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Mah Jong is a traditional Chinese tile game and is usually played with 4 players with Chinese characters and symbols. Where the goal is to have four complete sets and another two tiles that are the same by drawing and discarding tiles in return. Where it needs skill, strategy and luck.

The tiles consist of, characters, bamboo and dots. Mah jong has many different versions but Hong Kong uses cantonese version where so called flower tiles are used. When a player has a flower, they have to be revealed immediately and is put against the side. They can be used as extra points.

Mah jong can sharpen thinking, concentration, and can be a fun game that brings people together. Now, mah jong has online versions where wouldn't exist in the past.

I chose Mah Jong because it is very frequently played in family gatherings and my family plays the game almost every gathering. Naturally, I learnt how to and I started playing with my family members and I even started playing with my mom's friends.

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This is a picture of the dragon boat festival and the festival is to honor the Chinese poet Qu Yuan. Hong Kong has very fierce races that is held in Hong Kong's rivers. It is celebrated on the fifth day or the fifth month. It is a public holiday to Hong Kong and most Hong Kong people take the holiday to spend it with their families.

Dragon boat is boat races with long boats that are decorated with dragon heads in the front and tails at the back. Where the rowers are paddling in rhythm to the drums. The crew typically consists of 20 paddlers that are sitting in pairs. the person at the each rear controls the direction of where the boat is going and the drummer in the front sets the pace and rhythm of the boat. The drummer gives commands through hand signals or voice calls for strategic surges.

Historically, dragon boat racing is also related to rituals for warding off evil spirts and increasing the chance of a good harvest. Mainly in places where rivers and worshipped and dragon mythology is related.

The reason why Hong Kong takes this festival so seriously is because it has a deep cultural relation to Hong Kong. Specifically with the fishermen and boat people.

It is very typical in Hong Kong to eat zong zi which are a type of glutinous rice dumplings that has fillings like marinated pork belly, mushrooms and salted egg yolk. Zong zi is a traditional food.

This is because historically, a poet drowned himself, his body was unfound. When local people heard about his death, they protected his body by throwing such glutinous rice to avoid his body from being eaten.

Dragon Boat festival continues to evolve where dragon boats now may not be made of wood and made from fiberglass that makes them lighter and faster. It is also helps with preventing water absorption and reducing maintenance costs.

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When I first transitioned from local school to international school, my expectations were that it would be easy to fit in and communicate as I already spoke English in my local school with my friends. The first couple weeks were relaxing and school work felt like a breeze because of the surface culture that Hong Kong people would talk about international schools. Where even though I didn't have as much homework as I did in local school, I was still able to receive good grades and praises from teachers. One might say that this represents the honey moon period.

However, conflict started to happen when I became too egoistical. In local school, everyone acted nice with each other even if they disliked the person. As the school would frequently talk about a student's grade or achievements in front of a class or in a assembly. We would also have certain roles that could only be earned with good discipline and if you were liked in your class. This is why most people would act like they liked each other and lead to create a sort of competition between everyone. It made it seem like being the best in the grade was all that mattered and long term relationships didn't.

I was affected by this and I grew up thinking that it was all that mattered. However, I realized that it wasn't like that. I had arguments with my friends and even though I had many achievements, it didn't seem like it changed anything about my relationship with my peers. I had trouble talking to them as my main language was still cantonese. I had trouble pronouncing some words and would have a very obvious accent. I also realized that I would have trouble with some work given and would want help but didn't know how or who to ask. One might say that this is the frustration period.

I had a big fall out in my friend group after a certain argument. I then reflected my actions and realized that how I acted really wasn't me. I realized that I didn't have to pretend I liked the person and be fake towards them just to get approval. I realized that I had to get to know them and support their interests. I started deeply listening and being humble with the people around me. I slowly developed a stronger relationship with all my peers and was able to be the type of person that they would look for when they needed help. I ended up achieving an achievement for the best qualities that my school cared about. However, even though I was deeply honored, I cared more about being able to talk to my peers without fear and being myself. One might say this is the adjustment period.

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This is char siu, a very popular food item in Hong Kong. Char siu originated from GuangDong province of Southern China.

Char siu is a barbecued meat is included in the royal recipes for over 3,000 years ago and is part of the royal menu during the Zhou dynasty.

Over the years, char siu has changed in many ways. It used to be made from the fattest part of the pig. As society got wealthier, chefs started using the lean parts of the pig. It became more popular and preferred as it because a good balance of both.

Char siu is known for it's sweet and savory but still having a slightly smoky flavor. The pork is usually marinated with soy sauce, hoisin sauce (a popular sauce that is well-loved and used in Hong Kong), Chinese wine and maybe food coloring for the visual appeal as it is known for it's glaze, though it is completely optional.

This artifact symbolizes my culture’s food and popular dishes.

It is connected to me because me and my family very frequently eat char siu as it is very easy to find in Hong Kong and is a very popular dish to have during yum cha with family.

My feelings towards char siu is that it has been a favorite dish of mine since I was a kid.

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喜歡你 is a very famous song originally by the band Beyond. G.E.M released a cover in 2014 of 喜歡你. She is originally from Shanghai, China but moved to Hong Kong at the age of 4 and grew up in a very musical family. She started writing songs at the age of 5 and debuted since then. She has achieved a large recognition across china and is known for her talented skills of being able to sing Cantonese, Mandarin and English.

I chose this song because of a quite funny story. In kindergarten, I would take the school bus and the driver would play music on the bus. One morning he played G.E.M's cover of 喜歡你 and I immediately loved it. I would sing to it even though I wasn't exactly sure of the lyrics except for the chorus, since "喜歡你" is simple cantonese words to represent "I like you ".

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These two are the most commonly used expressions in Hong Kong with 唔該 meaning "thank you" and 對唔住 meaning "sorry" in cantonese. Both and be used as a way to say "excuse me" in cantonese.

Cantonese, the main Chinese language that is spoken in Hong Kong known for how it's difficulty due to its 9 different tones since mandarin only has 4. Cantonese has it's own oral and written version where it is used in casual communication. It also has many variations of cantonese across China where some cities will use cantonese like Guangzhou. It continues to evolve where it is being added into more online platforms like how it was recently added to google translate.

I chose these two words because I frequently use them in my daily life.