Simplified Chinese charactersSimplified Chinese characters are one type of standard Chinese character sets. Along with traditional Chinese characters, they are one of the two standard character sets of the contemporary Chinese written language. The government of the People's Republic of China in mainland China has promoted them for use in printing since the 1950s and 1960s to encourage literacy. They are officially used in the People's Republic of China, Malaysia and Singapore, while traditional Chinese characters remain in common use in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and Japan, as well as South Korea to a certain extent.
Chinese numerologySome numbers are believed by some to be auspicious or lucky (吉利, ) or inauspicious or unlucky (不吉, ) based on the Chinese word that the number sounds similar to. The numbers 2, 3, 6, and 8 are generally considered to be lucky, while 4 is considered unlucky. These traditions are not unique to Chinese culture, with other countries with a history of Han characters also having similar beliefs stemming from these concepts. The number 0 (零, ) is the beginning of all things and is generally considered a good number, because it sounds like 良 (pinyin: liáng), which means 'good'.
BacalhauBacalhau (bɐkɐˈʎaw) is the Portuguese word for cod and—in a culinary context—dried and salted cod. Fresh (unsalted) cod is referred to as bacalhau fresco (fresh cod). Bacalhau dishes are common in Portugal, and also in former Portuguese colonies such as Cape Verde, Angola, Macau, Brazil, and Goa. There are said to be over 1000 recipes for salt cod in Portugal alone and it can be considered the iconic ingredient of Portuguese cuisine.
