How to be a Chinese

Photo Courtesy of kconnors | Morguefile

The Chinese culture has been part of the earliest civilizations in the world. Due to its roots that can be traced back from ancient times, the Chinese culture has continued to refine itself into a rich, awesome, distinct, and superior state that it is known today.

China has the largest population in the world, but the Chinese are not only limited within their land's borders. The Chinese people can be found in many different countries, and instead of mingling with the rest of the people, they have established their own districts in foreign countries as can be witnessed by the existing Chinatowns around the world.

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Tribute to a Chinese Legend: The Hat-Wearing Diva Feng Fei Fei

Photo taken from whatsonjinan.com

While the world was mourning for the international singer Whitney Houston's death, the Eastern Part of the world was also mourning for a well-known Taiwanese singer's death. The singer was Feng Fei Fei (鳳飛飛), an award-winning legend also known as the hat-wearing diva. She died of lung cancer at age 58.

She died on January 3, 2012, but news of her death was only announced several days after. Before her death, she insisted to her lawyer to not let him disclose about her death until after Chinese New Year, which was celebrated on January 23. She did not want her fans to be saddened by her death during the New Year celebration as she believed it would bring bad luck.

I wasn't aware of this wonderful legend's name until I started seeing her tributes being shown on most Chinese TV stations. As her songs were being played, I realized that those familiar songs I heard were after all sung by her. She was indeed very famous and well-known among my mother's generation. Her songs were so famous that many mainstream artists performed her songs onstage, including the song in the following video.

My mom was of course saddened by this loss. Feng Fei Fei songs were already deeply ingrained within Chinese music. And to know about Chinese music is to know about her songs. Kudos to Feng Fei Fei for her contributions to the music industry. Her songs will surely remain in the hearts of her fans.

More Songs by Feng Fei Fei 

Learning Mandarin the Hard Way

As you can see in my bio page, I am from the Philippines. However, my grandparents are Chinese expatriates who came over the country to settle down. Both of my parents were born in the Philippines. In other words, I am a Filipino with Chinese blood flowing through my veins. But just like most Chinese-Filipino my age, I am very accustomed with the country’s culture, norms, and language. Sadly, the Chinese culture is becoming lost within my generation. Chinese-Filipino at this age tend to embrace this culture less and prefer Western culture. It is quite unusual to find a Chinese-Filipino of my generation very fluent with our ancestor’s mother tongue. (Read full Article on Everything Chinese.)

The Asian Culture of Matchmaking

Photo by Michal Marcol

I am currently watching a Japanese series entitled “Shiawase ni Narou yo.” It depicts the modern matchmaking processes utilized by the Japanese people. The drama illustrates a company with an extraordinary business. It has an office building with hardworking staffs, just like any other normal company. The difference is with their business – matchmaking. Any unmarried person could walk into their office and register as a member. He/she would fill out a form and dictate the qualifications of his/her ideal partner. An assigned staff would then be responsible to find the person a perfect match. He/she would accompany the couple in their first date and arrange further dating venues if they agreed to do so. In addition, the company also organizes parties for their registered members. It works just like any online dating site, only that it is more of a person-to-person interaction.

A Very Old Chinese Song

I was just doing some work on my laptop while my mother was watching TV in the same room when I suddenly heard some women from a variety show singing a familiar song I so often heard during my childhood years. Although the women couldn’t carry the tune so well, I got nostalgic by hearing the songs. I got curious and searched the title on Youtube. I found the name of the original singer.