Actually, in ancient China when matchmaker is a necessary part of a marriage, matchmakers were mixed group of people. Alongside with official matchmakers, the majority of matchmakers were married women who worked as peddlers or who worked in service industries such as fruit sellers, tailors, needle sellers, jewellery sellers, barbers, nannies, brokers, creditors and restaurant […]
Matchmakers were supposed to be paid when they succeeded in arranging a marriage. If it happened that the in-laws were on good terms, the couple enjoyed a happy married life and the wife gave birth to a male progeny, the matchmaker would enjoy long-term benefits. When it came to festivals, birthdays or the New Year, […]
For their own benefits, matchmakers would try their best to negotiate a positive outcome for each marriage proposal, even through cheating. In reality, there were numerous matchmakers who forgot what was right to get the prospective profit and made money at the sacrifice of the future couple’s happiness. Chen Duo (1488-1521), a poet in the […]
The chamber pot could not be carried on the dowry table. It is called “happy pot” or “offspring pot” to express good wishes to the couple and their children. Inside it people often put some dried jujubes, peanuts, melon seeds, red half-boiled eggs etc. respectable families might wrap it up in a large piece of […]
In Shaoxing of Zhejiang Province, after a daughter was born, her parents would brew wine with polished glutinous rice and refined malt. After the wine was made, they would store the wine in several jars and ask skillful painters to paint or carve on the jars designs of hills, waters, flowers, birds, pavilions, towers, buildings […]
Ethnic minority groups were also particular about dowries. For example, the Miao people’s dowries include a pair of twin bamboo plants, which were covered with red cloth. They were carried to the bridegroom’s home by the bride’s uncle and planed soon after the wedding. It is said that this custom originated from an old legend […]
Before sending the dowries to the bridegroom’s home, the bride’s family would display all the dowries in the courtyard or on the empty ground. After the display, the trousseaux would be loaded onto the dowry tables one after another. The greater the display, the more respected the bride’s family would be. After that, the wedding […]
When procession bearing the dowry reached the bridegroom’s family, there would be a great din of drums, pipes and fireworks over the sky to welcome its arrival. It was a complex process for people to unload the dowries. Usually a close relative of the bride’s family would present a list of the items and read […]
The people in Henan Province like the TV program “Spring in Theater” very much. It’s an opera singing competition. All the contestants were amateurs and most were women. The lead roles in most Henan operas are intended for women. The most popular piece women perform is from the opera “Hua Mulan”. Almost everyone, from a […]
A water banquet has two requirements and the first one is that soups are the only hot dishes allowed to be presented. The second requirement is that once a dish is finished, it is immediately followed with another dish; like the process of continuously flowing water. In total, twenty four dishes are served at a […]
Sangat mudah untuk datang ke Kunming dari Thailand. Saya sangat menyukai kelas Bahasa Cina saya dan bahasa Cina saya meningkat dengan banyak dalam beberapa bulan. Terdapat banyak faedah mempelajari bahasa Cina. Perkara terbaik yang saya suka tentang Keats ialah ia berada di Kunming, sebuah bandar dengan musim bunga yang abadi. Terdapat begitu banyak yang boleh dilihat di Kunming dan anda akan menyukai bandar ini selepas anda datang.
Saya seorang pelajar siswazah yang sedang mengikuti pengajian kedoktoran di Universiti Columbia. Kami dapat benar-benar menumpukan perhatian pada pertuturan terutamanya pertuturan gaya temu bual dan kami dapat meningkatkan kemahiran membaca dan menulis bahasa Cina saya, jadi apabila saya kembali ke Columbia, saya boleh mengambil kelas bahasa Cina formal. Ia merupakan pengalaman yang sangat baik dan saya sangat menyayangi guru saya.
Di Keats, saya mempunyai banyak peluang untuk mempraktikkan apa yang telah saya pelajari. Saya sangat menyukai sekolah ini, kerana saya boleh belajar bahasa Cina secara individu, jadi saya fikir ini adalah program imersi terbaik di China dan guru saya adalah guru terbaik. Saya rasa tanpa guru saya, bahasa Cina saya pasti tidak akan bertambah baik. Saya sangat gembira kerana, di Keats, saya telah meningkatkan bahasa Cina saya dengan ketara.
Sejak semester lepas, kami mula belajar bahasa Cina di Keats. Ia adalah pilihan terbaik yang pernah kami buat. Ia adalah sekolah yang sangat bagus. Kelas-kelasnya sangat menyeronokkan, anda belajar banyak, tetapi sangat interaktif, jadi anda banyak bercakap yang bermaksud ia bukan sekadar buku dan penulisan. Kunming ialah bandar yang sangat menyenangkan untuk didiami, terutamanya jika anda membandingkannya dengan bandar-bandar lain di timur.
Permohonan visa sangat mudah, kerana Sekolah Keats banyak membantu kami dalam hal itu. Keats sangat menekankan latihan perbualan, jadi kami mempelajari banyak perbendaharaan kata dan rancangan kehidupan seharian yang sangat mudah untuk kami bersiar-siar di bandar dan bercakap dengan orang Cina yang merupakan tujuan utama pembelajaran bahasa Cina di China.
Mengenai pembelajaran bahasa Cina di sini, saya rasa keadaan tempat tinggal di sini sangat mudah kerana asrama sangat dekat dengan bilik darjah. Guru-guru kami sangat menikmati mengajar bahasa Cina. Mereka juga sangat bersemangat. Berbanding dengan bandar-bandar lain di China, Kunming mempunyai cuaca yang sangat baik.
Saya rasa Keats adalah salah satu sekolah bahasa terbaik yang pernah saya hadiri. Guru saya seorang yang sangat hebat. Dia sangat pandai mengajar. Dia menjadikan kelas menyeronokkan. Saya telah mempelajari banyak perbendaharaan kata sepanjang saya di sini. Saya sangat mengesyorkan untuk datang ke Sekolah Keats untuk belajar bahasa Mandarin.
Kami menggunakan banyak permainan untuk mempelajari tatabahasa dan perkataan baharu. Kami mempunyai guru yang sangat bagus, sangat sabar. Dia banyak membantu kami. Kelas kami sangat baik dan kami mempunyai orang dari seluruh dunia, dari pelbagai negara. Kami sering membincangkan topik dalam bahasa Cina di dalam kelas kami. Saya tinggal di asrama Keats.