Way back in 2010, I had just moved back to Beijing after a visit home. A friend contacted me and asked if I would be interested in putting together some videos on Chinese language and culture for the Transparent Chinese YouTube channel. Since my major was Video Production (视频制作 – shì pín zhì zuò), I figured I’d give it a shot. It’s been an awesome eight years sharing insights and experiences from China with you all, but it’s coming to an end this month.

I won’t be posting any new videos to the YouTube channel as of October, but I do have one last awesome highlight reel coming your way before that happens. Before we go off the air, I wanted to look back at eight years of videos and share with you the 10 most popular videos on Transparent Chinese:

 

10. Hangzhou – Impression West Lake

Every night from March to December, you can catch the amazing Impression West Lake performance in Hangzhou (杭州 – háng zhōu). Taking place on the beautiful West Lake itself, this show has it all: music, lights, elaborate costumes, and a great story.

9. Hohhot, Inner Mongolia (Part One)

Part Mongolian, part Chinese, Inner Mongolia (内蒙古 – nèi méng gǔ), is a perfect travel destination for anyone fed up with the grind of the big city life in Beijing or Shanghai. Featuring plenty of incredible Buddhist temples, a mosque, hiking opportunities, and interesting markets in the city, Hohhot is also great for its proximity to the desert and the grasslands. For part one of this video journey, experience the madness of the Beijing train station during Golden Week, visit a few of the temples in Hohhot, and see what the night life has to offer…

8. It’s So Stupendous, Riding the Beijing Tube

Rush hour in Beijing is crazy, whether you are above ground or below. Join me as I struggle to charge my subway card, before pushing through the massive crowds to get packed in like a sardine on the wonderful Beijing subway. It ain’t pretty, but at least it gets you out of the awful traffic jams on the streets.

7. Counting in Chinese from 100-1,000

Counting is an important skill to master in any language. In Part Two of our “counting in Chinese” series, learn how to count from 100 up to 1,000.

6. Beijing Nightlife

Beijing is famous for many things – its landmarks such as the Forbidden City, Peking duck, and the horrendous air pollution. What may surprise you about this ancient Chinese city, however, is its booming nightlife scene. Take a whirlwind tour of a crazy night out in Beijing in this short video.

5. 100 Most Common Chinese Characters (1-20)

Learn the 100 most common Chinese characters with us, starting with #s 1-20. Follow along with this video and practice your pronunciation!

4. 10 Things to do in Kunming

Check out 10 great things to do in Kunming – China’s Spring City. Take in the local culture at the Green Lake, go for a hike in the Western Hills, sample delicious Yunnan cuisine, and party like a rock star at night.

3. Beijing Breakfast – Jian Bing

A staple dish for breakfast in Beijing, the jian bing (煎饼 – jiān bing) is a delicious Chinese pancake that is cheap and quick – perfect for the fast pace of Beijing life. In this short video, watch an expert whip up a jian bing in just over one minute.

2. Talking About the Past in Chinese

While talking about the past can be quite challenging in English, it’s really quite easy in Chinese. Learn how to use two characters to ask and answer questions about the past in Chinese with this easy to follow instructional video.

Editor’s note: That video got a lot of comments about how there really isn’t a “past tense” in China. Perhaps saying “past tense” is not the most accurate description, but it was how I understood how to use these characters at the time. What I’m showing you in the video is how to show that something has been completed/finished, which is obviously in the past tense, but not necessarily showing you the Chinese past tense. Yeah, it’s a confusing language…

1. The Chinese Lantern Festival

On the 15th day of the first lunar month, the Spring Festival comes to an end with the Lantern Festival (元宵节 – yuán xiāo jié), known as 元宵节 in Chinese. Parks all over the country light up with elaborate lanterns, such as the Grand View Park in Kunming, Yunnan. This was one of the most beautiful things I ever saw in China, and I’m happy you guys like it enough to have made it our most popular video!

 

It’s clear from that list that our viewers have a variety of interests. There are travel videos, grammar lessons, vocabulary lists, and of course some of the best Chinese street food around represented in that Top 10.

Looking back through all those videos on our channel brings back a lot of great memories for me. From my many years living in Beijing and one year in Kunming, to my travels all over the country, I really enjoyed sharing the experiences here on this platform.

Thanks to all of you who have followed along with the videos and blog posts. I hope they showed you something interesting and useful about China and its people, language, food, holidays, and more. I also want to thank Transparent Language for allowing me to combine my passions of videography, travel, and language learning and turn it into the best ever part-time job. I also shared several videos to the Spanish, Indonesian, Thai, and English channels if you’d like to check them out.

As far as my video work going forward, of course I’ll still be editing videos! I’ve got footage from a 7-month backpacking trip around South America (南美洲 – nán měi zhōu) to start working on. If you’d like to see more of my videos in the future, please check out my personal channel at Grateful Gypsies. You can also find us on all other forms of social media.

I’ll still be writing a few posts a month for the blog here, as I’ll never run out of things to say about China and Chinese language & culture!