On first acquaintance China's religious life seems complicated and contradictory, with temples full of arcane ornaments and worshippers dividing their devotion between Buddhism, Daoism and Confucianism. In fact, the Chinese have traditionally treated religion as a practical feature of everyday life. When you see worshippers in a temple, praying, lighting joss sticks or shaking fortune-sticks from a canister, you can be fairly sure that they are asking the gods for such benefits as medical help, wealth, the birth of a son and good luck in exams. While many modern Chinese would deny any religious belief, most acknowledge the balancing power of yin and yang, the dark, feminine negative and the light, masculine positive forces that make it possible to accept the bad times along with the good. 

Although there are temples and monasteries dedicated to the fifth-century BC sage, Confucius (Kong Zi) is revered not as a god but a great man whose system of ethics shaped Chinese society for many centuries.  Confucius believed that a successful society had to be regulated according to duties and privileges, so he devised a hierarchy of responsibility based on social realities. Thus a ruler was to be obeyed but he also had to take care of his people. In like manner, men had moral duties to their wives and children, who responded with loyalty and devotion. Although this could lead to stifling conformity, the system did create a civil service of educated, usually competent and mostly honest men. It also enshrined the practice of filial piety, which was a key factor in both Buddhism and Daoism. 

While Confucianism satisfied the practical needs of the Chinese, they looked to Daoism for an outlet for their romantic, and superstitious imaginations. Derived from ancient nature worship, Daoism was propagated by Lao Zi,  a philosopher of the sixth century BC, who embraced the principles of yin and yang, but added a spirit world of immortal creatures who could intercede for devotees, if they were offered incense and burnt offerings. Daoists believe in the sanctity of all life, and advocate vegetarianism. They extol courage, loyalty and compassion.  Among their many deities - most of whom were originally heroic or saintly humans - are Tian Hou, goddess of the sea, Bai Gong, spirit of the north, and Bao Gong, god of justice. 

The teachings of Buddhism arrived in China via the Silk Road in the 2nd century BC, and found a ready public. It attracted scholars with its classical literature and artists with its high regard for sculpture and painting. It also drew those who wanted to renounce the world of the senses in remote monasteries and nunneries, where the faithful could spend his or her years in meditation and prayer. 

Among other religions practiced in China, Islam has the greatest number of followers. They are mostly concentrated in the northwest regions of Xinjiang, Ningxia and Inner Mongolia, although there are also Moslem communities in Xian, Beijing and Guangzhou. Christianity never achieved a wide acceptance in China and appealed mostly to Westernized intellectuals. There are some three million Catholics in China. Most belong to the state-approved church, while a minority recognize the Pope as their leader. 

Taiqi and Qigong 

Following the principals of yin and yang, the Chinese devised exercises that help keep the mind and body in balance. Taiqi or tai chi, sometimes called 'shadow boxing', is practiced early every morning by vast numbers of Chinese, in parks and along waterfronts. Qigong is a system of exercises which cleanses and invigorates the qi or spirit to improve overall health. 

Far and away the most important holiday in China is Spring Festival, also known as the Chinese New Year. The dates for his annual celebration are determined by the lunar calendar rather than the Gregorian calendar, so the timing of the holiday varies from late January to early February. 

Preparations for the New Year begin the last few days of the last moon, when houses are thoroughly cleaned, debts repaid hair cut and new clothes purchased. Houses are festooned with paper strips bearing auspicious poems, and in many homes, people burn incense at home and in the temples to pay respects to ancestors and ask the gods for good hearth in the coming months. 

On New Year's eve,families come together to feast. Jiaozi, a steamed dumpling, is popular in the north, while southerners favor a sticky sweet glutinous rice pudding called nian gao. At midnight, where it is not prohibited, people ring in the New Year with fireworks, which serve to drive away the evil spirits. 

The public holiday lasts three days, but following tradition, special events are planned until the 15th of the month.  This period is not work, but for food and fun. 

This occasion to honor the ancestors is also set by the lunar calendar. On the 12th day of the third lunar month, usually around April 4 or 5, show respect for deceased relatives by sweeping their graves and making offerings of food. 

In ancient China, Qing Ming was accompanied by much more elaborate ceremonies, but these days people mainly indulge their passion for kite flying, which is an excellent way to enjoy the fresh Spring weather. 

This unique Chinese celebration falls on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month - usually during the dog days of summer. It dates back to earliest times and a number of legends explain its origin. 

The best known story centers on a patriotic court official named Qu Yuan, of the Warring States period. Qu tries to warn the emperor of an increasingly corrupt government, but fails. In a last desperate protest, he throws himself into the river and drowns. His sympathizers jump into boats, beat the water with their oars and scatter rice cakes to distract the fish from his corpse. 

Today, people eat glutinous rice cakes to mark the occasion. In many places along rivers and on the coast, the holiday also features dragon-boat races. In these high-spirited competitions, teams of rowers stroke their oars in unison to propel sleek, long vessels through the water. 

Mid-Autumn festival is a time for poets and lovers, when the eighth moon (usually in September) reaches its brightest and fullest. Also referred to as the Moon Festival, this is also the time to eat moon cakes, pastries filled with gooey sesame paste, red bean and walnut. 

This festival, too, is ancient and its origins are unclear. But in one popular story, a beautiful woman stole the elixir of immortality from her tyrannical husband and fled to the moon, where she has been ever since. 

Everyone knows about painted silk scrolls, blue and white porcelain, lacquered screens and unbelievable acrobatics, but these are just a few of the arts that have evolved in China. For instance: 

Music has been made to accompany love, war and religious ceremonies for 7000 years in China, although the oldest instruments yet discovered- sets of bronze bells - date from about 300 BC. 

Opera became a true art from in the Song (960 - 1279) and developed into more than 300 different schools.  The most famous are Beijing, Shaoxing and Cantonese. The stylized acting and falsetto singing are hard for most westerners to accept, although most enjoy the brilliant costumes and make-up. 

More accessible are the traditional court dances dating from the Tang (618-907). They are regularly performed in Xian and feature in hotel cultural shows. Also popular are folk dances of the minority peoples of the west and southwest. 

Acrobatics have been folk entertainment since ancient times. The centre for modern acrobatics is Wuqiao in Hebei Province, where a large number of the residents are born acrobats, who walk around the street juggling or balancing tools on their heads. There are regular shows in Beijing and Shanghai, while troupes perform occasionally in other cities. 

Painting and Calligraphy represent Chinese art at its finest for some Westerners, who find it exotically different, in style and spirit, to European art. In theory the Chinese artist becomes one with his work, which means first mastering the materials - ink, ink-stone, brushes and rice paper - before attempting to capture the essence of the subject, with a few simple brush strokes or an intricate pattern. 

Calligraphy is, to the Chinese connoisseur, the ultimate art, because it is a marriage of painting and poetry. 

Porcelain, along with silk, was one of the greatest Chinese luxuries introduced via the Silk Road to Europe, where all fine pottery became known as 'china'. This is especially appropriate since of all the peoples who made pottery, it was the Chinese who, 6000 years ago, invented porcelain after discovering white kaolin clay in the Yellow River basin.  By the time of the Tang, craftsmen were using polychrome and celadon glazes which were perfected during the Song. In the Ming, Cobalt dye was introduced from Persia, giving rise to the famous blue and white porcelain.  Famille rose and famille vert ceramics were produced in the kilns of Jingdezhen, while teaware the colour of dark chocolate became specialty of Yixing. 

Bronzeware was produced in China many millenia before other civilizations and by the time of Shang Dynasty (1750-0166 BC) it was a perfected art.  Using clay molds, craftsmen fashioned intricately decorated ritual urns, wine and food vessels, musical bells and mirrors. 

Jade, known as the 'heavenly stone' to Chinese, is in fact two minerals, nephrite and jadeite, neither of which is native to China. Perhaps this makes jade all the more precious, whether made into bowls, vases, figurines, personal adornments or musical instruments. To check its authenticity, buyers can try scratching it with a knife. It should not be cold to the touch. 

Silk has been China's greatest export for centuries, and also a vital part of its heritage. Stories tell of Lei Zu,  wife of the mythical Yellow Emperor, spinning silk in 2550 BC, and of succeeding empresses attending an annual ceremony to pick mulberry leaves that are fed to the silkworm.  The secret of silk making was jealously guarded - it was a capital crime to export silkworms. China became known to the Ancient Greeks as the Silk Country and the material came to change the life style of Europe with a comfortable luxury in place of course native cloth. 

China continues to produce silk in countless varieties, including damask, satin, crepe georgette, raw silk and brocade. There is also a long tradition of silk embroidery, which is still carried on by hand and machine. Suzhou is especially famous for its double-sided silk pictures, while Chaozhou specializes in sculptured silk that makes use of gold and silver thread. 

Poetry is the best known form of Chinese literature, especially the evocative verse of Tang poets like Li Po, who began one of his works :'Lifting my head/I watch the bright moon/Lowering my head/I dream of my home town'. 

Novels include the classics 'Dream of the Red Mansion', 'Journey to the West', 'Romance of Three Kingdoms' and Lu Xun's modern masterpiece 'The True Story of Ah Q', which have become better known in the West thanks to films and television series. 

Martial Arts, such as kung fu (more properly wushu), have become very popular among Westerners thanks to movies, particularly those starring Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan. In fact the school at Shaolin Temple again offers classes in kung fu, for foreign as well as Chinese devotees. 

Folk Art continues to flourish in China, providing visitors with unique souvenirs such as papercuts, kites, fans, cloisonne ornaments, embroidered toys, pictures made from feathers or shells, and intricate carving in wood, bone, cork, stone and metal. 

If you are in Beijing, there is Hard Rock Cafe, if you are in Shanghai, there are Discotheque.  Dances are becoming a regular feature. Watch the notice boards in principal hotel lobbies for details. Drinks and disco music and/or a live band are always provided. 

Some hotels offer billiards, 10-pin bowling, chess and card games, or even shooting and archery ranges. But there are no cabaret shows or casinos in China. 

Also available in most hotels are message service - a great way to reduce some of day time's tension. 

Peking Opera. It is a unique theatrical synthesis of song and dance, acting and acrobatics, with many foreigners and even some Chinese find difficult to understand.  Nevertheless, foreign eyes can feast on the sumptuous costumes and make-up and the acrobatic-oriented items, even though the plots may seem confusing. 

Cinema screenings are usually not as attractive.  Unfortunately you won't find any movies that well depict today's Chinese life, not to mention even fewer has English subtitle. 

TV broadcasts usually start at 6:00 a.m. end at 2:00 a.m. In most international hotels, you can see CNN, BBC, etc.  There are usually 3 to 16 local channels in major cities. Most of local channels are in Chinese. Only 1 or 2 are in English. 

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