Amanda Roberts's Blog, page 14

Two Americans in China in Vietnam

For Chinese New Year back in February, we went to Vietnam. I can’t believe how long it has taken me to post this (well, actually I can, it has been a crazy busy year!), but better late than never!

The Hong Kong Airport is surprisingly entertaining during CNY

We have been traveling around Southeast Asia quite a bit recently since we live so close to the Hong Kong airport, which makes it very quick and cheap to travel around the region. Even though most Americans don’t typically think of Vietnam when pondering vacation choices, I had heard great things over the years about it from Australians and Europeans, so it had long been on my list as a place to check out. While there are many cities to visit in Vietnam, we decided to just go to Hanoi. It is a smaller city but it is only a couple of hours from Halong Bay.

Unfortunately, we went during Lunary New Year, which Vietnam also celebrates (they call it Tết). Similar to in China, the Vietnamese usually travel home for Tết, so most of the shops and restraunts were closed when we arrived! Oops! But thankfully they usually only take two or three days off, so the city wasn’t empty for long.

View of Halong Bay from one of the mountains we climbed in the bay.

Since there was nothing to do in Hanoi, we booked a cruise at Halong Bay. That was wonderful! Halong Bay is beautiful and crusing is just so relaxing and carefree. I would be interested in going back to Halong Bay just to do a longer cruise. I would also be interested in going on other cruises in the future.

When we got back to Hanoi, things were starting to open up, so we caught a Water Puppet show. I have a weird facination with puppets (I blame Sound of Music) and I have a decent collection of antique (over 100 years old) and reproduction puppets from around the world. So of course I had to go see the dancing water puppets. We ended up going to two water puppet shows at two different theaters in Hanoi. The shows were very similar in story and structure, so if you are in Hanoi and you aren’t sure which theater to go to, I don’t think it matters.

A Queen Fairy and her attendants.

Dating back to at least the 11th century, the Vietnamese would use flooded rice paddies as a stage for wooden water puppets to dance on. This folk tradition has evolved into today’s water puppet shows. The theaters today have waist-deep pools of water as a stage. There is a black screen that hides the puppeteers from the audience. The pools is flanked by musicians and singers. The puppets are made of wood and painted with laquer to protect them from the water. Sometimes the dragon puppets even spout fireworks!

The water puppets shows were some of the coolest things I have seen in my travels and I would definately reccomend them and watch them again (I also brought home three puppets for my collection!). I’m really surprised that I had never heard of water puppet theater before or seen some rendition of it in America. I guess you will have to go to Vietnam and see this awesome cultural performance art for yourself!

Do not buy any paintings in Vietnam. They are all from Dafen Art Village in Shenzhen.

I believe this church was dedicated to Saint Samwise the Loyal, who didst carryth Frodo unto Mount Doom to destroyeth The One Ring.

It’s amazing how many dongs you can fit in one hand.

Puppets for sale near a water puppet theater.

Threads of Silk – Now Available for Pre-order!

I am so excited to announce that my first novel is now available for pre-order! I first started writing Threads of Silk back when we lived in Hunan, and a lot of it was inspired by the people and things I came across while living there, especially Hunan embroidery. The book will be published by Red Empress Publishing. The cover artist was Cherith Vaughan. I love the cover so much. If you need a cover done, I highly recommend Cherith. She is a freelance commercial artist who is actively seeking new clients. Threads of Silk is now available for pre-order! Order it now to get it delivered directly to your Kindle on September 6th.

About Threads of Silk

When I was a child, I thought my destiny was to live and die on the banks of the Xiangjiang River as my family had done for generations. I never imagined that my life would lead me to the Forbidden City and the court of China’s last Empress.

Born in the middle of nowhere, Yaqian, a little embroidery girl from Hunan Province, finds her way to the imperial court, a place of intrigue, desire, and treachery. From the bed of an Emperor, the heart of a Prince, and the right side of an Empress, Yaqian weaves her way through the most turbulent decades of China’s history and witnesses the fall of the Qing Dynasty.

About Author Amanda Roberts

AMANDA ROBERTS is a writer and editor who has been living in China since 2010. Amanda has an MA in English from the University of Central Missouri. She has been published in magazines, newspapers, and anthologies around the world and she regularly contributes to numerous blogs. Amanda can be found all over the Internet, but her home is TwoAmericansinChina.com.

About Red Empress Publishing

RED EMPRESS PUBLISHING is a full-service publisher offering traditional and new services for our authors to help them succeed and stand out in an ever-changing market. The company is actively seeking submissions by women and people of color as part of the company’s philosophy of diversity and inclusion. They are currently seeking submissions in any genre of fiction but especially romance, mystery, fantasy and historical fiction. Authors can submit their books and request more information on Red Empress Publishing’s official website. For the company’s latest news and updates, visit Red Empress on Facebook and Twitter.

 

TV Shows With Chinese Actors You Need To Be Watching

In tthe past few years, there have been more calls for diversity in Hollywood. For the last two years, #OscarsSoWhite trended around the Internet after people of color were completely shut out of the acting categories and most of the categories altogether at the Oscars. But a lack of diversity in Hollywood is not limited to big budget silver screen films. A far more daily reminder of the lack of diversity in Hollywood plays out on the small screen. This is slowly changing, though. There are several TV shows out there right now that feature Chinese actors. In order to see these shows renewed and see more TV shows cast with Asian actors, YOU need to be watching them. Here are four TV shows starring Chinese actors you need to be watching.

Fresh Off The Boat. I’m guilty of putting off watching this one because I was a little nervous about it. I’m not a fan of the comedian behind it – Eddie Huang – so I was worried the humor wouldn’t translate well. But was I wrong. My god-daughter calls it “the Chinese Modern Family.” And after finally devouring the first season in two days, I have to agree. The humor is just as good as anything written on Modern Family and has broad appeal. For me personally, since I have lived in China, Orlando, and was a teenager in the 90s, the show and its humor appeal to me on every level. Even if you don’t hit all those notes, there is something here for everyone. The good news is the show was just renewed for its third season!

The show stars Candace Wu as Jessica the mom, Randall Park as Louis the dad, and Hudson Yang as Eddie the eldest son. It follows the Huang family as they move from Washington DC to Orlando in 1995 where Louis opens a steakhouse. While the whole cast is amazing and everyone is funny (even the grandma, who only speaks Chinese) Wu’s Jessica is the real show-stealer. Every scene she is in is laugh out loud funny and she perfectly captures the quintessential “Chinese mother.” The casting also features a whole host of other Chinese and Asian actors. In summary: funny, funny, funny. Definitely check it out. Fresh Off The Boat is on ABC.


Rush Hour. Can you believe it has been eighteen years since the Rush Hour movie came out? Unfortunately, the TV version was canceled after only its first season (which was only a half season), but you can still check out the last two episodes on CBS on Thursday nights. While Rush Hour couldn’t quite live up to the quality and charm of the original, it should have been given another season. The show was funny, the martial arts were decent, and the plot definitely made for a quality hour of television. I will certainly miss this one next year.

The show starred Jon Foo as Agent Lee (the Jackie Chan role),  Justin Hires as Detective Carter (the Chris Tucker roll), and Jessika Van as Kim, agent Lee’s sister. The martial arts are not as good as the original movie, but without Chan and with a TV budget, having the same standard would be an impossible task, but they do what they can. I said after episode 4, “they really need more martial arts in this show,” and then episode 5, Assault on Precinct 7, really went all out. I was impressed. The show had an uphill battle to climb to stand on the shoulders of the original, but it did a really great job and deserved more of a chance. Check it out before it’s gone!


Into The Badlands. If it’s martial arts you want, then Into the Badlands is for you. We are talking Game of Thrones level violence here, and it is amazing! The really exciting news is that AMC renewed Into the Badlands for a second season! The show features Daniel Wu as Sunny, a (smokin’ hot) warrior in a post-apocalyptic wasteland where guns are outlawed so everyone uses hand-to-hand combat, even the women! the only issue with the show is that Wu is the only Chinese actor in it. The two other notable non-white characters are Sunny’s girlfriend, Veil, played by Madeleine Mantock, who is of Black, Hispanic, and European descent, and Sunny’s padawan M.K., played by Aramis Knight, who is of German, Indian, and Pakistani descent. Still, that’s pretty high diversity for most American TV shows today. It also gets a bump and is on this list because the general plot of Into the Badlands is loosely based on Journey to the West, the famous Chinese saga of the legendary pilgrimage of the Tang dynasty Buddhist monk Xuanzang who traveled to the Western Regions to obtain Buddhist sacred texts. I haven’t noticed many similarities yet, but the characters haven’t yet begun their “journey.” Hopefully the series will last long enough to see those similarities come through.


Hell on Wheels, Season Five. Yes, just season five. One of the only things most Americans know about Chinese-American history is that Chinese laborers were used to build the railroads. Yet Hell on Wheels’ creators must have missed even that little tidbit of in history class because for the first four seasons there was not one Chinese character. The show finally makes up for that dearth by making the Chinese railroad workers the central plot of season five. You don’t need to watch the first four seasons to know what is going on. Two railroad companies are trying to be the first to reach California. Most of what happened in the first four seasons is completely irrelevant to where the show is now. And since the show has a penchant for (spoilers) killing off its totally amazing women characters, I would have stopped watching it myself if the fifth season hadn’t focused on the Chinese railroad workers. The final season of Hell on Wheels (which is the second half of season five) will premiere on June 11, so you have plenty of time to catch the first half of season five before then. Hell on Wheels season five stars Anson Mount as Cullen Bohanon, the railroad foreman, Byron Mann as Chang, the dangerous “rice shop” owner who supplies the railroad with Chinese workers, Angela Zhou as Fong, a young railroad worker with a secret, and Tzi Ma as Fong’s father. The plot is strong, the characters are realistic, and the casting is excellent. It’s only too bad Hell on Wheels didn’t include these characters from the beginning. Hell on Wheels is also on AMC.

Check out this behind the scenes story about the making of season five of Hell on Wheels.

What do you think of these shows? What other shows (maybe non-American ones) featuring Chinese actors are you watching? Let me know in the comments!

How a Cosmetics Company is Subverting the Chinese State

An ad by cosmetics company SK-II recently went viral in China. The ad tackles the topic of “leftover women,” women in China who are not married by age 25. Watch the ad below.

The ad has had millions of views and has sparked debate and discussion around the country. Some people believe the ad is empowering. Some think it is pandering. Personally, I think the ad is daring not only because it empowers women, but because it directly undermines the Chinese government.

The derogatory term “leftover women” (剩女; shèngnǚ;) was coined over a decade ago by the All-China Women’s Association, an organization that was founded in 1949 as the leader of the women’s rights movement but has become little more than a Party mouthpiece to help keep women in their place. The term refers to women over 25 (it was 27, but apparently the age has been lowered in recent years) who are not yet married and thus unlikely to get married. Even though these women are typically not married because they have been furthering their education and careers, they are considered a drain on society because they are not getting married and giving birth to the next generation. Even though China’s explosive rate of leftover men is a much larger problem, shengnan (剩男) are not similarly criticized and the term doesn’t hold the same meaning. Men can get married at any time in their lives and are expected to get married later as they pursue their careers. Since there are at least 20 million more men in China than women, it is unavoidable that many of these men will never marry.

Leftover men are viewed victims who don’t have a choice but to remain single; leftover women are viewed selfish for choosing to remain single.

The Chinese government has been behind this calculated attack on urban, educated women from the beginning. China has been hurtling toward a demographic disaster since the inception of the one-child policy in 1979, but China has only been taking steps to correct this course in recent years. By focusing on “leftover women,” the Chinese government was able to shift the blame the countries lack of employees to women who are getting jobs instead of getting husbands and pivot away from blame on the one-child policy. “Yes, we are in a bad situation, but it wouldn’t be this bad if those women were hunting for husbands as hard as they are hunting for jobs,” the government seems to say. By not taking one of the millions of leftover men into her bed and giving birth to the next generation of Chinese workers, unmarried women in China are not doing their duty for the Chinese State.

The Chinese government has even ramped up its attacks on unmarried women in recent years. Especially since the adoption of the two-child policy, you expect to see more attacks against “leftover women” because these women are actively working against China’s efforts to increase its population.

I’m surprised that the SK-II ad was approved by Chinese censors and it hasn’t been removed. The message that women don’t need to get married or have kids is totally contrary to the message the Chinese government has been sending women for over a decade.

And that is why this ad is so subversive. This ad glorifies the leftover woman. It empowers them. It calms their parents’ fears. It tells women that they can be good Chinese daughters on their own. And that’s pretty awesome.

Adoptive Families Need Parental Leave Too

The following was originally published in the Shenzhen Daily. 

One day, your parents are gone. Your home is gone. You don’t know where you are. You are in a new, strange place. There are other people around you who seem nice, but they are not your parents. There are other children in this place. You cry and cry and wait and wait, but Mommy and Daddy never come back. Sometimes the other children disappear from this new place. Sometimes the caretakers leave and new ones arrive. You have trouble trusting or bonding with anyone because you never know if they will leave you too.

One day, two new people take you away. You never met them before and don’t know where you are going. They try to hold and kiss you, but why? Will you go back to that place with the other children? Will these people leave just like Mommy and Daddy did?

Even though adoption is a joyous occasion for adoptive parents, parents know that adoption only comes after great loss. Even very little adopted children have experienced loss and abandonment. Adopted children need time to adjust and bond with their new family just like any new baby.

China has very progressive maternity leave allowances. Chinese mothers are entitled to a minimum of 98 days of paid maternity leave. Some provinces, cities and employers offer much more than this. Many parts of China are currently extending their parental leave policies for mothers and fathers because of the new two-child policy. However, Chinese law does not allow for parental leave for adoptive parents.

As demonstrated by the illustration above, parental leave for adoptive parents is a necessity. While adoptive mothers do not need time off work for their bodies to heal after a birth, the emotional turmoil that accompanies an adopted child means that the child needs time to get to know her new parents and her new surroundings. New parents need this time as well. Adding a child to your life is always a momentous and life-changing event!

I understand that the main reason why adoptive parents are not taken into consideration in China’s parental leave laws is because adoption was not always popular in China in the past, but that is quickly changing! Prior to 2009, only about 7,000 families adopted children in China annually. But by 2011, that number soared to over 31,000. Today, as many as 45,000 families adopt children in China every year. It is time for China’s parental leave policies to catch up!

That number is far behind other countries, though. In America, there are over 130,000 adoptions every year, including over 10,000 annual adoptions of Chinese children. But in America parental leave is the same for birth parents and adoptive parents.

One way China can help support adoptive parents and encourage domestic adoption is by extending parental leave to include adoptive parents. While many families have no problem covering the costs of adoption, quitting their jobs or taking extended unpaid leave to care for the new child is out of the question for most families. How wonderful would it be if Chinese orphans could be adopted by more families in their home country? And now that China has changed the one-child policy to a two-child policy, many more parents might choose to grow their families through adoption instead of birth if they didn’t have to risk losing their jobs to do so.

Adoptive parents are not asking for special treatment – they are simply asking for equal treatment. Adopted children deserve time to bond with their new mommies and daddies just like any other baby.

Crazy Dumplings II – Final Days!

Hard to believe the Crazy Dumplings II Kickstarter campaign is almost over! There are only 4 days left for you to back Crazy Dumplings II and get some great backer rewards. So if you haven’t backed us already, what are you waiting for?

If you back, you’ll get a Thank You from me (along with a really awesome cookbook!) just like all these awesome people:

Just some of our awesome backer rewards!

Heather Morgan, Kathleen Young Tejeda, Brendan Clougherty, Richard Telford, Erin Foster, João Paulo Bonatelli, Julia Jimenez, McCloud!, Joschka Schaffner, Jolene Schleicher, Florian Schupp, David Krouse, Holly Brown BSc Hons, SKDouglass, Alvin Vincent Leung, Shaunda L Bowman, Eric, John Rommel, Shelly Wright, Kerry, Jose C. Pombo, Andreas Clauss, Dan Pierson, Bob S., Hector Vega, Karren Orozco, Welmoed Sisson, Mike, Thomas Mögel, Alex Charles, Richard Glenn-Reller, Sara Chitown, Andrea L, Cesar De La Riva, Thuong Tran, SK, Gloria Salvetti, Tobias, Trisha Seaman, John Clayton, Elisha Alford, Skye Norton, Jason Graffius, The Thornton Bros., Alan Walendowski, Cole Whitney, James Hutton, Neville Isles, Nick Jardine, Jared Lovett, Angelica Garrison, Paul Arpaia, Catherine Croft, Anna Hoener, Amanda Miller, Gil Pettingell, Steven Cullity, Týna Dvořáková, Saruta, No one important, Joan T. Masters, Tanya Noreen, Chris Johnson, Eric White, Jessica Weinberg, Alison Radzun, Erin Day, Steve, Abby, Big Bad Boston, Scott Bain, Reece liddicoat, Jess, Anthony, Samantha Meyer, cheryl koval, Savannah Koolaidria Chasing Hawk, Keith Travis, Amanda Wallace, Matthew Pemble, R van Haften, Kevin Chan, Andrew, Viktor J., Kelley Ross, Ruediger Zapf, Jim Bryan, Bill Johnson, Andrew McCarthy, benoita74, Laura Beasley, Ian ‘Smurf’ Murphy, Michelle Wang, Nicole Prince, Seow Wan Yi, GloriousDelicious, Landan Smith, Rebecca Dominguez, Bryan Pace, Breeann Napotnik, Ahmed Mainul Bari, Jean Lee MC, BlackMagicM66, Kimberley Timmings, Steven Rychetnik, Marcus Reed, Angela Day, Benjamin Leow, Sarah, Rich Hussein Gibson, Gunnar Heide Aadland, Arnel, Tristan Hams, Daniel Connolly, montage hix, Julie Viens, ryan mucklin, Katt, Alana Wolfgang-Duran, Steve Eldridge, L. P., Leah Zelnick, and Breánna Hope.

In case you missed it, I have shared some interesting updates through the campaign as well. I got a little person in “Who Are the Two Americans in China?” and shared a recipe inspired by my recent trip to Vietnam in “It’s Over 9,000! Enjoy This Vietnamese-Inspired Dumpling!” Both of those updates are available to everyone, not just backers, so check them out and let me know what you think.

I’m so excited for how well this campaign has gone, and I can’t wait to collect the backer-submitted recipes (check out the $40 reward level!) and put the finishing touches on the book. But it’s not over yet! We still need all the support we can get during the final days, so please support us by backing Crazy Dumplings II: Even Dumplinger or by sharing the campaign on Facebook and Twitter to help us get the word out!

To back Crazy Dumplings II: Even Dumplinger on Kickstarter click here
To share Crazy Dumplings II: Even Dumplinger on Twitter click here
To share Crazy Dumplings II: Even Dumplinger on Facebook click here

Happy Chinese New Year Blog Hop!

I’m very excited to be hosting a Blog Hop to celebrate Chinese New Year!

Please be sure to visit all the blogs on the hop listed at the bottom of this post.

There are many things to love about Chinese New Year, the red lanterns, the happy wishes, the Guangdong flower markets, the temple fairs. But what do I love most of all? The dumplings!

Did you know it is tradition to eat dumplings on Chinese New Year? There are two reasons why Chinese people eat dumplings, jiaozi, for the New Year.

Some people believe that dumplings were invented by Zhang Zhongjing, a practitioner of traditional Chinese medicine who lived during the Eastern Han Dynasty. One year, there was a very cold winter, and many people suffered from frostbite on their ears. So Zhang made a special blend of meat and spices, stuffed the mixture into a wrapper shaped like an ear, and boiled the dumplings in a fragrant broth. The people who ate the dumpling were cured of their frostbite. So many people eat dumplings to warm them up and bring good health in the new year.

Another reason why people eat dumplings is that the shape resembles that of the gold ingots used during the Ming Dynasty. So eating dumplings will bring you much prosperity in the New Year!

To celebrate Chinese New Year, here is a dumpling recipe for you! You can find the dumpling wrapper recipe here.

Lamb with Pomegranate Salsa Dumplings

1 Tbsp oil

1 cup ground lamb meat

Dash of salt

Dash of pepper

1 garlic clove, pressed

2 Tbsp red cooking wine

1 pomegranate, seeded

1 small apple, chopped

1 jalapeno, chopped (use more or less seeds and ribs depending on heat level wanted)

¼ cup cilantro, chopped

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

Juice of 1 lime

12 dumpling wrappers

1 cup of oil, if frying

In a wok, heat oil. Add lamb, salt, pepper, garlic, and cooking wine. Brown meat. Remove from heat.
In a bowl, mix together pomegranate, apple, jalapeno, cilantro, olive oil, vinegar, and lime juice.
Mix meat and fruit salsa together.
Spoon mixture into dumpling wrappers and pinch closed.
To fry dumplings, preheat oil in a wok for 30 seconds on high heat, then lower heat to medium. Cook dumplings on each side for about 3 minutes or until golden brown.
Always cut a dumpling open to make sure it is cooked through.

You can find hundreds more dumpling recipes in The Crazy Dumplings Cookbook and Crazy Dumplings II: Even Dumplinger, now funding on Kickstarter.

To celebrate Chinese New Year – which this year is the Year of the Monkey – I am giving away this cute Golden Monkey statue.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Be sure to check out all the giveaways on our Giveaway page! 

Virginia Lloyd-Davies from Joyful Brush Painting wanted me to share this New Year painting with you. Lloyd-Davies is a British artist who lives in America but paints traditional Chinese ink and wash paintings. You should really check out her blog if you are interested in Chinese art styles.

Thanks for reading! Be sure to check out all of the blogs on the Hop! Hopefully you will join us next year! Xin Nian Kuai Le! Gong Xi Fa Cai! Hongbao Na Lai!

Chinese Company Now Owns Rights to Iconic Tiananmen Square Photos

When I read this, I thought it must have been an Onion article, but apparently not. Bill Gates recently sold the rights to countless images, including dozens of images from the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre to a Chinese company, Visual China Group.

“The transaction strengthens our dominant position in China’s image industry, enhances our core competence in the global high-end image market, and marks a significant milestone on our journey of globalization,” said Amy Jun Liang, CEO of Visual China Group.

But what does this actually mean for the images and their use? Will the images become harder to access?

Inside China, the photos are already heavily censored, so I don’t see a reason why there would be any changes.

Outside of China, the images will not be hard to find. Thanks to the Internet, images like “Tank Man” are easy to find. However, they might become more difficult for use in projects for profit, such as films. Would that mean that China would be enforcing its oppressive censorship on the world?

What do you think?

Crazy Dumplings II – Crazy Second Week!

We had such an amazing second week on Kickstarter! We passed 200% funded and we are now sitting at over $7,000 raised! The best part is that means I have presold almost 300 copies of Crazy Dumplings II: Even Dumplinger! That is so amazing and really means a lot to me as a writer.

I have to first thank all of our new backers!

Keith Stattenfield, Jay Towslee, Susan Livingston, Marc7454, Maji, Jupiter Linger, Dakota Lambert, Sheldon Radcliff, Michael Salter, Daniel Einschlag, Kristie Macris, Jacob Philip Gordon Burke, Robyn Doig, Joseph Seliga, Theresa Tang, Bonnie Ward, Dimitri van Dijk, William Sanders, 20drigo Perez [Mx], Kaitlin McNamara, Judy Ospital, Aaron White, Gerry Lee, Jared Ruocco, Bucky, Justin Voris, Amy Sept, Chris Aikens, Fabrice Armisen, Felicia, ben Shultz, Megz Cantara, Katy Hill, Dan Palmer, Amy Stewart, Charlotte Gauthier, Mike K, Kyle Klems, Michael Kroeker, Christian Kolesa, Bvs, Jules Thrumble, James Moe, Rachel Droessler, Tdonta, Amanda Morey, Alexandra Arias, Chase Meyers, Tim James, Samantha Dorr, Mark forshey, Jason, Jeff, Aleksandra, Zander, Stacy Blois, Alex McKennariey, Annie Sylvain, Vonny Pramono, Raquel Orozco, Alison Nelson, Aureus, Dan Kinder, Clif Blanchard, Nick Wang, Sarah Alhas, Sarah Reeves, Nigel Perera, Alexander Hawson, Ben Grabham, P. D. Jacobs, Angela Chatha, matthew k hardin, jolene forgey, Amanda Bell, Rosalie Reyes, Jasmine Sys, Ruth Hartstein, Chris Edwards, Greg Schwartz, Megan Trahan, John Long, Kathryn Zinman, Dan F, Susannah, Aniril, Richard Daley, Jason Griffin, Ruud van Ierland, Mark Brown, Sophie Tinz, Tara Fowler, Rachael LaMielle, sarah golon, Ron H, Benjamin Lee, Michael Wessel, Matt, scott homann, Michael Newlyn Blake and Billy Ingle.

I shared a couple of BACKER ONLY recipes, and I’ll share a few more this week, so if you want to see what those are, you will have to become a backer.

I also wanted to share a couple of other really cool Kickstarter projects with you. Click on the images to view the projects.

The sophomore issue of Banana Magazine–a publication dedicated to all things AZN

A new jumbo-sized ramen guide with 42 Japanese ramen recipes with distinctive regional flavors in Japan.

We want to bring the dumpling emoji to life and pave the way for a more inclusive catalog of emojis.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is such a busy time for me. Monday is Chinese New Year, so be sure to join the Chinese New Year Blog Hop. I’ll be spending the holiday in Vietnam. It will be my first time there so I’m very excited. I can’t wait to come back with a ton of new pictures and maybe a few dumpling recipes! Be sure to check out our Giveaways page, because we have a couple of things going on there and a couple more will be added next week as part of the Blog Hop.

Of course, all of this is on top of hopefully welcoming our first child this summer. I’ll post an update about that soon. I wish I had more to share on that, but all the waiting and paperwork just make for terribly boring writing; however, I am sure some of my readers would like an update. So stay tuned!

To back Crazy Dumplings II: Even Dumplinger on Kickstarter click here
To share Crazy Dumplings II: Even Dumplinger on Twitter click here
To share Crazy Dumplings II: Even Dumplinger on Facebook click here
To join the Crazy Dumplings II Thunderclap Campaign click here
To join the Chinese New Year Blog Hop click here

Blogger Recognition Award

Thank you Timo from Crazy Chinese Family for this nomination. Be sure to check out his blog.

Here are the rules of the Blogger Recognition Award:

Rule 1: Thank the person who nominated you and provide a link to their blog.

Rule 2: Provide a link to the original post on Edge of Night. That way, anyone can find the original guidelines and post if needed, and we can keep it from mutating and becoming confusing!

Rule 3: Attach the award to your post.

Rule 4: Nominate fifteen other bloggers, excluding yourself and the person who nominated you.

Rule 5: Write a brief story of how you started your blog.

Rule 6: A piece or two of advice to new bloggers.

Rule 7: Comment on the blogs you have named here to let them know you have nominated them.

My nominees:

China Elevator Stories

Persephone’s Blog

Susan Blumberg-Kason 

When West Dates East

Lom Harshni Chauhan

Behind the Story

Surviving in China

Sin Pausa Pero Sin Prisa (mostly in Spanish)

The Adventures of Luna Finula

The New Chinese School

Joyful Brush

LeedsKid

The Ruby Ronin

Steph’s: Travel, Climbing, and the TEFL Life

Linda Goes East

How this blog started

As our lives in China have evolved, so has this blog.

It started out as a way for my husband and I to share our lives as “Two Americans in China” with our family and friends back home.

After we had been here a while, it became more of a helper for other expats here. We talked about things like how to get to Hong Kong from China, things to see and do in Changsha, and how to take your pet to the vet.

When we moved to Shenzhen, though, there were several other blogs and websites already out there that talked about “surviving in China.” I also had gotten much more involved in women’s issues around the world. So the blog evolved into more of a platform to talk about issues facing women and children in China, race and diversity issues around the world, and adoption. It is also my platform for my writing career so I talk about China-themed books I enjoy and share interviews with authors.

I hope you like this blog and continue on this journey with us.

Blogging advice

First, I would say learn how to market your blog. It’s no fun blogging alone so you need to find readers. Do that by integrating Twitter, Facebook, and other social media outlets into your blog.

Second, I would say be social. Visit other blogs in your vein and comment on them. Share their posts. Join in blog activities (blog hops, writing challenges, etc.). While writing maybe a solitary activity, blogging is communal, so get out there and join the community!

Don’t forget to check us out all over the web!

Facebook | Twitter | Pintrest | Goodreads

Check out our Kickstarter campaign!

Join our Chinese New Year Blog Hop!