User Comments - artkho

Posted on: Reading Faces and Shanghai Architecture

I don't recall hearing my parents talk about the face-reading aspect of the Chinese culture when I was growing up. I guess I'll be asking a lot of questions the next time I call my parents. I suppose somebody or some group did an excellent job of marketing and perpetuating the face-reading practice over 5000 years of Chinese civilization.

I googled for Chinese face-reading and came across this site, http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/31974/chinese_face_reading_what_your_cheeks.html?cat=34

Posted on: The Expat Show and a Jingle Contest

Here's the website for the expat trade show, http://www.expatshowshanghai.cn/.

Posted on: Cosmetic Surgery and Mooncakes

Terrific interview Amber! Keep up the excellent work. 

It's really interesting to learn about Chinese people getting plastic surgery. As Dr. Zhao (pinyin?) said, people consider plastic after their stomachs are filled and they are clothed. China's economy is indeed doing very well, at least in the big cities. 

As for the Mooncake Festival, David didn't mention that it was used to commemorate a rebellion against the Yuan Dynasty (the Hans don't like the Mongols). As an overseas Chinese, I learned this story when I was a child. Anyway, here's what the Asia Times said about the rebellion:

"The Mid-Autumn Festival is believed to commemorate a Chinese uprising against the Mongol rulers of the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368). Plotting to overthrow the Mongol government, Chinese conspirators exchanged secret messages about the day of the rebellion written on slips of paper and hidden inside mooncakes. The uprising, which brought down the Yuan Dynasty, took place on the 15th day of the eight month of the lunar calendar. "

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/II26Ad01.html

Posted on: At the Hair Salon

there should be new show called amberpod.com! too bad the address is taken already.

Posted on: Prescription Drugs and Overseas Chinese

It will take many DA shows to cover the topic of overseas Chinese. Western overseas Chinese are very different from overseas Chinese born in Asia. Even overseas Chinese born in the same country will be different from their peers across the generations. In the Philippines, the term Tsinoy was coined some time in the 90s. It would be rare for any overseas Chinese in the Philippines born between the 1930s and 1980s to think of themselves as Tsinoys. Anyway, here is a wikipedia entry: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Chinese_Filipino

Posted on: Chinese Birthdays and Local Hospitals

amber,

congratulations! here's to another terrific year of the DA show.

regarding the birthdays, you didn't mention that a chinese person may end up having 3 birthday celebrations. every few years, the chinese lunar calendar has to catch up to the solar calendar and it does so by adding another month. if i remember correctly, the extra month is designated as repeat of a particular month. for example, for a catch-up year, the seventh month of the lunar calendar is repeated. in other catch-up years, other months are repeated.

i remember as a child that my family twice celebrated my grandmother's chinese birthday in  one particular year because of this catch-up month.

Posted on: On Location at the Beijing 2008 Olympics

The Beijing cab driver interview is terrific! I would not mind at all if the DA show does a recurring person-on-the street interview segment. Great work Amber, 你是好样的！:)

Posted on: The 是...的 (Shì...de) Pattern

Connie, keep up the good work of putting the new guy in his rightful place. Connie, 加油！:)

Posted on: Olympic Excitement

I've watched a few Olympic opening ceremonies in my lifetime. It was terrific and fun to hear the declaration of the opening in Chinese: "我宣布北京第二十九届奥林匹克运动会开幕!"

Posted on: Rock, Scissors, Cloth

Last year, I learned about the Chinese terms for rock-paper-scissors from a friend of mine who emailed me the following joke :

"鸭子和螃蟹赛跑,一起到达终点，难分胜负，裁判说：你们来个剪刀石头布吧。

鸭子大怒：妈的，算计我?我一出是布，他总是剪刀。"

It's about a race between a crab and a duck that ended up in a tie. The arbiter of the race decided to settle it by having the duck and the crab do rock-paper-scissors. Needless to say, the duck was not thrilled with this decision.

I'll leave it to Jenny to come up with the proper translation for this joke.