Welcome to the “China and Chinese Culture” section of Chinese4kids.net! Here, you’ll embark on a captivating journey through China’s rich heritage, traditions, and contemporary lifestyle. Discover historical insights, cultural traditions, art and literature, modern Chinese society, language nuances, cuisine, and breathtaking geography. Our engaging articles and interactive activities bring the essence of China to life, making it an exciting adventure for kids and culture enthusiasts alike. Dive in and start exploring the fascinating world of Chinese culture today!
Today is the traditional Chinese Qingming Festival 清明节 (Qīngmíngjié), meaning Clear and Bright Festival. It is a day to mourn the departed people. Traditionally, the Chinese believed that the spirits of deceased ancestors will look after the family. Hence. Qingming Festival is the traditional day for people to visit the graveyard, so it is also […]
Qingming Festival (清明节） Read More »
For many people who want to learn Chinese, it is confusing when they learn that what they are about to learn is “Mandarin”. What is Mandarin? Is it a different language other than Chinese? Or, are Chinese and Mandarin the same language? Indeed, these are very meaningful questions. Chinese vs Mandarin For non-Chinese people, the
Chinese and Mandarin – Are they the same Chinese language? Read More »
Like most of the names from the rest of the world, Chinese names have two parts: 姓 family name and 名given name. Unlike names from most of the western countries, in China, the family name 姓 comes before the given name 名. Therefore, 丽 from family 赵 is called 赵丽 Zhao Li instead of Li
An Introduction to Chinese Names Read More »
We often say, if only we could transfer our experiences to our children… yes, indeed, so many things we can teach or show to our children but experience is something we cannot pass to them. They got to go through and gain the experience by themselves, either good or bad. However, we can teach our
12 Chinese Sayings on Life Lessons – You Can Apply Them to Many Life Occasions Read More »
In our Chinese New Year series, we’ve talked about Chinese New Year Celebrations for kids, Chinese Zodiac animals. 2019 is the year of the pig, so we are going to talk about PIGS in Chinese. How to Say Pigs in Chinese Pig in Chinese is called 猪(Zhū). One pig is 一头猪 (yītóu zhū); two pigs
Chinese Year of the Pig – Learn about Pigs in Chinese Read More »
You might or might know, that Chinese zodiac, or shengxiao in Chinese, is similar the Western one. Yes, both zodiacs have time cycles divided into 12 parts, each is associated with a person’s personality to the influence of the person’s particular relationship to the part of the cycle. Nevertheless, they are quite different: the 12-part
Chinese Zodiac Animals – Great Race Story and More Read More »
小朋友，过新年， Xiǎopéngyǒu, guò xīnnián Little friends, we are celebrating the New Year 穿新衣，贴春联， Chuān xīnyī, tiē chūnlián We put on new clothes, and we glue the Spring Festival couplets 点灯笼，放鞭炮， Diǎn dēnglong, fàng biānpào We light up lanterns, and we set off firecrackers 还有饺子和压岁钱, Háiyǒu jiǎozi hé yāsuìqián There are also dumplings and lucky money
Celebrating New Year – a Chinese Chant to Learn about Chinese New Year Read More »
Abraham Lincoln says, “The better part of one’s life consists of his friendship.” Friends are so important to all of us. They bring support, love and excitement to our lives. Friendship is therefore an essential part a child needs to learn. As teachers and parents, what can we teach our kids the wisdom from our
12 Chinese Proverbs on Friendship Read More »
Mark Twain said, “Good friends, good books, and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.” In China, we have similar sayings. Let’s have a look at 12 Chinese sayings on books. HOW DO CHINESE PEOPLE VIEW BOOKS? There are many sayings on books in Chinese. Here we can have a look at the sayings which
12 Chinese Sayings on Books Read More »
Tick tack, clock ticks and time flies by. To all of us, time is invisible but time is everywhere. We sometimes feel time does not move and most of the time we just don’t realise how fast it goes away! How do Chinese people view time? We can understand how important time is to Chinese people,
12 Chinese Proverbs on Time Read More »
Christmas is coming… After it, the new year of 2018 is following… Holiday season has already started. Aren’t you busy at preparing gifts and writing greeting cards? If you need some gift inspiration, check out Ideas of Gifts with Chinese Elements ; if you want to write greeting cards in Chinese, I have some phrases and
Wishing You Happy Holidays – Wishes, Greetings and Messages in Chinese Read More »
On special occasions like New Year Day, Christmas, graduation day, birthdays… or just a random, ordinary day to cheer up the people we care, we want to give out a gift – maybe small, maybe big — but unique gifts with some Chinese elements. It is not always easy to come up with ideas. Isn’t
Ideas of Gifts with Chinese Elements Read More »
There is one short story made of words that used only one sound, shi (sounds like ‘sure’). We call it “The Story of Mr. Shi Eating Lions” which was written by Zhao Yuanren, a linguist in Chinese, the author of “A Grammar of Spoken Chinese”. This short story is composed of 91 words and all
A Short Chinese Story Made of Words of One Sound SHI Read More »
Every autumn, Chinese people celebrate a very special day, Mid-Autumn Festival. It is always the 15th day of August according to Chinese calendar. Usually it falls in September or October. Do you know how people have Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival celebration? On every 15th of each month based on the Chinese calendar, the moon is round.
Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival Celebration Read More »
Some proverbs have the similar meanings in both Chinese and English, although the expressions are different. For example. “Burnt child dreads the fire. ” in Chinese, the corresponding proverb is “一朝被蛇咬，十年怕井绳 (literally means, “He who was once bitten by a snake is frightened at the sight of a coiled rope.” ) Can you make the
12 Proverbs with Similar Meanings in Chinese and English Read More »
Public signs are very important. Many signs in China look similar to the ones available in Europe, USA and other countries in the world. Familiar Public Area Signs For example, NO SMOKING is pretty much the same. 禁止吸烟 Jìnzhǐ xīyān No Mobile Phone looks similar too. 请勿使用手机 Qǐng wù shǐyòng shǒujī Although a person does
Common Public Area Signs in China Read More »
There are some sayings in English that are so inspirational that we would like to find out how to say them in other languages. Here I have selected 8 great sayings that I believe all of us can get strength, encouragement and inspiration, in both English and Chinese. 1. Actions speak louder than words. 行动比语言更响亮。
Eight Inspirational English Sayings That Are Also Inspirational in Chinese Read More »
As China is gaining more and more power, Mandarin Chinese as a language is gaining more and more attention. So it is not surprising to read the news from UK on Sept 07, titled as “More than 5,000 children to learn Mandarin as part of the £10m scheme to make Britain more competitive globally“. What
8 Hours a Week Mandarin Chinese in UK School Read More »
Over time, Chinese characters are developed based on several strategies. Some basic Chinese characters were originally pictograms, or pictographs (象形, literally meaning “form imitation). They symbolize objects or express meanings iconically. Pictogram Chinese characters are easy to recognize as the objects represented in the symbols can be seen as soon as the meaning is revealed.
36 Chinese Pictogram Characters Read More »
Chinese New Year, or Chinese Spring Festival is the biggest celebration for Chinese people. People travel from everywhere in the country back home to get together with families to celebrate it. Here I would like to share with you a 3-part series of documentary videos from BBC on Chinese New Year. It is a really
BBC Chinese New Year Documentary Series Read More »
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