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China is a culturally vibrant country, full of unique costumes and traditions, religions, accustomed social organizations, beautiful arts and literature, and interesting language that make up its diverse culture. It’s a beautiful country to venture and explore getting a taste of their delicious traditional foods and getting to know their people.
China is a country full of ancient customs and traditions. The native people are very proud of these customs and traditions. To many of us hearing the word ‘China’ we conjure up thoughts of origami, dragons, pandas, and their distinctive script’ all of which are traditional to china, but it goes a lot deeper than that.
Sometimes we forget that China is similar in size to Europe, therefore customs vary tremendously depending on the region. Due to the fact that China has one of the oldest cultures in existence, the traditions keep growing over time.
The Chinese New Year is a huge festival celebrated all over the country, it’s the most important festival celebrated on the calendar (13). The Chinese use a lunar calendar for their festivals so the date of the Chinese New Year is different each year (13). The date corresponds to the new moon in either late January or February (13). This is a time of good fortune and happiness. It is also considered the beginning of spring so; many also call it the spring festival (13).
The New Year is a great time for spring cleaning. Before the 15 day New Year starts they dust and clean their houses (13). Its traditionally believed that by doing so you get of all the bad luck and appease the gods (13).
The Lantern Festival is also a very important festival in China and in my opinion a very interesting one. It's celebrated on the 15th of the first month of...
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...ehind it you can see it's also full of their culture which they're very proud about. The Chinese flag was officially made on October 1, 1949 (14). The flag is red and the color symbolizes the communist revolution (14). Red is also a traditional color to the country and it's people (14). There's a large gold star in the middle that represens communism (14). There are also four smaller gold stars that represent the social classes of the people (14). All five stars together show the importance of the number five in chinese thought and history (14).
As you can see China has a truly unique and dynamic culture. From festivities to marvelous arts and literature, various religions, beautiful language, strongly established social organizations and wonderful customs and traditions it's an astonishing culture. There are so many amazing, interesting and ancient aspects to it.
Some of the earliest settlers in China was around 1500 BC (History of China). With a vast population there are numerous religions followed such as: Buddhism, Christian, Muslim, Folk Religion, Hinduism, Judaism as well as others and those who do not practice a religious faith (CIA). Beijing is the capital of China and was named Peking prior to 1949 (Peking). Chinese or Mandarin is the official language there are several dialects to the language (CIA). In addition, the time zone in China is Coordinated Universal Time or UTC plus 8 hours (CIA). China exports the following: electrical and other machinery, clothing, furnishings, textiles and integrated circuits according to the CIA. According to Wikipedia there are 3,589 museums some of them included Shangyuan Art Museum, Chongquing Science and Technology Museum, Nanjing Museum and Zhenjiang Museum (List of Museums in
There are many different ways of looking at and understanding the large and multi faceted country of China. From looking at things like its history, economy, politics, philosophies, and other aspects of the Chinese people, it is difficult to really describe China as one specific thing. Instead of there being one true face of China, it seems there are a variety of different people and faces to represent this diverse country. In some cases, what might be representative of one group of people in China, is completely different for another. Take for example the difference between people that live in rural areas, and people that are living in the city. As seen in the documentary, Young and Restless in China, the poor people in rural areas live very
China is the story of a County that tried to contain their citizens from the outside world, tried to make the people work for basically no pay, set up inhuman laws, and other terrible deeds. But the scary thing is that they got away with it. The government is too powerful to be questioned and it will stay that until people find out about these . That is the only way China will be a fair and just country.
Traditional Chinese Festivals - china.org.cn. (n.d.). Traditional Chinese Festivals - china.org.cn. Retrieved April 29, 2014, from http://www.china.org.cn/english/features/Festivals/78322.htm
The Chinese New Year is the most significant holiday for the Chinese people, as it is a time for honoring ancestors and reuniting family members together. The Chinese New Year originated centuries ago from the fear of the great beast Nián (年).This terrible monster resembled a huge ox with the head of a lion. Every year, on New Year’s Eve, this creature would come out and devour the terrified Chinese villagers. Numerous homes and animals were destroyed. Eventually, a wise old man counseled the villagers and instructed them on how to get rid of the horrible Nián. He told the people to hang red paper cutouts on their doors because the monster was scared of the color red. Also, the man advised the villagers to light torches and firecrackers, as Nián was frightened of fire and loud noises. The Chinese followed the wise man’s directions and finally conquered the great beast. After Nián’s defeat, the Chinese called this date “the passing of Nián”, known as Guònián (过年). This symbolizes the celebration of the coming New Year. In addition, in keeping the monster away for a year, the Chinese say Gōngxǐ fācái (恭喜发财), which means “congratulations” This represents congratulating each other for making it safely to another New Year.
The United States and China are two very large countries that have cultures that are well known throughout the world. There are many differences between the United States and China, but there are many contributing factors that shape the cultures of these two countries. Language is universal, but there are different meanings and sounds, which vary from one culture to another. In China, citizens speak many languages, but about 94% speak the Chinese language. The difference in dialects was overcome by the written word and eventually a version of Mandrin became the “official speech” (The Cambridge Illustrated History of China, 1996, p.304).
China is an extremely large country, and the customs and traditions of its people vary by geography and ethnicity. Since ancient times, China has been known as the “Celestial Empire.” This refers not only to China’s strength and position as East Asia’s Middle Kingdom, it also captures a more profound meaning. Chinese people, through various dynasties, created a rich and abundant culture to all over the world. And Chinese culture is the only culture in the world to have a continuous recorded history of 5,000 years. It has left behind countless literary classics, historical documents, cultural relics, and national records reflecting its immense scope. Culture includes religion, food, style, language, marriage, music, morals and many other things
China today – powerful and ever-growing – wasn’t always like this. One major event in history around the mid 1800s that we all seem to have forgotten was the Opium Wars. What really caused the opium war was when China wanted to halt all trade in opium with the British. The geography of China is something like a fence. This isolation made the people of China feel like their country was prestigious and secluded from the rest of the world.
They do not have a specific date for Chinese New Year because the date is set by a traditional calendar that was invented in China a long time ago. A day before Chinese New Year or known as Chinese New Year eve, family members who are working out of state will go back to their hometown to have a family gathering and a special dinner will be served. There are fifteen days of celebration in the Chinese New Year and each day carries a different meaning. For example, for the first day of Lunar New Year, it is the welcoming of gods from the heavens and earth. According to the elderly, the family members will gain protection from this goddess by worshipping them.
In Chinese culture, Chinese New Year is the greatest and biggest time of the year. Chinese New Year lasts for fifteen days. Chinese New
One of the traditions you will see most often is the Red Packets. Red packets are passed out to children by elders, married couples, and adults. The packages will contain yuan and is believe to keep the children healthy and suppress evil. (“Chinese New Year Traditions.”) Many people will also clean and decorate their house with Fu, Papercutting and door gods. Fu or upside down character of Fu (which means luck) will be posted because upside down it means coming, as in luck will come to those who post it. Door gods are decorative pieces which are placed on the side of an entry to ward off evil spirits. (“Chinese New Year Crafts.”) Some of the more popular foods eaten during the fifteen days of Chinese New Year are dumplings, New Year Cake, Tang Yuan, and LaBa Congee. New Year Cake is a solid cake with glutinous rice flour together with some sugar, it is most popular in eastern china. Tang yuan however is a small ball of glutinous rice flour served in boiling water. They can be filled or unfilled and are traditionally eaten on the fifteenth day or the Lantern Festival. LaBa congee is a mixture of rice, nuts, and beans cooked together. LaBa Congee is usually served at the LaBa festival, which is the 8th day of the last month of the year. (“Chinese New Year Food.”) The final foods eaten are of course noodles and dumplings, throughout the festivities they are eaten because noodles represent long life and dumplings represent wealth because they are similar to silver or gold ingots. During Chinese New Year the people celebrate by writing poetry on the lanterns as well and posting poetry throughout the house. In this poem you can clearly see how the New Year is reveled and enjoyed by the
One of the most common dishes in China that people eat during Chinese New Year is the fish. There are three types of lucky fish. The three lucky fishes are the Crucial Carp, Chinese Mud Carp and the Catfish. All three of the fish represent luck in fortune for the family. The fish, unlike other foods, should be eaten last because the Chinese believe that the fish holds the most luck and should be saved until everything is eaten. Foods that are important and should be eaten on Chinese New Year is Chinese Dumplings, Spring Rolls, Rice Cakes, Sweet Rice Balls, Longevity noodles, tangerines, oranges, pomelos and shaddocks. Many believe these foods will bring them luck because the character, meaning and pronunciation represent something good and
In modern times, Spring Festival is another name for the Chinese New Year. It is an important traditional holiday celebrated at the start of the Chinese lunar calendar for the Chinese all over the world. The festival last for 15 days and is longest festival for the Chinese.
Peking Opera is said to be a live “encyclopedia of Chinese Culture” (Wertz). Because of this, and many other highly regarded qualities, China has made the Peking opera it’s “national opera” (Wertz). The Beijing Opera is such an important part of Chinese culture that “Beijing Opera Month” has been declared (Wertz).
There is dancing and celebration all around from day seven through the fifteenth day. Different activities such as lion dancing, dragon lantern dancing, and temple fairs that have been going on since the beginning are often bigger and more celebrated on the final day. The last day is finished with a lantern festival. The lantern festival and the whole Spring Festival is scheduled so that the fifteenth day is on the day of a first full moon. This marks the return of spring and symbolizes the reunion of family ("China 's Lantern Festival."). On this night you can find parades of lion dances, dragon dances, and stilt walkers while enjoying eating tangyuan as fireworks go off overhead. Lion dances consists of two people in a lion suit. Ancient people believed that a lion is a symbol of bravery and strength, and thought it would drive away evil and protect people ("China 's Lantern Festival."). The lanterns are various shapes and sizes from traditional globes to fish and goats. These are everywhere including inside homes, businesses, and in the streets and parks. Some lanterns have riddles attached to them. If a child thinks they know the answer they may take the riddle to the owner and if they are right, get a prize ("China 's Lantern