A deeply-seated local culure

If every culture has its distinctive cuisine and customs can every culture also lay claim to a unique physical posture? In that case, the squat is as quintessentially Chinese as pork and cabbage dumplings. Last year, I returned to Beijing after a few months spent observing the French and American ways of life. Being away opened my eyes to the rampant squatting I had previously taken for gr...

Get a haircut on Er Yue Er for good luck

Just a month after the Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations began, here comes another tradition, to have a haircut on the second day of the second month, or Er Yue Er, to hope for good luck for the whole year. China's barber shops are seeing one of their busiest days of the year Wednesday, Er Yue Er, also known as Longtaitou (dragon raises head) day on the lunar calendar this year. Many Chines...

Main activities during Spring Festival

To celebrate the Chinese New Year and enrich the public's New Year life, Jimei District Government is launching a series of interesting activities. You can appreciate the flowers at the Yuanboyuan (Expo) Garden, go rock climbing in Double Dragon Pool Scenic Spot, watch South Fujian Opera in Fengquan Square etc. Apart from this, there are some small and interactive activities with an interes...

Decorating for good luck

Chinese knots, magical rabbits, scarlet lanterns all back in fashion for homeowners ahead of holiday season Spring Festival should be a time when tradition is in and modern is out, according to the fresh thinking of a Beijing homeowner. Shi Jiamei, a 31-year-old housewife, has furnished her IKEA-style home in Vanke Qingqing community in Beijing's eastern suburbs with traditional Chinese deco...

Decorating for good luck

Chinese knots, magical rabbits, scarlet lanterns all back in fashion for homeowners ahead of holiday season Spring Festival should be a time when tradition is in and modern is out, according to the fresh thinking of a Beijing homeowner. Shi Jiamei, a 31-year-old housewife, has furnished her IKEA-style home in Vanke Qingqing community in Beijing's eastern suburbs with traditional Chinese deco...

Most of China is on the move during the Spring Festival

Spring Festival is traditionally celebrated by returning to the family home, but some individuals, for a variety of reasons, celebrate the holiday differently, Lin Shujuan, Guo Shuhan and Zhang Zixuan find out more. Li Cuijuan works as a housemaid for an 80-year-old widow in Shanghai, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. She has stayed at her employer's home for Spring Festival since she started th...

A charming Chinese tradition

A charming Chinese tradition associated with the Spring Festival is turning into one-upmanship. Lin Qi reports The Spring Festival is nearly here and small red envelopes will soon be making an appearance. For Luo Xiao, a bank employee in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, this has always been a bitter-sweet time. While pleased to receive her substantial year-end bonus, she also knows that a large ...

Bangladesh-China People's Friendship Association celebrates Chinese Spring Festival

Bangladesh-China People's Friendship Association (BCPFA) held a picnic party Saturday in Savar, 30 km north of capital Dhaka, to celebrate Chinese lunar new year -- the Spring Festival. The venue of the celebration is a resort which was decorated with Chinese red lanterns and Chinese couplets. Nearly 200 people from BCPFA and Chinese embassy attended the celebration. They were talking about f...

Temple fairs in Beijing during Spring Festival

During the Spring Festival 2010, the Year of the Tiger, there will be 63 cultural temple fairs, the largest number among all the years since the first temple fair was launched. These famous temple fairs that have a long history will continue to show their unique characteristics, and based on these original temple fairs, the first Old Summer Palace royal temple fair, the Jinyuan Yansha Mall templ...

Flowers Show in Guangzhou

"Walking on the flower street" is a custom of the people of Pearl River Delta which has a long and interesting history. In Guangzhou the most traditional and unique event for the Spring Festival celebration is the flower fairs. Guangzhou is located in the south of the Tropic of Cancer and the flowers can even blossom there in winter. The fairs usually open a few days before New Year's Eve. The...