Understanding China through Its Games and Pastimes

Understanding China through Its Games and Pastimes
Dec 18, 2010 By Thomas Ackerman , eChinacities.com

China welcomes millions of tourists each year, most of them speeding off to major sights like the Great Wall or the Terra Cotta Warriors. But if you choose to actually live here, you’ve probably got more on your mind than just visiting the most historical or scenic landmarks. It could be the people or the culture or the language which draws you here. After all, it is the people who make a place what it is and keep it that way.

However, if you’ve got a small circle of foreigner friends or know little of the language, it’s easy to get alienated from the culture and feel outside it all. One solution to this is to find out what the Chinese like to do and do it yourself. Chinese pastimes, old and new, make up the fabric of city life. They bring people together everyday and are also the perfect gateway for getting closer to China’s culture and its  people.

Whether you choose to join in or to simply watch, the following activities are some of the hallmarks of China and are highly enjoyable pastimes in their own right:

1) Mahjong

Mahjong is one of the all-time classic Chinese games, allegedly around since the time of Confucius, and perhaps invented by him. If you’ve ever seen a table of Chinese dealing in small painted tiles, then you’ve seen mahjong. The particularities and the varieties of the game are many, but the basic aim is to use the tiles you’ve been dealt to make a hand. A hand is made up of several sets of designs which either match or follow in sequence.

Today mahjong is still popular with Chinese of all ages, although it is in the smaller cities and towns where it seems to be a particularly important part of life. Here you see mahjong played not just in special parlors or in homes, but in almost any restaurant or shop alongside the street. If you become familiar with the game, mahjong can be a good way to get to know the locals in your town. Just introduce yourself and ask if you can join them. However in some locales, gaming has become melded with big-time gambling and worse, so you may want to check the place out first to make sure everything’s on the up-and-up.

2) Cards

Almost everyone knows how to play cards in China, and they’ll play nearly anytime and anywhere. School kids play on their lunch time. Passengers play on the train. Some popular card games in China are Dou Di Zhu 斗地主 (which uses more than one pack and requires and odd number of players), Dou Da 斗大 (which is played with 2-4 people and uses the joker as the biggest card), Chu Da Di 锄大地 (which uses the 2-card as the largest) and Tuo La Ji 拖拉机 (which uses multiple packs of cards and can be played with three or more). If you want to learn them, you will be familiar with the most common deck they use, which is the Western deck. Your Chinese companions will likely be familiar with several of the Western games also, so it should be easy to meet in the middle.

3) Dim Sum

Dim sum are the Chinese tapas; those small servings of goodies for when you’d rather try ten appetizers than one or two dishes. At a good dim sum restaurant you can choose between small plates of steamed and fried food as well as Chinese cakes and deserts. Dim sum is most popular in south China, where you can eat them morning, noon or night, and where dim sum and tea with friends and family is a major social activity.

A few standard dim sum dishes are Xia Jiao 虾饺 (shrimp and pork dumpling), Feng Zhua 凤爪 (chicken feet with peanut and chili pepper), Cha Shao Bao 叉烧包 (steamed bun with pork), Shao Mai 烧卖(crab egg dumpling), Luo Bo Gao  萝卜糕(steamed cake with dried shrimp, pork and carrot) and Ma Ti Gao 马蹄糕 (water chestnut cake). Several trips to local dim sum restaurants with your colleagues, and you will know the city and the people much better.

4) KTV

KTVs are Chinese karaoke clubs. Their popularity is a fairly modern phenomenon, and they range between specialized KTV clubs and ordinary bars that have some karaoke at night. Chinese go to KTVs for a number of occasions, such as for a celebration, a date or simply to socialise with friends. Students staying out late from their campus, who will not be let back in until morning, sometimes pass the rest of the night there. The cheaper KTVs are 15-50 RMB per hour, though meals, snacks and drinks are extra.

Karaoke in the cities is usually a mix of Chinese and Western pop (you’ll definitely know some of the tunes), but in the towns you will also hear traditional Chinese songs with the traditional vocal style. Small town karaoke is also distinguishable because you can hear it several blocks away, due to older buildings and open windows. Whether you know the music or not, KTV is one thing that never fails to break the ice quickly.

 

5) Parks and dancing

One of the first things you’ll notice when coming to China, is the vast number of people – usually the elderly – out in the parks doing exercises or dancing. After living here for a while, it practically seems emblematic of the country. You’re most likely to witness anything from large neighbourhood dances, folk dances and dances with traditional fans, to aerobics and tai chi. Although most visitors simply pass by or stare at these gyrations, it would be fun to go home with a story about waltzing around the square with Chinese grandmothers.

Not all of the dancing comes from the retirement crowd though. Some of them attract people of all-ages. One which I witnessed in Zhanjiang was actually being led by a girl of approximately six. Probably the oddest and most entertaining performances I’ve seen was an old fellow in Zhenyuan, who showed up with a boom-box and wearing sunglasses, and proceeded to do a sequence of martial arts maneuvers with staff, sword, knives and num-chucks.

6) BBQ

Getting together for a barbecue is catching on in China, particularly among the young. Although China already has a plethora of outdoor barbecue restaurants, which are also fairly social places, family and company barbecues are friendlier and definitely offer more culinary variety. If you go to the barbecue restaurants, for example, you nearly always get the same cumin spice mix. Barbecue with friends or family, and each has his/her own style. Many parks in China have outdoor barbecue areas, so you can just bring your coal, grill, forks and food and invite your friends.

7) Sports 

This is where it will probably be easiest to mix with the Chinese, since most of the major sports here are known to Westerners. Ping pong and badminton are the leaders in China, but basketball is huge and soccer has a following. Tennis, though a bit expensive, is growing.

Despite the impression you get from the movies, most Chinese get no more than a few classes in martial arts, so it’s a specialized crowd that practices it seriously. Don’t expect too many spinning high kicks. One of the oldest games in China is ti jian zi 踢毽子, which involves knocking around a shuttlecock with your feet, elbows or head and trying to keep it in the air. Today you’ll find it’s mostly a time-passer for kids and the elderly. If you can play hacky-sack, then you can probably play ti jianze.

8) Kite flying

Kite flying (fang feng zheng) likely has its origins in China between two and three thousand years ago. Today it isn’t the most popular activity and is rarely very sociable, but pass through the park, beachside, square or street side and you’ll likely see a kite or two. Many cities have one or two spots that are particularly popular for it. The traditional Chinese kites made of bamboo with paper or silk are still made and used today, but more synthetic brands, such as the LED-covered kites for night flying are also common.

Some parts of China are more kite friendly than others. Weifang in Shandong province, for example, holds the headquarters of the International Kite Federation and has hosted the yearly World Kite Championship. However, even if you’re nowhere near Shandong, you can find kite clubs and shops in almost any city, even some small towns. You may not have the patience to learn the art yourself, but the beauty and variety of kites make it worth being a spectator.
 

Related links
5 Tips for Making the Most of Life in China
4 Things You Never Expected To Love About China
Making (and Keeping) Chinese Friends

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Keywords: popular pastimes China traditional Chinese pastimes Chinese pastimes Chinese games

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