Hi all, stumbled on this bilingual podast from Shanghaidaily.com that features 'guides to Shanghai's major attractions on science and technology'. Who knew that Shanghai has an eyeglasses museum?

These are about 20 minutes, a bit in depth, and advanced level (scientific language); more suited for a plane or road trip than your daily commute. No pinyin, but transcripts and audio both in English and Chinese.

How does communism effect the urbanization of China?

Hi, I want to work in China in a few years. My wife is Chinese, currently living here in the UK. How easy is it to get work out there, she says I could teach English as a foreign language...is it as simple as that because I am not sure!

Thanks

Jono

Hi, I want to work in China in a few years. My wife is Chinese, currently living here in the UK. How easy is it to get work out there, she says I could teach English as a foreign language...is it as simple as that because I am not sure!

Thanks

Jono

Has anyone renewed their Visa in Shanghai? I am a little confused about where to go, and it would be great to find out here rather than searching for hours

I have both heard in my own experience and from Shanghaiese that they don't distinguish between "en" or "eng", and "in" or "ing" very well. You might be aware that these distinctions are quite natural for English speakers, where "keen" and "king" are definitely distinct sounding, as are "ton" and "tongue". In many of the podcasts, I have to figure out by context much of the time whether a new word I'm hearing is "ten" or "teng", "pin" or "ping", "xin" or "xing", etc. because if the speaker is a Shanghai native, I just hear "ten", "pin", or "xin" respectively regardless. So, my suggestion is that English speakers will have an easier time of listening to new words if these pronunciations are more standard. There still is great value in listening to several accents, but more useful when a good foundation is already in place.

As an aside, I've noticed that ShanDong speakers accents even exaggerate the differences I've pointed out, to the point where "ying" sounds like "young" to an English ear.

Every time I get the metro it really bugs me that I can only partially understand the automated messages (yeah, sad I know!).

I understand the xiayi zhan... next station bit.

Daole - we've arrived. Then there's something about kaimen... doors opening followed by either zuo or youbian... left or right side.

But can anyone transcribe the typical messages that you hear on the metro so I have a better understanding of what I hear every day?

Cheers.

I'm sure that all you English-teaching poddies are aware of this but, per this Wall Street Journal article, Disney-branded English schools opened in Shanghai last year, and Disney is considering expanding.  What is Podcasting's answer to this?  Mulan-pod?  No Disney already has that.  WushuPod?

Personally, it sounds kind of cheesy to me, but it also seems like the sort of thing that might take off.  Lots of singing and product placement.  I'd go crazy but, if anyone's interested, here's a job advertisement.

This may seem like a pointless post, but I wanted to take a moment to say that some of the personalities are starting to become like family to me in a way. I think that this is because I have been listening to podcasts for over an hour per day for a while now. I am beginning to feel like I know Ken and Jenny rather well, and I look forward to meeting them if I am able to visit Shanghai.

How to identify Chinese antique furniture--Huanghuli wood

Thanks for the source from
www.antiquescn.com
www.orientantique.com
www.folkartcn.com

Background of Huanghuli wood:
The Chinese term huanghuali literally means "yellow flowering pear" wood. It is a member of the rosewood family and

is botanically classified as Dalbergia odorifera. In pre-modern times the wood was known as huali or hualu. The

modifier huang(yellowish-brown) was added in the early twentieth century to describe old huali wood whose surfaces

had mellowed to a yellowish tone due to long exposure to light.

The most qualified huanghuli furniture was made during Mid Ming dynasty and late Qianlong Emperor of Qing dynasty.

Since mid Qing dynast, the materials of huanghuali became less and less to almost dispear. So the furniture made of

huanghuali was not produced any more. Till now few huanghuali furniture left. It's the most precious and expensive

member of furniture family at present. 
   
Huanghuali furniture can usually be classified as Beds; tables; chairs.
Beds: frame bed, babu bed, arhat bed
Tables: square table, strip table
Chairs: folder chair, cap chair, hanging chair, round chair.
 
Beds classified:
There are three kinds of beds: frame bed, bubu bed and arhat bed.
They can be sold at 20 to 40 hundred thousand USD or higher per piece in the international market. 

This piece is an imitation.
There is no natural old evidence nor a thin sheet of film. So we can know that it was made in late time or present

replicas.

For pictures and details, please go to:
http://www.orient-curio.com/antiques.knowledge/program6/program6.huanghuali/program6.huanghuli.htm
http://www.antiquescn.com/knowledge/huanghuali.htm

Contact us via the web form at:
http://www.antiquescn.com/contactus/contactus.htm
Homepage: www.antiquescn.com

If this program can give you a little knowledge and help, I'll be glad to haven't wasted your time. And if you are

kind enough, give me some comments, suggestions requirements or any feedback.

Thanks for your support.
-----------------------------------
1Stop Orient Antique Furniture Co.
http://www.orientantique.com
http://www.orientantiques.com
http://www.antiquescn.com

I'm going to China in a couple of weeks and I hope to buy some good Chinese learning materials. Any books you recommend? I'm somewhere between intermediate and advanced.

Dear Poddies,

We are very excited to annouce our first ever newbie meet-up next week. We want to invite you and your friends who are just starting to learn Chinese for a night of fun and rewarding experiences.

Ken, John and myself will be around to offer tips to newbies and more importantly hear what you have to say about learning Chinese.

We will also give away a one-year ChinesePod premium subscription to a lucky Poddie.

Limited spaces, please RSVP sarah.edson@praxislanguage.com

Mark the date in your planner. We look forward to seeing you next Wednesday!

Jenny

Just wanna say hi.

Any body from China Pod want to get together give me a ring/msg.

Jeff

www.jeffriviera.multiply.com

Ist jemand auf der Expo in Shanghai und möchte darüber berichten? Ich würed mich freuen, wenn die/der das auf dem deutschsprachigen Blog bei Chinesepod (http://blogs.chinesepod.com/de/) tun wollte.

Einfache eine Nachricht an den Ersteller dieser Post.

大家好 (dà jiā hǎo),

Just one more week and I'll be in Asia for the very first time. I'm still cramming as many Elementary lessons as possible. I hope I'll remember a little more than just 你好(nǐ hǎo) and 不知道 (bù zhī dao) when put to the test.

Have you been to Expo? What are your suggestions? I'll go there with a Chinese friend, we've got our tickets, and getting there shouldn't be a problem. But how do you pick from the 160+ pavillons?

Besides Expo and the well-known places that are mentioned in every travel guide, what else should I not miss while in Shanghai? Any insider tips?

Cheers from Canada...