Here’s the main holiday dates for China 2019 and the dates to join in on amazing festivals (or hide under the bed and avoid the crowds and transport chaos :))
Living in China
New China and its 400m+ Supertall Skyscrapers
China has been the built the most skyscrapers every year for over a decade now, and last year was no exception with 77 having been built in 36 different cities. 12 were built in Shenzhen alone last year.
List: Newspapers and News Media in China
This extends on a question I recently answered on Quora, about alternative news in China. Included here is a huge list of news outlets, mostly in Chinese.
The Big List of TV Channels in China
Whether living in China or just holidaying, you're probably going to turn a TV on at some time, so, here's the big list of local Chinese TV channels
China’s Top 10 Video Sharing Websites (aka YouTube Equivalents)
Youtube’s Chinese equivalents were born on hosting ripped content from overseas, such as popular western TV series and movies, and grew from humble bootlegging websites into fully fledged internet companies.
The Cost of Living in China – for Travelers & Expats
How much does it cost to go to China? Take a look on the travel forums and it’s one of the most common questions there is, so, let’s break it down.
Stark Realities of Life in Regional China
Going to China and exploring the well worn tourist trails is one thing, it’s another thing again to live in one of China’s major urban cities for a period of time, and it’s very much another thing again, to live outside those urban cities. It’s a journey that can push you to explore all of your social conditioning and values, while considering those of people who have grown within different cultures.
It’s Chicken run time again
As CNY comes to close, families make their return to the cities with the bounty of home town produce… anyway they can.
Migration Nation: What does it look like when 1.3 Billion people go on Holiday?
The Spring Festival Travel Season, or Chunyun (春运), is well underway as people race home to chow down on dumplings and set the country ablaze with crackers and fireworks.
4 TCM food remedies for Weight Loss
Carrying a few extra pounds, I’m bypassing the local dim-sum restaurant and went on the hunt for local solutions for weight loss and here’s what I come up with.
Conquering Southern China – the Documentary
In this documentary series, the two vloggers ride their hand built 125cc bikes from Huizhou in Guangdong Province to Kunming in Yunnan Province. Along the way they tackle the toughest roads, meet fascinating locals, try weird food and witness breathtaking landscapes; it’s China like you’ve never seen it before.
2016 China Holiday Dates
Here are the unconfirmed dates for public holidays in China, 2016.
Holiday Name Statutory Days of Holiday 2016 Date 2016 Day of the Week 2016 Days Off (TBC) Summary New Year’s Day 1 day Jan. 1 Friday Jan. 1–3 The beginning of a new year based on the Gregorian calendar. Chinese New Year 3 days Feb. 8 Monday Feb. 7–13 Also called Spring Festival Qingming Festival 1 day Apr. 4 Monday Apr. 3–5 Tomb Sweeping Day May Day 1 day May 1 Sunday May 1 – May 3 Labor Day. Dragon Boat Festival 1 day Jun. 9 Thursday Jun. 9–11 Dragon Boat racing and Zongzi. Mid-Autumn Day 1 day Sep. 15 Thursday Sep. 15–17 Chinese family reunion National Day 3 day Oct. 1 Saturday Oct. 1 – 7 The founding of the People’s Republic of China.
How to: Using WeChat Pay to Simplify your Daily Life in China
If you have been in China more than a day, you probably have WeChat on your phone by now. But, it’s much more than a social sharing and messaging servicing, it can really simplify a lot of necessities in China daily life.
Passing the Time Chinese Style
Chinese Chess, Xiang Qi, is a quite a popular pastime with elderly Chinese folk. You may not find it so easily in the big cities, take a stroll through the quite streets of a smaller city and there they’ll be, gathered around the board.
Scooterfest
Pic – Scooters parked up outside the supermarket on a Sunday in Qingyuan Guangdong.
Electric and gas powered scooters are wildly popular, especially in smaller cities where there road use is not as restricted. Cities such as Shenzhen and Guangzhou have restriction on what roads they can use. Price? from 1800 RMB to 4000RMB
The Roadside Butcher
Street hawkers are a common sight, a popup butchery makes me wonder. Perhaps he is a trusted local farmer known to the locals. Cantonese are not so keen on refrigerated meat, so no
issue there for the locals…
Inside a Walmart in China – Here’s five things you probably won’t see in a US Walmart
Supermarkets in China can be an eye-opening experience, I remember going to buy some chicken when I first moved here and, lo and behold, there was live chickens, pulled from the cage, beheaded and plucked before your eyes, it. Talk about fresh. Walmart is fairly tame, in comparison to the more traditional supermarkets, of which I’ll add some photos up in future posts.
2015 Public Holiday Schedule
Official Chinese public holidays for 2015:
Beating the heat
Respite from the heat.. Without many other options the metro station is a popular place to cool down and rest…
Taobao Alternatives in China
Taobao is China’s undisputed king of online shopping malls in China, and is the local equivalent of ebay in many ways. Traders can list their products online and reach out to a large audience who can easily locate and compare goods of just about any type.
Let the Migration Begin – Spring Festival and Chinese New Year 2014
It’s that time again, when a whole country goes from ON… to OFF. The Spring Festival Travel Season, or Chunyun (春运), which goes for 40 days is well underway having started Jan 16 and will finish Feb 24. Many people wont finish work until tomorrow leaving them little time to get home for the all important re-union dinner on new years eve. Most will get around 7 days off, which is a mix of official days off and days accrued from working extra days prior. Some people will take extended leave and some even stay in their hometown for the month.
Understanding Chinese Society through Ancient Sages
Chinese philosophies, or if you like, doctrines, religions or cultural practices include Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism. Over thousands of years they have all played a major role in shaping Chinese culture, albeit sometimes falling in and out of favor with rulers over the centuries. Through an understanding of the different philosophies, even if only a brief look through the window, can only work towards helping to understand the nature and way of such a large society.
My First Chinese New Year
The Spring Festival is a fifteen day celebration where most Chinese people have at least seven days holiday, and within the festival is the beginning of the Chinese New Year. It’s a very special time for Chinese.
Spring Festival Travel: China’s Annual Migration Begins
Without a doubt the most important date on the Chinese calender – the Lunar New Year and the beginning of the Spring Festival. This year it falls on February 3. Most all workers will get 7 days off work and head home for celebrations and reunion with family.
China and it’s now ubiquitous ‘Cycling Device’
Chinese love their bicycles, ranging from the standard push bike through to home made three wheelers, they are absolutely everywhere. China has the largest fleet of bicycles in the world but as history tells the story the Chinese where quite slow to catch on to this thing with ‘two wheels connected by pipe’.
It’s Christmas in China…
Chinese people love celebrating things, and not only there own traditional festivals but also western ones too, and Christmas especially. Here in Shenzhen all the retail shopping malls have grand decorations throughout including themed displays, large trees and big custom made models of Santa, reindeers and the like. Even smaller shops and markets are dressed up with tinsel and decorations.