China Hope Live » Chinese festivals http://chinahopelive.net A cross-cultural adventure with the personal side of China. Fri, 18 May 2012 21:12:57 +0000 en hourly 1 Those aren’t Chinese New Year’s fireworks; they’re “recreational munitions” http://chinahopelive.net/2012/01/22/those-arent-chinese-new-years-fireworks-theyre-recreational-munitions http://chinahopelive.net/2012/01/22/those-arent-chinese-new-years-fireworks-theyre-recreational-munitions#comments Mon, 23 Jan 2012 01:48:09 +0000 Joel 大江 http://chinahopelive.net/?p=9651 From Nankai Rob’s Chinese New Year 2012 post “Spring Festival Time. . .Lock and Load“:
“…parties are held on a scale so massive that Caligula would have nodded in approval, and enough recreational munitions are set off to make the Battle of Waterloo feel like a suburban bar mitzvah. You’ll notice my careful word choice here: “recreational munitions” rather than “fireworks.” “Fireworks” as a term carries with it more celebratory, even innocent connotations, but you can’t define Chinese celebratory fireworks by the intent behind them. Certainly they’re set off with great excitement and joy, but you can, after all, also lob a grenade into a dumpster with great excitement and joy, and most of what is being set off these days qualifies for inclusion in the dumpster-grenade category. So: recreational munitions.”

For more about the genuinely stunning Chinese New Year fireworks phenomenon with photos and video, see:

Happy Chinese New Year!

©2012 China Hope Live. All Rights Reserved.

.]]> http://chinahopelive.net/2012/01/22/those-arent-chinese-new-years-fireworks-theyre-recreational-munitions/feed 0 Those aren’t Chinese New Year’s fireworks; they’re “recreational munitions” http://chinahopelive.net/2012/01/22/those-arent-chinese-new-years-fireworks-theyre-recreational-munitions http://chinahopelive.net/2012/01/22/those-arent-chinese-new-years-fireworks-theyre-recreational-munitions#comments Mon, 23 Jan 2012 01:48:09 +0000 Joel 大江 http://chinahopelive.net/?p=9651 From Nankai Rob’s Chinese New Year 2012 post “Spring Festival Time. . .Lock and Load“:
“…parties are held on a scale so massive that Caligula would have nodded in approval, and enough recreational munitions are set off to make the Battle of Waterloo feel like a suburban bar mitzvah. You’ll notice my careful word choice here: “recreational munitions” rather than “fireworks.” “Fireworks” as a term carries with it more celebratory, even innocent connotations, but you can’t define Chinese celebratory fireworks by the intent behind them. Certainly they’re set off with great excitement and joy, but you can, after all, also lob a grenade into a dumpster with great excitement and joy, and most of what is being set off these days qualifies for inclusion in the dumpster-grenade category. So: recreational munitions.”

For more about the genuinely stunning Chinese New Year fireworks phenomenon with photos and video, see:

Happy Chinese New Year!

©2012 China Hope Live. All Rights Reserved.

.]]> http://chinahopelive.net/2012/01/22/those-arent-chinese-new-years-fireworks-theyre-recreational-munitions/feed 0 The evolution of Christmas Eve in China [Updated] http://chinahopelive.net/2011/12/24/the-evolution-of-christmas-eve-in-china http://chinahopelive.net/2011/12/24/the-evolution-of-christmas-eve-in-china#comments Sat, 24 Dec 2011 21:41:28 +0000 Joel 大江 http://chinahopelive.net/?p=9574 In China, Christmas Eve is actually called “Peaceful Night” (平安夜 — after the Chinese translation of the song “Silent Night”), but peaceful is the one thing it definitely isn’t. Here’s a short post about Christmas Eve in urban China, from a foreigner who’s witnessed it go from nothing to the spectacle it is today in just a few short years: Some Thoughts on “Ping An Ye” (Silent Night)
An here’s a Chinese perspective, translated into English: Christmas in Shanghai

For more about the odd creature Christmas Eve has become in China (with pictures!), see:

©2012 China Hope Live. All Rights Reserved.

.]]> http://chinahopelive.net/2011/12/24/the-evolution-of-christmas-eve-in-china/feed 0 The evolution of Christmas Eve in China [Updated] http://chinahopelive.net/2011/12/24/the-evolution-of-christmas-eve-in-china http://chinahopelive.net/2011/12/24/the-evolution-of-christmas-eve-in-china#comments Sat, 24 Dec 2011 21:41:28 +0000 Joel 大江 http://chinahopelive.net/?p=9574 In China, Christmas Eve is actually called “Peaceful Night” (平安夜 — after the Chinese translation of the song “Silent Night”), but peaceful is the one thing it definitely isn’t. Here’s a short post about Christmas Eve in urban China, from a foreigner who’s witnessed it go from nothing to the spectacle it is today in just a few short years: Some Thoughts on “Ping An Ye” (Silent Night)
An here’s a Chinese perspective, translated into English: Christmas in Shanghai

For more about the odd creature Christmas Eve has become in China (with pictures!), see:

©2012 China Hope Live. All Rights Reserved.

.]]> http://chinahopelive.net/2011/12/24/the-evolution-of-christmas-eve-in-china/feed 0 Man-With-a-Child Day in China http://chinahopelive.net/2011/07/04/man-with-a-child-day-in-china http://chinahopelive.net/2011/07/04/man-with-a-child-day-in-china#comments Tue, 05 Jul 2011 02:13:31 +0000 Joel 大江 http://chinahopelive.net/?p=8466 Fathers’ Day doesn’t have near the cultural traction in China that Children’s Day and Mother’s Day do. Here’s an informal survey that distills three commonly-offered explanations for why this is so: Men With a Child Day

©2012 China Hope Live. All Rights Reserved.

.]]> http://chinahopelive.net/2011/07/04/man-with-a-child-day-in-china/feed 0 Happy Dragon Boat Festival 2011! Here’re some photos! http://chinahopelive.net/2011/06/05/happy-dragon-boat-festival-2011-heres-some-photos http://chinahopelive.net/2011/06/05/happy-dragon-boat-festival-2011-heres-some-photos#comments Mon, 06 Jun 2011 04:41:28 +0000 Joel 大江 http://chinahopelive.net/?p=8229 Today is the Dragon Boat Festival 端午节。Tianjin’s Dragon Boat festivities don’t even come close to what we saw in Taipei (though I did once see a dragon boat team bailing out their sinking dragon boat while trying to practice on the canal 卫津河), so if you want to see some dragon boat race pictures I suggest you take a peak at this gallery:


Dragon Boat Festival 2006

All our Dragon Boat stuff was written from Taipei:

©2012 China Hope Live. All Rights Reserved.

.]]> http://chinahopelive.net/2011/06/05/happy-dragon-boat-festival-2011-heres-some-photos/feed 0 Happy Dragon Boat Festival 2011! Here’re some photos! http://chinahopelive.net/2011/06/05/happy-dragon-boat-festival-2011-heres-some-photos http://chinahopelive.net/2011/06/05/happy-dragon-boat-festival-2011-heres-some-photos#comments Mon, 06 Jun 2011 04:41:28 +0000 Joel 大江 http://chinahopelive.net/?p=8229 Today is the Dragon Boat Festival 端午节。Tianjin’s Dragon Boat festivities don’t even come close to what we saw in Taipei (though I did once see a dragon boat team bailing out their sinking dragon boat while trying to practice on the canal 卫津河), so if you want to see some dragon boat race pictures I suggest you take a peak at this gallery:


Dragon Boat Festival 2006

All our Dragon Boat stuff was written from Taipei:

©2012 China Hope Live. All Rights Reserved.

.]]> http://chinahopelive.net/2011/06/05/happy-dragon-boat-festival-2011-heres-some-photos/feed 0 Observing Tomb Sweeping traditions in Guilin, China http://chinahopelive.net/2011/04/05/observing-tomb-sweeping-traditions-in-guilin-china http://chinahopelive.net/2011/04/05/observing-tomb-sweeping-traditions-in-guilin-china#comments Wed, 06 Apr 2011 02:15:37 +0000 Joel 大江 http://chinahopelive.net/?p=7480 A guy goes with his wife’s family to 扫墓, or perform Tomb Sweeping Festival rituals at the family tomb. Lots of pictures, interesting information, and first-hand descriptions of the experience: 清明节 (Qingming Festival), paying respect to the ancestors.

(More about Tomb Sweeping Festival here.)

©2012 China Hope Live. All Rights Reserved.

.]]> http://chinahopelive.net/2011/04/05/observing-tomb-sweeping-traditions-in-guilin-china/feed 0 Observing Tomb Sweeping traditions in Guilin, China http://chinahopelive.net/2011/04/05/observing-tomb-sweeping-traditions-in-guilin-china http://chinahopelive.net/2011/04/05/observing-tomb-sweeping-traditions-in-guilin-china#comments Wed, 06 Apr 2011 02:15:37 +0000 Joel 大江 http://chinahopelive.net/?p=7480 A guy goes with his wife’s family to 扫墓, or perform Tomb Sweeping Festival rituals at the family tomb. Lots of pictures, interesting information, and first-hand descriptions of the experience: 清明节 (Qingming Festival), paying respect to the ancestors.

(More about Tomb Sweeping Festival here.)

©2012 China Hope Live. All Rights Reserved.

.]]> http://chinahopelive.net/2011/04/05/observing-tomb-sweeping-traditions-in-guilin-china/feed 0 [Photo Gallery:] 2011 Tomb Sweeping Festival in Nankai, Tianjin, China http://chinahopelive.net/2011/04/04/photo-gallery-2011-tomb-sweeping-festival-in-nankai-tianjin-china http://chinahopelive.net/2011/04/04/photo-gallery-2011-tomb-sweeping-festival-in-nankai-tianjin-china#comments Tue, 05 Apr 2011 05:52:44 +0000 Joel 大江 http://chinahopelive.net/?p=9911 Here are some photos from around our neighbourhood during the Tomb Sweeping Festival 清明节 from the end of March to the beginning of April 2011 (blogged here). For more about the Tomb Sweeping Festival see:

You can leave comments below!

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