With the start of the Year of the Ox fast approaching, we are planning to see the Chinese New Year slightly differently this year with a number of online talks and events in the coming weeks. You are welcome to attend all of these events, including the featured CNY Launch event with cultural performances and an invited talk on Great Books of China (Friday 12/02), as well as a series of online sessions in the coming weeks, covering a diverse selection of topics and a paper crafts workshop, and an art exhibition with panel discussion. For more information on the programme of events, click here:
What a wonderful moment that we all want to cherish the start of Year 2021 with our best wishes for a healthy and happy year that, hopefully, is free from anxiety, anger, chaos, hatred and all the other negative feelings and emotions of 2020.
In this day, the Chinese communities, local and global, would express their new year greetings to families, friends, colleagues and even strangers with a heartfelt Happy New Year – 新年快乐 (Xīnnián kuàilè) in Chinese. An alternative expression is 元旦快乐 (Yuándàn kuàilè). While both are official and commonly used, the former is more inclusive as it can be used for the lunar Chinese New Year (aka. Spring Festival) and the latter is exclusively referred to 1st January in its modern sense.
In fact New Year’s Day (元旦) is a new festival to Chinese, although it appeared in the ancient times and meant ‘the first day of a year’. The Chinese character ‘元 (yuán)’ means ‘at the beginning’ or ‘the start of numbers’ and ‘旦’ means ‘the start of a day’. It referred to the first day of Chinese lunar year in history. However, it has been changed into the first day in Gregorian calendar since the People’s Republic of China was founded in 1949.
Language points
新 (xīn) – new
年 (nián) – year
快乐 (kuàilè) – happy
元 (yuán) – the start of numbers, the beginning
旦 (dàn) – the start of the day; the component ‘日’ part refers to the sun and the component ‘一‘ refers to the horizon. Hence, 旦 means the sun rising from the horizon to make the start of a day.
元旦 (Yuándàn) – New Year’s Day; the first day of the year
With languages, you can feel at home anywhere. Expand your horizons with one of 50 free language courses.
The Global Opportunities Team at Queen’s are supporting 50 students to take a Language Centre course for free in semester 2! Successful applicants for this initiative will also be invited to attend supplementary Cultural Awareness training and a Global Opportunities Information session.
This funding opportunity is applicable to all the languages on offer, including Mandarin Chinese. If you would like to sign up for a class (currently from Level 1 to Level 4), an early registration is recommended.
– The mostly favoured flavour of wintry snack in Northern China
If you think that in winter a hot coffee (or tea) is all that you need to treat yourself while outing in China, especially in the north, you may have missed your sweet memory. Our Chinese LIG volunteer, Xiaohui, whose hometown in South China, is receiving pre-service training in Beijing currently. She will tell you what she has discovered in her spare time wandering around capital city, as shown below.
Have you been to China and seen this? Are there anything similar to this in your own country?
Ingredients: typically 山楂 (shānzhā, Chinese hawberry) or more recently a variety of other fruits like 桔子 (júzi, mandarin orange), 苹果 (píngguǒ, apple), 猕猴桃 (míhóutáo, kiwi), 草莓 (cǎoméi, strawberry), 香蕉 (xiāngjiāo, banana), and many more; 糖浆 (tángjiāng, sugar syrup)
Eat as it is, one by one – similar to eating BBQ skewers but very different feel – it is best to eat in winter as the sugar coating is hardened by the cold weather as if one’s tasting ice
Sweet (from sugar coating), sweet and sour (from fruits)!
Only 7 块 (kuài, the colloquial of RMB yuan) per skewer (less than one pound)
Additional information It has nothing to do with fruit gourd in ingredients but that it somewhat resembles the shape of bottle gourds put together. Hence, the name.
Singles’ Day or Bachelors’ Day (光棍节 Guānggùn Jié) is a day unofficially made for young Chinese who are single to celebrate on the 11th of November (11/11 – two elevens – aka “双十一”节 Shuāng Shíyī Jié). The date was chosen for the connection between singles and the number ‘1’. The four ‘1’s ironically refer to the individuals who have no boyfriends/girlfriends yet, therefore, becoming the bachelors or bachelorettes.
Initiated in 1993, this celebration has become popular among young Chinese, especially university and college students. In celebrating their festival, young singles organise parties and Karaoke to meet new friends or try their fortunes.
In more recent years, the festival has become commercialised as the largest physical and online shopping day in the world, compared with other shopping events such as the Black Friday shopping.
The photos below were taken when I undertook my fieldwork in China on 10/11/2008. With great interest I attended an English class in a university in which two students were presenting their topic on the Singles’ Day. The mascots they explained are represented by two common and typical Chinese breakfast food – 油条 (yóutiáo) and 包子 (bāozi).
Language points
光棍 (guānggùn) – single, unmarried people; bachelor or bachelorette (esp. male, oft. derogatory)
节 (jié) – festival, special day
双十一 (shuāng shíyī) – double 11(th)
油条 (yóutiáo) – deep-fried long twisted dough strips
包子 (bāozi) – steamed bun with fillings
Question
In their presentation, the two girls claimed that only in China a special day was set for the singles. Is that true? What about in your country/culture? Please leave a reply below in the comment box.
This year the Double Ninth Day falls on Sunday 25th October. In Chinese it is called as 重阳 (Chóngyáng), also known as Seniors’ Day. What does it mean then? Why is it related to the elderly historically and contemporarily in Chinese society? What do Chinese people do on the day?
Come join in our latest session of the Chinese Culture Forum 2020 series, delivered by Sihua Tang, a Master in Education candidate from SSESW, Queen’s and also enthusiastic volunteer in promoting language and culture.
For members of the public who would like to attend, please leave your name and email contact in the comment box (will not be displayed) below so that we can send you the invitation link.
This year the Mid-Autumn Festival, 中秋节 (Zhōngqiū jié) in Chinese, falls rightly on the 1st October, which coincides the Chinese National Day.
At Queen’s we are hosting an online celebration including a culture talk with language taster session, cultural performances, a culture quiz and poem appreciation, contributed by Queen’s Chinese students and alumni. The event is scheduled between 12:30 and 13:45 on the day. You are all very welcome to attend the session with the information and registration link below:
Festive greeting with invitation from the Language Centre
Normally people would greet each other by saying 中秋节快乐 (Happy Mid-Autumn Festival). However, in this special time of facing pandemic threat, we can add 安康 (ānkāng), meaning peace and healthy, after 快乐 (kuàilè), which becomes “中秋节快乐安康 (Zhōngqiū jié kuàilè ānkāng)”.
中 (zhōng) – middle, centre
秋 (qiū) – autumn
中秋 (Zhōngqiū) – mid-Autumn
节 (jié) – festival, day
快乐 (kuàilè) – happy
安康 (ānkāng) – peace and healthy
To learn more Chinese vocabulary and expressions in a structured way, you are welcome to attend one of our Chinese courses for non-specialist purposes.
Please submit your answers in the comment box below.
Q1. Mid-Autumn Festival is the time for people to ______ in China. A. travel for sightseeing B. have dragon boat races C. worship family ancestors D. have family reunion
Q2. When is the Mid-Autumn Festival due, according to the Chinese lunar calendar? A. the 1st day of the 8th month B. the 8th day of the 8th month C. the 15th day of the 8th month D. the last day of the 8th month
Q3. What particular dessert do Chinese people like to eat on Mid-Autumn Festival? A. pan cake B. moon cake C. pork pie D. jiaozi dumpling
Q4. What do Chinese people, home and abroad, particularly do on this particular occasion? A. watching TV and playing cards B. making moon cakes and pies C. watching the moon and thinking of family D. going to pubs and eating out
Q5. In which year did the Mid-Autumn festival become an official holiday in China? A. 2008 B. 2004 C. 2010 D. 2001
Q6. What kinds of Chinese mythology are closely related to Mid-Autumn Festival? A. The Monkey Myth B. The Moon Goddess Chang’e C. Yu, the hero who rebuilt the Earth D. Yi, the hero who shot suns
Q7. How many suns did Yi shoot down from the sky? A. 10 B. 9 C. 8 D. 1
Q8. Why did Chang’e leave Yi? A. Yi could not afford the cost of living B. Chang’e’s parents did not allow her to be with him C. Chang’e did not love Yi anymore D. In order to keep the elixir, Chang’e swallowed it and ascended to the moon
Q9. What does this radical part ‘𥫗’ mean in the character of ‘筝 (zheng, or Chinese zither)’? A. bamboo B. wood C. Stone D. Grass
Q10. What is normally written on the surface of a mooncake? A. Greetings and wishes for the festival celebration B. The company trademark/logo/slogan which made the mooncake C. Instructions of how to taste the mooncake D. The ingredients of the mooncake
With new students’ arrival and returning students back to Queen’s, the campus is full of welcomes and smiles – although social distance should still be maintained. The first charted airplane from Beijing to Belfast in ready on its way, due to departure in the evening on the 18th Sept. Let’s wish them a smooth and pleasant journey!
How to say ‘welcome’ in Chinese?
Photo taken at the Belfast City Airport. The welcome board displays multilingual expressions of ‘Welcome’ messages. However, some messages, including Chinese, are hardly visible due to background colour. Image@ Liang Wang.
So, to say ‘welcome’ in Chinese, one would at least say the word ‘欢迎’ twice to demonstrate a real welcoming atmosphere, plus a smiling face, and perhaps shaking hands in formal and business contexts. One seldom hugs or kisses to welcome people in the Chinese culture.
How to say ‘Welcome to Queen’s University Belfast!’, then?
The gate and The Lanyon Building of Queen’s University Belfast. Image@QUB
Now that you know how to say ‘welcome’ – 欢迎, the order of the message is exactly the same as in English in this expression. Let’s learn a few more vocabulary, including Queen’s in Chinese.
来 (lái) – to come
女王 (nǚwáng) – queen
大学 (dàxué) – university
贝尔法斯特 (Bèi’ěrfǎsītè) – Belfast
Queen’s University Belfast (Queen’s in a known context) has its Chinese equivalence， which is called 贝尔法斯特女王大学. It can be further shortened as 女王大学 in the local context. Therefore, put together, the whole expression can be 欢迎来(贝尔法斯特)女王大学！
10th September is the Teachers’ Day in China. Let’s take this opportunity to wish all the teachers and would-be teachers a very special (no holiday, nor extra payment) and happy (only among ourselves) day!
On this day in China meetings and ceremonial events are often held to award star teachers who are considered role models and have made significant contributions to education at different levels. Pupils and students often give flowers and cards to their mentors to thank them for their influence on many young hearts and minds.
Image: The Lanyon Building, Queen’s University Belfast
Language tips:
祝 (zhù) – to wish, to celebrate
教师 (jiàoshī) – teacher
节 (jié) – festival
教师节 – Teachers’ Day
快乐 (kuàilè) – happy
How would you celebrate Teachers’ Day in your culture? Share with us if you have any stories by writing in the comment box below.
