Chinese culture

In honor of 中秋节 (Zhōng qiū jié), the Mid-Autumn Festival which falls each year on the 15th of the 8th lunar Month, this week’s Did you Know is all about 月饼 (yuè bǐng) mooncakes and the special mooncake folktale. Read on to learn the secret role mooncakes were said to have played in overthrowing the Mongols in Ancient China!

It’s quoturday! Time to explore a new Chinese idiom: 时来运转. This week’s Chinese proverb is very motivational and inspiring. So when you’re feeling down, and thinking that life has something against you, come back to this page! You’ll feel better, promise. Ready to explore this Chinese quote? Let’s go!

When Angel Huang, from Mandarin HQ, reached out to us and said she’d love to make an interview of cat café owners and users in China in Mandarin for us, we couldn’t resist! Seriously, cats + Chinese… Doesn’t that sound like a match made in heaven for Ninchanese? You know how much we love cats at Ninchanese, and our Chinese learning solution is full of them! Our focus is also on providing you with real, authentic Chinese content, and that’s something that matters to her tremendously as well. We’re therefore very happy to be welcoming Angel on this blog for a guest post on Cat cafés in China!

中秋节快乐! Zhōng qiū jié kuài lè! Happy mid-autumn festival!

The Mid-Autumn Festival falls on the 15th of the 8th lunar month each year, which happens to be today, September 15th this year. It’s, therefore, finally time to eat yummy 月饼 mooncakes! If you’ve been following us on Facebook or Twitter lately, you know your Chinese teachers here at Ninchanese, especially Master Yocha and Nincha, have been drooling in anticipation over the idea of eating these yummy treats on this day. Why? Because 中秋月饼 mooncakes are customarily eaten on that day to celebrate the festival!

How time flies! It’s already graduation season in China and everywhere else! Graduation is the right time to celebrate the end of the school year – or of one’s student life – with classmates and family. Let’s discover how to celebrate this event with amazing expressions in Mandarin you can use with your friends to talk about their Chinese graduation.

Get ready, soccer fans, UEFA Euro 2016 is almost here! Think England is the country that invented football? Let me prove you wrong. Nope, it’s not England but China! Surprised? Well, check out this post to discover 10 Chinese inventions we bet you never thought were Chinese.

The Dragon Festival is coming soon! This Thursday is going to be full of celebrations in China and across the world. But where can you go to experience the famous boat race and Dragon Boat celebrations? Let me show you the best places in China and around the world to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival!

Today is 5.20, May the 20th. It may seem like a normal day for you, but for others, especially in China, today is a very special day! It’s a day of love. Read on to learn how 520 became a Chinese love word!

We all know that Chinese girls have specific ideals of female beauty, but do foreigners share these ideals? Let’s bring face to face Westerners and Chinese beauty standards and see how they differ.

From Kim Kardashian to Taylor Swift, every celebrity has a Chinese name and most of the times a nickname. This list is filled with 15 Chinese nicknames that will make you laugh so hard you’ll never see your favorite star the same way!