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Chinese Love – Part Seven Posted by sasha on Dec 9, 2011
Now that the wedding and the honeymoon (蜜月 – mì yuè) are over, what’s family life like in China? Well, ever since 1976, Chinese families have lived with the One Child Policy (计划生育政策 – jì huà shēng yù zhèng cè). It is a common misconception, however, that all Chinese are limited to only one child…
Qingdao (Part Three) Posted by sasha on Dec 5, 2011
So far in our video tour of Qingdao, we’ve seen the famous pier, the Yellow Sea, a couple of churches, the governor’s mansion, and an incredibly crowded stretch of beach. Now it’s time for the main event – the Qingdao International Beer Festival! In its 21st year, this celebration of the nectar of the gods…
What’s in a Chinese Character? (Vol. 1) Posted by sasha on Dec 2, 2011
For foreigners studying Chinese, one of the most difficult aspects can be reading and writing Chinese characters (汉字 – hàn zì), which number in the tens of thousands. Functional literacy in the language requires a knowledge of about 3-4,000 characters. If you know this many, you should be able to read a newspaper (报纸 –…
Qingdao (Part Two) Posted by sasha on Nov 29, 2011
After a fun day getting settled in Qingdao, we headed out to hit some of the major attractions of the city. We visited St. Michael’s Cathedral, the Protestant Church, the Governor’s mansion, and another beach, before we headed out to the main reason for our visit to the coastal city – the Qingado Beer Festival…
Chinese Love – Part Six Posted by sasha on Nov 28, 2011
After the Three Letters and Six Etiquettes, the bride’s dowry, the installing of the bridal bed, the hair combing, and the groom’s struggle to fetch his own bride, it’s finally time for an actual wedding ceremony. The physical movement to the home of the groom’s family symbolizes the transfer of the bride from her family…
Qingdao (Part One) Posted by sasha on Nov 23, 2011
After a solid summer back home in the US, we got back to Beijing only to head out again two days later, this time to the coastal city of Qingdao (青岛). On the Yellow Sea, this famous Chinese city still shows its German influence, and it is known mostly for its namesake – Tsingtao Beer…
Ballin’ – China Style Posted by sasha on Nov 18, 2011
While the billionaire suits and the millionaire players can’t seem to reach an agreement on the other side of the world in the NBA, there will still be basketball this season in China. With an eminent NBA lockout this season, hordes of players have jumped ship to join the CBA (中国男子篮球职业联赛 – zhōng guó nán…