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Stackin’ that Kuai! Posted by sasha on Jun 16, 2011
In China, the official name for currency is RMB (人民币 – rén mín bì), meaning “the people’s currency.” However, in daily dealings it is often referred to as yuan (元 – yuán) or the slang term kuai (块 – kuài), kind of like how we say “bucks” in the US sometimes. While American dollars…
History of the PRC – Part Twenty Posted by sasha on Jun 8, 2011
With the surrender of the Japanese, a full-throttle Civil War once again raged in China. This final stage of the long, seemingly never ending war is known in Maindland China as the War of Liberation. On the side of Mao and the Communists was the Soviet Union under Stalin; on the side of Chiang and…
Learning Chinese with Pinyin Posted by sasha on Jun 6, 2011
For anyone raised on the ABCs and 1-2-3s, learning Chinese can seem to be a daunting task. During my first few weeks in Beijing, I would often stare in disbelief at newspapers, menus, and street signs while thinking to myself, “How am I ever going to understand this language?” Luckily for me, and other equally…
Duanwu Festival (端午节) Posted by sasha on Jun 3, 2011
The traditional Duanwu Festival (端午节 – duān wǔ jié) falls on the 5th day of the 5th lunar month, which is June 6 this year. Also commonly known as the Dragon Boat Festival (龙船节 – lóng chuán jié), this is one of the oldest Chinese holidays, dating back to 278 BC. Before we get into…
Making Chinese Words Posted by sasha on May 31, 2011
While the thousands of Chinese characters can be scary at first, it’s helpful to know that once you know a few, you can easily start building your vocabulary. In this short video lesson, learn how to make words by combining two or three different characters.
History of the PRC – Part Nineteen Posted by sasha on May 20, 2011
After many years of a brutle civil war between the CCP and the KMT, compounded with the invasion of the Japanese, things were not looking very good for China in the early 1940’s. However, everything changed on August 6, 1945, when the US dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. Another bomb was used on…
From Jiankou Great Wall to Mutianyu Posted by sasha on May 15, 2011
In the outskirts of Beijing, it’s possible to hike from the old, wild Great Wall to the newer, tourist friendly section. Starting out at Jiankou (剪口), you can see how the Wall was when it was built hundreds of years ago. After a few hours of hiking on the rugged terrain, you arrive at Mutianyu…