I didn’t notice this video (a short film about the preference towards sons over daughters in rural Fujian, i.e. giving daughters disdainful names, denying them schooling, and forcing marriages) was made with AI until like a minute in. Apparently AI can generate Hokkien now (the video uses both accented Mandarin and Hokkien). It’s also pretty consistent between shots, although I spotted…
buried-in-stardust : I’m very cis, so it’s be great if my trans followers could provide any input. One of my profs used to present 100% as a guy and use he/him pronouns, but now presents androgynously. Someone claimed that the prof goes by she/her now, and some students are using he/him and some are using she/her. Would it be rude to ask what pronouns to use when at office hours?…
I’m very cis, so it’s be great if my trans followers could provide any input. One of my profs used to present 100% as a guy and use he/him pronouns, but now presents androgynously. Someone claimed that the prof goes by she/her now, and some students are using he/him and some are using she/her. Would it be rude to ask what pronouns to use when at office hours?
OP: “Decarbonized formaldehyde is great. Just wash daikons with decarbonized formaldehyde and they turn white.” “Decarbonized formaldehyde” (脫碳甲醛) is an online phrase used to make fun of people that blindly avoid chemicals. Formaldehyde (H2CO) decarbonized is water (H2O). [eng by me]
buried-in-stardust : The Asian supermarket by me is selling zongzi (粽子; rice dumpling) for Dragon Boat Festival! Usually I just eat the ones my grandma or dad make, which are (Southern) Taiwanese style (vegetarian if it’s my grandma’s). My parents grew up sometimes eating 鹼粽 (sweet lye water rice dumplings), but I’ve never eaten sweet zongzi before, so I’m mostly interested…
Setting up a new yurt for friends to live in during the summer in Inner Mongolia, China . OP has noted in comments that a yurt costs around RMB￥20K. *Khatas are traditional, ceremonial scarves. Mongolian khatas are usually blue, symbolising the sky. [eng by me]
Dragon Boat Festival (端午節; duan1wu3jie2) occurs every year on the 5th day of the 5th lunarsolar month, which was June 19 this year (2026). One way that people celebrate is by wrapping and eating zongzi (粽子; sticky rice dumplings). For Dragon Boat Festival last year (May 31, 2025), I attended a Taiwanese culture club event at National Taiwan University, where they had prepared all the ingredients…
Dragon boat racing on land in Yunnan. Land boats are also a prop used in folk art performances for New Year’s or other festivals, popular in Shandong, Shaanxi, Shanxi, and Hebei.
Making Cantonese-style zongzi (粽子; sticky rice dumplings) for Dragon Boat Festival (which is on June 19th for 2026). The glutinous rice has red beans added to it, and the filling consists of mung bean, pork, and egg yolk. They are wrapped with bamboo leaves into tetrahedons and then cooked. As usual, the comments under the video are arguing if sweet (preferred by northerners) or savoury (preferred…
buried-in-stardust : An example of the rest reminders by Douyin. Many of their videos feature a beloved cartoon character or celebrity, in this case Huahua the panda. (These were rather incessant during the summer months last year, probably due to students being out of school, but I personally have seen pretty much none since then) [eng by me]
alexseanchai : cameoamalthea : buried-in-stardust : Writing 和風細雨 (he2feng1xi4yu3; gentle breeze and light rain) with a cat’s tail on a water-writing mat. Water-writing mats turn black when wet and return to their original colour once dry, so they are often used to practise calligraphy with water. The black colour allows you to see your writing clearly, and the mat can be reused as soon as…
Writing 和風細雨 (he2feng1xi4yu3; gentle breeze and light rain) with a cat’s tail on a water-writing mat. Water-writing mats turn black when wet and return to their original colour once dry, so they are often used to practise calligraphy with water. The black colour allows you to see your writing clearly, and the mat can be reused as soon as the writing dries and disappears. [eng by me]