Category: Chinese Culture

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Best of Beijing: The Best Places for Actively Exploring the Capital City!

It’s often said that spring is the best time to visit Beijing and see everything the city has to offer. While getting out and about and experiencing everything isn’t exactly possible at the moment, that doesn’t mean you can’t start to make plans!

To that end, we have started our Best of Beijing series, introducing you to the best that the Chinese capital has to offer, from food to flowers and from classical architecture to useful words and phrases especially for Beijing! 

Today we bring you part 2 of our series: the most interesting places to actively explore around Beijing!

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Security checks at Beijing parks: Here’s what to expect if you’re a foreigner

Can there ever be enough photos of beautiful flowers?! (The correct answer is ‘no’ btw!) Add some to your own collection this springtime!

Beijing’s very own Keukenhof is in full bloom right now! Visit Zhongshan Park (on the west side of the Forbidden City) in the next few days to see tulips, wisteria, late blossom, lilacs and peonies in full bloom! It’s breathtaking!

If you do plan on visiting, be aware that security for foreigners here is extremely tight. Read to find out what you might encounter when visiting Beijing parks or scenic spots during these still-locked-down days!

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Shanghainese-American Bromance – Seeing Shanghai from a new perspective

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!

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Marking Guanyin’s Birthday – March 12th 2020

March 12th, the 19th day of the second lunar month, is celebrated by Buddhists as Guanyin’s birthday. Guanyin, an enlightened being called a Bodhisattva, is also known in Sanskrit as Avalokitesvara and in English as the Goddess of Mercy, and her statue can be found in most Buddhist temples.

Read on to find out more about her and the celebration!

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