Musical Mandarin

Chu Ju's House by Gloria Whelan

2010-10-27T08:18:00.000-07:00

Contemporary world fiction, Politics, Gender roles, Young teen making adult decisions. . . and all but 5 stars at amazon.com. I am glad to have stumbled onto this book at the library.

I think it would be especially wonderful for a book club book as there is so much to discuss, and it might not be as easy with just a parent and child.

It is a story about "too many daughters" but not depressing although one might think that from the book flap description. (At the same time, if I had adopted a child from China, I might want to pre-read it!)

This year's festivals

2010-06-08T19:37:00.000-07:00

Festivals (mostly those celebrated based on the lunar calendar):

June 16, 2010 - Dragon Boat Festival - look for races near you, there are more teams that you might expect!

August 4 - Birthday of Kwan Tai, god of war (lunar 6/24)
August 16, 2010 - "Valentine's Day" - 7/7 lunar "Seven Sisters Festival
August 24th, 2010 - Hungry Ghost Day - 7/15 lunar

Sept. 22, 2010, Sept. 12, 2011 - Mid-Autumn Festival - 8/15 lunar
Sept. 23, 2010, Sept. 13, 2011 - Monkey God Festival - 8/16 lunar
October 4, 2010, Sept. 24, 2011 - Confucius' Birthday (8/27)

October 16, 2010, October 5, 2011 - "Double Nine" Chong Yang (Chung Yeung) Festival - 9/9 lunar
December 21/22, 2010, Dec. 21/22, 2011 - Winter Solstice "Dong Zhi" - 12/1 lunar

And then a new year:
February 3, 2011 - Chinese New Year - lunar 1/1
Feb. 17 - Lantern Festival

Ching Ming Festival (Tomb Sweeping Day) is always April 5th
Buddha's birthday is May 10, 2011 (lunar 4/8)

June 6, 2011 - Dragon Boat (Tuen Ng) Festival - look for races near you, there are more teams in the USA & around the world that you might expect! (lunar 5/5)

August 6, 2011 - "Valentine's Day" - 7/7 lunar "Seven Sisters Festival
August 14, 2011 - Hungry Ghost Day - 7/15 lunar

Sept. 12, 2011 - Mid-Autumn Festival - 8/15 lunar
Sept. 13, 2011 - Monkey God Festival - 8/16 lunar
Sept. 24, 2011 - Confucius' Birthday (8/27)

October 5, 2011 - "Double Nine" Chong Yang (Chung Yeung) Festival - 9/9 lunar

Dec. 21/22, 2011 - Winter Solstice "Dong Zhi" - 12/1 lunar

Chinese Almanac

2009-03-02T15:49:00.000-08:00

I know people who have been looking for years to find an English language version of a Chinese almanac -- to check on auspicious days for weddings and travel, and house renovations. The last is especially true for those whose search was motivated by feng shui.

I still do not know of one, but there is now at least one calendar out with the "good" and "bad" days labeled for ceremonies, travel, health & home renovation. Both "good and "bad" in general and for each of the 12 Chinese zodiac signs.

Happy New Year

2009-01-26T07:50:00.000-08:00

The Ox is here.

Year of the Ox - 1/26/2009

2009-01-03T19:26:00.000-08:00

It's less than a month away to this year's Chinese New Year on January 26, 2009.

It is a little early to start sweeping or lighting firecrackers, but you may want to:

review Chinese New Year information,
take out some library books,
decide whether you want to go into your child's school to celebrate,
talk to your child's teacher about what you can do in the classroom (the sooner the better).
Or, get set to surprise friends with e-cards. You can ask for them to be delivered on January 26!

We have a pdf file of 2009 showing how the phases of the moon on a calendar. If you would like a copy, please post a comment with your email, or email me.

Chinese New Year (or Spring Festival) overview

2009 Lunar Calendar

2008-12-31T12:04:00.000-08:00

Our 2009 lunar calendar's ready! The next year starts with the Year of the Bull(*) on January 26, 2009, but you may want to know what the moon will be doing all month. (The next zodiac cycle starts in 2020 with the Year of the Rat.)

Email me and request the pdf file for 2009's calendar. Online, I have a list of this year's lunar festivals, and just found "days until" countdown calendars for Chinese New Year and Mid-Autumn Festival.

(*) - or Ox or Cattle

2009 Lunar Festivals

2008-12-21T18:40:00.000-08:00

China developed and used their lunisolar calendar to determine planting and harvesting times, and festival occasions. Although the western (Gregorian) calendar is used in China everyday, the lunar calendar is still important - especially for traditional holidays.

Chinese New Year (including the Lantern Festival on day 15), Mid-Autumn Festival and the Dragon Boat Festival are the most important and widely celebrated Chinese holidays. However there are quite a few other holidays celebrated by their lunar dates.

January 19, 2009 - Kitchen God Festival.
January 26, 2009 - Chinese New Year, lunar 1/1, Year of the Ox, 4707
February 1, 2009 - Common Man's birthday - This is celebrated more by Chinese in other parts of Asia, more than in China.
February 3, 2009 - Jade Emperor's Birthday
February 9, 2009 - Lantern Festival - lunar date 1/15 - This is also celebrated as a sort of Valentine's Day in some Chinese communities.

Tomb Sweeping Day April 4, 2009
(lunar 3/23) Tin Hau Festival - Taoist Goddess of the Sea and patron of fisherman. Celebration now is limited to smaller communities in fishing islands, or areas immediately around a Tin Hau temple. (There are about 60 temples in Hong Kong dedicated, at least partially, to Tin Hau.)

Buddha's Birthday (lunar 4/8) - This is now a public holiday in Hong Kong. In Cheung Chau, HK, the Cheung Chau Bun Festival is also held on this day, in honor of Pak Tai, the Taoist God of the Sea.

May 28, 2009 - Dragon Boat (Tuen Ng) Festival - lunar 5/5, Considered the third most important Chinese holiday

August 26, 2009 - "Valentine's Day" - "Night of Sevens" - 7/7 lunar
September 3, 2009 - Ghost Day - 7/15 lunar
October 3, 2009 - Mid-Autumn Festival - 8/15 lunar
October 26, 2007 - "Double Nine" Chong Yang Festival - 9/9 on the lunar calendar

Winter Solstice "Dong Zhi" Falls on December 20-22. It is December 21st in 2009.

The 27th year of this cycle begins:
February 7, 2010 - Kitchen God Festival
February 14, 2010 - Chinese New Year - lunar 1/1, Year of the Tiger, 4708

2008 Lunar Festivals

2008-11-03T18:40:00.000-08:00

When "off the shelf" isn't working:

2008-11-01T05:51:00.000-07:00

Learn from the people
Plan with the people
Begin with what they have
Build on what they know
Of the best leaders
When the task is accomplished
The people all remark
We have done it ourselves.

- Lao-tzu

Girl Scout Olympic Patch

2008-05-31T20:01:00.001-07:00

Did you know that there were WAGGGS badges based on the Olympics? I think the Guides or Scouts were the first to do this, but this year there are some for the Beijing Games. I think the Girl Scouts in Taiwan created it.
Details at:
http://www.wagggsworld.org/en/projects/olympiabadge

Do the activities with your troop (or run a workshop!) and download and print our own certificates, or buy the patch, for about $1 each. (40 pence, but check the exchange rate & think about postage…) They ran out of the free cloth copies already. To purchase Olympia Badges, visit the WAGGS shop in the UK:
http://www.wagggs-shop.org/index.php/en/1/Badges_flags_and_pins/3

Olympics in China

2008-05-25T19:56:00.000-07:00

The best children's resource I have found on the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics is this educational kit from the Olympic Museum:
http://multimedia.olympic.org/pdf/en_report_1283.pdf

Chinatown Foodtour with Martin Yan

2008-05-11T05:21:00.000-07:00

OpenRoad.TV has an interesting video: "Wander San Francisco's Chinatown and work up a big appetite with famed chef and fabulous guide Martin Yan. Martin knows everyone and everyone knows him."

Book review: Liv and the Bird

2008-04-06T11:52:00.001-07:00

Liv & the Bird: A Journey in Chinese Calligraphy, by Catherine Louis, calligraphy by Feng Xiao Min

I did not see this 2003 book when it was new. There may be no picture book on Chinese characters that I like, but this may be the best I've seen. I wished that the characters were also printed as I went through the story. . . then I got to the activities and I wished it even more! The activities have little do to with Chinese. I wonder if they were something that the editors required her to add afterwards.

I really think that it should be mentioned that only 3-4% of current Chinese script are ideographs/pictographs, if you include associative compounds (like that many trees make s forest) it might go up to 16%. I think in this context, it is at least as important as saying, "Pictures are at the root of all writing." Perhaps saying something like, "Each character is a picture and there is no alphabet.", would be better?

There may be no picture book on Chinese characters that I like. This may be the best I've seen -- but the activities have little do to with Chinese. I wonder if they were something that the editors required her to add afterwards.

The 3rd activity "Make Up Your Own Symbols" makes the most sense to me.
Suggesting that children create an alphabet by drawing "ant" for A and "bear" for B is a reasonable activity for the audience but has no relationship to Chinese.
Pretending that the script/calligraphy could be copied and then that memorizing it would have significant worth is ... interesting. It would not necessarily help them recognize the way anyone else writes the character.
"Flashlight Picture Magic" could be fun but I don't see the letter or Chinese tie-in. In fact, it might be confusing since paper the symbols are written on has to be taped up-side-down (writing toward the light) to be displayed properly -- and that is not mentioned. Even with English (roman characters), I can only think of 10 letters of the English alphabet that have left-right symmetry (AHIMOTUVWX ilovwx). It might not be as big as issue with 6 to 7 of the 29 characters given in the book.

No symmetry in Chinese characters
No Chinese characters flip symmetrically. None of the basic brush strokes that make up the characters are symmetrical. You are supposed to see where the brush is pressed and lifted from the paper.

With printed Chinese characters, instead of hand-written, then maybe a handful of characters have an access of symmetry. This depends on the font of course! Many of these are from the simpler characters and the same in traditional and simplified Chinese. If you must have some, check these in the font you are using:

yi 一(one)	er 二(two)	san 三(three)
shi 十ten	kou 口 (mouth)	ri 日 (sun, day)
mù 木 (tree, wood)	mu (eye)	音
zhong 中 (middle)	shan山 (mountain)	wei (outsider)
liu 六 (six)	liang (both)

In some fonts, even ren 人 (human), 來 lái (come), 圖 (picture), huang 黃 (yellow) and yang (sheep) might be symmetrical. However, please tell your audience that these are unique and not representative. These are how many - out of the 3,000 are needed to read a newspaper, and the over 85,o00 characters in the language?

Simplified Chinese may have a few more symmetrical characters, like: 士.

Chūnfēn 2008

2008-03-20T10:46:00.001-07:00

Happy first day of spring.

Uniforms of Girl Scouts of Taiwan

2008-02-12T06:59:00.001-08:00

Here are pictures of the official uniforms of Girl Scouts of Taiwan Brownies, Girl Scouts and Rangers. There is no date on them, but I believe they are current for 2008.

Many thanks to fellow Scout Leah for sharing these!

The green uniform is for Brownies, the Blue for Girl Scouts, and the white blouse and blue skirt (also on the catalog cover) are for Ranger Girl Scouts.

Hair & the moon?

2008-01-13T11:11:00.001-08:00

I know that it is tradition not to cut one's hair in the first few days of the (Chinese) new Year, so as not to cut one's luck away. The year of the Rat starts on February 7th this year.

I have no idea what traditions went into Anthony Morrocco's Lunar Haircutting Charts that include a "best hair cutting days" schedule - where a "lengthening" cut is "good on February 8-10.

I'm a membership service

2008-01-04T20:08:00.000-08:00

I am not sure if I should be proud or amused to have had my invitation to receive the 2008 lunar calendar included in a "membership service" email from the Chinese Language Teachers Association of Greater New York (CLTA-GNY).

I am glad to be able to help teachers & students of Mandarin, but I was surprised to have my invitation copied and redistributed without letting me know, or even asking if I minded. When I found out, some of the requests I had been getting made more sense. I expect another flurry of requests at the end of the month, closer to the Chinese New Year.

Readability Level

2008-01-03T20:11:00.000-08:00

This is a bit of an ego boost. I wonder if it is merely because of the occasional Chinese characters?

Winter Solstice 2007

2007-12-22T13:37:00.001-08:00

Those of us in the northern hemisphere have successfully passed the "standing still" point of the season, the last season change of this calendar year, the shortest day and longest night of the year.

NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day, has a beautiful solstice composite for us and some explanation of the science on the same page. Of course, if you are in the southern hemisphere, it was the longest day and more and more dark will now be creeping into your days.

Having learned little new about the holiday this year, try my previous entry for an explanation of the Chinese Winter Solstice and celebrations.

Next books to read

2007-12-19T14:02:00.000-08:00

I'm considering:
Peiling and the Chicken-Fried Christmas By Pauline Chen, A new book suggested for readers 8 - 11 years old. The reviews of this 1st generation girl and her family's celebration of Christmas look good.

Recently read:
(graphic novel) American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang. I liked it and I was not sure that I would. My children were not at all interested, and they have certainly been interested in graphic novels for a little while. I think they have not really seen the stereotypes, and certainly have nto felt them addressed against them.

2008 Lunar Calendar

2007-11-28T20:56:00.000-08:00

Next year's lunar calendar is ready! The next zodiac cycle starts with the Year of the Rat on February 7, 2008, but you may want to know what the moon will be doing from 1 January.

Email me and request the pdf file for 2008's calendar. New this year: the day of the week is written in each 'moon' so it may be easier to find the dates.

Time for optimism?

2007-11-22T21:25:00.000-08:00

We've passed from the solar term "Small Snow" or "Little Snow" (I saw some this year), into "Great Snow". I am looking forward to December 22nd when "Winter Solstice" begins. The same term is used in English for the longest day, and the 14 day solar term that starts that day.

I don't expect to ski again until 2008 - although my skiing may peak in the solar term "The Rains" so I hope that name will not hold true where ever I am!

Volunteering to Teach Manners?

2007-10-19T21:36:00.000-07:00

Global Volunteers "Notes from the Field" this week was from Xi'an where they are preparing for the 2008 Olympics.

Kimchi & Calamari

2007-09-23T07:43:00.000-07:00

Really enjoyed this book by Rose Kent (for 9 - 12 year olds) about a 14 year old (Korea) boy adopted by an Italian family in America and his "struggles with self-identity". I am sure it will be described many places as "a great book, especially for those with cross- cultural adoptions".

I think it is a good book. Period. A good book. Well-written, for all of us.

You may want to do it as a read-aloud so that "those discussions" do happen.

Mid-Autumn Festival's a month away

2007-08-29T06:58:00.000-07:00

You may want to start looking for mooncakes at the Chinese grocery store, review Mid-Autumn Festival information, decide whether you want to go into your child's school to celebrate, or even start talking to their teachers. September 25th is less than a month away now!

If you want to surprise some friends online, there are Mid-Autumn Festival e-cards. You can set them up now to be delivered on September 25th!

If you want close-ups of the moon, NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston Arizona State University's collaboration may be just in time. They're setting up the Apollo Image Archive for high-resolution scans of original Apollo flight films. Most of these have not been publicly available in over 30 years.

This is a sample of the high resolution frames the Apollo Image Archive will have. AS15-M-0085 was taken on the Apollo 15 mission in July 1971. Photo courtesy of NASA/Arizona State University. (Thanks to Kathe for the heads-up!)

2008 Lunar Festival Dates

2007-08-28T10:17:00.000-07:00

Chinese New Year (lunar 1/1) Feb.7, 2008, February 7 - 12, 2008
Lantern Festival (lunar 1/15) Feb. 21, 2008

Tomb Sweeping Day (2/28) Apr. 4
Dragon Festival (lunar 5/5) June 8
Ghost Festival (7/15) August 15

Mid-Autumn Festival (8/15) Sept. 14

Double Ninth Day (lunar 9/9) Oct. 7

Chinese Food

2007-08-12T08:11:00.000-07:00

Characters and pinyin for Chinese Food nouns
http://chinesenotes.com/chinese_food.html

Moon cakes - put on on Autumn Mon & link to that entry from here
http://china.tyfo.com/int/art/festival/middle-autumn/mid-cake.htm

Eating the Chinese Way
http://www.howtoorderchinesefood.com/

Last updated: 7/2007

Perseids are coming!

2007-07-21T05:56:00.001-07:00

From August 10th - 15th, the annual Perseid meteor shower is expected to put on a great show, with little to no moon and dozens of shooting stars each hour. We would need to get away from our home and the surrounding light pollution to get the best view, but the shower has been visible other years, even here. Of course, if there are no clouds on August 12th, the night of the new moon that will be the best show.

From space.com - "The Moon will be out of the way, leaving dark skies for good viewing as Earth plunges through an ancient stream of comet debris. Little bits, most no larger than sand grains, will vaporize in Earth's atmosphere, creating sometimes-dramatic "shooting stars."

For more, see

Space.com's Space Watch

Kites

2007-06-29T21:50:00.000-07:00

The Chinese invented kites. Kites were used by the Chinese during battles. Ancient Chinese believed that kites could ward off evil spirits. Today some still see kites as a good luck symbol.

Brushstrokes from West to East is a 43 page document containing Vermont-standards which includes a kite making lesson for K - 2 on pages 16-17, grades 3 - 5 on page 31-32.

Webquests: I am just learning about these - some are great and some are not, like any other type of resource.

Watching the Colors Come Alive, Ancient China and kite design/building. (6th grade Ancient Civilizations/Geometry)
Let's Go Fly A Kite (High School Math)
"Folklore tells of a Chinese general who used a kite to defeat an evil emperor. In what ways do the stories report that he used the kite?" sounds great - but I can't find this webquest anymore.

And . . .
We like the book Moonlight Kite, although it is not overly "Chinese" IMHO.

Dragon Books

2007-06-18T17:04:00.000-07:00

Our favorite dragon books. The "reference books" can be enjoyed at many ages, but the YA books really are for more mature readers. Dragon books for younger readers are here too.

"Reference" Books:

Dragonology by Ernest Drake
How to raise and keep a dragon by Joe Nigg
The Dragonology Handbook: A Practical Course in Dragons by Dugald Steer

YA Fiction:

Dealing with Dragons: The Enchanted Forest Chronicles, Book One by Patricia C. Wrede (also available as an audio book)
Searching for Dragons: The Enchanted Forest Chronicles, Book Two by Patricia C. Wrede (also available as an audio book)
Calling on Dragons: The Enchanted Forest Chronicles, Book Three by Patricia C. Wrede (also available as an audio book)
Talking to Dragons: The Enchanted Forest Chronicles, Book Four by Patricia C. Wrede (also available as an audio book)
Dragon's Blood: The Pit Dragon Chronicles, Volume One (Pit Dragon Chronicles)by Jane Yolan

Grades 5 - 7

Dragon's Milk (Dragon Chronicles, Book 1) by Susan Fletcher
Flight of the Dragon Kyn (Dragon Chronicles, Book 2) by Susan Fletcher

Juvenile Fiction:

How to Train Your Dragon (Heroic Misadventures of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III) * by Cressida Cowell (We have not yet read her How to Cheat a Dragon's Curse (The Heroic Misadventures of Hiccup the Viking)
Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher by Bruce Coville
The Dragon's Boy: A Tale of Young King Arthur by Jane Yolan
(read to them) Lao Lao of Dragon Mountain by M. Bateson-Hill (really nice paper cut illustrations, OK instructions at the end)

Chinese New Year-related Picture Books:

Dancing Dragon by Marcia Vaughn. An accordion-fold picture book
The Rooster's Antlers: A Story of the Chinese Zodiac by Eric Kimmel. (especially for the beautiful papercut illustrations)
Silk Peony, Parade Dragon by Elizabeth Steckman (longer story than many picture books)
The Day the Dragon Danced by Kay Haugaard (picture book, ages 4 - 8) not really a Chinese New Year book, but perhaps an accurate picture of how many preschools might celebrate it. I like it - although I wish the snack at the end were something besides lollipops for a number of reasons.

Not really a "dragon book":

Long is a Dragon: Chinese Writing for Children by Peggy Goldstein

Dragon Books that are not quite as beloved:

The Dragonslayers by Bruce Coville
The Dragons Are Singing Tonight by Jack Prelutsky and Peter Sis (poetry)
The Dragon of Doom (Moongobble and Me) by Bruce Coville
How to Speak Dragonese (Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III) by Cressida Cowell
Chin Chiang and the Dragon's Dance by Ian Wallace (also Chinese New Year's related)

Dragon Books We Want to Read:

Here there Be Dragons Jane Yolan (grades 3 - 8), Collection of 5 poems and 8 stories
A Dragon Book by Donn Kushner (ages 9 -12, grades 6 - 8)

Dragon Books We Don't Like!

D is for Dancing Dragon : A China alphabet by Carol Crane and Illustrated by Zong-Zhoiu Wang. (picture book) I don't care for the illustrations and the rhymes seem forced. Mandarin and pinyin was used for

E - "Ehru" (Although in Mandarin it is "Erhu", so I don't know if that is a typo or if another dialect of Chiense was used),
Q - "Qin Terra Cotta warriors" and
X - "Xiexie" Thank you"

last updated: January 2008

Summer Solstice is coming!

2007-06-01T19:37:00.001-07:00

Summer begins on 21 June 21, 2007 at 18:06 GMT, which is 2:06 pm EDT where I am.

The 10th solar term Xiazhi should start on or about that day.

English translations

2007-05-25T05:39:00.001-07:00

There are a variety of sites that offer free translations and dictionary lookups, but Life in China offers something a little different.

I would ignore the uninspired home page and go straight to one of these: 5 pages of Chinese Proverbs, a longer page of Chinese idiom translations or to Festivals and Holidays for some greetings, phrases and a culture note or two.

Wacky Love in Translation

2007-05-22T08:14:00.000-07:00

I have to agree with reviewer Anne Midgette's view in the NYT. I am not sure that a Mandarin version of “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change” will play well in Shanghai -- but what a neat possibility for Americans who are studying Mandarin. (or should it be American adults? I don't know the original play well enough to judge)

If you are thinking of a class field trip, you only have until June 3rd!
http://theater2.nytimes.com/2007/05/18/theater/reviews/18perf.html

Catalogs

2007-05-15T06:25:00.000-07:00

There are a number of catalog available to support your search for knowledge, I mean resources.

"Everyone" seems to like ChinaSprout: Chinese Cultural & Educational Products. They have a lot of "things" in addition to books.

Since I am more focused on books, my favorites include:
Shen's Books (Or, read more from me on them)
Asia for Kids and Culture for Kids (these two seem to be cousins).

For the more serious students of Chinese language:
Cheung & Tsui Company

I am sure I have forgotten some, and there are others available that are fine too!

80 generation family tree!

2007-05-07T06:40:00.000-07:00

All direct quotes from BBC web page.

"For the first time in more than 2,500 years the family tree of the ancient Chinese philosopher, Confucius, is to include women descendants."
For the complete article, see BBC

"Analysts say Beijing now sees Confucianism more as a celebration of traditional Chinese culture and its strict hierarchy of subjects obeying rulers."

"Many also see Confucianism as a provider of moral values in a country that is embracing capitalism more and more."

Dispelling Evil

2007-05-06T11:34:00.000-07:00

"Dispelling evil and pestilence and seeking peace": The Dragon Boat Festival, lunar 5/5

Dragon Boat racing is a sport that is growing around the world. Most Americans teams have a competitive teams as well as teams as youth or "fun" teams. In addition, there are quite a few teams that focus on fund-raising for charity or that are "survivor teams".

Redrawing the eyes on the boats brings them to life. While it is done at the start of the season, not everyone is clear about whether it is for all boats, or only the new ones. If I got to vote, I'd say to (re-)paint them all, why take a chance?

If you are interested and want to try and see a race near you, a full list of dragon boat races in the USA are available at www.dragon-boats.com/dbnet/dragon_boat_races_usa.htm. I thnk there were about 60 in 2006!

In some regions, balancing an egg on end at noon will ensure a lucky year. (So much for this being solely a equinox practice.)

All this came from Appeasing the Water God?!?

Certainly more insects are out and biting at the start of summer, and this is the only Chinese Festival I've heard of where reminding family members to take care of their health is a component.

Neal is in Beijing

2007-04-16T13:04:00.000-07:00

It's a business trip so I don't know if he will see much more than this October 1999 trip to Beijing, but I hope so. Perhaps as much as Beijing in Pictures. I think he saw Tian'anmen Square and the Palace Museum (Forbidden City) on his first trip. Perhaps he can see the Summer Palace and the (nearby) "old summer palace", called Yuanmingyuan or the Garden of Perfect Splendor.

I am not recommending the Big Bell Tower for those in Beijing for a quick visit. Our quest for it one summer day seemed long and dusty - as it is not convenient to a metro stop & we could not figure out a bus that went that close either. I would describe it as more of an adventure or a quest than a pleasant tourist stop.

Photos online
Beijing, Beijing in 2004, Portraits of Beijing, Nine dragons, and "old" Beijing. Several different sections of the Great Wall are accessible from Beijing:

Badaling (Wikipedia's entry, the “North Pass” of Juyongguan pass, known as the Badaling. see also Google Earth's Badaling),
Mutianyu, and
Simatai

Some are much closer and more accessible than others. Those would also tend to be more developed than others. If you like crowds and Starbucks and KFC, you should not pick the least developed area! Esspecially if you are going further out, price the cost of a private car too, for 3-4 people it may be cheaper than a bus tour!

If you are planning a trip. . . or love maps like we do:
"Best" online street map of Beijing or map of Beijing?
Downloadable subway map
Travel Map of Beijing
Tourist Maps of Beijing

Betsy's in Shanghai

2007-04-08T20:40:00.000-07:00

In her honor, I tracked down some photos of Shanghai, "City of the Sea". Of course it would have helped her family if I had tracked them down last week!

Photos:
This is the Shanghai photo gallery I wish she had seen first!
Some Shanghai photos for sale.
From National Geographic: Oriental Pearl TV Tower
Chinese culture has a nice Shanghai photo gallery.
Shanghai food - made me hungry!
I like this guy's photos - but they load tooo slowly. My favorite of his: Cleaning up the Bund: preparing for tourists.
I think this was the bridge we saw from our hotel when I last visited.

If you are planning a trip:
Shanghai Guide has down-loadable maps of the city.
Lonely Planet is our guide book of choice. I wonder if we should compare her trip to the "things to see" list when she returns. Online, perhaps the most fun is their image gallery.
Or, read some Rough Guides to Shanghai online.

Who will carry on the lantern craft?

2007-04-05T07:04:00.000-07:00

Especially during Chinese New Year, Lantern Festival, and Mid-Autumn Festival, lanterns, mostly round and red are hung along streets, parks & businesses.

Making lanterns is an ancient craft and there were many, many types and colors of lanterns. Four main famous styles. Traditionally, round lanterns are typical of the north and "southern" lanterns are more elongated cylinders which can take many shapes. These time-consuming constructions handcrafted on a bamboo frame originated in the Hangzhou area and were used in the royal court of the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279). Now round lanterns are seen in most of China.

" but time-consuming lantern-making is a dying craft, writes Yao Minji."

"However, even many locals don't realize that the round lanterns they see in Shanghai are in fact northern-style, the same type that Zhang Yimou used in his famous film "Raise the Red Lantern." And regional southern-style lanterns are disappearing."

The difference is that the authentic southern lanterns are handcrafted of bamboo; they are often cylindrical and can take many shapes.

2007 article from Xinhuanet.com Who will carry on the lantern craft?

Qing Ming

2007-04-05T06:28:00.000-07:00

Today is Qing Ming Jie, it must be 105 days after the winter solstice. On Tomb-Sweeping Day. Families in China and Hong Kong will visit cemeteries to pay respect to their ancestors.

Honoring one's ancestors is an important part of Chinese culture, and is part of the importance of family and having a long family line.

Among the offerings, "spirit money" (paper money) is often burnt. Some say that true devotees actually scrubbed the bones of their loved ones. Some say that buying a home during this period is taboo.

Other Blog Support:
At least one family in Taiwan traditionally eats spring rolls on Qing Ming.
One student's Qing Ming Festival 2007 in Singapore.

(I don't talk about politics here.) In 2007 there were 42 round-trip charter flights between Taiwan and Shanghai for Qing Ming. There have been special charters for at least 57 years for Chinese New Year. This year it was expanded other traditional festival holidays, including Qing Ming, Dragon Boat and Mid-Autumn Festival.

Resources included:
China Economic Net article

Youth Day?

2007-03-29T19:51:00.000-07:00

Youth Day (青年節) is celebrated in Taiwan on March 29th. May 4th, when Youth Day is celebrated in mainland China, is called "Literary Day" in Taiwan.

Chinese Restaurant Food: Wok Carefully

2007-03-23T07:04:00.000-07:00

That's the big story for me in April 2007's Nutrition Action Health Newsletter: their article on Chinese Restaurant Food. Subscribers may already it in their mailboxes, it is not yet online. Except for the sodium, it looks like you can eat fairly healthy at Chinese restaurants. Remember to eat your vegetables.

This is second time the Center for Science in the Public Interest has looked at Chinese restaurant food - the first view in 1993 got alot of press coverage. I think they were the first to start discussing restaurant food in terms of healthiness. You can get your own copy of the article, or subscribe. The organization is a strong advocate for nutrition and health, food safety, alcohol policy, and sound science and "things Chinese" are not (usually) one of their main topics.

Speaking for myself, the key to long life is probably not how late my family and I stay up on New Year's but portion size, and the day's (or week's) amount of exercise.

Vernal Equinox (Chūnfēn)

2007-03-18T18:38:00.000-07:00

Would you have guessed we are in the third solar term now, "The Waking of Insects"? The Chinese calendar divides the year into 24 solar units. Chūnfēn (春分) is the fourth solar term, although it is now also used to refer to the first day.

In the USA, "the first day of spring" will be March 20, 2007. The Vernal Equinox is *really* the moment that the sun passes over the equator, the moment when light is equal to dark. On that day there should be 12 hours of sunlight and 12 of darknesses. For Europe, it will be March 21st. In China, Chunfen is March 21st to April 5th, 2007. (In 2008, 2009, and 2010, it will be from March 20th to April 4th.) The following solar term is Qingming(清明, Pure Brightness).

Students - Did anyone recognize the "chun" (spring) character? and "ming" or bright? Can you see the sun and moon characters that combine to make the character "ming"?

In the Southern Hemisphere March 20/21st is the Autumnal Equinox.

The legend (or rumor?) that eggs can only balance on their end on the Vernal Equinox seems to have come from China - although by the time it reached America it seems to have changed so that it could *only* happen then, and in China it may have been for one whole solar period.

What I hear more often now is that eggs can be balanced on end on any day - that you have time and patience. Try it and let me know!

Each solar term is divided into 3 pentads. For Chunfen they are, the first pentad: xuánniǎo zhì (玄鳥至, Swallow Zhì); the second pentad: Lèinǎi Fāshēng (雷乃發聲) and the last pentad: shǐléi (始雷).

Girl Scout Awards and China

2007-03-16T06:51:00.000-07:00

An investigation of China can help USA Girl Scouts earn requirements for a number of awards and patches. For Brownies, check out requirements of these Try-Its:

"Different Languages" in People are Talking,
adapt the "Knots" requirement in Art to Wear,
investigate kites for Movers,
"Eating Customs" in Manners,
Puppets, Dolls & Plays, and
with World Thinking Day (WTD) celebrations: Caring and Sharing (p. 60), Making Music (p. 156), People of the World (p. 158), Playing Around the World (p. 160), Brownie Girl Scouts Around the World (Try-it Book, page 8, especially #5), Around the World (p. 146),

Part or all of these Junior badges can be earned investigating China, including from

Girl Scout Basics: Girl Scouting Around the World;
Adventures: Global Awareness, Traveler, World Neighbors;
Family and Friends: Celebrating People, My Heritage;
Create & Invent: Folk Arts, Prints and Graphics (Chinese produced rubbings, perhaps as early as 2nd century AD);
Explore and Discover: Globe-Trotting, Let's Get Cooking; and
Online only badges:Now and Then Stories from Around the World, and (at least #8 of) World in My Community.
With WTD, consider: Girl Scouts Around the World (Badge book, page 2), World Neighbors (Badge book, page 28), Traveler (#2, #3, #5, #8, Badge book, page 26), Global Awareness (esp. #7, #8, #9, Badge book, page 14) and requirement #5 of Girl Scouts in My Future (Badge book, page 4).

For older girls, China relates to requirements in at least these Interest Patches:

A World of Understanding,
Global Girls,
G.O. Girl (Get Organized) (Feng shui started in China!),
Paperworks,
Textile Arts, and
Travel.

(If you have a girl really interested in China, certainly alternate requirements can be created for some other awards at every level.) There are also Council's Own awards and patches for the "back of the vest/sash", including GSUSA's Our Rights and Responsibilities Junior Patch - supporting WAGGGS' Ours Rights, Our Responsibilities theme for 2006-2008. Do remember to check individual council's requirements for selling to scouts out of council before proceeding with their programs.

Reminder: The goal of World Thinking Day (February 22nd) is to learn about other Girl Scouts and Girl Guides and what they do; not learn about the country or its national animal! (Mainland) China is not a member of WAGGGS and not suitable for part of WTD celebrations - but you can do Taiwan or Hong Kong.

Give-away Ideas

Papercuts, Origami, Paper Lanterns
Animals from the Chinese Zodiac. Although I am sure that Taiwanese Scouts and Hong Kong Guides know their zodiac signs, it is years and years since everyone's birthday was celebrated on one day of Chinese New Year.
Put rice in a bowl with school glue and mix it together. Put some rice it in a soda cap cap and add two toothpicks. It looked like a bowl of rice with chopsticks. (This is a good time to review chopstick etiquette!)

Display/give-away - One troop made fortune cookies (an American invention now associated with many Chinese restaurants) from craft foam. For each fortune they glues in a part of the Hong Kong law or promise. They made slightly larger ones for part of their display and smaller ones for the give-away. They were all made of foam circles. They used a dot of glue to hold it until the glue gun glue dried.

"American Fun" Chinese hair sticks - I have heard of troops having the girls wear their hair up in a bun with decorated chopsticks. I think this comes from someone's interpreation of (Japanese) Geisha hairsticks, but I have not tracked it down. Find out how Chinese girls wear their hair, whether they might do this and their possible reactions. Why do Americans think of (only) Tea and chopsticks when they think of China? What might your girls think after you have learned about China? Will their activities reinforce stereotypes or give them a better understanding of how others live, and perhaps how we are all similar?

Activities - Chinese Games, Chinese jump rope

Calligraphy

2007-03-04T21:52:00.000-08:00

More to come!

Brushstrokes from West to East is a 43 page document contains Vermont-standards based lesson plans includes lesson plans for calligraphy fro K - 6. Stroke order is a big issue for me with characters and a pet peeve when artists who don't write Chinese try to teach calligraphy. The references used look good but I still don't think stroke order tis emphasized enough.

Stroke order test - "write" the same character twice, once respecting stroke order and once ignoring it (even if you are tracing for both characters). Show the two characters to your students. So far, every class I have heard of, says that he one drawn with the correct stroke order somehow looks "better". This has been true even when the class does not know any Chinese.

For a different type of character, check out the Spring (chun) Paper Cut Project.

More to come!

Tea & Chopsticks

2007-03-04T20:59:00.000-08:00

Chopsticks
I think chopsticks should always be used and shown if you discuss Chinese food at all. They have been in use for about 5,000 years. Food was cut smaller in China to cook faster - and use less fuel. Chopsticks, or kaui-zi, those quick little fellows, were enough at the table. (Of course they had spoons for soup too!)

In China and Japan, children’s chopsticks are shorter than adult/regular chopsticks and children probably start using them at around 3 years old. In 2004, NPR suggested that 6 year olds should have the fine motor control and concentration necessary to use chopsticks. That piece suggested using dry popped popcorn as a first practice food. It has worked well in a few classrooms that I know.

I read a suggestion once for using tongue depressors instead of chopsticks but I can not imagine how one would be able to hold them at all like chopsticks. For more on chopsticks, see also: Asia Education's Chopsticks Lesson Plan. I especially like their student's page on Using Chopsticks. (You may want to review the photos of how to hold them in Wikipedia's Chopsticks or the WikiHow entry on How to Eat With Chopsticks.)

If you have any of the long serving chopsticks in your kitchen, people love to see those too.

There is etiquette to using chopsticks - just as there is with other eating utensils. One eats with the more rounded end, and one can serve with the other end. Never stick them straight up in a bowl of rice - it would look like incense burned at a temple or funeral offerings.

Tea
Tea has been drunk in China since at least 2,000 B.C. There are several different stories about its origin. For more, see Tea Trivia or a Tea Primer.

Brushstrokes from West to East is a 43 page document containing Vermont-standards which includes a clay teapot lesson for grade 5 & 6 on pages 36-41, including a quiz.

What about "Fortune Cookies" and "Chop Suey"?
Perhaps I should add something on those American creations. There is a debate about whether fortune cookies are even a Chinese-American creation or if it is actually of Japanese-American origin. Until the mid-1960s they were made by hand - using a chopstick. There is a "How people make fortune cookies" video and stills from Mr. Rogers at PBSkids.org

For a cute fortune cookie ad, stop by Consumerism at "small fox in a big world".
(Last updated September 2007)

Paper Cuts

2007-03-03T07:40:00.000-08:00

I really like the paper cuts that Malaysia Site has at the start of their description for each zodiac description, like The Sign of the Rat, and Sign of the Dragon. You can see the animal, and you may be able to see the Chinese character in the papercut. Use their sidebar to get to the signs for other years and see those animal designs.

At least two 2 children's books use papercuts well. Papercuts illustrate and are central to Laolao of Dragon Mountain by Margaret Bateson-Hill et. al (sadly, too long to read to most groups). The most beautiful papercut illustrations I have seen are in Eric Kimmel's Rooster's Antlers: A Story of the Chinese Zodiac.

For a different kind of papercut, check out this Spring Paper Cut Project for the character "Spring".

Chinese papercut background for teachers is on page 6 of Brushstrokes From West to East.

For more information, see Wikipedia's Chinese Paper Art entry.

last updated: June 2007

Silkworms

2007-03-02T07:22:00.000-08:00

If you are doing a China study, the silkworm is the logical choice for some lifecycle science. Silkworm eggs can be obtained from a number of sources online.

You may want to consider how you approach the silk gathering with some of your more sensitive children - before they realize that the moths are killed to get the silk of their cocoon.

I know at least one set of teachers that wished they had not kept the cycle going as long as they did. They did not think about covering the 'experiment' and were not quite ready for the moths to fly about their room - or the second set of eggs.

For more information, I suggest:

Silkworm Lifecycle
Silkworm Raisers Customs
Printable Silkworm notebooking page
From Egg to Thread: Silkworms, Hands-on! by Lady Arianne de Chateaumichel

Sources for silkworm eggs include:

Educational kits you can but with a "mail in for eggs" postcard
Mulberry Farms (www.mulberryfarms.com) This company sells silkworms, eggs, food, and equipment. Their average customer may be raising them for lizard food.
Sericulum (sericulum.com/lifecycle.html) I really like their life cycle pictures - the link to that is above.

2007 Lunar Festivals

2007-02-27T08:29:00.000-08:00

Chinese New Year (including the Lantern Festival on day 15), Mid-Autumn Festival and the Dragon Boat Festival are the most important and widely celebrated Chinese holidays. However there are quite a few other holidays celebrated by their lunar dates.

Sunday, February 18, 2007 - Chinese New Year, lunar 1/1, Year of the Pig, 4705
February 2007 - Common Man's birthday - This is celebrated more by Chinese in other parts of Asia, more than in China.
March 4 - lunar eclipse
Sunday, March 5, 2007 - Lantern Festival - lunar date 1/15 - This is also celebrated as a sort of Valentine's Day in some Chinese communities.

Tomb Sweeping Day April 5, 2007
May 1, 2007 (lunar 3/23) Tin Hau Festival - Taoist Goddess of the Sea and patron of fisherman. Celebration now is limited to smaller communities in fishing islands, or areas immediately around a Tin Hau temple. (There are about 60 temples in Hong Kong dedicated, at least partially, to Tin Hau.)

Buddha's Birthday (lunar 4/8) - This is now a public holiday in Hong Kong. In Cheung Chau, HK, the Cheung Chau Bun Festival is also held on this day, in honor of Pak Tai, the Taoist God of the Sea.

Tuesday, June 19, 2007 - Dragon Boat (Tuen Ng) Festival - lunar 5/5, Considered the third most important Chinese holiday

(July 7, 2007 - total lunar eclipse)

Sunday, August 19, 2007 - "Valentine's Day" - 7/7 lunar
Monday, August 27th, 2007 - Ghost Day - 7/15 lunar
Tuesday, September 25, 2007 - Mid-Autumn Festival - 8/15 lunar
Friday, October 19, 2007 - "Double Nine" Chong Yang Festival - 9/9 on the lunar calendar

Winter Solstice "Dong Zhi" Falls on December 20-22.

The 25th year of this cycle begins:
February 7, 2008 - Chinese New Year - lunar 1/1, Year of the Rat, 4706

Best Wishes for your Fire Pig Year!

2007-02-18T11:57:00.000-08:00

I hope you are enjoying time with your family today.

Over 800 million people have been on the move to get home for this day - Chinese New Year - celebrated by almost one quarter of the world's population.

Traditional celebrations were for 2 weeks, but even in China they only get about a week off now.

Please be careful in your celebrations! Over 125 people in Beijing were injured by fireworks this year.

Children's Books: Zodiac Series

2007-02-12T09:07:00.000-08:00

Oliver Chin is planning to write a children’s book for each of the 12 zodiac signs. He started with The Year of the Dog and released The Year of the Pig this year. He had events at Vromans Bookstore and Book Passage so their sites can show him and his children as well as the book title, of course a cheaper price is available at Amazon.

More Zhima Jie

2007-02-10T18:56:00.000-08:00

An Asia Society's press release from ~1999 has lots of information on the details.
http://www.asiasociety.org/pressroom/rel-zhimajie.html

One review at IMDb said it was useful for introducing American culture to others, I disagree. Certainly that was not the goal of the show. It never was a direct translation of the American show as this review also states. (Although when we saw it in 1999, they still were using "American" footage. My understanding is that all of the overseas "Sesame Street" shows start out using American footage that is dubbed and create more and more of their own content over time.)

My previous thoughts are at Zhima Jie.

Lesson Plans about China

2007-02-01T10:35:00.000-08:00

These are worthwhile lessons plans - but they sure don't fit into Chinese New Year Lesson Plans very well!

(Chinese) Math Lesson Plans

Math - award winning abacus site

Mathematics in China

(coming later)

Inventions
Tea and Chopsticks (While you're waiting, start with Asia Education's Chopsticks Lesson Plan and this 6^th grade lesson plan on The Tea Culture)

Language Arts and Comparative Literature - Big title for something we started in my house when the children were toddlers and pre-schoolers.

Mulan as a Unit Study with links to other lesson plans & unit studies on China!
Teaching With Asian Children's Literature: A Thematic Unit Of Study for K-6 includes Yeh-Shen
Comparing Fairy Tales Across Cultures: Cinderella and Yeh-Shen
An Integrated Unit on Friendship Implementing Asian-American Children's Literature.
Dim Sum's Index of Lessons 5. Comparing Fairy Tales Across Cultures Lesson: Cinderella and Yeh-Shen, comparing Cinderella and Yeh-Shen, appropriate for grades 2-5, includes: 2 planning worksheets, Venn diagram template, list of versions of Cinderella from other cultures, 1 Internet link.
III. Comparison of Different Stories includes Chang's Paper Pony.
Women in Traditional China and their Portrayal in Chinese Folktales by Gale Billingsley

Yeh-Shen (Cinderella) probably deserves its own list.

Philanthropy

Asian Fusion: "Through investigating traditional examples of culture and illustrating the impact of philanthropy in Asia, learners will gain an appreciation for Asian life and society. Learners will gain knowledge of the geography of Japan and China." Five 45 minute classes for middle school.
Good Will: Three Chinese Stories: "The Chinese culture is presented through Chinese stories, old and new. The main character in each story is faced with a dilemma in which he must decide on the appropriate action to take. In each case the decision becomes a selfless act." Three 60 minute lessons for K - 2nd grade, using: Margaret Mahy's The Seven Chinese Brothers, Ying Chang Compestine's (The) Runaway Rice Cake, and Karen Chim's Sam and the Lucky Money.
Chinese Proverb on Honesty: A 30 60 minute lessons for K - 2nd grade, using: The Empty Pot by Demi.
Generosity of Spirit (Chinese Folktale): Two 55 minutes lessons for high school.

Art
Brushstrokes from West to East is a 43 page document containing Vermont-standards based lesson plans for K - 6, including kite & lantern making, paper cuts, clay dragons, clay teapots, and Chinese seals (chops) and calligraphy.

Sealed With A Chop - Use Model Magic to make your own chop. grades 1 - 6. Language & Art.
Simple "Chinese" Lantern - From Crayola & Michaels

Chinese Immigration - to America

Also check out lesson plans for Chinese New Year. Many of them can be taught at any time of year, with little or no changes.

Lesson Plans added: 8/2007
Updated: 3/2007

Paper Folding

2007-01-26T07:26:00.000-08:00

Origami is the word for Japanese paper folding, but there is a (perhaps longer) tradition of paper folding in China. Some historians believe that it started not longer after Ts'ai Lun invented paper in China in A.D. 105. Many say both paper and paper folding were introduced to Japan in the late 6^th century by Buddhist monks. Unfortunately, there are no records of Chinese paper folding, and the oldest Japan records are from 1797 (in the 18^th century). Separately paperfolding originated in Spain (Arabs brought the secret of paper to them in the 12^th century).Children can benefit from origami in many ways – the listening skills, sequencing, fine motor, attention, math skills (geometry, congruence, symmetry). Last year, I saw an article on about how it helps in using both sides of the brain. Whether you research it or not, Enjoy!

Classic Paper Crane:
Filmmaker, George Levenson won awards for his Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes. You can see clips of that and of his companion video, How to Fold A Paper Crane at the Sadako Film Project. To complete a crane, read the full directions for how to fold a paper crane. I love his book, The Pumpkin Circle and think it fits in well with the Harvest theme of Mid-Autumn Festival.

Paperfolding for the Chinese Zodiac: The next "rat" year starts in 2008. Many of the directions are pdf files and require the use of Adobe Acrobat. The pictures are just that - with no folding instructions. The Japanese zodiac uses the same animals. I have heard but have not confirmed, that Mythological Creatures and the Chinese Zodiac in Origami by John Montroll has challenging directions to fold each of the characters of the Chinese zodiac.

Rat -Simple mouse, Great rat origami picture, Directions for a mouse, Picture of mice that I can not fold. Or select this mouse.

Ox - Cow picture, No directions

Tiger - Tiger picture, No directions

Rabbit - For the youngest, consider this origami rabbit face, or select one of Waterfordpress' origami rabbits. For the more dexterous, try these instructions for rabbits at Fishgoth.com or select the Thinkquest rabbit. Or look at Joseph's Wu's Rabbit for Chinese New Year (picture only). Some fold origami rabbits in school during Mid-Autumn Festival, although it is not traditionally done in China on that night.

Dragon - Dragons are generally harder to fold. My friend Lorna found some simple ones from Tammy Lee. One based on the fortune teller you probably learned in school and a basic dragon puppet. When you are ready, Marc Kirschenbaum’s Rearing Dragon (page 1, page 2, page 3, page 4, page 5, page 6) is a high intermediate dragon. This Eastern Dragon [PDF file of instructions] is a also high intermediate. Joseph Wu has done great multi-piece dragons including this Grand Dragon, and Stephen O'Hanlon has some wonderful dragons in his Fantasy Origami Gallery.

Snake - Ronald Koh and David Derudas have folded incredible cobras, but that is well beyond most of us! No directions to fold a snake yet.

Horse - Incredible folded Horse picture from Ronald Koh, Horse directions, *** Horse Directions, Seren's Horse picture. Or select this horse. Directions for this Front Flip Horse might only print on A4 (UK paper size) but you can still read them online.

Sheep/Ram/Goat - Not an easy goat, *** sheep

Monkey - Kirikomi Monkey - cuts are an essential part of making this model, No easy directions.

Rooster - Rooster picture, No directions.

Dog - For a simple origami dog face you need only a square of paper and a pencil or something to draw the face. You can also make it "talk". This dog's head uses a different approach. I also found an 8 minute video on folding an origami dog if you really want to see each step - or a quick review of them all starting around 7:50 into the clip.

There are some (easy but) harder dogs too. The "Patient dog" can be folded two different ways, one with a tail and one without. One might be easier for you to do than the other. To try this advanced dog you may also need to download the turkey instructions which is the base. Or try this, Stylized Dog.

Pig/Boar - Paperfold Pigs, pig's head, a picture of The World's Largest Origami Pig, ** pig, directions for a Freestanding Pig (not quite the wild boar fold that I adore).

Other Origami
Bubble Balloon Box
Teapot

33 schools in and around Portland teach Mandarin

2007-01-25T14:42:00.000-08:00

Southeast Portland started what will become the nation's only kindergarten-to-college Chinese immersion program in 1998 - a public school with an immersion Mandarin program! Of course the area has pre-schools and weekend Chinese schools teaching Mandarin too.

If you want to read it all, The Oregonian might ask you for your zipcode and year of birth - but you can at least start the Mandarin Rising article without sharing anything.

1 Feb. 2007 addition: maybe I should retitle this "Cheers and Jeers"

Meanwhile according to today's New York Times Palo Alto Board Rejects Classes in Mandarin. (After a certain amount of time, only subscribers will be able to see the whole article.) Only part of the issue seems to be that since it could not (or would not) be offered to everyone that it might "give the small group of students in them an unfair advantage."1

1 - quote from Palo Alto Board Rejects Classes in Mandarin, By Jesse McKinley, February 1, 2007, The New York Times.

Sichun Panda babies

2007-01-21T07:53:00.000-08:00

(news from December 2006) SICHUAN, China --
Sixteen baby pandas were born at the Sichuan Wolong Panda Protection and Breed Center between July 2005 and December of 2006, including 5 sets of twins. In the wild, only own twin usually survives but in zoos and breeding centers, with human assistance, both twins should be fine.

The cubs are weighed and measured every five days. YouTube has clips of the cubs, perhaps before being weighed and then at about 6 months, playing outside. (What I like best is hearing the pandas!) Scenes like those would never happen in the wild as pandas are solitary creatures.

The pandas should start to walk and stop nursing by February 2007, but the breeding program continues and there should be more little ones there.

There is also an email bouncing around the internet with a China Foto Press photographs attached. To see some of their original photos, see Happy Life in the Panda's Kindergarten and Chinese Giant Panda.

Sources included:
NBC
Panda International

Do blogs have a monetary value?

2007-01-20T08:08:00.000-08:00

Business Opportunities has an applet to calculate what a blog is worth in US dollars. How much is your blog worth?. It was inspired by Tristan Louis's research into the value of each link to Weblogs Inc. If links add value to the site, the value of his must be shooting right up, because it is interesting.

According to that, this blog and my Chinese New Year blog are each currently worth $564.54 but my Mid-Autumn Festival Blog, is worth $1,129.08.

Chinese Games

2007-01-16T13:33:00.000-08:00

Some places list Chinese games as "Hunting, Polo, Parcheesi, Chess, and Backgammon". Some how that is not exactly what I was thinking when I wanted to introduce Chinese games to children - or when Girl Scout troops ask what Hong Kong or Taiwanese game they can teach others for World Thinking Day. I don't think of paper-cutting, origami and Chinese knotting as "games" but they are fun crafts that Chinese children do. Ideas originally for Chinese New Year in the schools which can be adapted for any time of year, include Chinese Games (Catch the Dragon's Tail, Lame Chicken, and ideas for 3 - 9 year olds), Crafts and activities, and Crafts for upper elementary.

A bit of History: Yoyos and dolls may have been the world's first toys. China invented or discovered: yoyos, tops, kites, playing cards, Mah jong (Mahjongg), and Chinese Chess (Xiang Qi, similar to Wei Qi, known in the USA as a Japanese game "Go").

Probably most of the oldest Chinese card games were also played as gambling games, and certainly many multi-player mahjongg games today have a gambling component. (Japan and Hong Kong have different scoring rules for the game.) Mahjongg was originally a solitaire game - and now you can find software versions to download and play it on your laptop or PalmPilot. Chinese dominos are a differn tgame and use different tiles.

Chinese board games include Xiangqi and Go, a strategic board game for two players (known as Weiqi in Chinese).

The "Shuttlecock", Chinese Yoyo or Chinese jump rope are all fun and good games to present.

Some call the shuttlecock (pictured here) a "helicopter rotor", "propeller top" or "bamboo dragonfly". If you do not have or do not want to use feathers, you can make your own shuttlecock with a coin, some facial tissue or tissue paper and a rubber band. An American quarter is about the right size. It is bounced off your foot and body - the rules remind many Americans of hacky-sack.

Games needing space - These take up a fair amount of room to move:
Eagle and Chicks, Catch the Dragon's Tail, Lame Chicken and Forcing the City Gates (which sounds a bit like "Rover, Red Rover" to me...) Fang Bao also takes up some space, but maybe it could be kept to a long side of the gym (or where-ever your event is held), or possibly even down a hall if you have enough adults for supervision?

Chinese Jump Rope - You can make your own Chinese jump robe with rubber bands or elastic cord. (WARNING: rubber bands contain latex, and are sometimes 100% latex. You may want to check for latex allergy issues before you bring this into a school community gathering.)

From Losing the games of their parents?, look how high the Chinese jump rope is in the picture!

Last Updated: September 2007

Mandarin & Music

2007-01-11T08:01:00.000-08:00

Food for thought - excerpts on Mandarin & Music

1. Mandarin Language Is Music To The Brain Science Daily 13 December 2006 — It’s been shown that the left side of the brain processes language and the right side processes music; but what about a language like Mandarin Chinese, which is musical in nature with wide tonal ranges? . . . Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by University of California - Irvine.

2. Mandarin Chinese speaks volumes in giving the young an ear for music Ian Sample in San Diego and Faisal al Yafai - Thursday November 18, 2004 - The Guardian

Scientists have discovered an unusual tip for parents who want their little darlings to grow up to be musical geniuses - teach them Mandarin Chinese.

Psychologists at the University of California in San Diego found that children who learnt Mandarin as babies were far more likely to have perfect pitch - the ability to name or sing a musical note at will - than those raised to speak English. Perfect pitch, though common among the great composers, is extremely rare in Europe and the US, where just one in 10,000 is thought to have the skill.

3. Tone Language Translates To Perfect Pitch: Mandarin Speakers More Likely To Acquire Rare Musical Ability Science Daily 15 November 2004 — Could it be that cellist Yo-Yo Ma owes his perfect musical pitch to his Chinese parents? While we may never know the definitive answer, new research from the University of California, San Diego has found a strong link between speaking a tone language - such as Mandarin - and having perfect pitch, the ability once thought to be the rare province of super-talented musicians. . . . Or read the study yourself, with graphic figures of the results and sound files of the test.

NJN's Unbroken Thread

2007-01-06T20:05:00.000-08:00

I just found New Jersey Network's interesting Unbroken Thread page. Ignore the fact that season 2004-2005 is in the web link, it is current stuff, referring to a December show and Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company's upcoming "Year of the Boar" Show. I love their study guides, even to older shows.

The NJN site describes itself:
"State of the Arts explores Chinese celebrations of the New Year, marriage, and death and how they form an “Unbroken Thread” of ongoing importance to Chinese Americans today. "

Of interest: the spread of Mandarin

2007-01-01T11:22:00.000-08:00

Recently a child asked, “Why we don’t speak Chinese since China is so big?” What a huge question.

China is a billion people but Chinese has 8 major dialects (in mainland China alone). China was isolated from the rest of the world for many years and that certainly contributed to the fact that Chinese is mostly spoken by those of Chinese descent, although that is changing.

Mandarin Chinese is the #1 spoken language in the world at 13.7% of the world's population, Spanish is 2nd at 5.1%. English is #3 at 4.8% (according to the 2006 CIA World Factbook). 785 million people in the world are illiterate (CIA World Factbook, 2005 estimate). That is about about 12% of the world, but almost 17% of those over 15. India and China have most of the world's illiteracy (going along with their massive populations).

April 2006's WIRED magazine had an article titled "The Mandarin Offensive: Inside Beijing's global campaign to make Chinese the number one language in the world." by Michael Erard that may also be of interest.

Happy 2007

2006-12-31T22:45:00.000-08:00

Many around the world celebrated the coming of 2007 with fire works and loud noises. I wonder how much of this was influence of Chinese New Year's traditions of using loud noises and bright lights to drive away evil and misfortune? I know we heard loud bangs just after midnight where we were. I hope that everyone celebrated safely.

Happy New Year.

Chinese Yoyo

2006-12-28T15:51:00.000-08:00

The Chinese yoyo is also called a diablo or pull-bell. The diablo is a "cousin" or Western variation of the Chinese yoyo, of much more recent origin but the same tricks can be done with both. Although there are a number of differences between the two yoyo types, virtually all of the same tricks can be done on either. It seems that Chinese yoyo users usually speed up the yoyo by moving their arms up and down with the strings wrapped around the axle of the yoyo, where diablo users seem to cross the strings and move them from side-to-side.

For an idea of what can be done, watch this Chinese Yoyo video from the CCTV 2007 Chinese New Year Celebration. I liked watching them juggle Chinese Yoyos starting at 4:38. If you watch the whole clip you will also see them jumping robe and building pyramids.

There are more video clips on the web of folks working with Chinese yoyo, some to show off particular tricks and others for instructional purposes. I like the Harvard Chinese Yoyo Club's Tricks and Videos.html.

The Gibee club has almost all diabolo videos, for more watch at the English version of Diarhythm, a Japanese diabolo movie site. Dave Barnes Videos: with two diabolos and with three!

For Beginning Instructions:
Chinese Yoyo.org You may also want to look under “Mini-workshop” at their Dual yoyos page.

Harvard Yoyo Club's Beginner’s Guide to Chinese Yoyo.

This one is probably only of interest if you actually have one: How to get the string on the Chinese Yoyo. An important part of "how to start".

About.com has some nice pictures but the links were not working for me.

Paper "Chinese Yoyo":
I have never been able to track down the origins of this name and will not vouch for the "authenticity", but here are directions if that is what you want.

Updated: March 2007

Girl Guides and Girl Scouts

2006-12-18T10:16:00.000-08:00

Special note for Girl Scouts: If you are working on “countries around the world”, I am glad to see China included. If, however, you are preparing for World Thinking Day (WTD, February 22^nd) chose Republic of China (ROC, Taiwan) which has Girl Scouts or Hong Kong which has Girl Guides. Mainland China (People's Republic of China, PRC) is not in WAGGGS and would not be a candidate country for WTD. (Hong Kong is a special administrative region of the PRC.)

World Thinking Day is a chance for Girl Guides and Girl Scouts to think about their peers in other parts of the world – and what the girls do, more than a chance to learn about a specific country. Perhaps this bit on Chinese Games might help.

More information on Girl Guides and Girl Scouts in China:

The Hong Kong Girl Guides Association
Website: http://www.hkgga.org.hk/eng_index.php (Although there is an ENG button on the top of the page to get English, much of the site is in Chinese.) Use the English side bars on the side to get more information on Guides in Hong Kong including the uniform, Promise and Law that different levels use. (Or see their Promise and Law, in Wikipedia's Hong Kong Girl Guides Association article.)

The Hong Kong Girl Guides Association is a full member of WAGGGS. Guiding was introduced there in 1916. They do not admit boys(*). In 2003 there were over 44,000 Girl Guides in Hong Kong. There are 6 levels in the Guiding programme.

Happy Bee (小蜜蜂) is a Parent-Child Programme for both boys(*) & girls ages 4 to 6 years old;
Brownie (小女童軍), from 6 to 12 years old;
Guide (女童軍), from 10 to 18 years;
Ranger (深資女童軍), from 15 to 21 years old (including Sea Rangers (15 to 21) and Air Rangers (17-21);
Golden Guide (樂齡女童軍), over 60 years old; and
Guider (女童軍領袖), volunteer leader, over 21 years old.

Girl Scouts of Taiwan
Website: www.girlscout.org.tw
Girl Scouts of Taiwan is a full member of WAGGGS. Guiding was introduced there in 1919. They do not admit boys. In 2003 there were over 28,000 Girl Guides in Taiwan. (There is an "English" button on the top but it does not seem to make much different on the front page of the site.)

Wikipedia's article has the Promise and Law with English translations, or read more at this personal site, or view descriptions of their uniforms.

Macau
Macau and Hong Kong are special administrative regions of the PRC. Macau seems to have (Boy) Scouts but no Girl Scouts or Girl Guides. The Scout Association of Macau is not a member of WAGGGS.

Overseas Scouts in Taiwan & Hong Kong
At least as of February 2007, there were USA Girl Scouts Overseas (USAGSO) in the PRC and there are also British Guides in Foreign Countries (BGIFC) there. (sources: posting by international WAGGS trainer and Wikipedia.)

last updated: 2/2008

See "today's moon phase"

2006-12-11T07:13:00.000-08:00

I just added a "Current Moon" picture with basic information on the current moon phase to my Chinese New Year blog. The pictures are much more detailed than the black and white ones on the (free) calendar I supply. The phase of the moon is correct for each day but the actual pictures are not updated daily!

More on Winter Solstice

2006-11-29T08:08:00.000-08:00

I just found out that Giddy Gabby mentioned the Winter Solstice entry on her Its Christmas if you're Christian entry, but you may want to look there to learn more about other December Solstice celebrations around the world.

2007 Lunar calendar available

2006-11-17T06:26:00.000-08:00

The 2007 lunar calendar one page pdf file showing the phases of the moon is now available. The graphic image here is its negative, what I call "white on black".

I really like the way these calendars look, but they are a useful tool for explaining the Chinese calendar. It is easy to see where new moons, marking the start of the lunar month, fall throughout the year. I always carry more than one if I am going to show it in a classroom, as there are always a couple of people who really want a copy of their own.

I have a black on white copy in a pdf file that you can print using far less ink, for a copy of either, email me at mus-mandarin@wubison.com. If you don't say which copy you want, it will be the "black on white" pdf version, the opposite of what is displayed here. If you want a gif of this, just let me know in your mail. To make your own as we did or use any of the other display options, use Andrew W. Roberts' lcal program, now available at this postscript calendar site. You would need your own C compiler.

My favorite online dictionary in BETA

2006-11-16T20:03:00.000-08:00

Corgi Labs has added a new version of my favorite Chinese language "dictionary tool". It is still in beta which means that it is not perfect, but if you are studying Chinese, it is certainly worth a look.

The older dictionary version has a few more words last I checked and may suit your needs better - until the new one is in production.

Zhima Jie

2006-11-10T18:28:00.000-08:00

I still want to see copies of the 130 episodes of Zhima Jie (Sesame Street in China) sold anywhere that I can buy them! It was designed for 3 - 6 year olds in China and aired from 1998 - 2001. There was an unseccessful attempt to have it resume in 2004, but I am not sure if the 130 includes any episodes from then. I expect that someday China Sprout or someone will have the episodes available, but as far as I know it has not happened yet. We were never able to find any one who had taped it in Shanghai.

When I was in China in 1999, one could buy Sesame Street branded things in major department stores. We came back with a sweater bearing Little Plum's face.

I found myself watching the episodes on TV in the evening - usually just after my daughter fell asleep for a quick nap for dinner!

Just missed a Chinese Blogger Conference

2006-10-30T07:15:00.000-08:00

The 2nd annual Chinese Blogger Conference 2006 was in Hangzhou this weekend. Who knew? For more information, see T-Salon's October 27th blog entry.

URL: http://www.t-salon.net/2006/10/tuning-into-chinese-blogger-conference.html

Thanks to Corgi Labs for passing this one on!

World Press Freedom Day

2006-10-24T19:35:00.000-07:00

Reporters Without Borders have released their fifth annual worldwide index of press freedom. Four years ago, on the first list, the United States of America has was in 17^th place. Now, in 2006, they are tied for 53^rd place. China remains in the bottom few, and is now listed as 163^rd out of 168 countries. (In 2002, on Reporters Without Borders first list, USA was 17^th and China was 138^th, followed only by 139^th North Korea.)

You can download the 153 page 2006 report from their survey overview page.

I know I am wrestling more and more with the question of how much my children should know about what is happening in the world. When will I be ready for them to see the newspaper daily?

The World According to Sesame Street

2006-10-23T18:17:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow, October 24, 1996, PBS will broadcast The World According to Sesame Street as the premiere of the Fall 2006 Independent Lens series. It premiered in the documentary competition at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. We are watching - and taping this one - even though it has nothing to do with Chinese version, Zhima Jie.

Our local PBS station listed it this way:

Tuesday, October 24 at 9pm
Independent Lens: "The World According to Sesame Street"
Follows three producers from Sesame Workshop to Bangladesh, Kosovo, and South Africa, where they localize the popular children's television program with indigenous songs, puppets, and curricula.

For more on Sisimpur (the Bangladeshi version) or Takalani (The South African version) see Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit. I did not relaize that Takalani Sesame was the first to have an HIV character - in 2002, but Time magazine in Europe wrote about it in "Meet Kami, the world's first HIV-positive Muppet and the latest recruit in South Africa's AIDS war".

Particpant Productions on their website, starts, "The World According to Sesame Street is a feature-length documentary, in cooperation with "Sesame Street," that explores the drama and complexities behind producing international versions of the world’s most-watched children’s television program. The documentary shows that social impact and change can come from the most unlikely sources, including a team of Muppets.

The Rotten Tomatoes review starts:
"The World According to Sesame Street runs counter to the usual critiques of the malevolent effects of the export of American culture. Contrary to films whose examination of artistic production and/or the process of media creation is, frankly, often quite indulgent and boring, this documentary by Linda Goldstein Knowlton and Linda Hawkins Costigan is both insightful and uncommonly revealing. more »

MPAA Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 1 hour, 47 minutes

Do the Dig!

2006-10-17T14:28:00.001-07:00

For a very hands-on way to learn about Ancient China -- consider archaeology! My children attended a dig on The Middle Kingdom and we all loved it. They learned a lot and "did adult things in a kid way".

Professional archaeologist turned educator Geoff "Bog Dog" Purcell runs a great week-long program - a half-day camp for 5-7 year olds, and full day camps (for 7/8 year olds and up). You can check out his website (dothedig.net) to read more about Camp Activities. In the morning, the children talk about how to think like an archaeologist, dig and dig in squares marked off with string. In the afternoon, full-day campers see slides and hear stories and play games to reinforce the concepts they have learned. Every day there are new questions to think about as the children work to figure out the story of their site. The week ends with a potluck luncheon and a "museum" the children put together. You may be very surprised at how much they have learned!

If you live within driving distance, and know 24 children interested, he can come to you in the spring or fall. If you are lucky enough to live near Albany, NY (or maybe have family you can camp with near there), perhaps you can try one of his summer day camps.

Although Musical Mandarin readers may be most interested in China, he does Viking, Mezo-American, and other themed digs too. For one camper's view of "Big Dog's Egypt: The Middle Kingdom" dig, read his letter to DIG magazine in Readers' Submissions.

For more information, or to set up your own dig, email geofferypurcell@webtv.net (You can certainly tell him that he will be seeing us again!)

(Maybe you won't want to mention to your children that besides learning about China and archaeology, they will practice thinking skills, following directions and working together.)

Head & Shoulders

2006-10-11T19:34:00.000-07:00

"Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" is one of the few songs that is a great teaching song just as it is, but what next? Maybe a few counting songs. Then things get difficult, unless you are willing to write your own, and few of us as as creative as Richard, the author of Genki English. (He teaches English to Japanese but I love the energy in his work!)

Still it is nice to see that I am not the only one thinking about music & children & language learning.

Here is what an English speaking, director of an English school in Japan is thinking at simple songs on kids music + early childhood education. His October 6th entry may be interesting to many of us. Listen to "The Great Well" in English &/or Chinese and learn about the Google Literacy Project. Or you may want to look at his "Head, shoulders, knees, ...and peanut butter?" which seems really about what children find funny. "Wheels on the Bus" gets a high approval rating from his kids which is great. I think that in addition to what he says about why songs work, many songs do work best in the original language. I think in my class, "Wheels on the Bus" gets about a 50% rating - although I want to see if that goes up if I do fewer verses, at least the first few times we do it.

His reference for children's music from around the world was for a site I already know. Mama Lisa has lots to offer, including lots of children's songs and nursery rhymes from around the world, most of them with audio samples. Sadly there is not much from China there - yet?

A cautionary tale: using Chinese characters

2006-10-10T20:36:00.000-07:00

The menu was hard to read, but not the sweater
Humor: In Calcutta, they couldn't read the Chinese menu. So they decided to wear it. By G.K. Gupta
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1011/p18s02-hfes.html?s=hns

I am reminded of an old quote that it is an elevated level of understanding to realize what we do not know.

As I want this to stay a "family accessible site", I have never posted the sites that detail tattos people have gotten - thinking they were Chinese characters, or actual Chinese character tatoo that perhaps don't mean what the wearer thinks they do. I have not also never posted any links to interesting translations of Chinese menus but this tale I had to share.

Found: Cassettes on sale!

2006-10-07T08:14:00.000-07:00

I was just visiting the clearance section at Ray's childbook.com and discovered that both "Teach Me . . . Chinese!" and "Teach Me More . . . Chinese!" are on sale there ! It is the cassette versions, but at $7.50 each I would grab one for the car if I did not have it yet. (The price is before shipping of course). I have done business with Childbook a number of times and never had a problem. The regular price for the cassette/book set is $13.95.

Teach Me . . . Chinese and Teach Me More . . . Chinese by Judy Mahoney are both over 45 minutes of bilingual (Mandarin and English) songs. A booklet with the lyrics (in English, pinyin and simplified characters) is included. Some songs are traditional Chinese, some are tunes you know that are also used in China, and some are English songs translated in to Mandarin. Both albums are are recommended for ages 2 - 12. There are CD versions too - but they are not on sale ($12.44 to $18.95 depending on where you shop).

My other favorite is still Sing 'n Learn Chinese (book and CD) by Trio Jan Jeng and Selina Yoon. All in Mandarin, but I don't know of it being on sale anywhere right now. For more information, read Ear Training: Suggested CDs.

Autumn Moon Festival!

2006-10-06T07:25:00.000-07:00

Tonight's the night. It is supposed to be cloudy here. I hope you are with loved ones and can see the moon better where you are. The moon was already gorgeous last night. If you want to see all I have to say on this holiday visit my Mid-Autumn Festival site.

"Sisters In Shanghai" arrived here!

2006-09-29T22:04:00.000-07:00

We must be one of the first to receive our copy of volume 4 of the Autumn Jade series - it was just back from the printers days ago.

We've enjoyed Steve Whan's Autumn Jade mysteries and I expect that someone will disappear for a few hours to start reading. The heroine is a girl adopted from China living in North America, and the reading level is probably "8 - 12 years old". I am not sure if he rated it.

If you want to learn more, or order copies -- for you or perhaps a library near you, go to the Autumn Jade Publishing website http://www.autumnjade.com/ There is a price break if you buy all 4 at once. My relationship to them is as a satisfied customer of the books -- and someone happy to receive the weekly Focus on Culture that Steve also does. (I was surprised to realize that I've been receiving that since before October 2004!)

Book 4: "Sisters of Shanghai", the story...

"Autumn Jade returns to Shanghai with her parents to complete the adoption of her little sister, Lucie. During a site-seeing trip to Old Shanghai, her parents are kidnapped. It's up to Autumn and Lucie to find their parents, uncover the treasure hidden in the Shanghai Museum and for Autumn to confront her nemesis." (Autumn Moon Publishing)

A fine source for books - Shen's Books

2006-09-27T20:29:00.000-07:00

Shen's Books is a publisher and resource for children’s books that promote cultural understanding. Their specialties include Cinderella tales from around the world, Asian and Latin American cultures, and immigrant lives in America. (and they have their own blog too now.)

Their latest catalog is being delivered now.

I think highlights include:
The Day the Dragon Danced by Kay Haugaard and Carolyn Reed Barritt (A truly muti-ethnic story about an African American girl who goes to the Chinese New Year parade to see her father dance in the dragon. Ages 4-8) You know how I love to see more Chinese New Year books so I am looking forward to that.

American Born Chinese by Gene Yang (Highly publicized graphic novel about the trials of growing up different. For ages 10 & up)

One Year in Beijing by Grace Lin (8-year-old Ling Ling shows us around her city, one month at a time. Ages 6 - 10)

I have bought books from them but have no relationship besdis satisfied customer.

Mid-Autumn Festival on October 6th

2006-09-27T19:40:00.000-07:00

I am having a hard time believing that it is suddenly just a over a week away. We are not ready yet here. (Just a couple of days ago, my son asked "is it still summer?" and I realized that it was the Autumnal Equinox!)

I would love to hear any stories about going into the schools and sharing information on the festival. There are enough resources for at least preschool and lower elementary on my Mid-Autumn Festival site. If you are doing Chinese crafts, there are also ideas on my Chinese New Year site, but do save some for the new year too. Upper elementary students can do (harder) Chinese knots, more complex paper cuts and origami, and more cooking. I have some "research ideas" for them too.

I am especially wondering what the parents of "older children" are doing. Some of us have been going into the schools once or twice a year to do "Chinese festivals and culture" for a few years now -- and if you have not moved, you may be presenting to many of the same children too!

China's Linese site grows

2006-09-04T10:58:00.000-07:00

The Linese site that China launched this summer has grown.

There are cultural bits, personal photos and blogs (some in Chinese, some in English), in addition to characters and language learning helps. A new link is to "Chengo" Chinese learning.

I love this Linese blogger's Great Wall picture.

Autumn Jade Book 4 is at the printers!

2006-08-30T05:49:00.000-07:00

Steve Whan has announced that "Sisters of Shanghai" the fourth Autumn Jade Mystery is now at the printers. They expect to have the latest novel back by September 24th, 2006 (and are presently taking advance orders through their web site: http://www.autumnjade.com/ ).

The story...

Autumn Jade returns to Shanghai with her parents to complete the adoption of her little sister, Lucie. During a site-seeing trip to Old Shanghai, her parents are kidnapped. It's up to Autumn and Lucie to find their parents, uncover the treasure hidden in the Shanghai Museum and for Autumn to confront her nemesis.

We like this series. The main character is a girl adopted from China who solves a mystery a book. The reading level is probably "ages 8 - 12". Since the book is coming from Canada, the postage is a bit higher than you might expect but we think it is worthwhile.

Steve Whan creates the (weekly?) collection of China news that is appropriate for children - Focus On China - that I have mentioned before.

Dumpling Photo Recipe

2006-08-30T05:34:00.000-07:00

Someone just told me about a fun site that has "photo recipes". Their favorite was for dumplings and dipping sauce. The site has the recipe - and step-by-step photos of Jen, a self-described "foodie" making her grandmother's recipe.

Luckily for us, she also has five other Chinese recipes - although you will have to go most of the way down her page (and pass some beautiful desserts) to get there.

Ready for the school year?

2006-08-20T18:59:00.000-07:00

I have found myself sorting papers and marking up my calendar, and I assume I am not the only one doing this right now!

Mid-Autumn Festival is October 6, 2006 this year. While you do want to tell your child's teacher if you are interested in going into class, this year you can let class get organized a bit before you have to say that. For a basic description, see my Mid-Autumn Festival blog. Resources can be found there too.

Chinese New Year is February 18, 2007. If you plan to do something with this, you may want to also discuss Valentine's Day plans with your child's teacher. While it is nice that the room will already be red, it could be alot of celebrating in one week. For a basic description, see my Chinese New Year blog. There are lots of classroom ideas and resources listed on the site. As soem of our chlidren are getting older, more information can be provided. There are things for the upper elementary crowd there too.

Local Chinese schools should have their schedules available soon - although they probably start classes a couple of weeks after public school does in your area.

Learning A Foreign Language

2006-07-23T09:21:00.000-07:00

The most recent entry at the Eides' neurolearning blog is on "The Different Ways We're Wired...to Learn a Foreign Language". Researchers at the University College in London have found something that many of us have known for a while -- it is harder for some people to learn foreign languages than others.

I have not seen anything new on better ways to help people learn foreign languages in particular -- using immersion and music are still top on my list. There is a lot of research on learning styles, and certainly the "best" or easiest way for one person to learn is not the same for everyone.

I also read an older entry of the Eides "Brain of the Blogger" and it might be the motivation that I need to make more frequent entries here.

China launches Web site to teach Chinese

2006-07-10T09:45:00.000-07:00

There is a new website to help people learn Chinese. For more detail, you can visit the site at linese.com or read the Reuters new story. It looks nice. There are alot of audiovisual links so it may be a little slow for some - especially if you are still on dialup. I think it is worth checking out.

If youa re not studying Mandarin, you may still be interest in the News page on the site. It looks like news that would be reasonable to share with children. You can reach it from the menu/list on the sidebar - or using their pull-down channel selection menu and specifiying the "news channel".

One of my favorite places for "China news for Children" is still Steve Whan's weekly Focus on China. You can see them in his archives.

Sweetest Mommy

2006-06-27T09:45:00.000-07:00

I think this would be a lovely song to play at a naming ceremony - even if you don't know the words as it is a sweet tune. It is a common tune which can be found on a few albums available in the US and can also be heard on the internet. Sometimes it is called "Good mama" or "Mama is the best in the world". China sprout has two albums that contain this song (Chinese Children Songs (MCS034) and Popular Children Songs (MCS033)) I have it on an unlabled cassette that I got in China and on a 2 CD set with a gold cover called "Greatest Hits" where it is on CD 2 track 4

You can hear it from the following blog - under September 14, 2005. Sorry I don't have a direct link.Waiting for lauren elizabeth

The Chinese, pinyin for Mandarin, and an English translation at the end of the post. (I much prefer the first verse to the second.)

Sweetest Mommy / Good mama

世上只有媽媽好,

有媽的孩子像個寶,
tóu jìn 媽媽的懷抱
幸福享不了

世上只有媽媽好
沒媽的孩子像 gēn 草
離開媽媽的懷抱
幸福哪裡找

Shì shàng zhǐ yǒu māma hǎo,
Yǒu mā de háizi xiàng ge bǎo,
Tóu jìn māma de huaíbào
Xìngfú xiǎng bù liǎo.

Shì shàng zhǐ yǒu māma hǎo,
Méi mā de háizi xiàng gēn cǎo,
Lí kāi māma de huáibào
Xìngfú nǎ lǐ zhǎo.

[Having a] mother is the best thing in the word
Children with a mother are like precious treasures,
Being held in Mom’s arms is to enjoy endless happiness.

Mom is the best thing in the world.
Children without a mother are helpless as a blade of grass.
[without a mother]
There is no happiness to be found.

I do not usually give out untested sites, but here are some possibilities:
You may be able to hear it here & download it from:
http://www.tussah.com/lara/mamasong/index.html
http://www.egeli.se/mama_hao.htm

Source for "Chinese" fabrics

2006-06-25T06:28:00.000-07:00

eQuilter.com has had nice fabrics for years, mostly 100% cotton for quilters and a selection of Chinese themed fabrics.  I have done business with this company but have no other ties. You will find Chinese (and Japanese) themed fabrics in her Asian collections.

When I have used "calligraphy" from the eQilter.com search page on her site, over 95% has been Chinese or Kanji (which is based on Chinese characters). Here's one example of a Chinese character fabric or search on Chinese New Year and you may see a Chinese New Year fabric. She does have other Chinese-themed fabrics too and usually quite a selection featuring dragons!  The koi fabric is one of my favorites.

Asian gifts - you do not have to sew at all to enjoy & use these:
http://equilter.com/cgi-bin/webc.cgi/st_main.html?catid=289

Their adoption story of traveling to China in April 2003 to adopt their daughter can be found on the Luana Travelogue at equilter.com

Her "Memoirs of China" collection for Robert Kaufman Fabrics was inspired by that same trip to China, especially the design of the little Chinese girls!
http://equilter.com/cgi-bin/s.pl?k=kamch

... and 10% of the design royalties go to charities that help these kids, such as
www.smiletrain.org
www.halfthesky.org

Last updated: April 2007

Muzzy in Mandarin!

2006-06-19T12:22:00.000-07:00

I have wished for this for many years and wrote to BBC at least once about this - but now it is here. The Muzzy Langauge Learning program from BBC is now available in Mandarin! They have translated their award winning program into Mandarin. It is not cheap and I have not seen the written materials that go with it - but I can not think of any better program. For more information see the Early Advantage website.

It is also available through ChinaSprout.

I have done business with Early Advanatge and ChinaSprout and been satisfied with both companies. I have not other tie to either company.

Dragon (Boat) Festival

2006-05-14T13:02:00.000-07:00

I read of one school in the USA that is going to celebrate Chinese New Year, the Dragon Festival and the Moon Festival (a.k.a Mid-Autumn Festival) all on the same day instead of concentrating on Chinese New Year this year. I have no idea why. Sounds confusing to me!

The Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated on 5/5 lunar and is the 3rd most important Chinese holiday of the year. In 2006, it was May 31st and it will be Tuesday, June 19th in 2007 but in America, many communities hold their dragon boat races later in the year.

My theory is that it can still be pretty cool in May and a delay gives the teams more time to practice. (The 2007 races in New Jersey, USA are June 2nd and October 7th so perhaps my theory needs some work.)

St. Paul is already getting ready for this year's Dragon Boat races in July 2007.

Dragon Boat Coloring Page

MTV Chinese!

2006-05-09T05:46:00.000-07:00

You can now get MTV Chinese through Direct TV.
For more information, see http://www.mtvchi.com/contact/

You will have to decide whether this is appropriate for your family at this time, but listening to more Chinese certainly fits in with the ear training and exposure theory. And I believe that if subtitles are available, that would be a wonderful addition.

For samples of what might be available - and at least today - to vote on what you want to see on MTV Chi, go to:
http://www.mtvchi.com/

Spring Equinox 2006

2006-03-19T20:57:00.000-08:00

For the Northern Hermisphere this year, spring will be here on March 20th! That is this year's spring or vernal equinox for the Northern Hemisphere this year. That will also start the half-month called Chunfen(春分, Spring Equinox) and the following solar term is Qingming(清明, Pure Brightness).

Students - Did anyone recognize the "chun" (spring) character? and "ming" or bright? Can you see the sun and moon characters that combine to make the character "ming"?

Would you have guessed we are in the third solar term now, "The Waking of Insects"? You may want to read more about Solar Terms.

Chinese New Year Songs

2006-02-05T19:28:00.000-08:00

I (teach and) sing two different Chinese New Year songs with groups. One is:
Xin nian kuai le, Gong xi fa cai,
Xin nian kuai le, Gong xi fa cai,
Xin nian dao.

For the other, I teach the chorus and sing the verse myself. The chorus is just:

Gong xi, Gong xi, Gong xi ni,
A, Gong xi, Gong xi, Gong xi ni,

Chinese for Families has a pdf for a Chinese New Year song posted on their website but I can't find the tune.

To hear a lovely (although nontraditional) Chinese New Year song, visit.
http://www.nancymusic.com/Gunghayplay.htm

I am looking for the tune to this Happy New Year song - anyone?

Mandarin

Zhengyue chu-yi guo xin nian
Dajia tonglai guo xin nian
Huan huan xixi guo xin ninan
Da jia qu bai nian
Qi ba long dong qiang dong qiang
Da jia qu bai nian.

English Translation

The first of January is New Year
All of us enjoy the New Year
Everyone is happy when New Year comes
Visiting friends, wishing everyone the best,
Lighting firecrackers everywhere,
We are enjoying the New Year.

Child-friendly Celebration - Feb. 2006

2006-02-05T19:00:00.000-08:00

The Morris County library and Chinese Community invites you to a (drop-in)

Chinese New Year Celebration
Saturday, February 11, 2006, 1 – 4 p.m.

Music- Instrumental music (Chinese instruments)
Games- chess, go, mahjong
Chinese lantern riddle
Crafts- paper cutting, origami
Art- Chinese painting demonstration by Wei-Cheng Sheu & Yi-Hsun Yu
Calligraphy (will be done on dog-shaped bookmarks)
Face painting -- Peking opera face coloring
Potpourri ornaments (Chinese style)

This is at least the third year for this event at this location, and every year they add new things. Drop by!

Morris County Library, 30 East Hanover Ave, Whippany, NJ 07981

If you want to see it on their calendar, see: http://www.gti.net/mocolib1/kid/spring.html

For directions, see: http://www.gti.net/mocolib1/compass.html

Finger Counting

2006-01-31T13:06:00.000-08:00

At least once a year, some class of Musical Mandarin does finger counting. Now I have found someone who has photos online.
http://www.laputanlogic.com/articles/2004/05/11-0001.html
We use the same hand gestures for 1 - 8. The '9' that I have seen is very different and I know at least two ways to show ten with one hand.

You may also want to check out this reference. To me it looks very much like what some of my Indian friends' mothers used to do when counting.
http://www.andysav.free-online.co.uk/multicultural%20China.htm

Chinese New Year Party

2006-01-25T08:21:00.000-08:00

Come and see what Musical Mandarin can be like:
Friday, February 10th 2006, 1 - 2 p.m.
celebrate the Year of the Dog with us in Morris Plains, NJ.

For more information, just email mus-mandarin@wubison.com

4704 is Coming

2006-01-13T08:22:00.000-08:00

Chinese New Year is January 29th, 2006.
The Kitchen God reports to heaven on the past year on January 23rd.
I hope this finds you & yours all well.

It's that time of year: Your child's teacher may ask you at any moment to come in and "do something" for Chinese New Year. Your children may start asking questions about the holiday - or you may wonder if it is time (again) to really start cleaning. I updated my Chinese New Year site with a bit about dragons, and most recently with a list of CNY activities for children which you can find at:
http://cny.blogspot.com/2006/01/childrens-cny-crafts-and-activities.html

I also posted some project-type questions for older children. If they just got the "write about some holiday" topic, this might come in handy:
http://cny.blogspot.com/2006/01/research-for-older-children.html

I have a pdf file of a lunar calendar for 2006 showing the phase of the moon for each day of the year. If you want one, just email me. It fits on one page and is always a big hit when I show it to children. (I just like the way it looks.)

Information on ideas for "doing" Chinese New Year at school remains at:
http://cny.blogspot.com/2005/01/chinese-new-year-ideas-for-school.html

As ever, if you have any questions on Chinese New Year, I will try to find an answer for them.

Solstice Picture

2006-01-04T04:01:00.000-08:00

This Astronomy Picture of the Day for 21 December 2005 might be helpful in explaining how the daylight is longer and shorter. "Sunrise by Season" shows the sun rising in a Greece today at Summer Solstice, Equinox, and Winter Solstice.

Winter Solstice - 冬至 - Dōng Zhì

2005-12-23T06:44:00.000-08:00

冬至

As the longest night of the year is a time for optimism. It an fall anywhere between December 20th and 22nd. (12/22/2007, 12/21/2005)

Dōng Zhì, the Winter Solstice, is the “shortest day of the year”. The Chinese usually celebrate dōng zhì is usually celebrated on the longest night of the year. . . and (as with virtually every Chinese holiday I tell you about) it is a time for family reunions and special food. Farmers and fisherman are especially celebrating after preparations for the cold season.

By at least 500 BCE, the Chinese knew the date of the Winter Solstice by observing the movements of the sun with a sundialChina Internet Information Center>. Winter Solstice has been celebrated in China for at least 1,800 years. Shoes were one of the common gifts by 300 AD.

Traditions for this holiday – like every other vary considerably. In Northern China, many people eat dumplings, dumpling soup, or mutton. These are all hot Yang foods which warm the body and dispell the cold of Yin. In Southern China, some eat red-bean and glutinous rice to drive away ghosts and other evil things. Noodles are popular in many areas. Starting tomorrow, daytime starts to get a little longer again, or as the Chinese say "every day gets longer by the length of a thread." Noodles made specially for the festival are called "Long Thread Noodles".

In Henan (in Central China) it is tradition to eat Chinese dumplings (jiǎozi, 餃子) on this day. Children are told that if you don't eat dumplings on that day, their ears will be frozen and drop down. Evidently the BBC repeated this tidbit December 21, 2005! (My children are covered – they had dumplings for a snack on the 21^st and as part of breakfast and lunch on the 20^th!)

According to the Hong Kong Tourism Board:

Dōng Zhì celebrations can be traced to the Chinese belief in yin and yang, which represent balance and harmony in life. It is believed that the yin qualities of darkness and cold are at their most powerful at this time, but it is also the turning point, giving way to the light and warmth of yang. For this reason, the Dōng Zhì Festival is a time for optimism.

Astronomy Pictures of the Day

22 December 2007: Tyrrhenian Sea and Solstice Sky is a beautiful solstice composite with some explanation of the science on the same page.
22 December 2006: The View from Stereo Ahead
21 December 2005: Sunrise by the Season shows the sun rising in a Greece at Summer Solstice, Equinox, and Winter Solstice. It might be helpful in explaining how the daylight is longer and shorter.

Original References include:

Old link: http://www.enonline.sh.cn/CClook.asp?id=11100

http://home.wangjianshuo.com/archives/20031222_dongzhi_winter_solstice.htm

http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/heritage/festivals/he_fest_wint.jhtml

China Internet Information Service

http://www.ccnt.com.cn/tradition/jieri/jieri/winter1.htm

If you are interested in receiving My Musical Mandarin Musings online occasionally, just email me at mus-mandarin@wubison.com

Last updated: 22 December 2007

Pre-register and pick the class days for Fall 2005

2005-08-29T15:51:00.000-07:00

Come with your preschooler and have fun with Chinese weekday mornings in Mountain Lakes at 9:30. Where music and movement are the keys to learning. Fall sessions for 2 – 6 year olds start in late September and early October.

Introduce your child(ren) to Chinese with songs, poetry, games, and instrument play! Immersion and music and movement are the most effective ways to give your child another language. Musical Mandarin uses song, instruments, puppets, storybooks and flannelboards to engage the senses. Designed to meet the learning needs of those not speaking Mandarin at home. (Mountain Lakes class is about 1 ½ miles from 287/80.)

To vote for the weekday that best fits your schedule or for more information: email mus-mandarin@wubison.com

I designed and teach "Musical Mandarin" based on bilingual/multilingualism research and early language acquisition.