Archive for February, 2018
A Chinese Night Market Posted by sasha on Feb 28, 2018
One of my favorite things to do when traveling to new cities in China is finding the local night market (夜市 – yè shì). There’s always so much delicious food being cooked up, and it’s so cheap that you can try several different things. Join me on a short tour of a Chinese night market…
A Short Trip to Honghe Posted by sasha on Feb 26, 2018
Yunnan province (云南省 – yún nán shěng) is one of the most beautiful and fascinating places to explore in China. In addition to its stunning landscapes such as the Tiger Leaping Gorge, the province is incredibly diverse. Of the 55 ethnic minority groups in China, 25 call Yunnan home. As a result, there are many autonomous…
A Guide to Telling Time in Chinese Posted by sasha on Feb 23, 2018
An important skill to master when learning a language is how to tell the time. In addition, you’ll also want to learn how to talk about days, weeks, months, and years. We’ve had several great posts on how to do this in Chinese over the years. If you’re new here, chances are you’ve missed them…
Lantern Festival in 60 Seconds Posted by sasha on Feb 22, 2018
The Lantern Festival is the 15th and final day of Spring Festival. On this day, people in China will solve lantern riddles and eat rice balls called tangyuan. At places like the City Wall of Xi’an and the Grand View Park in Kunming, you can see an impressive lantern display. Check out some highlights of…
Guess the Chinese Word Posted by sasha on Feb 20, 2018
When learning a language, you’re always told to do your best not to try to translate everything into your mother tongue. I tell this to my Chinese students who are studying English, as directly translating everything often results in them speaking horrible Chinglish. For example, “Yesterday I with my mother together go shopping” or “I…
A Visit to Honghe, Yunnan Posted by sasha on Feb 14, 2018
Most travelers to Yunnan province stick to the weal-beaten path of Kunming, Dali, Lijiang, and Shangri-la. While these places are all amazing, there’s are so many other smaller towns in this corner of China that are worth a visit. One such town is Honghe, a few hours south of the capital. I visited Honghe in…
An Intro to the Chinese Zodiac Posted by sasha on Feb 12, 2018
One tradition associated with the Spring Festival that almost everyone knows about is the Chinese zodiac (生肖 – shēng xiào), a 12-year mathematical cycle that relates each year to an animal. Of course, there’s an interesting story in Chinese folklore that explains the order of the animals: As the story goes, the gods decided to have a…