Spring First Day of Spring Vernal Equinox – one of the 24 Chinese Solar Terms Vernal equinox chūn fēn 春分 marks the arrival of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere. Chūn fēn 春分 is one of the Chinese twenty-four solar terms that falls on the twelve Chinese lunar months. These twenty-four solar terms are made of twelve major solar terms and twelve minor solar terms. Summer solstice and winter solstice are two major solar terms. The summer
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Papercutting Art for Lunar New Year – World Culture for Kids Celebrating Lunar New Year with cultural activities! Papercutting art is a hands-on activity for kids and adults to explore art, the Chinese language, and culture. Chinese paper design art is originated from cutting patterns for Chinese embroidery. Later it transformed into folk art. The history of paper cutting began in the 4th century in the Hàn dynasty, China. These 2D design papercutting art are window
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Red Envelopes Hóngbāo Red Envelopes is hóngbāo 紅包 | 红包 in Mandarin. This is one of the most exciting gifts for Chinese children during the fifteen days of the Lunar New Year celebration. They are always red and that is because it is the lucky color in Chinese culture. WHAT ARE RED ENVELOPES Red envelopes or red packets, hóngbāo 紅包|红包 are special designed red gift envelopes contain money inside for the Lunar New Year and
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The Great Race The Story of the 12 Chinese Animal Birth Signs Chinese Zodiac There are many stories and folktales about the Great Race of the 12 Chinese birth sign animals. Here is a simple version and it is quite exciting. THE STORY STARTED WITH… Jade Emperor, the God of all Gods, announced that animal names would be added to the calendar years according to their arrival order to the big meeting. Then, the word got
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Confucius’ Birthday Teachers’ Day Confucius’ birthday is Teachers’ Day in Taiwan. September 28th is the day to celebrate and honor teachers and educators. Teachers’ Day celebration can be traced back to 1952 and even earlier. It is the birthday of Confucius who is the greatest philosopher in Chinese history. Teachers’ Day in China is on September 10. It is a holiday in the Greater China region. You can see the celebration in Macaw and South Korea as
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Playful Chinese podcast introduces everyday Chinese to family and children. You can listen to Playful Chinese wherever you are. It is a portable learning tool for you, your child and your family. What you learn in every episode is what you can use with your child. Add listening to Playful Chinese podcast to one of your family routines. Listen to it during the commute to school. Start listening an episode during snack time at home. There is
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Confucius is the teacher of all teachers. Benevolence rén 仁 is the core of Chinese culture and it is the fundamental teaching of Confucius, the greatest teacher in Chinese culture. Chinese children study Confucius words, The Analects at school. However, they learn about Confucius’ basic teachings way before they start school. Chinese kids learn about being kind, helping others, and practicing what you have learned from their parents. They learn from the culture that they live in.
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What Chinese expression do you say when you meet someone new? What do Chinese people say when they meet a friend? There are several commonly used Chinese expressions along with “Hello! | nǐ hǎo 你好.” “What’s up?” “How’s everything going?” “How are you doing?” We hear these greeting expressions all the time. But, how about in Chinese? Hello! | nǐ hǎo 你好 is just the beginning. Chinese people say Hello! | nǐ hǎo 你好. It literally means
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Mr. Fool Moves The Mountain. It is a Chinese saying 愚公移山 “yú gōng yí shān” It literally means “Fool gentleman moves the mountain.”. Four simple words with a big message. Everything is possible when you are persistent and when you have perseverance. Kids always think this saying is quite interesting. They ask me, “Who is Mr. Fool?” “Why does he want to move a mountain?” I remember that one said, “Is Mr. Fool as silly as Mr.
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The first time I saw an ice cream truck was in San Francisco. I was spending a summer with my cousins. When I heard the music I was not sure what that was. Suddenly, the kids who were playing in front of me all disappeared and then came back with money and ran toward the music. Out of curiosity, I followed and running after them. Here and then I saw an ice cream truck. It was quite
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