User Comments - changye
changye
Posted on: Buying a House
May 29, 2009 at 9:26 AMIn China, tenants are in a vulnerable position, and they often face "bullying" from landlords (e.g. sudden eviction or hike in rental), which is one of the reasons why young Chinese couples want to buy a house before their marriage. Perhaps the situation is gradually improving in large cities in China. Anyway, it's a fact that Chinese people generally hate living in a rented house.
P/S. I've just returned from Japan this morning.
Posted on: Seeing off a Monk, Returning to Japan -- 送僧归日本
May 9, 2009 at 2:26 AMHi bodawei
The original saying is "近朱者赤，近墨者黑", and "近朱者未必赤，近墨者未必黑" is a derivative saying (or a kind of "joke"), which has the opposite meaning of the original one. 未必 means "not always/necessarily".
Posted on: Funny Business
May 8, 2009 at 10:22 AM江山易改，秉性难移！
Posted on: Funny Business
May 8, 2009 at 9:00 AMDictionarywise, "囧" means "bright", and it's originated in the shape of a window, through which sunshine and moonlight come. Interestingly, the character means "troubled/puzzled look" in "modern" Mandarin.
Posted on: Big Bed
May 8, 2009 at 4:09 AMHi heimama
I hear that the word 酒店 (as a hotel) began to be used in Hong Kong first and was later exported to mainland. There is another "confusing" word that indicates a hotel, "饭店" (fan4 dian4). It seems that 酒 and 饭 are very important for Chinese people when they stay at a hotel, as pete pointed out. For the record, both 酒店 and 饭店 usually indicate luxury hotels, even if the "luxury" is based on self-rating by a hotel owner.
Posted on: 未来世界大战
May 7, 2009 at 4:00 AMHi miantial
我替日本天皇对殉职鲸鱼同志们表示沉痛哀悼，同时也对澳大利亚领导们表示衷心的谢意。刚才得知消息中国将派遣人民解放军大熊猫游击队到南极地区。我期待澳洲袋鼠机动部队迅速迎击，胜利归来！
Posted on: Big Bed
May 7, 2009 at 2:33 AMHi Jenny
The rates for capsule hotels (胶囊酒店, jiao1nang2jiu3dian4) in Japan are around 3,000～4,000 Japanese Yen (200/270RMB). The hotels are very convenient and "futuristic".
Posted on: Big Bed
May 7, 2009 at 1:49 AMWhat a coincidence! I've just booked rooms (单人间, single room) as I'm going back to Japan next week (and coming back to China at the end of this month). The rate is 160RMB, and the hotel is very close to the airport.
Posted on: Buying a House
May 30, 2009 at 11:48 AMHi henning and zhenlijiang
I've found a plausible explanation about "打光棍儿" on the Internet. Unfortunately (?), its etymology seems to have nothing to do with "direct imagery". Of course, I personally prefer the "direct" etymology henning suggested.
中国历来重视子孙的繁衍，有用枝繁叶茂来比喻子孙众多之说。父母为树干，儿女为枝叶。故“光棍”，没有枝叶（子孙）的意思。又因为没有老婆所以就没有枝叶（子孙）。
A single man is compared to a tree without branches and leaves (= 光棍) because both can't leave offspring. Having no children has traditionally been regarded as most unfilial/undutiful in China.
不孝有三，无后为大 《孟子》