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What you need to know about: Chinese culture

What you need to know about: Chinese culture
Your everyday questions answered on Chinese culture.
Today, more than 40 variations of mahjong are played around the world. Photo: Andria Lo/Mahjong: House Rules from Across the Asian Diaspora
Mahjong

Painted tiles, loud tables, new faces: shaping mahjong’s next chapter

The next generation of mahjong players around the world is preserving and reinventing a Hong Kong tradition.

Chinese culture

Lunar New Year greetings in Mandarin, Cantonese, Shanghainese and Hokkien

Art

How Chinese landscape paintings reflect changing art styles through history

Art

Not a Chinese art buff? Why you can still appreciate landscape paintings

Everyone can appreciate the harmonious forms of Chinese landscape art and glimpse the universal values that connect across cultures and time.

Chinese landscape paintings are displayed at “The Pride of Hong Kong: Three Preeminent Collections of Ancient Paintings and Calligraphies”, an exhibition now on at the Hong Kong Museum of Art. Photo: Nora Tam
Chinese culture

Explainer | Why the Chinese calendar has ‘leap months’ and when they fall

August 22, 2025 is the last day of the Year of the Snake’s second ‘sixth month’, but why are such lunar leap months considered inauspicious?

Food and Drinks

Chinese dining etiquette dos and don’ts, from who eats first to tea pouring

Chinese table manners and traditions emphasise sharing and politeness and can be complicated. Here are the most important rules.

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History

Truth behind a martial arts legend played by Jet Li and Jackie Chan

It has been 100 years since the death of kung fu master Wong Fei-hung who was little known during his lifetime.

Members of the Wong Fei-hung martial arts team perform at the Wong Fei-hung Memorial Hall in Foshan. Photo: Getty Images
Hong Kong economy

Letters | Hong Kong shows its education hub aspiration isn’t just talk

Readers discuss the government’s push to become a magnet for global talent, language requirements for university admissions, a new Chinese culture centre and provision of handrails around the city.

Chinese culture

Video | What is Mid-Autumn Festival and why do Chinese families celebrate it?

The festival, considered the second biggest in China, falls on September 17 this year.

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Chinese culture

How the Jade Rabbit became part of Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival

The pet of moon goddess Chang’e in Chinese mythology, the Jade Rabbit is associated with Mid-Autumn Festival traditions across Asia

The Jade Rabbit’s association with the moon has seen it become a part of Mid-Autumn Festival traditions in China. Photo: Shutterstock
Music

Chinese chime bells and gongs have always struck a chord. Here’s why

Of the metal instruments used in a traditional Chinese music orchestra, chime bells and gongs are the most common. We examine their history.

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Performers strike hand-held gongs during cerebrations for the Dragon Boat Festival in Linfen, China, in 2020. Of the metal instruments played in a Chinese orchestra, gongs and chime bells are the most common. Photo: Getty Images
Performing arts in Hong Kong

Explainer | The history of Chinese musical instruments, their role in a modern orchestra

From the earliest playable musical instruments to their roles in a modern four-section orchestra, Chinese traditional instruments and their 8,000-year history explained.

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Chinese culture

Language Matters | The life of the poet whose death inspired the Dragon Boat Festival myth

In exile, poet and statesman Qu Yuan wrote what is regarded as the most innovative and influential work in the history of Chinese poetry. His death inspired the myth behind the Dragon Boat Festival.

Chinese culture

Made in China: 5 of its top cultural exports, from noodles to writing

The products of Chinese civilisation that began more than 3,000 years ago, these cultural exports have had a lasting influence in East Asia and the wider world.

China has had a huge influence on its neighbours during its 3,000 years of history, and its cultural exports to East Asia and the wider world include tea, writing, noodles (above) and tofu. Photo: Shutterstock
Chinese culture

Explainer | When best to open your Lunar New Year red packets to avoid bad luck

We reveal which days are best to open Lunar New Year lai see red envelopes to avoid bad luck and set yourself up for an auspicious Year of the Dragon.

Lai see red envelopes are a staple of Lunar New Year celebrations. We reveal on which days to open these money-filled packets to avoid bad luck and set yourself up for an auspicious Year of the Dragon. Photo: Shutterstock
Trending in China

Hair-raising: when annual China tradition of salon trims goes hilariously wrong

The annual Chinese Spring Festival is a time for celebration and renewal, which includes the belief that a new haircut can avert bad luck, but the practice has unexpected and amusing results for some.

Chinese culture

Explainer | One packet or two? Your Chinese New Year lai see questions answered

The Chinese New Year tradition of giving red packets (lai see in Cantonese) dates back centuries, and was meant to ward off evil spirits. Here is our comprehensive guide to giving and receiving lucky money.

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Chinese culture

Play nice in mahjong: your game behaviour says a lot about you as a person

If you peek at your opponents’ tiles, gloat about winning or do things to bring opponents bad luck, you risk become known as a player with bad ‘tile character’. Read on to learn how to avoid that.

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People play mahjong. Photo: Shutterstock
Chinese culture

How to get lucky in the Year of the Dragon: money, colours, clothing, food

Chinese people follow a lot of traditions to boost their luck during Lunar New Year. Here’s how to give yours a bump during the Year of the Dragon, from money and colours to clothing and food.

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Chinese culture

American, Hong Kong, Japanese – which version of mahjong do you want to play?

Mahjong is played according to different rules depending where you go in China, and the world. Some have different scoring systems, others different tiles. We take a look at how five versions differ.

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Chinese culture

A complete guide to the Year of the Dragon 2024: 10 essential reads

From zodiac predictions and what to wear, to traditions, the wood element and lucky foods, numbers, stones and colours, this is your complete Lunar New Year guide for the Year of the Dragon 2024.

A dragon-shaped art installation in Yichang, Hubei Province, China. Photo: Getty Images
Chinese culture

Bad luck in mahjong? 4 game taboos to avoid if you want to win

In the game of mahjong there are plenty of dos and even more don’ts – we take a look at four taboos to be aware of when playing, among them why bringing a book to the table is a bad idea.

Dos and don’t in mahjong? There are plenty of the former but even more of the latter – we take a look at four taboos to be aware of when playing, and a way to reverse your luck. Photo: Shutterstock
Chinese culture

Keep losing in mahjong? You need to learn some winning strategies

What are the simplest ways to win mahjong? We take a look at how to figure out the strategies of the other players, how to keep them from winning and what sort of mind games you can play.

Chinese culture

Frequently asked questions: how long is Chinese New Year?

Celebrations for Chinese New Year begin on the eve of the first day of the first lunar month, and end with the Lantern Festival marking the first full moon of the lunar year. That’s 16 days all told.

Chinese culture

What to wear for Chinese New Year? The clue is in one of those 3 words

New clothes are held to represent a clean slate, and wearing them at Chinese New Year is said to help usher in good fortune. There must be some red in your outfit, for luck, and yellow or gold for wealth.

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To ensure good luck in the year to come, wear red clothing that’s new at Chinese New Year, like this family. Photo: Shutterstock Images
Chinese culture

Is Rihanna proof that Year of the Dragon babies are luckier than others?

Bruce Lee, Martin Luther King Jnr and Rihanna were all born in the Year of the Dragon. They are not alone – but why is the Year of the Dragon the year above all others in which Chinese people want to have babies?

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Bruce Lee, Martin Luther King Jnr and Rihanna were all born in the Year of the Dragon. Photos: Getty Images, AP, Instagram/@badgalriri
Chinese culture

The top 10 ways to say Happy New Year in Chinese – Cantonese and Mandarin

You’ll never be tongue-tied at a January 1 party or Chinese New Year do again once you commit these four-word phrases to memory.

Chinese culture

Frequently asked questions: who celebrates the lunar new year?

Sometimes thought of as an exclusively Chinese festival, Lunar New Year festivities take place in various other Asian cultures, too – Tibetan, Vietnamese, Korean and Mongolian, for example.

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