Chinese Language Blog

The weather is getting cooler, the leaves are changing colors, and the kids are all back to school. That can mean just one thing – fall (秋天 – qiū tiān) is here. You may be bummed that summer is over, but there’s lots to love about autumn as well. In China, fall means two very…

I love Chinese food, I adore Chinese characters, and I savor Chinese music. Chinese songs are not only pleasant to the ears, they are also a good way to learn the language. One of my favorite Chinese song is 其实你不懂我的心 (qí shí nǐ bù dǒng wǒ de xīn). Recorded in 1989 by the Taiwanese singer…

No visit to Beijing would be complete without a trip to the Summer Palace (颐和园 – yí hé yuán), a massive complex full of pagodas, gardens, palaces, and even a lake. In my 5 years of living in the Chinese capital, this was always my favorite place to visit, especially on rare clear day in…

许三观卖血记 (Xǔ Sānguān Mài Xiě Jì) is a 1995 novel by the Chinese writer Yu Hua. Translated to English by the name Chronicle of a Blood Merchant, the book tells the story of Xu Sanguan who finds a way to augment his meager salary. A way that changes his life. Xu Sanguan lives in the city…

Today marks the most romantic holiday on the Chinese calendar. In China, the seventh day of the seventh month on the lunar calendar is known as the Qixi Festival (七夕节 qī xì jié). This ancient Chinese festival goes by many names, including: the Night of Sevens, the Magpie Festival, and Qiqiao (乞巧 qǐ qiǎo). Many…

When I first arrived in China, more than a decade ago, I had a hobby: visiting book stores. I used to stand in awe in front of shelves full of books written in this beautiful ancient language. I stood there and wished one day to be able to open any of these books and read…

Unless you’ve been living under a rock recently, you’re probably familiar with TikTok. Known as Douyin (抖音 dǒu yīn) in Chinese, the popular video-sharing social network has been making a lot of headlines these days as the US government is considering banning it. Before we address the drama with TikTok, let’s answer an important question…