User Comments - changye

Posted on: Hungry Traveler: Hangzhou

Hi wchan,

It seems that "上有老下有小的一代" is also called "三明治一代" （sandwich generation） in China. I must say that I also belong to the sandwich generation, but maybe sandwhich is better than big mac (巨无霸, ju4 wu2 ba4). I hope so! 

Incidentally, there is also an interesting Chinese chengyu I sometimes use. It's "比上不足，比下有余" (bi3 shang4 bu4 zu2, bi3 xia4 you3 yu2). It means "to fall short of the best, but be better than the worst". 应该知足了, 哈哈！

Posted on: Hungry Traveler: Hangzhou

In addition to the Connie's post above, it's also worth noting that there is a saying "上有政策，下有对策", which represents one of the most characteristic ways of thinking in China.

Posted on: Not So Silent Night

Hi dunderklumpken,

There is a well known Chinese word “四不像” (si4 bu4 xiang4), and this means “neither fish, flesh, fowl, nor good red herring” in English. And, to my surprise, this word also indicates “reindeer” and “Pere David's Deer” in China. As tvan said, you can see wild 驯鹿 (reindeers) in 黑龙江省 (hei1 long2 jiang1), the northernmost province, but there are only farmed 麋鹿 (Pere David’s deers) in China/World now. Thanks for the good question.

http://baike.baidu.com/view/43943.htm  (驯鹿, a reindeer)

http://baike.baidu.com/view/17081.htm  (麋鹿, a Pere David’s deer)

P/S. tvan, thanks for the article about Evenki tribe.

Posted on: Hungry Traveler: Hangzhou

The Chinese Character of 2008 … 殇 (premature mortality)

Sorry, it's completely off-topic. “殇” (shang1) was selected as “The Chinese Character of 2008” here in China on December 25. This less commonly used character means “premature mortality”, and it indicates the numerous children who mainly died at collapsed schools in the Sichuan Earthquake this year, and most Chinese people attribute the tragedy to shoddy school construction and local governments. I would like to show much respect to the “heartbreaking” character selected by Chinese people.

Selecting “The Chinese Character (Kanji) of the Year” started in Japan in 1995, when “震” (zhen4, shake) was chosen because of the severe earthquake in the year that hit the Kobe area and took the lives of more than six thousand people. Recently China and Taiwan also began to select the 汉字 of the year, although the events in those countries are not as popular as that in Japan. For the record, the Kanji of 2008 in Japan is “变” (bian4, change), and Taiwan “乱” (luan4, mess), which is very understandable.  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanji_of_the_year

http://www.china.com.cn/news/txt/2008-12/25/content_17006600.htm

Posted on: Hungry Traveler: Hangzhou

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Posted on: Hungry Traveler: Hangzhou

Hi wchan,

Is it a coincidence that we learn about 红烧肉 today? I hear that 毛泽东 loved to eat 湖南(hu2 nan2)红烧肉 very much. There is even the local dish called "毛家红烧肉" in 湖南 province, where he was born.

Posted on: Not So Silent Night

Hi tvan,

To tell you the truth, I boutht them merely for "ornamentation" for my book shelves, hehe.

Posted on: Not So Silent Night

Hi leeht, Merry Christmas!

Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners--of whom I am the worst.

耶稣基督来到这个世界拯救罪人, 在罪人中我是个罪魁。

Posted on: Hungry Traveler: Hangzhou

东坡肉 (dong1 po1 rou4) is a kind of 扣肉 (kou4 rou4) / 红烧猪肉 (hong2 shao1 zhu1 rou4), which was named after the pen name (号) "东坡居士" of a famous poet "苏轼" (su1 shi4) in Song Dynasty (宋朝, song4 chao2), since he loved it very much. I like the dish too! It's very tasty. 

Posted on: The Person Component

Hi bababardwan,

Gee, looks like that I mistook "n" for "r". It's a bitter mistake, haha. I should have used a magnifier when I looked it up in a dictionary. Recently it's really hard for me to read small type. Thanks for correction!

P/S. The "e" in the "better" is a pure typo....