Huabobo refers to a flower-shaped steamed bun (馒头). With a history dating back more than 300 years, it’s deeply loved by people in Shandong Province. Making huabobo is a festival tradition there. From the 20th day of the 12th month in the lunar calendar, people will steam a large number of huabobo to prepare for the Spring Festival. It is seen as a symbol of good luck and people’s wishes for a better life.

This kind of steamed bun is made into different shapes and embellished (装饰) with bright colors. Huabobo not only has a pretty shape, but also is easy to keep. In 2009, huabobo was listed as the Shandong provincial intangible cultural heritage.

Every year before Spring Festival, Zang Chaiyuan is super busy. The 26-year-old pastry chef (面点师) from Shandong works from morning to night as people from across the country order her steamed buns.

This year, Zang’s steamed bun, in the shape of a dragon, is one of the most popular products. Besides dragons, Zang’s adept (熟练的) hands can create buns in the shape of treasure bowls and lucky bags. “They are made of milk, eggs, sugar and flour,” she said, “All the colors are extracts (提取物) from vegetables and fruit juice.”

She loved huabobo in her childhood. “My grandmother used to make huabobo for me in all kinds of shapes, which were very beautiful,” Zang recalled. Zang first learned the basic skills from an experienced huabobo master and then practiced over and over again on her own. Through trials and mistakes, she figured out a series of skills. She brings out new products from time to time. Her products have made their way to customers from cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Hangzhou. The buns have also earned her about 100 million views online. To let more people learn about huabobo, she hosts online and on-site pastry courses. The students vary from youngsters to people in their 50s.

Happy Family Salad

Two adults (married, responsible and loving parents)

One child (or more)

Two large bowls of tolerance

A cup of understanding

Four leaves of fun and games

Two tablespoons of salad cream of kindness

A whole heap of sharing and caring

A bag of happy thoughts

A bag of smiles

1. Put all the ingredients except the leaves of fun and games, cream of kindness, happy thoughts and smiles, in a mixing bowl.

2. Pour in the cream of kindness and mix well.

3. Arrange the leaves of fun and games in a salad bowl.

4. Sprinkle the happy thoughts and smiles on top and serve.

Don’t refrigerate (冷藏). Always serve fresh salad and eat immediately, and together as a family.

Stale (不新鲜的) salad should be discarded (丢弃) before it breeds unhappiness. The Happy Family Salad can be eaten at any time as part of breakfast, lunch or dinner.

John was driving through a small town, feeling quite hungry. When he saw a small restaurant, he quickly parked his car and walked inside it.

John saw a blackboard with a notice on it. It said,“Today’s Special: Vegetable Soup with Fried （炸） Chicken and Roast （烤）Potatoes.”

“Wow, that sounds pretty good!” John thought to himself. He ordered the special, but a few minutes after receiving his order, John called the waiter back to his table. He was mad.

“Is this the special? It says vegetable soup, but there are no vegetables in this soup at all! It also says fried chicken, but the chicken isn’t fried. And it says roast potatoes, but these potatoes aren’t roasted. What’s going on here?”

The waiter was not used to dealing with people from the city. He wasn’t quite sure what to say to this angry customer. But he finally found a way to answer the man. “My good man,” the waiter said, “that is what makes it so special!”