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stringed instruments, percussion instruments, plucked instruments, and wind instruments.

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songs: Spring dreams,
Happy rain on a spring night,
romance of the hsiao and ch'in

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Confucius, about 500 BC, said that music should be a way of calming people down and making it easier for them to think. Many later Chinese composers agreed with Confucius. Because of this, people respected official music much more than popular music

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best Chinese music ever! Listen to it. relaxing 

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best Chinese music ever! Listen to it. relaxing 

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Chinese tradition says that a man named Ling Lun, perhaps during the Zhou Dynasty, about 1000 BC, invented the earliest musical instruments in China, bamboo pipes that imitated the sounds of birds. But really people were certainly playing drums and pipes as early as the Shang Dynasty, about 1800 BC.

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China's National Anthem

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China National anthem Chinese & English lyrics

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Nie er composer song the March of the volunteers

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National Anthem of the People 's Republic of China

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Chinese Piano - Red Songs : March of the Volunteers ( 义勇军进行曲) by Nie Er

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The era under Chairman Mao and the subsequent Cultural Revolution produced a large number of patriotic and Nationalistic Chinese music. Well known of these are "The East is Red" and "March of the Volunteers", both of which have been used as Chinese National Anthems, and possibly the most famous work of that era - The Yellow River Cantata and Piano Concerto.

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You're welcome fam

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The Country Animal

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This is a kids folktale

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A Magic Paint Brush - A Chinese Folk Tale about Doing Good and about Greed | TOPICS Online Magazine | ESL/EFL | Sandy and Thomas Peters

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Once upon a time, there was a young man called Ma Liang. He was poor and kind and helped a rich man to tend cattle. He liked drawing and drew pictures everywhere. One night, he dreamed that an old man gave him a magic paintbrush and asked him to use it to help poor people.

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Major Cities: Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Dongguan, Taipei, Chengdu, Hong Kong, Nanjing, Wuhan, Shenyang, Hangzhou, and Chongqing

Currency: Renminbi

Top Sports: Football, basketball, table tennis, badminton, martial arts, various forms of pool, and hacky sack, or ping pong.

Good Food:

Sweet and Sour Pork 糖醋里脊 Sweet and sour pork has a bright orange-red color, and a delicious sweet and sour taste. ...

Gong Bao Chicken 宫保鸡丁 ...

Ma Po Tofu 麻婆豆腐 ...

Wontons 馄饨 ...

Dumplings 饺子 ...

Chow Mein 炒面 ...

Peking Roasted Duck 北京烤鸭 ...

Spring Rolls 春卷

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http://www.chinahighlights.com/beijing/map.htm

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Suddenly, the rat jumped out of the ox's ear and rushed to the feet of the Emperor; therefore, he won the first place, followed by the ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon (an imaginary Chinese dragon), snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, and the pig. - from the website

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Why are the 12 animals of the Chinese New Year in order. Chinese Zodiac Story.

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Chinese Zodiac Story page tells how the order of the 12 animals was determined. Why cat is not in the list? Why rat is ranked as the first animal?

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The Yaoguia

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Yaoguai (妖怪 pinyin yāoguài), yaogui (妖鬼 yāoguǐ, lit. "strange ghost"), yaomo (妖魔 yāomó, lit. "strange devil") or yaojing (妖精 yāojīng, lit. "sprite" or "seductive"), is a Chinese term that generally means " monster". The term is usually used in Chinese mythology and folklore.

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Gong
Flute
Cymbals

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Population: 1,384,761,723

Neighboring Countries: Russia, India, Pakistan, Vietnam, Japan, North Korea. Taiwan, Mongolia, Myanmar, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Laos, Nepal, Bhutan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan

Language(s): Gan (Jiangxinese), Guan (Mandarin or Beifanghua), Kejia (Hakka), Min (including the Hokkien and Taiwanese variants), Wu (including the Shanghainese variant), Xiang (Hunanese), Yue (including the Cantonese and Taishanese variants)

Capital City: Beijing

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Chi: A hornless dragon or a mountain demon

Dilong: The Earth dragon

Dragon King: King of Dragons

Fucanglong: The treasure dragon

Jiaolong:  Dragons of floods and sea

Shenlong: The Rain dragon

Tianlong: The Celestial dragon

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January 1 | New Year | 元旦 | Yuándàn | 1 January | 1 January | 1 January | 1 January | 1 January
1st day of 1st lunar month | Spring Festival[a] | 春节 | Chūnjié | 31 January | 19 February | 8 February | 28 January | 16 February[b]
5th solar term (April 4 or April 5) | Tomb-Sweeping Day | 清明节 | Qīngmíng jié | 5 April | 5 April | 4 April | 5 April | 5 April[c]
May 1 | Labour Day | 劳动节 | Láodòng jié | 1 May | 1 May | 1 May | 1 May | 1 May[d]
5th day of 5th lunar month | Dragon Boat Festival | 端午节 | Duānwǔ jié | 2 June | 20 June | 9 June | 30 June | 18 June[e]
15th day of 8th lunar month | Mid-Autumn Festival | 中秋节 | Zhōngqiū jié | 8 September | 27 September | 15 September | 4 October | 24 September[e]
October 1 | National Day | 国庆节 | Guóqìng jié | 1 October | 1 October | 1 October | 1 October | 1 October[f]

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Long ago, near the River Min in the province of Sichuan in China, there lived a woman and her son. They were good people, but very poor. Every day the boy hiked into the countryside to cut grass. This he gathered and sold to the villagers for fodder and fuel. With his small earnings, mother and son managed to survive.

One year a terrible drought struck the land. Life became even harder for the family. The boy went out as usual every day, gathering what he little he could. He made less and less money. After a while his mother became ill from hunger.

One day the boy was walking beside a dry streambed and came upon the lushest patch of bright green grass he had ever seen. Amazed by his luck, he quickly cut the whole patch, filled his sack and carried it to the village. He sold his grass for more money than he had ever made before. Then he returned home and fed his mother a hearty meal.

The next day the boy returned to the same spot in the hills, hoping he might find another green patch. To his astonishment, he saw that the grass he had cut the day before had grown again, just as thick and green. He worked until sunset, and once again traveled to the village and earned enough money to pay for a fine meal.

On the third day the boy again returned to the dry streambed. Again he saw the grass had grown. For five days this went on. The boy and his mother were deeply grateful for the miraculous patch of grass.

But on the sixth day the boy woke and yawned, "Oh, it is so far to walk to my spot." Then he smiled, for he had an idea. He would go to the patch again, but this time he would dig up the magic grass by the roots and bring it back to plant beside their house.

He hiked back into the hills to his patch and worked there for hours, digging up the earth and roots. Suddenly he found, buried in the soil, a beautiful white pearl tinged with pink. He held it gently in his palm, watching it gleam in the midday sun. Then he put it in his pocket and finished his work.

That night the boy showed the pearl to his mother. "It's so lovely," she said as she rolled the gem between her fingertips.

"We can sell it!" the boy said happily.

"No, let us keep it for a while," said the mother. "It will be nice to have something so beautiful with us." She put the pearl in the rice jar, and the boy went out to plant his grass.

The next morning the boy awoke early, eager to see his new patch of grass. But when he ran to the window, he saw that the grass was withered and dying. "Oh, I am a fool," he cried. "I have destroyed that which was good. If only I had not been so lazy."

Then he remembered the pearl. He ran to the jar to make certain the precious gem was still there. To his great surprise, the jar, which had been nearly empty, now brimmed with rice, and the lovely pearl sat on the top, gleaming in the morning light. "Mother, come quickly," he called.

When she saw this miracle, she rejoiced. "We will eat a big bowl of rice in celebration," she said. This they did. "Let us put the pearl back as it was," she said.

The next morning, to their great joy, they found the jar was full once more.

"This is a magical pearl," said the mother. "We must care well for our treasure." That night she put the pearl in the money box. The next morning the box was overflowing with coins. That night they placed the pearl inside the oil jar. In the morning, the jar overflowed with oil.

The mother and her son no longer had any worries. Whatever they needed, the pearl created for them. Their friends and neighbors noticed the change in their fortunes, but no one minded in the least, for mother and son were generous beyond compare. They were always giving things to others.

Two men in the village, though, were selfish and greedy, and were suspicious of the good fortune the mother and son possessed. One day these men went to the house and bullied the woman to share the secret of her wealth.

"But gentlemen," said the woman, "our fortune is no secret. We are lucky enough to own a magical pearl." She took the pearl from its safe place in the cupboard.

The men crowded close. Suddenly one of them snarled, "We shall have your pearl," but before he could grab it, the boy snatched it up and put it in his mouth.

"Give it to us!" cried the men. One of them began to shake the boy. He shook so hard, the boy swallowed the pearl.

The boy felt a burning sensation in his stomach. He was thirstier than he had ever been. "Oh, Mother," he cried. "I am so thirsty! I need water, tea -- anything."

Distressed to see her son in pain, the mother poured him glass after glass of tea and water, but soon she had nothing more to offer. The boy dashed outside to the well and drank the well dry, and still he was thirsty.

He ran to the river. His mother and the two men and all the neighbors stood helplessly nearby by as the boy drank the river dry.

And then, suddenly, a loud crack of thunder sounded. Wind roared. Lightning flashed. Rain poured from the heavens. The earth trembled, and people fell to the ground, grateful that their drought had ended.

But now they were astonished at the sight before them, for the boy began to grow. Larger and larger he grew, and soon scales appeared on his back. Horns sprouted from his head. His eyes grew and bulged from his head. The woman wept as she watched her son turn into a dragon. She knew the pearl was to blame.

Rain kept coming, and the dragon walked into the overflowing river. The mother wept. "Come back, child," she said. The boy could not help himself from turning around to look at her. As he did, his mighty tail swept the river's edge, creating huge mud banks.

The boy then knew that he would not change back. He had become a dragon, the guardian of the river. His mother understood this, too. "Farewell, my son," she called. "Guard the river well."

And from then on the guardian dragon lived in the River Min. There he kept the magical pearl safe. The pearl gave off a glowing light that never faded, and it continued to increase the things among which it was placed.

The mud banks are there still, testament to the boy's farewell as he disappeared into the river, thrusting his mighty dragon's tail. For many years, until the mother's death, she visited the river daily and spoke with her child, the guardian dragon. That is why the people call these banks beside the River Min the "Looking at Mother Banks."

The second book collection of wonderful tales from "Tell Me a Story" is available for $14.95, plus $4.25 for postage and handling. Send your orders to "The Spectacular Gift," in care of Andrews McMeel Publishing, P.O. Box 419242, Kansas City, Mo. 64141; or call (800) 642-6480. Be sure to indicate your newspaper's name on your order. Allow three to four weeks for delivery.

Tell Me a Story Archives

4520 Main St., Kansas City, Mo. 64111; (816) 932-6600

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THE DRAGON'S PEARL (an ancient Chinese legend), Tell Me a Story

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Long ago, near the River Min in the province of Sichuan in China, there lived a woman and her son. They were good people, but very poor. Every day the boy hiked into the countryside to cut grass. This he gathered and sold to the villagers for fodder and fuel.

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Hello: Nǐ hǎo
Goodbye: Zàijiàn
Please: Qǐng
Thank You: Xièxiè