Author: SACU Admin

The Festival of Pure Brightness

Currently there is a cultural event in China, which the people themselves call 清明, which is put into the westernised pinyin as ‘Qing Ming’. The English translation for this is ‘Pure Brightness’. In this article I will start by introducing some common features of the festival, discuss some similarities with western traditions and then go on to discuss a very famous Chinese painting based around the festival called, 清明上河圖, pinyin: Qīngmíng Shànghé Tú, ‘Going along the river during Qing Ming’. Like many festivals in China, the origins seem to lie in a mix of history and the environment. One explanation […]

Resonances – Spring Themes, Poetry in Chinese & English

If three years of studying literature at Cambridge University taught me anything at all, it is that poems must speak, or more accurately ‘sing’, for themselves and not speak through the explanations of literary critics. It’s finally Spring, the season that has been the inspiration for myriads of poetry in both Chinese and English In this Blog I’d like to present a sample of seasonally themed poems from both cultures in the hope that they resonate with you in your own encounters with vernal scenes. Having said this, I feel the need to preface the lyrics with a few thoughts […]

Building bridges at the grassroots

Let’s talk football! As I write this article I can hear the familiar shouts and cries of football mad children drifting through my window from the middle and primary schools opposite, reassuringly familiar from my own countless years of watching impromptu matches while on duty in secondary school break and lunch times. Both schools have large artificial astroturf pitches where teams of enthusiastic youngsters kick footballs around in training sessions every evening and weekend. It brings back happy memories for me. From age 10 to 16 my son followed a youth football dream in England, training dutifully twice a week […]

Shanghai’ed Again

Shanghai has thrust itself back to the forefront of international news in two ways this week. The first is through the announcement of plans to further develop the Shanghai and Yangtze River basin as an international trade and business hub. The second, and quite possibly linked to the first, is the announcement by the celebrity chef, Gordon Ramsay, that he will open his first restaurant in the city. In this blog I’ll share information about both of these announcements and link it to a deeper understanding of the history of Shanghai and its place in China and the world. The […]

Spring Festival Reflections

In the past three weeks I have taken advantage of the Spring Festival holiday period to travel extensively in China. Starting from Beijing I first of all travelled 2,087 kilometres to the city of Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province in south-west China. I then went on a further 350 kilometres to my first base, the city of Dali. Then another 300 kilometres south from Dali to the border city of Tengchong which is very close to the border with Myanmar. After a return journey to Kunming I then cross-crossed central China, travelling to the city of Hangzhou, close to […]

SACU member Jan Johnson’s Chinese New Year

The SACU mission is to tell stories of people to people friendship between Britain and China. I am delighted to share the Chair’s Blog with our members so that we can hear a wider range of voices. In this Blog, it’s an honour to be able to bring you SACU member Jan Johnson’s article about her Chinese New Year experiences. “I’ve been interested in China for a long time and have been teaching myself Mandarin Chinese. I’m disabled and don’t get out very often or for very long but my friend/carer and I met a lovely Chinese lady called Rosita […]

A Tale of Two Dragons

(Article developed from an original idea by Michael Crook) At this time all over China people will be wishing each other not just ‘Happy New Year’, but also ‘龙 年 快乐‘ – ‘long nian kuai’le’ or ‘happy year of the dragon’. There are images of dragons everywhere in China at the moment. Which makes us stop and wonder – why are dragons such powerful symbols in both Chinese and British culture ? What are the differences and similarities between them? It’s remarkable that the basic design of a dragon is the same across both cultures. A long snake like body, […]

新年快乐 – xīnniánkuàilè

Happy New Year! Author – 周尚, Zhou Shang The scenery outside the window swept by, and some unmelted snow lay lazily in the shade of the trees. The wind also took off a few withered yellow leaves and ran away by itself. The friction between the wheels and the rails gradually subsided. Standing on the platform, even the air was full of joy. At this time, there will always be unspeakable emotions pushing tears out, half thinking about finally returning to my hometown, and half thinking that the four seasons have finally finished changing shifts and have started a new […]

Chinese New Year 2 -Wanderlust

As I write this, it’s a day in China called 立春, Li Chun, the beginning of spring. Let’s first of all take a moment to appreciate a culture that has a celebration day for not just the 4 seasons but for 24 different seasonal days during the agrarian year. This ‘Li Chun’ I’m in an ancient town in Yunnan province called Heshun, near the city of Tengchong. On this particular morning the Yunnan sun is shining, the Yunnan birds are chirruping and the excited hum of tourist chatter is in every corner of the town. Quite rightly Heshun is on […]

An Introduction to the Chinese New Year Festival

The Chinese New Year or Lunar Festival or Spring Festival is one of the largest cultural events in the world. It is estimated that over two billion people will be involved in celebrations of one form or another. There will be public holidays not just in China but also across Asia. Of course there will be festival activities across the globe, including events for us to join in most major British cities. Already many signs of the imminent festival are in place here in Beijing, especially the ever present lanterns, shining splendid and scarlet from buildings and lamp posts, golden […]