Where to Travel in China in 2020 Posted by sasha on Jan 15, 2020
新年快乐! I hope all of our readers are having an excellent start to the new decade so far. What are your New Year’s resolutions? (你新年的决心是什么? – nǐ xīn nián de jué xīn shì shén me). I hope one of them is “travel more!” (我希望一个是 “多旅行” – wǒ xī wàng yī gè shì “duō lǚ xíng”)…
4 Useful Verbs for Chinese New Year Posted by Ayana on Jan 6, 2020
Chinese New Year, also known as Spring Festival (春节 chūn jié), is celebrated this year on January 25th, 2020. Here are 4 useful verbs to use when talking about the festival customs. 办 bàn = to run, to handle Spring Festival is China’s most important festival. The week-long national holiday week received the name Chinese…
Top 5 Chinese Blog Posts of 2019 Posted by sasha on Dec 23, 2019
It’s hard to believe, but we’re nearing the end of the decade. For me, it’s pretty wild to reflect back on the past decade. I spent over half of it in China, and I’ve been writing for the Chinese blog the entire time. It’s an appropriate instance to use the phrase “time flies” (时光飞逝 –…
Gift Giving in China Posted by Ayana on Dec 16, 2019
Relations (关系 guān xì) play an important role in today’s Chinese society. Social connections are a fundamental key to success in the Chinese community. A common way to strengthen one’s relationships is by giving gifts (送礼 sòng lǐ) to show affection, respect, or closeness. A unique Chinese traditional gift everyone loves to receive is the…
Top Chinese Songs of the Decade Posted by sasha on Dec 12, 2019
Can you believe another decade is almost behind us?! I know I sure can’t. It’s always fun looking back at the end of a decade. I love music and I love end of the year countdowns, so I’m combining both in this post! Music is a great tool for studying not only the language, but…
The Taiwanese Bubble Tea Receives International Popularity Posted by Ayana on Dec 2, 2019
Bubble tea (珍珠奶茶 zhēn zhū nǎi chá, literally means pearl milk tea), also known as boba, is a sweet milky drink, stuffed with chewy tapioca pearls. Boba (波霸奶茶 bō bà nǎi chá), an Asian beloved refreshment, usually consists of sweetened milk tea (奶茶 nǎi chá) and cooked tapioca pearls (珍珠粉圆 zhēn zhū fěn yuán, also known as波霸…
Chinese Thanksgiving Vocabulary Posted by sasha on Nov 25, 2019
Thanksgiving is coming up in just a few short days. While this traditional American holiday isn’t celebrated in China, people there are always interested to learn about this and other festivals from around the world. I always laugh when my Chinese students ask me if I’m going to eat a “fire chicken” this week. That’s…