{"id":17060,"date":"2022-07-12T09:00:54","date_gmt":"2022-07-12T13:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/?p=17060"},"modified":"2022-07-08T14:12:08","modified_gmt":"2022-07-08T18:12:08","slug":"chinese-blog-greatest-hits-volume-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/chinese-blog-greatest-hits-volume-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Chinese Blog Greatest Hits: Volume 1"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s hard to believe that it&#8217;s been 12 years since I started writing for the Chinese Language Blog. At the time, I was an <strong>English teacher<\/strong> (\u82f1\u8bed\u8001\u5e08 y\u012bngy\u01d4 l\u01ceosh\u012b) in Beijing. I had a personal <strong>blog<\/strong> (\u535a\u5ba2 b\u00f3k\u00e8), but it was just for fun. Since then, I&#8217;ve probably written thousands of blog posts for various publications. As I&#8217;m getting ready to bid farewell, I thought I&#8217;d take a walk down <strong>memory lane<\/strong> (\u5185\u5b58\u901a\u9053 n\u00e8ic\u00fan t\u014dngd\u00e0o) with a few posts about the Chinese Blog Greatest Hits. In Volume 1, we&#8217;ll go back to the early years.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_7101\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter post-item__attachment\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7101\" class=\"size-full wp-image-7101\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2012\/01\/jingshan.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"430\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2012\/01\/jingshan.jpg 640w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2012\/01\/jingshan-350x235.jpg 350w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-7101\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">One of our first days in Beijing.<br \/>Image taken and used with permission by Sasha Savinov.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Let&#8217;s start way back in 2010 and the <strong>humble beginnings<\/strong> (\u5351\u5fae\u7684\u5f00\u59cb b\u0113iw\u00e9i de k\u0101ish\u01d0) of my blogging career. My first post, titled &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/poor-mans-chinese\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Poor Man&#8217;s Chinese<\/a>,&#8221; details how I went from having &#8220;Chinese skills the equivalent of one grain of white rice&#8221; to being able to confidently travel around China on my own. It&#8217;s funny to look back at this post many years later.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ve always enjoyed <strong>video production<\/strong> (\u89c6\u9891\u5236\u4f5c sh\u00ecp\u00edn zh\u00eczu\u00f2) and I even went to college for it. I was thrilled when Transparent Language asked me to start posting videos of my experience in China on their YouTube channel. My first video was titled &#8220;<strong>A Rainy Day in Beijing<\/strong>&#8221; (\u5317\u4eac\u7684\u96e8\u5929 B\u011bij\u012bng de y\u01d4ti\u0101n), where I gave a tour of the Planning &amp; Exhibition Hall in Beijing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: center\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"\u96e8\u5929\u5728\u5317\u4eac (A Rainy Day in Beijing)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/qbb-3ewhPmI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>As time went on, I continued to develop my Chinese skills and share my journey here on the blog. I enjoyed writing posts like &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/tones\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Stay in Tone!<\/a>&#8221; to help beginners understand the complexities of the Chinese language.<\/p>\n<p>In addition, I had lots of fun sharing little <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/culturalquirks\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">cultural quirks<\/a> I picked up on, such as why men shouldn&#8217;t wear a <strong>green hat<\/strong> (\u7eff\u5e3d\u5b50 l\u01dcm\u00e0ozi) in China and why the number <strong>250<\/strong> (\u4e8c\u767e\u4e94 \u00e8r b\u01cei w\u01d4) means you&#8217;re stupid.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_8640\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter post-item__attachment\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-8640\" class=\"size-full wp-image-8640\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2013\/03\/DSC_0005.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"428\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2013\/03\/DSC_0005.jpg 640w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2013\/03\/DSC_0005-350x234.jpg 350w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-8640\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mmm.. donkey meat!<br \/>Image taken and used with permission by Sasha Savinov.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Speaking of quirky things in China, one of my favorite snacks there is a <strong>donkey meat sandwich<\/strong> (\u9a74\u8089\u706b\u70e7 l\u01d8 r\u00f2u hu\u01d2sh\u0101o). I brought my video camera to a local restaurant one day to introduce this delicacy to our audience. It remains one of my favorite videos to this day.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: center\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Taste of a Mule (\u9a74\u8089\u706b\u70e7)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/lIaJ6fxvzEQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The longer I stayed in China, the more enamored I became with the <strong>culture<\/strong> (\u6587\u5316 w\u00e9nhu\u00e0). I fully embraced the culture shock that came with living in a place very different than the one where I came from. Writing posts like &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/very-superstitious\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Very Superstitious<\/a>&#8221; was fun to explain why eight is a lucky number and four is the exact opposite in China.<\/p>\n<p>While that was a popular post with our readers, it was nowhere near as popular as my post on &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/swear-words-in-chinese\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Chinese Swear Words<\/a>.&#8221; Turns out everyone wants to learn the dirty words when picking up a new language! Check it out to find out what it means to &#8220;<strong>sell tofu<\/strong>&#8221; (\u5356\u8c46\u8150 m\u00e0i d\u00f2ufu) and &#8220;<strong>hit the airplane<\/strong>&#8221; (\u6253\u98de\u673a d\u01ce f\u0113ij\u012b) among other interesting expressions.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_8168\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter post-item__attachment\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-8168\" class=\"wp-image-8168 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2012\/11\/DSC_0418.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"428\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2012\/11\/DSC_0418.jpg 640w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2012\/11\/DSC_0418-350x234.jpg 350w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-8168\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tsingtao beer also comes in bags. Image taken and used with permission by Sasha Savinov.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Speaking of airplanes, I did plenty of traveling around China during my time there. Of course, I brought my cameras along with me and shared all the experiences. One of the most hilarious adventures was the time we went to the <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/experiencing-a-chinese-beer-festival\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Qingdao Beer Festival<\/strong><\/a> (\u9752\u5c9b\u5564\u9152\u8282 q\u012bngd\u01ceo p\u00edji\u01d4 ji\u00e9). See for yourself in this beer-soaked video:<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: center\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Qingdao (\u9752\u5c9b) - Part Three - International Beer Festival\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ol1iiuVtS54?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>There were too many memorable trips over the years to list them all here, but some that really stand out include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/backpacking-in-sichuan-province\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Backpacking in <strong>Sichuan<\/strong><\/a> (\u56db\u5ddd s\u00ecchu\u0101n)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/the-classic-yunnan-backpacking-trip\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Traveling Across <strong>Yunnan<\/strong><\/a> (\u4e91\u5357 y\u00fann\u00e1n)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/10-reasons-why-yangshuo-is-still-awesome\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Exploring <strong>Yangshuo<\/strong><\/a> (\u9633\u6714 y\u00e1ngshu\u00f2)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/great-wall-campout\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Camping on the <strong>Great Wall<\/strong><\/a> (\u957f\u57ce ch\u00e1ngch\u00e9ng)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>That last one, in particular, is an experience we&#8217;ll never forget. It&#8217;s hard to describe in words just how amazing it is sleeping in a watchtower atop one of the Seven Wonders of the World, but I did my best. I also brought the camera along and put this little video together:<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: center\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Camping on the Great Wall\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/CWHLYR33OFQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Thinking back on those early years in China, one specific event always comes up &#8211; Santa Con. A bunch of us dressed up like <strong>Santa<\/strong> (\u5723\u8bde\u8001\u4eba sh\u00e8ngd\u00e0n l\u01ceor\u00e9n) &#8211; whose Chinese name literally means &#8220;Christmas Old Man,&#8221; by the way &#8211; and paraded through the streets of Beijing.<\/p>\n<p>We decked the halls, sang carols, and brought plenty of Christmas spirit(s) to the Chinese capital. People weren&#8217;t quite sure what to make of us, and some even followed us around all day with their cameras. It remains one of our favorite stories to tell to this day. Here&#8217;s the highlight video from Santa Con 2012 so you can see the hilarity for yourself:<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: center\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Beijing Santa Con 5\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/BEtktWllQtk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Looking back on the hundreds of blog posts and videos I&#8217;ve published here over the years, I&#8217;m so grateful for all of the amazing experiences I had living in China. I&#8217;m also incredibly grateful to have been able to share them with you all here. In Volume 2, I&#8217;ll share some more of my greatest hits with you as I get ready to sign off.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<img width=\"350\" height=\"235\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2022\/07\/jingshan-350x235.jpg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2022\/07\/jingshan-350x235.jpg 350w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2022\/07\/jingshan.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><p>It&#8217;s hard to believe that it&#8217;s been 12 years since I started writing for the Chinese Language Blog. At the time, I was an English teacher (\u82f1\u8bed\u8001\u5e08 y\u012bngy\u01d4 l\u01ceosh\u012b) in Beijing. I had a personal blog (\u535a\u5ba2 b\u00f3k\u00e8), but it was just for fun. Since then, I&#8217;ve probably written thousands of blog posts for various&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"post-item__readmore\"><a class=\"btn btn--md\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/chinese-blog-greatest-hits-volume-1\/\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":17062,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3,70,7,547385],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17060","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-food","category-holidays","category-travel-geography"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17060","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/55"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17060"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17060\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17065,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17060\/revisions\/17065"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}