Finding The Story

say hello in chinese

2012-01-23T18:02:00.001-08:00

Learn How to say hello in Chinese from Learn Chinese in 5 minutes

Love in Chinese

2012-01-22T15:16:00.001-08:00

Learn how to say love in chinese from Learn Chinese in 5 minutes

Happy Birthday in Mandarin Chinese

2012-01-20T20:21:00.001-08:00

Learn Happy Birthday in Mandarin from Learn Chinese in 5 minutes

Happy Birthday Chinese

2012-01-19T17:23:00.001-08:00

Learn Happy Birthday Chinese from Learn Chinese in 5 minutes

I Love You in Chinese

2012-01-18T21:41:00.001-08:00

Learn I Love You in Chinese from Learn Chinese in 5 minutes

Paper crafts

2011-11-17T20:42:00.001-08:00

Nie Fangjun, a 79-year-old craftsman, paints a paper dragon at his studio in Fenghuang county, Central China's Hunan province, Oct 30, 2011. Born in a paper craft family, Nie began making his own designs at the age of 10. The paper crafts are made with bamboo frames and colored paper pasted outside. Originally used for sacrificial rites in ancient China, the crafts have become part of holiday celebrations. Nie makes various kinds of paper works, including animals, plants and people. "My handmade things are more natural than those made by machine," he said. Nie also said his skills will be handed down and he has six apprentices. His paper crafts have been listed as a state-level intangible cultural heritage.

Pumpkins carved for Halloween

2011-11-16T20:47:00.001-08:00

Roasted fingerling potatoes with dried figs

2011-11-15T21:52:00.001-08:00

Adapted from Daniel Humm, Eleven Madison Park

Time: 40 minutes plus at least 4 hours' soaking

1/2 pound dried black mission figs or other dried figs

1 1/2 cups brewed black tea, more if necessary

2 pounds fingerling potatoes

1 head garlic

5 sprigs of thyme

1/3 cup olive oil

Salt and black pepper to taste.

1. Place figs in a bowl, cover with hot black tea and let cool. Cover and refrigerate for 4 to 6 hours or overnight, depending on initial softness of figs.

2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Wash potatoes well and trim any bad parts. Separate garlic head into individual cloves but do not remove outer skin.

3. Drain figs. In a bowl, combine garlic, thyme, figs, potatoes and olive oil; toss. Place on roasting pan and bake until potatoes are tender enough to pierce with a fork, about 30 minutes. Remove and season immediately with salt and pepper. Serve. Diners may remove skin from garlic at the table and eat along with the potatoes, if they wish.

General Chinese Family Terms

2011-11-14T18:12:00.001-08:00

General Family Terms

qīnqi 亲戚 = relative
zǔzōng祖宗 / zǔxiān祖先 = ancestor

qīn gēge 亲哥哥 = real older brother (same parents)
qīn jiějie 亲姐姐 = real older sister(same parents)

xiōngdì 兄弟 = brothers
jiěmèi 姐妹 = sisters
xiōngdì jiěmèi 兄弟姐妹 = siblings

fùmǔ父母 = parents
zhàngfu hé qīzi 丈夫和妻子 = husband and wife
àiren爱人/ pèi'ǒu 配偶= spouse / lover
nǚpéngyou女朋友 = girlfriend
nánpéngyou男朋友 = boyfriend

yīng'ér婴儿 = infant / baby
xiǎoháir小孩儿 / háizi孩子 = child

Oh, by the way, I've left out the arsenal of in-law terms. If you've got a reason to learn those, well, you're on your own.

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China to monitor private lending

2011-11-11T18:51:00.001-08:00

The Chinese government is considering establishing a monitoring system for private lending activities after a severe debt crisis of small firms in east China brought the informal lending market into spotlight.

"Relative departments are studying, trying out and improving a tracking and monitoring system on private lending to provide more comprehensive information for economic decision making and macro-economic control," an official with the People's Bank of China, or the central bank, told Xinhua on Thursday.

Private lending should be better regulated and "brought into the sunlight" to boost a multi-level credit market, said the official, who declined to be identified.

The interest rate of private lending should not exceed four times that of bank loans of the same kind, said the official, citing an existing rule set by the Supreme People's Court.

The remarks came amid a credit crunch in the eastern city of Wenzhou, an economic hub known for its successful entrepreneurs.

Many small businesses in Wenzhou resorted to the high-interest informal lending market as they couldn't get bank loans after the government tightened lending to tame inflation. Many later found they could not repay the loans due to bad economic conditions and investment losses.

So far this year, one-fifth of the city's 360,000 small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have stopped operating due to cash shortages, and nearly 100 business owners disappeared or declared bankruptcy to invalidate debts owed to individual creditors from the private lending market, according to the city's council for SMEs.

"Private lending is a beneficial and necessary complement to the formal financing channels," the central bank official said, while urging crackdown on such crimes as illegal fundraising, usury and money laundering.

China's central bank has raised benchmark interest rates three times this year and hiked the reserve requirement ratio for lenders six times, making it hard for small businesses to borrow from banks.

The State Council, or China's cabinet, has cut taxes and ordered state-owned banks to ease the credit squeeze to salvage cash-strapped SMEs in Wenzhou after Premier Wen Jiabao's tour of the city on October 5.

Wen emphasized the importance of SMEs in securing local jobs and urged for bank credit support and preferential tax policies.

A golden harvest

2011-11-10T19:32:00.001-08:00

China's top tea boom

2011-11-09T19:27:00.001-08:00

Fifteen years ago, the Lam family business picked up a consignment of aged tea from a defunct Hong Kong restaurant. Its value has since risen by a factor of 10,000, as the Lams have found themselves part of a boom that is both investment fad and cultural obsession.

"It's like magic," managing director Sam Lam says, as he prepared tea according to the Chinese ritual, pouring boiling water through rough leaves and then into tiny cups to drink and spoke of the profits to be made.

The brew is of pu'er, a dark tea fermented after drying and whose taste mellows with age. Its history is thought to date back between 1,000 and 2,000 years, with legends of growers in mountainous Yunnan province ferociously guarding their cultivation secrets.

Over the past 20 years, prices for aged pu'er have rocketed, while China has encouraged renewed development of a luxury tea culture which parallels that of wine - partly as a source of national pride in a homegrown high-end product.

With more than 70,000 tea businesses on the Chinese mainland, skilled buyers must taste tea in order to assess its quality, which only increases pu'er's mystique and sociability.

"You can tell from the aftertaste, the smoothness," Lam says, pouring out cups with practiced hands.

The tea is sold in pressed round "cakes", wrapped in paper printed with bold designs that reflect the vintage of each one.

Lam's father set up the business, Lam Kie Yuen, after moving to Hong Kong from the war-torn mainland in 1949.

But the pair says it is only since the mid-1990s that the market for luxury pu'er - also, in its less refined forms, a staple of cheap restaurants - has exploded, with middle-class investors joining the wealthy to buy it up.

The Lams are now selling tea from the 1930 to 1950 era for up to HK$200,000 (more than $25,000) per 345-gram cake, having bought much of it in cheap truckloads from dim sum restaurants that closed down.

"Growth slowed during the economic downturn, but it's still ongoing," Sam Lam says.

"As the price is rising, people are buying it less to drink and more to collect and invest."

But luxury pu'er is not just bought to set aside. It is identified with proud, ancient aspects of Chinese culture, in contrast with the cheap "made-in-China" goods that have spurred the country's economic rise.

In Hong Kong's hectic Mong Kok district, fashionably dressed young men gather at a quiet teahouse for lessons from qualified tea master Eliza Liu.

"It's like a drug - I'm addicted now," 21-year-old student Ngan Kan Shing says.

"By discovering tea, I feel that I've learned about China."

He has been coming to classes for six years, but says, "I still only know the basics."

The group examines the color of each brew before sniffing and then slurping it in respectful silence, as Liu talks them through the value of the aged tea.

Grown before artificial pesticides and dried naturally rather than at a high temperature, it has a paler color and a smoother taste.

"Good tea is produced at higher altitude and also depends on climate," Liu says.

"In Yunnan, they say a tea tree can experience all four seasons in one day."

The tea is served from small fine china tea sets, used with a tray that drains off excess water. The first cup of each brew is not drunk, as it is used to clean dust or residue from the leaves. After that, a good tea should taste different with every cup, say experts.

Liu and tea professor Yip Man, who taught her the art, are skeptical of the eye-popping prices paid for some teas, preferring to emphasis tea's longtime role in Chinese medicine and thought.

"Tea has a philosophy behind it, and it's about health," Yip says.

"Tea has been very commercialized, but a cheaper tea may also be as good (as an expensive one). The philosophy is about harmony, bringing people together, peace within the self."

Cultural Revival

2011-11-08T18:53:00.001-08:00

BEIJING -- China's rapid economic development is likely to lead to a revival of its culture, said World Bank chief economist Justin Yifu Lin, echoing a recent resolution by the Chinese authorities to accelerate the country's cultural reform and development.

Lin, also World Bank's senior vice-president, made the remarks at the three-day Beijing Forum that opened Friday with a theme of "harmony of civilizations and prosperity for all".

Lin said the advancement and dominance of a civilization is determined by its economic base.

"China's cultural renaissance in the 21st century is hinged on its rapid economic development, too," Lin said.

From 1979 to 2010, China maintained an annual GDP growth rate of 9.9 percent and increased its economic size over 20-fold, becoming the world's second largest economy, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

"In terms of world economic history, it's truly remarkable that China has been able to sustain such rapid growth for such a long period of time," Lin said.

Moreover, China has become the engine of world economic recovery after the 2008 financial crisis that dragged down the global economy.

Lin said China's economic momentum is likely to continue, judging from the economic growth trajectory of Japan, Republic of Korea and China's Taiwan region, which share much similarity in economic growth mode.

However, he noted that whether China can revive its culture depends on several factors, among which the most crucial is whether Confucianism can support an ever-changing economic base with constant innovation of artifacts and improvements in production force.

Lin said China's culture, represented by the Confucianism, has the ability to adapt and innovate itself to fit a changing economic base and keep pace with changing times and context while maintaining its core ethic, namely benevolence.

His comments came shortly after China adopted guidelines to improve the nation's cultural soft power and advocate Chinese culture.

As a major form of support for national unity and a source of creativity, China's cultural industry will play a more important role in the country's economic and social development, read a statement issued by the sixth plenary session of the 17th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on Oct 18.

Minister of Culture Cai Wu said culture is soft power and the government must pay more attention to culture and creativity to improve the quality of country's economic growth.

Lin said other emerging economies like India, Russia, Brazil and South Africa will also commence their culture renaissance on the basis of their respective cultural heritages and core ethnic values.

"The 21st century is likely to see not only a renaissance of the Chinese civilization, but also the co-development, joint prosperity, and shining together of multiple civilizations in the world," Lin said.

The Beijing Forum, which has entered its eighth year since its initiation in 2004, aims to promote the study of humanities and social sciences around the world.

The annual event was jointly sponsored by Peking University, the Beijing Education Commission and the Korea Foundation for Advanced Studies.

Landscape Art

2011-11-07T18:19:00.001-08:00

Born of Hungarian and German parents, she has lived in Germany, Hungary, Dubai and China, the latter for a total of nearly five years - first in Shanghai and more recently in Beijing.

"Some of my Chinese friends had difficulty pronouncing 'Agnes', and as more and more of them started to call me Angi the name somehow stuck, to the point where I now introduce myself as that," she explains.

"I can remember when I was about 4 years old, sitting at home by the open window, waiting for my mother to return from the shops. I used to amuse myself by drawing people dancing and ice skating," Nadkarni says. "I must have drawn hundreds of such pictures - always people, never buildings, which don't have the flexible curves that people have."

Following her studies in both Budapest and the Nrnberg College of Graphic Design, where she specialized in illustration work, her early paid work involved book illustrations, artwork for websites and creating advertising materials for companies such as Volkswagen. But her life changed in dramatic fashion when her husband, who works for German company Siemens, was posted to work in Shanghai in 1999.

"I spent a wonderful three years there," Nadkarni recalls, "and loved the buzz of the city; the fashion - Shanghai women pay such attention to detail with their outfits and can look stunning and very feminine.

"There is also the juxtaposition of old and new, even the mix of ages - in the discos, for instance, you would see teenagers and old people sharing the same dance floor. Fantastic!

"We all had such an amazing adventure that I felt I had to write about it, not least for my children Swen and Anita, so they would not forget their experiences there."

Recipe Oyster Omelet

2011-11-06T20:19:00.001-08:00

Recipe Oyster Omelet

Ingredients (serves two greedy gourmets):

500 g cleaned pearl oysters (see note)

100 g sweet potato starch plus 1 cup water

1 tbsp fish sauce

1 tbsp potato starch (extra)

1 tsp white pepper

2 eggs

Chopped coriander leaves for garnish

Method:

1. Mix the oysters with the potato starch and pepper.

2. Bring a small pot of water to a high boil and drop the oysters in. Count to 10 and then remove the oyster immediately. Drain and set aside.

3. Heat up a flat-bottomed frying pan over medium fire. When the pan is hot enough, add some oil to coat the bottom generously.

4. Mix together the potato starch and water and mix well. Add a small ladle of starch solution to the pan, swirling it around to spread it thinly. Leave to crisp until the starch turns totally transparent.

5. Break the eggs into the pan and spread them evenly over the starch base.

6. Add the oysters and sprinkle with fish sauce and more pepper to taste.

7. Flip the omelet to cook the oysters, and after a minute, flip it back and garnish with chopped coriander leaves. Serve immediately.

Food notes:

The oysters used here are the little shucked pearl oysters that are sold in plastic tubes at local fishmongers. They have to be washed several times to get rid of small bits of broken shell, and the slime that seems to stick to their skirts. Don t be discouraged by the process.

Wash the oysters thoroughly the first time, then throw out any broken or dubious ones. Clean your picked oysters and add 1 tablespoon of corn starch or all-purpose flour to the shellfish. Gently rub them with your fingers. This encourages the dark slime to stick to the flour. Rinse off the flour and slime and you have nice clean fat oyster meat. Give it a final rinse for good measure. They re now ready for use.

Song of Two Tigers

2011-11-05T21:13:00.001-07:00

Song of Two Tigers

Two tigers, two tigers
Run so fast, run so fast
One has no ears
One has no tail
So strange! So strange!

两只老虎，两只老虎
跑得快，跑得快，
一只没有耳朵
一只没有尾巴
真奇怪，真奇怪

liǎng zhī lǎo hǔ , liǎng zhī lǎo hǔ
pǎo de kuài , pǎo de kuài
yī zhī méi yǒu ěr duō
yī zhī měi yǒu wéi bā ,
zhēn qí guài , zhēn qí guài

China announces launch of Shenzhou-8 successful

2011-11-05T20:34:00.001-07:00

Commander-in-chief of China's manned space program Chang Wanquanannounced early Tuesday that the launch of Shenzhou-8 unmanned spacecraft is successful.

The spacecraft was successfully sent into the designated orbit after the blastoff at 5:58 a.m. at theJiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern desert area, carried by an upgraded Long March-2F rocket.

It is heading to rendezvous with the Tiangong-1, or "Heavenly Palace-1" that was put into space on Sept. 29 for the country's first space docking.

The docking, if successful, will pave the way for China to operate a permanent space station around 2020, and make the nation the world's third to do so.

The launch was attended by Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang. It was also observed by senior experts from the European Space Agency and the German Aerospace Center at the launch site.

The docking will happen within two days after the launch of the Shenzhou-8 at a height of 343 km above Earth's surface. The spacecraft will return to Earth after two docking operations.

The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II

2011-11-03T18:11:00.001-07:00

As a person who has spent a great amount of time researching this period in China's history, I would suggest this film over Iris Chang's The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II.

The Painted Veil � This isn't historical, but it is a pretty great glimpse of what life in rural China would have looked like around 1900. The movie is about a doctor who accepts a position in the countryside treating an epidemic. The scenery is amazing, and the story is definitely memorable. Edward Norton and Naomi Watts both give good performances. Well worth a watch.

I must admit that I'm a bit partial to this movie because it was filmed just a few miles fromYizhou, where I lived for a year.

English names in Chinese

2011-11-02T20:24:00.000-07:00

A Chinese name is mainly translated based on the pronunciation of the name in other languages. However, since some Asian languages such as Japanese and Korean share some similarities to Chinese language, for example, characters are also used in these languages although the pronunciation can be totally different. In such cases, the names are usually translated based on the written form rather than the pronunciation.

Abel 阿贝尔 (ā bèi ěr )
Adam 亚当 (yà dāng )
Ajna 艾娜 (ài nà )
Akiva 阿姬娃 (ā jī wá )
Alanna 阿拉娜 (ā lā nà )
Albert 阿尔伯特 (ā ěr bó tè )
Alessandra 阿蕾桑德拉 (ā lěi sāng dé lā)
Alex 阿列克斯 (ā liè kè sī)
Alexander 亚历山大 (yà lì shān dà )
Alexandra 亚历山德拉 (yà lì shān dé lā )
Amanda 阿曼达 (ā màn dá )
Amandine 阿芒丁 (ā máng dīng )
Amalia 阿玛丽亚 (ā mǎ lì yà )
Amelie 阿梅丽 (ā méi lì )
Ana 阿娜 (ā nà )
Andrew 安德鲁 (ān dé lǔ)
An'lee 安丽 (ān lì)
Anna 安娜 (ān nà )
Annabelle 安娜贝拉 (ān nà bèi lā )
Antonia 安托妮娅 (ān tuō ní yà )
Ashanti 阿善蒂 (ā shàn dì)
Attila 阿蒂拉 (ā tí lā )
Bailey 贝莉 (bèi lì )
Barbara 笆笆拉 (bā bā lā )
Benjamin 本杰明 (bén jié míng )
Bethany 贝塔尼 (bèi tǎ ní )
Bianca 碧昂卡 (bì áng kǎ )
Brian 布莱恩 (Bù lái ēn)
Brianna 布里安娜 (bù lǐ ān nà )
Bryan 布莱恩 (bù lái ēn )
Carmen 卡门 (kǎ mén )
Carina 卡莉娜 (kǎ lì nà )
Carlos 卡洛斯 (kǎ luò sī )
Caroline 卡罗琳 (kǎ luó lín )
Carolyn 卡洛林(kǎ luò lín )
Catriona 卡崔娜 (kǎ suī nà )
Celia 希莉娅 (xī lì yà )
Charlie 查利 (chá lì )
Charlotte 夏绿蒂(xià lǜ dì )
Chelsey 切尔西(qiè ěr xī )
Chiara 基娅拉 (jī yà lā )
Chris 克里斯 (kè lǐ sī )
Christian 克里斯蒂安 (kè lǐ sī dì ān )
Christoph 克来斯多夫 (kè lái sī duō fū )
Christos 克来斯多 (kè lǐ sī dō )
Ciara 塞拉 (sài lā )
Clara 克莱拉 (kè lái lā )
Conner 康纳 (kāng nà )
Conor 康纳 (kāng nà )
Crista 克里斯塔 (kè lǐ sī tǎ )
Daisy 戴西(dài sī )
Daniel 丹尼 (dān ní )
Declan 迪克兰 (dí kè lán )
Delaney 德蕾妮 (dé léi ní )
Demi 德米 (dé mǐ )
Devin 德文 (dé wén )
Didi 迪迪 (dí dí )

Halloween in China

2011-11-01T20:13:00.001-07:00

Song of Two Tigers

2011-10-31T19:30:00.001-07:00

Song of Two Tigers

Two tigers, two tigers
Run so fast, run so fast
One has no ears
One has no tail
So strange! So strange!

两只老虎，两只老虎
跑得快，跑得快，
一只没有耳朵
一只没有尾巴
真奇怪，真奇怪

liǎng zhī lǎo hǔ , liǎng zhī lǎo hǔ
pǎo de kuài , pǎo de kuài
yī zhī méi yǒu ěr duō
yī zhī měi yǒu wéi bā ,
zhēn qí guài , zhēn qí guài

ShangHai Impression

2011-10-29T20:25:00.001-07:00

A New Look

2011-10-28T19:49:00.001-07:00

The Market

2011-10-27T19:37:00.001-07:00

Practical Hotel Chinese

2011-10-26T20:28:00.000-07:00

* Please be careful.

qǐng dāng xīn 。

请当心。

* Don't worry.

bié dān xīn 。

别担心。

* Please don't leave anything behind.

qǐng bié yí wàng nín de dōng xi 。

请别遗忘您的东西。

* Wish you a pleasant journey！ Good luck！

zhù nín lǚ tú yú kuài ！ zhù nín hǎo yùn ！

祝您旅途愉快！祝您好运！

* Have a nice trip！

yí lù píng ān ！

一路平安！

* Goodbye and thank you for coming.

zài jiàn ， xiè xiè nín de guāng lín 。

再见，谢谢您的光临。

Dating Chinese

2011-10-25T21:30:00.001-07:00

* You really look sharp in that new outfit.

nǐ chuān nà tào xīn yī fu kàn qǐ lái hěn shuài 。

你穿那套新衣服看起来很帅。

* You are smoking hot!

nǐ shēn cái zhēn hǎo ！

你身材真好！

* You look like a million dollars.

nǐkàn shàng qù shuài dāi le 。

你看上去帅呆了。

* You look natural and unaffected.

nǐ kàn qǐ lái hěn zì rán 、 hěn zhēn chéng 。

你看起来很自然、很真诚。

* You are a sharp dresser.

nǐ zǒng shì chuān dé hěn cháo 。

你总是穿得很潮。

Organic food

2011-10-24T19:59:00.001-07:00

Organic farming produces food that is priced two or three times higher than food without organic certification, but it is popular with consumers who see it as healthier.

This new - but essentially very traditional - agricultural technique excludes or strictly limits the use of manufactured fertilizers, pesticides, plant growth regulators and genetically modified organisms.

It relies instead on techniques such as crop rotation, biological pest control and "green manure" - a crop of, say, legumes and grass that is dug in to return nutrients to the soil or is cut and left on the surface as mulch. Organic foods are not processed using irradiation, industrial solvents or chemical additives.

Jiang Gaoming, a researcher at the Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and his team have been learning organic farming on experimental plots in Pinghu county, Shandong province, since 2007. They used wheat straw as feed for stock and used the animal waste to fertilize vegetables. Trapping lamps were put out for insects, and farmers killed weeds by hand.

The researchers are trying to ascertain the costs and earnings from farming without chemicals, but Jiang said they don't yet have the details they need to issue a report.

The Controller

2011-10-23T20:06:00.001-07:00

The Controller - Battlefield 3 asked if we wanted to be a part of the series. We said we wanted to grief them. They thought it was funny too! Check out Ep.

Mixed Chinese Art

2011-10-22T20:16:00.001-07:00

Young singers, old songs. Traditional music given a modern makeover. These are the lifelines that are keeping old folk songs evergreen in China. Chen Nan looks at the talents at work and sees how young blood infuses old songs with new life.

For two hours, she stood on the stage at the National Center of Performing Arts in Beijing (NCPA) last night, belting out a repertoire of songs as old as the hills. But the singer is a radiant 29-year-old, and at the peak of her career. Soprano Lei Jia has just finished a solo recital, which she titled Tunes of Revival.

These folk songs, known as min ge, are all part of common culture, popular at the grassroots, coming from all over the country, incorporating the cultures of regional and ethnic groups. They have been sung for generations, passed on simply through word of mouth.

But in these days of multiple musical choices, they are under threat, in danger of being discarded by new generations addicted to Western beats and modern pop. Young people complain the songs are slow and boring.

This is where singers like Lei Jia step in and give the old songs new interpretation, and a fresh face of glamour. And it seems to be working.

"Today, one of my fans messaged me, and she said it's great to see young singers still sing Chinese folk songs, and encouraged me to keep going," Lei says. It was one of several encouraging messages she received after news came that she would sing at the NCPA.

For Lei, folk music is the most beautiful sound in the world.

Mother's Love

2011-10-21T20:57:00.001-07:00

a true story of Mother' s Sacrifice during the Japan Earthquake. After the Earthquake had subsided, when the rescuers reached the ruins of a young woman's house, they saw her dead body through the cracks. But her pose was somehow strange that she knelt on her knees like a person was worshiping; her body was leaning forward, and her two hands were supporting by an object. The collapsed house had crashed her back and her head. With so many difficulties, the leader of the rescuer team put his hand through a narrow gap on the wall to reach the woman's body. He was hoping that this woman could be still alive. However, the cold and stiff body told him that she had passed away for sure. He and the rest of the team left this house and were going to search the next collapsed building. For some reasons, the team leader was driven by a compelling force to go back to the ruin house of the dead woman. Again, he knelt down and used his had through the narrow cracks to search the little space under the dead body. Suddenly, he screamed with excitement," A child! There is a child! " The whole team worked together; carefully they removed the piles of ruined objects around the dead woman. There was a 3 months old little boy wrapped in a flowery blanket under his mother' s dead body. Obviously, the woman had made an ultimate sacrifice for saving her son. When her house was falling, she used her body to make a cover to protect her son. The little boy was still sleeping peacefully when the team leader picked him up. The medical doctor came quickly to exam the little boy. After he opened the blanket, he saw a cell phone inside the blanket. There was a text message on the screen. It said ," If you can survive, you must remember that I love you." This cell phone was passing around from one hand to another. Every body that read the message wept. " If you can survive, you must remember that I love you." Such is the mother' s love for her child!!

Fast food & Pregnant women

2011-10-20T21:26:00.001-07:00

Pregnant women who consume trans fats from snack foods, fast food and other less-than-ideal fare may give birth to bigger babies, according to a US study.

The study, reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, centered on nearly 1,400 pregnant women. It found that the higher the woman's intake of trans fats - which raise "bad" LDL cholesterol, but also lower heart-healthy HDL cholesterol - during the second trimester of pregnancy, the larger her newborn was.

The study did not prove that trans fats alone boost fetal growth, and if they did, it is unclear how harmful that could be. But there are risks to having a larger-than-normal newborn, says lead researcher Juliana Cohen, of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston.

Big babies may have to be delivered by Cesarean-section and studies have found that they may have increased risks of diabetes and heart disease later in life, Cohen adds.

"It's prudent to limit trans fats in your diet anyway. Pregnant women may want to think about how (the fats) could affect fetal growth as well," she says

Chinease Art

2011-10-19T18:00:00.001-07:00

Twenty-five chinese artists give readers a glimpse of their lives and of how they work

In just over 30 years China's contemporary art market has developed from nothing to become a huge financial success.

No one would have imagined that a decade ago the Chinese contemporary art market would have an annual trading volume of 170 billion yuan (19.3 billion euros).

In order to provide a comprehensive look at Chinese contemporary art, the Foreign Languages Press has published an illustrated book titled At Work: Twenty-five Contemporary Chinese Artists.

The book profiles 25 painters, sculptors, photographers and conceptual artists, taking the reader into their studios and presenting intimate glimpses of their lives and works.

Traditional Chinese painting, oil painting, engraving and sculpture account for the majority of art creations since 1949, but they do not fit into the classification of "contemporary art" here.

Generally, it is acknowledged that China's contemporary art movement emerged from the Star Art Exhibition of 1979, three years after the end of the "cultural revolution" (1966-1976) and the beginning of reform and opening-up.

The exhibition displayed 150 artworks, mostly imitating forms of expression from Western Modernism.

After being relatively cut-off from the rest of the world, Chinese artists were thirsty for the new and exotic. The Star Art Exhibition was a breakthrough for new-generation artists.

The New Wave of 1985-1989 saw Chinese contemporary art grow up. Artists fully embraced new Western art forms such as Expressionism, Cubism, Abstract and Dadaism.

Chinese contemporary art ebbed in the 1990s for various reasons, but with the 21st century and its economic transformation and dramatic social changes, what used to be called "unorthodox" and "decadent" became fashionable.

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2011-10-18T19:27:00.001-07:00

Good motives for learning Chinese

2011-10-17T19:32:00.001-07:00

There are several good motives for learning Chinese.
Mandarin is the most widespread language on Earth and as China increases in economic influence, more people will discover the benefits of learning it. Nevertheless, a high number of Westerners dread that learning Chinese is a challenge. It's valid that English and other languages spoken in the Western world are quite a bit different than Chinese however if you advance toward it in the correct manner it can be a manageable assignment. Subsequent are some methods to make it more effortless to learn Chinese.Learning about the Chinese culture is an important factor in learning the language.

No matter whether you are learning Chinese for business or fun knowing the culture can help you learn the language faster. The Chinese culture is complex and rich with history. You will see that pursuing a few of these topics will introduce you to Chinese words related to this area. Exposing yourself to these topics will naturally introduce you to Chinese words related to this area. You may begin to lose interest in learning Chinese if you have yet to discover an interest worth pursuing. Find a native Chinese tutor to help especially if you are unable to travel to China. The one on one attention you get working with a personal tutor is much better than any other method of learning the language. Studying the language with a tutor will go faster since they will correct your many mistakes. Your tutor can make suggestions as to materials and assignments to work on between sessions. Chinese tutors can be found on college campuses or other Chinese predominate locations, ask around for referrals.

If you want to learn Chinese as quickly as possible, you should find a class in your area. Even if you're an adult and graduated from school, it's expected that there is an adult education course that teaches Chinese at a community college near you or another location that offers classes. Learning a new language is becoming all the rage, and Chinese is one of the quickest growing languages around the planet. Enrolling in a class will allow you something to concentrate on and a venue to perform what you're learning. You can study at home with books and online programs, but it's also very helpful to be around other people who are speaking the language. If you are unsuccessful in finding a class in your area, the optimal thing is to look for an online course with some interactive traits, like talking on Skype. So try to seek out a class that can help you learn Chinese faster and more pleasingly. In summary, you have to approach learning Chinese like you would any challenging subject. Rather than stressing out over fluency (which will take years as Chinese is a complicated language), challenge yourself to learn a little bit every day over time. Embrace every single opportunity that you have to practice whether it is with a class, by reading a book or by working with a native speaker. Learning Chinese can be at least a little bit easier if you use the tips talked about in this article.

Learn China

2011-10-16T16:56:00.001-07:00

With businesses now rushing to Mainland China and many Chinese immigrants establishing their business and life in foreign countries, the influence of Chinese culture is obvious in all the major cities of the world.

Now to learn Standard Mandarin you will require at least two things. The first is determination. The second is a Chinese visa. Learning to speak Chinese is a long-term project even for very talented people, and in my seasoned opinion, it is not even possible until you actually live in The Middle Kingdom. This statement does of course depend on how serious you are about studying Mandarin, but if we are talking fluency, we are talking boots on the ground. The reason that being in China is not only a huge help, but a prerequisite, is the fact that Standard Mandarin is very different from the English language. I have never met anyone that has learned fluent-ish mandarin without being able to practice it every day, for at least a year.

For this reason, the three steps to learning Mandarin, is really the three steps to being able to live in China, and communicate on a basic level so you can practice every day. To focus on learning Mandarin for those situations where you can use it, while living in China, is the fastest track to proficiency. However, before you are able to focus on complicated, situation specific, jargon and terminology you need to have command of the glue that controls the rest of the language.

The most basic, and most useful, skill is therefore pronunciation. This might seem like an obvious statement but for Chinese, intelligible pronunciation is not as straightforward as it is in, for example, English. English has syllables, end of story ?if you learn to pronounce all syllables and you can pronounce every English word. Mandarin is a completely different story, in Chinese, tones matter in a way that is even hard to describe to a person that is not familiar with other tonal language. If you change the modulation of the pitch as you pronounce the word for buy, for example, you are actually saying sell. If you change the pitch when saying beautiful, you can end up saying the word for every, or the first character of America.

The second skill you need to become familiar with, to live and practice Chinese in China, is how Chinese people write and read. People tend to favor learning to simply speak but this is not enough to reach real fluency. It is not really evident at first when you start learning Chinese, but later, when you have identical 20 syllables in front of you, it is very difficult to remember them all without having a distinguishing aspect to focus on. Furthermore, to learn Mandarin in order to use it like a Chinese person means that you also need to learn how to write.

The third step is syntax. You need the grammar and idioms to succeed in this effort. Now, the best way to actually learn the grammar is not to focus on it. To instead go back to what we were talking about earlier: learning the stuff you need for the way you live your life. As soon as you have access to the basic grammar, the basic pronunciation and the basic writing system, learning more complicated syntax and words becomes a walk in the park, or a day at the office, or weekend diving. When you get over the hurdle of basic communication you have reached critical mass and from that point, further language acquisition is much much more easy, fun and targeted.

Eight Tips for learn Chinese

2011-10-15T18:10:00.001-07:00

It is universal meaning for learners to improve their Chinese through ten tips of learning methods.

The first one is continues learning, even though it is only ten minutes to learn, you need to catch the time to learn. And the best time for you to learn is in morning. In morning, you can easily to remember things.

Second, if you think the learning method is not suit for you, you can change to the other one. A not suit method will let you get not improve, and you will be tired of learning.

Third, when you are remembering an essay, you need to know what it means and then try to keep in mind each character. Without understanding, you will not learn anything even though you can remember the whole essay.

Forth, keep the most common sentence as often as you can. The sentences which are common use are very useful. Wherever you are, you can use them to communicate with others. As long as you keep in mind every day, it will be easy for you to understand what people want to said.

Fifth, when you are walking on the street, try to use Chinese to translate all the things you see. The ads words and the words people saying in the street are the best materials for you.

Sixth, you need to remember the essays which are writing of Chinese people. If the essays are written by yourself, you can remember it after the teacher correct. Your thinking style is different with Chinese people, when you are writing, you will write in your own mind. So the correct things will be better for you to remember. You will find you learn it fast when you remember the best essays written by famous people.

Seventh, when you are writing down some phrases, you can write it down with your own words. And then try to use when you talk to a people who can speak Chinese.

Eighth, you need to contact with more things about Chinese, like reading Chinese news, listen to the video in Chinese, watch Chinese movie and reading some Chinese books.

Modern Beijing art

2011-10-12T12:08:00.001-07:00

"I wanted to combine two items: the 'dust of nature' from Iceland and ordinary waste from Beijing, to create an image on the brick wall," Kristjansdottir said.

Artists from both home and abroad have gathered in Dashilan to create new works, introducing modern vigor to the alley's ancient walls. Located just south of Tian'anmen Square, Dashilan is an old street with a history of more than 600 years.

"Sometimes, I can hardly understand what they are drawing about. My son refers to it as 'surrealism' or 'post-modernism.' Whatever it is, it is much more better to look at than the red brick walls with peeling paint," said a woman surnamed Jiang who has lived in the hutong for over 30 years.

She said that she has acquired the habit of sitting under her roof to watch the artists at work. "It is so magical to see how they match foreign and Chinese styles," she said.

Dashilan has experienced a revival of sorts, attracting artists and designers with new workshops, themed coffee bars and small art stores.

A Finnish artist named Jane Withers has taken a more practical approach to her art, creating a "water footprint" menu for local restaurants. '

The menu displays how much water is consumed in the creation of each dish, from planting crops to transporting and cooking the ingredients. For example, a bowl of tomato and egg soup consumes 589 liters of water, while a cabbage-and-mustard dish consumes 607 liters. The menu has received favorable reactions from restaurant patrons.

"I never thought the Chinese would be so keen on saving water. I hope that I can get similar feedback when the menu is promoted in Helsinki next year," Withers said.

A "water calligraphy bike" created by Canadian artist Nicholas Hanna has caught the eyes of many visitors to Dashilan. The device consists of a water brush attached to a small tricycle. The tricycle receives pre-coded instructions from an iPad, propelling itself along sidewalks and "painting" Chinese characters on the ground.

"I came up with the idea when I was watching people practice calligraphy with wet mops inBeihai Park. Although I am not good at writing Chinese myself, the computer does a decent job," said Hanna.

Foreign and local designers have so far refrained from changing the essential nature of Dashilan's culture and history in their works, according to Li Shu, planning director of the Beijing Dashilan Investment Company.