Many Of The Ancient Chinese Traditional Customs Are Followed Till Date

A custom is often an established behavioral pattern that prevails through years. It is commonly the result of social influences on the people of a society. Traditional customs have their own analogies. They associate certain things or actions with certain happenings in life. Traditional customs are meant to invite good omen while warding off the evils. Let's find out all about the ancient Chinese traditional customs.

Traditional Customs of China

• Chinese considered tea as one of their seven basic necessities. Firewood, oil, salt, soy sauce and vinegar were some of the other basic needs. Ways of tea preparation, the ways of tasting it and the occasions on which it is consumed make the Chinese tea culture unique. Children serve tea to their elders as a token of respect. People of lower order are supposed to serve tea to people of higher ranks. This custom is still practiced on formal occasions. When a person is served tea, he knocks on the table with bent index finger and middle finger to say, "thank you". Chinese tea is not only their drink but also an ingredient of herbal medicines.
• Chinese weddings have certain traditional customs associated with them. As a form of expressing gratitude, the bride and the groom kneel in front of their parents and offer them tea. In response to this, parents drink a small portion of tea and gift the pair a red envelope. The tea ceremony was once an occasion of the families of the newly wed couple to know each other. In olden times, drinking the tea offered showed acceptance of marriage while refusal represented opposition to the marriage.
• As a part of the Chinese tradition, the husband has to carry his wife over a pan of coals so that she can successfully pass through labor. Pregnant women are supposed to be very careful in everything they do, as it is believed that their actions influence the unborn baby. The hour, day, month and year in which the baby is born determine the Eight Characters of Chinese Astrology under which the baby falls. The Chinese believe that these characters are highly influential throughout the life of the newborn.
• Chopsticks form an integral part of Chinese cutlery but few know what they stand for. Chopsticks are believed to symbolize kindness and gentleness. Confucianism taught the Chinese to abandon knives and forks from the dining table. So they have their food cut to bite-size before it comes on the table.
• New year is one of the most prominent festivals of the Chinese calendar. According to a Chinese myth, Buddha had asked animals to visit him on the New Year's Day. Twelve animals came and Buddha named the year after each of them. The Chinese celebrate the lantern festival on the fifteenth day of each lunar month. New Year is about getting together. Red is believed to abolish bad luck. So people clothe in red for the New Year celebration. A long dragon made of silk, bamboo and paper is carried along streets. Young men hold the dragon and dance while carrying the dragon along. The Dragon dance is an ancient Chinese tradition.
• On meeting someone for the first time, the Chinese shake hands. A handshake may be accompanied by a bow to show respect. According to the Chinese customs, guests always gift their hosts on visiting them. It is best to present the host, fresh flowers or fruit. The hosts are not supposed to unpack the gift until the guests leave. Hosts usually escort their guests to a considerable distance when they leave.
• In ancient times, people used to cover the bodies of the dead with brushwood and clay and leave it in the family's home. They left utensils filled with food near the corpse. They thought the spirit of the dead would re-enter the body and would need food. Food items, which would not perish soon were kept beside the dead body. The ancient Chinese dwelt in natural or artificial caves. The Chinese tradition of burying the dead in caverns emerged from this kind of dwelling. As time passed, people sought a separate place to bury their dead and this ancient practice changed.

Many of the ancient Chinese traditional customs are followed till date. They have undergone modifications and reforms due to the changing times. But if you visit China, you will realize that hospitality is a Chinese tradition!

Water Splashing Festival Onto Each Other Symbolizes Good Wishes

Feeling  jinxed?  Had  a  run  of  bad  luck lately?  You  must  make  your  way  to  the laidback  southern  China  city  of  Jinghong. There they have an excellent cure for misfortune—a  bucket  of  water  in  the  face. Apparently,  there  is  nothing  like  a  good drenching to wash away the blues and this city of black and white pagodas and yellow robed  Buddhist  monks  becomes  a  frenzy of water dunking every April as the locals grab  buckets,  basins,  and  bottles  and soundly soak whoever crosses their path.

From  a  distance,  the  city’s  streets  and square take on the appearance of an anarchic  fountain  with  white  arcs  of  water stretching  across  the  air  before  descending  into  peals  of  screams  and  laughter. Everybody   is   fair   game,   so   don’t   go expecting to avoid a soaking. There are no wet  blankets  at  this  shower  party.  The good thing is you can retaliate by grabbing the nearest receptacle and throwing back.

The annual Water-Splashing Festival is most important holiday of the Dai people. Held during the sixth month of the Dai calendar, usually falling in the middle of April, it is also known as the Festival for Bathing the Buddha.

Water is regarded as a symbol of holiness, goodness and brightness by the Dai  people. The water splashing onto each other symbolizes good wishes.

The Water Splashing Festival falls during the New Year of the Dai Calendar. It is the most important festival observed by the Dai ethnic group in Xishuangbanna in southwestern China’s Yunnan Province. The festival is similar to Thailand’s Songkran, three days of festive activities in which everybody gets doused with water.
Traditionally, friends and neighbors sprinkled  each  other  with  drops  of  water to  wish  them  luck  for  the  New  Year:  The 3-day festival takes place during the local Dai people’s New Year party. Then somebody  realized  it  was  much  more  fun  to saturate  and  be  saturated  in  turn. 

Girls huddle and scream as youths attack them with  water.  Even  the  monks  join  in  and jump in the river or nearest fountain. Buddha himself gets wet during a ceremonial bathing in the Mekong river. While all this happens,   homemade   bamboo   rockets scream into the air and tiny, magical hotair  balloons  float  through  the  sky  before being consumed in their own flames. Candle  rafts  float  away  down  the  river  and small  bean  bags  known  as  love  pouches are thrown at whomever you fancy; catch one of those in the face and you know you have an admirer.

There is lots to admire about the province  of  Yunnan  itself.  Scenic  valleys  and fertile  hills  lead  to  lush  paddy  fields  and tropical jungle. Here the people are more laidback  than  their  northern  cousins  and the  pace  of  life  much  less  frenetic  than Beijing  or  Shanghai.  The  people  themselves  are  different,  made  up  of  several minorities,  the  most  prominent  of  which are  the  Dai  people.  Their  fun  and  relaxed attitude  is  more  in  line  with  their  Thai, Laotian, and Burmese neighbors.

The area has become a popular tourist destination with  lots  of  trekking  and  biking  possibilities  in  the  surrounding  area.  Of  course many  come  for  the  New  Year’s  celebrations which run from the 12th to the 18th  of  April.  As  well  as  the  water  party,  an amazing  dragon  boat  race  takes  place  on the river with each craft holding 50 rowers, pilots, dancers, and drummers. An extravagant  parade  rolls  through  the  town  with colorful  floats  surrounded  by  traditional dancers.

 On  the  final  night  a  massive  fireworks display takes place on the riverbank opposite, distracting tired and wet revelers with an awesome display.

Dragon Boat Festival In Hong Kong

Do you know the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival and the famous Dragon Boat Race?This Chinese feast was also unknown to us until one of our interns arrived with many stories about one of his favorite travel destinations.

The Dragon Boat Festival, or Festival Tuen Ng, is held every year, on the fifth day of the fifth month (Chinese calendar). It’s celebrated not only in Hong Kong, but also in other places such as Shanghai or Taiwan and in other cities or countries with a significant Chinese population. Nowadays this tradition is followed in more than 60 countries, with over 60 million international participants – still the most famous one is in Hong Kong.

This event is not only a boat race, even if the race is the most popular happening during this day. The Chinese month in which the festival occurs is actually considered an unlucky month, as it coincides with the beginning of the warm weather season and outbreaks of sickness epidemics.

The Dragon Boat Festival is a Chinese traditional and statutory holiday. It is a public holiday in mainland China and in Taiwan (and yes in Singapore as well), where it is known as the “Duanwu Festival”. It is also a public holiday in Hong Kong and Macau, where it is known as Duen Ng Festival. Its alternative name in English is “Dragon Boat Festival”, after one of the traditional activities for the holiday.

The Duanwu Festival is believed to have originated in ancient China. A number of theories exist about its origins as a number of folk traditions and explanatory myths are connected to its observance. Today the best known of these relates to the suicide in 278 BCE of Qu Yuan, poet and statesman of the Chu kingdom during the Warring States period.

There are many findings about the origin of the festival. Legend has it that the patriotic scholar-statesman Chu Yuan committed suicide (by drowning) to protest against the emperor. People respected Chu Yuan and when they heard that he had drowned, they jumped on boats to search for him. As they failed to find him, they started to hit the drums and make a lot of noise to scare the fish so that they won’t eat Chu Yuan. Also they tossed cooked rice in the river so that the fish won’t eat the poor man’s body. They started to wrap the cooked rice in bamboo leaves which evolved in today’s rice dumplings.

During the West Tsin dynasty, it became popular to eat rice dumplings during the Dragon Boat Festival
Today, the rice dumplings can be either salty or sweet. The salty ones are made from rice, fresh meat or ham, while the sweet ones are made from rice, bean paste, dates’ paste and honey.

The highlight of this festival is obviously the Dragon boat race, where gorgeously decorated boats compete ferociously in a thrilling atmosphere. This practice is very old, it stems from the same era as the first Olympic games!

The race is meant to awaken the highly respected dragon god, who is in hibernation. The awakening of the dragon god, master of rivers and seas, maker of clouds and rain, will ensure a bountiful harvest to ward off diseases.

The symbolism behind the race is that after the dragon boats sail in the water, the water is considered blessed and people can then go for a swim or just touch the water, in order to stay healthy all year.
In the past this rite included fighting boats, where the drowning of some participants in the action was seen as a sacrifice, but obviously nowadays it’s just a boat race and has even become a sport.

The Lantern Festival In China

The Lantern Festival falls on the 15th day of the 1st lunar month, usually in February or March in the Gregorian calendar. As early as the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 25), it had become a festival with great significance.

This day's important activity is watching lanterns. Throughout the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220), Buddhism flourished in China. One emperor heard that Buddhist monks would watch sarira, or remains from the cremation of Buddha's body, and light lanterns to worship Buddha on the 15th day of the 1st lunar month, so he ordered to light lanterns in the imperial palace and temples to show respect to Buddha on this day. Later, the Buddhist rite developed into a grand festival among common people and its influence expanded from the Central Plains to the whole of China.

Till today, the lantern festival is still held each year around the country. Lanterns of various shapes and sizes are hung in the streets, attracting countless visitors. Children will hold self-made or bought lanterns to stroll with on the streets, extremely excited.

"Guessing lantern riddles"is an essential part of the Festival. Lantern owners write riddles on a piece of paper and post them on the lanterns. If visitors have solutions to the riddles, they can pull the paper out and go to the lantern owners to check their answer. If they are right, they will get a little gift. The activity emerged during people's enjoyment of lanterns in the Song Dynasty (960-1279). As iddle guessing is interesting and full of wisdom, it has become popular among all social strata.

People will eat yuanxiao, or rice dumplings, on this day, so it is also called the "Yuanxiao Festival."Yuanxiao also has another name, tangyuan. It is small dumpling balls made of glutinous rice flour with rose petals, sesame, bean paste, jujube paste, walnut meat, dried fruit, sugar and edible oil as filling. Tangyuan can be boiled, fried or steamed. It tastes sweet and delicious. What's more, tangyuan in Chinese has a similar pronunciation with "tuanyuan”, meaning reunion. So people eat them to denote union, harmony and happiness for the family.

In the daytime of the Festival, performances such as a dragon lantern dance, a lion dance, a land boat dance, a yangge dance, walking on stilts and beating drums while dancing will be staged. On the night, except for magnificent lanterns, fireworks form a beautiful scene. Most families spare some fireworks from the Spring Festival and let them off in the Lantern Festival. Some local governments will even organize a fireworks party. On the night when the first full moon enters the New Year, people become really intoxicated by the imposing fireworks and bright moon in the sky.

The Lantern Festival

Every nation of the world has its own traditional festivals. So does China, the multinational country, with some festivals shared by several nationalities. Traditional festivals are closely related to the historial development, custom and folkway, religious belief and moral principles of a nation. Of those festivals some are kept to commemorate certain historial events so as to inspire the people to succeed and carry out some lofty spirits or fine traditions, others to sing the praise for the outstanding persons and express people's grief for them and cherish their memory. Traditional festivals is the result of the people's creation which radiates with the brillinace of the wisdom and ideal of the people.

China’s major traditional festival include the Spring Festival, the Lantern Festival, Qingming Festival, the Dragon Boat Festival, the Mid-Autumn Festival and the Double Ninth Festival. Ethnic Minorities have also retained their own traditional festivals, including the Water Sprinkling Festival of the Dai people, the Nadam Fair of the Mongolian people, the Torch Festival of the Yi people, the Danu (Never forget the past) Festival of the Yao people, the third month Fair of Bai people, the Antiphonal Singing Day of the Zhuang people, the Tibetan New Year and Onghor (Expecting a good harvest) Festival of the Tibetan people, and the Jumping Flower Festival of the Miao people.

In China, the New Year is a time of family reunion. Family members gather at each other's homes for visits and shared meals, most significantly a feast on New Year's Eve. In the United States, however, many early Chinese immigrants arrived without their families, and found a sense of community through neighborhood associations instead. Today, many Chinese-American neighborhood associations host banquets and other New Year events.

The lantern festival is held on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. Some of the lanterns may be works of art, painted with birds, animals, flowers, zodiac signs, and scenes from legend and history. People hang glowing lanterns in temples, and carry lanterns to an evening parade under the light of the full moon.

In many areas the highlight of the lantern festival is the dragon dance. The dragon—which might stretch a hundred feet long—is typically made of silk, paper, and bamboo. Traditionally the dragon is held aloft by young men who dance as they guide the colorful beast through the streets. In the United States, where the New Year is celebrated with a shortened schedule, the dragon dance always takes place on a weekend. In addition, many Chinese-American communities have added American parade elements such as marching bands and floats.

Different And Interesting Greeting Customs Around The World

The customs and rituals involved in greeting someone are often different from country to country, and unfamiliar customs can sometimes be confusing. Situations get even more confusing when different greeting gestures are required between male and female, female and female, male and male… Travelers, especially when in unfamiliar cultures, almost need a manual just to make sure not to offend someone when meeting and greeting.
In the USA, it is normal for men to shake hands when they meet, but it is quite unusual for men to kiss when they greet each other. Greetings are casual – a handshake, a smile and a ‘hello’ will do just fine.
The British often simply say ‘hello’ when they meet friends. They usually shake hands only when they meet for the first time. Social kissing, often just a peck on the cheek, is common in an informal situation between men and women and also between women who know each other very well.
French nationals, including children, shake hands with their friends and often kiss them on both cheeks, both upon meeting and leaving.
In Japan, the common greeting for men and women as well is to bow when they greet someone, as opposed to giving a casual handshake or a hug.
In Arab countries, close male friends or colleagues hug and kiss both cheeks. They shake hands with the right hand only, for longer but less firmly than in the West. Contact between the opposite genders in public is considered obscene. Do not offer to shake hands with the opposite sex.
Hungarians like to use the friendly greeting form of kissing each other on the cheeks. The most common way is to kiss from your right to your left. When men meet for the first time, the casual norm is a firm handshake.
In Belgium, people kiss on one cheek when they meet, regardless of the gender or how well they know each other.
Chinese tend to be more conservative. When meeting someone for the first time, they would usually nod their heads and smile, or shake hands if in a formal situation.
In Russia, the typical greeting is a very firm handshake. Assume you’re trying to crush each others knuckles, all the while maintaining direct eye contact. When men shake hands with women, the handshake is less industrial. It is considered gallant to kiss women three times while alternating cheeks, and even to kiss hands.
In Albania, men shake hands when greeting one another. Depending on how close the men are with each other, a kiss on each cheek may be common as well. When a man meets a female relative, a kiss on each cheek, or two per cheek, is common. With friends or colleagues, normally a light handshake will do. Women may shake hands or kiss each other on both cheeks.
In Armenia, by tradition, and especially in the rural areas, a woman needs to wait for the man to offer his hand for the handshake. Between good friends and family members, a kiss on the cheek and a light hug are also common.
A full list would be extensive, as each country differs just a little bit in the way people greet each other. To add to the hapless traveler’s confusion are the different hand gestures around the world. Before visiting a foreign country, it is recommended to check on the various meaning of hand gestures, as a visitor may inadvertently find himself in a very unpleasant situation. Here is why:
Waving your full arm side to side in many countries is recognized as saying ‘hello’ or ‘goodbye’. However, in East Asian countries it is considered overly demonstrative. Additionally in some European countries, as well as Japan and Latin America, it can be confused for a ‘no’ or general negative response. In India, it means ‘come here’.
Counting with fingers starting with index finger toward the pinkie can make people confused in Germany and Austria as forefinger held up means two instead of one, especially when ordering a round of drinks. In Japan, the thumb alone means five. When Hungarians count on their hand, they start with the thumb being number one.
Curling the index finger, or four fingers toward you as a gesture of inviting somebody to come closer, can be mistaken for ‘good bye’ in southern Europe. In Philippines and East Asia, curling the index finger is used only to beckon dogs.
Pointing directly to someone or something using index finger in Europe is considered impolite. In China, Japan, Latin America and Indonesia it has very rude connotations. In many African countries, the index finger is used for pointing only at inanimate objects.
Gestures can say more than words, and just as we are usually very careful when using foreign languages, we should consider carefully what hand gestures we should display whilst in different cultures. The world is indeed full of diversities, so enjoy your learning.

Greeting Customs In India

washing the feet

Our planet earth is divided into many different countries which have many different races of people, different customs, and different manners. Each country has its own way of greeting people when they go to another’s house.
I am an Indian and I come from New Delhi, the capital of my country, India. India consists of many different kinds of people. There are lots of different religions so there will be lots of different cultures and customs. Unfortunately I don’t know the custom of every state. But I can tell you one thing about all Indian people. Having a guest come to our home is a very big thing for us. In fact some say that guests are like God for them.
When guests come to visit, they get a lot of respect and caring from everyone in the family. The first thing we do when the guest is in the home is call every house member to meet the person. Then someone younger in the family has to wash the feet and hands of the guests in a big bowl of water and then dry them. Then we serve food at the table. We make the person sit down first at the dining table. Nobody can start eating food until the guest takes a bite of his share. After he is done eating, his plate will be taken away and he’ll be given one bowl and a mug of water at the table to wash his hands. This custom is not only practiced in India. We practice this customs in the U.S, too. If you come to my house, I will wash your feet too.
China is a beautiful country and has an interesting culture and manners. According to senior Caizhen Li, if any guests go to their house they want the person to feel that her family has a good relationship with them. “ The first thing we do for the guest at home is give them something to drink or anything they want, “ Caizhen said. All the younger people in the family have to greet them and show respect to them.
For Egyptians, guests are just like a blessing in their house and they treat them very respectfully, according to sophomore Ahmed Heiba. “In Egypt if people go to someone else’s house, they do not enter inside the house until the house keeper comes to the door and tells them to come in," said Ahmed. Guests of any age do not differ in how they are treated. “No matter who comes, young or old a guest is guest,” Ahmed added.
Senior Ashley Jurinka said that in American houses having a guest is “kind of a big thing.” She said they respect every guest who visits them. “The first thing we do when a guest is inside the house is introduce ourselves, and then we ask them if they need anything,” she said. She also said that the age of the guest matters. They treat young guests differently from older guests. They usually like to clean the house before anyone comes. “If the house is not up-to-date and someone is already home, then we feel embarrassed in front of the guest,” she said. If the guest is going to stay they also help by carrying the luggage in to their room.