Where to get Christmas decorations in Beijing
Posted on | December 20, 2009 | Leave a Comment
If you’re still looking for Christmas decorations 装饰品 (zhuāng shì pǐn), you can find almost anything you need at Golden Five Stars 金五星 (jīn wǔ xīng). It’s a huge indoor market that has everything and anything from plastic forks to pingpong balls to fabric by the meter to office supplies to bedding to long cow-shaped gel-filled wrist rests. The one I went to is the one closer to 3rd Ring Road. Take bus 319 or 86 from 五道口 (wǔ dào kǒu) and get off at 青云路 (qīng yún lù). Walk in the direction that the bus is going for about 5 minutes and the market will be on your right. Alternatively, take bus 101 or 425 from Dazhongsi subway station 大钟寺城铁 (dà zhōng sì chéng tiě) and get off at 大钟寺 (dà zhōng sì). It’s only one stop.
I got tinsel 圣诞彩条 (shèng dàn cǎi tiáo) of different colors at less than 3rmb for each strand, plastic trees 圣诞树 (shèng dàn shù), all kinds of lights 圣诞彩灯 (shèng dàn cǎi dēng) in the shapes of reindeer 圣诞驯鹿 (xùnlù), tiny plastic Santas 圣诞老人 (shèng dàn lǎo rén) in different colors, drums, presents, antlers 鹿角, multi-colored lights in the shapes of Chinese bottle gourds?!?!!?? 葫芦 (hú lú) in different colors. I paid 5 rmb for a 3 meter strand. You can also get snowflakes 雪花 (xuě huā), banners, and almost anything you can think of.
Of course, bargaining, 讨价还价or 讲价钱 (tǎo jià hái jià or jiǎng jià qián) is a prerequisite. Try, “Can’t you go a little lower?” 能不能便宜点儿? (néng bú néng biàn yí diǎn ér?) It’s a great place to practice your Chinese/learn more Chinese. You can go around the various stalls and ask the shop owners, 这个叫什么? (zhè gè jiào shěn me?)
If you have some time, some of the other stalls have Christmas cards 圣诞贺卡 (shèng dàn hè kǎ) and other odd knickknacks that might be good presents. It’s a great place to pick up gifts for white elephant gift exchanges and a fun place to browse if you have a few hours. It’s best to go on the weekdays to avoid the crowds.
If you’d rather go after Christmas to get decorations for next year you might get a steeper discount on the after-season stock. No guarantees, though.
Although Christmas isn’t about presents at all, it’s encouraging to get a thoughtful gift from someone who cares about you. I hope that you’ll be able to say, “Thanks for your present!” 谢谢你的礼物 (xiè xiè nǐ de lǐ wù!) many times this season.
祝大家圣诞快乐!
(zhù dà jiā shèng dàn kuài lè!)
Merry Christmas, everyone!
Read Bilingual News, Learn Chinese
Posted on | December 18, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Check out sl.iciba.com to read current news with English on the top and Chinese on the bottom. Although there is no pinyin, you can see the meaning of Chinese words in their context.In the definition window you can see definitions and bilingual example sentences, although many of the example sentences seem quite obscure. You can also search for other Chinese words directly from the pop-up window.
Do you have any other useful English/Chinese bilingual websites? Share them in the comments.
Do you have a street food stomach?
Posted on | December 11, 2009 | Leave a Comment
So we’ve talked about different types of delicious street food. It’s always good to ask “is satisfying my craving worth the possible toilet time later?” I always think about if I can afford the time. So, keep in mind the following considerations when eating street food, though. Personally, I would say eating less street food is better. Is your stomach strong enough?Outdoor vendors sometimes make street food in advance and leave them out. No one knows how long it’s been sitting there and collecting dust and dirt stirred up by cars or the wind. Taking this into consideration, it may be safer to eat street food that’s offered indoors.
煎饼 jiān bǐng
You can get 糖葫芦 (táng hú lú) or candied fruit skewers, inside many supermarkets, although not all street food is offered indoors. Still, many supermarket delis offer cold/hot noodles, noodle soup, chinese crepes (煎饼jiān bǐng), and Chinese pork sandwiches, or 肉夹馍 (ròu jiá mó).
肉夹馍 ròu jiá mó
In the summertime,beware of eating meat (i.e. chuàn’r) as high temperatures can provide a suitable environment for bacteria to grow. Although the raw meat/organs for chuan’r are cooked over a fire, usually they aren’t refrigerated beforehand.
Are you more “better safe than sorry” or more “my iron stomach can take on anything”? Let us know in the comments.
Free language resource: How to Study Chinese
Posted on | November 4, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Please download and feel free to share with your friends.How to Study Chinese Guide (444)
This useful guide covers topics such as learning strategies, learning styles, maintaining motivation, overcoming barriers, memorizing vocabulary, and various other issues. Now freely available online with hard copies available at our language school in Wudaokou, Haidian District. We’ve heard some positive feedback about this practical study guide from our current students. Hope it’ll help you improve your Chinese as well!
One of the most useful sections is about learning strategies. These chapters contain ideas such as different ways to use flash cards, recording yourself, saying the action that you are doing, grouping items or topics, labeling items, or looking for similarities. Other useful topics include maintaining motivation and learning from high achievers.
If you’ve downloaded and read some of the content, or have tried it out, let us know your thoughts down in the comments.
P.S. if you prefer to read or download individual chapters online, please see our How to study Chinese page.
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