China articles

Chinese culture blog

There are many stories about the moon in traditional Chinese folklore and mythologies.  Zhong Qiu Jie (中秋节), or the Mid-autumn Day is the second largest festival in China. It falls on the 15th day of eighth month of the Chinese Lunar Calendar, and this year the festival will be on the October 3rd.

On that day, Chinese people all over  the world celebrate the festival by enjoying the full moon, lighting up lanterns and eating moon-cakes.

According to a Chinese legend, Chang’e, Goddess of the moon, lives on the moon with her jade rabbit, under a sweet osmanthus tree...

China expat living

It’s true that sometimes western commodities do not agree with the traditional Chinese culture. Economic development and a successful Olympic Games in Beijing have made people in China proud of themselves. However, there still lies confusion and uncertainty about the mixture of traditional Chinese national culture with international streams of thoughts brought with the opening up for imported and mass produced western commodities. Behind those commodities are mass culture and ideology from the western countries. This article attempts to take a look at the changing ideologies of Chinese people in the progress of globalization...

Chinese culture blog

Welcome to Cheryl's Chinese culture blog!
Looking forward to travelling cultures with me from here?
Hopefully this journey will bring you ideas and insights about traditional Chinese culture in a contemporary world.
So to start with, let's take a glimpse at English names and "Bai Jia Xing" first...

It’s rather common for a Chinese to have an English name, especially young people who speak the English language. And it has become very popular for those who work for international companies to be called by English first names. The popularity of English names as well as speaking a mixture of Chinese and foreign language indicate the influence of western culture.

Editorials

TCN shatters the myth that all ESL'ers in China are deadbeat losers escaping ineptitude back home. At the same time, we also provide some much needed advice to those teachers who submit poorly thought out resumes – thus helping to perpetuate the ugly myth.

China expat living

How severe is the impact of 'loss', when a person comes to China for the first time to work as a teacher? Some people have no trouble at all: easily immersing in the culture, making solid friends, and getting connected in their local community. Others don't cope as well, and end up suffering a nagging sense of losing something, by straying so far away from the nest. Mental health counselor Sandra Kimball reports.

China expat living

Enda Farrell was working as an IT engineer when a sabbatical opportunity came up. Interested in experiencing a change of pace, Mr. Farrell came to China and lucked out: he enjoys an easy working schedule, motivated students, and enough free time to pursue cultural arts and travel.

Editorials

Early in his career, Indo-Scottish journalist Shankar Sharma decided that teaching was the passion that he wanted to pursue. Thus he found a job in Taizhou (a city in Jiangsu, pop. 1 million) teaching ESL. His mission: to author a book about the Chinese experience, while honing his teaching skills.

Editorials

While not so keen on the idea of seeing waves upon waves of western economic refugees washing up on mainland China shores, the secret is too spicy to keep to under wraps. Keep reading for ten reasons how the China expat life can wash those cubicled-corporate-consumerist blues away faster than a panda can, uh... down a bowl of Shandong noodles!

China teaching

Expats without Bachelor's degrees work at the shadiest schools for the lowest wages. Having a degree is recommended, while a degree plus experience will generate plenty of offers. Next are those with TEFL degrees, and next up are those with either a teaching licence from a G8 country/ MA TESOL/ DELTA. Keep reading for a full breakdown.