Tag Archives: #language

The name of this tributary to the Yangtze is 神农溪 (Shénnóng Xī) and the fact that 溪 (xī) means “creek” is an indication of just how much the rising water level caused by the Three Gorges Dam has deepened and widened … Continue reading →

In 2009, I saw an exhibit at the Huntington Library in Pasadena where they had unfurled the full length of a Qing era scroll by an artists named Wang Hui entitled Ten Thousand Li Up the Yangtze. “Li” is an old … Continue reading →

The Chinese word for “kite” is 风筝 (fēngzhēng meaning “wind zither.”) Yichang is famous for kites being flown over the Yangtze.The sky was clear and the wind was blowing, steady but gently.

红色文化.  “Red culture.”

I need to spend a single night at the airport hotel in Ürümqi before catching my morning flight back to Xi’an and thence to Shanghai.  The hotel was massive, the surveillance ubiquitous, and the architecture distinctly Sino-Authoritarian.  Looking out my window … Continue reading →

Saw this sign on a street divider.  It reads 中国梦，我的梦 (Zhōngguó mèng, wǒ de mèng meaning “China’s dream, my dream”) It’s quite poetic & beautiful.  If you take it at face value.

These “shelves of meat” would have fit right in on the infamous Datong menu. One of my Mandarin teachers taught me that the Chinese differentiate national or international cuisines from local or regional cuisines.  For example, 中餐 (Zhōngcān) and 西餐 (Xīcān) mean “Chinese food” and “Western food,” … Continue reading →

In the far, far west of China is a vast province (well, technically, one of China’s five autonomous regions) which is bordered by the provinces of Gansu & Qinghai to the east; the autonomous region Tibet to the south; the countries of Mongolia, … Continue reading →

The National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall is the Taiwanese counterpoint to the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum in Nanjing. The sign is written in Traditional Chinese, but I’m able to guess that the first two characters (from right to left) mean “Father … Continue reading →