Chinese Culture & Festivals Archives - Page 2 of 3

Chinese Wedding Combing Hair Ceremony

I am back with more Chinese Wedding posts! This week I am going to write about the combing hair ceremony. Do check out my Chinese tea ceremony and wedding gifts if you missed those!

Why it is necessary for hair combing (梳頭, shūtóu)?

Chinese believe that it will bring long and lasting marriage. So both bride and groom will have their own hair combing ceremony.

When should it be done?

It is conducted on the eve of the wedding by the women, typically the parents.

In this photo of my aunty, the ceremony is done before the groom came to fetch the bride. Both parents said the four blessings:

一梳梳到尾 (1^st combing, be together till the end of the road)

二梳百年好合 (2^nd combing, happiness and harmony together till old age)

三梳子孙满堂 (3^rd combing, blessed with many children and grandchildren)

四梳白发齐眉 (4^th combing, blessed with longevity)

Chinese Qing Ming Festival / Tomb Sweeping Day

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.

Chinese Wedding Tea Ceremony

The Wedding Tea Ceremony is one of the most important events at a Chinese wedding. My mum insisted we must have a tea ceremony because we didn’t get married in a proper Singaporean Chinese way. Mr C and I got married in Bath and it was a small wedding with close family and friends only. So when I told some of our friends that we are having a tea ceremony after the registration, no one understood what that meant. As a result of the mix-up, two of our friends went back home after our registration and missed the wedding dinner. Sometimes it is hard to explain to others why we have a Chinese tea ceremony during the wedding day so I decided to write this post.

Why do we have a tea ceremony?

It is to introduce the newly wedded couple and show respect to their families. There are different types of tea ceremonies according to the groom’s dialect like Teochew, Cantonese etc.

When do we have a tea ceremony?

Nowadays, tea ceremonies combine both the bride and groom’s family as it is so much easier to do everything in one. It can be at any location but it has to be held straight after the registration of marriage or when they reach the Groom’s house.

Gifts to avoid buying for Chinese people

Last week, I wrote a blog post about Chinese superstitions when entering a hotel room, this week I would like to share some tips of gift ideas to avoid buying for your Chinese friend. I find that it is sometimes not easy to understand one person culture but by learning through interaction or reading will help each other to understand and live in a better and tolerable environment.

Chinese Superstitions to enter a Hotel Room

Last February, my mum and sister both flew to the UK to visit us. While they were here, we all went on a road trip to Scotland. You can read more about our Scotland trip with Barny here.

We stayed at Premier Inn throughout our holiday at various locations. The last location was Edinburgh, where we happened to have opposite rooms to my sister. I noticed that my sister went through her hotel routine. She knocked on the door and said we are just sharing the room with you for two nights, thank you. This triggered memories for me when I was younger I was told that I must do this hotel routine and I had forgotten! Okay, not really. I never knock the door but each time I go into the hotel room, I will inform ‘them’ quietly that we will be sharing ‘their’ room. Mr C does not believe in these Chinese superstitions thing! He thinks I am totally crazy to do this!

I had two separate unpleasant ghost experiences while staying in a hotel with him while we were in Italy and Japan. So he was used to me doing such crazy things while in a hotel room. I don’t practise these superstitions as much as I used to be because both of my children had started questioning my bizarre behaviour.

The Year of the Horse with Schleich

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.

River Ang Bao 2014 in Singapore

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!

Chinese New Year Reunion Dinner

A reunion dinner is held on the eve of the Chinese New Year, during which family members get together to celebrate. It used to be dinner time where all family members gather around but due to work or other family commitments, it can be any time of the day as long as it is on the eve.

My mum is very particular that everyone is home on time and start at the auspicious time/hour. Since I moved to the UK and started my own family, I’ve adopted this practise this and hope I can pass on this culture to my children.

Chinese New Year Goodies in Chinatown

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!

Now here are the streets in Chinatown. These goodies can only bought a month prior to Chinese New Year. All the street stalls will close after 1 – 2 am on Chinese New Year. So if you want to join in the festivities, make sure you time your travel before the New Year!

I have no idea why these varieties are only available for this limited time, like waxed salted food such as duck, sausages, ham etc. Maybe during the olden times, the only presents/gifts you can bring to visit your family and friends are preserved food. Hence the reasons of them being popular.

These are the varieties of waxed salted duck, salted ham, salted fish and Chinese sausages:

Celebrating Chinese New Year in Chinatown

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!

Celebrate with Halos n Horns Zingy Orange

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.

Different Types of Chinese New Year Goodies

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.

Some of these photos were taken by my friend and sister in Singapore who kindly sent it over to me.

Nian Gao (年糕)

Nian Gao are made from glutinous rice. They symbolise raising oneself to a higher level in each coming year. They are available all year but people mainly consume it during Chinese New Year. They come in a variety of colours, depending on how they are prepared. Some are moulded in a fish shape, golden coin or plain white roll etc.

Chinese New Year Wall Decoration

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.

Winter Solstice Festival 2013 with Tangyuen

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.

Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival or Mooncake Festival

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.