Archive for November, 2018
Being Direct in Chinese Posted by sasha on Nov 27, 2018
When you travel or move to China, a little bit of culture shock (文化冲击 – wén huà chōng jí) is inevitable. I know I certainly experienced it when I first moved there, whether it was trying different food (silk worm larvae, anyone?), drinking baijiu (白酒 – bái jiǔ) for the first time (gross), or learning…
Alibaba Breaks Singles’ Day Sales Record Posted by sasha on Nov 15, 2018
Singles’ Day (光棍节 – guāng gùn jié), China’s anti-Valentine’s Day, just happened on 11/11. While it started out as a day for single college students to go out to eat together, it has morphed into a massive day for online shopping (网上购物 – wǎng shàng gòu wù). China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba (阿里巴巴 – Ā lǐ bā…
The Disappearance of Fan Bingbing, China’s Most Famous Actress Posted by Ayana on Nov 13, 2018
A Chinese proverb says: 人怕出名猪怕壮 (rén pà chū míng zhū pà zhuàng). It means “people fear of getting famous just like pigs fear of getting fat”. Everyone wants to enjoy the benefits of fame like every pig wishes to enjoy unlimited food. But both publicity and binge eating are risky. Fan Bingbing (范冰冰), the number…
China Singles’ Day Posted by Ayana on Nov 5, 2018
China Singles’ Day is celebrated every year in November 11th. China Singles’ Day 光棍节 (Guāng gùn jié) is not an old Chinese tradition or an adopted western holiday. It’s a unique Chinese holiday generated in the 90’s by single students of Nanjing University. From Nanjing University, it spread to other campuses and gradually outside of…