Chinese New Year

The Chinese New year main evening meal is a very important time as the family gets together over traditional symbolic dishes. Why not Let the Chinese New Year begin with Lettuce! Another thing you will see in London’s China Town and in China is the hanging lettuce suspended by a string in doorways. But why? […]

The title of this blog is partly borrowed from the Last Bruce Lee Film in 1973. Dragons entering your front door for the new year is part of the traditions and theatrics on display during the London new year celebrations in Chinatown and all over the world. The Dragon itself is a symbolic symbol of

The name Firecracker in Chinese translates to “Exploding bamboo”, as early as 200bc a method of heating bamboo was devised that resulted in a crackled explosion. The process in later years was speeded up by the use of  Gunpowder! Chinese celebrations would not seem complete without a fair share of Firecrackers being let of. The

You will find red everywhere during the Chinese New Year, and there is a superb reason that is the case. It is the symbolic colour of happiness, so much so they forbid it to be on display during funerals. Colour is linked to the 5 elements Red is Fire, the earth element of good luck,

The zodiac calendar runs for 12 years as it is the approximate orbit of Jupiter. The planet Jupiter orbit is actually 11.85 years and its Orbit covers some 500 million miles. What are the 12 animals of the Chinese Zodiac, Shēngxiào (Mandarin) The Chinese New year follows the 12 cycles of the Chinese Zodiac, starting with

Bang Bang Oriental Food Hall In the Past Colindale had a large shopping mall area called Yaohan shopping center which was sold off to a Malaysian company and then called Oriental City on Edgware Road. It had a large oriental supermarket selling raw ingredients, crockery. Foods to eat were also available as it had a