Archive for November, 2012
Advanced Time Telling Posted by sasha on Nov 30, 2012
Yesterday, I introduced a lot of vocabulary words and grammatical structures for how to tell the time. I focused mainly on the different parts of the day, asking for/giving the time, and talking about daily activities. At the end of the post, I gave you 10 examples to practice. Here are the answers: 现在几点？ 现在五点…
Telling Time in Chinese Posted by sasha on Nov 28, 2012
Something you eventually have to learn in any language is how to tell time. Whether you’re talking about your schedule, making plans, or simply in a hurry and without a watch, being able to ask for and tell the time is crucial in your everyday life. To help you out in your quest to master…
Golden Flower Mountain (金华山) Posted by sasha on Nov 27, 2012
Located just outside of Ping Le Ancient Town in Sichuan province is a quiet, peaceful, spiritual mountain. With elements of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, this scenic spot makes for a great morning hike. Unlike many tourism spots in China, which are overrun by people and vendors, this place doesn’t even have a ticket office and…
Four Sacred Buddhist Mountains Posted by sasha on Nov 24, 2012
A while back, we introduced China’s Five Great Mountains. Well, there’s more to China’s mountains than just those five, so today we’ll take a look at the Four Sacred Buddhist Mountains (四大佛教名山 – sì dà fó jiào míng shān) as well. After all, a big part of Chinese culture is making a pilgrimage (朝圣 – cháo…
Crosstalk Posted by sasha on Nov 21, 2012
In America, we have a thing called stand-up comedy. This popular form of entertainment consists of a comedian literally standing up at the front of a club, grabbing a microphone, and telling jokes for a while. Stand-up shows vary from the tiny hole-in-the-wall club where amateurs try to catch a break, to huge shows in…
Ping Le Ancient Town Posted by sasha on Nov 17, 2012
Just 90 km west of Chengdu in Sichuan province, you’ll find Ping Le Ancient Town (平乐古镇 – píng lè gǔ zhèn). Many years ago, this little town was an important stop on the Tea Horse Road (茶马道 – chá mǎ dào). Along this road, mules would take tea and other goods from southwest China to…
Better Know A… Province (Part Two) Posted by sasha on Nov 14, 2012
For those of you who are just joining this ongoing series, so far we’ve covered two municipalities (Beijing and Shanghai) and one province (Sichuan). Today, we’re going to make a big leap from the land of pandas and hot pot in southwest China to the complete opposite corner of the country as we explore Heilongjiang…