Adventures in Shantou cont'd

Adventures in Shantou cont’d Posted by Transparent Language on Dec 1, 2009 in Vocabulary

After enjoying some fine 点心 (dim sum) in the morning, I went to a remote island near Shantou. There I contemplated several things while watching a 蚂蚁 (ant) under an 影子 (shadow) cast by a tree. I also saw some chickens whose legs were bound by plastic strings where the owner had 打结 (tied knots) around their legs. This island truly had a 平淡 (mundane/quaint) lifestyle. Looking at the chicken actually reminded me of the US-China trade balance focused on 鸡爪 (chicken feet). I ate some dried 虾 (shrimp) at a tiny restaurant and then hiked up to the top of the island where I could smell 烧香 (burning incense), hear the 发动机 (engine) of the boat that brought me there, and see 港口 (harbor) awaiting ships in the distance.

点心 dian3xin1 – dim sum
蚂蚁 ma3(2)yi3 – ant
影子 ying3zi – shadow
打结 da3jie2 – tie a knot
平淡 ping2dan4 – mundane
鸡爪 ji1zhua1 – chicken feet
虾 xia1 – shrimp
烧香 shao1xiang1 – burn incense
发动机 fa1dong4ji1 – engine
港口 gang3(2)kou3 – harbor

Tags: Chinese Language

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Comments:

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Lily:

From your post, i know that your Chinese very wonderful! Hope you will share more
resources to us!
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FangFang:

This is a great way to learn Chinese!

I love dim sums. There is a Chinese restaurant near where I live, and I try to go there every weekend for some yummy 点心 🙂
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Peter Simon:

Sorry, guys, this is not exactly learning Chinese. This is getting Chinese words in English sentences. Not the same. Information, granted. But try using those words on somebody.
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Andrew:

Some of the words in this post are used more frequently than you might think.

蚂蚁 ma3(2)yi3 – ant
Search for “Chinese ant scandal” (the name of the company involved is a blocked term on Chinese search engines, but you can find it relatively quickly). This was (and is) a topic that generated a lot of discussion in China over the past few years.

打结 da3jie2 – tie a knot
When people in China get married (结婚), there are often red knots present at the wedding to symbolize coming together. “Tying the knot” doesn’t seem to be a concept limited to English speakers.

鸡爪 ji1zhua1 – chicken feet
In recent months, the issue of tariffs on tires has come up in discussions of the US-China trade balance. Did you know that the US is by far the world’s largest supplier of chicken feet? You can learn more about it here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/16/business/global/16chickens.html
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Chinese lessons:

So interesting post,