1on1 Mandarin Blog, learn to speak Chinese » video http://www.1on1mandarin.com/blog helpful Chinese language learning tips and resources Wed, 18 Aug 2010 11:48:30 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 功夫梦 – The Karate Kid Streaming Online http://www.1on1mandarin.com/blog/karate-kid-streaming-online/ http://www.1on1mandarin.com/blog/karate-kid-streaming-online/#comments Thu, 12 Aug 2010 08:34:43 +0000 Duncan http://www.1on1mandarin.com/blog/?p=937

For those who have yet to watch the latest 2010 remake of the 1984 “The Karate Kid”, you can stream it for free through QiYi.com (奇艺 qi2yi4); though I feel that the movie title should be changed to “The Kung Fu Kid”, since the Chinese title of the movie is 功夫梦  (gong1fu meng4 – aka: dreaming of Kung Fu), and the martial art in the movie is no longer the Japanese Karate, but the Chinese Kung Fu- but that’s just me =)


I hadn’t heard of QiYi before, so I did a bit of research, and I found out that the difference between qiyi.com and other mainland online streaming video services, such as tudou.com and youku.com, is that QiYi aims to gather all of its video content through legal means through several copyright intermediary sources. This also allows QiYi to obtain higher quality and resolution videos, which is pretty nice if you’re wanting to project a movie on a screen to watch with friends.


Here’s the direct link to The Karate Kid on QiYi.com
(http://www.qiyi.com/dianying/20100725/n26619.html)

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]]> http://www.1on1mandarin.com/blog/karate-kid-streaming-online/feed/ 0 A high-quality Chinese video website http://www.1on1mandarin.com/blog/chinese-video-websites/ http://www.1on1mandarin.com/blog/chinese-video-websites/#comments Tue, 27 Apr 2010 11:22:19 +0000 1on1 Mandarin http://www.1on1mandarin.com/blog/?p=768
Today,  we are introducing to you a high-quality Chinese video site: 奇艺(qí yì). It’s like Hulu.com in China. Their video quality is quite good, and stands out from other video sites in China. What’s more, they have many legal copies and full length movies, TV dramas and documentary films you can watch online for free. Please check it out at Qiyi video – www.qiyi.com.

We have a post about other Chinese video websites here, covering Youku.com, 56.com and Ku6.com. Among those four video sites, we would recommend Youku.com and Qiyi.com (they’re just like the Chinese version of Youtube and Hulu).

Mostly importantly, you can get access to tons of video resources to help you practice your Chinese listening and speaking.  Hope this post is helpful and let us know if you find anything interesting.

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]]> http://www.1on1mandarin.com/blog/chinese-video-websites/feed/ 1 Traditional Chinese New Year Foods http://www.1on1mandarin.com/blog/traditional-chinese-year-foods/ http://www.1on1mandarin.com/blog/traditional-chinese-year-foods/#comments Fri, 05 Feb 2010 03:51:05 +0000 Jimmy Olsen http://www.1on1mandarin.com/blog/?p=569

Traditional Chinese New Year Foods

Besides a time for vacation, sales, and a much less populated/much more comfortable Beijing, Chinese New Year 春节 is also a time for FOOD! If you have (good) local friends, look forward to feasts with their families that may include
Chicken, duck, fish – traditionally eaten at celebrations because in the old days, meat was very expensive and only eat on special occasions. Northerners like to stew the meat, while southerners like to
In the Chinese lunar calendar, during the first day of the new year, called 初一,(beginning-one, i.e. the first day of the first month of the lunar year) (around February 14 this year) dumplings are eaten. By contrast, during February , 初二, noodles are eaten (at least in Beijing). The good news is on 初五 dumplings are eaten again. Personally, I have a tradition where I eat dumplings on the days that end with “y”. I think it’s a good tradition. 正月十五 on the 15th day of the first month of the year, Chinese eat元宵yuanxiao round glutinous rice dumplings. The sweet variety is more common and have hawberries, black sesame, red bean, peanut, dried fruit, sugar as filling. Some also eat salty yuanxiao, filled with meat.
If remembering what to eat on what days is too confusing, just eat whatever your local friend’s family gives you on that day. Alternatively, you can click here http://www.webexhibits.org/calendars/calendar-chinese.html to get a basic understanding of the Chinese lunar calendar. Click here http://www.mandarintools.com/calendar.html for a Western calendar to Chinese calendar converter.
年年高升 年糕 Northerners eat steamed or fried (golden brown, like gold, so you can get rich or die trying. Many people like it better fried because it gets chewier) glutinous rice cakes shaped like fish. 超市发 Some are made with corn flour with dates.
Something to drool over, something to look forward to

Besides a time for vacations, big sales, internet casino games and a much less populated/much more comfortable Beijing, Chinese New Year 春节 (chūn jié) is also a time for FOOD! Chinese New Year food is referred to as 过年饭菜 (guònián fàncài). If you have (good) local friends, look forward to feasts with their families that may include:

Fish & Chicken

 

Chicken, duck, and fish – traditionally eaten at celebrations because in the old days, meat was very expensive and only eat on special occasions. Expect a lot of delicious stewed meat if you’re in the north.

Life-stages of a dumpling

The first day of the new lunar year is called 初一 (chūyī, lit. beginning-one, i.e. the first day of the first month of the lunar year. This year, it’s  February 14) and it is traditionally a day for eating dumplings 餃子 (jiǎo zi).

On 初二 (chū èr), noodles are eaten (at least in Beijing). The good news is on 初五 (chū wǔ), 餃子 (jiǎo zi) are eaten again. Personally, I have a tradition where I eat 餃子 (jiǎo zi) on the days in the week that end with “y”. It is, without a doubt, a fantastic tradition. 餃子 (jiǎo zi) are filled with combinations of different types of ground meat, vegetables, tofu, egg, and even bean thread noodles. You can dip them in vinegar, soy sauce, or both, and each family prepares the dipping sauce differently. 餃子 (jiǎo zi) can be boiled, steamed, or fried.

yuan xiao

正月十五 (zhēng yuè shíwǔ) on the 15th day of the first month of the lunar year, Chinese eat glutinous rice dumplings 元宵 (yuánxiāo). They are made with rice flour and are usually white and round. Sweet 元宵 (yuánxiāo) is more common and have hawberry, black sesame, red bean, peanut, dried fruit, or sugar as filling. Some also eat salty 元宵 (yuánxiāo) which are filled with meat. If remembering what to eat on what days is too confusing, just make friends with a local and eat whatever your local friend’s family gives you on that day. Alternatively, you can click here to get a basic understanding of the Chinese lunar calendar. Or check out mandarintools.com for a Western-to-Chinese calendar converter.

祝你们春节快乐，年年高升!
(zhùnǐmen chūnjié kuàilè, niánnián gāo shēng)
We wish you a happy Spring Festival, and may each and every year get better and better!

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]]> http://www.1on1mandarin.com/blog/traditional-chinese-year-foods/feed/ 1 Qi Xi Jie-Chinese Valentine’s Day http://www.1on1mandarin.com/blog/qi-xi-jie/ http://www.1on1mandarin.com/blog/qi-xi-jie/#comments Tue, 25 Aug 2009 09:29:14 +0000 1on1 Mandarin http://www.1on1mandarin.com/blog/?p=299 qi-xi-jie Qixi Festival-七夕节( qī xī jié) literally “The Night of Sevens“), also known as Magpie Festival, falls on the seventh   day of the seventh lunar month on the Chinese calendar.  In 2009, it’s on August 26th.

A love story for this day is about the 7th daughter of Emperor of Heaven and an orphaned cowherd. The Emperor separated them. The 7th daughter was forced to move to the star Vega and the cowherd moved to the star Altair. They are allowed to meet only once a year on the day of 7th day of 7th lunar month.

Watch this video below,  it provides one common version of this Chinese traditional love story.

References and other resourses:

1. To read Qi Xi Jie story in Chinese-from Baidu

2. The story of Chinese Valentine’s day

3. Qixi Festival-from Wikipedia

If you are in China or have some friends, most likely, you would hear people talking about this festival.

Watch this video and read some referenced artiles,  you would know more about this festival than average Chinese do.

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]]> http://www.1on1mandarin.com/blog/qi-xi-jie/feed/ 0 Top 3 Chinese video websites http://www.1on1mandarin.com/blog/chinese-video/ http://www.1on1mandarin.com/blog/chinese-video/#comments Mon, 15 Jun 2009 07:38:20 +0000 1on1 Mandarin http://www.1on1mandarin.com/blog/?p=238 Today, we’d like to introduce you the top 3 Chinese video websites.  They are free and helpful resources to learn Chinese and practice your Chinese listening skills.

Youku video 56 video Ku6 video

These are the three video sites in China I visit most frequently.  I personally like Youku.com the most because of its speed and the least amount of embedded ads. If you visit these websites often,  you are probably up to date with the latest news in China as well.  These websites would not only be helpful for practicing your Chinese listening skills, but also for providing you with another means through which you can better understand China.

What’s coming next?

*We will post some popular videos regularly to our blog page, as well as try to provide video scripts where helpful.

*If you don’t want to miss any upcoming posts,  please subscribe to rss feed or get well formatted email updates.

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