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Posts Tagged ‘hong kong’

Pour the Syrup; It’s National Waffle Day!

Wednesday, August 24th, 2022
Waffles are often served for breakfast with syrup and fruit. Credit: © olga's captured moments/Shutterstock

Waffles are often served for breakfast with syrup and fruit.
Credit: © olga’s captured moments/Shutterstock

Popular mouth-watering breakfast foods include doughnuts, french toast, pancakes, and sugary cereals. Typical savory breakfast items may include bacon and sausage, biscuits and gravy, eggs in any form, and hash browns or other potatoes. Few items can cross the divide of sweet and savory as well as the waffle.

The waffle is a crisp batter cake made from flour, eggs, and sugar. A waffle is made by baking batter in a grooved and heated press until it crisps. The press is a hinged appliance called a waffle iron that typically makes a gridlike pattern on the cakes. The waffle iron can be designed to produce a variety of shapes. People enjoy waffles for their golden color, crisp exterior, fluffy texture, and sweet taste.

In the United States, waffles are usually served with butter, syrup, and perhaps fruit for breakfast. They are also served in such savory dishes as the popular American combination of chicken and waffles. Waffles are also served in dessert dishes, commonly with ice cream.

Waffles can be traced back to the 1200’s in Europe. Dutch and German people brought waffle irons when they immigrated to the United States. In the 1700’s, many wealthy American families owned waffle irons and made waffles for special occasions. In the mid-1800′s, waffles became a staple of hotel menus for breakfast along with options topped with meat and gravy for dinner. The electric waffle iron was introduced in the early 1900’s and became a popular wedding gift.

Most waffles consist of flour, baking powder, eggs, milk, sugar, and butter or vegetable oil. The batter may be mixed with such sweeteners as honey, brown sugar, and chocolate chips, as well as such other ingredients as bacon, oats, nuts, and fruit. Toppings for breakfast waffles include butter, fruit, honey, jam, powdered sugar, maple syrup, and whipped cream.

In Hong Kong, egg waffles or bubble waffles are often served as a cone with ice cream. Credit: © baibaz/Shutterstock

In Hong Kong, egg waffles or bubble waffles are often served as a cone with ice cream.
Credit: © baibaz/Shutterstock

Many countries have different popular versions of the waffle. Perhaps the best-known is the Belgian waffle. The batter is baked in a hot iron grid to create a large, fluffy waffle. In Hong Kong, the egg waffle or bubble waffle is a popular dessert. It often is used as a cone to hold ice cream. In the Netherlands, the Liege waffle is made with sugar and paired with coffee. Also in the Netherlands, the Dutch stroopwafel is two thin cookie-like wafers with caramel sandwiched between.

A waffle is a type of quick bread. Other quick breads include corn bread, doughnuts, muffins, and pancakes. Most quick bread is baked at home or in local bakeries and supermarkets. Waffles are very similar to pancakes. Many types of waffles are sold in grocery stores and restaurants and made at home. At home, waffles may take about 20 minutes to prepare and about 5 minutes to cook. Ready-to-eat frozen waffles require only heating in the toaster or microwave. Eggo Food Products Inc. introduced frozen waffles in the 1950’s. At the time, freezers and frozen foods were gaining popularity in American households and grocery stores. Frozen waffles offered ready-made convenience for parents and kids. The product could be placed directly in the toaster for a few minutes.

Gluten-free and vegan waffles can be made with substitutes for butter, eggs, flour, and milk. Boxed mixes are sold in grocery stores ready to mix with just water or very few ingredients. Today, manufacturers fortify many ready-to-eat waffles with extra nutrients. Such waffles can include high-fiber and whole-grain varieties. Breakfast waffles consist largely of energy-producing carbohydrates and may contain added protein, depending on the ingredients.

Tags: belgian waffle, breakfast, bubble waffle, egg waffle, hong kong, ice cream, national waffle day, quick bread, waffle
Posted in Food, Holidays/Celebrations | Comments Off

Castle of Magical Dreams Opens in Hong Kong

Thursday, June 10th, 2021
The new Castle of Magic Dreams at Hong Kong Disneyland Resort.  Credit: © Hong Kong Disneyland Resort

The new Castle of Magical Dreams at Hong Kong Disneyland Resort.
Credit: © Hong Kong Disneyland Resort

What if you could combine all your favorite characters and cultures featured in Disney films into one amazing attraction? Hong Kong Disneyland has done just that.

This year, the new-and-improved Castle of Magical Dreams was revealed at Hong Kong Disneyland. Built atop the park’s existing Sleeping Beauty Castle, the Castle of Magical Dreams incorporates a variety of female characters and their storylines into one diversity-celebrating architectural feat.

The Castle of Magical Dreams has more than a dozen towers, each representing a female character from a Disney film. Each character has her own tower, complete with elements from her story. Tiana from The Princess and the Frog (2009), for example, is represented by a tower with a water-lily motif. The tower representing Mulan (1998) features a cherry blossom pattern. At the top of each tower also sits a finial (ornament) chosen to represent each character. For example, Belle’s tower, from Beauty and the Beast (1991), is adorned with an enchanted rose. Together, the unique towers celebrate the diversity of Disney’s female characters.

The designers did not forget about the characters’ beloved sidekicks. Inside the castle, visitors will find 13 columns topped with such friends as Pua and HeiHei, from Moana (2016), and Merida’s triplet brothers from Brave (2012).

Many of the female characters in Disney films must overcome obstacles. Disneyland’s engineers had to tackle obstacles of their own. The Castle of Magical Dreams is made up of 15 massive parts. Each portion was built and painted off-site. The parts were then shipped to Hong Kong Disneyland and put together using a crane.

Because of the ongoing pandemic (global outbreak) of the coronavirus disease COVID-19, many people cannot travel. So, while you wait to visit Hong Kong Disneyland’s Castle of Magical Dreams, try drawing a castle of your own! You can take your favorite parts from movies—Disney or otherwise—to create a unique structure. Who knows, one day you may design a creation for a Disney park.

Tags: castle of magical dreams, disneyland, hong kong, walt disney
Posted in Arts & Entertainment, Current Events, Recreation & Sports | Comments Off

Hong Kong’s Summer of Protest

Wednesday, September 25th, 2019

September 25, 2019

Since June 2019, massive protests have taken place in Hong Kong, a special administrative unit of China. The city and region of Hong Kong—located on a peninsula and group of islands—enjoy a high degree of autonomy (self-rule). Hong Kong maintains a free-enterprise economy within China’s Communist economic system. The “one country, two systems” relationship is not always a happy one, however, and the people of Hong Kong often resent being subjected to mainland China’s different rules.

Protesters face off with police during a rally against a controversial extradition law proposal outside the government headquarters in Hong Kong on June 12, 2019. - Violent clashes broke out in Hong Kong on June 12 as police tried to stop protesters storming the city's parliament, while tens of thousands of people blocked key arteries in a show of strength against government plans to allow extraditions to China.  Credit: © Dale De La Rey, Getty Images

Protesters face off with police in Hong Kong on June 12, 2019. Credit: © Dale De La Rey, Getty Images

In June 2019, the largest protests in Hong Kong’s history were triggered by a proposed bill that would have allowed people Hong Kong accused of crimes in to be extradited (handed over) to stand trial in mainland Chinese courts. (Hong Kong also has a separate legal system from the rest of China.) More than a million people participated in the protests. The protesters believed the extradition bill endangered their rights. Hong Kong police clashed with the protesters, who also called for democratic reforms, and many people were arrested or injured. Protesters then added investigations into police brutality to their demands.

Click to view larger image Hong Kong region.  Credit: WORLD BOOK map

Click to view larger image
Hong Kong region.
Credit: WORLD BOOK map

On June 15, the Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam (Hong Kong’s governor) suspended the proposed extradition bill, but massive protests continued the next day as more than 2 million people took to the streets. (Hong Kong’s entire population is 7.4 million.) The unrest continued into July as protesters stormed the Hong Kong parliament, ransacking offices and clashing with police. In reaction, pro-Communist government gangs attacked some pro-democracy protesters. Many people were hurt in the confrontations, and hundreds of people were arrested.

The Hong Kong metropolitan area lies on both sides of Victoria Harbour. It includes the northern coast of Hong Kong Island, foreground, and the southern tip of the Kowloon Peninsula, background. Credit: © Leung Chopan, Shutterstock

The Hong Kong metropolitan area lies on both sides of Victoria Harbour. It includes the northern coast of Hong Kong Island, foreground, and the southern tip of the Kowloon Peninsula, background. Credit: © Leung Chopan, Shutterstock

Amid rising tensions in August, protesters began crowding into police stations as well as into busy Hong Kong International Airport, which was forced to close for several days. Fears of Chinese military intervention—with flashes back to the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989—rose as the army paraded in Shenzhen, just across the border from Hong Kong. Those fears went unrealized, however, and although standoffs between protesters and police continued, violent episodes were relatively rare considering the massive numbers of people involved.

In early September, Chief Executive Lam formally withdrew the extradition bill that ignited the protests. But unrest lingers as the people of Hong Kong continue to push for greater democratic freedoms, universal suffrage (the right to vote), and solutions to housing and land shortages in the densely populated metropolis.

The United Kingdom controlled Hong Kong from 1842 until 1997, when it returned to Chinese control. The “one country, two systems” relationship was created to safeguard the democratic freedoms enjoyed by Hong Kong citizens under British rule. The Chinese government has eroded some of these freedoms, however, and pro-democracy protests have occurred—with much less intensity—in Hong Kong for the last several years.

Tags: carrie lam, china, chinese communist party, democracy, extradition, hong kong, protests, united kingdom
Posted in Current Events, Government & Politics, History, People | Comments Off

Massive Pro-Democracy Demonstrations Clog Hong Kong

Wednesday, October 1st, 2014

October 1, 2014

Student protesters in Hong Kong vowed today to continue their massive pro-democracy demonstrations until Hong Kong Chief Executive CY Leung resigns. They accuse Leung of being a puppet of the central Chinese government in Beijing. Demonstrators have clogged the streets of the city’s central business district for days, demanding that Beijing stop vetting candidates for Hong Kong’s next chief executive. Last weekend, Hong Kong police, under Leung’s direction, used batons and fire volleys of tear gas in an attempt to disperse the huge crowds.

In September, the Chinese government announced that although it would allow the people of Hong Kong to elect their next leader, the candidates would be restricted to those approved by a committee consisting of people appointed by the government. The last British governor of Hong Kong, Lord Patten, has accused the Chinese government of breaching commitments it made before taking over sovereignty from the United Kingdom in 1997: “They said these matters [the election of leaders] were within the autonomy of the Hong Kong government, and they are now reneging on that.”

Highly prosperous Hong Kong is one of the world’s greatest seaports. (© Gareth Brown, Corbis)

Under the 1997 agreement, Hong Kong was to be governed under a “one country, two systems” arrangement that gave it some autonomy and freedoms not enjoyed on the mainland. However the central government in Beijing has over time tightened its control over the special administrative region. Today, the president of China, Xi Jinping, stated that he would “steadfastly safeguard” Hong Kong’s prosperity and stability: “We must never waver in our faith and must never separate ourselves from the people.” China experts interpret Xi’s comments as meaning “we have no intention of giving in to the demonstrators.”

Additional World Book articles:

  • China 1997 (a Back in Time article)
  • Hong Kong 1997: Capitalism Comes to China (a special report)

 

Tags: china, cy leung, demonstrations, hong kong, pro-democracy
Posted in Business & Industry, Current Events, Economics, Government & Politics, History, Law, People | Comments Off

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