The Chinese Culture Company
Chinese New Year, known as Spring Festival (春节) in Chinese, is much more than just New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day! Starting from New Year’s Day, the entire festival actually lasts 15 days! Read on to find out more information about some of the most important days of the festival and the history and traditions to be aware of, as well as exactly which date they fall on!
Continue reading “From our friends at That’s Mandarin: How To Ask For Help In Chinese”
At Spring Festival there are many ways to decorate, but one of the most common is to paste the character ‘fu’, 福, on doors and windows. There is evidence that this custom dates back to the Song dynasty (AD 960 – 1279).
福 is pronounced fú and means ‘blessings’. It is traditionally handwritten in black or gold ink by itself on square red paper, with the corners pointing in the directions of the compass, and it is hung up facing outwards to keep bad luck away and bring good luck to the home. It is often hung with other decorations, such as couplets and red lanterns.
Read on to learn about this auspicious character and see some more examples!
Continue reading “China’s Luckiest Character: 福 – 2022 Edition!”
As anyone who has been following Cultural Keys for a while knows, we are a very Beijing-centric company. That isn’t to say we don’t like other cities, but we certainly know more about Beijing than anywhere else!
But what of other cities, perhaps ones that might have a history of tiffs with our beloved Beijing? Shanghai, for example. We decided it was time to explore a bit further afield, and were lucky enough to come across just the person to help us understand our southern cousins a bit better.
Read on to find out what we learnt about Beijing’s southern sister, Shanghai!
Continue reading “Shanghainese-American Bromance – Seeing Shanghai from a new perspective”
The Coronavirus (or Covid-19, as it is now officially called) has been dominating the headlines around the world for weeks. For the most part, those stories have focused on the threat of the virus: threat to life, stability and the world economy.
But while there has been tragic loss of life and continued financial burdens for companies, very little has been said about how companies in one of the hardest hit industries, culture and tourism, are fighting on, and what they are doing to survive this difficult time.
Read on to hear from some of Beijing’s best-known companies, how they are coping and what you can expect from them next!
Continue reading “How Beijing’s tourism companies are dealing with the Coronavirus”