Archive for the year 2011
Lantern Festival – Video Posted by sasha on Feb 19, 2011
In my last post, I covered the Lantern Festival, which is the final day of Spring Festival celebrations. As I mentioned in that post, there was an insane fireworks display going on right outside of my window all night long. Just so that everyone can see exactly how ridiculous said display was, I made sure…
Worth a Thousand Words: 798 Art District, Beijing (七九八艺术区,北京) Posted by Stephen on Feb 17, 2011
When living in a major metropolitan city in China it’s often difficult finding the true pulse of the people. In Beijing, identity is difficult to locate because so much society is in flux. Amongst the rapid call for development, people are neglecting or missing altogether the issues that are relevant to Chinese culture. Everything…
Lantern Festival (元宵节) Posted by sasha on Feb 17, 2011
Having just returned to Beijing last night after a month in Thailand and Laos, I made it back just in time for the final day of Spring Festival revelry – the Lantern Festival (元宵节 – yuán xiāo jié). As I type this post, a constant stream of fireworks and firecrackers are being set off right…
Stay in Tone! Posted by sasha on Feb 14, 2011
When it comes to learning Chinese, understanding how to 读 and 写 the thousands upon thousands of 汉字 is obviously the most difficult part of the learning process. However, if you are simply interested in learning how to 说中文, you will probably encounter the most difficulty whilst attempting to learn the four 声调 (shēng diào…
Year of the Rabbit (今年兔) Posted by Stephen on Feb 6, 2011
Enter The Rabbit: With the passing of the Chinese New Year festivities, we usher in The Year of the Rabbit or 今年兔 (jīn nián tù) in 2011. The Rabbit (兔子 or tù zi) is the fourth animal in the 12-year cycle of the Chinese zodiac. After 12 years of waiting, the elusive rabbit has emerged from his burrow…
Spring Festival – Part Three Posted by sasha on Feb 6, 2011
For the third and final post on Spring Festival, we’re going to look at some of the traditions and customs of the first few days of the New Year. As I mentioned in Part One, we are now in the year of the rabbit, having said 再见 to 2010 and the year of the tiger…
Red Envelopes 红包 (hóng bāo) Posted by Stephen on Feb 4, 2011
The Red Envelope or 红包 (hóng bāo) is a monetary gift which is given during holidays or special occasions, especially during the Lunar New Year and Spring Festival. The red color of the envelope symbolizes good luck and is supposed to ward off evil spirits. During the Lunar New Year, red envelopes are typically given…