Chinese Culture (General)

Dear Anon, It is a common practice for Chinese to place figurines of Gods and deities facing `outwards' rather than inwards into a home. The rationale is the belief that e.g. it would not be appropriate for a altar to face a bedroom or a toilet or other `rooms'. This is because, e.g. bedrooms are considered `dirty' locations e.g. the place where some of us change our clothes... marriage couples induldge in intimacies etc... It is thus considered not appropriate for these figurines to face `inwards' into the home. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Anon, In my opinion, there is some truth in what you had mentioned although it does not have to do with auspicious or inauspiciousness. The reason is because, as many villages and places have abundance of wood (material), it is natural to obtain common and cheap objects (yet strong and sturdy) such as bamboos etc... At the same time, objects especially display stands are usually made of wood as they can easily be carved with intricate designs. Many homes usually display e.g. an elaborate vase with a wooden stand. Few if any of such stands are made of metal. Under the Five Elements concept: Wood destroys or control Earth. Thus, in terms of balance, one would realise …

Dear Spring, I have also done some research and trying to see if I can find something. But currently, I have not found subject relating to webbed feet. Will let you know if I found anything on this. Anyway, what is beautiful in life is in our `heart' and what we make full use of our life:) Overall, for the feet, based on the outline, it can also be classified under one of the five elements: Fire (pointed...especially the pointed toes) , Water (wavy), Earth (squarish) and Metal (roundish feet). Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Anon, Yes, usually, chopsticks (for eating) i.e. placed on a dining table should preferably be placed on horizontal. In restaurants and some home, a small chopstick stand e.g. a porcelain shaped fish or other objects is used. The front portion of the chopstick is resting on this `stand'. As for placing chopsticks vertical on a dining table, so far, it usually cannot be done unless it is placed in a cup or glass. But this seems `rude' and so far never in my life, did I see such a thing before. Usually, in a restaurant, a porcelian recptacle is used where many chopsticks are kept prior to `displaying' them on dining tables. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Anon, Quite recently, there was a news article on divorce in China. The main cause of what I read was that the men in China are getting more `well off' and some of these men engaged in illict affairs. Usually, the women are more forgiving but usually it is the men who initiated the divorce. Divorce is indeed an `ugly' word all over the world. It leaves a scar on the innocent child or children. Yes, based on what I read, divorce is gaining a foothold and increasingly place an impact on the family unit in China. Usually, the poor wife has difficulty getting child support and may need to work to raise their child in China or she may instead get support from her close re…

Dear Anon, In the past, before the communist rule in China, arranged marriages are common. But for the Chinese, arranged marriages are usually between young children and not to elderly grand fathers. The exception is during the dynasty periods e.g. Ching, Ming dyansties where the emperor has many concubines. Today, there are fewer arranged marriages in China. And more parents have taken a modern approach in letting their children choose a partner. One interesting thing to note is that if one looks at the population profile of China especially those below 25 years old, one can see a noticable imbalance i.e. that there are more Males than Females in the population. This is…

This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_00A3_01C11FF2.26BF4320 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable This article shares light into the hanging of a handphone on one's =neck... and the `new' danger it may pose to a person:- --- Original Message -- Hello Everyone, There has been a growing trend of people starting to wear their hand =phones around their necks with some sort of a necklace device. This =trend started to come about recently when hand phones have started to get =lighter and lighter. However, doing so is actually very harmful according to doctors. As we =all know, hand phones discharg…

I believe some of us have read about the claims on the health giving =properties of drinking green tea. I find this article interesting. WORK HARD BUT DO TAKE CARE OF YOUR HEALTH. According to increasing research worldwide, each cup of green tea is more than just a comforting brew. It could very well be your cup of good health. 1. FRESHEN UP For starters, tea enhances your environment. New research points to used tea bags to help fight sick-house syndrome. According to Tokyo Metropolitan Comprehensive Consumer Centre, formaldehyde, usually found in bonding agents, emits an unpleasant odour sometimes causing allergies and other health pro…

A touching story........ One day a father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the Chinese countryside with the firm purpose of showing his son how poor people can be. They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be = considered a very poor family. On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, "How was the = trip?" "It was great, Dad." "Did you see how poor people can be?" the father asked. "Oh yeah" said the son. "So what did you learn from the trip?" asked the father. The son answered, "I saw that we have one dog and they had four." "We have = a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that = has …

This pictures shows some items that are brought into a new house: 1. Usually, an auspicious date (and time) is chosen. 2. On the auspicious day and time, the owner of the home brings some auspicious items into the home: 2.1 A packet of salt, rice and sugar. 2.2 Some of the items shown in the picture are: - A red charcoal stove - A red container containing coal (representing gold) - A `huat' quay or self-raising cake (symbolic of a `raise') - For the Hokkien (Chinese dialect group), a pineapple is rolled from the main entrance door into the house. A `pineapple' represent luck. - Some sweets etc... Take a look at the picture Besides the above, water is boiled immediately af…

1. For those who are not familar with this delicacy, when uncooked, it looks and feels like strands of fine hair. 2. Some of us, usually add `facai' to a dish during Chinese New Year for `luck'. Read on...

Dear Anon, In a `communist' China (especially, in the past), women are considered `equal' or have played equal roles in all areas. For example, in the army, there are also elite Chinese special force (army) women who are considered `equal' with the men. If one looks hard enough, one can find an equal share of women jouranlist/newscasters in China. Especially in the development of communism, women, have grown in prominence as compared to the past (Imperial dynasties). Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Anon, In my opinion, this is not true. This is because, for one reason, especially in China, as houses are to live in and not often houses are sold. It is difficult to find alternative housing. One interesting thing is that trees are grown if they can thrive in a particular region. It would be interesting to know that in my country, if you do drive around in an estate, it is common to see an alternate house growing mango tree. Mango trees thrive in my region. For larger houses, especially in the past e.g. where houses (were) around 8,000 sq feet or more, you can see both Mango and rambutan trees planted. But because of land scarcity and smaller landed properties, Man…

This interesting article shares some light into the `history' or invention of the toilet bowl...

Dear Anon, In my personal opinion, these small magnets are the least of our worries (in terms of applying Feng Shui). It is quite common to find even coca cola small magnets or other colorful ones placed on the fridge. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Anon, In my opinion, this is not necessarily a true statement. However, if one is poor and caught HIV or aids, you do need money to pay for `better' treatment. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Anon, In my opinion, this is not true. On the contrary, many Chinese party officials remarry after the demise of their wife. For example: The late Chairman Mao remarried Mdm Jiang Jing (who later tried to take power) after he died. His earlier wife died and he then married Mdm Jiang The most recent President Jiang, also has a wife. Many other party officials have a family also. It is the belief that to be `respected' one must not be a `bachelor'. Therefore, in my opinion, it is not that girls are afraid to marry them but rather, usually their wife's play a low key position (or seemed to play a low key). Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Anon, Yes, in my opinion, quite alot of Chinese doctors, do approach their work in a holistic way. It is also because, the patients are receptive to them and give them lots of respect. In fact, majority of the time, one reason is because, some of these doctors operate their own pharmacy i.e. or medical hall. Here, their clinic is like a pharmacy and if they have the time, would explain or at least answer the questions. In my opinon, we should not say that Western medicine VS Chinese medicine but rather, they can co-exist with each other. In the past, many people have very high respects for Chinese doctors and this respect gives comfort to many who tend to open up to …

Dear Anon, Chinese women do smoke but they are fewer than males. So far, in my opinion, I personally came across very few if any Chinese women (who had smoked to an elderly age). On the contrast, I know of many Chinese men, who even smoke at the age of 80+ or more. I personally cannot understand why, but in my lifetime, I can recall at least 8 to 10 elderly persons (male) who continue to smoke but yet did not die because of it. I know that some of them smoke quite heavily. Maybe, I may be mistaken but, so far, I know they died of old age i.e. 80 to 90 plus. Perhaps, I am not sure why they did not die from e.g. cancer etc... Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Anon, In my country, which is predominatly Chinese i.e. 70% of the population are Chinese. It is interesting to note that, the Ministry of Environment officals can give a fine or summons to hawkers (selling drinks or food) found to serve food on broken crockery. Personally, I inherited an antique Goddess of Mercy figurine. Unfortunately, one of the lotus leaf (has a small chip). I personally could not throw it away. But I had a fingure of the Chinese Monkey God, it's hand was broken, when I shifted to this home 5 years ago. Since this is a major `damage' I had no choice but to throw it away. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Anon, If one has read the history of China had its fair share of the `opium war' where, foreign countries sell opium to the country. Many people became addicted and became a liability to the nation. This was quite sometime back before the communist took over China. Opium dens were plenty and many people wasted their life. Nowadays, there are still some of such illegal activity but a small percentage. The deterence is that anyone caught selling or courier of the drugs get capital punishment. I believe, China is relatively drug free as t does not have that many mafias that are rampant in Russia. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Anon, I cannot say for the more affluent Chinese living in cities who because of their higher income and purchasing power, are in my opinion just as prone to cancer as anyone else. Here, those living in the city have higher rate of e.g. colon cancer. For those who live in the rural areas, I believe their sensible diet e.g. vegetables, poultry, white meat e.g. fish would contribute to better health. I mentioned in a few messages previously that one `secret tool' is to eat with chopsticks. Here, one is forced to eat or bite smaller chunks of food. Rather than gobble down e.g. munching a hamburger. Therefore, I believe, using chopsticks would be good. But of course, o…

Dear Anon, In traditional China, tea is the favoured drink. Coffee, is in my opinion a more recent development. Chinese is famous for the cultivation of tea and some are considered `vintage' or kept for many years. As mentioned above, coffee is more an `import'. If one get a chance to see the various varieties of tea and even tea for `slimming' are available. Popular tea include oolong, jasmine, iron buddha etc... Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Anon, As far as I can remember, Chinese do have a holy river where one must pay a pilgramage like the Indians. Alternatively, Chinese would rather bury their dead then to cremate bodies and scatter ashes into the sea. Here, the traditional belief is that a good burial site would ensure prosperity for the decendants. More affluent Chinese and in particular the last few dynasties e.g. Ming and Ching dynasties place high (very high) importance over this. Warmest Regards, Cecil