This is a very insightful speech by Daniel Goleman who spoke to the staff at Google.    Through technology and Youtube, we are able to participate and benefit from his speech, in the comfort of our tiny cubicle or office.  Hope you enjoy the above video as much as I do.

New York Times science writer Daniel Goleman argues that our emotions play a much greater role in thought, decision making and individual success than is commonly acknowledged. He defines “emotional intelligence”?a trait not measured by IQ tests?as a set of skills, including control of one’s impulses, self-motivation, empathy and social competence in interpersonal relationships.  In marriage, emotional intelligence means listening well and being able to calm down. In the workplace, it manifests when bosses give subordinates constructive feedback regarding their performance.

How is it that Arabic numbers are written
1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  0?

What is the story and the logic behind?

The Answer is ANGLES.

Watch this little animated clip and you will see that
the number 1 has one angle
the number 2 has two angles
the number 3 has three angles

…….

and the most intelligent of all – ZERO has no angles.

Called the Hindu-Arabic numerals, the numbers were first invented by the Indian mathematicians, subsequently, the numerals were adopted by the Persian mathematicians in India, and passed on to the Arabs further west. From there they were transmitted to Europe in the Middle Ages. The use of Arabic numerals spread around the world through European trade, books and colonialism. Today they are the most common symbolic representation of numbers in the world.

It turned out that Longjing tea is the imperial tea of China, blessed by the emperor of the Sung Dynasty. In fact 18 tea bushes were branded Imperial tea and were fenced, and heavily guarded. The tea leaves from these bushes are strictly reserved for the head of states of China and visiting dignitaries.

The mountainous plantation is dreamlike in its setting, and true enough, the tea has a refreshing taste quite unlike anything else. It has been branded a beauty tea, and a health drink, and is scientifically proven.

Here is a video clip explaining the wonders and history behind longjing tea.

My friend and I went shopping for longjing tea afterwards. We didn’t want to buy from the museum, as the price tends to be higher. It turned out that there are several kinds of longjing tea.
1. Baby tea leaves – most expensive (hand picked)
2. Before the rain tea leaves – picked within 10 days before the Jingming festival (usually around first week of April) again these are handpicked.
3. After the rain tea leaves
4. Mature tea leaves

The best would be the spring baby tea leaves. Tea shops will let you try these teas out for comparison. I was sold after the experience. Only Longjing tea for me, and I am willing to pay the price. I calculated that I paid the equivalent of $10 US for 100 grams of “Before the rain” tea leaves and this would make 60 to 100 cups. Not bad for the best tea of China that is fit for an emperor!

This is how the tea leaves look, and the paler the color, the more superior the leaves.

Another “must visit” place in Shanghai is the Huxingting Tea House, the word Huxingting meaning “pavilion on the center of the lake”. This is the place which hosted foreign dignitaries including Queen Elizabeth II and President Bill Clinton. When I read the menu at the tea house, I couldn’t believe that the cheapest tea run at about US$10. I was not going to be ripped off, I thought, and wanted to get out of this place, but I was convinced that I can treat myself as a queen or president and pamper myself with a $10 cup of tea.

This cup of tea turned to be quite an interesting experience. For one thing, this cup of tea actually came with some several dishes of savoury snacks including dry bean curd, tea quail eggs, pickled olives and mochi rice cakes. In addition, the tea we ordered was a blooming flowering tea, and watching this delicate tea blooming in front of our eyes was simply amazing.

Ever since this tea experience, I never looked at tea the same way. It turned out that those tea bags we buy in North America are the worst type of tea we can buy. The best teas can be found in China and once you’ve tasted the best, it’s hard to go back to the crumby tea. If you’ve never have a blooming flowering tea, just watch how a tea bulb blossoms in real time in front of your very eyes.

During my visit, I bought some snacks which I took to the office today for our staff meeting.   So,.  To my delight, everyone enjoyed the snacks (a different treat from the usual timbits).

These savoury snacks (a little sweet and salty) one made with sunflower and pumpkin seeds mixed with seaweeds;  another made with peanuts, some with red beans, sesame seeds… a real variety.   Most of them, made by hand using the ancient method.  In fact,  I tried kneading the dough at a food stall, and boy, was the mallet every heavy.  I could hardly move it!

Zhou Zhuang is also famous for its pork knuckles.  The tourist guide on the bus told us that there are more concentration of pork knuckles in Zhou Zhuang than anywhere else.  Several food stalls sell pork knuckles and there are vacuum packed cooked pork knuckles for sale at only 38 yuen (approx. US$5).

What is really significant about this place is not the candy or the pork knuckles but the history.   Zhouzhuang, known as the Venice of the Orient is part of the criss-cross of canals and irrigation ditches that link with the  1800 km Grand Canal going from Beijing to Hangzhou.

The Grand Canal of China is the world’s oldest and longest canal, far surpassing the next two grand canals of the world: Suez and Panama Canal.  The building of the canal began in 486 B.C. during the Wu Dynasty. It was extended during the Qi Dynasty, and later by Emperor Yangdi of Sui Dynasty during six years of furious construction from 605-610 AD.   The canal is 1,795 Km (1,114 miles) long with 24 locks and some 60 bridges.  Main purpose of the canal was to facilitate the transport of food supplies from the south to the north.

Here is a miniature of a portion of the water village which was displayed at a museum in one of the buildings.

Here is a videoclip of the water village.

So, the best xiaolongbao restaurant in Shanghai is located in the Medieval Yu Yuan Garden,  right smack in the middle of big city Shanghai – and it’s called the Nanxiang Mantou Dian.  You can’t miss it if you visit the garden.  The line up is always long.

Yu Yuan Garden was first established in 1559 as a private garden built by a son ( a Minister of Finance) during the Ming Dynasty to please his father.   This son is very very rich, to build such a huge place.  The setting is simply uncomparable.  Photo below shows Yu Yuan Pavilions, where the restaurant is located.

There was the lineup at the entrance, then there is the wait at the restaurant. 

If you have not tried Xiaolongbao before, you need a lesson.

HOW TO EAT XIAOLONGBAO:

1.  Firstly bite a small hole.  a very teeny little hole, since you don’t want to waste any juice.
2.  Secondly, suck the juice s-l-o-w-l-y.  Remember, it is BOILING HOT.
3.  Then,  dip it with the vinegar and take a small bite, savour slowly. The juice is the most delicious part of Shanghai Xiaolongbao. The stuffing of Xiaolongbao is the main part. It can be shrimp, crab, pork, chicken, beef, vegetables and any combination of each ingredients.

So, when I get back to Canada, I will stop by T & T and get some Xiaolongbao.

Related articles:
1. The making of Xiaolongbao at the Nanxiang Mantou Dian restaurant

This is part 2 of my Hangzhou travel.  Read Part 1 about my Marco Experience

Hangzhou is the romantic capital of China, and all along the West Lake, couples, young and old, hold hands as they strolled along the lakeshore.  There are no private homes along the lake, the entire lake shore is accessible to everyone.

The West Lake is the setting of many ancient landscape paintings, poetry and calligraphy.  I would like to share one of my favorite childhood folk tales set on the West Lake of Hangzhou – the Leifeng Pagoda made famous by the Legend of the White Snake, also known as Madame White Serpent set in the Soong Dynasty.  The story has been made into movies, TV series, animation and operas.   The White Snake is supposedly held captive at the Leifeng Pagoda until she was rescued by her husband.

Leifeng Pagoda  is a five story tall tower with eight sides, located on Sunset Hill south of the West Lake in Hangzhou. Originally constructed in the year AD 975, it collapsed in 1924 but was rebuilt in 2002, since then it has been a popular tourist attraction.

Here is an ancient painting of the West Lake of Hangzhou:

And here we are on a boat ride on the West Lake of Hangzhou:

The basic story line of the White Snake Legend is this:
The White Snake is a 1,000 year old spirit whose attempt at becoming a goddess failed, and is thus trapped in the spirit world, not quite a goddess, not a human, yet is immortal and has magical powers.    She took the form of a human and seduced a young scholar who, unaware of the White Snake’s true form, married her.

A monk intervened in order to save the scholar’s soul and casts the white snake into a deep well at the Leifeng Pagoda.  Over the centuries the story has evolved from horror story to romance with the scholar and the white snake-woman genuinely in love with one another, but such a relationship is forbidden by the laws of Heaven.  A favorite ending for this love story is that the scholar eventually went and rescued the White Snake from captivity.

Here is a video clip of the movie with English subtitles (in this clip, the white snake seduces the young innocent scholar. Note the beautiful misty setting of the west lake:

There have also been variations on the telling of the story: like the scholar adopting the white snake as a pet while still a schoolboy; or himself being banished from Heaven and becoming a mere human on Earth.

An added character is a green snake who has also been turned into a woman and serves as the white snake-woman’s soul sister and confidante.

Related Articles:
1.  West Lake Impressions – Live Musical performed on West Lake directed by Zhang Zimou
1. A Chinese Opera on a Love Story between a Human and a Snake

an ancient European painting of the lagoon city of Hangzhou circa 1412

According to Marco Polo, Hangzhou is -“without doubt the finest and most splendid city the world… there are said to be 13,000 bridges, mostly of stone… vast are the numbers of those accustomed to dainty living, to the point of eating fish and meat at one meal.”

Hangzhou in the 13th century, was the capital of the Soong Dynasty, (1127-1279), and the world’s most prosperous city.  152 years of peace and prosperity during the Soong Dynasty resulted in a wealth of poetry, calligraphy and painting from the era.    So here I am, reading Marco Polo’s journal and visiting Hangzhou.

I took this photo of a boat on West Lake.  Boats of all types sail on the West Lake.  Most of the boats are still of the ancient types.  Large ones ferry passengers from three points of the lake.  There are also several paddle boats for hire.    On West Lake, Marco Pole wrote: “On one side it skirts the city… and commands a distant view of all its grandeur and loveliness, its temples, monasteries, and gardens with their towering trees, running down to the water’s edge. On the lake itself is the endless procession of barges thronged with pleasure-seekers… their minds and thoughts are intent upon nothing but bodily pleasures and the delights of society.”

Any photographs taken of the famous West Lake of Hangzhou at any angle is simply postcard pretty.   There is so much history behind West Lake such that I will have to tackle this another day.  Below is an aerial photograph of modern Hangzhou and you can see that there is plenty of greenery for such a populous city in China.  A great park within a modern city.

For the budget conscious entrepreneur, here are some free online tools that are quite powerful and useful. They can be used for email broadcast, communication/marketing, file storage, document creation (word processing, spreadsheet), social media.

1. Prezi – www.prezi.com – an alternative to Powerpoint presentation software. Free. A zooming presentation editing software. Great way to create stunning presentation.

2. Mailchimp – www.mailchimp.com – send up to 3,000 emails a month to as many as 500 subscribers for free. There is a tutorial that explains how to use the software. Choose from several ready made templates.

3. LinkedIn – www.linkedin.com – LinkedIn is a business-oriented social networking site. Founded in December 2002 and launched in May 2003, it is mainly used for professional networking. As of 2010 , LinkedIn had more than 65 million registered users, spanning more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. The site is available in English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish. Registration is free.

4. Dropbox – www.dropbox.com – Dropbox is an easy way to store, sync, and, share files online. Simply drop your file to an internet folder, which can be accessed by other computers. you can invite people to view private files in a public folder accessible by anyone who knows the address. Great for working and transferring files with clients.

5. Open Office – www.openoffice.org – an alternative to Google Docs or Microsoft Office. You can download free software that you can use for word processing and spreadsheet. Easy to install.

6. Hootsuite – www.hootsuite.com – Using one dashboard, the user can measure, monitor and post to social media including Twitter, Facebook and Linked In. Great for marketing communications and customer engagement.

7. Ping.fm – www.ping.fm – Ping.fm is a free social networking and micro-blogging web service that enables users to post to multiple social networks simultaneously. Making an update on Ping.fm pushes the update to a number of different social websites at once. This allows individuals using multiple social networks to update their status only once, without having to update it in all their social media individually. Ping.fm groups services into three categories – status updates, blogs, and micro-blogs – and updates can be sent to each group separately.

8. Google Docs – www.docs-google.com – a free web-based word processing, spreadsheet, presentation and form application software by Google.com. Free storage of up to 1 gB of data. Documents can be shared, opened and edited by multiple users at the same time.