tradition

Women Balk at Chinese Government Plans to Raise Birth Rate

Last week, the Chinese government announced that the country’s population had declined for the first time in decades, setting off a cacophony of alarm bells among those concerned about China’s demographic destiny. Chinese women,...

Gold Mooncakes Smell of Corruption

As the Mid-Autumn Festival coincides with a backlash against conspicuous luxury goods, Xinhua’s Hu Tao and Yuan Ruting note a whiff of corruption emanating from gift sets of solid gold mooncakes: One of the most favored...

Ma Ying-jeou Deletes Simplified Characters

Simplified Chinese characters have been erased from the Taiwanese Tourist Bureau’s website on the instructions of President Ma Ying-jeou. Other government agencies are ordered, and private businesses encouraged, to follow...

Milk Scandal Engenders Moral Commentary

In response to the tainted milk scandal, several bloggers have questioned the moral foundation of Chinese society.   Inside-Out China’s author Xujun Eberlein has re-posted on an previous milk scandal comment: The Chinese...

Video: Throw Away Temple

The Xie Fangde Temple was built during the Ming Dynasty to commemorate Song Dynasty poet Xie Fangde. With plans to destroy the Temple looming, SexyBeijing.tv visits the site for one last look: Just southwest of Tiananmen square...

Qingming, Grave-sweeping Day

Although Qingming jie is an ancient Chinese holiday to commemorate the dead, it was only last December that the Chinese government made Qingming an official holiday. From China Daily: People are walking to a cemetery in the west...

China Discovers the Permissive Society

China’s youth are defying tradition with sexual promiscuity.  But is education addressing this newfound freedom?  And is age-old morality under seige?  The New York Times reports on this new phenomenon and its...

In China, a Moon Cake Makeover – Maureen Fan

The Washington Post: Workers strung red lanterns and spruced up parks across the city for Tuesday night’s celebration of the Mid-Autumn Festival, which for centuries has marked the end of harvest and the time in the lunar calendar when the moon is at its brightest. It is a time for family reunions, for moon-gazing and […]

Savvy Mooncake Sellers Make Big Use of the Internet – Xinhua

From Xinhua via Shanghai Daily: In the run-up to Mid-Autumn Festival, today, the war for mooncake sales is heating up in stores and restaurants. Meanwhile, a discount mooncake market is booming on the Internet, with the number of related posts hitting 551 on a Beijing sub-BBS alone. One advertiser surnamed Wu said, “Mid-Autumn Festival is […]

China’s Values Vacuum – Alice Poon

From Asia Sentinel: In China, the empathy deficit is not only at a worrying level but seems to be further compounded by what intellectuals call a “values vacuum.” In one of his blog posts, Financial Times Chinese web...

Dead Bachelors in Remote China Still Find Wives – Jim Yardley

From the New York Times: For many Chinese, an ancestor is someone to honor, but also someone whose needs must be maintained. Families burn offerings of fake money or paper models of luxury cars in case an ancestor might need pocket change or a stylish ride in the netherworld. But here in the parched canyons […]

Family tree of Chinese sage branches out to include women – Jonathan Watts

From the Guardian, another article about the rejuvenation of Confucius’ legacy in China: It has taken almost 2,557 years, but the family tree of Confucius, the philosophical father of Asia’s male dominated society, is finally going to acknowledge women. Female descendants will be recognised in a new lineage chart of the Chinese sage’s family – […]

Ancient classics redeemed in modern-day China – Xu Xiaomin

From Shanghai-Star: For dozens of years, many Chinese people, especially the young, have been proud of speaking good English and being familiar with foreign culture. Such people are considered knowledgeable.Suddenly, the situation has changed. Just one or two years ago, a long forgotten word guoxue (State study, which mainly means the Chinese ancient classics) has […]

China’s many messages to quell unrest – Robert Marquand

From the Christian Science Monitor (link): As Chinese leaders fret over rising peasant protests, political instability, and a decay of traditional values, the Communist Party is experimenting with multiple new messages –...

China Daily: Xinjiang’s music may join world list

From China Daily, via People’s Daily: Uygur Mukam, the melodious centuries-old music from Xinjiang, might soon become an art form deemed to be internationally-recognized intangible cultural heritage. The genre dates back to the 15th century and comprises narrative and dance music created by the ancient Uygur people. Intangible cultural heritage is defined by the UNESCO […]

Xinhua: The unbearable heaviness of tradition

From Xinhua – English: As many other celebrations like the Double Seventh Festival and Dragon Boat Festival have gradually faded from public attention, Spring Festival, or Chinese Lunar New Year, seems to be the last tradition still cherished today, although a lot of its cultural content has been lost or changed. According to 56-year-old Cao […]

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