My Hometown Yano

I am born and bred in Henan province, a place with colorful history.

“Henan” in Chinese means “south of the river”. This river refers to the Yellow River, the cradle of the Chinese nation. Henan is in the center of China, along the Yellow River makes my hometown the place of the origin of Chinese culture. During the long period of ancient times, Henan was always the political, economic, and cultural center. The first empire, Xia was built in Henan. Since Xia dynasty, there have been as many as 20 dynasties setting their capital cities in Henan. People always say, “ The history of Henan is half of Chinese History.”

When talking about Henan, people hardly fail to talk about one place------Shaolin Temple. Shaolin Temple is in Zhengzhou, Henan. Its name, Shaolin, derives from the environment of the temple. It is surrounded by the bamboo grove which in Chinese culture stands for the upright, peace, modest character. Shaolin Temple is famous for its magic martial arts. There are over 700 kinds of martial arts in Shaolin Temple. What’s more, the monks in Shaolin Temple not only practice martial arts but also Tsan Chan which helps them to control their desire. As a famous king in Tang Dynasty, Li Shimin was rescued by the monks in Shaolin Temple, since then, the martial arts were permitted to develop. It is regarded as the origin of the martial arts in China. Every year, there are thousands of tourists from all over the world visiting Shaolin Temple.

To me, Henan not only means the colorful history and Shaolin Temple, but also the place my heart forever loves. When I am in Singapore, I always miss the days in Henan. The delicious food is one of my most precious melody. There are a lot of local cuisines in my hometown. Among all of them, I love the Hui noodles the most. It is a kind of noodles which iscooked with lamb and several kinds of vegetables. The most important in Hui noodles is the soup. If you want to cook delicious noodles, you have to use the best fresh lamb. After clean the lamb, we have to poach the lamb with the certain kinds of spice for 2-3 hours. After the preparation of soup, we need to make the noodles. Hui noodles are hand-made noodles so they are quite chewy. Last time when I came back to China, I enjoyed myself with lots of Hui noodles. That was excellent.

No matter what happens in the future, my heart for my hometown will never change. I do hope my hometown Henan will prosper better and better and I would be glad to have you all as guests in my hometown.