Today’s World Culture for Kids post is all about Zhuhai, China, courtesy of Varya of Little Artists. Varya is the mother of two beautiful girls, an ESL teacher, a Montessori teacher, and a dance teacher. Varya enjoys music and singing, and grew up on Classical music and fairy tales. One of her hopes for the younger generation is for them to keep developing their talents and abilities, not only through technology, but also through traditional arts and crafts.
There is a lot to say about China – it is one of the largest countries in the world with a population of over 1.3 billion. China is rich in culture and has a very long history. I would like to introduce a city where my family has been residing for the past 4.5 years – Zhuhai (pronounced as Dju-ha-y, literally translates as Pearl Sea). Even though this city borders Macao (land and sea border) and Hong Kong (sea border), it is not so well-known, unlike Beijing or Shanghai.
A few facts about China:
What You'll Find on This Page
Here is the Chinese flag:
China’s currency: Ren Min Bi, also known as Chinese Yuan
Official language: Mandarin (also known as Putonghua).
China has only one time zone and there is no daylight saving!
Some interesting facts about Zhuhai:
– Around 40 years ago it was a fishermen village. Now it is one of the fastest developing cities in China.
- Population is over 1 million.
- Bruce Lee was born just a couple hours drive from Zhuhai – in Shunde city.
Bruce Lee Statue in Hong Kong (Image Source)
- First Chinese World Table Tennis champion Rong Guo Tuan is originally from the place that is now called Zhuhai.
- Local people speak 2 languages: Mandarin and Cantonese.
- As a guest or a friend you may be invited to “Morning Tea” – a very Cantonese type of brunch, also known as Dim Sum. It starts from around 9-10am and slightly turns into lunch, ending around 2pm. You will find tons of restaurants in Zhuhai serving Morning Tea and all the delicious snacks (steam roll Cantonese noodles; mala cake – something like a sponge cake but more porous and slightly oily; sticky chicken rice; steamed chicken feet with mushrooms and more!).
Zhuhai has a number of beautiful mountains and parks. I don’t regret moving here, just because this city is generally very family friendly!
Chinese are in general quite polite and greet each other with a friendly: “Ni Hao” which literally translates as “You are good!” Another greeting which you’ll hear during meal times is “Chi Bao Le Ma?” (Tchi bao la ma?), which literally means “Have you eaten?/ Have you eaten till you’re full?” And if you had your meal, the reply would be: “Chi bao le, xie xie” (Tchi bao la, sie sie), meaning:”I’m full, thank you” .
To bid good byes people say: “Zai jien!” (Tsay djien) literally meaning “Next day”.
I hope you enjoyed this little tour. Zai Jien!
Thank you, Varya, for this wonderful introduction to Zhuhai! I’ve had Dim Sum a few times, and it has always been delicious! I would love to try it in China, someday!
MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.
I was told it means “next day” and also “next meeting” :-)
I thought zai jian literally meant to see you again
Just adding a comment with my updated blog link!
@ Mud Hut Mama, you should come visit some day!
Thank you, Varya! I updated your links in this post.
Loved this post and the photos – although the ones of the Dim Sum have me salivating. We had a favorite Dim Sum restaurant in NYC that I miss. Would be nice to try the real deal and I would love to start a meal at 9 and finish at 2 – can’t think of a better way to spent a morning!
Perfect timing! My 6 yo just said they are learning about China. I’m going to share this post with him and forward to his teacher! They have their own 1st grade website,I’m also going to post it there, thanks!
Wonderful, Isra – thanks for sharing it!
This is so perfect for my son who will be studying China in 2nd grade! I’ll send this link to his teacher. Thanks!
Thanks for the tour! I was in Beijing once for an overnight layover. I would love to go back and see more of China!
I really enjoyed this introduction! I didn’t know China had only one time zone and no daylight savings. And I think I’ve been eating dim sum at the wrong time of day… oh well, still delicious! :)
If you switch the Chinese characters for Arabic and English, the street scenes look a lot like those we saw when we lived in Cairo, Egypt, for a time.
Jeff loves dim sum. I need to find him a good restaurant that serves it.
I wish we had no daylight savings time, that’d be nice…… Oh to dream.
You know, it’s helpful to hit “post comment,” if I want the comment to show up……
How did I not know the official language was Mandarin? I thought it was Chinese. This is why I love reading your blog, I always learn something new. Also I love that they greet each other with “have you eaten”, that’s awesome!