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HángZhōu (杭州) Posted by Stephen on Apr 30, 2011
If you’re looking for a break from the over-populated cities in China, Hangzhou, 杭州 (háng zhōu) is the ideal getaway vacation. Located in southern China, this capital of Zhejiang Province, 浙江 (zhèjiāng), is a water-wonderland, built along the West Lake, or 西湖 (xīhú). Hangzhou is filled with classical southern Chinese architecture including pagodas, temples, and…
Photo Gallery: Sū zhōu “Venice of the Far East” (苏州画廊） Posted by Stephen on Apr 26, 2011
Video Slideshow: Thumbnail gallery: All photographs are courtesy of Stephen M. Fiedler, twitter: @seeitbelieveit Please contact for any use of these images.
Smoke ’em Because We know You Got ’em: Cigarettes (抽烟) Posted by Stephen on Apr 18, 2011
Smoking cigarettes or 抽烟 (chōu yān) may be China’s favorite past-time. No matter where you go, be it inside restaurants, hospitals, at weddings or inside a cab, everyone is ripping cigarettes. More than half the male population of China smokes, and seeing how the cheapest cigarettes in China cost a mere 5 kuai 块，it’s not…
The Coast with the Most: Income Inequality (收入不平等) Posted by Stephen on Apr 13, 2011
Much like inflation, housing speculation and unemployment, income inequality is becoming a hot topic issue in China, stoking nationalist sentiment and prompting social movements and protests. For a supposed communist nation (although we know better), such a divide in wealth foments anger and fosters reactionary sentiment. As income inequality grows, so does the 800 pound…
April Fools Day! (愚人节) Posted by Stephen on Apr 1, 2011
Happy April Fools Day, everyone! April Fools’ Day or 愚人节 (yú rén jié) is celebrated in different countries around the world on the April 1st of every year. Sometimes referred to as All Fools’ Day, April 1st is not a national holiday, but is widely recognized and celebrated as a day where many people play…
Chinese Medicine pt. 1: Introduction (中医) Posted by Stephen on Mar 27, 2011
Chinese traditional medicine or 中医 (Zhōng yī) is a broad range of mostly preventative health practices that include various forms of herbal medicine, acupuncture, massage and dietary therapy. Unlike western medicine, which is founded upon observable research and deductive reasoning, Chinese medicine takes the long view–quite literally. Chinese medicine works because it has been tried and tested for…
Q & A: What do you want to learn about? Posted by Stephen on Mar 11, 2011
We here at Transparent Language Chinese value your input, so I thought I’d create this reoccurring Q & A post as a forum to ask and answer your Chinese related questions. Here’s how it will work: Post comments on this blog post for topics/parts of speech/etc… that you are interested in. Remember to leave the…