Chinese Language Blog

When visiting China it is so tempting to go shopping. Every item I buy bears memories from another delightful trip in The Middle Kingdom. 买东西 (mǎi dōng xī) is a general phrase (verb + object) that literally means to buy things. It is a useful phrase, referring to almost any kind of shopping. I use…

Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays. From dressing up and going trick-or-treating as a youngster, to wild parties that seemed to last all weekend in college, to awesome Halloween concerts, to scaring the crap out of unsuspecting Beijingers on the subway, I’ve always had fun on October 31st. Although Halloween isn’t exactly…

Have you ever seen that movie “Lost in Translation”? It’s a great movie starring Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson where the two often experience culture shock (文化冲击 – wén huà chōng jí) in Tokyo. I don’t know about you, but I’ve had plenty of experiences with culture shock. This was especially true during my first…

A national flag (国旗 guó qí) is an important symbol of a country (国家 guó jiā), serving as an international representative. 国旗是国家的象征。 Guó qí shì guó jiā de xiàng zhēng. The national flag is a symbol of the country. The national flag of China is a five starred red flag (五星红旗 wǔ xīng hóng qí)…

October 1st is a very special day in China this year. Not only is it the country’s National Day (国庆节 – guó qìng jié), but it’s the 70th anniversary of the founding of the PRC. In this post we’ll take a closer look at the holiday and how the country is planning on celebrating as China…

Iran has decided unilaterally to cancel the visa requirement for Chinese citizens. The Henley Passport Index is a global ranking of the world’s passports (护照 hù zhào), according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa. It ranks the countries according to the travel freedom for their citizens. On the…

The Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋节 – zhōng qiū jié) is fast approaching. This traditional Chinese holiday falls on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar (阴历 – yīn lì), which just so happens to be Friday the 13th this year! It dates back over 3,000 years to the time of the Shang Dynasty (商朝…