Today is Chu Yi (初一), the first day of the lunar new year on the Chinese calendar. For those of you keeping track, it marks the beginning of the Year of the Pig. It’s “my” year, which means I’m either 12, 24, 48, 60, 72, or 84. I’ll let you guess which it is! All […]
Friday Photo: Street Performer
While visiting a Temple Fair in Beijing during Spring Festival one year, I spotted this street performer having a rest on a park bench. I love the colors.
Chinese New Year Nagging — In Song
Do you think your parents nag? Try being a young person going home for Spring Festival (Chinese New Year). The questions come fast and furious, and no matter what you are doing or achieving it seems never to be enough. Singles have it particularly rough. “What? STILL no boyfriend (or girlfriend)??” This is a big […]
Please Don’t Ask
Once I began studying Chinese, I fairly quickly became fluent at answering the following questions: Where are you from? Why are you here? Are you married? Why not? I can’t say that I dreaded the questions (OK, maybe I dreaded #3 and #4 a little), but I certainly knew that they were going to be asked […]
China on the Move – Visualized
January 31 is Chinese New Year, the first day of the new year on the lunar calendar. Because it is the most important holiday for spending time with family, the month-long “Spring Festival” sees a mass migration of people from their places of work or study in one part of the country to their hometowns […]
