January 24, 2020 Chinese Culture, Chinese food, Chinese Holidays, Chinese New Year 1 Comments

I am very excited about Chinese New Year this year because I am a Rat! My high school’s mascot was the River Rat so I wholly embrace my Chinese zodiac animal. The Great Race account of the Chinese zodiac tells the story of a race across a river. As legend goes, the crafty Rat hopped …Read More

September 15, 2018 Chinese Culture, Chinese food, Chinese Holidays, recipes 0 Comments

Food is the greatest way to connect people to their past, it creates the kind of memory that isn’t easily forgotten. It’s been 26 years since I came to the US, but I still remember my favorite foods during my childhood in Hong Kong. I treasure the delicious dishes and soups my mother used to …Read More

February 28, 2018 Chinese Culture, Chinese food, February 2018 Feature - Honoring China in the Everyday, recipes 0 Comments

With the end of Chinese New Year approaching, I thought I would share a favorite recipe of ours to make during CNY or any time of the year. Although not a traditional Chinese dish, Pho is a favorite at our house. I would even say, this is not even a traditional Vietnamese version of Pho …Read More

February 16, 2018 adoption community, Chinese Culture, Chinese food, Chinese Holidays, Chinese Language, Chinese New Year, February 2018 Feature - Honoring China in the Everyday 0 Comments

“Nian (Year) was a ferocious beast who would come out once every twelve moons, cause destruction and kill everything that crossed its path. However, Nian was afraid of the color red. So people put red strips of paper around their door frames so the destructive beast would pass over their house when it saw red …Read More

February 12, 2018 Chinese Culture, Chinese food, Chinese Holidays, February 2018 Feature - Honoring China in the Everyday 0 Comments

When we began celebrating Chinese New Year together after my son was born nearly five years ago, my wife and I did what many young families do when establishing their traditions. We carried forward a few practices from my parents and incorporated elements from our local community, the same way we had for Christmas and …Read More

February 11, 2018 Chinese food, Chinese Holidays, Chinese Language, Chinese language tutor, February 2018 Feature - Honoring China in the Everyday 5 Comments

Hi everyone, my name is Joy Clendenning, I do not have any adopted children. You might be asking, why are you here then? Here is my story. I am from Xi’an, China and came to the United States in 2010. I met my husband in China while I was in college, he was a missionary. …Read More

February 3, 2018 Chinese Culture, Chinese food, Chinese Holidays, Chinese New Year, February 2018 Feature - Honoring China in the Everyday, recipes 3 Comments

When completing our home studies for each of our adoptions from China, one of the questions that came up both times with our social worker was how would we implement our new child’s culture into our family. We eagerly replied that we would celebrate Chinese New Year, would add Chinese décor to our home, and …Read More

February 1, 2018 Chinese Culture, Chinese food, Chinese Holidays, Chinese New Year, February 2018 Feature - Honoring China in the Everyday, Nicole, recipes 0 Comments

Happy Year of the Dog! February 16th marks the start of the Chinese New Year and this February at NHBO we are focusing on ways to incorporate our children’s birth culture into the everyday. We’ll be sharing posts from parents who are doing this in big, elaborate ways and some in simple, small ways… but …Read More

November 4, 2017 Chinese Culture, Chinese food, guest post, recipes 17 Comments

I’m Maggie Zhu. I started Omnivore’s Cookbook in 2013. Born and raised in Beijing, now I’m a Austin based blogger, writer, recipe developer, and photographer. Learning and sharing Chinese food became a way to connect me with my roots and the rest of the world. It reminds me of who I am. I’m proud to …Read More

September 29, 2017 Chinese Culture, Chinese food, Chinese Holidays, Kelley B. 4 Comments

One of the many unexpected surprises that came along with adopting three children from China has been my new love for Chinese culture – and an absolute adoration for Asian markets! If you know me on Facebook, you know my best friend and I (also a China mom) have been known to do a Facebook …Read More

September 28, 2017 Chinese Culture, Chinese food, Chinese Holidays, Nicole, recipes 0 Comments

Chinese Mid-Autumn Moon Festival is quickly approaching – this year it falls on October 4th! As we send our children off to school with love (or in my case, send them to the dining room table), I can’t help but reflect on all for which I’m thankful. During this incredibly busy season, the famous Moon …Read More

September 21, 2017 Chinese Culture, Chinese food, Chinese Holidays, Nicole, recipes 2 Comments

Chinese Bāozi is a much-loved dish in our family, so I was really looking forward to making it from scratch! Homemade always tastes more delicious than store-bought, at least in my opinion. There’s something special about freshly-made homemade dough, though it can be somewhat time consuming to pull together. Stuffing the buns could be a …Read More

May 30, 2017 Chinese Culture, Chinese food, Chinese Holidays, Nicole 0 Comments

My first introduction to Duān Wǔ Jié, or Dragon Boat Festival, was in June of 2011 when my husband and I were in China to adopt our daughter. It was the first time I had ever stepped foot on Chinese soil. I knew very little about Chinese holidays and even less about Chinese culture. So …Read More

January 28, 2017 adoptee perspective, adult adoptee, Chinese Culture, Chinese food, Chinese Holidays, Chinese New Year 0 Comments

Xīn Nián Kuài Lè! Happy Chinese New Year to you all! Chinese New Year is also known as the Spring Festival or Chun jie. There is nothing more exciting or anticipated in China than the New Year celebrations with all of their traditions and activities! It’s an important familiar and societal tradition to reflect upon …Read More

January 26, 2017 Chinese Culture, Chinese food, Chinese Holidays, Nicole, recipes 0 Comments

Although Fried Crab Wontons are not authentic Chinese food, they make an appearance at many of our family gatherings, especially the ones celebrating Chinese holidays. We’ll definitely be making them for Spring Festival, coming up in just a few days! A friend taught us how to make his recipe years ago, and we’ve been using …Read More

January 25, 2017 Chinese Culture, Chinese food, Chinese Holidays, Chinese New Year, embracing their story, recipes, Stefanie 1 Comments

We love China for a million reasons. The biggest is that it is the birth country of nine of our thirteen children. But we haven’t always done the best job at reflecting that love in how we celebrate Chinese holidays and/or incorporate China into our day-to-day life. Because, honestly, with a big, busy, and on-a-budget …Read More

January 14, 2017 Chinese Culture, Chinese food, Chinese Holidays, Chinese New Year, Nicole, recipes 3 Comments

I learned to make dumplings a few years ago when we hosted an exchange student from China. Everyone in the family enjoys eating them, and the process is so fun! Making dumplings, or jiǎozi, is definitely a social affair – it’s meant to be shared as a group. We enjoy making and eating them to …Read More

January 3, 2017 Chinese Culture, Chinese food, Chinese Holidays, Chinese New Year, Faith 2 Comments

Last year, we had been home for a couple of months when Chinese New Year rolled around. Still adjusting to our new normal, I remember frantically ordering a few decorations from Amazon Prime to celebrate the occasion. This year, I wanted to be much more intentional about how our family celebrates this important holiday, so …Read More

September 13, 2016 Carrie, Chinese Culture, Chinese food, Chinese Holidays, recipes 4 Comments

When it’s time for a Chinese holiday, I think of only one thing… my stomach. Our first Chinese New Year in China was a never-ending stream of every kind of jiaozi (dumpling) imaginable – pork and leek, lamb and cilantro, shrimp and radish, pork and cabbage, pork and cucumber, pork and pork and pork and …Read More

April 1, 2016 Chinese Culture, Chinese food, Nicole, recipes 0 Comments

I’ve had a few Egg Drop Soup failures in the past, but this recipe has redeemed my attempts. I love it because it’s simple, easy to make, and still adds Chinese cuisine to our menu. Plus, I almost always have the ingredients on hand. This version is a little Americanized I think, but the additions …Read More

January 31, 2016 Chinese Culture, Chinese food, Chinese Holidays, Chinese New Year, January 2016 Feature - Celebrating China 2 Comments

My son was only 18 months old when Chinese New Year approached last year. From his perch on my shoulders, he gasped in amazement at the dragon dancers advancing along Market Street during San Francisco’s Chinese New Year parade, but he was too young to understand the cause for all the fuss. Now a year …Read More

January 1, 2016 Chinese Culture, Chinese food, Chinese Holidays, Chinese New Year, January 2016 Feature - Celebrating China, Nicole 0 Comments

  Happy New Year! January marks a new year and a new feature here on No Hands But Ours. This month is all about Celebrating China and how you can incorporate more Chinese culture into your home, especially during the most celebrated Chinese holiday of the year, Chinese New Year.     As Christmas activities …Read More