 | Beijing Festivals Reviews | Tips 1 - 10 of 17 |  |
 | |  |  | Festivals: Dressing up and hitting the streets | Tip Rating:   |  |  | |  |
The Chinese love to replay their history, and one of the best times for this is always at the temple fairs that occur during the Chinese New Year celebrations. There is a strong sense of 'belonging' in China, and whether it is as part of an office, a school, a university or a local district, people will actively take part in cultural activities. Cultural traditions remain strong in China, despite (or perhaps because of) the Cultural Revolution. Until very recently there was little television, and entertainment was what people put together themselves. At the annual temple fair, everyone braves the cold (and this year...2004...it really was bitterly cold in Beijing) and joins in the fun. A temple fair in China is surely one of the great entertainment spectacles in China, largely put on by local people for local people. No expense is spared in designing and making the costumes, many of which recall epic tales of China's earlier dynasties. The new century has brought so many changes to people's lives in China, that nostalgia is becoming a key element in people's lifestyles for the first time. Until very recently, few would look backwards to any time in their past with any sense of longing, but now nostalgia is driving TV programming, popular entertainment, restaurant styles and museuem exhibitions. Catch China at its very, very best during the Temple Fairs. Leave a Comment
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| | | | Festivals: Spring Festival (Chun1 jie2) – the story | | | | | |
According to the Chinese lunar calendar, the first day of the first month of the lunar year is the beginning of the Spring Festival. In 2008, the Spring Festival begins in February the 7th. It means that February 7th is the first day of the lunar year, the 8th is the second day of the lunar year and so on. The Spring Festival, commonly called "Chun1 jie2" or “guo4 nian2” (celebrating the New Year) is definitely the most important and “noisiest” (in the good sense) traditional Chinese festival. There is a story related to this word “nian” (year). It is said that in ancient times there was a terrible monster called “nian”. Its face was amazingly big, it would eat people as soon as it saw them, and it would harm livestock as soon as it encountered them. As a result God jailed “nian” and allowed him to come out only once a year, more precisely, on the 30th of the twelfth month of the lunar year (it means, in the last day of the lunar year). However, people discovered that the monster “nian” was afraid of three things - Red color - Big noise - Blaze Consequently, everybody sticked red papers on the entrances, continuously cracked firecrackers and left the lights lit the whole night. When that monster “nian” came, every household was well illuminated, every door was red and everywhere there was this noise of firecrackers, then “nian” got tremendously frightened and ran away. Since then “nian” never returned again. And the celebrations of the New Year (xin1 nian2) still have kept these customs just mentioned. See next tip for “Spring Festival – most important customs”.
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| | | | Festivals: Spring Festival – most important customs (Part 2) | | | | | |
Handing out ya1 sui4 qian2 Ya1 sui4 qian2 are also called “hong2 bao1” (red pockets) and its distribution is quite interesting. For instance, if you are married you will receive red pockets only from your father-in-law, mother-in-law, from your parents and eventually from an elder person that is a friend of them. If you have children you may also receive some “lucky money” from you married friends (actually, the ”hong2 bao1” they will give you is for your children, not for you). You (the married one) should however give “hong2 bao1” to your unmarried friends or to the children of your married friends. If it happens that you are the boss, a manager, the chef, etc., you may also hand out ”hong2 bao1” to your married and unmarried subordinates (in this case the “money” you receive is meant to be for you). Well, there are a lot of interesting things related to the Chinese New Year. If you would like to learn more, you may see my next tips. PHOTOS: In the first photo you can see the child paying respects to his grandmother by giving her a cup of tea. At the time he hands in the cup he also wishes his grandmother "happy new year", "good health", "good fortune", etc. His grandmother will reply by wishing him good as well and giving him at the same time a "pocket money" (lucky money). The second photo shows various kinds of "pocket money".
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In Tian’anmen Square, October 1st of the year of 1949 at three o’clock in the afternoon, Chairman Mao Ze Dong declared the founding of the People's Republic of China and the red five-star flag was raised for the first time. Today, October 1st of 2007, mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau celebrate its 58th anniversary with several activities, including the flag’s raising, marathons, fireworks, etc. And throughout China public places are usually decorated in a tone related to the National Day where red is the predominant color. In this period the weather is also very nice, so many people who don’t go travel just take the day off to stay at home or go out for outdoor activities. The National Day holidays are basically one week off for millions of Chinese and during this period they travel domestically and internationally. It means that if you are planning to catch a few domestic flights in China during the National Day holidays (the week around October 1st) to visit some of the major tourist hot spots in China you should book your tickets and hotel reservations months before your trip. My best advice: this is one of the best times to visit Beijing because many mainland emigrants working here during this period go back to their countryside/hometowns to visit their families. Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Day_of_the_People's_Republic_of_China
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