Archive for 'Uncategorized'
Why I Moved from Beijing to Kunming Posted by sasha on Nov 10, 2014
Last year, my girlfriend and I made the decision to leave our good jobs, nice apartment, and generally awesome life in Beijing to go on an extended backpacking trip and eventually end up down in southwest China in Kunming, the provincial capital of Yunnan. For our last few weeks in Beijing, our students kept asking…
Beijing’s APEC Holiday Posted by sasha on Nov 5, 2014
A huge part of Chinese culture is the concept of “face” (面子 – miàn zi). This basically means one’s reputation, and it goes for all social circles – family, friends, business, and society at large. Beijing’s horrible air pollution is notorious, and it is unfortunately one of the first things that comes to mind when the…
100 Most Common Chinese Characters (#81-100) Posted by sasha on Oct 28, 2014
It’s been a long journey, but we’re finally to the last 20 of the 100 most common Chinese characters in our video series. 行 – xíng go; OK 方 – fāng side; square 又 – yòu again; both… and… 如 – rú like; as; as if 前 – qián in front; previous; ago 所 –…
How to Order Coffee in Chinese Posted by sasha on Oct 23, 2014
When you’re in China, you’ll learn quickly that a big part of the culture is drinking tea. While tea is great and all, sometimes you’ve just got to get a good cup of joe. As Western things are super trendy in China, there are more and more coffee shops popping up every day. While still…
From Fishing Village to Boom Town – Shenzhen Posted by sasha on Oct 17, 2014
Back in the ’70s, there was a cluster of farming and fishing villages in southern China known as Baoan County (宝安区 – bǎo’ān qū). At that time, Deng Xiaoping was launching his new policy of Reform and Opening Up (改革开放 – gǎi gé kāi fàng), as he stated, “To be rich is glorious.” Thanks to…
10 Things I Love About China Posted by sasha on Oct 10, 2014
As promised, here’s the follow up to my “10 Things I Hate About China” post with some things that I love about this country. 1. Its Natural Beauty When most people think of China, the first thing that comes to mind are mega-cities with congested roads, massive crowds of people, factories churning out cheap goods…
10 Things I Hate About China Posted by sasha on Oct 8, 2014
Have you ever seen that 90’s movie “10 Things I Hate About You”? It’s been a while since I’ve watched it, but it came up in conversation the other day and led to a discussion of “10 Things I Hate About China.” Having lived here for many years, I definitely have a love/hate relationship with…