Mid-Autumn Festival is one of my favorite festivals, other than Christmas.
Celebration only lasts for 2 days.
But this year, there is one exhibition last for a month. Want to check out more Chinese cultures? Don't miss this one - Mid Autumn Thematic Lantern Exhibitions.
For more info, click here.
Showing posts with label Festivals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Festivals. Show all posts
Saturday, September 8, 2012
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Chinese New Year 2010
This year's Chinese New Year happens to be on the same day as the Valentine's Day. It is very special to many people so as my family 'cos this is the first year for us to celebrate with our new baby.
My parents have a tradition. Every Chinese New Year Eve, every kid in the family receives 2 red pocket monies. And we must put them under our pillow and sleep overnight. We are not allowed to open them until the next morning.
These 2 red pocket monies are very different from any other red pocket monies from my parents or any others. They have very special wishes from our parents. They carry the wishes of good health and great new year.
My husband and I decided to carry on with this tradition. We are going to put 2 red pocket monies under the mattress in the crib ('cos it's just a baby) on New Year Eve for our little one.
Wish you all Happy Chinese New Year ("Kung Hei Fat Choi") and Happy Valentine's Day.
P.S. The 15th day of the Chinese New Year is the Chinese Lantern Festival which is also the Chinese Valentine's Day. To learn more, click here.
My parents have a tradition. Every Chinese New Year Eve, every kid in the family receives 2 red pocket monies. And we must put them under our pillow and sleep overnight. We are not allowed to open them until the next morning.
These 2 red pocket monies are very different from any other red pocket monies from my parents or any others. They have very special wishes from our parents. They carry the wishes of good health and great new year.
My husband and I decided to carry on with this tradition. We are going to put 2 red pocket monies under the mattress in the crib ('cos it's just a baby) on New Year Eve for our little one.
Wish you all Happy Chinese New Year ("Kung Hei Fat Choi") and Happy Valentine's Day.
P.S. The 15th day of the Chinese New Year is the Chinese Lantern Festival which is also the Chinese Valentine's Day. To learn more, click here.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
The Busiest Stores in Hong Kong and China before Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year (the year of ox) comes very early this year. It is going to be Jan 26. Almost everybody in Hong Kong and China is very busy in buying different things for this BIG festival, such as gifts, new clothes and new shoes. You will see people everywhere.
But among all the stores, comparatively, shoes stores and hair salons are the busiest places. During the month of the Chinese New Year, their business is almost dead. Why? This is because the Chinese superstitions about shoes and hair.
Shoes in Cantonese are called “hai” which is very similar to the exclamation or complaint. If anyone buys shoes during the Chinese New Year, he/she will pick up some bad luck.
Hair symbolizes prosperity and wealth. Nobody wants to cut his/her wealth. Therefore, no one would go to have hair cut during the first month of the Chinese Lunar Calendar.
There is one thing that I have to share with you which was “invented” by my mom. If anyone wants to buy shoes during the Chinese New Year, buy a pen first. Yes….buy a pen first because it is called “bat” which pronounces the same as the word “no” or “not”. Then, shoes are no longer bad luck. It’s funny. I usually wait after the first month of the Chinese New Year.
But if you happen to travel Hong Kong 2 weeks before the Chinese New Year, you will find some awesome deals. Good Luck!
HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR.
But among all the stores, comparatively, shoes stores and hair salons are the busiest places. During the month of the Chinese New Year, their business is almost dead. Why? This is because the Chinese superstitions about shoes and hair.
Shoes in Cantonese are called “hai” which is very similar to the exclamation or complaint. If anyone buys shoes during the Chinese New Year, he/she will pick up some bad luck.
Hair symbolizes prosperity and wealth. Nobody wants to cut his/her wealth. Therefore, no one would go to have hair cut during the first month of the Chinese Lunar Calendar.
There is one thing that I have to share with you which was “invented” by my mom. If anyone wants to buy shoes during the Chinese New Year, buy a pen first. Yes….buy a pen first because it is called “bat” which pronounces the same as the word “no” or “not”. Then, shoes are no longer bad luck. It’s funny. I usually wait after the first month of the Chinese New Year.
But if you happen to travel Hong Kong 2 weeks before the Chinese New Year, you will find some awesome deals. Good Luck!
HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Halloween
My husband's family always ask me, "Do Chinese celebrate Halloween?" "Do you have X'mas?" which I believe you wonder the same things, too.
Yes, we celebrate pretty much most of the western festivals. Some people put on the costumes on Halloween. But there are not of them. There is no trick-or-treat. Halloween is pretty much only for adults or grown-up.
The attitude of Chinese treating Halloween is totally different from the Chinese Ghost Festival which falls on the 14th day of the 7th month on the Lunar Calendar. People always have a lot of fun on Halloween. But during the 7th month, people are scared of meeting any evil spirit or ghost. And at the same time, they are very respectful of the ancestors and those passed away.
For more interesting story of the Chinese Ghost Festival, stay tuned. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
Yes, we celebrate pretty much most of the western festivals. Some people put on the costumes on Halloween. But there are not of them. There is no trick-or-treat. Halloween is pretty much only for adults or grown-up.
The attitude of Chinese treating Halloween is totally different from the Chinese Ghost Festival which falls on the 14th day of the 7th month on the Lunar Calendar. People always have a lot of fun on Halloween. But during the 7th month, people are scared of meeting any evil spirit or ghost. And at the same time, they are very respectful of the ancestors and those passed away.
For more interesting story of the Chinese Ghost Festival, stay tuned. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival
This is the mini Chinese moon cake. The regular size is about 3 times of the size of this one, which will be about the size of your palm. It always comes with 4 of them in one box. I know that I can't finish the whole box. And I am so glad that I saw my Chinese store having the mini size and sold one at a time instead of a box.
Different bakery has different design of the moon cake.
The stuffing of traditional moon cake is the mashed lotus seed which has the similar flavor and texture of the stuffing of Shoofly pie.
The common package of a moon cake. Mostly, they are packed in a tin box. In the last decades, there were a lot of twists on the stuffing and looks of moon cakes. It could be mashed sweet red bean, green beans, ice-cream and so forth.
This is a mold for making moon cake. Chinese pastry chef always prepares the stuffing ahead of time and let it cool down. Then, they will wrap a piece of pastry, which is very similar to certain pie crust texture, around the stuffing. Put it into the mold and flaten it out. Then, it becomes the moon cake. All they need to do is to bake it.
Today is the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival which is my all-time favorite festival next to Christmas. I bought the Chinese moon cakes last week so that I can celebrate it later tonight.
Like the Chinese New Year, this festival is all about family gathering. When we were kids, my parents always took us to somewhere with the lanterns to celebrate. One year, we went to a beach. That was the most memorable one. I still remembered the sea of candles that lighted up the whole beach. It was gorgeous. I hope next year or so, I can go back home to celebrate it with my family.
There were a lot of legends about the origin of this festival. One of them was about a lady, called "Chang'e" taking a kind of medicine which made her to raise to the moon.
But in the Yuan dynasty, people wanted to overthrow the Mongols. By stuffing a message into the moon cake and pass around.
Nowadays, Mid-Autumn festival becomes one of the most money-spending festivals. People buy moon cakes for their family and friends. Moon cake is a very big market for businesses. For children, they always make sure that parents get them plenty of candles and lanterns.
Friday, May 9, 2008
MOM IS THE BEST IN THE WORLD
When I was in second grade, we were taught to sing this song in a music lesson that I will never forget for the rest of my life. And this song is very well-known to every Chinese. It is not the national anthem. It is the song titled as “Mom is the best in the world”. It’s in Mandarin, the official Chinese language.
Throughout the whole song, it talks about children without moms don’t know what love is and how much they lost and lose and unlucky they are. It also talks about children flourished with mothers’ love are the luckiest in the world.
I remembered that year’s Mother’s Day, my 2 younger sisters and I (my youngest sister was not born yet), each of us, made a card for our mom. We didn’t have any pocket money back at that time.
On that day, we handed our cards to her and went to hide in a corner singing this song to her while she was opening our cards. That was the gift we gave her that year.
I got married and have 2 mothers now because my mother-in-law is my second mom. Although I am not a mother, I learned that no matter what we do and give to our mothers on Mother’s Day, they always appreciate it. If we show our moms love and care even we have very hectic, busy daily lives, every day is a Mother’s Day to them. HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!
Throughout the whole song, it talks about children without moms don’t know what love is and how much they lost and lose and unlucky they are. It also talks about children flourished with mothers’ love are the luckiest in the world.
I remembered that year’s Mother’s Day, my 2 younger sisters and I (my youngest sister was not born yet), each of us, made a card for our mom. We didn’t have any pocket money back at that time.
On that day, we handed our cards to her and went to hide in a corner singing this song to her while she was opening our cards. That was the gift we gave her that year.
I got married and have 2 mothers now because my mother-in-law is my second mom. Although I am not a mother, I learned that no matter what we do and give to our mothers on Mother’s Day, they always appreciate it. If we show our moms love and care even we have very hectic, busy daily lives, every day is a Mother’s Day to them. HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!
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