Archive for November, 2009
The Past Weekend Posted by Transparent Language on Nov 29, 2009
Last weekend I was on my way in a bus to 汕头 (shantou) when a 交通事故 (traffic accident) on the road slowed the bus and all other traffic to a near-standstill for roughly 1.5 hours. I wasn’t too concerned though, as I was learning about the production of denim jeans and the annoyances of 超标…
Phrasings between the north and south Posted by Transparent Language on Nov 25, 2009
Between northern and southern China, there are many linguistic differences. Differing dialects aside, there are also general lexical differences- similar to the “soda” and “pop” phenomenon in the US. If someone says they’ll give you something 晚一点 (a bit later) in the north, they’d say 迟一点 (a bit later) in the south. What people down…
Windows of the World Posted by Transparent Language on Nov 22, 2009
The other day I went to a tourist attraction in Shenzhen called Windows of the World. There are models of all sorts of famous buildings, but one thing that took me by surprise was the 室内滑雪 (indoor skiing) and a 滑冰场 (ice skating rink)! Luckily, there were 靴子 (boots) available for visitors who weren’t wearing…
changing coins to bills – harder than it seemed Posted by Transparent Language on Nov 18, 2009
The other day, I wanted to take the pile of 硬币 (coins) from my room and 换纸币 (exchange them for bills). The people at the nearby bank told me that they didn’t want my bills, well that was my first time to 听到 (hear) a bank didn’t want any money- maybe I should have asked…
stuck at the border Posted by Transparent Language on Nov 15, 2009
Hello readers! Some days the border crossing can be quick, other days it can feel like molasses. The other night I was coming back over the border to Shenzhen and was stuck in a line that remained motionless while all the other lines advanced at a rate of one person per roughly 45 seconds. We…
Unbelievable Posted by Transparent Language on Nov 13, 2009
The other morning, I was in a taxi and saw that the driver was playing with his cellphone at a stoplight (the stoplights in Shenzhen can last about 90 seconds). My colleague inquired, “开车还可以炒股?” (As a driver you can play the stock market too?) “那你怎么了解行情呢?” (Well how do you find out what’s going on in…
Bookstore in SZ Posted by Transparent Language on Nov 8, 2009
Yesterday I made my way to a bookstore in Shenzhen stocking foreign titles. Near the overpass of the road with the store, I saw a banner saying 推崇阅读 (respect/praise reading), meanwhile there were performers playing the 二胡 (erhu, a traditional Chinese instrument) and taking donations from passers-by. As I exited the building, I saw plenty…