学进去

During ancient times in China, children didn’t have any smartphones, iPads or computers to have fun. Instead, they came up with interesting games to play in their childhood. Let’s take a look.

Stone balls During the Qing Dynasty, kicking a stone ball around was a popular sport in the northern part of China, and it was often played in winter to keep warm. Stones were carved (雕刻) into small balls and kicked along with feet.

Flying kites Kites have quite a long history. The earliest kites were made of wood, instead of paper. Nowadays, the three most famous kites are the Beijing kite, Tianjin kite, and Weifang kite. And they are quite different from each other. For example, the swallow-shaped kite is a well-known Beijing style.

Hide-and-seek Hide-and-seek is a traditional game for children, popular around the nation. There are two ways to play: covering a child’s eyes while other kids run around to enjoy themselves or, more commonly, one child must try to find other players who hide.

Watching shadow plays The closest thing to watching a film or television for fun during ancient times was going to see a shadow play. Folk artists use puppets (木偶) behind the screen to show all kinds of shadows, telling stories with music. During the Qing Dynasty, shadow play art reached its top, and was shown for each important occasion.