Over 1,000 years ago, a beautiful young firl by the name of Lin Mu was born at the Xianliang Port of Meizhou Bay in Putian, Fujian Province. Clever, brave and kindhearted, Lin Mu could forecast the weather and was happy to help fishermen in distress at sea. She encouraged the people to conquer nature and defeat evil, so she was much loved and esteemed by the people in her hometown. Unfortunately she died an early death at only 28. As the legend goes, she ascended to heaven and became an immortal at Meizhou Bay located opposite to the Xianliang Port.
Category: Chinese customs
The Customs of Autumn Equinox
Autumn Equinox lies at the midpoint of autumn, dividing autumn into two equal parts. In Chinese, the Autumn Equinox is written as “Qiu Fen” (秋分). “Qiu” means autumn and “Fen” means division. This article talks about the customs of Autumn Equinox.
What the weather in Autumnal Equinox
According to scientists, during the Autumn Equinox season, the daily average temperature over the vast area of the Yangtze River and area to its north, drops to 22℃ below zero. At this point, cold air from the north gains some power. The rainy season in most areas of China is over. Descriptions such as cool breeze, blue sky, the sunny fragrance of Osmanthus blossoms, fat crabs, yellow chrysanthemums are all part of this period. According to the Chinese lunar calendar, the fall begins on the first day of "Start of Autumn" and ends at "frost descent". The Autumn Equinox occurs exactly at the midpoint of the 90 days from the first day of Start of Autumn to the beginning of Frost Descent.
What will we see in Autumn Equinox
On the day of Autumnal Equinox, three interesting phenomena occur: 1. The sun shines directly on the equator, with the result that the sun can be seen at the northern and southern poles at the same time and the two poles share the same length of day and night.
What is the Autumn Equinox
Around September 23 each year, the sun reaches the longitude of 180 degrees, walking into the Autumn Equinox. As the Spring Equinox, the Autumn Equinox is one of the solar terms established in the earliest period of Chinese history. "Chun Qiu Fan Lu, Yin and Yang" says: "Autumn Equinox means the day when yin is accompanied by yang, day and night are the same length and the cold and heat are balanced."
Happy Chinese S2: Tourist Chinese — Benxi 05 快乐汉语：旅游汉语 本溪05 小吃
Happy Chinese（快乐汉语） is an entertaining, fun and easy Chinese series. In Season II, we will focus on typical Tourist Chinese by famous tourist spots in China. It helps the learners form a solid foundation for their further studies.快乐汉语系列二《旅游汉语》主要教授在中国旅游途中的实用汉语。我们将以情景剧的方式把中国最有代表的旅游胜地串联起来，展示中国的秀美山川、人杰地灵。
History of Education in China(3)中国教育的历史（3）
Before 1946, the country had only 1,300 kindergartens（幼儿园yòuéryuán）, 289,000 primary schools and 4,266 secondary schools. With the adoption of the policy of reform（改革gǎigé） and opening to the outside world in 1978, basic education entered a new era of progress.
A history of Chinese hair style
From sinners to stylists, from a famed general to ordinary women, Chinese hairstyles have evolved from symbols of ethnicity, class status and political alignment to an expression of individuality and style. In China, possibly more than in any other culture, hair has long had strong political and social meaning.
Chinese furniture: Recessed-Leg Stool
The ‘recessed-leg’ type is closely related to traditional post-and-beam architectural construction. It is characterized by leg supports that are recessed from the corners of the top frame that splay outward toward the base and are reinforced with stretchers and/or aprons. With balanced stance and transparent structure, the Chinese proverb “When the root is firm, the branches will flourish” (bengu zhirong) comes to mind.
Chinese Quyi 中国曲艺曲种
曲艺是各种“说唱艺术”的统称，它是由民间口头文学和歌唱艺术，经过长期发展、演变，形成的一种独特的艺术形式。Quyi is the general name given to China’s numerous ballad arts. It is a unique art form that uses old folk literature and singing.
评书
评书用普通话进行说演，节目以长篇书目为主，内容多为历史朝代更迭、英雄征战的故事。Pingshu (Storytelling)
Speaking Mandarin, performers usually tell stories from longer novels whose contents usually involving changing dynasties and heroes’ military expeditions.
相声
相声分为单口相声、对口相声（两个人说）、群口相声（三个人以上说）。用诙谐的说话，尖酸、讥讽的嘲弄，达到惹人“捧腹大笑”的目的。Xiangsheng (Comedic crosstalk)
Xiangsheng can be performed by one, two or a group of performers. Using humorous means of talking and sardonic lampooning the performers use every opportunity, every syllable of every word, to make the audience laugh.
快板
快板因使用的击节乐器——两块大竹板儿（大板儿）和五块小竹板儿（节子板儿）而得名。大小竹板儿合称为“七块板儿”。Kuaiban (Storytelling in rthythms)
Kuaiban gets its name through its rhythm instrument – two large wood boards and five smaller ones. Together, they are called qikuaibanr (seven boards).
弹词
弹词主要流传于中国南方。演唱者奏小三弦或琵琶等乐器，自弹自唱。如苏州弹词、扬州弹词、广东木鱼歌等。Suzhou Tanci
Tanci is popular mainly in south China where performers play small three-stringed instruments and tell stories through song. There are mainly Suzhou tanci (using the Suzhou dialect), Yangzhou tanci (in Yangzhou dialect) and Guangdong wooden fish songs (in Guangdong dialect).
本土小曲
本土小曲大致可分为时调小曲和民间小曲两大系统。天津时调，安徽凤阳花鼓、广东粤曲等属时调小曲；北京十不闲莲花落，河北沧州木板书等属民间小曲。Local Songs
Local songs consist of seasonal songs and folk songs. Tianjin season song, Fengyang drum of Anhui and Guangdong song are season songs; Shibuxian and lotus songs in Beijing and wooden board storytelling of Cangzhou in Hebei are folk songs.
牌子曲
牌子曲是以曲牌为基本音乐材料，用以说唱故事的曲种。如北京单弦、福建南音、四川清音、广西文场等。Paizi Qu
Paizi Qu is a storytelling art form with qupai (the names of the tunes to which music is composed) as the basic music materials, which includes Beijing danxian (single string), southern songs of Fujian, clear songs of Sichuan and Guangxi Wenchang.
琴书
琴书因以扬琴为主要伴奏乐器而得名。如四川扬琴，徐州琴书等。Dulcimer-based storytelling
Dulcimer-based storytelling gets its name because dulcimer is the main music instrument used to tell stories in this art form. This storytelling method includes Sichuan dulcimer and dulcimer-based storytelling of Xuzhou.
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