It’s not a new hairstyle. The terracotta warriors wore it in the 3rd century BCE. Confucius wore it in 6th century BCE. King Wen of Zhou dynasty groomed his hair the same way in 11th century BCE. The top knot …
Gongxi! Gongxi! Congrats! Congrats!
“Gongxi” which sounds like gong shi, means congratulations. This can be said for many occasions, from Chinese New Year to birthdays, promotions, weddings. The Chinese New Year is not a single night like the Gregorian calendar, but rather an ongoing …
Chinese New Year is Red
Red is a highly vibrant color used to express joy and happiness in Chinese culture. It is said a long time ago that the color red scares off ferocious beasts and vermin, and wares off evil spirits and monsters. Now …
Happy Heart Day!
“Love” in Chinese is not a high frequency word, not even in the hottest c-pop songs. The high frequency character in Chinese thought is “heart”, as in “my heart has only you”. According to Professor Michael Puett, the word for …
Shaken or Stirred?
Broadly compared to Western culture, Chinese is a less touchy culture. Although Chinese language TV shows are showing Chinese shaking hands with business contacts, they are not comfortable doing so. Native Chinese interactions often shy away from the handshake and …
To Bow or not to Bow
Bowing in the Chinese context is not used as commonly anymore, except in formal situations to express deep condolences, regret, or deep gratitude. When meeting someone, Chinese people use the mini-bow far more frequently. This is a nodding bow, repeated …
Please wait to be seated.
If you are a guest of a culturally Chinese host, say at the office, home, restaurant, imagine this sign next to the host. The host will invite you to have a seat, but sitting down before you are invited is …
After English and Spanish, Chinese is the third most widely used language in the US.
Chinese is the third most widely used language in the US. Chinese American immigration history started antebellum, while some records even show before the 18th century. Cantonese is the main language used in Chinatowns because that was the region in …
50 words for the English word “Chinese”
Like the idea that the Inuit language has some 50 terms for “snow”, there are about 50 terms for “Chinese” in the Chinese language. In English the word “Chinese” covers the culture, nation, landscape, ethnicity, food, clothing, language, calendar, arts …
China is big, but Chinese culture is even bigger
China is big. Chinese culture is bigger. Chinese culture is far older, more consistent, and resistant to change than any Chinese political identity. Chinese culture is active in Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, parts of Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, and …