Do you know that ‘Gong Xi Fa Cai’ (恭喜发财) has already been included as part of English vocabulary? Its English pronunciation is more or less the same as in Mandarin. In fact, it is a direct transliteration of the Mandarin. ‘Gong Xi Fa Cai’ is often mistakenly assumed to be synonymous with ‘Happy New Year’, which is not true. ‘Gong Xi Fa Cai’ in truth means ‘congratulations and be prosperous’ while ‘Xin Nian Kuai Le’ (新年快乐) can then be literally translated into ‘Happy New Year’.
Its usage dates back several centuries. ‘Gong Xi Fa Cai’ had been widely used even before the Qin Dynasty (秦朝), which was before 221 BC! Since more than 2,000 years ago! It first appeared in the Analects of Confucius (论语) which annotated “恭，近于礼；喜，犹福也” which literally means “respectful is an etiquette, happiness is a blessing”. In his book “Foreigners in Guangzhou” in 1826, William Henderson wrote about how Chinese back then bowed with hands clasped before one’s chest and greeted each other ‘Gong Xi Fa Cai’ during Chinese New Year.
Besides, there are also Chinese New Year songs titled “Gong Xi Fa Cai”. One of my favorites is this one sang none other by Andy Lau. The song was released in 2005.
刘德华 – 恭喜发财
Another Chinese New Year song which is always mistakenly titled “Gong Xi Fa Cai” is this one sang by Ricky Hui, the younger brother to Michael Hui and Sam Hui who died last year after heart attack. The actual title of the song is “喜事齊來”, which literally means all the happy events coming your way. The song is in Cantonese.
許冠英 – 喜事齊來
To end this post, Jam would like to wish all Cantonese “Gung Hei Fatt Choy” and all Hokkien out there “Keong Hee Huat Chye”! If you speak other dialects, then I wish you “Gong Xi Fa Cai”! Let’s wish all of us make a fortune and be happy everyday in this Water Dragon year!
Have you seen, or even heard of hard rime before? I had seen hard rime first time in my life during my visit to Mount Huangshan (黄山), China last year. What is hard rime, you may ask. All I can tell you at this point is hard rime can only be seen in winter.
Winter snows is one of the 5 wonders of Huangshan besides its strange pine trees, peculiar shaped granite peaks, sea of clouds and hot springs. I did not expect to see snows back then because my visit was in late March which was during the spring. But a sudden cold breeze from the north had resulted in drastic drop in temperature in Huangshan. Thus there was heavy snow falling in Huangshan on those few days. I had previously written on beautiful snow scenes in Huangshan here, here and here.
So, what is hard rime? Hard rime is a white ice formed on the side of tree branches, buildings or any other solid objects by water droplets in freezing fog. Hard rime is often seen on trees atop mountains and ridges in winter. You know, Jam lives in tropical climate and never get to see snows falling down from the sky. He would love to see snows very much, especially if tree branches are hung heavily with snows! So here they are, a few pictures depicting perfectly to you what hard rimes are, and how they look like. They have a comb like appearance and are difficult to shake off.
To start blogging in the year 2012, let’s start with the National Geographic Traveler Magazine’s top travel destinations for the year 2012! I believe many of us had just come back from holidays whether domestic or abroad. I myself had just come back from Singapore, that was why no update in here during past [...]
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After having cup noodles as our late lunch, I set out for Flying-over Rock (飞来石) in Huangshan (黄山) on my own. My wife opted to say in the warm hotel room instead of venturing into the cold snow world outside. I also wished to stay under a blanket with heater on inside the room [...]
This is the time of the year where wedding “seasons” are on. In fact I have been invited to a few wedding dinners. There is one particular couple whom I really admire during the grand entrance at the dinner reception. The bridegroom was smartly dressed up in a white tuxedo and the bride… wow… [...]
This post is about where to stay at the top of Huangshan (黄山), which is Baiyun Hotel, not at the foot of the mountain, neither at Tunxi (屯溪). In fact, you can read about where to stay in Tunxi here. Judging at the beautiful scenery Mount Huangshan can offer (read
We were heading to Bright Summit Peak (光明顶) from Beginning-to-Believe Peak (始信峰) after seeing some really stunning Huangshan Pines. We came across a few porters who were carrying resources up Mount Huangshan on their shoulders.
Previously, my wife and I were stranded inside the White Goose Ridge Cableway Station (白鹅岭索道站) amidst heavy snow falling outside. Oh my God, how were we going to feast our eyes with the beautiful Huangshan Pines (黄山松) in such a bad weather condition? I started to feel regret not to buy ice [...]
Many of us hop aboard a plane and land in a strange land with deep feelings of awe and bewilderment. If you live in the American Midwest and land in a Chinese airport, get into a New York cab, or set sail in a cruise ship headed toward the Caribbean, you [...]
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January 18th, 2012 | 
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