Archive for 'Uncategorized'
It’s So Stupendous, Riding the Beijing Tube Posted by sasha on Aug 9, 2010
To go along with Steve’s post about riding the 地铁, I put together a short video showing the madness of rush hour on the subway in Beijing. I’m doing my best to provide subtitles that are readable in the video, but it can be difficult at times, for example when I give you a whole…
Studying Chinese isn’t THAT Difficult (学习汉语不太难) Posted by sasha on Aug 4, 2010
As I’ve said before, Chinese can be quite intimidating for beginner learners. Believe me, I’ve been there. The tones (声调) and the characters (汉字) alone can be enough to send you running for the hills. For yours truly, throwing in the towel often seemed like a good idea when I first started learning Chinese. Luckily…
A Series of Tubes: The Subway (地铁) Posted by Stephen on Jul 30, 2010
The phrase “rush hour” doesn’t really apply to China, because at almost every hour of the day you’ll find yourself rushed, crowded pushed, and ultimately locked in a struggle to get from point A to point B. However, if you are unfortunate enough to have to commute during morning and evening peak commuter hours in…
The Summer Palace Video Posted by sasha on Jul 30, 2010
Steve’s most recent post about 颐和园 motivated me to make a video to give you fine folks more insight into this treasure of Beijing. It really is my favorite place to visit here, and I hope you’ll see why after watching this short video about it! This time, I included the English translation in the…
China is #1 (Or Are They?) Posted by sasha on Jul 27, 2010
This past week, the International Energy Agency (IEA) released a report that labeled China as the new #1 in the world in terms of 能源 (néng yuán – energy) consumption, putting them ahead of the United States. Using data from 2009, the IEA’s report claimed that during the year, China consumed energy equivalent to 2.252…
Chinglish 是什么？ Posted by Stephen on Jul 26, 2010
In one hundred years from now, what language will we be speaking? Will Chinese prevail as the global dominant language or will English continue its stranglehold on business, culture and academia? Will Chinese and English bridge the gap between two very different languages or will they continue on their separate ways? Anyone that’s been to…
夏天已经来了 (Summer Has Already Arrived) Posted by sasha on Jul 24, 2010
For my second video post, join me on a stroll around 后海 lake to see what Beijing folks like to do outside in the summer time. With a long, cold winter, it is important to get outside and enjoy the warm weather while it lasts! As usual, I’ve included the vocabulary used in the video…