Happy the Chinese Lantern Festival!

Falling on the 15th day of the first month of the Lunar Year, the Lantern Festival takes place under a full moon, and marks the end of Chinese New Year - Spring Festival festivities. So this day for Chinese people has special significance, guess riddles, eating rice glue balls and viewing lantern lights to become the main theme of the festival in China.



Legend of the Lantern Festival's Origin

The Lantern Festival dates back to shrouded legends of the Han Dynasty over 2000 years ago.

In one such legend, the Jade Emperor in Heaven was so angered at a town for killing his favorite goose, that he decided to destroy it with a storm of fire. However, a good-hearted fairy heard of this act of vengeance, and warned the people of the town to light lanterns throughout the town on the appointed day. The townsfolk did as they were told, and from the Heavens, it looked as if the village was ablaze. Satisfied that his goose had already been avenged, the Jade Emperor decided not to destroy the town. From that day on, people celebrated the anniversary of their deliverance by carried lanterns of different shapes and colors through the streets on the first full moon of the year, providing a spectacular backdrop for lion dances, dragon dances, and fireworks.

The Modern Lantern Festival in China

While the Lantern Festival has changed very little over the last two millennia, technological advances have made the celebration moreand more complex and visually stimulating. Indeed, the festival as celebrated in some places (such as Taipei, Taiwan) can put even the most garish American Christmas decorations to shame. They often sport unique displays of light that leave the viewer in awe.

Master craftsman will construct multicolored paper lanterns in the likeness of butterflies, dragons, birds, dragonflies, and many other animals; these accentuate the more common, red, spherical lanterns. Brilliantly-lit floats and mechanically driven light displays draw the attention of the young and old alike. Sometimes, entire streets are blocked off, with lanterns mounted above and to the sides, creating a hallway of lamps. Some cities in North China even make lanterns from blocks of ice! And just as in days gone by, the billion-watt background sets the scene for dragon and lion dances, parades, and other festivities.

One local Chinese woman said “Here in China, no matter how far away from our homes we are, during the Spring Festival we make it a point to travel to be reunited with our family members again. The Lantern Festival is one of the most significant holidays in our culture here in China. The lantern is something unique and most representative of our Chinese culture."

The Lantern Festival has remained a Chinese tradition, kindled over the centuries by China's affection for elegant beauty and detail.



Lantern Festival Custom I: "Guess Lantern Riddles"

"Guess lantern riddles" is also know as "playing riddles", it is an activity increased after the Lantern Festival and initially appeared in the Lin’an, the capital of Southern Song Dynasty. At the beginning, there were independent investigators who wrote riddles on scrips and pasted them on resplendent lanterns with bright colors to attract viewers to guess, as riddles are very interesting and the same time it can edify people’s wisdoms, so this custom was welcomed by people in all sectors of the society and spreading wider and wider.

"During the Lantern Festival, there'll be really huge lanterns and also a really big tree that's hung and decorated with a lot of lantern riddles. One wins a prize when he can answer the riddle correctly."




Lantern Festival Custom II: Eating "Yuan Xiao"

In folk, eating “Yuan Xiao” (a kind of rice glue ball) is a custom with long history, “Yuan Xiao” is made of glutinous rice, with or without stuffing, filling with red bean paste, sugar, hawthorn, all kinds of fruits and nuts, when eating after cooked, fried, steamed as well as fried. At first, people called this kind of food "floating dumplings", later called "Tang Tuan" or "Tang Yuan", because the pronunciation of these names are very close to “Tuan Yuan”, which means "reunion" in Chinese, so they also symbolizes the whole family’s unity, happiness and harmony, people also take it to memorize their family members who has died, and the same time express their fine wishes for a better life in the future.

"The Yuanxiao Festival involves the whole process of eating these sweet rice dumplings. From the making of these balls, to cooking them, to enjoying them together as a family, we can really enjoy the warmth of our families and soak in the atmosphere of this joyous occasion."A Chinese woman said.

Lantern Festival Custom III: "Walking Sickness"

In China, some place on the Lantern Festival there is a custom of "walking sickness", also known as the "roasting sickness ", "dispersing sickness ", most of the participants are women, they go hand in hand or go against walls, or pass over bridgse, go outside, with purposes to drive illness and disperse disasters.

Over time, activities of the Lantern Festival in China become more and more varied, in my places there added many traditional festival performances such as playing dragon lanterns, playing the lion, walking on stilt, rowing boats, do the yangko dance, playing drums and so on. The traditional festival in China has a long history more than two thousands years, it is not only popular on both sides of the Taiwan straits, people ever in overseas Chinese gathering area also celebrated this traditional festival very ceremoniously each year..

At last, the author here wish all my friends in home or abroad "Happy the Lantern Festival and a better life and future!"

* Original address of this China gift post: China Gift and Fine Arts & Crafts

Happy Valentine's Day! My Sweetheart

This is to thank you for being by side

For comforting and caring when I was all confused inside.

This is for the phone calls you make every day

Just to tell me “I love you” every minute of the day.

The way you take my hand in yours

For all the world to see

That this is the woman

Who is most special to me.

You always seem to know

When I need a hug, kiss or smile…

You never cease to amaze me

When you say, “I'm here…let's talk for a while.”

In decades past we've had our share

Of ups and downs and problems galore

But you are the one who remained at my side

Never thinking of walking out the door.

I adore the way you tell me,

“You are my forever best friend,”

I love the way I believe in you…

And that you will be there till the end.

Thank you for all the time you give me

And for saying, “It's never enough…”

Thank you for listening as I ramble on…

When things become rather tough.

We are in the best years of our lives

Thirty four years on our journey together

I want to grow old with you…and you with me

I want to love YOU---FOREVER.

To all my friends here,

Dear, wish you all happy today and happy every day, and wish you All shall be well, Jack shall have Jill.

* Original address of this China gift post: China Gift and Fine Arts & Crafts

Happy 2011 Spring Festival and Happy The Year of Rabbit!

The Spring Festival which also know as ”New Year Festival” in China, it is the most important and most ceremonious traditional festival of the Chinese nation.


Since the first year of in the beginning of Han Wu emperor, the day of January 1 of Lunar calendar each year was been enacted as the "beginning of the year", the date of ”New Year Festival” thus fixed since that and continues to this day. The “New Year Festival” was called as "New Year's Day” in ancient times. 1911, when the Xinhai Revolution taken place, the government began to use the Gregorian calendar to count the year, then January 1 of the Gregorian calendar as reputed as "New Year's Day”, and the first day of the first lunar month was taken as the "Spring Festival. "

Chinese New Year is the longest and most important festivity in the Chinese Lunar Calendar. The origin of Chinese New Year is itself centuries old and gains significance because of several myths and traditions. Ancient Chinese New Year is a reflection on how the people behaved and what they believed in the most.

The Spring Festival is the most important festival for the Chinese people and is when all family members get together, just like Christmas in the West. All people living away from home go back, becoming the busiest time for transportation systems of about half a month from the Spring Festival. Airports, railway stations and long-distance bus stations are crowded with home returnees.

The Spring Festival falls on the 1st day of the 1st lunar month, often one month later than the Gregorian calendar. It originated in the Shang Dynasty (c. 1600 BC-c. 1100 BC) from the people's sacrifice to gods and ancestors at the end of an old year and the beginning of a new one.

Strictly speaking, the Spring Festival starts every year in the early days of the 12th lunar month and will last till the mid 1st lunar month of the next year. Of them, the most important days are Spring Festival Eve and the first three days. The Chinese government now stipulates people have seven days off for the Chinese Lunar New Year.



Many customs accompany the Spring Festival. Some are still followed today, but others have weakened.

On the 8th day of the 12th lunar month, many families make laba porridge, a delicious kind of porridge made with glutinous rice, millet, seeds of Job's tears, jujube berries, lotus seeds, beans, longan and gingko.

The 23rd day of the 12th lunar month is called Preliminary Eve. At this time, people offer sacrifice to the kitchen god. Now however, most families make delicious food to enjoy themselves.

After the Preliminary Eve, people begin preparing for the coming New Year. This is called "Seeing the New Year in".

Store owners are busy then as everybody goes out to purchase necessities for the New Year. Materials not only include edible oil, rice, flour, chicken, duck, fish and meat, but also fruit, candies and kinds of nuts. What's more, various decorations, new clothes and shoes for the children as well as gifts for the elderly, friends and relatives, are all on the list of purchasing.

Before the New Year comes, the people completely clean the indoors and outdoors of their homes as well as their clothes, bedclothes and all their utensils.

Then people begin decorating their clean rooms featuring an atmosphere of rejoicing and festivity. All the door panels will be pasted with Spring Festival couplets, highlighting Chinese calligraphy with black characters on red paper. The content varies from house owners' wishes for a bright future to good luck for the New Year. Also, pictures of the god of doors and wealth will be posted on front doors to ward off evil spirits and welcome peace and abundance.



The Chinese character "fu" (meaning blessing or happiness) is a must. The character put on paper can be pasted normally or upside down, for in Chinese the "reversed fu" is homophonic with "fu comes", both being pronounced as "fudaole." What's more, two big red lanterns can be raised on both sides of the front door. Red paper-cuttings can be seen on window glass and brightly colored New Year paintings with auspicious meanings may be put on the wall.

People attach great importance to Spring Festival Eve. At that time, all family members eat dinner together. The meal is more luxurious than usual. Dishes such as chicken, fish and bean curd cannot be excluded, for in Chinese, their pronunciations, respectively "ji", "yu" and "doufu," mean auspiciousness, abundance and richness. After the dinner, the whole family will sit together, chatting and watching TV. In recent years, the Spring Festival party broadcast on China Central Television Station (CCTV) is essential entertainment for the Chinese both at home and abroad. According to custom, each family will stay up to see the New Year in.

Waking up on New Year, everybody dresses up. First they extend greetings to their parents. Then each child will get money as a New Year gift, wrapped up in red paper. People in northern China will eat jiaozi, or dumplings, for breakfast, as they think "jiaozi" in sound means "bidding farewell to the old and ushering in the new". Also, the shape of the dumpling is like gold ingot from ancient China. So people eat them and wish for money and treasure.

Southern Chinese eat niangao (New Year cake made of glutinous rice flour) on this occasion, because as a homophone, niangao means "higher and higher, one year after another." The first five days after the Spring Festival are a good time for relatives, friends, and classmates as well as colleagues to exchange greetings, gifts and chat leisurely.



Burning fireworks was once the most typical custom on the Spring Festival. People thought the spluttering sound could help drive away evil spirits. However, such an activity was completely or partially forbidden in big cities once the government took security, noise and pollution factors into consideration. As a replacement, some buy tapes with firecracker sounds to listen to, some break little balloons to get the sound too, while others buy firecracker handicrafts to hang in the living room.

The lively atmosphere not only fills every household, but permeates to streets and lanes. A series of activities such as lion dancing, dragon lantern dancing, lantern festivals and temple fairs will be held for days. The Spring Festival then comes to an end when the Lantern Festival is finished.

Chinese New Year or the Chinese Lunar New Year is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. Despite its winter occurrence, in China it is known as "Spring Festival," the literal translation of the Chinese name (Pinyin: Chūn Jié), owing to the difference between Western and traditional Chinese methods for computing the seasons.



Now, as the "Spring Festival" in China and the new Lunar Year of Rabbit is coming at the corner of street, we are also on the tiptoe of expecting a long term holiday to stay and enjoy this traditional festival with our family members, it is so happy and exciting! now let me send my best wishes to all Chinese people no matter you are in domestic or go abroad, wish you and your whole family Happy New Year and Happy Spring Fesival!

* Original address of this China gift post: China Gift and Fine Arts & Crafts

Happy Laba Festival!

Today in China, is the 8th day of December of the lunar calendar (eighth day of the twelfth lunar month), this day is the traditional “Laba Festival” in China.

The December of the lunar calendar is known as the twelfth lunar month commonly, and the 8th day of December of the lunar calendar is customarily called "Laba", the Laba Festival in China has a very long tradition and history, on that day people to cook and eat Laba porridge is the the most traditional and most luxurious custom all over the country in China.





In China, the history of people eating Laba porridge has lasted for more than one thousand years. Laba porridge also called "Seven Treasures and Five Flavors porridge." The custom was began firstly in the Song Dynasty, and when days come to the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, whether the court, officials, temples, or common people will cook Laba porridge at home.

In the Qing Dynasty, the custom of eating Laba porridge become more popular. In palace, the Emperor, Queen, Princes and so on will accustomed to largess the civil and military ministers, chamberlains and maids and Laba porridge, and at the same time will distribute rice and fruits to various temples. In folk society, every family will cook Laba porridge and worship their ancestors; The same time, all members of the family will reunite together to eat Laba porridge, as well as presenting Laba porridge to their relatives and good friends.

In China, people cook Laba porridge in different areas has a great variety throughout China, artful and wide variety. Among them, the most daintily pattern is in Peking, where people will mix in more items into the rice, such as red dates, lotus seeds, walnuts, chestnuts, almonds, pine nuts, longans, hazelnuts, grapes, gingko nuts, chestnuts, black hairs, rose, red beans, peanuts ... ... The total variety will no less than twenty. People will getting busy at the evening of the seventh day in the twelfth lunar month, wash rice, soak fruits, peel skins, remove stones, picking and then began to cook in the middle of the night, and then stew the porridge slowly with low fire until the early morning at the next day, at that time the Laba porridge was to be considered finished fully.

Typically, the Laba porridge was been cooked with eight fresh cereals and fruits which harvest on that year, usually are sweet porridge. However, many farmers in the Central Plains area of China are prefer more to cook salty Laba porridge, so in addition to rice, millet, mung beans, cowpeas, red beans, peanuts, jujubes and other raw materials, they will add sliced pork, radish, cabbage, vermicelli, seaweed, tofu, etc. into the Laba porridge..

The Cooking way of Laba porridge:

Ingredients: rice, black rice, glutinous rice, barley, peanuts, red beans, lotus seeds, red dates.

Practices:

1. Wash all the ingredients, add with sufficit quantum of water;

2. Put all ingredients into an electric pressure pot and steam it for about 35 minutes.


In addition, the "Laba Festival " in China is also the most important festival in the twelfth lunar month, which was know as "La Day in ancient time. " From the Qin Dynasty, the Laba Festival was used to worship the ancestors and gods, as well as pray for good harvest and good fortune. During the Laba Festival, aside from the worship activities, people were accustomed to expel epidemic diseases.

* Original address of this China gift post: China Gift and Fine Arts & Crafts

On Going Home For Christmas - Merry Christmas!

He little knew the sorrow that was in his vacant chair;
He never guessed they'd miss him, or he'd surely have been there;
He couldn't see his mother or the lump that filled her throat,
Or the tears that started falling as she read his hasty note;
And he couldn't see his father, sitting sor- rowful and dumb,
Or he never would have written that he thought he couldn't come.

He little knew the gladness that his presence would have made,
And the joy it would have given, or he never would have stayed.
He didn't know how hungry had the little mother grown
Once again to see her baby and to claim him for her own.
He didn't guess the meaning of his visit Christmas Day
Or he never would have written that he couldn't get away.

He couldn't see the fading of the cheeks that once were pink,
And the silver in the tresses; and he didn't stop to think
How the years are passing swiftly, and next Christmas it might be
There would be no home to visit and no mother dear to see.
He didn't think about it -- I'll not say he didn't care.
He was heedless and forgetful or he'd surely have been there.

Just sit down and write a letter -- it will make their heart strings hum
With a tune of perfect gladness -- if you'll tell them that you'll come.

                                      ------ On Going Home For Christmas

* For you all come here: Merry Christmas and Happy
New Year!

* Original address of this China gift post: China Gift and Fine Arts & Crafts in China 

Gem of China History - Yuan Ming Yuan

Yuan Ming Yuan, also known as the 'Old Summer Palace' and originally called the Imperial Gardens, was an extremely large complex of palaces and gardens 8 km (5 miles) northwest of the old city wall of Beijing, China. YuanMingYuan is very close to the Summer Palace.

The China Yuan Ming Yuan Park was know as ‘the Apotheosis of all Garden Art’ and ‘The Garden of Gardens’ with its grand geographical scale, excellent building techniques, fine groups of building landscape, rich culture collection and profound cultural connotation and reputation in the world. Its destruction can be said is the biggest regret in the history of China’s landscape architecture.

Formerly Yuan Ming Yuan was translated as ‘Old Summer Palace’, for it is the palace for the emperor living in summer days, which is very similar with the Summer Palace (Yihe Park) in China.

The Yuan Ming Yuan is composed by three main gardens, they are: the Garden of Perfect Brightness proper; the Garden of Eternal Spring; the Elegant Spring Garden.

TheYuan Ming Yuan inherited the outstanding tradition of garden building of three thousand years of China, it is both grand, elegant as court buildings and graceful as gardens in south of Yangtze River. At the same time, the Yuan Ming Yuan had absorbed the garden architecture style of Europe, combined different garden building styles into one, and create a perfect and harmonious overall layout.

And there is another garden in the Yuan Ming Yuan featured with style of foreign architectures, that named the European-style palace.

The Old Summer Palace is often associated with the European-style palaces built of stone. The designers of these structures were employed by Emperor Qianlong to satisfy his taste for exotic buildings and objects.

The Yuan Ming Yuan is not only famous for its gardens, but it is also a Royal Museum with very rich collections. French writer Victor Hugo once said: "Even if collected all treasures of all museums in French together, that can not match with this oriental grand and magnificent museum."



This great garden was destroyed during the second Opium War.

It took 3,500 British troops to set the entire place ablaze, taking three days to burn. The Palace was plundered and burned twice, . The first time was in 1860 by French and British army forces, and only 13 royal buildings survived to remain intact, most of them in the remote areas or by the lake side. The second time was in 1900 during the Eight-Nation Alliance invasion, and nothing remained this time.

Although the Yuan Ming Yuan has been destructed, but among the well-preserved gardens, we can still enjoyed the unique style of Chinese gardens: the combination of landscape, painting and poetry formed this unique poetic garden, which to provide a spiritual Utopia to the people living the garden.

Remark: The main several aesthetic elements of Chinese gardens include: asymmetrical;various types of spatial connections; trees, rocks and water; borrowed scenery; inscriptions; use of Feng Shui for choosing site.

* Original address of this China gift post: China Gift and Fine Arts & Crafts in China