8.07 Collaborative Debrief Part A

Virtual Field Trip

Guangdong

Guangzhou is the capital and the largest city in the province of Guangdong. Guangdong is located in the south of China. Guangzhou is the third-largest city Chinese city and the largest city in South

Central China. One of the five National Central Cities, it holds sub-provincial administrative status. The population is about 14 million people. Guangzhou is about 2,870 sq miles (7,433 sq km) big.

Guangzhou

Guangzhou Provincial Museum

Being built in 1959 and located at 215 Wenming Lu, the museum is a round-topped three-storied building with a hall in the center which is surrounded by corridors. It is a large modern square building, like a 'treasure box of moonlight', which is the name of museum building favored by local people. The big yard of the museum was originally the Gongyuan (the imperial examination centre) of Guangdong in the Qing Dynasty  (1644—1911). Inside the yard, there are several national cultural heritage sites, such as the Site of the First National Congress of the Chinese Nationalist Party (including the Revolution Square), the Red Mansion, the Astronomical Observatory of Zhongshan University and the Lu Xun Memorial Hall.

Guangdong cuisine is unique among the Chinese cuisines. Its raw materials, cooking methods, and flavorings all differ from the other cuisines. The dietetic culture of Guangdong has retained many eating habits and customs of the ancient people, such as eating snakes. In short, to the people of Guangdong, everything that walks, crawls, flies, or swims is edible. Many of these strange foods no longer appeal to today’s refined tastes, and some have been eliminated out of respect for the eating habits of people in other areas, but some strange foods still remain. The most famous dish, Dragon and Tiger Fight, is a dish of braised snake and leopard. It has even been served as the main course at important banquets. Other famous dishes are dragon, tiger, and phoenix with chrysanthemum (snake, leopard, and chicken), braised phoenix liver and snake slices (chicken liver and snake), and stir-fried shredded snake meat in five colors.