Archive for August, 2011
Hutong Life in NLGX (胡同） Posted by Stephen on Aug 31, 2011
Following Sasha’s recent post on Beijing’s NLGX district or 南锣鼓巷 (nán luó gǔ xiàng), I thought I would write a little about my experience living in NLGX in a traditional or 传统 (chuántǒng) open courtyard house, called a 胡同 (hútòng). Hutongs are essentially open courtyard building complexes, centered around The translation for “hutong” literally means…
Beijing Fun Places – Volume II – NLGX (南锣鼓巷) Posted by sasha on Aug 31, 2011
One of, if not the best spot in Beijing for a fun afternoon out is NLGX (南锣鼓巷 – nán luó gǔ xiàng – lit. South Gong and Drum Lane). Nestled right in the middle of one of Beijing’s oldest traditional hutong (胡同 – hú tòng) neighborhoods, this bustling road represents both old and new Beijing…
Chinese Universities (大学) Posted by sasha on Aug 30, 2011
Going along with Steve’s post about heading back to school, I decided a post about China’s higher education is in order. China has well over 2,000 universities (大学 – dà xué) and colleges, with a total student body population in excess of 20 million. Between 2002 and 2008 alone, the number of higher education students…
Chinese Fire Drill Posted by Stephen on Aug 30, 2011
Well it’s back to school, and you know what that means: orientation. The following is orientation for an “Earthquake Evacuation Drill” which is essentially a fire drill or 消防演习 (xiāo fáng yǎn xí). I figured it would be a good reason to get out of the teacher’s office, so I grabbed my video camera or…
Back to School (开课) Posted by Stephen on Aug 29, 2011
Well it’s that time of the year again, when students of all ages go back to school or 开课 (kāi kè). As commencement gets under way, students or 学生 (xué sheng) should familiarize themselves with the mandarin basics of school vocabulary, especially if they are studying in the mainland. Hopefully these vocabulary words can help you…
Chinese Green Architecture (绿色建筑) Posted by Stephen on Aug 28, 2011
China, in its headlong attempt to modernize, is throwing up high rise skyscrapers at an unprecedented rate. Yet aside from all the cookie-cutter apartment complexes and standard office parks, a large number of “green” buildings are changing the skyline. Some look strange, others futuristic, but they all are part of China’s “Green Architecture” movement. Considering…
Recycling (回收利用) Posted by Stephen on Aug 24, 2011
Growing up, I was always told: “waste not, want not”. I would recycle, turn off lights and save water whenever possible. Yet after living in China, I realized that there was more to it than that. In my first weeks living in China, I soon found myself wasting more than your average 老百姓 (lǎo bǎi…