Culture Shock Bike Tours Shanghai

DISCOVER CHINESE MINORITIES - ZHUANG PEOPLE

Mon, 29 Apr 2019 09:27:49 -0700

Ethnic minorities in China are the non-Han Chinese population in the People's Republic of China (PRC). China officially recognizes 55 ethnic minority groups within China in addition to the Han majority.

The Chinese-language term for ethnic minority is 少数民族; shǎoshù mínzú; literally: 'minority race'. In early PRC documents, such as the 1982 constitution, the word "minzu" was translated as "nationality", following the Soviet Union’s use of Marxist – Leninist jargon. However, the Chinese word does not imply that ethnic minorities in China are not Chinese citizens, as in fact they are. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, governmental and scholarly publications have retranslated "minzu" in the ethnic minority sense into English as "ethnic groups". Some scholars, to be even more precise, use the neologism 族群; zǔqún to unambiguously refer to ethnicity when "minzu" is needed to refer to nationality.

The largest ethnic group, Han, according to the Sixth National Population Census of the People's Republic of China (2010), (updated this month on https://guides.lib.unc.edu/china_ethnic/statistics), constitute over 92 % of the total population. The next largest ethnic groups in terms of population include the Zhuang (16,926,381), Manchu (10,387,958), Hui(10,586,087), Uyghur (10,069,346), Miao (9,426,007), Yi (8,714,393), Tujia (8,353,912), Tibetans (6,282,187), Mongols (5,981,849), Buyei (2,870,034), Yao(2,796,003), and Koreans (1,830,929). Minority populations are growing fast due to their being unaffected by the now ended One Child Policy.

Today we will tell you a little bit about the Zhuang People!

China’s largest minority group (about 17 million), the Zhuang, have persisted through centuries of unification attempts,...Read More

THE GREATEST CARTOONISTS OF 20TH CENTURY CHINA

Fri, 12 Apr 2019 02:11:35 -0700

Although China has gained undeniable recognition on the world’s scenes, yet Chinese animation remains an enigma in the West – despite quite a few outstanding artists who were highly productive throughout the 20th century.

Now it's about time to finally meet them!

1.Zhang Leping

(1910–1992)

Most famed for his 'Sanmao the Orphan' comics. In the late 1920s, Zhang moved from his coastal hometown to Shanghai, where he quickly found work as a commercial artist and cartoonist. Zhang joined Ye Qianyu and others in 1935 in an anti-Japanese cartoon propaganda team. He debuted the 'Sanmao the Orphan' comics — China's first cartoons produced specifically for young children — in 1935 and drew them until 1937, when the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War led Zhang to leave Shanghai as a member of a cartoonist propaganda troupe.

He traveled all over China during the war, finally returning to Shanghai in 1945, and quickly returned also to his Sanmao character, producing new series of cartoons that depict Sanmao as a child recruit in the corrupt Nationalist army. Zhang's biggest hit came in 1947 with the serial publication of 'The Wandering Life of Sanmao', a narrative about the trials and tribulations of life on the streets for Shanghai's orphan children.

After the Chinese Communist Party’s victory in 1949, Zhang and his family moved into the second floor of a house on Shanghai’s Wuyuan Road, in the Former French Concession. He would live there for the rest of his life, as he worked as a cartoonist at state media publications (Shanghai People's Fine Arts Publishing House, the Shanghai-based Liberation Daily and the Shanghai Youth and Children's Publishing House).

Today, China is known as the world's bicycle capital. Especially if you consider the bike – share oversupply…. But this Western invention was not easily integrated into the Chinese way of life.

The first mention of bicycles in China was in 1860. At that time, a Chinese official named Bin Chun wrote of seeing a fantastical sight, the 'velocipede', on the streets of Paris.

“On avenues, people ride on a vehicle with only two wheels, which is held together by a pipe,” Bin Chun wrote in his travel diary. “They sit above this pipe and push forward with movements of their feet. They dash along like galloping horses.”

This early form of the modern-day bicycle was taking the world by storm, but China, which had been under Western rule, was not quite ready to open its arms to yet another foreign invention.

Interestingly, Bin Chun and his delegation were on a trip to Europe to evaluate the latest technological innovations and to consider whether they could be used for military purposes.

This trip, while somewhat unsuccessful for Bin Chun, did accomplish one thing; introducing the bicycle to one of the world's largest markets.

Here is how the life of bicycles in China evolved!

At the end of the 19th century, the only people who used bicycles in China were foreigners who lived in Shanghai.

The Chinese were mostly amazed at the passion the 'big-nosed' foreigners displayed at this physical activity.

During those times, no self-respecting Chinese, who had even the tiniest of wealth, would consider moving around on his own.

Instead, they would take the sedan...Read More

THE HISTORY & CONTEXT OF CHINESE - WESTERN MARRIAGES!

Thu, 21 Mar 2019 08:40:37 -0700

Wong Sun Yue and Ella May Clemmons; Wong Sun Yue's business was wiped out by the San Francisco earthquake of 1906. It was as a refugee from the destruction that he met and married Ella May Clemmons, a wealthy Californian missionary who spoke several Chinese dialects. Ella worked hard and effectively for the Chinese community, living happily enough with Sun Yue until 1922, when she discovered he had another wife in China.

Although marriage is a very private affair for the individuals who participate in it, it also reflects and connects with many complex factors such as economic development, culture differences, political backgrounds and transition of traditions, in both China and the Western world. As a result, an ordinary marriage between a Chinese person and a Westerner is actually an episode in a sociological grand narrative.

Charles Yip Quong & Nellie Towers; Charles Yip was a Vancouver businessman and a nephew of Yip Sang, the dominant figure in Vancouver's Chinatown in the 1890s-1900s. Nellie Towers was a teacher from Nova Scotia.The two married in Boston in1900 and moved to Vancouver in 1900. There, Nellie, an accomplished linguist, served as a midwife to much of the local Chinese population and as an articulate advocate for Chinese Canadian rights.

The marriages occurring between the people of China and those from other countries at the period of time from 1840 – 1949 were the result of free choice on both sides. Compared with the prevailing marriages arranged by parents in China at that time, they could be regarded as the earliest models of free marriages. The Chinese people who married foreigners at that time were those who had the chance to make contact with foreigners. Besides this factor, they usually had special experiences and statuses which dissociated them from mainstream...Read More

10 QUICK FACTS ABOUT THE MOTHER RIVER OF SHANGHAI

Sun, 17 Feb 2019 03:56:49 -0800

Huangpu River 黄浦江 Huángpǔ jiāng

1.Literal meaning – Yellow Bank River

2.Former romanization - Whangpoo

3. Source: Dianshan Lake - a freshwater lake west of Zhujiajiao, Qingpu District

4. It is 113-kilometer (70 mi) long river flowing through Shanghai that was first excavated and created by Lord Chunshen.

He was born as 黃歇 Huang Xie and was a nobleman, general, and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Chu during the late Warring States period of ancient China. He was one of the Four Lords of the Warring States during Warring States period (475 BC - 221 BC).

5. It is the last significant tributary of the Yangtze before it empties into the East China Sea.

6. In 19th century Huangpu river was both the reason that the village called Shanghai appeared on the maps and at the same, led to its downfall and then revival.

During the First Opium War in 1842, British naval ships appeared on the Huangpu river and captured Wusong - a separate port town located 14 miles (23 km) down the Huangpu River from Shanghai's urban core, which housed a Qing fortress protecting the entrance to Shanghai.

In 1937 the Huangpu river ‘betrayed’ Shanghai again as it allowed the Japanese naval fleet and enabled their forage of the city.

Yet, since 1949 it has served as trading link, allowing worldwide import and export.

7. It is the largest river in Shanghai, with Suzhou Creek (also called the Wusong River) being its major tributary. It is on average 400 metres (1,312 feet) wide and 9 metres (30 feet)...Read More

CRIMINAL LINKS BETWEEN OLD SHANGHAI & AMERICA!

Sun, 10 Feb 2019 00:02:30 -0800

Old Shanghai was a crazy period between the wars when the International Settlement of Shanghai was the most wide-open place on earth. No passport required; no visas necessary. Simply arrive, walk down the gangplank, tell an uninterested customs man any name you like, slip him a few dollars, and start your new life. No questions asked.

Shanghai was a truly cosmopolitancity , a mix of a hundred thousand “Shanghailander” foreigners from two dozen nations who called the city home and four million Chinese who came to the city seeking escape from poverty and natural disaster for some, and escape political instability for others. Shanghai was the world’s fifth most populous city and by far the most modern metropolis in Asia—jazz, fast cars, machine guns, neon lights, taxi dancers, plush cinemas, massive casinos. It was also one of the most lawless cities in the world. By the late 1930s, the local law enforcement agencies were almost totally overwhelmed by a combination of Chinese gangs (gangster hēibāng 黑帮), foreign criminals, and the encroaching Japanese army.

Unsurprisingly, any number of criminals and fraudsters decided Shanghai was the place for them when things got tough back in America. Some of the most notorious names included:

#1 C.C. Julian, the great oil fraudster of the “Julian Pete” scandal, who jumped US$25,000 bail in Oklahoma and fled to Shanghai in 1933 where he tried to restart his oil stock frauds.

He got a false passport and posed as an Irishman called TR King, dressed shabbily and appeared to be down-on-his-luck. He managed to board a ship in Seattle and got off in Shanghai on March 23rd, 1933. Julian shed his shabby clothes, his fake Irish accent and checked into a suite at the Astor Hotel (today’s Pujiang Hotel). American justice went after him in...Read More

HOW TO GIVE RED ENVELOPES AT CHINESE NEW YEAR?

Tue, 29 Jan 2019 23:55:14 -0800

The red envelope ( 红包) Hóngbāo custom is all about the reciprocity of giving and receiving and the money inside Hóngbāo is called 压岁钱 Yāsuì qián.

The character 岁 suì is another Chinese character for 'year'. It has the same sound as 祟 suì, which stands for 'evil spirit' in Chinese culture. So the Chinese expression 压岁(祟) 钱 Yāsuì qián, which describes the money in the red envelope, is a symbol of the wish to suppress/expel all the bad in the coming new year.

It’s a gesture of goodwill, expressed through the exchange of red envelopes, that builds relationships among family and friends. In fact, after all the giving and receiving of red envelopes during Chinese New Year, you’ll probably find that you end up netting even financially. Count the relationships, not RMB!

Here are the most common scenarios for giving red envelopes during Chinese New Year.

1. From Parents to their Children

It’s traditional to leave a red envelope with two tangerines (leaves on, of course) by a child’s bedside on the first day of New Year. Given that Chinese New Year isn’t celebrated with material gifts, the amount is usually around 500 RMB.However - the child has to first greet the adults with words '过年好 Guònián hǎo - Happy New Year'.

Grandparents generally give red envelopes in similar amounts to their grandchildren during visits on New Year’s Eve or in the days following New Year’s Day.

2. From Married Adults to (Unmarried) Children in the Family

Giving red envelopes is an important rite of adulthood, as symbolically you’ve become ready to share your riches and blessings with...Read More

7 FASCINATING PRIVATE HOUSES THAT BECAME MUSEUMS

Thu, 24 Jan 2019 02:02:52 -0800

We are just 10 days away from Chinese New Year, and soon the city will become pleasantly empty and quiet! So if you decided to avoid high prices of plane tickets and enjoy the Spring Festival's blissful silence, our expert - Nicolas Grevot - came up with this list of intriguing houses that - he believes - you just can't miss!

1.Ba Jin’s house

Address: 113 Wukang Road, Xuhui District

Opening hours: 10am-3pm (closed on Sunday and Monday)

Admission: Free!

Ba, whose real name was Li Yaotang, was the grand old man of Chinese literature. He was born in Chengdu on November 25, 1904, into the family of an important Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) official and received a good education from private tutors. In 1926, he went to study in France. He could speak and write in English, French and Russian.

Ba was renowned for prerevolutionary works like "The Family" (1931) about the brutality and decline of a feudal household, based on his own childhood. His major works include "The Love Trilogy: Fog, Rain, Lightning" (1931-35), "The Torrent Trilogy: Family, Spring, Autumn" (1933-40), "A Dream of Sea" and "Autumn in Spring," - all landmarks in modern Chinese culture.

Ba lived in this three-story Spanish-style building for more than 50 years until he died at age 101 in 2005. In the building, he wrote one of his masterpieces "Random Thoughts," collected essays about the country's "Cultural Revolution" (1966-76), in which he suffered and his wife died. He was rehabilitated in 1981 and became nominal head of the Chinese Writers' Association.

The original furniture and decorations have been maintained as they were while Ba lived there. The bookshelves, sofas and lamps were all used by Ba and his...Read More

HOW TO GET READY FOR CHINESE NEW YEAR - DECORATIONS!

Tue, 15 Jan 2019 22:17:39 -0800

We are just 3 weeks away from the beginning of the Chinese New Year, so it's good time to learn a little bit more details about this cheerful celebration we will all be part of!

This week, we will tell you the basic concepts used for decorating for Chinese New Year!

Chinese New Year decorations use calligraphy, poetry, plants and food to express hopes for happiness, good luck and prosperity. By keeping the house filled with auspicious symbols, the hope is that the family living inside will be surrounded by good fortune throughout the coming year.

The cornerstones of Chinese New Year decorating are the beautiful calligraphy banners collectively known as fai chun that are written in black or gold ink on bright red paper.

The simplest banner is the good luck character, or doufang, a single word or expression such as “happiness,” “wealth” or “spring” written on a square of paper. One of the most popular characters is fu, meaning “good luck” or “blessings”, which is commonly displayed upside down on the front door to symbolize good luck “arriving” or “pouring” into the home.

Good luck characters are frequently paired with spring couplets, or chunlian, 4-7 character poems written on long strips of paper that are hung around the edges of the front door. The poems are generally comprised of complementary phrases celebrating the beauty of nature or expressing wishes for a happy and prosperous future.

When arranged together, good luck characters and spring couplets create a cheery Chinese New Year greeting for visitors to your home.

Around your living spaces, it’s common to hang smaller four-character banners called chuntiao, which declare specific hopes for prosperity, health or success in...Read More

10 MUSEUMS WE THINK YOU SHOULD DEFINITELY VISIT THIS YEAR!

Wed, 09 Jan 2019 06:37:22 -0800

It's new year and it means time for more explorations! We do realize, though, that the current weather may discourage some of you ! But here's an idea - how about some....indoor city cruising?

Together with our expert - Nicolas Grevot - we prepared a list of 'MUST - VISIT' Shanghai museums!

1.Shanghai Museum

Address: 201 Renmin Ave, RenMin GuangChang, Huangpu Qu

Designed by local architect Xing Tonghe, the building is designed in the shape of an ancient bronze cooking vessel called a ding. It is said that the inspiration for the design was specifically provided by the Da Ke ding, now on exhibit in the museum. The building has a round top and a square base, symbolizing the ancient Chinese perception of the world as "round sky, square earth" (Chinese: 天圆地方 Tiān yuán dìfāng).

Founded in 1952 and was first open to the public in the former Shanghai Racecourse club house, now at 325 West Nanjing Road.

The founding collections came from three sources:

#1 A batch of artifacts gathered by the Communist 3rd Field Army during the civil war from accidental finds and confiscations of private property and brought to Shanghai upon the Communists' conquest of the city.

#2 Artifacts confiscated by the customs service.

#3 Items sold by private collectors due to political pressure during political purges and purchased by the government. The former Shanghai Municipal Museum was also merged into the new Shanghai Museum.

It is said that Shanghai Museum owes much of its current existence to Ma Chengyuan, its director from 1985 until his retirement in 1999. When a new museum was omitted from Shanghai's five-year reconstruction plan in 1992, Ma lobbied Mayor Huang Ju for its rebuilding. After seeing the dilapidated rooms of the Zhonghui...Read More