Volunteering activity for Foreigners in China!

As a human being, we always complains that we don't have enough time to do this, we don't have enough time to do that. 
But a new study by US based universities suggests that when we give our time away, it helps us feel like we have more time.
Research has found that when a person volunteers his or her time, it makes us feel more efficient, and therefore likely makes us less stressed and hurried.

So, if you want to Volunteer and helps the society, what other place better than China.

There are plenty of opportunities for people who wants to volunteer their time in China, China is a fascinating place to volunteer providing immense cultural exchange opportunities for volunteers and student alike.

1. Teach and Travel: there are many opportunities for foreigners to travel to China and teach English over there for few weeks, Chinese students are usually very respectful with teachers and they are very happy to learn English from foreigners. You can contact one of many agencies which organizes this programme, one such agency is Bunac (http://www.bunac.org/uk/volunteer/china/teach-english/whats-included)

                                    Foreigner volunteer English teachers in China.

While teaching you can also explore China's attractions.

2. Panda Breeding and Research Centre Volunteering: So if English teaching is not for you, then there are more excited programs for volunteering in China and meeting the world's cutest animal panda.

This volunteer activity is organized by China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda (CCRCGP) and it is located in the Wolong Nature Reserve, Chengdu, Sicuan. Some of the volunteer activities foreigners can participate in 

Some of the activities are:

1. Prepare food for the pandas such as apples, panda bread, and carrots
2. Chop and carry bamboo
3. Clean panda enclosures
4. Some observations and research

For more details, you can refer to below link - http://www.goeco.org/area/volunteer-in-asia/china/giant-panda-center

                              Foreigners volunteering in Panda research Centre

and while you are in Chengdu, don't forget to try their local delicies - Hot Pot. (火锅）

Chengdu Hot Pot

3.  If you are travelling to China in the Spring Festival month, then there are more opportunities to volunteer, as this is the time when it gets really crazy at all the Bus/Train/Airport stations.As per an official estimate, around 3 billion trips are made during Chinese New Year in China, you can volunteer to assit both passengers and the staff. Like in the below picture a foreign volunteer helps a passenger carry her luggage at a railway station in Guangzhou of south China's Guangdong province.

Sacred Moutains of China!

Mountains has holds a great importance in China since ancient times. Chinese looks at mountains not as a holiday destination or a place to camp out in summer, but for their sacred significance.

These "sacred" mountains have been  important destinations for Chinese for pilgrimage, infact  the Chinese expression for pilgrimage (朝圣;cháoshèng) is a shortened version of an expression which means "paying respect to a holy mountain" .

Out of hundreds of such mountains, five are the most renowned mountains in Chinese History, it is called "Wuyue" or "Five Great Mountains".

The Five Great Mountains or Wu Yue are arranged according to the five cardinal directions of Chinese geomancy, which includes the center also as a direction.

A Han Dynasty tile emblematically representing the five cardinal directions.

These 5 mountains are -

1. East Great Mountain (Dōngyuè): Tài Shān (泰山, Shandong Province)

2. West Great Mountain (Xīyuè): Huá Shān (华山, Shaanxi Province)

3. South Great Mountain (Nányuè): Héng Shān (衡山,Húnán Province)

4. North Great Mountain (Běiyuè): Héng Shān (恒山,Shanxi Province)

5. Center Great Mountain (Zhōngyuè): Sōng Shān(嵩山, Hénán Province)

In Chinese Mythology, the Five Great Mountains originated from the body of Pangu (盤古/盘古 Pángǔ), the first being and the creator of the world. Because of its eastern location, Mount Tài is associated with the rising sun which signifies birth and renewal. Due to this interpretation, it is often regarded as the most sacred of the Five Great Mountains. In accordance with its special position, Mount Tài is believed to have been formed out of Pangu's head. Mount Heng in Hunan is believed to be a remainder of Pangu's right arm, Mount Heng in Shanxi of his left arm, Mount Song of his belly, and Mount Hua of his feet.^[5]

1. Mount Tai (泰山; Tài Shān) is a mountain of historical and cultural significance located north of the city of Tai'an, in Shandong province, China.

It is associated with sunrise, birth, and renewal, and is often regarded the foremost of the five

Cultural References to Mount Tai -

1. (泰山北斗; Tàishān Bĕidŏu) - As weighty as Mt Tai, as brilliant as the Big Dipper, a giant among men

2. 有眼不識泰山 (Yǒu yǎn bù shí tàishān) (literal translation Has eyes but doesn't recognize Mount Tai), refers to an ignorant yet arrogant person.

The Immortal Bridge (仙人桥; Xiānrén Qiáo),

泰山 南天门 (Tàishān nán tiānmén) (The South Gate to Heaven at Mount Tai)

                       Mount Tai is shown on the reverse side of the 5 yuan bill.

2. Mount Hua, or Hua Shan (华山;Huà Shān), or Xiyue (西岳;Xīyuè; literally "western great mountain") is a mountain located near the city of Huayin in Shaanxi province, about 120 kilometres (75 mi) east of Xi'an.

                                Hua Shan West Peak (Lianhua Feng (蓮花峰)

                                                   View from the North Peak

It is the steepest mountain to climb.

                            An example of how steep the paths are up Hua Shan

3. Mount Heng (衡山; Héng Shān), also known as Nan Yue (南岳; Nányuè), is located in Hunan Province, China.

                                       

At the foot of the mountain stands the largest temple in southern China, the Grand Temple of Mount Heng (Nanyue Damiao), which is the largest group of ancient buildings in Hunan Province.

                                    衡山南岳大庙 (Héngshan nányuè dà miào)

4. Heng Shan or Heng Mountain (恒山;Héng Shān) in Shanxi Province.

Due to its northerly location, the mountain has made it impossible for pilgrimages by the Chinese to take place for much of its history. Because of this, Hengshan is not nearly as religiously important in China as the other Taoist mountains.

                                                                Héng Shān

A temple in this area is the famous Hanging Temple,(悬空寺, Xuánkōng Sì) built more than 1,500 years ago into a cliff near the Mount.
 Built more than 1,500 years ago, this temple is notable not only for its location on a sheer precipice but also because it is the only existing temple with the combination of three Chinese traditional religions: Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism.

The monastery is located in the small canyon basin, and the body of the building hangs from the middle of the cliff under the prominent summit, protecting the temple from rain erosion and sunlight. Coupled with the repair of the dynasties, the color tattoo in the temple is relatively well preserved. On December 2010, it was listed in the “Time” magazine as the world's top ten most odd dangerous buildings.

 

The structure is kept in place with oak crossbeams fitted into holes chiseled into the cliffs. The main supportive structure was hidden inside the bedrock

                                                            Xuánkōng Sì in Night

                                                           Xuánkōng Sì in Daytime

 The Chinese characters “壮观” (means grand sight or spectacular) at the foot of the mountain is the handwriting left by the great poet Li Bai in Tang Dynasty.

5. Mount Song (Mount Sung; 嵩山; Sōng Shān; literally "lofty mountain"), also known in Chinese as Song Shan, is a culturally significant mountain in China. It is the "Central Great Mountain" (中嶽/中岳) among the Five Great Mountains and located in Henan province on the south bank of the Yellow River

 

The mountain is one of the sacred Taoist mountains of China, and contains important Taoist temples such as the Zhongyue Temple; however the mountain also features a significant Buddhist presence. It is home to the Shaolin Temple, traditionally considered the birthplace of Zen Buddhism, and the temple's collection of pagoda forest is the largest in China. 

Shaolin Monastery or Shaolin Temple (少林寺, Shàolín Sì) is long famous for its association with Chinese martial arts and particularly with Shaolin Kung Fu, and it is the best known Mahayana Buddhist monastery to the Western world.

The shào (少) in "Shaolin" refers to Shaoshi Mountain (少室山), one of the seven mountains forming the Songshan mountain range;

It is on this mountain the Temple is situated. The word lín (林) means "forest". The word sì (寺) means "monastery/temple".

 The taijiquan master Zhang Zuyao incorrectly translated "Shaolin" as "young (new) forest" or sometimes "little forest". This newer translation is commonly accepted today.

                                                  少林寺碑林 (Shàolínsì bēilín)

Chinese Language and the related Superstitions!

Traditional Chinese society is rife with superstitious beliefs, and these superstitious beliefs are not limited to going to fortune tellers to find a good date to get married or have a baby.
Instead these superstitions extends far beyond and present in its very Language.

Most of the Chinese superstitions are based on homophones(a word pronounced the same as another but differing in meaning) in the Chinese language.

The reason for the same is Chinese makes use of relatively few syllable sounds in the construction of words compared to other languages, due to that many unrelated concepts are expressed with the same syllable sound. Superstitious beliefs arise when those unrelated concepts are treated as if they were related.

Some of the common syllables in Chinese language which are critical for their alternative meanings.

1. dao . this same syllable has different meaning- one is "to arrive"  and another is "Upside Down"

 For this reason, one will often find the character for good fortune (“fu 福,)) hanging upside down in homes celebrating a wedding or during the Chinese New Year. The idea is that this upside down (“dao 倒”) talisman will cause good fortune to arrive ("dao 到”) in the course of the marriage or in the coming year.

   A woman holding the decoration with character fu upside down.

                                 
                                 Character fu - 福 hanging upside down


2. bian fu (蝙蝠） - this syllable meaning  "Bat"  but it also contains the same sound as good fortune, “fu 福” This homophonic connection makes bats a common theme in Chinese folk art. Many homes feature cut paper pictures or other depictions of bats, intended to attract good fortune.

                          Hotel Lisboa in Macau has its entrance in the shape of a bat.


3. Si - the number 4 in China is considered extermely unlucky, This is because the pronunciation of four（四– sì) sounds similar to the Chinese word for death (死 – si). Therefore, many people choose to avoid the number four like the plague. It’s not uncommon to step into an elevator in China and notice that there’s no button for the 4th floor, or the 13th or 14th floor, for that matter.

                              No 4th, 13th, or 14th floor in a lift in China.

4. ba - When it comes to good luck, the magic number in China is eight. This is because eight (八 – ba) sounds sort of similar to the word for prosperity/wealth (发– fa). Do you remember the Beijing Olympics and its grand opening ceremony? It’s no coincidence that the games commenced at 8:08 PM on August 8th, 2008 (8/8/08). Staring the games at this time was meant to bring good luck.

 Following are other examples where Chinese people considered no 8 as very lucky.

i. In 2003, A telephone number with all digits being eights was sold for CN¥2.33 million (approximately USD$280,000) to Sichuan Airlines in Chengdu, China (Source: http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200308/19/eng20030819_122604.shtml)

ii. A man in Hangzhou offered to sell his license plate reading A88888 for ¥1.12 million (roughly $164,000).

iii. The Petronas Twin Towers in Malaysia each have 88 Floors.

iv. The minivan that GM makes for the Chinese market is called the Buick GL8, but the minivans it sold in other countries didn't have that name.

v. Singapore Airlines reserves flight numbers beginning with the number 8 to routes in China and Korea.

5. zhong - In Chinese Culture “giving a clock” (送钟– sòng zhong) sounds similar to “bid farewell to someone on their deathbed” (送终 – sòng zhong). As such, giving someone a clock basically means you’re sending them off to the great beyond.

6. Yu - The chinese character for surplus/extra – 余 and the Chinese for fish – 鱼, are both pronounced yú, so fish are considered to be lucky. That’s why fish feature so highly in Chinese art, and lots of Chinese people have pictures of fish on their walls.

                                  A shop in Yangshuo selling lucky fish symbols

7. he -  Chinese pronounciation of lotus flowers（荷）and boxes（盒） and Harmony（和）are same  are associated with weddings because they’re both pronounced – the same as the Chinese word for harmony. 


8. zi - In earlier time in China, it was traditional to empty seeds or fruit onto a newly wed couple’s bed because Chinese syllable for fruits and nuts(果子Guǒzi，  阿月浑子实ā yuè hún zǐ shí) contain the character 子 which also means son.

                               
9. zaozi - Chinese word for jujube is (zaozi 枣子) and is is considered lucky because in Chinese (zao means early and Zi means Son) so they are homonyms of ‘early – son’ and ‘produce a son’ respectively.

                                       
                                   Soups with jujube during Chinese wedding.

10. lu - Character for lu 禄 considered for prosperity and good fortune as lu means salary.

11. xi - 囍 (It means "Double Happiness") and considered very lucky character during Chinese weddings ceremony, significance of "double" means both man and woman celebrate the day of their wedding.

                          囍 is used commonly in decorations during Chinese Wedding.

                                 囍 also appears in Wedding invitation cards in China.

Even in today’s world of high-tech gadgets and improving education, superstition remains a strong element of Chinese culture. This results in part from the importance of luck in Chinese tradition and in modern Chinese life. To thrive in the dynastic era, a farming family needed good weather, a scholar’s family needed good exam scores and a royal family needed to survive often treacherous court intrigues. Good luck tokens seemed a necessary precaution under such circumstances. With so much riding on good fortune, it is no wonder that superstitious beliefs continue to color Chinese culture to this day.