Pub’d on WWAMBam: How 4 Western Women Experience Birth with their Chinese Husbands

I’ve written another article elsewhere on the web.

Zoe and I are still working on establishing a routine that will give me the time to devote to updating the blog.

I compiled four WWAM birthing experiences, including my own. Some of the ladies gave birth in China, one in the UK and my experience took place in the U.S. We talk about 坐月子, the Chinese tradition of postpartum confinement.

There were quite a few unrelated WWAM experiences I had during my pregnancy and labor and delivery so there will be another post on this blog about that (I know I said I won’t turn into a mommy blogger and such posts will be limited).

I also know I’ve touted the collective WWAMBam! blog numerous times here, but if you haven’t checked it out yet, head over there to read an array of WWAM content from Western Women married to Asian Men. Most still live in China (I believe there’s a new contributer who lives in S. Korea with her S. Korean husband).

It’s inspiring that such a collective exists, where not only group posts get many people contributing their stories, but the original contributers provide support for those of us less WordPress savvy bloggers (yes, that’s me!) as well as edit posts. Can’t complain about the chance to have another set of eyes glancing over my work.

I’m fairly smitten with the birthing experience I had and really look forward to hearing from you, my readers either here or on the WWAMBam! post.

Thank you, as always, for stopping by,

张妈妈

Spring Festival in China, Chinese New Year in U.S.

This post is part of the Chinese New Year Blog Hop 2016 hosted by Two Americans in China. A blog hop centers around a single topic and allows readers to discover new blogs.Check out the other blogs at the bottom of this post!

You might have heard a few things about Chinese New Year already. You’ve probably heard about the firecrackers and maybe even the money in red envelopes that older members of the family give to young children to celebrate the festival.

And as you would expect with a major family festival, it involves a big family meal and trips to see relatives.

But there are seven other things about the Spring Festival that are less widely-known, so with the new year upon us, I want to take a look at some of the aspects of the festival I learned about when I lived in Xi’an that you might not know about. You can always read all about the first Spring Festival (it just so happened to be my very first blog post).

I’ll also share how we celebrate 春节, Spring Festival, since we now live in the U.S.

AMWF Link Love

Sharing links across the blogosphere, mostly encompassing the AMWF community, with a few exceptions for posts covering China, travel, and repatriating.

Talking About Hanukkah in Chinese

 

Adopting traditions to ring in the Chinese New Year in the US prove just as valuable as adhering to the tradition of gorging on latkes during Hanukkah while living in Xi’an, China.

Tradition moved me enough to host hanukkah gatherings every year, starting with hauling several pounds of potatoes and onions from the market, grating them using the stainless steel tower-like grater I used for cheese the remaining 364 days (or when I could afford to buy cheese from Metro), and then hoping the Chinese kitchen god would grant my fingers safe passage.

Surprise! Seven Chinese Cities I’ve Never Visited

Credit: Mike Behnken

1. Hong Kong 香港

HK was always on my list of places to visit but reading and reviewing Year of Fire Dragons really heightened that desire. When ZJ and I went to Guangzhou and Shenzhen, we were hungry to squeeze in a day in HK, utimately deciding a day would not do the city justice. (We also would need to get a new visa as the tourist visa he received with his HK travel docs expired long ago.)

Credit: Images by John ‘K’

2. Hangzhou 杭州

Coined “Heaven on Earth,” Hangzhou is home to the West Lake 西湖, an inspiration of poets and painters since the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907). The freshwater lake houses gardens, temples, a tea farm, a spring, tombs, and a museum, surrounded by cloud-laden hills. Bonus: Visiting Hangzhou might result in an encounter with Jocelyn 🙂