So when my friend from Xi'an (north) called me the other day, I told her I couldn't talk very long because I was at 博饼 bo bing, her reply was "your where??" I had to get off the phone quickly but I got the idea she was thinking I probably just mispronounced the place I was at in Chinese.
Later when I telling a local Xiamen friend the situation about how it seemed like my Chinese friend from Xi'an didn't know what bo bing was... she said "well that makes sense." Then she preceded to tell me the history and story of why only people in Xiamen do bo bing. And that people in other cities may have never heard of it.
Bo Bing is only played during the Mid Autumn Festival in China, and more specially only in the Fu Qian Province. Its a 300 year old custom and dates back to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and was created by Zheng Chenggong (郑成功) who was a general determined to recover Taiwan when it was occupied by the Dutch in 1624.
Another fact... Zheng 郑 is the same character David choose to use as his last name in China for his Chinese name. Years ago, when I moved here I choose to use 刘 Liu because during my junior year of college when I first came to China (four and half years ago) I met my first friend, Peggy. Later, her family gave me their last name to use when I officially moved here. I feel honored that they let me use their name.
Zheng and his first officer noticed the troops were becoming homesick for their families and hometowns. So they decided to create this game to occupy the soldiers. They used mooncakes for prizes.
Its like the annual Christmas party at companies in the US... but here its the annual Mid Autumn Festival and Bo Bing with companies! Most companies and factories are expected to throw a big bash for all its employees. Provide a huge meal, setup the games, and let everyone take part and enjoy!
Thats exactly what my university did! I got to participate in the bo bing games with all my coworkers and staff.
Everyone awaits to see if they got the "zhuangyuan" which is considered the highest roll in which the winner recieves the biggest prize. In the past the prize was the largest yuebing (mooncake) today it could be anywhere from a few hundred rmb gift card, an ipad, or depending on how generous the company is a trip somewhere.
No money or betting is involved. Just rolling dice. The key is to roll 4's! If you rolled four fours then you win the zhuangyuan! Its also said if you win the Zhuangyuan your considered to have good luck for the rest of the year!
The prizes consisted of body wash, lotion, toothpaste, laundry detergent, soap, vegetable oil (a big commodity here with cooking- a prize everyone wanted to win), and the zhuangyuan was a 300rmb gift card
For the last two weeks, I keep seeing big parties that companies are having, people getting on the buses with bags of toothpaste and detergent that they've won, and the sound of dice rolling in all the grocery stores! Because of course, all the grocery stores are participating in the games by putting tons of things on sale for the companies to buy in bulk to give away at the parties!
Its been fun getting to participate, hang out with friends, and learn more about Chinese culture!
