A Chinese saying that goes “Nurture boy in a cruel situation and girl in a rich environment”. Traditional Chinese believe that man should be the pillar of the family, so they think that you shouldn’t spoil boys too much, and let them learn to be independent and responsible as early as possible. But girls are […]
Ancient Chinese people grasped or tore food with their bare hands at the beginning. Chopsticks, forks, knives and spoons were used much later. Chopsticks are a wonder of Chinese dining utensils with a history of thousands of years. And it became the most frequently-used utensil in Chinese’s daily life. In ancient China, they were called […]
A traditional and genuine Chinese marriage should follow a basic principle of the “Three Letters and Six Etiquettes” in the past. Even now some customs are still followed. The “Three Letters” include the Betrothal Letter, Gift Letter and Wedding Letter. The Betrothal Letter is the formal document of the engagement. The gift letter would be […]
In Chinese, people like to call Beijing a political city; Shanghai is viewed as a city of fashions; Guangdong is the center of the economy; Chengdu is a happy-go-lucky city. Chengdu is a major city in Sichuan Province. The temperature is mild and the land is very productive; in fact so fertile that even a […]
A popular Chinese saying goes: “A real man is flexible enough to be able to bend and stretch.” Flexibility is needed so people might bend to preserve and maintain peace of mind through the most difficult times. Su Dongpo (1036-1101) was a renowned man of letters during the Northern Song Dynasty. His life was full […]
In ancient China, chopsticks signified far more than tools that take food to the mouth, they also signified status and rules, “can” and “can’t”. During the Northern Song Dynasty, an official named Tang Su once had dinner with the emperor. He was not well informed in noble table etiquette and so laid down his chopsticks […]
Chinese cuisine is noted for the following characteristics: Vegetables are the main ingredients This explains why most Chinese women are slim and men free of cardiovascular diseases. In China, there is a traditional respect for land. As the old saying goes, “Live on the mountain if you live in one and live on water if […]
The origin of traditional Chinese martial arts is closely connected with fishing and hunting of ancient people and their intertribal fights. Through hunting big game, ancient Chinese people gradually developed stone-throwing, stone-arrowhead shooting and bare-headed fighting skills. Later on, these skills developed into weapon fighting and bare-headed fighting. Legends say that before the Zhou Dynasty […]
Tea sets in China are made of various materials, including metal, porcelain, pottery, purple clay, lacquer, wood, bamboo and glass. Tea sets made of metal were served for the noble, and civilians commonly used porcelain ware and earthenware in the Tang Dynasty. In the Song Dynasty glazed tea sets of various colors were the fashion, […]
Three (san, “三”) The Chinese people believe the number “three” is a mystical number. Laozi once said, “Two created three; three created all things”. The world thus had “yin” and “yang”. Later, changes in “yin” and “yang” produced a great many new things. Therefore, the number “three” can represent “many”. According to legend, the beginning […]