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Chinese Numbers 0-1000 Posted by sasha on Sep 6, 2011
When learning a new language, one of the most important things is to get the numbers down. Whether you’re telling a new acquaintance how old you are, figuring out bus routes, ordering food in a restaurant, paying for a taxi, or bargaining in a local market, you’ll be totally lost without a firm grasp of…
Beijing Fun Places – Volume II – NLGX (南锣鼓巷) Posted by sasha on Aug 31, 2011
One of, if not the best spot in Beijing for a fun afternoon out is NLGX (南锣鼓巷 – nán luó gǔ xiàng – lit. South Gong and Drum Lane). Nestled right in the middle of one of Beijing’s oldest traditional hutong (胡同 – hú tòng) neighborhoods, this bustling road represents both old and new Beijing…
Chinese Universities (大学) Posted by sasha on Aug 30, 2011
Going along with Steve’s post about heading back to school, I decided a post about China’s higher education is in order. China has well over 2,000 universities (大学 – dà xué) and colleges, with a total student body population in excess of 20 million. Between 2002 and 2008 alone, the number of higher education students…
Beijing Day Trips – Volume 2 – Shi Du (十渡) Posted by sasha on Aug 24, 2011
From the maze of skyscrapers and hazy clouds of pollution that are omnipresent in Beijing city, one merely needs to hop on a public bus (公共汽车 – gōng gòng qì chē) – number 917 to be exact – and ride out of the city 100 km to the southwest to find stunning landscapes and a…
Chinese Websites Posted by sasha on Aug 22, 2011
It’s no secret that one of the most popular activities in China is to surf the internet (上网冲浪 – shàng wǎng chōng làng). In fact, on nearly every street corner in Beijing, you will find an internet bar (网吧 – wǎng bā), often filled to capacity with chain smoking teenagers aggresively clicking away while engaged…
Days, Weeks, and Months (Video) Posted by sasha on Aug 12, 2011
Learn the vocabulary necessary to talk about days, weeks, and months in Chinese with this short, easy to follow video.
Useful Travel Phrases Posted by sasha on Aug 11, 2011
Having just returned to Beijing after a month and a half back in the States, with a friend who is here in China for his first time and speaks no Chinese, I figured a post with some useful travel phrases would be a good idea. If you are a total China n00b like my friend…