During the traditional Chinese New Year, the firecrackers are the necessary thing to make the festival more enjoyable and exciting. The most spectacle can be seen at 0 o’clock of the 1st day of the lunar January. When the clock strikes 12, it announces the arrival of a new year. Exactly at 0 o’clock—the first […]
瓜 (gua, “melon”) The ancient Chinese character for “瓜” looks like a growing melon. There are many different kinds of melons in China. In Chinese, watermelons are known as “西瓜” (xi gua: literally means “western melons”), since they grew in China’s ancient Western Regions. Pumpkins, in Chinese is “南瓜” (nan guang: literally means “south melon”). […]
There was a Chinese man of the state of Qi who was worrying that the sky might one day fall down, the earth might sink, and he would not know where to hide himself. This so much troubled him that he could not eat or sleep. Someone went to reassure him about this, saying, “the […]
The custom of sending off the Ghost of Poverty on the 6th day of the 1st lunar month has been passed down from ancient times. The Ghost of Poverty is also called the Poor Wretch. The book, “Records of the Seasonal Festivals” recorded: In the reign of Zhuanxu and Gaoxin, a boy was born and […]
A matchmaker, named Xiang Liu, came to be well known in Beijing. She worked in a hospital and loved to do matchmaking during her spare time. Because of her high success rate, she was interviewed by the papers and asked to talk about her matching experience. From her information, one can catch a glimpse of […]
Study Chinese with Keats School. Today, we will introduce a Chinese character, which represents “happiness” in English. In China, it is quite popular for people to get married during the Spring Festival or other traditional festivals in hopes that marriages will be blessed and joyful as the festivals. In China, getting married is known as […]
晨钟暮鼓(chén zhōn? mù ?ǔ)—the Daybreak Bell and the Sundown Drum The tradition of the Daybreak Bell and the Sundown Drum began as early as the Han Dynasty. “晨” means “morning”; “钟” means “clock”; while “暮” means “the sundown time”; “鼓” is “drum”. Xian’s Bell Tower and Drum Tower were restored during the Ming Dynasty to […]
Chinese idiom: “一心一意yì xīn yí yì” and “三心二意sān xīn èr yì” In the Chinese language, there are a lot of idioms formed with some numbers. These idioms are powerful, vivid and widely-used. “one, two, three” in Chinese is “一, 二, 三” , here “心” means “heart” while “意” is “intention or meaning”. When you put […]
People say, “Above is heaven and below is Suzhou and Hangzhou”. In ancient China, Suzhou is said to have been a playground for learned scholars in their twilight years. If they were disillusioned with their government position and dreary political affairs, Suzhou was the best place to find an escape. Suzhou has long be known […]
Hezhes take fish as their staple food and have many cooking methods. They can fry or stew fish, and they like to make fish floss for storage, such as stir-fried fish, raw fish, sashimi and fish shavings, etc. Quite unique are Hezhe traditional clothing, which include long fish leather gowns, fish leather leggings, and fish […]