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 […]
Jeg syntes Keats var veldig flinke, lærerne er utmerkede og tar studentene virkelig på alvor. Kunming er det beste stedet å lære mandarin i Kina. Miljøet er fantastisk, ingen forurensning. Luftkvaliteten er flott, og været er godt. Folkene her er veldig vennlige. Jeg kommer for å ta kurs hver dag. Jeg føler meg komfortabel med å studere kinesisk på Keats. Jeg lærte så mye, selv om jeg bare studerte på Keats i to måneder. Jeg er veldig fornøyd med læreren min. For oss utlendinger er Keats den beste kinesiske skolen i Kina. Derfor vil jeg på det sterkeste anbefale Keats til dere alle.
Vi bruker mange spill for å lære grammatikk og nye ord. Vi har veldig flinke lærere, veldig tålmodige. Hun hjelper oss mye. Klassen vår er veldig hyggelig, og vi har folk fra hele verden, forskjellige land. Vi diskuterer ofte emner på kinesisk i klassen vår. Jeg bor i sovesalen til Keats. Det er veldig praktisk. Jeg trenger ikke å bruke tid på å reise. Du kan bare fokusere på å lære kinesisk.
Jeg har vært på Keats skole og Kunming i en måned nå og tatt én-til-én kinesiskundervisning med to forskjellige lærere. Jeg liker det veldig godt. Begge lærerne mine er veldig vennlige og tålmodige. De hjalp meg virkelig med å forbedre kinesisken min, både i lesing og tale. Jeg liker også å studere kinesisk i Kunming. Denne byen er virkelig vakker, og været er fint, luften er ren. Det er en av de beste byene i Kina for å studere kinesisk.
Listening and speaking in the classroom every day has improved my communication skills. After three weeks, my new words and sentences became more and more natural and fluent. Now I am used to thinking in Chinese, and I understand better what other people say, to be able to have real conversations with other people.
Før jeg begynte på Keats School, hadde jeg ingen tillit til mine kinesiske ferdigheter. Jeg hadde ikke tillit nok til å snakke mandarin og prate med kinesere. Men etter fire måneder med studier på Keats blir jeg mer og mer selvsikker på å snakke kinesisk nå. Å studere kinesisk i Kina på Keats School har vært den beste avgjørelsen jeg noensinne har tatt. Det er mange spill i timen, og lærerens undervisningsmetoder er også veldig interessante. Min erfaring på Keats School har endret mitt syn på Kina og kinesere.
Siden forrige semester begynte vi å studere kinesisk ved Keats. Det var det beste valget vi noen gang kunne ta. Det er en veldig god skole. Timene er veldig morsomme, du lærer mye, men veldig interaktive, så du snakker mye, noe som betyr at det ikke bare er bøker og skriving. Kunming er en veldig hyggelig by å bo i, spesielt hvis du sammenligner den med andre byer i øst. Hvis du liker å reise, hvis du liker å studere kinesisk på en morsom måte, har Keats det beste kinesiske språkprogrammet for deg.
De bryr seg virkelig om hva interessene våre er, hvilke spørsmål vi har og hvilke krav vi har. Så justerer de innholdet i det kinesiske språkprogrammet vårt etter situasjonen. Én lærer og én elev, så det er enkelt å holde fokuset i løpet av de 6 timene med mandarin-undervisning. Det er veldig praktisk å studere, bo og spise i én bygning.
Skolen min er fantastisk. Jeg anbefaler Keats School fordi det er en mer praktisk måte å lære kinesisk på i Kunming.