A Brief Introduction to Kazakh
Good morning and thank you for making the effort to be here with us today. My name is Huang xinmei and I’m major in systems engineering. What I’d like to do today is to talk about the Kazakh nationality. Because I worked in Altay as a voluntary teacher last year, and I have some understandings about them. This brief talk will hopefully act as a simple introduction of this minority. I’m going to express my speech from three aspects: their houses, foods and customs.
Kazakh nationality is Kazakhstan’s main national and one of the ancient minorities in China. It mainly distributes in Xinjiang and Gansu province. Ancient Kazakh people lived by grasses and have a nomadic life. What the herdsmen living in is a kind of houses that is portable, easy to support and dismantle. It is not only easy to carry and durable, but also is a kind of residences with comfortable and protection, rainproof, shockproof characteristics. Besides, the room has an automatic air circulation system, the light can also be adjusted by the Kazakh’s delight, because it is made with white shuttlecock. And the yurt’s decoration is very exquisite, people call them “the white house” on the grassland.
Then let’s talk about their diet. Meat and milk are the most two kinds of food they usually eat. Their staple food is noodles. They love to have beef, mutton and horsemeat. Their drinks are mainly milk, specially, they drink the horse milk, it is a kind of rare drinks. What you may unexpected is that tea is also have a special place in the Kazakh diets. They mainly drink the brick tea, and they often drink tea with milk, they called it milk tea. It tastes a little salty, because they like to add some salt. There’s another typical food, called baolsak. It is a kind of fried snack, which is made of flour. It tastes just like the fried bread stick that we eat in the morning. Baolsak and milk tea often joined together, just like the han people’s steamed stuffed bun and porridge. The Kazakh herdsmen are very hospitable and usually receive guests with this kind of food.
Now, let me introduce their customs to you. The Kazakh have great respect
for the elderly. During eating time, they first offered milk tea to the old, and the best meat is also provided to them. They don’t like others to praise their own children, particular you can’t say “fat”, because they think it would bring misfortune to them. In their creation myth, a white steppe swan turned into a princess, who gave birth to the first Kazakh, so there are many swan designs in their clothes, carpets and containers. During festivals, they will hold the horse-racing and girls’ chasing games.
In conclusion, Kazakh is a beautiful minority that full of legends. And they gave me such a deep impression that I had many unforgettable memories. I miss the days I spent in Xinjiang, and I miss those warm and friendly Kazakh people, especially those innocent and lovely children. I love our multi-ethnic country, one thing I agree with from the bottom of my heart and I want to share with you is that all of us should advocate national unity. In the history of the five thousand years of China, the solidarity of all ethnic interdependent relationship, formed the great Chinese nation, jointly created a unified multi-ethnic country. And I believe with the efforts from all the Chinese people, we will form the eternal unity of the Chinese nation, and we will have the power to invulnerable, usher in the great revival of the bright future.