Archive for 'Uncategorized'
“Welcome to take Beijing Taxi”, pt 2: Directions Posted by Stephen on Apr 26, 2010
Once you get past simply telling the cabbie the name of the location, you can now move onto basic directions and driving commands. Not only does it help you get a feel for the city, but it keeps you practicing Chinese and will often lead to further discussion with your 司机 (driver). For Example: 一直走。西三环路出口以后，右拐。去到第一个路口，左转。往到北四环路，掉头。我的房屋在饭馆在小路的后面。再这儿，停车。…
Spring Cleaning Posted by Transparent Language on Apr 23, 2010
Taking a break from urban transport discussion, I’d like to talk about cleaning up the apartment. If you’ve found that your 木板 (mu4ban3 – floorboards) are caked with 灰尘 (hui1chen2), it may be time to break out the 拖布 (tuo1bu4 – mop) and start to clean your abode. You’ll need your best 海绵 (hai3mian2 –…
Getting Grammatical (语法）Who, What, When, Where Posted by Stephen on Apr 15, 2010
Many followers of this Blog have requested some basic grammar rules with explanation, so today lets focus on the basics of a sentence: Who (谁 shéi) What (什么 shénme) When (什么时候 shénme shíhou) Where (在哪儿 zàinǎr) *Note Why is not among this list, because it is a little more complicated in terms of grammar* Let’s…
Tomb Sweeping Festival (清明节） Posted by Stephen on Apr 5, 2010
As the Easter holiday weekend passes here in the west, China is already taking part in one of it’s historic, yet newly reinstated holidays: the Qing Ming Jie (清明节）or Tomb Sweeping Festival. While a staple of Taiwanese, Macau and Hong Kong traditions, the 清明节，much like the Tet in Vietnamese culture is a holiday that falls…
Everything But the Table, Part 1: A Brief Introduction to Chinese Food Posted by Stephen on Mar 31, 2010
China truly is a gourmand’s paradise filled with delicious food everywhere you go. The food itself can be as far ranging as delicacies popularized during the Ming Dynasty or it can be as simple and down to earth as a 1 块 stick of 串 （think kebab) found on any roadside corner. Whatever the type…
Google and The “Great Firewall” of China Posted by Stephen on Mar 23, 2010
With the recent (although a long time coming) announcement of Google shutting down its operations in mainland China, comes much debate about the reasons and justifications for doing so. While Google (谷歌）has made claims about invasion of privacy, blocking content, and security breaches (including email virus attacks to gain info on human rights advocates) as…
Why Electronic Locks Are Inferior Posted by Transparent Language on Mar 13, 2010
As you may have guessed from the title, recent experiences have shaped my opinion about electronic locks. To date, technicians have come to “fix” the lock 5 times. It was said by the second technician that the first one 不懂 (doesn’t understand) the lock’s workings -how he’s working as a repairman I’ll never know. …