Archive for the year 2011
Beijing Day Trips – Volume 1 – Shang Fang Shan (上方山) Posted by sasha on Aug 3, 2011
When you live in the concrete jungle (AKA Beijing), it’s absolutely necessary to get out once in a while for a good day trip (一日游 – yī rì yóu). Luckily, for us Beijingers (北京人 – běi jīng rén), the options for easy, fun trips out of the city are abundant. As an avid hiker/adventurer, I…
The Qingdao Beer Festival (青岛啤酒节) Posted by sasha on Jul 30, 2011
About a month into my first stint in China (中国 – zhōng guó), I suffered from a case of itchy feet. While I had moved here to work, my job was only meant to be a means to an end – to fund my adventures. My first few weeks in 北京 had been a roller…
Beijing Breakfast – Jian Bing (北京早餐 – 煎饼) Posted by sasha on Jul 29, 2011
A staple dish for breakfast in Beijing, the jian bing (煎饼) 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 at a local supermarket in just under two minutes.
Rare Earths (稀土金属) Posted by Stephen on Jul 28, 2011
There’s been a lot of focus on China and rare earth in the press lately, so I thought I’d take time with a quick post to explain the value of rare earths and why they matter so much in contemporary politics, trade and economics. Rare earths or 稀土金属 (xī tǔ yuán sù)are a collection of…
One Year of Videos (Top 10) Posted by sasha on Jul 27, 2011
You know, they say time flies when you’re having fun. Well, the last year has gone by in a flash, and I’ve had tons of fun writing and producing videos for Transparent Chinese in that time. Throughout the past year, the blog has seen videos about many different aspects of life in China: festivals, traveling…
Left Brain + Right Brain= Middle Language (中文) Posted by Stephen on Jul 22, 2011
Learning Mandarin Chinese or 中文 (Zhōng wén), especially as a native English speaker, is doubly difficult because you’re learning both a new phonetic system called pinyin or 拼音 (pīn yīn) and a new alphabet in the form of characters or 汉字 (Hàn zì). It becomes a lesson in duality as both right and left brain…
China – From the Last Emperor to Mao Zedong Posted by sasha on Jul 21, 2011
Way back in October 2010, I decided to set out on writing a condensed history of China from the last emperor to Mao Zedong. With little knowledge of that time period myself, I was curious to learn more about Chinese history and in turn share some of my findings with our readers. Little did I…