~*Feng Shui*~ Tuesday, Apr 29 2008 

Culture and Religion fablala 5:00 pm

Some of you might be wondering what ‘Feng Shui’ is. Well, it is a Chinese practice believed to utilize the Laws of both Heaven and Earth to help improve life by receiving positive Qi (flow of energy).

The main theories of Feng Shui are Qi, Polarity, Magnetic North and Luopan Compass and Bagua.  

It’s interesting that you can find schools that teach Feng Shui. You learn the practice of arranging your furniture, for example, in your house. You do this in order to achieve harmony within your own environment.

It has been researched that the lunar cycle, weather, seasons and colours alter our emotions and our behaviour.

Luckily Feng Shui consultants are there to help determine what kind of atmosphere a person will flourish in. They then create an environment for you to feel comfortable in and help you succeed. They will look at colours, art, plants, lighting, the type of furniture etc.

I’ve been fascinated about Feng Shui for a while and do share some belief in it.  

 

~*Chinese Festivals*~ Sunday, Apr 27 2008 

Culture and Religion , , fablala 5:57 pm


Some of the most famous Chinese festivals are Chinese New Year, the Lantern Festival, Dragon Boat festival and Moon or Mid-Autumn festival.

Let me just give you a small overview about what each is about.

Let’

s start off with Chinese New Year. It is one of the most important festivals! The new years falls in between the months of January and February, of course it depends on the Lunar, or moon, calendar.

To prepare for this special occasion, houses are being cleaned thoroughly. Tangerine trees, Chinese paintings and calligraphy are sold in masses.

On the eve of the New Year you spend time with your family and friends where prayers are made. Then on the actual New Year you wear new 

shoes and new clothes to symbolize the New Year. You get small red packets containing money in them!

The days after, you spend time with your relatives and pray for good fortune, until the fifteenth day.

This is where the Lantern festival joins in. It lasts 3 days long. Good fortune, health and happiness are the main symbols on these lanterns. Many lanterns are also hung in homes.  Then after the Lantern festival, everything slowly settles down back to normal life.

Throughout the New Year, “lion” dances are performed. Being a “lion” dancer takes years of practice, as you have to have good coordination to dance the “lion”

.

But it is a spectacular event, which everyone must experience once in a lifetime!

The Dragon Boat Festival is held on the fifth day of the fifth moon, which is usually around June time. This day is to honour the Chinese port and patriot, Wut Yuan, as he drowned himself in the river. 

The local people threw food into the water so that the fish would not feed on his body. On this day boat races are held. The boats are long and decorated very colourful.  They are about 45 to 120 feet long.

The Moon festival is celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month. Traditionally, family members get together with friends and eat moon cakes and pomeloes outside under the moon. You see many carrying brightly, coloured lanterns and some are lit on towers. Mid-Autumn trees are planted as well. Similarly to Chinese New Year, there are fire dragon dances. 

Hopefully these gave you a nice insight on their traditions!

 

~*Traditional Chinese Dress*~ Thursday, Apr 24 2008 

Culture and Fashion and Religion fablala 6:58 pm

When it comes to Chinese New Year, or any related occasion, I think the best thing you can wear is the traditional Chinese dress that are available in a wide variety of colours.

Red, blue, white, pink, black etc. But the most common colour you would find in China is RED.

For girls, you can have the dress either short or long and combine it with anything that’s into fashion nowadays. Such as black tights, they would like fabulous under the shorter dresses. 

It doesn’t even have to be a dress if you are more of a prefer-jeans-with-top kind of person. They have blouses for that matter.

What I really like about them is how they make you look slimming. But the material feels nice too. I also love the different kinds of prints you can get. My favourite ones are the ones with the dragons on them or with flowers.

Even celebrities wear them as a fashion icon.