TRADITIONAL CULTURE

A Year After My Father’s Death, I Finally Made It Home to Mourn

Stories of two post-Covid homecomings to mourn loved ones and sweep the tombs on Qingming Festival

TRADITIONAL CULTURE

Digital Technologies are Changing Funerals and Remembrance in China

Digital tombstones, QR code epitaphs, livestreamed rituals: This Qingming Festival, Chinese are turning to digital technologies to remember their ancestors

TRADITIONAL CULTURE

The Virtuous Creepy-Crawlies of Ancient Chinese Literature

Learn the symbolism of insects in Chinese folklore, poetry, and traditional culture

TRADITIONAL CULTURE

Tsampa Fights and Surprises: The Evolving Fortunes of Tibetan New Year

Two young Tibetans recall how the festivities of Losar, the traditional New Year on the Plateau, have changed and stayed the same since their childhood

TRADITIONAL CULTURE

On Her Porcelain Throne: How a Little-Known ‘Toilet Goddess’ Became an Icon for Powerless Women

Hold your breath for one of China’s most underrated goddesses, a murdered concubine who became a patron of toilets and injustices against women

TRADITIONAL CULTURE

Revel in Minor Pageantry With Cantonese ‘Floating Kids’ Parade

Children take center stage in Guangdong’s “floating colors” ceremony, which celebrates the God of Wealth and other festivities during the Lunar New Year

TRADITIONAL CULTURE

All the Teas in China

Learn the legends, rituals, and drinking games behind China’s most famous drink

TRADITIONAL CULTURE

Soak Up the Decadent Footbath Culture of China’s ‘Foot Capital’

Learn the origin of footbaths in the southern city of Changsha, and how bathhouses shed their seedy reputation to become modern entertainment complexes

TRADITIONAL CULTURE

The Twisted Karma of “Compassionate” Wildlife Release

How the Buddhist practice of “fangsheng,” the compassionate release of wildlife for merit, gets abused today