Western people are accustomed to treat guests with coffee while Chinese people prefer tea. Generally, the rule of “tea 50% full and wine 100% full” should be observed when serving tea in cups. Hot tastes better and it will get cool down if the guest can not finish a full cup of tea. When there […]
“Qilin xian shu” is a legendary tale told that once a “qilin”, a fabulous animal, delivered books to Confucius. “Qilin” was a Chinese legendary animal known as the Chinese unicorn by Western writers. It looked like a deer, but with a single horn on its head, large fish scales on its body, and a tail […]
Qixi, or the Double Seventh Festival, on the 7th day of the 7th lunar month, is a traditional festival full of romance. It is the only Chinese festival devoted to love, and thus sometimes called Chinese Valentine’s Day. There are some very interesting traditions on the day. Doing Needlework A girl will be attractive to […]
In China, there are “four famous buildings”: Yueyang Tower, Tengwang Pavilion, Yellow Crane Tower and Penglai Pavilion. Yellow Crane Tower is said to be 1,800 years old. According to legend, it was once a tavern. One day, a Taoist priest visited the tavern. The tavern’s hostess treated him to 1,000 cups of liquor. In order […]
When it is time for the traditional Chinese Spring Festival in each year, China will experience of the “spring transportation” and the “shopping booming”. The reunion dinner contributes part of these. As the New Year is great time for family reunion, and there is usually a reunion dinner for members of the family, no matter […]
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 world but also their understanding of the human body. Many Chinese characters are related to the human body. Study Chinese: […]
In ancient times, the 5th lunar month was traditionally called “the poisonous month” or “the evil month”, with the 5th day being the most unlucky day. It was believed that women must avoid giving birth on this day. Later, children less than one year old would be sent to their maternal grandmothers’ homes to “to […]
The land-boat dance is said to commemorate Yu the Great, a legendary emperor who successfully led the people to fight floods. The land-boat dance represents various boating movements on land, and the performer is usually a girl or a young woman. The boat is not a real one, and it is merely made of two […]
Greetings during the Spring Festival: 拜年(bài nián) The day after Chinese New Year’s Eve is called “大年初一 dà nián chū yī ”—the 1st day of the 1st lunar month. This is the 1st day of the Chinese New Year. On this day, people get out of bed early to wish their seniors and neighbors a […]
Chinese ethnic minority – the Kirgiz nationality mainly lives in the Kirghiz Kirgiz Autonomous Perfecture in the southwest of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Kirgiz mainly engage in animal husbandry and take as their sidelines agriculture and livestock product-processing handicrafts. Eating The Kirgiz mainly eat meat, milk products and wheaten food; they also like cabbage, onion […]