Xiaolongbao

Xiaolongbao is a type of steamed bun (baozi) from the Jiangnan region of China, especially associated with Shanghai and Wuxi. It is traditionally prepared in xiaolong, small bamboo steaming baskets, which give them their name. Xiaolongbao are often referred to as a kind of "dumpling", but should not be confused with British or American-style dumplings nor with Chinese jiaozi. Similarly, they are considered a kind of "soup dumpling" but should not be confused with other larger varieties of tang bao. In Shanghainese, they are also sometimes known as sioh-lon meu-doe or xiaolong-style mantous.

Origins

Shanghai-style xiaolongbao originated in Nanxiang, a suburb of Shanghai in the Jiading District. The inventor of xiaolongbao sold them in his first store in Nanxiang next to the town's notable park, Guyi Garden. From there the xiaolongbao expanded into downtown Shanghai and outward.

Two specialist xiaolongbao restaurants have a particularly long history. One is Nanxiang Mantou Dian (Nanxiang Bun Shop), which derives from the original store in Nanxiang but is now located in the Yu Garden area. It is famed for its crab-meat-filled buns. The other is Gulong Restaurant, at the original site next to Guyi Garden in Nanxiang.

Din Tai Fung

Din Tai Fung is a restaurant originating in Taiwan, specialising in xiaolongbao (soup dumplings). Outside its native Taiwan, Din Tai Fung also has branches in Australia, Mainland China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, the United States, Thailand and Dubai.

History

Founder Yang Bingyi was born in Shanxi, China, but moved to Taiwan in 1948 as a result of the Chinese Civil War. After working 10 years at Heng Tai Fung (恆泰豐), a cooking oil retailer, he found himself unemployed when the store closed. Together with his wife, Lai Penmei, then founded Din Tai Fung (also a cooking oil retailer) in 1958. The name was a combination of his previous employer's company name "Heng Tai Fung" (恆泰豐) and his new supplier's company name "DinMei Oils". Around 1980, tinned cooking oil became prevalent, and business diminished drastically. In order to survive, Yang and his wife turned over half the shop to making and selling steamed buns (xiaolongbao). The buns were so popular that the store stopped selling oil altogether and became a full-fledged restaurant in the 1980s. The original restaurant is located on Xinyi Road in Taipei.

Bon Appétit

Bon Appétit is an American food and entertaining magazine published monthly. It was started as a bimonthly magazine in 1955 in Chicago. The magazine was acquired by M. Frank Jones in Kansas City, Missouri in 1965. Jones was owner, editor and publisher until 1970, when Bon Appétit was merged into the Pillsbury Company, who sold it to Knapp Communications, publishers of Architectural Digest, four years later. Condé Nast Publications, the current owners, purchased Knapp Communications in 1993. Its sister publication was Gourmet, before the latter was discontinued in October 2009. The magazine's headquarters, which had been in Los Angeles, CA, were moved to New York City in early 2011.

The current editor is Adam Rapoport, previously Style Editor at Condé Nast's GQ magazine. Prior to joining GQ, Rapoport edited the restaurant section at Time Out New York and worked as an editor and writer for the James Beard Foundation's publications office.

For the print edition, Condé Nast reported 1,452,953 paid subscriptions and 88,516 single copies in 2012 for the period ending November 2012. The median age of its audience is 48.4, of which 74% are female. Also, 46% of readers have college degrees and 36% are professional or managerial employment. 59% are married.

Taipei 101

Taipei 101 (Chinese: 臺北101 / 台北101) – stylized as TAIPEI 101 and formerly known as the Taipei World Financial Center – is a landmark supertall skyscraper in Xinyi District, Taipei, Taiwan. The building was officially classified as the world's tallest in 2004, and remained such until the completion of Burj Khalifa in Dubai in 2009. In 2011, the building was awarded the LEED platinum certification, the highest award according to the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system, and became the tallest and largest green building in the world.

Taipei 101 was designed by C.Y. Lee and Partners and was constructed by Samsung C&T and KTRT Joint Venture . Construction on the 101-story tower started in 1999 and finished in 2004. The tower has served as an icon of modern Taiwan ever since its opening. The building was architecturally created as a symbol of the evolution of technology and Asian tradition. Its postmodernist approach to style incorporates traditional design elements and gives them modern treatments. The tower is designed to withstand typhoons and earthquakes. A multi-level shopping mall adjoining the tower houses hundreds of stores, restaurants and clubs. Fireworks launched from Taipei 101 feature prominently in international New Year's Eve broadcasts and the structure appears frequently in travel literature and international media.