Thinkweird Blog

Qing Ming or the Tomb Sweeping Day is the time for Chinese people to visit tombs, present offerings and burn the spirit money for the deceased. It typically falls on April 4, 5 or 6 every year. Last Friday, I was surprised to see that street stalls were selling the spirit money that looked like the U.S. dollars.

The traditional Chinese belief holds that when people die, they go to the underworld and continue to live on. The underworld does have a currency in circulation, but it is not designed or printed by the residents of the underworld. Read the rest of this entry »

Your Chinese zodiac sign may be a rooster, but you are actually influenced by the dog sign. How could this be possible?

1. The Chinese calendar is lunisolar

The Chinese calendar is both lunar and solar based (lunisolar). Nearly all the important traditional Chinese festivals are celebrated on the basis of moon phases. The solar aspect of the Chinese calendar, however, is important for agricultural activities and remains constant from year to year. Read the rest of this entry »

The Importance of Living by Dr. Lin Yutang was once the best-selling book in America in 1938. In this book, he explains why Chinese don’t think it is a big deal to make noises when eating. Read it with a sense of humor:

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When you eat with Chinese people, the general rule of thumb is: just enjoy your food and don’t worry too much about the table manners. Still, the following tips may prove helpful when you are in China:

• It is quite alright to smack the lips or make “noises” when eating.
• Use two hands when passing things to other people (such as dishes or cups).
• Nobody licks the fingers. Chinese never lick their fingers.
• Don’t stick the chopsticks upright inside the bowl of rice (it is a funeral ritual).
• You can lift the bowl up and eat from it. This avoids dropping the rice on the table.

You may also want to know:

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China briefly observed daylight savings time from 1986 to 1991, but suspended it in 1992. One important reason for this is that China, the fourth largest country in the world, only has one time zone (UTC+8). Moving the clock an hour ahead would further widen the time differences between the east and west part of China. Here is an account by an American living in Xinjiang. Read more...