User Comments - brianhz

Posted on: Travel by Tour Group

如果中国人旅行，大多数人跟旅行团。 我觉得这真好。他们都去同样地方。

现在我住在杭州靠近西湖。每周末杭州西湖有很多人可是靠近西湖我知道有些地方人很少。

不过大家如果都自由行，西湖附近我就没有安静的地方可以去了

Posted on: Have you bought your Shanghai Expo ticket?

could the dialogue question 在哪儿买的？be written as 在哪儿买了？or does 的 have to be used in this situation?

Posted on: Let's Just Be Friends

I have a question about 真 and 真的. I still am not sure when 的 is used with 真. Sometimes it seems to be there and sometimes not. Can 我是真的喜欢你 also be said as 我真喜欢你 or does this have a different meaning?

Posted on: Medicine Doses

is it ok to say 我去过一次中国  with the 一次 at the end like 我去过中国一次 ?

Posted on: Christmas Dinner

在杭州圣诞节我的中国人朋友来我的房子。

zài hángzhōu shèngdàn jié wǒ de zhōngguórén péngyou lái wǒ de fángzi 

at hangzhou for christmas my chinese friends came to my home.

我们没吃火鸡。我做南瓜汤，烤一个羊肉腿和烤土豆什么的。

wǒmen méi chī huǒjī. wǒ zuò nánguā tāng, kǎo yī gè yángròu tuǐ hé kǎo tǔdòu shénme de.

we did not eat turkey. I made pumpkin soup, roast leg of lamb and roast potatos and so on.   

他们都想个是好吃。我也有了澳大利亚的红酒和啤酒。 他们喜欢喝澳大利亚的红酒。

ta1men5 dou1 xiang3 ge4 shi4 hao3chi1. wo3 ye3 you3le5 ao4da4li4ya4 de5 hong2jiu3 he2 pi2jiu3. ta1men5 xi3huang5 he1 ao4da4li4ya4 de5 hong2jiu3.

they all thought it was tasty. I also had Australian red wine and beer. They like drinking Australian red wine.

my chinese above is probably not totally correct i am sorry to say.

my friends had not eaten roast potatos before and raved about them. The only Chinese style potatoes I have tried are the fried shredded ones. i have had the roasted sweet potatoes you can buy on the street though.

No turkeys in hangzhou except cooked ones from the Hyatt hotel for 800rmb.

Funny story about the cig lighten tal. Good example of the difficulties we face trying to communicate.

Posted on: I Want a Thick Blanket

thanks John. Good answer and well explained, so I've got it now.

Posted on: I Want a Thick Blanket

in the expansion there is the sentence - 你拿小包，我拿大包. After the recent qing wen about 拿 and 带dai4 I thought 拿 was more for picking something up and not taking i very far and 带 was used if you were going to carry something to another place so is 你带小包，我带大包 a better way to say this, or doesn't it really matter which is used? Maybe because 拿 is used we know the bags aren't actually being carried very far?

Posted on: Warm Winter Clothes

a few years ago not many people would ware shorts even in the sweltering Hangzhou summer and I would get lots of looks because i had shorts and also hairy legs compared to the average Chinese guy. Last summer there were lots of guys wearing shorts so I didn't stand out so much. Just blended in with the other people wearing their shorts and summer pajamers on the street.

Plenty of Chinese guys wear budgie smugglers at the beach and swimming pool. i stay with the board short style myself though.

Posted on: It's cold, wear more clothes!

Yesterday I received an email at work about changing a nut on a fan motor. I thought it would have 变 biàn in it but it was written as打算将手紧螺母改为螺母. Here he used 改为 gǎi wéi which I guess means one type “change for” another type. I was told 变 and 改 are 差不多 chàbuduō about the same but can someone tell me are they used differently. If say in a shop I want to change something to another thing or change my clothes before I go out do I use 改为?

Posted on: Express Train or High-speed Train?

@bodawei

i agree with your cultural point above. it still amazes me that people do not get angry with each other in the chaos of hangzhou traffic.

my sister made the comment when i was home last time that i seem much more calm and patient since living here. as you know if things go to plan it's a bonus and if not..well this is china. 没办法

re the fast train they are making it elevated off the ground on concrete columns like the elevated roads. I guess to keep it level across all that swampy ground. It runs beside the hz-sh road for some of the way. work crew about every 10km. It is supposed to be open before next years expo and I think it will be. It will be new rolling stock also i think. The existing train will still operate. More day trippers to west lake!