Foundations of the PRC – Part Two Posted by sasha on Oct 11, 2010
With the failure of the Second Revolution in 1913, Sun Yat-sen and other notable KMT rebels fled to Japan. Yuan Shikai was able to intimidate the parliament into electing him as President of the Republic of China that fall, and shortly thereafter, he began amending the rules of the land in preparation for his ascendency…
Foundations of the PRC – Part One Posted by sasha on Oct 6, 2010
In a country with a history as long as China’s, how is it that this nation just celebrated its 61st birthday on October 1? While China’s history goes back thousands of years, the modern day China, known as the People’s Republic of China (中华人民共和国 – Zhōng huá rén mín gòng hé guó) was officially founded…
Golden Week Travels (黄金周旅游) Posted by sasha on Oct 3, 2010
Greetings from Hohhot (呼和浩特 – hū hé hào tè), the capital city of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (内蒙古自治区 – nèi méng gǔ zì zhì qū). Seeing as how it is the autumn edition of Golden Week (黄金周 – huáng jīn zhōu), it was time to get out of the big city for a change…
Wangfujing Night Market (王府井夜市) Posted by sasha on Sep 30, 2010
Located just east of Tian’an Men Square, Wang Fu Jing is a hot-spot for fun, shopping, and of course, eating in Beijing. Huge shopping malls and small souvenir stands line the streets, selling everything you could imagine (and then some). After 5 p.m., the night market comes to life. Here, you can enjoy tons of…
Two Very Important Characters Posted by sasha on Sep 27, 2010
大家好, While I was hoping to bring you an exciting new video today, computer problems have made that impossible. Apparently, I have overworked my Mac Book over the last two years, and as such it is currently being repaired. Unfortunately, that leaves me without my beloved Final Cut Pro for the time being, which means…
Chinese Valentine’s Day/Night of Sevens Festival (七夕节) Posted by sasha on Sep 18, 2010
On the 7th day of the 7th lunar month, China celebrates 七夕节. These days, it is celebrated as a Chinese Valentine’s Day, with flowers, chocolates, and all. However, the history of the holiday is much more than a simple box of chocolates. Learn about the old story and some of the modern day customs in…
Some slang (俚语) Posted by Stephen on Sep 16, 2010
As important it is to learn proper grammar, speech patters and writing styles in Chinese, lets face facts, that’s just not how people normally talk. Start a conversation with a cabbie and see how far proper sentence construction and tone pronunciation gets you. Or tell someone you like to “eat tofu” and get yourself laughed…