Tanghulu (冰糖葫芦): A snack food popular in Northern China that is made from sugar coated hawthorns, yam or other fruit skewered on a bamboo stick; similar to candied apples, also 糖葫芦.

Xi Shi (西施) was one of the renowned Four Beauties of ancient China. She was said to have lived near the end of the Spring and Autumn Period in Zuni, the capital of the ancient state of Yue.

Xi Shi’s beauty was said to be so extreme that while leaning over a balcony to look at the fish in the pond, the fish were so dazzled that they forgot to swim and gradually sunk to the bottom of the pond, birds would forget to fly and fall from the sky, the moon would fade from embarrassment, and flowers would close their petals in shame of being compared to her.

Xi Shi is now a term used to describe beautiful women.

An Internet phenomenon occurring in China is anybody can become famous or infamous overnight. And sometimes for no reason other than just being who they are. Ok, a lot of them were actually hyped up for for unknown reasons by people behind the scenes, usually for personal gains. Still, every now and then, ordinary people become the talk of the nation overnight.

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