Cuisine & Culture the Chinese Family Way
A few years back, I wrote an article about the Chinese Hungry Ghost Festival but I didn’t elaborate on the don’t dos during this festival. Now, I would love to share some tips and hope everyone stays safe during this period. Even if you aren’t superstitious or don’t believe in ghosts, it is best to show respect to the Chinese culture and people who do believe while you are in Asian countries.
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.
Yesterday we were celebrating the Dragon Boat Festival, which is also known as the Duanwu Festival, and falls on the 9th June 2016. It occurs on the 5th day of the 5th month of the traditional lunar calendar. The festival involves eating dumplings (zongzi – sticky rice) and racing dragon boats! If you want to know how the dumplings look like, check out my post I wrote two years ago.
As some of you might remember that I help run Lichfield Mandarin Club which started four years ago and I like to involve arts and crafts with the children especially Chinese festival. So this school half term, I organized a Dragon Boat festival.
The Chinese Hungry Ghost Festival is also known as Zhong Yuan Jie. In Chinese culture (especially Asian countries), the Chinese Lunar seventh month calendar is regarded as the Ghost Month in which ghosts and spirits, including those of the deceased ancestors, release from the lower realm (Buddhist- the wheel of Samsara) for the whole month. During this month, there will be a grand scale of praying and celebration which will have Getai (singing in Hokkien or Teochew) and dinner with bidding for lucky things on such a night.
This year Dragon Boat Festival falls on this coming Monday 2 June 2014 which is today! There are a few versions of how the history came about. For what I learnt at school it is about Qu Yuan. He was a poet and minister (c. 340–278 BC) of the ancient state of Chu. To cut the long story short, he committed suicide by drowning himself in the Miluo River. The local people raced out to save him but was unable to do so. So they dropped balls of sticky rice (dumpling) into the river so that the fish would eat them instead of Qu Yuan’s body.
Qing Ming festival is a day where you pay respects at your departed loved one’s grave. The day varies each year as it goes according to the Chinese lunar calendar. This year it falls on the 5 April 2014. However, it is an acceptable tradition for the families to pray to their ancestors 10 days before and 10 days after the actual day. This is to avoid major congestions at the cemeteries and temples. As many countries like Singapore are densely populated and short of land, most of the deceased are cremated. If you would like to know how this festival originated, check out Chinese Culture for more details.
Now I like to share with you some photos of how it looks. Besides offering the traditional types of gold ingots and money, there are now offerings that include high tech gadgets to allow the afterlife to “catch up” with trends!
My granddad passed away in 1989 on Chinese New Year day. So on every Chinese New Year day, besides the celebrations, we will also offer joss sticks. These photos were taken a couple years ago before the 25 years lease is up. Now my family has moved and cremated my granddad and placed his remains along with my grandma who passed away on 24 March 2013.
Many of you might recall that I had recently written a series blog posts for Chinese New Year and that this year is the year of the Horse. In the Chinese zodiac, the horse came in seventh out of the 12 year cycle of the animals. If you would like to find out more about the Chinese zodiac animals, click here to read more. Why does the horse come in seventh in the cycle? Legend has it that the sneaky Snake hid itself on the Horse’s hoof. Before crossing the finishing line, the Snake frightened the Horse and took the 6th spot and left the horse in 7th.
Sadly tomorrow is the last day of the Chinese New Year celebrations and this is also my last post for the Chinese New Year theme. Hope you all have fun reading my blog posts from making Chinese New Year lantern crafts to foods!
Today, I would like to take you on a journey to see Chinese New Year goodies found in Singapore Chinatown. Living there for over 20 years and going to Chinatown in Outram Park is one of my highlights and recommendations to soak in the new year atmosphere.
Since I moved to the UK, I miss the opportunity to shop for the full range of Chinese New Year goodies. Some of these goodies can be found in UK Chinese supermarkets though so take a closer look if you get chance!
This coming Chinese New Year of the Horse falls on 31 January 2014 (Friday). In Singapore, on the eve of Chinese New Year, everyone will go home to have a reunion dinner before heading to the temple (if you are Buddhist) or go to Chinatown or River Ang Bao or some might just stay at home!
Mandarin oranges play a major part in our Chinese New Year. It’s to do with way we pronounce the word, it sounds like fortune. Chinese people love to say only good words on Chinese New Year as it will bring them all the luck and fortune for the coming new year.
This time of year is the best time to travel down to Asian countries, especially Singapore. Not only are you escaping the bitter cold in the UK, you are going to enjoy the different varieties of foods and festivals there. As a proud Singaporean, I would like to share some of our delicious Chinese New Year goodies. They are only produced once a year to celebrate the Chinese New Year.
Chinese are very superstitious so all the goodies are labelled in red. Why Red? It is corresponding with fire, and symbolizes good fortune and joy.
This year Chinese New Year falls on 31 January 2014 and is the Horse year. There is a 12 year cycle and and each year has a different animal to represent them. In a later post, I will blog more about the background.
It traditionally starts on the first day of the lunar month and continues until the fifteenth. The lunar calendar is based off the cycles of the moon, so that’s why the date of the Chinese New Year varies from year to year of the Gregorian calendar.
Today, I would like to show you how I decorated our house with the decorations that my mum sent me. Some of these photos were taken by my sister from a shop in Singapore. It is very important for Chinese families to decorate their house to fill their house with plenty of good wishes e.g. years of brimful happiness, good health, wealth, prosperity etc. It is equivalent to how English people decorate their houses with Christmas decorations and ornaments with wreaths, candles, mistletoe etc. This is our Chinese New Year Wall Decoration!
Today marks another year of the Winter Solstice Festival. I can’t believe how time passes us so quickly and it is going to be another new year in less than two weeks time. If you don’t know what the Winter Solstice Festival/Dongzhi is and why we are celebrating it, please click here to read what I had wrote in last year’s blog post.
Mid-Autumn Festival is also know as Lantern Festival or Mooncake Festival in Singapore. For every festival, there are lanterns hanging across the street and children showing off their beautiful lanterns. I still remember I used to hold a paper folded red lantern and sometimes it would catch fire if I swing it around. Now the lantern are battery operated so it will be safe for children. Each year, the lanterns are getting more and more fanciful.
