Happy Chinese New Year! This January will be the start
of the Year of the Dragon, as the world welcomes the Chinese New Year. The New Year falls in January due to the track of the new moon, as the Chinese calendar is a mixture of the Gregorian and lunar-solar calendars. Did you know that it’s such an auspicious year that many couples are hoping to have a child born during the Year of the Dragon? Read this full article to get to know many other aspects of the Chinese New Year and see some super pictures.
When you are out and about over the next fifteen days, if you meet
up with a Chinese friend, remember to wish them a Happy New Year. The most common auspicious greetings and sayings consist of four Chinese characters, such as the following:
Jinyu mangtang – “May your wealth [gold and jade] come to fill a hall”
Dazhan hongtu – “May you realize your ambitions”
Yingchun jiefu – “Greet the New Year and encounter happiness”
Wanshi ruyi – “May all your wishes be fulfilled”
Jiqing youyu – “May your happiness be without limit”
Zhubao pingan – “May you hear [in a letter] that all is well”
Yiban wanli = “May a small investment bring ten-thousandfold profits”
Fushou shuangquan – “May your happiness and longevity be complete”
Zhaocai jinbao – “When wealth is acquired, precious objects follow”
Today is Chinese New Year; but unlike many people who celebrate the occasion just over one night the Chinese honour the New Year by welcoming it over fifteen days.
First day– This is the day for welcoming the deities of heaven and earth. Cleaning is considered bad luck today and meat is not consumed for health reasons. It is also the day when people honour the elders in their family. Money is given in red envelopes from married relatives to single ones, from business managers to their employees and from parents to children.
The Celebration of the Birthday of Guru Nanek is a Sikh Tradition
On 11th November this year, Sikhs will be celebrating the birth of Guru Nanak. Sikhism was founded by Guru Nanak, and present day Sikhism is still based on his teachings and those of the nine Sikh Gurus who followed him. Gurus Nanak is never worshipped as a God, but as a human being held in great respect. Guru Nanak was born in 1469 in what is now Pakistan. At the age of 30 he mysteriously disappeared for 3 days. When he reappeared, he began to preach the Sikh faith and spent the rest of his life teaching, writing and travelling around the world to discuss religion with Muslims and Hindus.
Confucius is the person accredited most with shaping the deep
elements of Chinese culture that we can still see today. When looking at cross-cultural differences between East and West, Confucianism (long-term orientation and knowing your place in society) stands out as being the major difference from the short-term, individualistic orientations of the West. Thus, Confucius has influenced Chinese thought for over 2,500 years. Confucius’s Birthday, otherwise known as ‘National Teachers Day’ takes place in China and Taiwan each year on 28th September. Chinese philosopher & reformer (551 BC – 479 BC).
Read the views on the USA of a 25 year-old girl from Taiwan, whose
first experience of ‘abroad’ was as a student in Michigan. A lot of cross-cultural differences between those two cultures! Mindy (Min-Yi Chang) is now back home and reflects on her time in the US. Here are the two extracts I found the most interesting – from the blog post on Pocket Cultures which is always an enjoyable and insightful read.
How the world loves action adventurers who get off their butts and
make things happen! I’m no different. So, have we got a latter day Indian Jones? My best wishes go to Thomas Köhler, a Swiss citizen, who has decided to walk the length of the Japanese archipelago in a bid to support the return of foreign tourists to Japan after the devastating events of March 11th. Few people will forget the combined disaster of an earthquake in Northern Japan, followed swiftly by a major tsunami and the great suffering they caused for the people of the region. However, the knock on effect is that tourists are staying away in droves. So, how will ‘Walking Through Japan’ help?
The British often say the only trouble with France is it’s full of French people!
But, it’s not only the British who have trouble with the French it seems. There is a condition called “Paris Syndrome” which is a type of Culture Shock especially experienced by the Japanese when visiting Paris – born out of unmet expectations of an idealised, romantic view of Paris and the reality of their experiences and encounters with the ‘rude’ French.
Australia and New Zealand are the most generous charitable
givers in the world according to a new report from the Charities Aid Foundation: The World Giving Index 2010. The report demonstrates that charitable behaviour differs immensely across the globe. An act that is considered charitable in one country may be seen as a regular, everyday, activity in another. However, the research also found that the correlation between happiness and giving is stronger than the correlation between wealth and giving. This means that an individual is more likely to give to charity if they live in a ‘happy’ country, than if they live in a ‘wealthy’ country. Read below and see how your country compares…
China is a crazy, beautiful, frustrating, enlightening, contradictory,
wonderful place. But whether you are doing business in China or entertaining visitors from that part of the world, it is important to understand Chinese business etiquette so that you can save ‘face’ and the ‘face’ of others. Watch this instructional video for a good insight into the behaviours you should be aware of…
International keynote speaker, Seminar Leader, Consultant
Hello, I'm Deborah Swallow and, for the last fifteen years, I've worked in over thirty countries addressing the complexities of people working internationally across multiple cultures, so individuals and organisations alike can gain an authentic competitive edge and win in international markets.
Contact me now for better international performance and increased profits
Hello, I'm Deborah Swallow and, for the last fifteen years, I've worked in over thirty countries addressing the complexities of people working internationally across multiple cultures, so individuals and organisations alike can gain an authentic competitive edge and win in international markets. 