Yesterday I graduated from the four week intensive language program at the Beijing institute of Education. After 600 new characters, 150 grammar structures, and 12 lessons I now have a two week break for the Spring Festival. After break I will be attending my 6 month semester at Capital Normal University studying Chinese language, politics, and history, but for now I will enjoy the break.
I have never experienced Chinese New Year, but from what I have read I look forward to seeing some of the customs. The first experience I had with the New Year was today when I walked through the subway and literally saw NO ONE! This has never happened to me before in Beijing. The subway (or even the city in general) is usually bustling at every time of day, but today at 8 pm there was no one out. That is because everyone has returned home for the Spring Festival celebrating the new year of the Lunar Calendar from February 1 until February 15. I also cannot wait to try some of the traditional dishes served during the New Year festivities such as roast fish (kao yu), dumplings (jiao zi), and rice cakes (yue bing). These dishes all have significance such as the pronunciation of fish rhyming with Chinese the word for luck (fu), and the dumpling and rice cake dishes symbolizing both prosperity (symbolized by circular shape of dumplings) and success (symbolized by fullness of rice cakes). The Chinese also like to hang the character for luck ( 福 ) upside down (dao) on their doors. This is because upside down (dao) sounds like the Chinese word to progress (dao (with a different tone)), so hanging luck upside down means to extend good luck through the new year. These are just a few examples of Chinese customs and I am sure I will see many more next week.
My plans for the next two weeks are: February 1 through the 7 visit Shanghai and stay with my Mum’s friend Billy Xu and his family for New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Then I will explore Shanghai on my own for a bit before I leave to go to Kunming, a city in China’s southern province of Yunan. There I will hike a popular trail that takes you through Tiger Leaping Gorge, the White Falls (calcium deposits in waterfalls that make the water look like milk), and the Old City (an ancient relic city dating back to the Ming Dynasty). I will return to Beijing on the 15th with some great stories and pictures. Until then I will follow customs and take the next two weeks off…
新年快乐 xin nian kuai le! (Happy New Year!)
Have a great time Jordan.
ReplyDeleteHey Jordan,
ReplyDeleteQuick question which may sound kind of crazy. You know how we were joking about starting a business and you would pass it on to me next semester. I was thinking about the book Three Cups of Tea building schools and Pakistan and how we could do a non-profit type of school or health center in a rural town outside of BeiJing. I could raise the funds on my side, we would just need government permission and contacts on your end. I don't know how feasible an idea it is but tell me what you think.
Chris, Wen Tian Fu