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Whats hot now? |
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Qiū |
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| Autumn ! |
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| It is the harvest season, a busy season for rejoicing and abundance. |
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yīn |
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Sound
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Sounds of life : if you pay attention to the
sounds of spring, you will discoverlife under a new angle. In the
summer heat, Beijing is rustling with a thousand whispers, burstling
with a hundred clamors: music in gardens, popular songs, street
peddlers. Let’s stop and lend an ear.. |
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jīn |
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Gold : the color of prosperity. |
For Chinese people, the color gold symbolizes prosperity, present from cereal harvests to red-and-gold imperial palaces. We will discuss the color gold in Chinese language and invite ourselves in the mighty halls of the emperors of old. |
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chī
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| Eat |
| Come autumn, the harvest is made, the nights grow long and the mercury falls: we have to do something! In this case, Chinese popular wisdom advises us to eat, well and a lot, to prepare for the harshness of winter! We’ll discuss Chinese eating habits, go for gourmand outings and discover Chinese cooking basics. |
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lè |
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Fun. |
| Pastimes of old and of today : The games of the rich and the lowly in Imperial China; Chinese leisures in the third millenium. From chess playing to karaoke, times are changing, but we’re still having fun. |
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This autumn’s key
dates : |
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Hŭ Nián |
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| Spring Festival (Chinese new year) : February 14th, 2010. Enter the Year of the Tiger. |
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Zhōngqiū |
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| The mid-autumn festival |
| On september 22th, Beijing people will be celebrating the mid-autumn festival (autumn starts pretty early by Chinese standards). It is one of the great festivals of the lunar calendar and a traditional family reunion. If you watch the moon on that night, you might get to guess if the winter will be harsh (a clouded moon), or mild (clear sky and bright moon). With any luck, you might even see a bunny in there! |
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Chóngyáng |
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| Chongyang Festival: October 16th, 2010 |
| Traditionnally people will celebrate Chongyang by climbing mountains and drinking chrysanthemum liquor. Legend has it that a hero of old vanquished a mountain-dwelling monster by making it drunk with the fumes of the liquor… At any rates, the custom has endured of climbing heights on Chongyang, as it is said to ward off disasters and accidents. Above all, Chongyang is the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, a very auspicious number, symbol of longevity. In effect, Chongyang has thus become the elderly people festival. |
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