of Nations”. On May 22, 1972, Ceylon was renamed to Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka changed its name because it was given to them by France, that why the government voted to changed it.  

http://www.infoplease.com/country/sri-lanka.html

History of Sushi in Japan

           

                 In the 8^th century, the making of sushi began in Japan. However, the first type of sushi organed from Southeast Asia and eventually spread to South China. Sushi meant the preserving of fish; it was made with salted fish and then placed in fermented rice. One type of sushi was called Narezushi, it was made with gutted fish and they stored in fermented. These sushi’s was preserved for months sometimes. The fermented rice was used to keep the fish from spoiling. “Fermentation in food processing is the process of converting carbohydrates to alcohol or organic acids using microorganisms—yeasts or bacteria—under anaerobic conditions” (Wiki). Narezushi was an important early sushi because it contains a lot of proteins. Eventually Japanese began eating namanare sushi. This type of sushi was semi-raw fish wrapped up in rice and eaten immediately (before it went bad). Then Haya-zushi was introduced during the Edo period and contained rice and fish that could be eaten right away. Haya-zushi was distinctive because it was the first time in Japanese history the rice didn’t need to be fermented. Japanese began to add vegetables and dried fruits thing to sushi. Sushi began to sell as fast food during the Edo period when the capital was in Tokyo; street vendors began selling them.  In 1923 the Great Kanto earthquake sushi began extremely popular throughout Japan. Today’s version of sushi was invented by Hanaya Yohei. He made sushi that could be eaten with your chopsticks or hands. Hanaya’ sushi was clean and easy to eat; it made great theater and public food.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_sushi
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiuniang

Cherry Blossom Trees

Cherry Blossoms trees are one of Japan’s most celebrated and beautiful plant. These trees were first spotted in Eurasia somewhere in the Himalayas (Scholars speculate). Thousands of years ago, Cherry Blossom trees were brought to japan and it “spread throughout the country before the prehistoric age”. There are over 300 types of Cherry Blossom trees- also known as Sakura- in Japan.

During the Heian Period celebrating the Cherry Blossoms tree became popular. Emperors and members of the elite class began hosting feasts and panics under the blooming Sakura tree. It was celebrated by all classes and it became a very important feast/parties for all class members of Japanese society. Centuries late and the cherry blossom tree is still being celebrated. The sacredness of the tradition has stayed. However, where the celebration takes place have changed drastically. All over the world, people gather in numerous places like San Francisco, Brooklyn and Washington D.C to celebrating the blooming of the Cherry blossom.

The Sakura celebrations are extremely important to Japan. “Each year, the blossom forecast is analyzed, predicted and released to the public by the Japan Meteorological Agency.” Sakura holds a major Buddhist meaning. It represents the transience of life. Cherry blossom trees are known for its short life and its vibrant colors. Metaphorically it is a representation of human life.

Interesting Fact: “In 1912, Japan gave more than 3,000 cherry-blossom trees to the United States as a gift to honor the growing bond between the two countries. Now, the annual National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, D.C., commemorates this century-old offering of goodwill when the trees bloom each spring.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/katherine-lagrave/cherry-blossoms-history_b_3081264.htmlhttp://www.livescience.com/28424-cherry-blossoms.html

Increase of HIV in the Philippines

          Across the Asia-Pacifica area, the number of H.I.V infections has decreased. But in the Philippines numbers are no longer dropping. Within the gay and bisexual community, there has been increased with men under the ages of 25. From 2011 and 2015 H.I.V rates has increased by 230 percent. Rates has increased because the Philippines are not doing enough to bring awareness to the disease and there is no preventions program. According to a study by the Health Department, only 17 percent of Filipinos between 15 and 24 understand what H.I.V is and how it spreads. The Department of Education just introduced a program in January to teach juniors and seniors about condoms. "The plan would have trained teachers to counsel students on how to prevent pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections and to offer voluntary H.I.V. testing" (1). The program will also help train parents to talk to their children about sex. Even though the health department is trying to make the gap smaller, it is hard for the government to give out contraceptives. Condoms are available for free at health clinics but for those are not close to one there's basically no hope for them.  

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/28/world/asia/as-hiv-soars-in-philippines-conservatives-kill-school-condom-plan.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fasia&action=click&contentCollection=asia&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=9&pgtype=sectionfront

Faking your Car Accident??

    Faking your accident is one of the easiest tricks in the book to get money. Pedestrians walk in front of a car and basically throw themselves against a car and scream that they were “hit by a car”. However, technology is making it hard to pull off the scam. In China, you can find people trying to pull off this scam like no tomorrow. If you look on YouTube, you’ll find millions of videos of pedestrians faking an accident. In China, it’s known as “pengci” or “porcelain bumping”. Pengci “derives from the practice of dishonest shopkeepers placing a porcelain item in a spot where it was likely to get knocked over and broken, allowing them to claim damages from the “clumsy” customer.” In this New York Times article, they provide a video of women in Yongzhou, China carrying out this scam. She’ll wiggle her butt in from of the car and then lay on the floor until the drive gives her money. The woman in the video began using the person filming part of the act. She encourages the person to film her, and shout that she only earned 20 renminbi but in one hour she can make up to 250 renminbi. In November, another woman tried to pull off the act but the police dragged her away. In Nanning, a man throws himself a nonmoving bus until the police showed up. Some people have been serious injured (e.g broken bones) and some have even died. There are even “professional porcelain bumpers.” People who participate in porcelain bumping are not prosecuted. Chinese are tired of the trick and are embarrassed by these video cycling through the internet. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/21/world/asia/china-traffic-scam-fraud.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fasia&action=click&contentCollection=asia&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=sectionfront&_r=0