Newsletter (2017-2018) March 2018 Newsletter | Page 9

Raindrops roll down to the window, blurring
their eyes from seeing each other clearly, but
those leaving still eagerly look out the window
for their lovers, loved ones and relatives outside.
As the train moves faster away from the station,
the relatives do not like to see the leavers’ pale
faces covered with tears, so they turn away and
avert their eyes. They think that they will meet
after leaving, but they will never know the spe-
cific date. So, people wait to be reunited starting
from that moment.
Food from My
Hometown
By Qinxin Fan
Where the train is going? Leavers feel fear about
the unknown future. Life is like a train, and when
the train approaches to next stop, the season
outside of window has changed. When leavers
start living in a new town, they will change a lot,
like the seasons. Just like trains cannot stop ran-
domly, people’s lives cannot be stopped because
they like living in their hometown. They may
have said many times farewells to their families
before going to another place. They struggle to
earn for themselves and family, missing a lot Dongpo’s Braised Pork (東坡肉), the first dish that
of their hometowns’ scenery and happy family comes to mind when Qinxin thinks about Hang-
zhou’s cuisine.
gatherings.
Smelling and tasting food from my hometown
When leavers live in a foreign town for a long floods me with childhood memories and nostal-
time, they may come to see it as their hometown, gia. Growing up in Hangzhou, a city in main-
and they may feel like strangers when they go land China with very different cuisine from
home again. Their home can become more alien Hong Kong, I miss the food of my hometown
to them than their new environment. Even their whenever I introduce my background to others
accent can gradually fade away. Many people or recall my childhood.
are fascinated by the prosperity in front of their
eyes in big cities, but when they go closer to it, Hangzhou was the capital city of China in the
they will find that it is farther away than the dis- Southern Song Dynasty. One of the tradition-
tance back to their hometowns. It is hard for ev- al dishes called Dongpo’s Braised Pork (東坡
ery leaver to live in a new place. Everyone has 肉) was made during that period by a famous
their own objects, like food, the moon, or trains, poet Su Dongpo (蘇東坡). While working in
that can bring back precious memories. Howev- the government, he enabled the city to be well-
er, no matter how many skyscrapers they have organized and received a lot of pork from the
seen, when they return back to their little home public as gifts. In order to prevent the meat
door, there will always be someone waiting for from decaying before he could eat it, he tried to
them to make them feel warm. This is the shared create a new recipe, adding Chinese yellow wine
nostalgia of leavers––sad but warm.
and other seasonings to braise the pork. Later
when he shared the braised pork with citizens,
everyone was surprised at its rich, but not greasy,
taste and named this dish after Dongpo. From
a young age, children are told the story behind
June is a girl from a
this dish, which makes the dish more meaningful
mountain town studying
and allows people to remember its history. Due
Greater China Studies.
to its attractive appearance, great taste and
She is a nature enthusiast.
background culture, this dish is popular among
most local people and tourists.
7
MARCH 2018