Varying dates In the Gregorian calendar the June solstice dates vary. For example, it occurs on June 21 in 2014 and 2015 but on June 20 in 2016. A June 22 solstice will not occur until June 22, 2203. The last time there was a June 22 solstice was in 1971.
Category: Chinese customs
The Baijiu Diaries
Literally translated, baijiu (白酒) means “white alcohol” or “white spirits.” Weighing in at a highly potent 40-60 percent abv, those who have not spent a while acquiring the taste are certain to cringe after a single sip.
Of tombs, traps & the intrepid
“In modern times, simply finding the location of an ancient tomb is more difficult than the process of getting it open. All those spots marked by an obvious pile of earth, a stone stele or some such, have already been dug up. If you want to find those tombs that have lain hidden for centuries beneath the earth with no above-ground marking to signify their presence, then you’re going to need certain technical knowledge and apparatus, like gavelocks, Luoyang shovels, bamboo nails, drills and the like. Some specialists don’t rely on such tools, and instead search within ancient tomes for clues that will lead them to lost tombs. Even fewer still have a knowledge of the occult sciences, and use the techniques of geomancy to read the lie of the land in their search for the resting places of the dead. I myself belong to the latter category…”
Zhang Muye, “Ghost Blows Out the Light” (《鬼吹灯》)
Chinese Calligraphy
General Introduction
In China calligraphy occupies a distinguished position in the field of traditional art. It is not only a means of communication, but also a means of expressing a person's inner world in an aesthetic sense.
Chinese Ethnic Groups：畲族（Shē zú ）The She ethnic minority
Population: 634,700 Major area of distribution: Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangxi and Guangdong Language: She
About Zhu Rong
Zhu Rong(祝融Zhù Róng) is the God of Fire in the ancient Chinese mythology(mythology is a group of myths, especially all the myths from a particular country, religion, or culture). He's believed to live in the Bright Place of Kunlun Mountain. It is said that he sent the kindling from heaven, and taught human beings how to use fire.
About Porcelains reveal five ways to color history
The Qing Dynasty was an era of ceaseless war. Both official and private kilns(a kiln is an oven that is used to bake pottery and bricks in order to make them hard) were unused until the middle of the rule of Kangxi.
About Taotie
Taotie(饕餮tāotiè) is a mysterious(someone or something that is mysterious is strange and is not known about or understood) monster in the ancient Chinese mythology. It is said that the monster was extremely greedy of eating and would eat anything within its sight. It even ate its own body. So, the image of the taotie is just a big head and a big mouth without body. The taotie ate too much and died as a result. The monster then became a symbol of greediness and was used to describe people too gluttonous or too greedy.
A rough guide to use China phone cards and mobile
Apart from calling IDD from your hotel room, there are various phone cards available in post offices inside hotels or at most newsstands on the street in China.
The Language of an Ancient Instrument
If you thought learning Chinese was hard, then pop over to the musical instrument vocabulary list for a break. All you have to remember is the suffix 琴 (qín), and you’ll have the names of most instruments half memorized—violin is 小提琴 (xiǎotíqín), keyboard is 电子琴 (diànzǐqín) and the harmonica is 口琴 (kǒuqín). You can even use 琴 as a shortened way of saying these instruments (我在练琴, I’m practicing qin), which works out great until you realize that people have no idea whether you’re playing a piano, a guitar or an erhu.
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