not much new / some trivia

Still no updates on the next batch of referrals. Things are generally quiet amongst people in the adoption community. I really think that at this point, with the last few months of disappointing results, nobody is willing to make a prediction. A lot of waiting people have become so disappointed with the timelines that they have “disappeared” and gone into hiding until things pick up. It’s a challenging time for all families involved in the waiting game.

 

While we wait, here’s some trivia for you. I took this from a post on the China Dads Yahoo group. I got all 4 wrong so I’m assuming the guy knows what he’s talking about.

 

1.      In which of the following movies was there actually a dialog (a few audible lines) in Chinese? (I once posted this at the APC forum.)

a. L.A. Confidential

b. As good As It Gets

c. Casa Blanca

d. Forget Paris

e. Sleepless in Seattle

2. You are offered a few *genuine* antique Chinese vases of over 100 years old. Which of the follow coloured vase would be the most valuable?
a. Red

b. Green

c. Blue
d. Yellow
e. White/Ivory

3. You're offered a *genuine* antique overcoat hand stitched with a dragon, and you're told that it once belonged to an emperor. How could you tell if it really once belonged to an emperor?
a. The size of the dragon eyes.
b. The motion of the dragon (flying vs. sleeping, for example).
c. The number of legs.
d. The number of claws/talons (toes) on each leg.
e. The overall length of the dragon.

4. (This tests you whether you were day dreaming when the tour guide was talking). Once inside the Forbidden City, the courtyard is wide open. No trees. Why?

 

Answers:

1. c. Casa Blanca. At the beginning of the movie, at Rick's, where everyone was waiting. Someone said, "Waiting, waiting, waiting..." At one of the tables, there were some Chinese, one giving the other(s?) the directions of the place and time to meet, and emphasized that they had to be punctual. All in perfect Cantonese. The first time I saw the movie, I thought that was way cool.

2. d. Yellow. Remember - Emperor, Huang Di. Huang is Yellow. In the past, there were several classes of pottery makers, most of which just made the stuff for the regular folks. Only certain "Official Potters" could make high quality stuff for the imperial families or high officials. Anything yellow could only be for the imperial families. Of course, the emperors could then bestowed them to the officials or the favoured chicks. Unauthorized retention of yellow pottery was a capital crime. These days, even a broken piece of genuine yellow antique pottery could worth a few bucks. If you visit the National Palace Museum in Taipei, Taiwan (which has quite a few of imperial treasures when KMT moved to Taiwan), find the yellows.

3. d. number of claws. Only the emperors or imperial families could have things decorated by dragons with five claws. My understanding is that dragons for high officials had 4 claws. The emperors in operas wore the "Yellow Coat" with 3-toed dragons. This was also the general format for sculptures, outdoor decorations etc. Of course, the official garments for the emperors were in yellow. Thus the revolution-related term "Huang Pao Jia Shen" (Covering one's body with a Yellow Coat) -- a desire, encouragement, wish, description of the success, and so forth, for the leader of the revolution.

4. The treeless courtyard was a deliberate design to prevent assassins.