Happy New Year!! The Year of the Dragon 新年快乐！龙年

landawei Posted in Chinese culture, News from China，Tags: ,
23 January 2012
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Happy New Year! 新年快乐！Year of the Dragon

Happy New Year! 新年快乐！Year of the Dragon

Happy New Year!  新年快乐！万事如意！恭喜发财！红包拿来！

I suppose I’m still facing a bit of holiday fatigue from late last year, after Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years and just three weeks into the new year, another holiday.

But who am I to complain??  Holidays are supposed to be a festive and fun occasion.   You get time off from work to be with friends and family.

Just as millions of people criss-cross the United States to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas, millions of people in China and Taiwan will travel home to celebrate Chinese New Year the Year of the Dragon(龙年). More »

恭禧发财 Happy Year of the Rabbit!

landawei Posted in Chinese culture，Tags: , , , ,
02 February 2011
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The Year of the Rabbit, 2011

I would like to wish all my readers at “My China Connection” a  very Happy Year of the Rabbit.   恭禧发财

I’m amazed at the magnitude of the celebration of the Chinese Lunar New Year.  However, I wonder why it is called also called the “Spring Festival”春节.  I’ve seen plenty of photographs of very cold weather in China.

For example, 100,000 Chinese migrant workers leaving Zhaoqing 肇庆市in Guangdong on motorbikes to escape crowned trains. More »

Contrasting Chinese and Western dragons

landawei Posted in American culture, Chinese culture，Tags: ,
24 January 2011
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With the Chinese Lunar New Year approaching, I thought it would be a good idea to contact the perceptions  of dragons in Chinese and Western cultures.   They are quite different.

In Western cultures, we view them as vicious, hideous and  malevolent, which are fire-breathing menaces what need to be slain by a heroic brave knight.

In Chinese culture, the dragon is viewed as something as wise and benevolent and symbolizes longevity.

If you want to read a really wonderful piece of English literature with involving a dragon, I would recommend J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit“.   The fire breathing dragon Smaug guards a stash of valuable treasures in a cavern under Lonely Mountain. More »

“One Night in 北京“ Jam Hsaio萧敬腾/蕭敬騰 Concert in Beijing

landawei Posted in Chinese culture，Tags: ,
03 December 2010
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Jam Hsiao 萧敬腾/蕭敬騰 held his first concert in Beijing on November 27 after the 2 concerts he held at Taipei last year and singapore at the beginning of 2010.   I understand he’s taking a hiatus from concerts for a while because he’s making a foray into acting with a movie in the near future.

Getting back to his Beijing concert.  He performed  some exclusive arrangements for the Beijing concert, which from what I was told amazed his fans.

He sang a song called “One night in 北京”.   Some members of the  Beijing Symphony played in the background. More »

American and Chinese cold remedies, part 2

landawei Posted in Chinese culture，Tags: , ,
31 October 2010
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Ginger soup. I've been told that ginger has some good curative properties for those with colds.

It is already getting a bit nippy in places like Beijing and people in the Middle Kingdom may already be in need some  remedies.

As we were discussing cold remedies, my friend in Beijing told me “药补不如食补” (yào bǔ bùrú shíbǔ) which more or less means that every nation has its way to cure a cold.

Chinese seem to have an aversion to taking medicine, an attitude that has me a bit perplexed.  I think one reason is that Chinese are more concerned about the side effects of medicine than Americans.   Is that a correct assessment? More »

Mia Mei’s take on “My China Connection”.

landawei Posted in American culture, Chinese culture，Tags:
20 October 2010
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Meet my little bilingual, bicultural friend, Mia-Mei! This image comes from her blog.

In March of this year, I met someone who shares the same interest in Chinese culture and language as I do, but he’s light-years ahead of me on the language.   He lived in Asia for 20 years.

He’s fluent in Japanese and gets around in Chinese and Korean as well.   I marvel at how effortlessly he writes Chinese characters.  He’s really amazing.

But he also got me interested in blogging, which is what he does professionally.

He has a very cute and darling two-year old daughter named Mia-Mei.   She’s learning to be bicultural from her American father and Chinese mother.

At the present time, Mia-Mei is with her mommy in China visiting family.  Her dad has let me know many times how much he misses her.

I’ll make mention of Mia-Mei every now and then.  She’s learning to blog like her daddy.  Don’t believe me?  Check out her blog “Mia-Mei’s Morsels“.  She likes “My China Connection”!  Not only is she cute, she’s smart!

Jam Hsiao 蕭敬騰 sings “Desperado”

landawei Posted in American culture, Chinese culture，Tags: , , , ,
02 October 2010
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Jam Hsiao萧敬腾 sings "Desperado" by the Eagles. Has he ever sung "Hotel California"?

更多中文解释请点粗体字, 由 iciba.com 提供

Yesterday, I wrote a blog about Jam’s first English interview.  Today it is about his music.

In my opinion, one of the amazing things about Jam Hsiao萧敬腾 is his pure, raw talent.   From my understanding, he hasn’t had any formal voice or instrumental training.  He’s picked up everything on his own.  I’ve been informed that he doesn’t read music, so everything he learns he picks up by ear.

That excellent ear that he possesses is not only good at picking up music, but also English.   Before he started studying English, he was able to sing a number of English songs by Western musicians.  Among his favorites are Bon Jovi and the Eagles. More »

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