On Mr Zhou’s Ghost Stories live radio last Friday, guest speaker Genesis (Top 3 Finalists for Be A Podcaster) talked about her relatives’ pregnancy. This story triggered me to ask my mum about pregnancy taboos when she was young. These pregnancy taboos are mainly old wives’ tales. You can decide whether to believe them or not, it’s your choice! The references are just for entertainment purposes.
Chinese Table Manners To Observe
Once a month, I go out with a group of Chinese friends who come from different countries. We are Chinese people from the PRC, Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore of course.
One of their habits that annoys me the most is that they place/poke their chopsticks vertically into their food or rice bowl. For me, it is a No-No. Let me tell you why! My mum and most elderly folks would say if you do that, it means the rice is an offering to the ghosts. The chopsticks are positioned like joss sticks used for a funeral. If you eat the rice, it will bring you bad luck. Besides Singapore, places like China, Japan and Korea also believe this. Therefore, it is best to avoid placing chopsticks vertically into the food or rice. Now let me tell you more about other Chinese table manners you should observe.
Why you should never hang clothing out overnight?
I hadn’t heard of this taboo of never hanging clothing out overnight until I heard from Mr Zhou’s Ghost Stories podcast. Some people believe that hanging clothing at night will attract wandering spirits to get attached to the clothing. It will cause us to have bad luck. I will list a few examples later in the post.
Chinese Four Colour Cards
Four colour cards or 四色牌 was my grandmother’s favourite game to play when she was still around. Every Saturday afternoon, her sisters and her children, like my mum and aunties, will gather around her house to play. It was a regular thing even on Chinese New Year. There was always a big group of at least six to eight of them sitting around the big round table to play with at least two sets of Four Colour cards (224 cards) mixed.
Over The Moon is on Netflix & Cinema
Netflix’s highly anticipated Chinese animation, Over The Moon, has arrived on its platform since 23rd October 2020, just in time to watch with your children this half term! To celebrate the release of the brand-new animated film, Netflix has been working alongside Chinatown districts to display a series of magical lanterns illuminating in Gerrard St and Newport Place, London, and The Arcadia, Birmingham until 15th November 2020.
Build Your Own Dragon Boat Race Game #ad
Would you like to learn how to build your own dragon boat race game? This is a very fun racing game that everyone will love. Thanks to Bostik for giving us this opportunity to make this video.
The Surprising Differences Between Chinese & Typical Western Weddings
I’m willing to bet a lot of you have been to plenty of western weddings in your time. I’m talking about your traditional American or British-style wedding; the ones usually shown on TV shows and in movies, etc.
As a result, I bet you’ve noticed that these weddings all tend to be quite similar. They follow the same customs, have pretty similar themes, and so on. Today, I want to take a little trip into Chinese culture to explain some of the key differences between a typical Chinese wedding and one from Western culture. It’s just a bit of fun, and a chance to show how two things can vary so much, even though they’re essentially the same thing!
Make your own Chrysanthemum Tea
Drinking chrysanthemum tea has been a part of my life since young, especially whenever we are ill or eating at dim sum restaurants in Singapore. Drinking chrysanthemum tea in the UK is not common practice at all and not even in Chinatown Chinese restaurants. It is one of my favourite teas that I missed when I moved to the UK.
Celebrating Chinese Festivals
Celebrating Chinese Festivals Book takes us into the most important and celebrated festivals of China, and explains the traditions, the delicious foods, the exciting activities and special customs that go with them!
Chinese Zodiac Animals
As some of you might know, I am bilingual and I am always on the lookout for educational books that teaches Chinese culture and language. It is very important for me to teach both of my children about their heritage.
This Chinese Zodiac Animals is written in simple plain English which is easy to understand and suitable for younger children to follow. It doesn’t contain too many big or difficult words. There are also plenty of colour and adorable illustrations that will appeal to all ages.
Dumpling Craft for Dragon Boat Festival
Making Dumpling Craft for Dragon Boat Festival. It was the Dragon Boat Festival again, which is also known as the Duanwu Festival. This year it fell on the 18th June 2018 which is the 5th day of the 5th month of the traditional lunar calendar.
As some of you may remember, I help run Lichfield Mandarin Club which started six years ago and we often do arts and crafts with the children, especially with themes based on Chinese festivals. So this school term, one of the mummies Ailin organized some party games for the children.
The 100 Days Of Chinese Baby-Naming
Every culture does little things differently. From the way we eat, to the way we greet each other, our traditions largely dictate our actions. From the moment we’re born, we‘re taught how things are. Babies from different cultures, for instance, are named in a whole host of ways. Here in the UK, most people choose names before babies are born. A naming ceremony will then traditionally consist of a church christening. Yet, as can be seen from sites like https://www.babycentre.co.uk, few other countries follow that lead.
Ideas for My Dream Bathroom
I was asked to come up with some ideas on what my dream bathroom would look like, so I’m sharing them with you if you’d like a little inspiration. I’m keen on incorporating my background into this room, as an Asian themed space is ideal for creating a calming and inviting atmosphere – while incorporating all the serenity of the most luxurious spa. It’s all about clean lines and minimalism – I love the soothing nature of this kind of look.
Chinese Wedding Gifts
For English weddings, the bride and groom typically have a list of wedding gifts but for Chinese, we are more practical. All we want is money, partially to pay for the wedding costs and partially to pay your mother-in-law!
Chinese New Year Traditions
Ever since I moved to the UK for work, I have found it hard to keep up or observe the proper Chinese New Year traditions my mum used to teach me. I think part of it is because I have forgotten how it was as I have not been back to Singapore for 8 years during this festive period and another part of it is because I want to be a modern woman who doesn’t need to follow the superstitious rules.