https://www.scmp.com/rss/500455/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com https://www.scmp.com/culture/series/3277875/chinese-musical-instruments?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/series/3277875/chinese-musical-instruments?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 10 Sep 2024 03:37:37 +0000 Brian Wang Brian Wang https://www.scmp.com/infographics/china/article/3250661/visual-guide-year-dragon-2024?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/infographics/china/article/3250661/visual-guide-year-dragon-2024?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 06 Feb 2024 09:00:08 +0000 https://www.scmp.com/infographics/china/article/3206232/year-rabbit-2023-find-your-zodiac-sign-and-boost-your-luck-visual-guide?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/infographics/china/article/3206232/year-rabbit-2023-find-your-zodiac-sign-and-boost-your-luck-visual-guide?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 12 Jan 2023 02:30:11 +0000 Lavish funerals are an important part of rural Chinese culture, but one ceremony in northwest China costing over 10 million yuan (US$1.5 million) has raised the question as to whether the age-old custom is suitable for modern times. To honour a dead elder, an unnamed family in Yulin, Shaanxi province, held a grand funeral complete with fireworks, a superb feast, bottles of the famous Mao-tai baijiu and even Chunghwa cigarettes, a brand famous for being enjoyed by Mao Zedong. “The funeral was... https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/article/3177575/chinese-funeral-costing-us15-million-heavy-drinking-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/article/3177575/chinese-funeral-costing-us15-million-heavy-drinking-and?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 13 May 2022 04:00:24 +0000 Paper offerings resembling passports, mainland China travel permits and flight tickets have become the most sought-after items during this year’s Ching Ming Festival, as Hongkongers starved of travel due to Covid-19 curbs wish their ancestors do not suffer the same fate. Grave-sweepers visited family tombs in small batches on Tuesday while adhering to the government’s social-distancing curbs that include a ban on public gatherings of more than two people across households. Ching Ming Festival, a... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3173132/hongkongers-unfulfilled-wanderlust-spill-paper?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3173132/hongkongers-unfulfilled-wanderlust-spill-paper?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 05 Apr 2022 08:53:01 +0000 The popular ritual of “villain hitting” to repel bad luck has been halted for the first time in decades under a Hong Kong flyover, with police officers guarding the area to stop people gathering on Saturday amid a raging fifth wave of Covid-19 infections. The government announced on Thursday that the chairman of Wan Chai District Council and the District Office had reached a consensus with major ritual performers that they would suspend business underneath the Canal Road Flyover to avoid crowds... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3169396/hong-kongs-villain-hitters-shut-shop-first-time?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3169396/hong-kongs-villain-hitters-shut-shop-first-time?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 05 Mar 2022 12:20:43 +0000 Tap here to launch the special feature https://www.scmp.com/infographics/china/article/3163941/year-tiger-2022-complete-visual-guide-scmp-infographics?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/infographics/china/article/3163941/year-tiger-2022-complete-visual-guide-scmp-infographics?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 20 Jan 2022 03:00:18 +0000 Authorities in Mianning, a county in the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan, put tight restrictions on residents’ ability to buy more than one lighter or box of matches until the end of June, according to an announcement posted on social media platform WeChat on Sunday. The measures have been put in place to control the igniting and spreading of potential fires during the high-risk season, the announcement said. Minors under 18 years of age will be completely banned from purchasing any... https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/article/3127559/chinese-authorities-feel-heat-after-restricting-lighters-fire?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/article/3127559/chinese-authorities-feel-heat-after-restricting-lighters-fire?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 30 Mar 2021 01:05:13 +0000 There are so many customs associated with Lunar New Year that, for those who didn’t grow up with them, it can be hard to know where to begin. Who knew I’d be given the cold shoulder by my friend’s entire family after gifting them a set of kitchen knives? Who could have foreseen I’d lose everything on the stock market after shaving my head on Lunar New Year’s day? Plenty of people, apparently. Nowadays, a rudimentary search for “LNY traditions” dredges up a barrage of listicles long and short... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/leisure/article/3121446/it-time-break-lunar-new-year-traditions-not-if-you-want?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/leisure/article/3121446/it-time-break-lunar-new-year-traditions-not-if-you-want?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 12 Feb 2021 01:00:14 +0000 The year 2021 is still young. But for the majority of Chinese people, the year has yet to start.  According to the traditional Chinese calendar, or lunar calendar, the new year begins on February 12, when the world will then formally enter the Year of the Ox.  For millennia, ancient Chinese people relied on a calendar system to calculate and record time, dates and years. At the core of these measures is the Chinese zodiac, a group of 12 animal symbols, each assigned to a new year that repeats... https://www.scmp.com/china/chinese-new-year-year-ox-explained/article/3121397?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/china/chinese-new-year-year-ox-explained/article/3121397?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 11 Feb 2021 08:29:14 +0000 Tap here to launch the special feature https://www.scmp.com/infographics/china/article/3121122/visual-guide-year-ox-what-should-we-expect?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/infographics/china/article/3121122/visual-guide-year-ox-what-should-we-expect?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 11 Feb 2021 03:00:20 +0000 Yuncheng city’s Yangzhao village, in northern China’s Shanxi province, has a long history of making traditional red lanterns dating back hundreds of years. https://www.scmp.com/china/chinas-red-lantern-village-ramps-production-ahead-lunar-new-year/article/3121102?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/china/chinas-red-lantern-village-ramps-production-ahead-lunar-new-year/article/3121102?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 09 Feb 2021 11:07:08 +0000 Years ago, when Taiwanese couple Chou Pei-yi and Huang Teng-wei were vacationing in Thailand, some fellow travelers asked them about Taiwan’s iconic foods. They were stumped. The question had been nagging at them. They had just taken a cooking class and wanted to set up something similar in Taiwan.   “We started listing out some famous night market snacks,” Huang says, “like beef noodle soup, braised pork over rice, soup dumplings, and bubble tea.” But none of the dishes really resonated with... https://www.scmp.com/food/taiwan-kueh-rice-cake-new-year/article/3115945?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/food/taiwan-kueh-rice-cake-new-year/article/3115945?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 03 Jan 2021 01:00:19 +0000 As people around the world gather (most likely virtually) to bid farewell to a year we’d rather forget, there will be a lot of toasting. In Germany, you might hear prost as the glasses clink. In Spanish, the word is salud. In France and Italy, the toast of choice is cin cin. Earlier this year, a video of a man raising a glass to himself while under coronavirus lockdown in northern Italy racked up millions of views. His toast: cin cin.   Every time I feel despair creep up on me, i watch the ‘chin... https://www.scmp.com/culture/chin-chin-how-chinese-phrase-became-italys-favorite-drinking-toast/article/3115019?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/chin-chin-how-chinese-phrase-became-italys-favorite-drinking-toast/article/3115019?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 30 Dec 2020 04:00:08 +0000 Tie-dye might invoke images of the 1960s, hippies, and Woodstock, but what about the Bai people of southwestern China? For over 1,500 years, this ethnic group in Yunnan Province has been dyeing their clothes blue using the leaves of a plant locally called banlangen 板蓝根. In the West, it’s more commonly known as woad or Asp of Jerusalem. The story goes that Bai farmers discovered the plant’s dyeing capabilities when their clothes were stained blue by its leaves. “Then they figured out it could be... https://www.scmp.com/culture/chinese-tie-dye-traditional-medicine-banlangen/article/3113993?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/chinese-tie-dye-traditional-medicine-banlangen/article/3113993?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 15 Dec 2020 07:19:12 +0000 Lian Chengchun has a unique job: fixing ancient Chinese books. For the past decade, the 32-year-old antique book fixer has painstakingly restored dozens of frayed, rotted, and torn manuscripts—all by hand. What is antique book fixing? China classifies antique books as those printed before 1912. There are an estimated 50 million in China, according to one report, and only about 20 million have been preserved, creating a daunting task for antique book fixers like Lian. Many books have been... https://www.scmp.com/culture/delicate-and-dying-art-fixing-ancient-chinese-books-hand/article/3112998?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/delicate-and-dying-art-fixing-ancient-chinese-books-hand/article/3112998?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 08 Dec 2020 05:19:13 +0000 A 13-year-old girl in southern China was ordered to go back to school after generating an online buzz for getting married to a 17-year-old boy. The teenagers were wedded in a formal ceremony based on local customs last week after developing a romantic relationship for over a year, the Guiyu township government in Shantou, Guangdong province, said in a statement over the weekend. They planned to get official marriage registration when they were old enough, as many child couples do in rural China.... https://www.scmp.com/society/love-honor-and-obey-law-chinese-bride-13-sent-back-school/article/3111941?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/society/love-honor-and-obey-law-chinese-bride-13-sent-back-school/article/3111941?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 30 Nov 2020 11:59:08 +0000 In China, asking for someone’s birth date can yield confusing answers, especially among the older generation. That’s because many people have two birth dates: one according to the Gregorian calendar and one according to the traditional Chinese calendar. Unlike the Gregorian calendar, which is used in most parts of the world, the Chinese calendar bases its dates off the moon’s movement around the Earth, combined with the Earth’s movement around the sun. The Gregorian calendar only tracks the... https://www.scmp.com/culture/chinese-calendar-worlds-oldest-almanac/article/3111673?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/chinese-calendar-worlds-oldest-almanac/article/3111673?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 27 Nov 2020 10:32:34 +0000 Zibo is particularly proud of its goldfish heritage. Every year, this city in northern China hosts a goldfish beauty pageant, where hundreds of bubbly-eyed fish compete for the top crown. The contest has been running for four years, with dozens of participants. This year, 80 enthusiastic breeders entered more than 700 goldfish into the competition. Goldfish contests are a long-running tradition in China, where the pet is prized for its color and beauty. Another pageant, in southern Fujian... https://www.scmp.com/culture/wonderful-and-wacky-world-goldfish-beauty-pageants/article/3110724?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/wonderful-and-wacky-world-goldfish-beauty-pageants/article/3110724?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 20 Nov 2020 10:50:18 +0000 Like their peers in the West, many children on the mainland had an enjoyable weekend as they wore colorful and cute costumes and went trick-and-treating to celebrate Halloween. But a father in Sichuan province in southwestern China said he was concerned that western celebrations are increasingly diluting traditional festivals in the ancient civilization. The comments reignited a debate about if it was acceptable to celebrate Western festivities in China. In a video that went viral on China’s... https://www.scmp.com/tech/halloween-proves-scary-fans-traditional-chinese-festivals/article/3108259?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/halloween-proves-scary-fans-traditional-chinese-festivals/article/3108259?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 Nov 2020 10:28:46 +0000 Discerning tea drinkers will tell you that water temperature is important when brewing tea. But how do you know when it’s hot enough? In China, there is a ceramic toy called a pee-pee boy, with a novel way of letting you know when your water is hot enough for brewing tea. Pour water over the little guy, and if he starts to “pee,” you’re good to go. A pee-pee boy is what’s called a tea pet. Tea pets are ceramic toys that react to hot water. Tea drinkers often have them on the table for... https://www.scmp.com/culture/how-chinese-pee-pee-boy-thermometer-works/article/3107792?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/how-chinese-pee-pee-boy-thermometer-works/article/3107792?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 30 Oct 2020 08:54:06 +0000 In southern China’s Guangdong Province and Hong Kong, egg noodles are a popular dish, usually served with wonton or beef brisket. And in the early 20th century, some enterprising street vendors came up with a novel way to make them in big batches: by jumping on bamboo poles like a seesaw. It was an energy-efficient way to apply a lot of pressure to a large volume of dough. The poles were readily available, often used by the street vendors to carry buckets of equipment. Pressing on the dough... https://www.scmp.com/food/hong-kongs-last-bouncing-bamboo-noodle-masters/article/3104314?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/food/hong-kongs-last-bouncing-bamboo-noodle-masters/article/3104314?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 06 Oct 2020 09:54:26 +0000 In China, people celebrate the fall harvest by eating mooncakes, round pastries that symbolize the harvest moon. They’re comparable to fruitcakes in the West, a common gift exchanged between families and friends during the Mid-Autumn Festival. There are many regional varieties with different stuffings, flavors, and crusts. Here are eight kinds. Five-nut mooncake 五仁月饼 Popular throughout China, this is the most traditional mooncake, beloved by older generations. The skin is typically made with... https://www.scmp.com/food/8-different-mooncakes-celebrate-chinese-mid-autumn-festival/article/3103570?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/food/8-different-mooncakes-celebrate-chinese-mid-autumn-festival/article/3103570?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 29 Sep 2020 15:02:04 +0000 Every night, for over three decades, Lam Chun-sang, 71, has set up his stall on a street full of fortune tellers in Hong Kong. Popular with locals and tourists alike, Temple Street is where soothsayers congregate to deliver advice on everything from the most auspicious day for a wedding to the best name for a newborn. But this normally busy block now falls quiet after foreign tourists were barred from entering the city in March and locals avoid outside leisure amid the coronavirus... https://www.scmp.com/culture/coronavirus-hong-kongs-famous-fortune-tellers-feel-left-behind-pandemic/article/3095561?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/coronavirus-hong-kongs-famous-fortune-tellers-feel-left-behind-pandemic/article/3095561?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 31 Jul 2020 10:38:20 +0000 Plant-based faux meat products are in vogue these days. Brands like Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat have taken over the vegetarian market with their realistic vegan “beef” patties. But imitation meat has been around for centuries, especially in Chinese cuisine. Think “fish” fillets made with seaweed and “chicken” cubes bathed in sweet and spicy sauce. These dishes are staples of Buddhist monasteries throughout China, where imitation meat was conceived by monks and nuns who long abided by a... https://www.scmp.com/food/chinese-fake-meat/article/3089139?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/food/chinese-fake-meat/article/3089139?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 15 Jun 2020 10:56:41 +0000 The first time I rode the rails in China, I was caught off guard by the water dispenser. Instead of the usual options for hot, cold, and room temperature, the machine on the train only had one button—for boiling hot water. That meant if you didn’t want to buy bottled water from the wandering food carts, the only option was to fill up a canteen with scalding H2O. But everyone happily did it. Young, old, male, female, from train staff to train passengers—people made their way to the hot water... https://www.scmp.com/culture/why-chinese-people-drink-hot-water/article/3084579?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/why-chinese-people-drink-hot-water/article/3084579?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 15 May 2020 08:53:20 +0000 While the coronavirus continues to wreak havoc around the world, cities in China, where the first Covid-19 cases were reported, are cautiously humming back to life—and one school in Hangzhou has come up with a novel way to teach students about social distancing. Students at Yangzheng Elementary School started the semester on Monday with a homework assignment unique to these fraught times: design a hat with a one-meter, or three-foot, diameter. The hats, with two wing-like flaps, are modeled... https://www.scmp.com/culture/coronavirus-chinese-students-hats-social-distancing/article/3081768?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/coronavirus-chinese-students-hats-social-distancing/article/3081768?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 27 Apr 2020 10:35:19 +0000 Hong Kong is a jungle of concrete and steel. But look closely, and you’ll see an organic material that weaves itself through the cracks, up the walls, completely engulfing entire structures. That material is bamboo, and Hong Kong is one of the last places in the world where it is still widely used as a building material, primarily for scaffolding and seasonal Cantonese opera theaters. Bamboo has a long history in Chinese culture. It’s been used to make paper, musical instruments, furniture, and... https://www.scmp.com/culture/bamboo-scaffolding-why-does-hong-kong-still-use-it-construction/article/3080274?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/bamboo-scaffolding-why-does-hong-kong-still-use-it-construction/article/3080274?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 16 Apr 2020 11:42:29 +0000 For many people around the world, brewing tea is a simple process. Just throw in a tea bag and add hot water. But for others, brewing tea is a ritual akin to meditation. There are guidelines that ensure the taste, temperature, and quality of tea are ideal. In China, this is exemplified by a form of tea service called gongfu cha 功夫茶. Gongfu means skill, and cha means tea. The ceremony dates back to the 14th century in Fujian, a coastal province famous for its tea exports. Gongfu cha is a full... https://www.scmp.com/culture/chinese-tea-ceremony-how-to/article/3077606?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/chinese-tea-ceremony-how-to/article/3077606?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 30 Mar 2020 10:35:20 +0000 Every year around April, millions of Chinese people visit the graves of their ancestors to burn paper offerings and pay respects to the dead as part of the Qingming Festival. This year, with the Covid-19 coronavirus wreaking havoc around the world, the Chinese government is asking families to worship remotely. Qingming falls on April 4 this year, and the whole-day rituals typically involve families visiting the graves of their deceased loved ones and cleaning the tombs. They also burn paper... https://www.scmp.com/culture/china-coronavirus-qingming-tomb-sweeping/article/3075777?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/china-coronavirus-qingming-tomb-sweeping/article/3075777?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Mar 2020 08:32:41 +0000 In one of the most riveting scenes from Crazy Rich Asians, Constance Wu’s character, Rachel Chu, squares off against her stern mother-in-law-to-be, Eleanor Young (played by Michelle Yeoh), in a game of mahjong. “My mom taught me how to play,” Chu tells Young. “She told me mahjong would teach me important life skills—negotiation, strategy, cooperation.” Dating back more than 100 years, the tile game is played in Chinese communities around the world. It’s a raucous affair that demands quick... https://www.scmp.com/culture/mahjong-china-origins-history/article/3048500?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/mahjong-china-origins-history/article/3048500?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 31 Jan 2020 15:54:11 +0000 It’s 5:50 am, with just a faint purple light glowing on the horizon, when a group of children aged 6 to 15 march diligently toward their classrooms. At 6:15, they begin lessons in Chinese, English, and math. At 7:50, they stop for breakfast. There’s no time to linger, though, because the students must be clean and dressed by 8.30. They head upstairs to two spacious rooms on the first floor of an L-shaped building near the center of Liaoning’s capital, Shenyang. Here, the real training begins—in... https://www.scmp.com/culture/china-acrobatics-school-opportunity/article/3042671?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/china-acrobatics-school-opportunity/article/3042671?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Dec 2019 12:18:07 +0000 Xuan paper, or traditional rice paper, is widely used in Chinese painting and calligraphy.  The paper has a history of more than 1,000 years. It originated from Xuancheng City in the eastern province of Anhui. The manufacturing process goes through over 100 stages, and it takes at least one year to make.  The Cao family has been making Xuan paper since the Song Dynasty (960-1279). The craft has been passed down the generations.  Check out the gallery to see how the paper is made. https://www.scmp.com/arts/making-traditional-chinese-calligraphy-xuan-paper/article/3041612?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/arts/making-traditional-chinese-calligraphy-xuan-paper/article/3041612?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 11 Dec 2019 09:54:26 +0000 It’s the end of the Mid-Autumn Festival, and you have a bunch of empty mooncake tins. What do you do? In Hong Kong, many kids set them on fire. The Mid-Autumn Festival, traditionally a fall harvest celebration, has morphed into a family-gathering holiday akin to Thanksgiving. A longstanding tradition involves exchanging mooncakes, small, round pastries stuffed with a sweet or savory filling and usually packaged in tin boxes. Like the fruitcake in the West, these dense pastries have become such... https://www.scmp.com/culture/hong-kong-mid-autumn-festival-wax-burning/article/3026958?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/hong-kong-mid-autumn-festival-wax-burning/article/3026958?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 12 Sep 2019 11:07:38 +0000 They say there are two types of people in the world: those who celebrate 七夕 Qixi, and those who don’t. That is, you’re either out at an overpriced dinner—or binge-watching rom-coms at home by yourself. Qixi is the Chinese equivalent of Valentine’s Day, and it dates back more than 2,000 years. The festival, which is also celebrated in Japan and Korea, falls on the seventh day of the seventh month of the Chinese calendar, which means the date changes every year (this year, it falls on Aug. 7). As... https://www.scmp.com/culture/chinese-valentines-day-qixi-luxury/article/3021844?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/chinese-valentines-day-qixi-luxury/article/3021844?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 07 Aug 2019 11:46:04 +0000 For the Chinese, jade is more precious than gold. Also known as the “stone of eternity” for its hardness and durability, it remains a popular baby shower gift because of its association with immortality, wisdom, and protection. Jade has become coveted the world over, but unlike other Chinese exports like tofu and tea, which derive their English names from the Chinese pronunciation, jade sounds nothing like its Chinese counterparts (yu in Mandarin and yuk in Cantonese). So where did the word... https://www.scmp.com/culture/where-did-word-jade-come/article/3020527?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/where-did-word-jade-come/article/3020527?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 29 Jul 2019 12:25:38 +0000 The city of Yixing in eastern China is synonymous with teapots. Here, virtually ever street corner has an artisan specialized in the craft of making teaware. Their most well-known export is the reddish-brown Yixing teapot. Often found in curio stores and specialty tea shops, they’re ubiquitous in Chinese communities around the world. In Yixing, their hometown, the teapots have been popular for over 500 years. Tea connoisseurs believe that the porous pots can absorb and enhance the flavor of... https://www.scmp.com/food/china-yixing-teapot/article/3018649?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/food/china-yixing-teapot/article/3018649?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 15 Jul 2019 08:47:16 +0000 Walk into any public park or square in China, and you’ll probably find groups of retirees—usually older women—dancing in unison to deafeningly loud music. It’s called guangchangwu 广场舞, or square dancing, and it’s been a phenomenon in China for decades. For many residents who live near a square, these dancing grannies are little more than a public nuisance. But for the women, it’s a way to feel connected and make friends. They not only dance in groups, but also travel and even make investment... https://www.scmp.com/culture/chinese-grandmas-square-dancing/article/3015586?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/chinese-grandmas-square-dancing/article/3015586?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 21 Jun 2019 12:20:01 +0000 Communal bathing at public bathhouses is a popular pastime among older men, particularly in northern China. Here, customers can laze around in warm pools, get a rubdown from staff, and wallow away the day for as little as $4. Some play Chinese chess, others watch cricket fights, and a few even bring along their pet birds. But the days of the traditional bathhouse are waning in China, as they’re eclipsed by pricier, more modern facilities that offer additional perks like karaoke, billiards, and... https://www.scmp.com/travel/old-beijing-last-traditional-bathhouse/article/3014044?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/travel/old-beijing-last-traditional-bathhouse/article/3014044?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 11 Jun 2019 10:26:34 +0000 They used to be farmers and factory workers in rural China. Now, they are world champions in the sport known as dragon boating. Meet the dragon boat “aunties team.” They got their nickname because many of its members are women over the age of 40. When they were growing up, women weren’t allowed to touch dragon boats because it was considered bad luck. But now, they are beating teams half their age in competitions around the world. “We’re not athletes to begin with,” says Dong Aili, one of the... https://www.scmp.com/culture/sports-china-why-worlds-best-dragon-boaters-are-women-farmers/article/3013640?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/sports-china-why-worlds-best-dragon-boaters-are-women-farmers/article/3013640?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 07 Jun 2019 15:15:02 +0000 Every year in May, a small island in Hong Kong celebrates a bun festival, where tens of thousands of buns stuffed with sweet bean paste are stacked into towers several stories high. Many of them are made by hand at a small, family-run bakery called Kwok Kam Kee, which has been doing it for over four decades. About two years ago, Martin Kwok, the owner, left a cushy job in finance to take over the shop from his father. “I want to show my father and mother that they raised a good child.” Martin... https://www.scmp.com/culture/hong-kong-family-bakery-cheung-chau-bun-festival/article/3012066?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/hong-kong-family-bakery-cheung-chau-bun-festival/article/3012066?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 28 May 2019 10:08:10 +0000 There are more than 300 different kinds of Chinese opera. Sichuan is one of them. If you have heard of Sichuan opera, you probably know it as that Chinese show where performers change masks really quickly. But that’s mostly a tourist gimmick. Real Sichuan opera—from the southwestern province of Sichuan—engages all parts of the body, including the hands, eyes, and feet. At its heyday, opera was the main source of entertainment in China, and the government actively promoted the art form as a... https://www.scmp.com/culture/chinese-opera-sichuan/article/3011648?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/chinese-opera-sichuan/article/3011648?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 24 May 2019 07:20:04 +0000 Writing Chinese is hard, even for people who grew up learning how to read and write it. Almost everyone has an embarrassing account of how they started writing a sentence on paper only to stop in the middle because they forgot how to write a certain character. The problem is not unique to Chinese. Any English speaker can recall moments when they forgot how to spell a specific word. But with over 8,000 characters to memorize—the majority of which aren’t used in everyday life—Chinese people are... https://www.scmp.com/culture/are-chinese-people-forgetting-how-write/article/3011174?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/are-chinese-people-forgetting-how-write/article/3011174?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 21 May 2019 11:04:12 +0000 Hong Kong artist Daniel Lau has chosen an unconventional canvas for an old Chinese art. Crouching on rocks by the sea, Lau, a classically trained calligrapher, moves his brush along a white banner he’s placed on the ground. He lets the rocks distort his strokes, and allows the ink to drip, splatter, and spill. “It’s like I’m blending my surroundings into my calligraphy,” Lau says. “I want my calligraphy to melt into nature.” Calligraphy has always been an essential part of Chinese culture, and... https://www.scmp.com/culture/chinese-calligraphy-giant-brush-nature/article/3011105?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/chinese-calligraphy-giant-brush-nature/article/3011105?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 21 May 2019 07:05:58 +0000 In 2017, the producers of Wolf Warrior 2, the highest-grossing Chinese movie ever, had a problem. They needed to capture the sound of a missile flying for some action scenes, but it was nearly impossible to record. Instead of getting a sound designer, they found Haiyang, a vocal artist who could make the sound with his mouth. Haiyang is a master of kouji 口技, a traditional Chinese art form similar to beatboxing. Translated literally as “mouth techniques,” kouji’s roots date back thousands of... https://www.scmp.com/culture/chinese-beatboxer-sound-effects-mouth-kouji-haiyang/article/3008582?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/chinese-beatboxer-sound-effects-mouth-kouji-haiyang/article/3008582?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 03 May 2019 03:50:28 +0000 Before Donald Trump became president, before he was a real estate mogul and reality TV star, he was separated at birth from a long-lost twin brother who grew up in China. At least, that’s the story feng shui master Li Kui-ming tells in a new Cantonese opera called Trump on Show. Using a centuries-old art form characterized by high-pitched singing and elaborate costumes, the show satirizes contemporary U.S. politics. Its four-night run in Hong Kong is already sold out. Li, who wrote the play and... https://www.scmp.com/culture/chinese-opera-donald-trump/article/3005375?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/chinese-opera-donald-trump/article/3005375?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 09 Apr 2019 08:15:42 +0000 Every April, millions of Chinese people burn replicas of paper money during Qingming, the tomb-sweeping festival, believing the money will reach their ancestors in the heavens. It’s not all they burn. Paper models of real-life items such as clothes and cars, as well as luxury items like brand-name bags and Apple products, are also incinerated. The belief is that people still enjoy the trappings of the real world, even when they’re dead. (Read more: How Chinese people appease the dead) Most of... https://www.scmp.com/culture/last-artisans-hong-kong-still-hand-make-paper-offerings-dead/article/3004921?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/last-artisans-hong-kong-still-hand-make-paper-offerings-dead/article/3004921?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 05 Apr 2019 15:10:34 +0000 The Jiaotong Teahouse in Chongqing started as an unassuming canteen for transport workers in the 1970s and eventually became a popular gathering spot for the local art community. Today, artwork depicting life in the city hangs on Jiaotong's well-preserved walls. Locals say it’s the most authentic place to experience old Chongqing. https://www.scmp.com/travel/inside-last-chongqings-old-school-teahouses/article/3001125?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/travel/inside-last-chongqings-old-school-teahouses/article/3001125?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 08 Mar 2019 10:00:06 +0000 This Chinese New Year, I could hear my heels click as I paced across my grandma’s unusually quiet apartment toward her embroidered sofa. This was where she would usually perch herself on the big day, surrounded by dozens of chattering relatives in Hong Kong. Whenever new visitors arrived, the packed room would burst into a boisterous chorus of New Year’s greetings. She would smile as they wished her many more years of beauty and health. With her thick black wig and impeccably manicured hands,... https://www.scmp.com/culture/how-my-grandmas-death-changed-chinese-new-year/article/3000794?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/how-my-grandmas-death-changed-chinese-new-year/article/3000794?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 13 Feb 2019 08:12:13 +0000 When I was a child, every year, without fail, my mother would take over my classroom mid-lesson to throw me a birthday party. Part of me was mortified with embarrassment, and part of me loved being the center of attention. She’d go all out with a homemade cake, stir-fried noodles, and fried rice from my parents’ restaurant. There would also be a basket full of red eggs. In Chinese culture, red dyed eggs are often presented at birthdays, weddings, and parties to celebrate one month since a baby’s... https://www.scmp.com/food/why-my-childhood-birthdays-were-full-red-eggs/article/3000730?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/food/why-my-childhood-birthdays-were-full-red-eggs/article/3000730?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 06 Feb 2019 21:31:04 +0000