My Hong Kong | Eat a brain, drink warm water: the life hacks of Chinese folk wisdom, and why Bruce Lee’s death can be explained by one such old wives’ tale
- No matter how Westernised or Western-educated a Chinese person is, many still abide by Chinese folk wisdom handed down to us by our parents
- Drinking warm water even on a hot day is good for you, fresh pears ease a sore throat, and eating a pig’s brain makes yours sharper – who can argue with these?
Summer is fast approaching, daily temperatures are rising and it’s becoming more humid in Hong Kong. Still, I remain hopeful we will be able to, before mid-June, enjoy at least another month of reasonably cool nights.
This is because I am a firm believer in Chinese wisdom.
One useful nugget of wisdom I like to impart around this time of year is: “Don’t put away your winter clothing before eating Dragon Boat zongzi ”. The Dragon Boat Festival occurs on the fifth day of the fifth month of the traditional Chinese calendar, and zo ngzi are conical- or pyramid-shaped sticky rice dumplings wrapped in leaves.
Sometimes, I hear foreigners make fun of how Chinese people apply unusual substances on their faces as part of their anti-ageing beauty routines. For example, I grew up using watermelon rinds in my own routine – I would rub them on my face and body as a way to prevent acne. I also can’t remember how many gallons of sticky egg white I have used throughout the years to improve the glow and shine of my face and hair.
To tell you the truth, no matter how Westernised or Western-educated a Chinese person is, many of us – myself included – still abide by these axioms.
