After the Beijing Olympic, are you still curious about the culture and customs of China? Maybe not. In this long weekend, some of my co-workers are going to the casino to gamble. It inspired me to share this with you.
Casino and gambling sound like only in the western world. But it has been in China for centuries. Differences are the games, casino setting and/or locations.
Games are "Mahjong", "Due Chong" (the numbers you will get by shaking 2 dices in a cup), "Fish, Shrimp and Crab" and "Pai Guo". They are all Chinese originated games.
Setting and locations have played a very important part throughout the history, especially to the casino owners. Most of them believe in "Fung Shui" which will affect them of how many people coming into their casinos and losing money.
Of course, gamblers have their own strategies to be anti-casino's "Fung Shui".
One of the best examples is the first casino in Macau. The setup of the main entrance makes it like a big mouth which will attract people's money. But gamblers believe that going into the casino from the back door and leave at the main entrance will take care of it.
I am not big in gambline. But I think that that would be something interesting to share with you. Have a wonderful long weekend.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Friday, August 22, 2008
Stiff Neck Chinese Remedy
My friend, Sue at work, asked me a question about the Chinese remedy for her daughter with the neck pain. She sent me the link about a do-it-yourself remedy by using the spoon together with a few drops of oil scraping on your back.
When she first saw it, she said that it sounds very extreme. I can totally understand that feeling, especially if you are not the one growing up from that environment. So, I explained to her that this is a very traditional method of pain relief.
Actually, my mom did it on me more than 10 years ago when my back hurt for more than a week. The Chinese calls that kind of pain as "bone fire" which is believed that it is caused by pressure from work or school and lack of sleep. The rememdy is called "sand scraping" (even though no sand is involved). When my mom first did it, it hurt a little bit on the skin, but not something unbearable. The whole process takes about 15-30 minutes. But I can tell you how good you feel the next day. The result was awesome.
Some elderly in my grandparents generation do this remedy on a very regular basis, like once a month.
This is just for interest sharing. And I do NOT encourage you to do this without a professional advice or consulting your doctor. If you are interested to learn more about this Chinese remedy, you can check out this link http://ezinearticles.com/?Stiff-Neck-Remedy---Chinese-Style&id=179543.
When she first saw it, she said that it sounds very extreme. I can totally understand that feeling, especially if you are not the one growing up from that environment. So, I explained to her that this is a very traditional method of pain relief.
Actually, my mom did it on me more than 10 years ago when my back hurt for more than a week. The Chinese calls that kind of pain as "bone fire" which is believed that it is caused by pressure from work or school and lack of sleep. The rememdy is called "sand scraping" (even though no sand is involved). When my mom first did it, it hurt a little bit on the skin, but not something unbearable. The whole process takes about 15-30 minutes. But I can tell you how good you feel the next day. The result was awesome.
Some elderly in my grandparents generation do this remedy on a very regular basis, like once a month.
This is just for interest sharing. And I do NOT encourage you to do this without a professional advice or consulting your doctor. If you are interested to learn more about this Chinese remedy, you can check out this link http://ezinearticles.com/?Stiff-Neck-Remedy---Chinese-Style&id=179543.
Monday, August 18, 2008
More Olympic Beijing 2008
I watched the Opening Ceremony last weekend again without any interruptions from any company. This time I paid more attention to what the hosts said about different performances. I can understand that without a lot of Chinese cultural and historical background, it is very difficult to explain in details of some of the performances in the opening ceremony. (You can check out some of the highlights at http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/nbcencore/index,page)
There are some of them that I really want to bring up to your attention.
The theme of the whole ceremony was about the 4 Great Ancient Chinese inventions.
1. Compass - It was believed that it was even invented before there was any written historical record.
2. Paper
3. Gun powder - It was the invention of the taoists because they were the first chemists in the ancient China.
4. Printing - It was invented before the first printed Bible.
Do you remember those 2008 drummers? When they did the countdown from 10 onwards, did you see the Chinese numbers at the back together with the Roman in the front?
Before the moving boxes, there were a group of performers wearing a custome with bamboo scrolls on hands. People, especially the riches, wrote and copy their books on these scrolls before the invention of paper. And the custome was worn by the men during the Qin dynasty which was between 221 B.C. to 206B.C.
Now back to the moving boxes. I heard a lot of people impressed by these moving boxes. Did you pay attention to the top of each of them is a Chinese character? It was the symbol of the first invented printer.
These boxes formed the Chinese character of "Harmony" at least twice. It was 2 different styles which showed the evolution of the Chinese character from old to modern Chinese.
And then the Chinese National Anthem. This was the song composed and sung during the Chinese Communist Revolution. The main theme of it is to move forward.
After that, there were 56 children represening 56 different Chinese ethnic groups. Were you surprised? China is just like the United States that there are so many ethnic groups. Although we call all of them as Chinese, they do have their own customs. Most of these ethnic groups were not under the Chinese rule until the end of 17th century. Before that, China was about half of the current size.
Remember there were several sailors in blue riding a big ship in the sea (shown on the LCD on top of the stadium)? That was the prime time of the Chinese maritime history in Ming dynasty by appointing Zheng He (in 1405) as diplomat, explorer and fleet admiral.
Last but not least, the group of Tai Chi practicer. In any countries where there are Chinese, especially in Asia, you always see a group of people pracising Tai Chi in the morning. It was believed that it is very good to your health. It is like the slow motion of Kung Fu.
I am sure if you are interested in learning more about Chinese culture or not, you enjoyed watching the opening ceremony as much as I did.
There are some of them that I really want to bring up to your attention.
The theme of the whole ceremony was about the 4 Great Ancient Chinese inventions.
1. Compass - It was believed that it was even invented before there was any written historical record.
2. Paper
3. Gun powder - It was the invention of the taoists because they were the first chemists in the ancient China.
4. Printing - It was invented before the first printed Bible.
Do you remember those 2008 drummers? When they did the countdown from 10 onwards, did you see the Chinese numbers at the back together with the Roman in the front?
Before the moving boxes, there were a group of performers wearing a custome with bamboo scrolls on hands. People, especially the riches, wrote and copy their books on these scrolls before the invention of paper. And the custome was worn by the men during the Qin dynasty which was between 221 B.C. to 206B.C.
Now back to the moving boxes. I heard a lot of people impressed by these moving boxes. Did you pay attention to the top of each of them is a Chinese character? It was the symbol of the first invented printer.
These boxes formed the Chinese character of "Harmony" at least twice. It was 2 different styles which showed the evolution of the Chinese character from old to modern Chinese.
And then the Chinese National Anthem. This was the song composed and sung during the Chinese Communist Revolution. The main theme of it is to move forward.
After that, there were 56 children represening 56 different Chinese ethnic groups. Were you surprised? China is just like the United States that there are so many ethnic groups. Although we call all of them as Chinese, they do have their own customs. Most of these ethnic groups were not under the Chinese rule until the end of 17th century. Before that, China was about half of the current size.
Remember there were several sailors in blue riding a big ship in the sea (shown on the LCD on top of the stadium)? That was the prime time of the Chinese maritime history in Ming dynasty by appointing Zheng He (in 1405) as diplomat, explorer and fleet admiral.
Last but not least, the group of Tai Chi practicer. In any countries where there are Chinese, especially in Asia, you always see a group of people pracising Tai Chi in the morning. It was believed that it is very good to your health. It is like the slow motion of Kung Fu.
I am sure if you are interested in learning more about Chinese culture or not, you enjoyed watching the opening ceremony as much as I did.
Friday, August 15, 2008
Beliefs in Numbers
Everybody is talking about the Olympic Game lately. One of the things that I noticed that is the number 8. Everybody just learnt that 8 is a lucky number. So, I am going to tell you more about numbers from the Chinese point of view.
Have you ever contacted Chinese through their office, home, cell phone no. or even e-mail that there are always 3s, 6s, 8s and 9s. They are the lucky numbers.
If you had ever read "Chinese Etiquette" on my site ChingsChinese.com, you know that 7s is not a good one.
What about 4? The pronounciation is similar to "dead". So, it's no good.
But don't misunderstand that this is the absolute rule. Sometimes, it depends on the combination.
Here are 2 funny examples that you may see from any phone number or license plate.
"5856" means very, very unhappy.
"8866" means super happy.
Next time when you talk to your Chinese friend, try to pay attention to their phone numbers, e-mail addresses and license plates numbers. You will find a lot of fun trying to analysis what the combination of the numbers mean.
Have you ever contacted Chinese through their office, home, cell phone no. or even e-mail that there are always 3s, 6s, 8s and 9s. They are the lucky numbers.
If you had ever read "Chinese Etiquette" on my site ChingsChinese.com, you know that 7s is not a good one.
What about 4? The pronounciation is similar to "dead". So, it's no good.
But don't misunderstand that this is the absolute rule. Sometimes, it depends on the combination.
Here are 2 funny examples that you may see from any phone number or license plate.
"5856" means very, very unhappy.
"8866" means super happy.
Next time when you talk to your Chinese friend, try to pay attention to their phone numbers, e-mail addresses and license plates numbers. You will find a lot of fun trying to analysis what the combination of the numbers mean.
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Olympic Game
Not sure if you watched the open ceremony of the Olympic Game. It was so exciting to see how China presented almost 3,000 years of history and culture in this way.
When my husband and I were watching it last night, I told him, "The background music reminded me Chinese New Year." 'Cos a lot of the music they played last night are always played during the Chinese New Year.
Thinking back in Jun'08, one of my best friends sent me set of limited edition of chopsticks and chopstick holders just for Beijing 2008. So, I was looking for it this morning and took some pictures so that I can share with you of the beauty of it.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
8/8/2008 Olympics China
My husband talked to me about this topic yesterday. He said, "The game is going to be 8/8/08 and start at 8 o'clock. So many 8s. I bet the number 8 is big in China, huh?"
I believe that he is not the only one having this same question.
It is true. Chinese is big on 8. It means quick, expansion, wealth and prosperity. It can't be any better. Don't you think?
I believe that he is not the only one having this same question.
It is true. Chinese is big on 8. It means quick, expansion, wealth and prosperity. It can't be any better. Don't you think?
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Antiques
When we were in the family cook-out today, we talked about the "antique" shops in the United States. This made me want to share with you something more about this topic in China.
In America, when you step into an antique shop, 9 out of 10 sell the merchandises that people don't want. In other words, they are junk. Once in a while, you find a piece that has a great story behind it and very invaluable. 1 out of 10 stores do sell the antiques very valuable and nice. I did step into these shops before. But their price is very "nice", too.
If you go to China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, antique shops are for the rich people. Every piece in the shops has its story. Most of them came from the emperors, royal families or families that were very famous and/or had a lot of influence in the Chinese history. Each piece costs $10,000 easy. Of course, you have to be very knowledgeable about the Chinese history. Otherwise, you can pay a fortune for nothing.
In America, when you step into an antique shop, 9 out of 10 sell the merchandises that people don't want. In other words, they are junk. Once in a while, you find a piece that has a great story behind it and very invaluable. 1 out of 10 stores do sell the antiques very valuable and nice. I did step into these shops before. But their price is very "nice", too.
If you go to China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, antique shops are for the rich people. Every piece in the shops has its story. Most of them came from the emperors, royal families or families that were very famous and/or had a lot of influence in the Chinese history. Each piece costs $10,000 easy. Of course, you have to be very knowledgeable about the Chinese history. Otherwise, you can pay a fortune for nothing.
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