A: Hello and welcome to Listeners' Garden here on China Radio International. I'm your host LPC.

B: And I'm AE. As many of you know, CRI held a knowledge contest on southern China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region earlier this year to mark the 50th anniversary of its founding. Now the winners of the quiz are enjoying their prizes.

A: The ten lucky listeners who won the top prizes just visited China on a ten-day free trip.

B: So do you want to hear what their trip was like? On today's show we'll be talking with a prize winner from the United States to hear about his travels in China.

A: After that, we'll bring you the final part of CRI's knowledge contest on Sichuan province. The top prize winners of this quiz will also get the opportunity to visit China for free.

------------------------------------------------

A: You are listening to Listeners' Garden. At the invitation of CRI, the ten top prize winners of the Guangxi knowledge contest started their trip to China on November 30. They spent the first few days in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of course, and then visited Beijing. Guangxi Quiz Winners' China Tour

B: The winners come from various countries including India, Nepal, Egypt, Afghanistan, Vietnam, Cuba and Russia.

A: Winner Mikko Peraaho from the United States is a frequent participant in CRI's knowledge contests. This was the first time he won a trip to China, and he was very excited with the tour.

B: Guangxi is a place full of scenic wonders. During their tour in the region, the winners visited some of the most popular tourist destinations.

A: The karst landscape in Guilin is acclaimed in China as the most beautiful under heaven. Mikko shared this view after a cruise along the Lijiang River to see the mountains and waters of Guilin.

B: The river cruise ended in Yangshuo county, where the winners enjoyed a live performance of the open-air musical Sister Liu Sanjie, named after a legendary singer of the Zhuang ethnic group.

A: Guangxi is also home to a dozen ethnic groups, and their customs draw even more interest from visitors.

B: As its name suggests, Guangxi Zhuang is a major habitat for the Zhuang ethnic group. The winners visited some Zhuang ethnic villages and the Zhuang Ethnic Minority Culture Museum.

A: One week is not enough time for a complete tour of Guangxi, which has so much to see and do. Fortunately, the winners enjoyed the time they did have.

B: After their Guangxi tour, the winners flew to Beijing. Despite the cold weather, they enjoyed trips to Tian'anmen Square, the Forbidden City, the Great Wall and the CRI Building.

A: It's always a pleasure to meet new friends, but sad to say goodbye. The winners have returned to their home countries, but we hope this China tour will be an unforgettable experience for them.

B: Yes, and we also hope the winners and our other listeners will continue to show their support for CRI in the years to come.

A: Yes, keep in touch. Now let's take a break. Listeners' Garden will continue right after this.

-----------------------------------------------------

B: Welcome back to Listeners' Garden. I'm AE.

A: And I'm LPC. Now it's time for the CRI knowledge contest on southwestern China's Sichuan province.

B: Today in the final part of the Sichuan quiz, we'll talk about Sichuan cuisine.

A: Here are the last two questions you must answer to win a prize:

Question No. 1: Which flavor of food do Sichuan people most prefer?
Question No. 2: What's the name of the Sichuan snack made of three steamed glutinous rice balls sprinkled with brown sugar syrup?

B: Now get ready for our last trip to Sichuan with our tour guide, Yun Feng.

Sichuan Cuisine

Wherever you go for a visit, food always is an essential part of a good trip. And if you are a food lover, Sichuan is the right place for you. The province has long been considered a paradise for gourmands. The mere mention of Sichuan cuisine makes many people's mouths water.

Sichuan cuisine is one of the eight major schools of Chinese cooking, and it is perhaps the most popular one both at home and abroad, thanks to its unique cooking style and rich, delicious flavors. Sichuan restaurants have found a niche everywhere around the country, but eating the cuisine at its source will undoubtedly allow you to savor the most authentic flavors.

The mention of Sichuan food evokes an impression of hot, spicy dishes brimming with chilies and peppers that often produce palate-tingling, mouth-scorching and tongue-numbing sensations.

It is true that the most distinctive feature of Sichuan food is that it is usually spicier than what most people consider spicy. But why do the locals prefer such hot flavors?

Folklore expert Mao Jianhua from Sichuan University says most parts of the province are located in the Sichuan Basin, east of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The special geographical and climate conditions are the main reason for the local people's fondness for spicy food.

"Since Sichuan is located in a basin, it's characterized by a warm and humid climate with lots of rainfall. This makes people prone to rheumatic diseases. Hot flavorings like chilies and peppers can help people dispel internal dampness and protect them against illnesses resulting from humidity. That's why chilies and peppers are widely used as the prevalent seasonings in cooking Sichuan dishes, giving Sichuan cuisine national fame for its trademark spicy flavor."

So the locals prefer hot food mainly for their health. But why do many people in other parts of the country enjoy spicy Sichuan food so much? The answer is quite simple: The dishes are simply too delicious.

If you are a spicy food connoisseur, Sichuan cuisine will definitely be your number-one choice. But before you tuck in, you should be very careful. After the meal, or indeed after a few mouthfuls, you may feel your mouth and stomach getting very hot. But I think this should not put you off, because it is really hard to resist the temptation of Sichuan cuisine. One suggestion I have is that you should have some cold drinks on hand to quench the fiery flames in your mouth and stomach.

Although Sichuan cuisine is known for its super spiciness, you would be wrong if you thought the food here was just plain hot. In fact, Sichuan cuisine includes different cooking techniques and a rich variety of flavors. There are many dishes featuring sweet, sour and salty tastes. So those who do not love chilies and peppers can still find enough spicy-free delicacies in Sichuan.

With more than 2,000 years of culinary expertise behind it, Sichuan has more than 4,000 appetizing dishes in its repertoire. Each dish presents the finest appearance, aroma and taste. So you might feel overwhelmed by the great variety of Sichuan food available.

One of the most typical and popular Sichuan dishes is mapo tofu, or stir-fried bean curd in hot sauce. It is served in every Sichuan restaurant and remains a favorite for countless people from home and abroad.

Wang Bing, a restaurant manager in the provincial capital Chengdu, tells us about the story of the dish.

"The dish was invented some 150 years ago by the wife of a restaurant owner in Chengdu. The old woman had pockmarks on her face, so she was nicknamed "pockmarked grandma." She created a tofu dish by stir-frying the bean curd with minced pork or beef in powerfully spicy Sichuan chili-and-bean sauce. The dish was so delicious that it was hugely popular with the customers. The old woman's fame spread far and wide, and her representative dish was hence named "mapo tofu," meaning "the pockmarked grandma's bean curd." It's now one of the most famous Sichuan dishes in the country. Many foreigners also like it very much."

Like mapo tofu, Sichuan hotpot dishes are also famous around the country. Many people, young and old alike, routinely eat Sichuan hot pot, especially when the weather gets cold, because the hot, spicy food can drive away chills and make them feel warm.

But in summer, eating Sichuan hotpot is often described as a sauna for the mouth and stomach. Your lips and tongue may feel as though they have been scorched, and your stomach can sizzle. But there are still many people who are addicted to hotpot so much that they love to eat it year-round. So when you have an opportunity to visit Sichuan, you must eat some hotpot. Zuo Yanmei works in a hotpot restaurant in Chengdu.

"The typical Sichuan hotpot dishes are very spicy, fragrant and delicious. You can boil a wide variety of stuff, like mutton, beef, chicken, tofu, mushrooms, fungus and vegetables. To satisfy the diverse tastes of customers, we also provide pots which are divided into two or three parts, with the broth in each part featuring a different flavor, so that the eaters can sample various tastes in one hotpot."

Sichuan is also famous for its various kinds of tasty snacks. Many of the snacks have interesting names and stories. One of them is called san-da-pao, which literally means "three big shells." From its name you would never figure out what its ingredients are. Sichuan folklore expert Mao Jianhua says the snack refers to three steamed glutinous rice balls sprinkled with brown sugar syrup.

"To make the snack, you first make the steamed glutinous rice into balls in the size of a table tennis ball and then coated the rice balls with fried sesame and bean flour. When they are served, the cook will place them in a bowl and pour brown sugar juice on them. It's a very tasty dessert."

Delicious Sichuan food is always a great attraction for domestic and foreign tourists. Choi Kwang Sek is a visitor from South Korea who is hooked on Sichuan food.

"Sichuan attracts me a lot with its beautiful scenery, and I'm also crazy about the local delicacies. Their spicy flavor suits my taste very well. I have sampled many spicy foods elsewhere, but I feel that Sichuan cuisine is the most delicious. Really, no one can beat it in taste."

Well, with that we conclude our trip to Sichuan Province. I'm YF, thanks for travelling with me, and I wish you all good luck in the Sichuan knowledge contest.

-----------------------------------------------------

A: That was the final installment of the Sichuan knowledge contest. We'll repeat the two questions one more time:

B: Question No. 1: Which flavor of food do Sichuan people most prefer?
Question No. 2: What's the name of the Sichuan snack made of three steamed glutinous rice balls sprinkled with brown sugar syrup?

A: If you know the answers, please send them to us at crieng@cri.com.cn. Or write letters to English Service, China Radio International, Beijing, China. The postal code is 100040.

B: You can also participate in the contest online by logging onto our Web site at crienglish.com.

A: The top prize winners will win a free trip to Sichuan next summer. Good luck to you all!

B: And with that, we end this edition of Listeners' Garden. I'm AE, thanks for joining us.

A: And I'm LPC, inviting you to join us again at the same time next week. Bye for now.