Tomb Sweeping Day – 清明节 (Qīng Míng Jiē)

Tomb Sweeping Day’s Chinese name, 清明节 (Qīng Míng Jiē), literally means “clear bright festival”. Clear and bright refer to the arrival of spring. However, Tomb Sweeping Day is also known as Cold Food Day 寒食节 (hán shí jiē). Why? Read on to find out. 清明节 (Qīng Míng Jiē) is celebrated on April 5th, 2010 . [...]

Traditional Chinese New Year Foods

Traditional Chinese New Year Foods Besides a time for vacation, sales, and a much less populated/much more comfortable Beijing, Chinese New Year 春节 is also a time for FOOD! If you have (good) local friends, look forward to feasts with their families that may include Chicken, duck, fish – traditionally eaten at celebrations because in [...]

Spring Festival (春节chūnjié) Travel Tips

Photo ID Required for Train Ticket Purchases This Spring Festival, you will need photo ID when buying train tickets. According to China Radio International and Sina.com news, travelers in Guangdong and Sichuan province must provide photo ID when buying tickets. As of right now, this rule does not apply to Beijing. It’s also a good [...]

Where to get Christmas decorations in Beijing

If you’re still looking for Christmas decorations 装饰品 (zhuāng shì pǐn), you can find almost anything you need at Golden Five Stars 金五星 (jīn wǔ xīng). It’s a huge indoor market that has everything and anything from plastic forks to pingpong balls to fabric by the meter to office supplies to bedding to long cow-shaped [...]