Archive for 'Uncategorized'
Chinese Idioms (Vol. 6) Posted by sasha on Jun 12, 2012
It’s time for another installment of Chinese idioms. Today, we’ll look at a few very common idioms that you’ll encounter in your daily life here in the Middle Kingdom. 马马虎虎 – mǎ mǎ hǔ hǔ – “so-so”; “careless” This everyday Chinese idiom literally translates to “horse horse tiger tiger.” As with most Chinese idioms, there’s…
The Curious Case of Bo Xilai Posted by Stephen on Jun 11, 2012
Want a story with political scandal, murder, and corruption? Something that goes to the top of Chinese government and implicates a myriad of high ranking officials? I present to you, the Curious Case of BoXilai, which just keeps getting more and more interesting as details start to emerge. For those unfamiliar, Bo XiLai is a…
The Middle Kingdom Posted by sasha on Jun 3, 2012
So you want to learn Chinese, huh? Well, if you’re going to learn a language, you might as well learn something about the country, too. I’m going to be ripping off Stephen Colbert and his “Better Know a District” segment a little bit, as I roll out “Better Know a Province,” a new series here…
Dumplings (饺子） Posted by Stephen on May 30, 2012
A fellow 老外 studying abroad with me in China once said that “A man can live off of dumplings and beer alone, and it ain’t a bad existence”. True words probably haven’t ever been spoken. For a mere 十快 (shí kuài)-that’s a little under two us dollars- you get everything you need. The holy trifecta…
Eating Bitterness at Shaolin (吃苦) Posted by Stephen on May 20, 2012
Many people have asked about my experience studying kungfu at Shaolin first hand (体验生活－tǐ yàn shēng huó), so here’s a in-depth look at what the Shaolin hustle is all about. While prior to my stay, I had very little experience in Shaolin kung-fu styles and methods of training and was quickly thrown into a sink…
Interesting Chinese Words Posted by sasha on May 19, 2012
When you’re learning a language, it’s almost impossible to directly translate everything into your mother tongue. This is certainly true for native English speakers studying Chinese. Today, I’m going to introduce you to some interesting Chinese words that really require you to think in Chinese, as they cannot be translated directly into English. 东西 (dōng…
Thousand Island Lake (千岛湖） Posted by Stephen on May 15, 2012
Well it’s that time of the year again in China when temperatures (温度 wēn dù) rise (上升 shàng shēng) and a great deal of humidity (潮 cháo) descends upon the mainland (大陆 dàlù). Whether you live in 北京，上海 or 重庆，summer (夏天 xià tiān) always comes early in China. For some people, air conditioning (空调 kōng…