Socializing can be a challenge anywhere, but it can be especially stressful in a Chinese business setting! It’s evident that there’s an ongoing increase in the number of international businesses and entrepreneurs looking to work with Chinese corporations. What’s more,…
Flowers and trees are closely related to people’s lives. Because of this, for thousands of years, the Chinese people have coined many plant-related words and expressions. For example, Chinese people often associate “美女”(méi nǚ, a pretty girl) with a “flower”,…
As with all languages, Chinese has an informal set of slang words which can be quite useful to know and can help one communicate better. Chinese slang usually can’t be learned from formal courses, but you’ll hear it all around…
Here are two facts about Chinese idioms: there are lots and lots of them, and for the most part they are not particularly useful. I’ve been a student of Mandarin Chinese for 20 years. It’s one of the languages my…
Tally marks are a numerical system used for to make counting easier. As the name suggests, it is a system that helps keep “tally” of things by number. Tally marks are commonly used for counting scores, points, number of people,…
Now that 2018 is upon us, it is also nearing the time of a new lunar year on the Chinese calendar, and just like in the West, the Chinese also follow their own zodiac system for each year. There are…
The topic of how to send flowers in China came to my mind a short time ago when one of my friends told me of a student who sent her some chrysanthemums as a “thank you” gift for helping him…
Chinese Chengyu (成语, Chéngyǔ) plays an important role in Chinese culture. They are the collected wisdom from ancient Chinese people; and they contain deep insights into human life. Behind the four-character Chengyu, there are always definitions, stories, and also rich…