Chinese Folk Tales

Once upon a time, a White Snake Fairy fell in love with a young man in the mortal world. Marriage followed and all was well until the Dragon Boat Festival came around. What happened during the festival and did the husband ever find out about her true identity?

Have you been to the Great Wall in Beijing or the Pyramids in Egypt? Have you ever wondered how these were built, one stone on top of another, without any modern machinery? These wonders of the world are so awe-inspiring to look at, but on the other hand, they were also built with the lives of so many. Here is one sad legend about the Great Wall.

If you feel like you've had enough of fairies, monsters and magical beasts, don't go away, because today's show will be about ancient weapons, some with magical powers of their own. Swords, daggers and tales of revenge!

If you have the opportunity to travel around the countryside in China, you might notice these fierce looking gods painted on red paper pasted onto the family gates. Who are these and what are they for?

Have you ever wished that you could live like a fairy or some sort of immortal? The immortals are known to live a carefree life in Chinese culture, but there was this really famous gang of Eight Immortals that actually got into a lot of trouble. What happened?

What would it be like to live for 800 years? As far as I know, only a few historical characters could know about that. A man named Peng Zu was among them. What was his secret?

Jiang Ziya was an unusual old man, a household name in China, even though he lived some three thousand years ago. Many remember him as this kind and wise old man from the TV series in the 1990s, someone who always knew the right thing to do and also had a clever plan.

People have been celebrating Valentine's Day since the year 496 in the west. Is there a similar celebration in China? Yes and no. We do have a Valentine's Day but it all started with a rather sad story, involving once again, the Queen Mother of the West.

Would anyone like to learn a thing or two about becoming an immortal? What about some pills from the Queen Mother of the West and throw in some doughnut peaches too! Interested?

What do you say to a gold-stuffed piggy bank? Yes, please! That's what I would say. There was such a monster according to Chinese folk tales. Its name is Pi Xiu and it didn't look quite as cute as a pink pig.