In contrast to the public display of affection, at a Chinese funeral people can be seen quite openly expressive when it comes to griefing. While most American funerals keep the crying to an inaudible whimper, at Chinese funerals loud wailing, …
Public Display of Affection
Public display of affection seems alarmingly non-existent in the East. Many Westerners may have noticed that Asians in general, from the Middle East, Southeast Asia, to the Far East, are rarely seen kissing in public. However, photographers like Kim Anderson …
Big White Rabbit Candy
Don’t you mean Spring bunnies? No, in Chinese culture, white rabbits are associated with the Autumn harvest moon, during the Mid Autumn Moon Festival. Legend tells us that the Jade Rabbit is the herbalist doctor that is busy making the …
Conferring with Confucius
While fruit offerings are popularly stacked on temple altar tables, why are there vegetables for Confucius’ temples as well? (See Fruit Loops in July blog) The vegetables that are commonly offered for Confucius are celery, green onions, and cabbage. These …
Fairy houses and bonsais
Many Americans create fairy houses indoors and outdoors. In a way, bonsais are a form of this fascination with miniatures. True bonsais are created from such a heavy amount of pruning, twisting, and tending, that bonsai artisans have known to …
Family is the people, the home, and the house.
The roof covers all 3 parts, the house, the home, and the people who live there. The Chinese character for family has a roof that encompasses all 3 concepts of family. The Chinese has a tough time thinking about all …
Can you move Confucius’ birthday?
Confucius birthday is officially September 28th. Hong Kong celebrates his birthday and Teacher’s Day on the third Sunday of September while Taiwan remains true to the original date. China officially moved his birthday to September 10th, and celebrates it both …
Chinese Counterpart to Tripadvisor
Tripadvisor has had a healthy population of Chinese reviewers in Taiwan and China. Recent years, Tripadvisor decided to merge all its reviews by destination and not by language. China’s counterpart site has a cache of international destination reviews for high …
A Banana is not just a banana
Bananas are yellow on the outside and white on the inside. Chinese Americans use the term “a Banana” to distinguish among themselves the spectrum of Chinese vs American cultural intelligence they belong. A Banana, like a Twinkie (see June blog), …
Beach Babes
Sun worshipping is new to Chinese beach goers. The Chinese equally enjoy walks along the beach, pier side seafood eateries, and cold drinks and bars as their counterparts in other seaside towns. However, the percentage of the population sunbathing, swimming …