Archive for 'Culture'
Chinese Morning Exercises Posted by Ayana on Mar 21, 2022
The Chinese phrase 晨练 is composed of two characters: 晨 (chén) that means morning, dawn; and 练 (liàn) that means to practice, to exercise. Together 晨练 (chén liàn) means morning exercise. 晨练是早上进行的健身运动。 Chén liàn shì zǎo shang jìn xíng de jiàn shēn yùn dòng. Morning exercise is the fitness workout one does in the morning. The…
A Perfect Day in Beijing Posted by sasha on Mar 16, 2022
Beijing is a massive, sprawling city that’s home to over 20 million people. As such, it can be an overwhelming place to explore. Having spent half a decade calling the city home, I’m here to help you plan a trip to the Chinese capital. In this post, I’ll share my advice for how to spend…
Celebrating International Women’s Day Posted by sasha on Mar 8, 2022
Today is International Women’s Day (今天是国际妇女节 jīntiān shì guójì fùnǚ jié). In this post, we’ll take a closer look at the holiday and learn some Chinese vocabulary related to it. Let’s start out by learning a brief history of this important day. History of International Women’s Day This global holiday dates back to 1909 in…
Chinese Friendship Vocabulary Posted by Ayana on Feb 22, 2022
One of the things I most love about China is the people. Over the years, while traveling, studying, and working in China, I was lucky to meet many kind people on the way. Despite different backgrounds and culture barriers we became good friends in joy and sorrow. China was the basis for our friendship, and…
The Beijing Winter Olympics Mascot Posted by Ayana on Feb 17, 2022
After fourteen years the Olympic Games have returned to China. The 2022 Winter Olympic Games (冬季奥运会 dōng jì ào yùn huì) are taking place this month in Beijing. Their panda mascot was already introduced to the world a couple of years ago: Over 5,800 submissions for the design of the 2022 Winter Games mascot (吉祥物…
A Daily Guide for Spring Festival Posted by sasha on Feb 15, 2022
The Spring Festival is the most important holiday in China (春节是中国最重要的节日 chūn jié shì zhōng guó zuì zhòng yào de jié rì). We’ve talked about this traditional festival a lot here on the blog, including this Spring Festival history lesson and a post about the busy travel season known as chun yun (春运 chūn yùn)…
Beijing Winter Olympics Posted by sasha on Feb 10, 2022
The Winter Olympics have already started in Beijing (北京冬奥会已经开始了 běi jīng dōng ào huì yǐ jīng kāi shǐ le). I can’t believe that it’s now been 14 years since I first landed in Beijing for the Summer Olympics (夏季奥运会 xià jì ào yùn huì). It’s definitely different this time around, and not just because of…