The Chinese Zodiac, or shengxiao (生肖), has twelve symbols, just like the western one (given to us by the ancient Greeks). And, even in this case, each sign is associated with particular character traits. The difference is that while in our Zodiac each symbol corresponds with a certain month, the Chinese Zodiac corresponds with a particular year, For example, 2015 is the year of the Goat!

Why does each sign correspond with an animal?

It is said that Buddha, when he was near to dying, gathered all animals of the earth. However, only twelve bothered to come say goodbye. So he – being magnanimous as few others could – decided to reward them by baptizing each lunar phase with the name of one of the animals that came. The first to show up was the mouse (never trust the rats). After that, arriving in order were the buffalo, the tiger, the rabbit, the dragon, the snake, the horse, the goat, the monkey, the rooster, the dog and the pig (the usual latecomer). [Read more…]

Quite a broad and varied range of dog breeds have come to us from China, some of which are very well-known and others not so much. If you have one or are interested in these marvelous Chinese dog breeds, below, I’m going to explain their origins and most common features.

We have grouped them by size, as that is one of the features that people keep in mind the most when choosing which breed to take home:

Large (weighing more than 18 kg, and which can even reach 100):

• Tibetan Mastiff
• Shar-Pei

Medium (weighing more than 8 kg and up to 30):

• Chongqing
• Chow Chow
• Tibetan Terrier

Small (maximum weight of between 8 and 9 kg):

• Lhasa Apso
• Pekingese
• Chinese Crested Dog
• Shih Tzu
• Pug

[Read more…]

I wrote this short story in 2011. It was firstly published in another website, but the website closed down last year, so we decided to republish the story here on SDC, as we think it’s still interesting, and relevant!

A nice encounter

Muse Club, Shanghai, almost one a.m.

I’m more bored than ever and I decide to contact a girl from Anhui province that I met two days ago on the pedestrian bridge at the intersection between Yan An Road and Xi Zang Road. I send her a text message:

“我在Muse, 你干什么?” (I’m at Muse, what are you doing?)

She answers:

“我在KTV工作.你们几个人?” (I’m working at the karaoke. How many of you?)

“我一个人，你要来吗?”　(I’m alone, wanna come?)

“和你聊天跳舞，你给我钱吗?” (If I talk and dance with you, will you pay me?)

“Oh shit, another prostitute!” I think while I give up and order a Carlsberg. [Read more…]

We receive and publish this interesting article written by Lavrentiy Klimov

China has become not just an economic, but also a Sports superpower. According to Daxue Consulting, China is a huge sport market. Some Chinese athletes like Yao Min (姚明), Li Na (李娜) o Lin Dan (林丹) are popular around the globe and represent different sports brands. Also, sports in China receive great support from the government.

According to the Telegraph, China wants to complete a transition from a big country to a strong nation in sports. The purpose is to have one third of population (or 435 million people) to do physical exercises by 2020. Obviously, it is a very ambitious purpose. But have you ever thought what sports do Chinese people like? Let’s have a closer look at most popular sports in China!

Table tennis and badminton are top China’s national sports

Table tennis once considered as a “cheap” sport with no need for spacious facilities, has been declared by Chairman Mao as a Chinese national sport. It is also a national pride: 6 gold medals were won at London Olympics (2012) and a total sweep was completed by Chinese national team in Rio de Janeiro (2016). In China you can see tables for ping-pong in university campuses, local parks and yards. This sport does not require expensive equipment or to be very athletic. Come to China and give it a try to play with locals!

Another national sport is Badminton (国球, guoqiu). It is one of the most favorite sports in China. People are playing badminton in the streets both in the cities and in the villages. Many locals play it before work, during their lunch time or in the evening. Chinese dominance on the international level is unprecedented. One of the reasons is the Chinese unique training system, and a huge pool of talents, who are willing to sacrifice a lot to become champions. [Read more…]

If you’ve watched one of the World Cup football matches that just ended in Russia with France’s second victory, you’ve surely seen ads by giants such as Adidas, Visa, and Coca-Cola, which were alongside lesser-known companies such as Mengniu, Vivo and Wanda.

These companies don’t sell sporting goods, especially not football equipment, but rather specialize in selling groceries, cell phones and setting up enormous movie complexes. These three companies come from a country that has never made a mark in any edition of the World Cup, furthermore they didn’t even qualify among the 32 countries that took part in the 2018 World Cup, but present themselves as the future of football: China.

The Chinese team only qualified once for the final phases of the World Cup. It was 2002 and China played three matches in the qualification phase without scoring a single goal and was eliminated with zero points. The only positive note was the 4-0 defeat to Brazil’s Roberto Carlos, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho and Ronaldo.

Setting aside the unexpected qualification for the final phases, China participated in the competition between 1930 and 1954 and between 1962 and 1978; they didn’t qualify for the final stages in 1958, from 1982 to 1998 and from 2006 to today. In the World Cup Asia qualifications in 2018, the Chinese national team didn’t manage to reach the playoffs in a group headed by Iran, and placed fifth, behind teams such as the devastated Syria, whose team was forced to play their home matches abroad. [Read more…]

A lady practicing Rou Li Qiu

If cell phones have made the newer generations lazy, the older age group has decided to make up for lost time during their youth. Chinese medicine recommends it, so a good Chinese person follows through: the need to 锻炼身体 (duanlian shenti), or physical exercise, keeping oneself in shape.

Whatever your movements or ability to continue may be, it doesn’t matter. So long as you can get to the square or park every day and join in with one of the collective activities that are seen pretty much everywhere in China.

The choice is between various sport classifications, for which even the least capable can find something they can do in their circumstances.

Dancers in single file

Dance

As couples, in an orderly formation, with fans, scarves, or hands like flowers: dancing rigorously to music blasting at full volume from amplifiers stronger than those used by Iron Maiden, is something the Chinese really like. Little matters if you go in single file because there’s no space of movement, if you’re going down the sidewalk, dodging pillars; in front of the bank blocking access to the ATM; at the entrance to the metro the mob of the curious will even make you late. Wherever there’s a little space, dancing will break out!

Taking a walk

Why just walk when you can include some arm exercise or an ear massage to stimulate I don’t know what energy point so that your qi can benefit. Otherwise, clap your hands: for shoulders, chest, legs, back, trapezoids, biceps, triceps and even the sternocleidomastoid! [Read more…]

When coming to China it’s useful to understand various things about Chinese Culture. It runs deep through the veins of this unique country and you will experience positive and negative things about the culture every single day.

One moment the crowds during rush hour will have you startled, the next, you’ll be taking in the gorgeous sites of the Summer Palace on a crisp Autumnal day in pure peace and harmony.

Today we talk about numbers in Chinese. They bare a very important resemblance to many Chinese people with superstition perhaps running deeper than you’d expect. We’ll split this article into two parts. Our second article will focus on the numbers to avoid in Chinese and the measures that are taken in China to avoid these numbers. Today, however, we’ll spread some joy by focusing on those lucky Chinese numbers and some stories that only a country like China could produce!

Eight, 8, 八 (bā)

Lucky numbers in China don’t come much luckier than the Number 8. Number 8 in Chinese (bā) sounds very similar to the word “to prosper”, 發 (fā). People in China will go to extraordinary lengths (financially at least) to get themselves a number plate, or a mobile phone number with as many 8’s in there as possible!

To give you an idea of exactly how high the Chinese put the number 8 on the pedestal, here are some fun facts of how the number 8 is implemented in China: [Read more…]

If you’ve been to China, you’ve probably taken a few photos of the hilarious Chinese signs and banners translated into English.

In this article we want to offer you a slideshow of blunders that seemed the most amusing to us. Some photos are ours while some have been chosen from the “Creative Commons” section of Flickr.com.

Enjoy! [Read more…]

Introduction

One of the most important aspects that we can learn about the endless Chinese culture has to do with a fundamental part of everyone’s life: taking care of one’s health.

The way that Asian populations, and especially the Chinese, have developed their approach to everything connected to the body’s well-being and curing sickness is based on very different concepts than that of which we’re used to.

Their approach to these themes that are so fundamental to individual and social life has developed into its modern form by following a route that had its beginnings in the dawn of civilization, yet its basic features remain unaltered, giving proof of its resiliency and effectiveness.

This approach is still widely practiced, despite scientific discoveries made in the 19th Century that brought about the development of a different type of medicine that took root throughout the world to the point of becoming the commonly accepted model for both various populations and governments.

However “modern” medicine has not completely supplanted the traditional form, which has remained in use as a valid alternative for those seeking a system based on the laws of nature more than those of chemistry. [Read more…]

“All the children of the Gaomi region have come into this world thanks to the care and wisdom of Wan Xin’s hands, the only midwife in the area. Hers is a natural talent that in a short period of time transformed her into the beloved keeper of the secrets of maternity.

But when, halfway through the Sixties, the party worried about the demographic explosion and decided to take action, Wan Xin became the strict vestal of politics for birth control imposed by the regime, and applied herself to practicing abortions and vasectomies with the same zeal with which she brought new lives into the world.

With the passing of time, the campaign for demographic control acquired a characteristic of violent repression of which Wan Xin herself couldn’t escape: in a dramatic chase, a woman gave birth on a raft in the middle of a river to save her baby’s life.

When in the early Nineties the regime relaxed their grip, Wan Xin saw the motives and ideals that she believed in and that kept her conscience quiet crumble.

Until, in a dramatic night, when returning home she got lost in a swampy area: the croaking of the frogs reminded her of the children that were never born, the cold bodies of the animals like small aborted fetuses, surrounding her, covering her, moving her to rethink her entire life.”

Mo Yan, The frogs [Read more…]

This article was written by TutorMandarin, an online tutoring service that helps students to learn Mandarin, through its Chinese learning app and PC Software.

Mid-Autumn Festival and Family Reunions

There are three major Chinese Holidays in Chinese culture: Chinese New Year, Dragon Boat Festival, and Mid-Autumn Festival. Today, we’ll talk about Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋节, Zhōngqiū jié), including the four myths about it, and how they contributed to the current traditions of the holiday.

Mid-Autumn Festival takes places every year on August 15th of Chinese Lunar Calendar. For 2017, it will fall on October 4th, 2017 of the National Calendar.

Mid-Autumn Festival is a traditional Chinese festival held in appreciation of the moon and a way for families to reunite once a year. Since its inception, Chinese people use this day to watch the bright full moon (满月, Mǎnyuè) with their family.

But how does the full moon and family reunion connect in Chinese culture?

The shape of full moon “round” is “圆 (Yuán)” in Chinese, which symbolizes the word “reunion” (团圆, Tuányuán). Therefore, Chinese people always say the phrase “月圆人团圆, Yuè yuán rén tuányuán”, meaning “The full moon brings the full family.”

For that reason, Mid-Autumn Festival is also called “The Reunion Festival” (团圆节, Tuányuán jié). [Read more…]

In June, like every other year, throughout all of China the famous Gao Kao (高考) was held.

As you may already know, it is an annual national exam that allows young high school students to be able to enroll in universities.

I don’t want to bore you too much with the data, numbers or methods used to come up with the final grade.

What I do wish to speak to you about is how this test directly influences the life of young students looking to pass it, and how this indirectly affects the life of all other Chinese.

This is because a test of this demographic breadth and organization is light years from what we’re used to in the West.

A brief history of the Gao Kao

The Gao Kao, whose full name is 普通高等学校招生全国统一考试 (pu tong gao deng xue xiao zhao sheng quan guo tong yi kao shi), is an exam held every year that serves to establish to which university a student may enroll in and begin to attend. [Read more…]