Archive for 'Uncategorized'
Chinese Love – Part Five Posted by sasha on Nov 7, 2011
In the last post, we looked at some of the ancient wedding customs of China. For Part Five, we’ll take a look at a few more pre-wedding customs, as well as the big day in Chinese culture – the wedding day. A lot of these customs are very traditional, but many are still practiced today…
Decimals, Fractions and Percentages Posted by Stephen on Nov 3, 2011
As you begin to use your Chinese in stores, restaurants and shopping centers, you’ll need to know where to spot a sale, how much to tip (or not tip) your waiters, and most importantly, how much interest your credit card is charging you each month (but I NEED an IPad2!). Figuring out how to divide…
Chinese Love – Part Four Posted by sasha on Nov 3, 2011
While Part Three of our Chinese love story was all about sex, the fourth installment of this series is all about marriage. Although the Chinese “Sexual Revolution” is only a few years old, Chinese wedding customs (婚礼习俗 – hūn lǐ xí sú) date back thousands of years. Traditional wedding customs were quite elaborate, and the…
Halloween (万圣节) Posted by Stephen on Oct 30, 2011
Halloween or 万圣节 (Wàn shèng jié) is fast approaching, so get your costumes or 服装 (fú zhuāng) ready! Last year everyone and their kid brother was Lady Gaga (including guys), but I got a strong feeling that there will be more Qaddafi’s than Beijing knows what to do with them. Halloween is a time to cut…
Chinese Social Media: Weibo (新浪微博) Posted by Stephen on Oct 28, 2011
The social media movement is alive and well in the mainland, but you wont hear people raving about Facebook, Twitter or Google Plus. Unbeknownst to most American’s and Westerners, China is a nation of netizens, who take to blogs, forums and chat boards just like the rest of us. They clamor for the new Iphone5 (which is…
Water, water, everywhere? China’s Water Crisis (缺水) Posted by Stephen on Oct 23, 2011
China is facing a dire fresh water crisis and it’s only getting worse. After decades of environmental degradation, desertification and pollution, China’s arable land, waterways and aquifers are drying up, adding to concerns of an eventual water shortage that could have devastating repercussions on the Chinese economy and society. Now with the approach of summer…
Chinese Social Media, pt. 1 Posted by Stephen on Oct 19, 2011
It’s hard to imagine life before the internet. In those dark ages, fundamentally important questions went unanswered (like what is Lebron James thinking?). If you wanted to see a movie or listen to a new album, you’d actually have to physically go to the store or theater and buy it. Mail was used for more…