Last weekend I was on my way in a bus to 汕头 (shantou) when a 交通事故 (traffic accident) on the road slowed the bus and all other traffic to a near-standstill for roughly 1.5 hours.  I wasn’t too concerned though, as I was learning about the production of denim jeans and the annoyances of 超标 (exceeding standards) and achieving 合格 (meeting standards) from a 孕妇 (pregnant woman) from Fujian who had just come back from an OB/GYN visit in Hong Kong.  We also discussed the 机制 (systems) of both China and the USA, and she asked me what I thought about those who went to the states to 淘金 (dig for gold).  The next morning in Shantou, I rode to a dock with a ferry on a driven 摩托车 (motorcycle) as that appears to be the prime method of transportation there aside from 三轮车 (tricycles).  Although the taxis have meters, you may still find yourself having to 砍价 (haggle over the price).

汕头 shan4tou2 – a city in eastern Guangdong Province
交通事故 jiao1tong1shi4gu4 – traffic accident
超标 chao1biao1 – exceeding standards
合格 he2ge2 – meeting standards
孕妇 yun4fu4 – pregnant woman
机制 ji1zhi4 – systems (can be organizational/political)
淘金 tao3jin1 – dig for gold
摩托车  mo2tuo2che1 – motorcycle
三轮车 san1lun2che1 – tricycle (powered/unpowered)
砍价 kan3jia4 – haggle over the price