Qing Ming Festival  Cemetery bursts to life Fire, smoke and incense. 

Photo from Google Search Bright moon on the rise Children celebrate in glee Lanterns everywhere.

Today is the first day of the Year of the Metal Ox. As we welcome this ‘牛’ (New) Year, we must bear in mind that the ox is a strong hardworking animal. The ox denotes hardwork, loyalty, honesty and trustworthiness. These are the ox’s good attributes we should emulate as we leave behind a very difficult 2020 and look ahead to face any new challenge ...

Today is Li Chun (立春), the first festival of the Chinese solar year. Li Chun means the beginning of Spring and it is a time when we all look forward to a fresh revitalised beginning. Among the older Chinese generation, today is a very significant day. Many hold the belief that depositing money into the banks during Li Chun symbolises ...

It’s the Year of the Pig Chinese New Year is a time for celebrating it big It’s a festival of joy and celebration Family reunion is cause for jubilation.   Everyone strives to make it home for reunion dinner on New Year Eve Bringing home all sorts of goodies as gifts As the clock strikes midnight Fireworks light up the ...

I have set myself a reading target of 12 books for the month of December and “Shifu, You’ll Do Anything For A Laugh” by Mo Yan is the first book that I have finished reading. “Shifu, You’ll Do Anything For A Laugh” is a collection of eight abrasive, bizarre and imaginative stories written in the 1980s and 1990s that give an ...

Two sisters’ apparent double suicide in central China recently highlights the tragic consequences of traditional favouritism shown to sons. A 17-year-old girl and her 10-year-old sister died in a double suicide after an argument with their 12-year-old brother over food. In a note written by the elder sister, the fight over the food with their brother was the last straw ...

Hokkien (福建話) is a group of mutually intelligible Min Nan Chinese dialects spoken throughout Southeastern China, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, and by many other overseas Chinese. Hokkien originated from a dialect in southern Fujian. It is closely related to Teochew, though mutual comprehension is difficult, and is somewhat more distantly related to Hainanese. Hokkien historically served as the lingua franca amongst ...

I have just finished reading Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asians and despite my initial misgivings, I found myself dazzled by the novel steeped in love and dripping with money. Think Dynasty on steroids and much more decadent. You will laugh at the idiosyncrasies of the crazy rich. It is like Jane Austen going to Singapore and writing about her experience ...

Good soup lifts the spirits, Stimulating the appetite is one of its merits, In Foochow cuisine, Red wine chicken mee sua reigns supreme.   Made from fermentation of red yeast, Jiu Bing and glutinous rice, Red wine tastes real nice, Mix it with the chicken soup, Behold you get a culinary coup.   Longevity noodles slithery and smooth, Swimming in ...