Chinese consider gifts as an important part to show courtesy. It is appropriate to give gifts on occasions such as festival, birthday, wedding or visiting a patient. If you are invited to a family party,..

Neighbors seem to be an important part of community relationship in China. For instance, if a couple had a noisy fight and the neighbors heard it, they would come over to calm them down. Or,..

“Li” in China not only refers to not only gifts, but more often than not, courtesy and modesty towards people. Politeness is extremely important in contacts among Chinese people. It helps you approach the other..

In China, various customs are associated with the quality of fertility as symbolized by dragons. In Hunan and Hubei provinces, women wanting to be pregnant will let the dragon circulate their bodies and give money..

If you have studied Chinese or are studying Chinese now, you may have heard of “Self-explanatory Characters” when learning Chinese characters. The pictographic character for knife is “刀” (dao), isn’t it look like a big..

According to the legend, when Cangjie created Chinese characters, he noticed not only everything in the universe, but also the human race itself. Chinese characters, therefore, reflect not only the Chinese people’s understanding of the..

In recent years, archaeological studies and a number of unearthed cultural relics have proved that the festival started from a kind of totemic worship among the ancient Wu and Yue people in south China about..

Falling on the 15th day of the 1st lunar month, the Lantern Festival is one of the grandest celebrations among the common people in China, and the custom of merry making on this night has..

除夕(chú xī) The eve of the Spring Festival is called “除夕夜chú xī yè”. Since the Chinese New Year falls on the first day of the 1st lunar month of the Chinese calendar, Chinese New Year’s..

The Shanghainese maintain their health by watching their daily diet. They are accustomed to going to the market around 4:00 or 5:00 of a morning. They buy fresh ingredients, and use them that same day..