Monopterus albus is a seasonal food in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces in summer.

On the Dragon Boat Festival, people in the northwest love noodles with minced meat more.

　　Text/Figure Yangcheng Evening News reporter Song Wei Intern Tu Xinyi

　　Egg yolk dumplings, fresh meat dumplings and red bean paste dumplings … … When it comes to Dragon Boat Festival cuisine, Zongzi must be a well-deserved protagonist. However, many health experts believe that not everyone is suitable to eat zongzi. Because glutinous rice is sticky and stays in the stomach for a long time, people with stomach diseases should try to eat less. In fact, apart from Zongzi, there are many kinds of Dragon Boat Festival foods in many places in China … …

　　Jiangnan eats "wuhuang" for good luck.

　　In the south of the Yangtze River, which is known as the land of plenty, people have the custom of eating "wuhuang" during the Dragon Boat Festival. There is a nursery rhyme in Jiangnan folk: "Duanyang Festival, eat wuhuang; The door is full of incense; Eat zongzi and dip in sugar; Five tigers in the sky are king. " The so-called "wuhuang" refers to yellow croaker, cucumber, salted egg yolk, eel and realgar wine. Among them, Monopterus albus is a representative summer food in Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

　　It is reported that eel is the fattest and most delicious from June to August every year. Monopterus albus not only tastes good, but also has a particularly high nutritional value. There is a saying among the people that "eating eel in early summer is better than eating ginseng". In the hot summer, every household in the south of the Yangtze River will go to the vegetable market to buy Monopterus albus and put it in a basin after returning home. When it’s time for dinner, the cooks in the family will start to cook delicious food.

　　Among the Su-Bang cuisines, the most authentic one is the famous dish "Xiangyou eel paste". Its uniqueness is that although the eel with heavy fishy smell is used as the main material, it has no fishy smell at the entrance. This is because a lot of cooking wine and ginger onions are put in when making, and then hot oil is poured on it after cooking. The dish is oily but not greasy, burgundy, slightly sweet and delicious, and it is a good next meal.

　　Jiangxi tea flavor piaoxiang tea eggs

　　In Nanchang, Jiangxi, there are traditional tea eggs in addition to the indispensable zongzi during the Dragon Boat Festival. Eggs used in tea eggs include eggs, duck eggs and goose eggs. After the eggs are cooked, people will paint the eggshells red and hang them around children’s necks in colorful net bags, wishing them good luck and safety in the coming year.

　　Nowadays, tea eggs are common snacks all over the world. However, it is a science to make tea eggs with all colors, flavors and shapes. A good tea egg must have three elements: easy peeling, marbling on the surface of the protein, and even the yolk is delicious. So, how can we cook qualified tea eggs at home?

　　First of all, clean the surface of fresh eggs, put them in a pot with cold water, stir them gently until they boil, and cook for another 10 minutes with low heat. Eggs should not be boiled in boiling water, otherwise the eggshell will burst easily. Take out the boiled egg and soak it in cold water for a while. In order to make the egg more tasty, knocking on the shell is an essential step: knock on both ends of the egg, then knock in the middle, and gently press it with your palm to roll around, so that the boiled tea egg will have beautiful marble lines.

　　Put the beaten eggs in a pot, add onion, fragrant leaves, star anise, cinnamon, ginger and other ingredients, add a proper amount of black tea, boil, add salt, soy sauce and soy sauce, stir well, cover and cook for 10 minutes, then turn to low heat and continue cooking for 10 minutes, and then soak the soup for one night.

　　Shaanxi yikou delicious noodles with minced meat

　　Shaanxi people who love pasta will naturally not miss the opportunity for the whole family to stutter together during the Dragon Boat Festival. On the Dragon Boat Festival table of Shaanxi people, noodles with minced meat are absolutely indispensable. It is a special food in Shaanxi, with dozens of varieties in the local area. Among them, Qishan noodles with minced meat are the most famous.

　　Shaanxi noodles with minced meat pay attention to "thin gluten noodles, hot and sour, and fried thinly." Good noodles with minced meat should be thin and chewy, and the local vinegar and chili pepper in Qishan should be used, and the temperature of the soup should be high. In addition, also pay attention to a "rare" word. "Thin" means that there are more soups and less noodles, and only one bite is eaten in a bowl. Even if it is wide noodles, there are only one or two in a bowl, so it is also called "one mouthful fragrance".

　　The reason why noodles with minced meat are fragrant is that the noodles are poured with minced meat. Savoy consists of meat and vegetables. Almost every household in the local people has minced meat, which can be taken at will. Sauerkraut consists of yellow flowers, carrots, fungus, potatoes, beans and egg pancakes. Each dish is cut into the size of soybeans, and the egg pancakes are cut into small triangles.

　　Stir-fry the soup with ginger, garlic and pepper, add salt, vinegar and water, and finally sprinkle a handful of "floating flowers" — — Garlic seedlings or leeks. The red noodle soup is sour and refreshing, and the noodles are thin and gluten-free. After chewing it in your mouth, SAO Zi still has a lingering fragrance. For Shaanxi men, eating a bowl of noodles with minced meat on a hot summer day during the Dragon Boat Festival is simply awesome!

　　Zhejiang soft and fragrant mung bean cake

　　Mung beans have always been thought to have the function of clearing heat and detoxifying. In summer, many people often cook some mung bean soup at home to cool off the heat. Mung bean is rich in plant protein, and its globulin content is also high. In addition, it has the effects of dispelling summer heat and quenching thirst, promoting diuresis and reducing swelling, so it is very suitable for eating in the hot and humid south.

　　In Zhejiang, people have the custom of eating mung bean cakes during the Dragon Boat Festival: eating mung bean cakes is considered a refreshing Dragon Boat Festival. People grind mung beans into fine powder, add flour, sugar and sesame oil, mix well, pour them into a mold and steam them, and finally brush a layer of sesame oil on the surface to make a refreshing mung bean cake.

　　The small mung bean cake is divided into north and south according to taste: the mung bean cake in the north does not add any oil when making, and the entrance is soft; The mung bean cake in the south will be added with oil, and the taste will be more delicate. Mung bean cake is regular in shape, light yellow in color, soft and sticky in taste, and it is absolutely unique in summer to eat it.

CCTV News:At the press conference of the State Council Office on August 15, Fu Linghui, spokesperson of the National Bureau of Statistics, said that although the growth rate of total retail sales of consumer goods slowed down in July, from a number of data, the consumption recovery situation has not changed.

Basic life consumption maintained steady growth, and the growth of upgrading consumption accelerated. In July, the retail sales of cereals, oils, foods and beverages increased by 6.2% and 3% year-on-year, which was generally stable; The retail sales of upgraded commodities such as gold, silver and jewelry, sports and entertainment products, and cultural and office supplies increased by 22.1%, 10.1% and 11.5% respectively, which was faster than last month.

Secondly, online retail sales have risen steadily, and offline store operations have improved. 1— In July, the national online retail sales of physical goods increased by 5.7% year-on-year, compared with 1— It accelerated by 0.1 percentage point in June. Retail sales of department stores and specialty stores decreased by 1-mdash; In June, it narrowed by 1 point and 1.8 percentage points. In addition, service consumption continued to recover, and the decline in catering revenue narrowed. Many places in China stimulate consumption by issuing coupons, and the effect is gradually emerging.

Fu Linghui, spokesperson of the National Bureau of Statistics:These conditions show that once the epidemic situation is effectively controlled and the economy continues to recover, residents’ pent-up consumption potential will be released, their willingness to consume will be enhanced, and the "fireworks" in life will gradually return.

　　In August, the economic recovery trend in Jiangsu Province was significantly enhanced. Compared with last month, the growth rates of industry, service industry, investment and consumption all showed an upward trend. From January to August, the industrial added value, investment in fixed assets and total retail sales of social consumer goods in Jiangxi Province increased by 7.3%, 8.5% and 5.6% respectively, which were higher than the national average … … The economic "transcripts" handed over by many places recently show that the economy continues to recover.

　　However, some places also said that the current external situation is still complicated and severe, domestic economic recovery still faces many difficulties and challenges, and the foundation for sustained economic recovery still needs to be strengthened.

　　How to stabilize the economy? The recent the State Council executive meeting intensively deployed this, emphasizing that "while implementing the package policy of stabilizing the economy, 19 successive policies will be implemented to form a combined effect, so as to promote the economic stabilization and keep the operation in a reasonable range". Streamline administration, delegate power, strengthen regulation and improve services ’ The reform measures will further promote the effectiveness of the package policy of stabilizing the economy, refine the implementation policy, and implement the detailed rules in early September. ""All localities should shoulder the responsibility of stabilizing the economy and protecting people’s livelihood, and provinces with large economies should take the lead and work together to consolidate the foundation of economic stability and promote stability. "

　　From Jiangxi’s promulgation of "Several Successive Measures to Effectively Stabilize Economic Development" to Gansu’s formation of 24 policies and measures to stabilize the economy, and then to Shanghai’s emphasis on implementing a new round of national and municipal policies … … At present, while implementing the national macro-policies, all localities have further enriched the policy toolbox around areas such as expanding effective demand and stabilizing market players to protect people’s livelihood, so as to ensure the sustained release of policy effects.

　　— — Give play to the key role of effective investment

　　On September 22nd, the construction of Huaihong Xinhe Irrigation District in Anhui Province started with a total investment of 10.4 billion yuan. So far, all the six new large-scale irrigation projects promoted by the State Council this year have started. On September 21st, the centralized commencement of major water conservancy projects in Hubei Province was held at the site of the second phase of water resources allocation project in northern Hubei. The total investment of 19 projects started this time is 27.48 billion yuan, which will promote the construction of Hubei as the first batch of provincial water network pilot areas in China.

　　Expanding effective investment is a key link in the policies and measures to stabilize the economy in various places. For example, Henan proposed that, in order to make full use of the economic stabilization package and the dividends from the following policies and measures, seize the key period and fight for the red throughout the year, we will focus on tackling key problems in important economic stabilization projects. Give play to the key role of effective investment in stabilizing the economic market, realize the annual growth of fixed assets investment by more than 10%, complete 2.8 trillion yuan, and strive to achieve an economic growth rate of more than 5.5% in the second half of the year, and the annual economic aggregate exceeds 6.3 trillion yuan.

　　Jiangxi said that it will seize the policy-oriented development financial instruments and special bonds to increase the scale, expand the opportunities in the field, strengthen the project to sort out the reserves, accelerate the preliminary work of the project, win more support from the state, and ensure that the first batch of contracted projects will start construction before the third quarter. According to the principle of "landing, solid support and quick results", we will implement the "four major actions" of urban shantytown renovation, "big traffic" construction, rail transit in Nanchang metropolitan area and infrastructure construction in water conservancy, with a total investment of over 1 trillion yuan.

　　— — Promote the accelerated recovery of the consumer market

　　In Jiujiang City, northern Jiangxi Province, an online launching ceremony was held a few days ago for the Jiujiang Branch of the 2022 Jiangxi "Hundred Cities and Hundred Nights" Cultural and Tourism Consumption Season. During the event, nearly 100 supporting activities such as non-legacy shopping festival, camping music festival and food carnival will be held in counties (cities, districts) of Jiujiang City. According to the relevant staff of Jiujiang Wenguang New Tourism Bureau, the local government takes the creation of a national-level night cultural tourism consumption gathering area and a provincial-level cultural tourism consumption pilot city as the starting point, and actively cultivates a night consumption industrial system integrating night sightseeing and recreation, special catering, fashion shopping, cultural performances, fitness and entertainment, and immersion experience to further tap the consumption potential of domestic demand.

　　In order to further accelerate the recovery of consumption, many places have made great efforts in promoting mass consumption and promoting the recovery of service industry. For example, Jiangxi emphasizes that it will continue to implement the vehicle purchase tax exemption policy for new energy vehicles and encourage new energy vehicles, smart home appliances and green building the countryside. Fully activate the consumption of business travel, continue to implement various policies to promote consumption, and study and introduce policies and measures to support the recovery and development of catering and accommodation industries.

　　With the main promotion activities as the carrier, key consumption season activities will also appear one after another. Gansu proposed to organize a three-month key consumption season of "Enjoy Consumption and Buy Longyuan" in combination with the consumption promotion activities such as "2022 International Consumption Season", "100-city Linkage Automobile Consumption Season" and "National Household Appliances Consumption Season" organized by the Ministry of Commerce. Hainan proposed to issue 50 million yuan travel vouchers to tourists outside the province and 100 million yuan vouchers to residents in the province.

　　— — Boost the development confidence of market players

　　The key to stabilizing the economy lies in protecting market players. Many places have made great efforts to grasp the important window period and opportunity period of economic recovery, and made every effort to solve outstanding problems such as insufficient demand, weak confidence and weak expectations in the current economic operation, and adopted various measures to stimulate the vitality of market players and enhance market confidence.

　　Shanghai said that it is necessary to implement a new round of policies of the state and the city on the basis of the previous implementation of the policy of helping enterprises to bail out difficulties, increase financial subsidies, tax relief, rent relief and other support, and take out real money to boost corporate confidence. Focus on all kinds of problems that affect economic development, find out the bottlenecks faced by enterprises in time, and study targeted measures in time.

　　Gansu has put forward a series of preferential policies for market players, such as delaying payment, reducing financing costs, reducing taxes and fees, dissolving arrears of debts, increasing incentives and support for scientific and technological innovation, optimizing market supervision, and promoting employment and entrepreneurship, so as to help market players resume development.

　　"From the perspective of local measures to stabilize the economy, the key point is to boost consumer demand, expand effective investment, and support the promotion of infrastructure in the fields of energy, water conservancy and transportation with greater efforts, especially the construction and implementation of major projects such as new energy and new infrastructure. In addition, comprehensively adopt fiscal and taxation financial means such as tax reduction and exemption, increasing financial subsidies and expanding credit supply to solve the pain points and difficulties of industrial development, further increase the efforts to help enterprises bail out, and enhance the vitality and development confidence of market players. " Sun Chuanwang, a professor at the School of Economics of Xiamen University, told the Economic Information Daily.

Geely Automobile Holdings Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Geely Automobile") announced that in order to promote the deep integration and efficient coordination of internal resources, put an end to repeated investment and reduce costs, Geely Automobile plans to acquire all the issued shares of Krypton. Geely Automobile currently holds about 65.7% of the shares of Extreme Krypton. If the transaction is completed, Extreme Krypton will be completely merged with Geely Automobile, and Extreme Krypton will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Geely Automobile, privatize and delist from the NYSE.

Geely Automobile said that Geely Group will create a unified listing platform and fully integrate extremely valuable assets and resources, thus enhancing the competitiveness of the Group’s passenger car business. This will also help the Group to determine the future strategic direction of Krypton to meet the global market and economic challenges. As Krypton is a global luxury electric vehicle technology brand facing the high-end luxury market, it is of great strategic significance for the Group to wholly control Krypton.

The "618" e-commerce promotion is about to begin, and Apple’s mobile phone is the first to cut prices.

On May 11th, Tmall announced that the official flagship store of Apple Store, the iPhone 16 Pro 128GB version, sold for 5999 yuan, with a discount of 2000 yuan. Add 500 yuan’s "national supplement" and the price is 5499 yuan. At around 18: 00 today, china securities journal CSI Taurus reporter noticed that the official flagship store iPhone 16 Pro 128GB version of Tmall Apple Store showed that it was sold out.

"Apple Store official flagship store" is an online store opened by Apple on Tmall platform. According to the news released by Tmall, the official flagship store of Apple Store will promote the iPhone 16 Pro again at 8 pm on May 16th.

In addition, on May 11th, the self-operated flagship store of Apple products in JD.COM showed that Apple products were on sale at reduced prices. After the iPhone 16 Pro is superimposed with the "national supplement", the hand price starts at 5499 yuan. Among them, the price of the iPhone 16 Pro 128GB version was reduced by 2,000 yuan, superimposed with the "national subsidy" discount in 500 yuan, and the hand price was 5,499 yuan; IPhone 16 Pro 256GB version has a price reduction of 1,400 yuan, superimposed with 300 yuan coupons, and the hand price starts at 7,299 yuan; IPhone 16 Pro Max 256GB version was reduced by 1400 yuan, and the price was 8199 yuan when 400 yuan coupons were added.

Analysts believe that Apple Tmall’s self-operated flagship store and JD.COM’s self-operated flagship store have reduced the price of iPhone 16 Pro products, indicating that Apple’s mobile phone is currently facing certain sales pressure. According to research institute IDC data, in the first quarter of 2025, the iPhone shipped 9.8 million units in the smart phone market in China, down 9% year-on-year; The market share is 13.7%, ranking fifth. Apple is the only manufacturer among the top five brands whose shipments have declined. IDC believes that Apple is still undergoing channel adjustment, which makes it difficult to improve its market performance, and Apple may face greater pressure in the China market.

In today’s digital age, electronic invoices are widely used in insurance business. Understanding the inquiry methods and related operations of electronic invoices not only facilitates the insured to manage their finances, but also protects their own rights and interests. The following will introduce the electronic invoice inquiry method and the connection between related operations in detail.

There are usually two ways to query electronic invoices: online and offline. Online inquiry is the most convenient way at present. Common channels include the official website of insurance companies, mobile apps and third-party electronic invoice service platforms. Offline inquiry requires the insured to go to the business outlets of the insurance company and assist in the inquiry through the counter service personnel.

Take online inquiry as an example. To inquire about electronic invoices on the official website of an insurance company, the insured needs to log in to his account first. If you have not registered, you need to register first and complete real-name authentication. After logging in successfully, find the "Electronic Invoice Inquiry" entry in the relevant functional modules of the website, enter the necessary information such as invoice number and billing date according to the system prompt, and click Query to obtain the electronic invoice. The operation process of querying on the mobile APP is similar. Generally, the electronic invoice query function can be found in the menu bar on the homepage of the APP. The third-party electronic invoice service platform requires the insured to confirm that the platform has a cooperative relationship with the insurance company, and then register and log in on the platform, and inquire after associating their own insurance order information.

Although offline inquiry is relatively troublesome, it is a reliable choice for policyholders who are not familiar with online operation. When going to the insurance company’s business outlets, the insured should bring valid identity documents and insurance contracts to explain the requirements to the counter service personnel, who will query the electronic invoice in the system according to the information provided and provide the corresponding paper or electronic version.

The electronic invoice inquiry method is closely related to related operations. The inquiry method provides the direction for the operation, and defines the ways to inquire about electronic invoices. The specific operations are the specific steps to realize the inquiry method. Only by correctly executing these operations can the electronic invoice be inquired smoothly. For example, if you know that you can query the electronic invoice on the official website of the insurance company, you will not be able to complete the query if you don’t know how to log in the account number and enter the query information.

In order to compare the characteristics of different query channels more clearly, the following is a simple table:

When inquiring about electronic invoices, the insured should choose the appropriate inquiry method and operation mode according to their actual situation. At the same time, it is necessary to properly keep the electronic invoices so that they can be checked and reimbursed when necessary.

Historically, rice once occupied a supreme position in Japanese life. The Japanese once thought that food was rice, and eating rice was nothing more than adding salt. There is even a saying in Japan that "rice is rich in salt" means that as long as there is rice and salt, there is life. But now, according to a survey conducted by NHK (Japan Broadcasting Association), "Ramen (Lamian Noodles)" has become the Japanese favorite food in the New Year-noodles have reached the top of food in this rice country.

Why didn’t ancient Japanese eat wheat?

There is a folk legend in Japan that "the fox stole an ear of rice from China and took it back to Japan in a bamboo tube", so that Japan had rice. Through this legend, we know that Japanese rice culture was spread from China, and there are two ways to spread it: first, it passed through Jiangsu and Shandong, and crossed the sea from Shandong Peninsula to the south of the Korean Peninsula; The other is introduced into the northern part of the peninsula by land from North China to Northeast China, and then spread to the south. Both reached the same goal by different routes, and spread to Japan through Ma Haixia. This can be seen from the early remains of paddy fields in Japan-archaeological discoveries in the coastal area of Fukuoka in the northern part of Kyushu Island, which is closest to the southern tip of the Korean Peninsula. Subsequently, the rice cultivation technology gradually spread to the south and east with the northern part of Kyushu as the center. By the 3rd century AD, it had spread to Shikoku Island and most parts of Honshu Island. The grains unearthed in the sites of Yayoi and Gufen from the 3rd century BC to the 7th century AD were all rice.

Sites of ancient tombs

Yayoi era imagination map

Because the water and heat conditions in the Japanese archipelago are suitable for rice planting, and compared with planting coarse cereals in dry fields, rice planting is labor-saving, time-saving and high-yield. Therefore, for thousands of years, Japan’s rice production has been the first of all kinds of crops. Therefore, the Japanese call rice the king of food, and rice is a gift from heaven to Japan. Japanese people are used to eating rice, so in the history of ancient Japanese agriculture, barley and wheat are rare. In ancient Japan, people even thought it was time-consuming to eat pasta, but the saying that "the poor eat wheat" was repugnant to pasta. Although in famine years, Japanese officials often encourage the cultivation of wheat to alleviate famine and distribute seeds; However, farmers refused to buy it. Even if they were forced by the government to plant wheat, they refused to eat it as food. Instead, they cut it before it matured and sold it as horse feed, so that the Emperor had to issue a decree in 715 AD announcing that if the immature wheat was sold as horse feed, it would be severely punished.

Is it really that the taste of wheat doesn’t agree with the Japanese? In fact, it is not. The fundamental reason for boycotting wheat planting is actually that Japan lacked the technology to make flour at that time. Before the era of mechanized mass production, ancient people used a stone mill to make flour. In China during the Sui and Tang Dynasties, firstly, the stone mortar was pushed by human or animal power to process flour, and then the flour was milled by water truck, thus reducing the price of flour, making it possible for ordinary people to eat pasta, and thus making pasta appear and popularize in large numbers. According to the Japanese history book "The Book of Japan", as early as 610 AD, a Koguryo monk named Tanzheng brought the stone mill to Japan, but the Japanese couldn’t copy it. To make a stone mill, it was necessary to carry out precision processing on hard stones. However, the stonework technology in ancient Japan was underdeveloped, and it was really beyond their power to produce the stone mill. At that time, Japanese people could only grind flour with wooden mortar and pestle, but wooden mortar and pestle were only suitable for pounding rice. When wheat with hard bran was encountered, it was quite laborious to pound it, and it became very difficult to make pasta. Unlike wheat, which needs to be ground into powder to eat (the seed coat of wheat is hard, so it is very unpalatable to eat it directly), millet can be cooked directly as long as it is washed, and even eating brown rice unexpectedly makes up for the vitamins and minerals that Japanese people lack in their daily diet. After the Meiji Restoration, the Japanese army generally ate polished rice, but beriberi caused by vitamin deficiency appeared on a large scale. As a result, contrary to the folk saying that "the poor eat wheat", for a long time,Japanese pasta has become a kind of precious food monopolized by officials, nobles and senior monks.

Traditional style stone mill

Plain noodles, udon noodles, buckwheat noodles

When it comes to pasta, we can’t help but mention noodles. In 2002, in the Qijia cultural layer of the Neolithic age in Qinghai Province (the Neolithic culture in Gansu Province from 2200 BC to 1600 BC), archaeologists unearthed noodles made of millet and millet 4000 years ago, which were about 50 cm long and 0. 3 cm wide, even in thickness and bright yellow in color. This is probably the earliest known noodles. China’s invention right of "noodles" is therefore beyond doubt.

Ancient noodles unearthed in Qinghai

Before the Tang Dynasty, all foods made of wheat flour were called "noodles", and foods such as noodles, which were heated by putting wheat dough in boiling water, were called "soup cakes", but in the Song Dynasty, "noodles" were separated from "cakes" to refer to "noodles" exclusively. In Meng Liang Lu, written by Wu Zimu, which describes the bustling scene of Lin ‘an (now Hangzhou) in the Southern Song Dynasty, a noodle shop has been set up, including "silk chicken noodles", "three fresh noodles" and "fried chicken noodles", which is no different from today.

Although there was no communication between China and Japan at the national level in Song Dynasty, the cultural and economic exchanges between the two sides were still frequent. Different from the official "envoys to the Tang Dynasty", Japanese monks who entered the Song Dynasty played a vital role in the exchanges between the two sides. At that time, when Zen Buddhism was flourishing in China, most Japanese monks also wanted to study in China. While introducing Zen Buddhism to Japan, they also brought back the food culture of China monasteries at that time (all vegetarian, of course), and noodles were one of them. Some people in later generations concluded that "most epoch-making Japanese food comes from monasteries and is generally spread by monks who have experience in studying in China".

In 1241 AD, the founder of Tofuku-ji Temple in the south of Kyoto today, Shengyi Kunshi, returned from China and brought back a "water mill map" (a design of a mill made of waterwheels and gears), which finally made Japanese flour-making technology catch up with China’s level. From then on, Japanese people can taste pasta, which used to be exclusive to monks and nobles, and gradually change their views on pasta.

Schematic diagram of water mill

Kyoto Tofuku-ji Temple

What noodles did the ancient Japanese eat? The first thing that was welcomed by the Japanese was Su (Suo) noodles. Vegetarian noodles are the earliest Japanese noodles. At that time, the vegetarian noodles were all stretched by hand after the dough was kneaded repeatedly, just like the handmade Lamian Noodles, which was characterized by being long and thin, refreshing to eat, and mainly used as cold food. Next came the famous udon noodles, which were made by slicing thin dough into hot soup noodles. It is said that the troops of Takeda Shingen, the famous "Tiger of Jiafei" in the Warring States Period, used udon noodles as their food for marching. It stands to reason that udon noodles can only be made by rolling the dough thin with a rolling pin and then cutting it with a knife. Unlike making vegetarian noodles, it takes high technology to pull the dough into long strips first, but in fact udon noodles appeared in Japan as late as the 15th century. Investigate its reason, it is because the technical level of the Japanese at that time was too poor to make a chopping block! It takes a planer to make a chopping block, but it didn’t become popular in Japan until the Edo period in the 16th century. Before that, workers needed to put the blade on the front end of the stick and flatten the wood bit by bit to make a chopping block, which was very laborious.

The buckwheat noodles appeared later than udon noodles. Buckwheat itself is not sticky and easy to break, so it is not suitable for making noodles. Legend has it that in 1659, Zhu Shunshui (1600-1682), a adherent of the Ming Dynasty who stayed in Mitofan (now Ibaraki Prefecture), taught the Japanese to mix wheat flour into buckwheat flour to make it sticky and elastic, so this kind of noodle called "the most Japanese characteristic" came out. One of the reasons why soba noodles are popular is to win the favor. It is said that Japanese gold foil masters, at work, often use soba dough to touch the gold foil fragments that take off and fall everywhere. To this end, Japanese folks think buckwheat is a cash register item, so they use its auspicious saying to prepare buckwheat noodles when they are engaged, married or celebrating. Eating buckwheat noodles every other year on New Year’s Eve is also for good luck, hoping for gold and silver to enter the home, which is a mentality with China’s "more than fish every year". By the 19th century, Edo (now Tokyo), a city with a population of 1 million, had a list of 100 buckwheat noodle shops, which showed the Japanese people’s enthusiasm for this kind of noodle at that time.

Japanese udon noodles

Japanese buckwheat noodles

The Birth of "Lamian Noodles"

The same is noodles, whether udon noodles or buckwheat noodles. An important difference between Japanese noodles before modern times and Chinese noodles is that Japanese noodles are made without adding alkaline water. When wheat flour meets water, it will produce a grid-like tissue, commonly known as "gluten". Alkaline water is a kind of alkaline natural soda water containing potassium carbonate and sodium carbonate. When Chinese noodles are made, alkaline water is added, so the kneaded dough can change the protein in flour, enhance the viscosity and elasticity, and make the taste more comfortable.

正宗的中国面条迟至19世纪末、20世纪初才进入日本。1893年时，日本横滨的外国人居留地中居住着约5000名外国人，其中中国人约为3350人。而在甲午战争之后，清朝开始向日本派遣官费留学生，以后自费留学生的规模也急剧扩大。在1905年前后，在日本的中国留学生人数达到大约5万人。与此同时，无论是梁启超这样的立宪派，还是孙文这样的革命党，都将日本作为重要的活动据点，如此众多的中国人在短时间内来到日本，势必又一次将中国的饮食文化带入东瀛四岛。

大约在20世纪初期，中国面条出现在了横滨的“南京町（唐人街）”，并从这里出发，迅速征服日本人的脾胃。值得注意的是，当时的日本一心脱亚入欧，断发易服之外，连饮食也恨不得一日西化，著名思想家福泽谕吉撰文鼓吹要像西洋人一样“应该吃肉”（此前受佛教影响，日本人几乎不吃鱼肉之外的肉类）。明治天皇带头喝牛奶吃牛肉，当时的日本宫廷膳食干脆就是法式大餐。相反，对于传统的文化母国，日本则是一副鄙薄心态，印度古籍用于指代中国的“支那”一词正是在这一时期，在日本人的口中出现了贬义。在这样的背景下，中国面条在日本的传播，完全是出自食物本身的魅力。

普通的中国（苏州）羊肉面

横滨唐人街

尽管这种中国面条毫无荞麦的成分，但比起粗粗圆圆的乌冬面，形式上更接近固有的细长的荞麦面，被日本人称为“南京荞麦面”，并以其价格低廉、滋味鲜美而受到日本中下层市民的欢迎，逐渐走出“唐人街”，在日本主流社会中流行开来，名字也变成了“支那荞麦面”。第二次世界大战之后，迫于作为战胜国的中华民国政府的压力，日本官方不得不下令禁用“支那”一词。结果，不知从何时起，“支那荞麦面”又变成了“ラーメン”。这个假名的读音“ramen”极似普通话的“拉面”，显系晚近从汉语里直接借入的外来词。

(Japanese) ramen

Lamian Noodles has become a national delicacy in Japan today, mainly because the long Lamian Noodles can be matched with various vegetables and animal meat as the main materials, and seafood such as soy sauce, ginger, onion, sesame oil and various scallops or shrimps can be added to meet the dietary needs of all social classes. Therefore, there is a "Chinese Noodle Noodle Center" in Fukuoka, a "New Yokohama Lamian Noodles Museum" in Yokohama, and even a "Japan Lamian Noodles Research Association", which specializes in Lamian Noodles magazine … Lamian Noodles has become a well-deserved king of Chinese cuisine circulating in Japan.

The scene of eating Lamian Noodles in the cartoon "Chess Soul"

References:

(Han) Li Xuzheng et al. Translated by Hong Weiwei: The Road of Noodles: A Wonderful Diet Inherited for 3,000 Years, Huazhong University of Science and Technology Press, 2013.

Xu Jingbo: The East Wind Blows from the West: Chinese Culture in Japan, Yunnan People’s Publishing House, 2004.

Hubei Daily News (Reporter Jassamyn Liu, correspondent Liu Chang, Li Xingde) On April 25th, it was learned from Wuhan Hanyang Urban Management Law Enforcement Bureau that in order to facilitate the visually impaired to travel, the bureau laid a new type of hot-melt blind road on several roads, which will be gradually promoted in the whole region in the future.

On Jiangcheng Avenue in Hanyang District, blind people walk on the new hot-melt blind road in this section, and there is obvious concave and convex feeling under their feet. The strip-shaped blind brick indicating the heading direction is basically the same as the permeable concrete pavement on both sides, and there is no discomfort when accidentally stepping on the brick surface. During the hundreds of meters’ journey, except for the tension caused by "invisibility", there is no feeling of slipping under the feet.

According to the relevant person in charge of the Municipal Facilities Management Section of Hanyang Urban Management Law Enforcement Bureau, in the past blind road construction, concrete blind road bricks were mostly used, which were mainly laid on sidewalks. In order to ensure the practicability, safety and humanization of blind roads, Hanyang Urban Management Law Enforcement Bureau draws lessons from advanced practices and listens to the opinions and suggestions of visually impaired people, taking Jiangcheng Avenue, Mohe Hubei Road and Longyang Avenue as the pilot, and gradually adopts hot melt technology to build blind roads in the whole district.

Hot-melt blind road pavement is fast, and traffic can be opened in 20 minutes after on-site construction. "Compared with the traditional concrete blind road brick, the hot-melt blind road is more durable, wear-resistant and corrosion-resistant, and has good identification and anti-slip, which is more friendly and safer for blind friends." The person in charge introduced.

In view of the problems existing in urban blind roads, the bureau will continue to adjust some details, such as the conflict between blind roads and piles, the irregular setting of stone-missing ramps or kerb ramps, and the discontinuous interruption of blind roads, so as to ensure the safety and smoothness of visually impaired people’s walking to the greatest extent.

According to statistics, since 2023, Hanyang District Urban Management Law Enforcement Bureau has concentrated its efforts on the rectification of blind roads, such as subsidence, dislocation, breakage, looseness, lack, continuous unreasonable turning around of blind roads and obstacles on blind roads. Up to now, 837 blind roads with an area of 2,114 square meters have been rectified.

　　Xinhua News Agency, Tianjin, February 2 (Reporter Zhou Runjian) beginning of spring is the first of the 24 solar terms in the lunar calendar. In many people’s impression, February 4th is usually the right day in beginning of spring, but this year it is February 3rd in beginning of spring. Astronomical experts said that the 3rd beginning of spring is rare, the last time happened in 1897, 120 years ago, and the next time happened in 2021.

　　It is understood that 24 solar terms is divided according to the position of the sun on the ecliptic (that is, the earth’s orbit around the sun). Depending on the sun starting from vernal equinox (longitude zero, at this moment the sun shines vertically on the equator), every 15 degrees forward is a solar term; After running for a week, I returned to vernal equinox, which is a tropical year, which is 360 degrees, so it is divided into 24 solar terms.

　　Shi Zhicheng, a member of Chinese Astronomical Society and director of Tianjin Astronomical Society, said that the length of a tropical year is 365.2422 days, so the average time period of each solar term in the Gregorian calendar year is about 15.25 days, and its starting date is generally fixed. However, the annual apparent motion of the sun is not uniform, and the length of the calendar year is also different, with 365 days in a normal year and 366 days in a leap year, so the specific time of solar terms will change slightly.

　　For the same solar term, every year is 6 hours or 5 hours behind the previous year, and in leap years, it is 24 hours ahead of schedule. In this way, the reflection on the date is that the same solar term remains unchanged or lags behind by one day in the normal year and the previous year; In leap year, it remains the same as the previous year or one day earlier. In this way, the starting point of the same solar term has three different Gregorian calendar dates. Take beginning of spring as an example, there are three situations: 3 February, 4 February and 5 February.

　　Shi Zhicheng said that the statistics from 1900 to 2000 showed that there were only February 4th and February 5th in beginning of spring, but there was no February 3rd, while the statistics from this century showed that there were only February 3rd and February 4th, but there was no February 5th in beginning of spring.

　　"According to the astronomical almanac, beginning of spring is the most common on the 4th. Although beginning of spring on the 3 rd or 5 th is rare, it is also a normal calendar phenomenon, and the public should face it with a normal heart. " Shi Zhicheng stressed.