Category: Chinese Culture

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China’s Luckiest Character: 福 – 2022 Edition!

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!

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Ye Xian: The Chinese Cinderella (Part 2)

The tale of Cinderella is famous all around the world, and almost every country has a different version of the story. The Chinese version is the story of Ye Xian (in Chinese: 叶限 Yè xiàn), first written down around 860AD.

Listen to part one of the story and find out more about it here.

Read on to find out more about the story and listen to part 2 of our narration!

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Chinese Cultural Events in Beijing – November 2021

While Cultural Keys can be considered your go-to for a variety of traditional Chinese culture activities, there are of course plenty of other fun and interesting cultural events happening around the capital every month!

Here’s our round-up of activities connected with traditional Chinese culture for November in Beijing!

Please note: Cultural Keys is in no way affiliated with any of the events or organisations listed in this article, unless explicitly stated. We offer no guarantee about the quality of any 3rd party events, and strongly suggest interested participants to contact the relevant organizers to clarify event details before attending.

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