Wouldn't want St Valentine, the Patron Saint of "affianced couples, bee keepers, epilepsy, fainting, greetings, happy marriages, love, plague, travelers, & young people" to get trumped by the God of Wealth so it's Double Up today...
When you take the Chinese character for happiness (xi 喜), and you make it a couple, you get
Double Happiness, (shuangxi 囍),
the fabulously popular character associated with weddings & harmonious coupledom (& a certain brand of cigarettes & a million commercial products...)
And because hǎoshì yào chéng shuāng 好事要成双 happiness comes in twos...
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| Chopstick holders from the most famous of Beijing Duck restaurants. Never mind that you are there to eat them, mandarin ducks, thought to mate for life, are symbols of fidelity & lifelong love. |
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| Somehow it wouldn't be a cabinet of curiosities if it didn't have a few shells. These are a little bit of a cheat on the China theme: these two (& just these two!) were found on the beach during our honeymoon in Thailand. |
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| Debris from a favorite exploding thing, a long tube that when triggered spews out these bits of tissue & foil & cellophane Double Happinesses. At weddings definitely but really any excuse is will do... |
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| Full drawer photo credit: Bruno David |
Hi Christina, Just read your entire Spring Festival blog and since we have stayed in Shanghai for the first time during this holiday, it was interesting to read your perspectives. I also enjoyed the beautiful photos. Lovely idea.....very delightful read. Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteKate Baker