Chinese Birthday Celebrations!

Find out how Chinese people celebrate their birthdays traditionally and the significant years of celebration! Oh btw, it's also Carmen's birthday :P She will be in LA on the 19th to watch the Shen Yun Symphony Orchestra. Make sure to go and meet her there! e.ntd.tv/SYorch...
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[@Kraska93]

I was surprised about the tradition with the plate full of symbolising objects because we have exactly that same tradition in Romania as well. And we never had anything to do with the Chinese people. Really nice to have something in common though :)

[@Jade-Zachyrie]

Just for sharing, the 60th birthday is also very significant due to the fact that you have lived one cycle of the lunar calendar. There are 60 太岁 in the lunar calendar, Hence, if you were born in the 甲子 year, it will take you 60 years to reach the 甲子 year again.

[@NTDOffTheGreatWall]

Birthday buddies! :)

[@clairewang6977]

Its actually different in every province and city.in my hometown,we dont add 1 yr to our real age

[@dnsnnab]

I think for the elderly, 66th and 88th birthdays seem more important. My mom even asked me to come back to celebrate my grandpa's 88th b'day this year

[@howaama11]

When I was visiting my boyfriend's family in Hong Kong I was fortunate enough to be invited to his newborn nephew's 30 day gathering. I really liked the concept of the gathering and it was a very warm and great kind of family gathering I think~ thank you for this video~ :3

[@penpenanywhere]

And Chinese Birthday party food (modern): Pizza, sushi, fried chicken wings and crisps! HAHA

[@dfjulesful]

Very similar to Korean birthday traditions!

[@JookLumFist]

Don't forget to mention 60 years of life is a big deal because it's the same sign and element as the year you were born, which comes only every 60 years. Most do not live to 120, so it's a grand celebration. :)

[@ReiKoko]

happy birthday! my mum always kept our birthdays simple (no parties allowed). she usually bought us cake and made extra food for dinner with the addition of 1 boiled egg each, which she said symbolised life. my birthday is 12/12 (11/11 on lunar calendar) so this year, my lunar birthday actually falls on 13th dec o.O

[@CityOfAngels72]

Do you guys live in America or China, and happy belated birthday!!! :)

[@challengesoflife]

October 18th was my birthday. Happy Birthday Carmen!!!

[@aesdeef]

I had a thing simmilar to Zhua Zhou done to me. The items were money (wealth), glass (alcoholism?), rosary (religiousness) and a book (wisdom). The book was supposed to be the Bible, but for some reasons my parents were unable to find it, so they decided to use a dictionary instead. That was the item I picked, and now, as I'm 20 years old, I'm studying ethnolinguistics and learning 9 foreign languages (including Mandarin). ;)

[@tinoderyanto7668]

him my parent said you will never, ever, greet happy birthday to people if it's not their birthday yet, because it's like you're pray for them to die soon, is it true in chinese tradition ? (i'm half chinese in Indonesia so maybe the culture got mixed up ._.)

[@NecoBabbles]

Whee~ My birthday was October 16th! Hooray for Libras! Happy future birthday, Carmen!

[@lunghouip]

Happy Birthday Carmen !

[@HanazonoHikari13]

Yes.. In chi, clock is called zhong and giving a clock is called song zhong (送钟) which sound similar to funeral(送终) so its bad luck..

[@SunAlucard]

Well thats just a coincidence, i just celebrated my grandmothers birthday yesterday(80) we had a lot of birthday buns ;)

[@chibip6]

Happy early Birthday Carmen!

[@jinglei1118]

Happy Birthday Carmen! You so start a surprise party

[@blaxter101]

Happy birthday Carmen. Enjoy your west coast break. Thanx f

[@tey42288]

Actually 想要 means wish to have something. It's more of a polite way to say what you want to have, instead of just sounds like "I have to have it"

[@ctapgoy]

haha speaking of interviews...my parents had me interview for a prestigious primary school in HK and the teacher had asked me something to the extent of what kind of music/tones I liked, and I told them I liked 酒 音 because as a child, I thought that sounded "nice" and really didn't know what it mean. Needless to say, I didn't get in LOL. I ended up at an international school instead, which during the exam, the world "knickers" got me just as confused. 

[@josemariasanchezanton2645]

Happy birthday Carmen...and lots of luck in Las Vegas!

[@halohalo86]

Happy upcoming birthday Carmen! I'm also an October child, my birthdays was about two weeks ago, and here in HK I was given peach shaped buns with lotus seed paste filling :P

[@0nnen]

I did Zhua Zhou, but the thing is my parents don't remember what I reached for! What kind of parents are they? lol

[@ColonelMarcellus]

I reached for a pistol, 😄 hahaha

[@tOFUbankai]

yes! I'm sure there are a lot of fans that can't wait to send you stuff! x

[@keroro1994]

Carmen, 生日快樂! :)

[@xarchanx]

CARMEN!!!! HAPPY B-DAY!!!! May you continue to be so awesome!!!

[@l0rd0f0blivi0n]

Well it probably depends where you are living. People born abroad are probably not going to do a lot of these things. There are probably also traditions specific to each region in china.

[@samuelparson2373]

Shen Yun performance tickets are the best birthday present!

[@rainbowsparkle3599]

Korean life are so similar to chinese lives!

[@tinchin6328]

he "Korea" in the subtitle was a mistake. It should be "carreer" established at 30.

[@helllokitty138]

Carmen is getting more and more pretty

[@1024specialkay]

We're both october babies! :) Happy birthday Carmen!

[@brucegandier4620]

Happy early Birthday Carmen! I wish you have many more!

[@TheRainyAsian]

Happy birthday Carmen! Its also my brother birthday!

[@Xieerqi]

Carmen, 提前祝你生日快乐， 身体健康， 天天开心， 万事如意！Stay awesome and positive as you are! I'd treat you to a bowl of noodles, but I'm alas nowhere near LA, lol

[@yingqingli3082]

Hi! 想 usually means "think"or"miss (someone)" 要 means "want". But when trying to express "want", we usually use both of them, like 我想要一部手提电脑 means “I want a laptop”. If you only say 我要一部手提电脑, it would be in a more demanding tone, which is kind of rude...hope that helps:)

[@KimFruitheads]

happy birthday carmen!

[@linjas123]

an early happy birthday to you! Also, where have yi, mike and karen from the run list been???

[@moshimoshiusa]

My mom said one NEVER celebrate birthdays AFTER the actual date. Hence if the exact date is no convenient, you celebrate BEFORE that date, NOT AFTER.

[@AyeeeeHelloKItty]

Your birthday is on the 17th of October? That's my birthday too! Yay! We have the same birthday :) but happy belated birthday!

[@AnswertoLifeis42]

Happy Birthday Carmen!!! I really enjoy watching these info videos, and learn a lot! Would Dan ever be coming back though? I liked watching you and Dan educating each other and Dan being all silly and funny :P Just my preference!

[@swordzen]

Belated Happy Birthday, Carmen! You really are getting so much thinner! And in the chinese parents voices "aiya, you are getting too thin la, eat more, sleep more!!!"

[@martinluk9207]

生日快樂!

[@tikchingisawesome]

Happy birthday Carmen

[@LegalisedAddiction20]

Awesome!! My birthday's on Oct 20! Sadly, my mum (who's chinese) never really did all these things with me. The only superstition was no black at the party, and never celebrating my birthday (at least no cake) after my birthday date. I kinda wish she did go through the motions and stuff with me. I really like noodles.

[@TheSoo0491]

korea also has the zhua zhou thing... and my mum said i grabbed a pencil but im not smart...

[@CitiesSkyGay]

They did a video on that back then. It's in a video talking about what you shouldn't give to a chinese person.

[@sleepzagirl]

Maybe you can do a video on the do and don't during the mother's confinement period!

[@angelabcdefgh]

happy birthday carmen, today is my father birthday too and mine will be next week

[@hajimesenpai7996]

Ooooh it's 2019 her birthday is approaching again :3

[@1582Me]

My father will be 60 next month.. Oops, but i think i've missed it because he will be 61 in Chinese age.. Btw, my mother always makes sweet noodle (my mother's recipe) and hard boiled egg in the morning of any member of my family's birthday.. and the most important thing in birthday is ang pao.. ^.^

[@clairedsc5807]

Happy Birthday, our 3rd daugher's turning 5 on October 31 (aka Halloween) -- she always will be a party girl!! My grandma will be turning 96 next year, so big celebration I am sure, but what to even give her??

[@CherylVlogsRandomly]

Early birthday to Carmen!!!!!!!!!You should have some 壽包!!!!^^ Mine birthday is on 22rd!!!!!!!!

[@nikkie1a]

Happy Birthday, Carmen! C:

[@otabwill709]

lol, I loved the picture of the two guys championing the mega-long noodles.

[@sparkleT19]

Gonna get my boyfriend some peaches and noodles now LOL! Happy early Birthday!!!! Thanks for the videos, I love watching them even though I'm not Chinese hehe~

[@Eclipse807]

My friends in China would always have KTV celebrations that I would attend.

[@xxtina00]

Future video(s) on the Chinese education system (grade school and post-secondary)?

[@crafty_ocelot]

Oh my god. My mom insists that we celebrate both of her birthdays, and I always miss one because the lunar date is always different >:O

[@kevincostan]

haha my chinese bday is easy to remember .. 2 days after chinese new year :P double hong bao ;P

[@jianxiongRaven]

according to Chinese calender , in western calender it will always be different days on different year

[@alangnnguyen]

happy b-day carmen

[@dgytc11]

Happy birthday, Carmen! ^^

[@Topazman12]

Happy birthday Carmen.

[@AnnieC]

happy coming birthday Carmen!

[@tiffanyhuang4217]

I like how this just got recommended on my birthday

[@IcyShard1001]

Happy birthday! Wish you all the best

[@copperloop]

Great video! Didn't know about the Zhua Zhou. Happy early birthday! Btw, how do you count when your birthday month had a "small month" and a "big month," (like small October and big October) in the year that you were born?

[@edmttw9112]

Always teaching more about chinese culture.. THANKS!

[@KaijuMasterX]

Perfect timing! Today is my birthday! Thanks for the video, and hope you have an awesome birthday too! Yay, October birthdays!

[@NTDOffTheGreatWall]

Should we open a PO Box?

[@Binscuit89]

Happy Birthday !! Yours is October 21 !?!? Mine is October 22!!?! Happy Birthday !!

[@gracious.c]

Yay October babies! :) 祝你生日快乐, Carmen!

[@Authenictruthoid]

Happy Birthday ! I too get myself something to mark my birth. Here is a treat for your birthday. Check out the song by Alter Images called Happy Birthday (extended) It came out in 1981. Enjoy, it's a classic punk song. Peace

[@emilywalton3780]

Happy belated B-day!

[@IndianCookie25]

Happy belated birthday Carmen!! 3

[@NTDOffTheGreatWall]

Happy belated birthday!

[@rosie8001]

Birthday is always fruit cake,chocolate cake....load of cakes lol anyway happy birthday to Carmen ^_^

[@NikWang]

Wow! 祝你生日快乐！（Happy Birthday!） Today is my birthday too, Oct 17th! Can you believe this?

[@thefumusictoo]

learned so much from this, lol. thank you for sharing what we should already know :P

[@ljadlfjaldj]

生日快樂 Carmen!

[@vivianhung2762]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@halfmesyd]

Happy birthday to you!

[@aidacirdy3340]

happy birthday honeyy !!!

[@CoreChick]

Some of this sounds familiar to middle eastern traditions, the two new years--modern and old/traditional--and the baby picking the item event. Interesting

[@Momowu9]

Tbh this is just tradition most people don't care much anymore so they just follow the way other countries calculate birthdays

[@frankiefromflorida]

Happy Birthday.

[@christinexie6878]

Happy birthday!!!

[@tOFUbankai]

So have u guys got a PO Box yet? Would love to send Carmen some stuff for her birthday (:

[@LittleAmyHe]

I would wish you an early happy birthday, buuuuut it's sometimes considered bad luck sooooo HAVE A MAGICAL DAY! :D P.S. I have been to sooo many super fancy "one month" birthday parties, then all the rest are really practical. I feel kind of bad for the kid since they never remember it and probably won't experience something so fancy again until their wedding day or something.

[@dimitrisdimitrakis5525]

You are wonderfull!!! Greetins from Greece!

[@carrielee8281]

I'm Chinese, I'm 23 but Ive never celebrated my birthday on my lunar birthday date,we do it just as Westerners do.

[@Dimsum.T]

Happy Birthday!! Hey today is my friend's birthday too!!

[@dylanakent]

My head hurts, I'm going to have to write this all down!

[@HanazonoHikari13]

Happy Birthday Carmen!!! :D Just to share this, your lunar/chi birthday usually ends up the same days as your English birthday when your 19 xD

[@IAmPIE111111]

Omg lol I have 2 birthdays too. One with all my family and one with all my friends.

[@CeliaGoh]

yes, sweet noodles and hard boiled eggs that comes in pair!my family also does that.. haha... my father is superstitious about having odd numbers, so we always have to have two.. =/ btw, i thought u also grow 1 year older after winter solstice? lol

[@cindslegacy]

WE HAVE THE SAME BIRTHDAY CARMEN! :DDD

[@SummerseaSwimmer]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!