User Comments - changye
changye
Posted on: To bag or not to bag?
December 2, 2008 at 9:58 AMHi rjberki,
Both of them are for my chubby dog. She never gets them mixed up!
Posted on: Chinese New Year Plans
December 2, 2008 at 9:55 AMHi helandou,
大年三十 indicates the last day (三十日) of the last month (腊月, la4 yue4) according to the lunar calendar.
Posted on: To bag or not to bag?
December 2, 2008 at 8:52 AMI always keep some plastic bags in my pockets.
A doggy bag 打包袋 (da3 bao1 dai4）
A pooch bag 狗屎袋 (gou3 shi3 dai4)
Posted on: Job Market for Laowai
December 2, 2008 at 8:44 AMPlease be careful, dictionarywise there is a slight difference between the pronunciations of the two words below,
报酬 (bao4 chou) payment
报仇 (bao4 chou2) to revenge
Having said that, no need to be nervous. The context would help you make yourself understood in conversation.
Posted on: Let's Go to Beijing
November 30, 2008 at 6:13 AMHi Bill,
As you said, the current 南京 in 江苏省 (Jiang-su province) was the capital city of some dynasties in China, such as 明朝 (1368 - 1644) and 吴国 (222 - 280). The city was called “建业”, which is a well known name among history fans, when it was the capital of 吴国. And surprisingly enough, the 南京 is still the official capital city of Taiwan! Exactly speaking, 台北 is the provisional capital of Republic of China even now.
Now, as for 北京, the capital of the PRC, was called “南京” in the era of 辽国 (Liao dynasty, 907 - 1125), which mainly governed northern China. There were five capital cities of 辽国 then, namely 上京，中京，东京，西京，and 南京 (= current Beijing). The first capital was 上京, and other four cities are called “陪都” (pei2 du1), which means a “backup” capital. The 南京 was the southernmost capital in the ancient dynasty “辽国”.
Map of 辽国
http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%94%BB%E5%83%8F:China_Song_Dynasty.jpg
Posted on: Let's Go to Beijing
November 29, 2008 at 5:34 AMThe capital city of the PRC had many names in the past, including both official and unofficial ones. The oldest recorded name is 蓟 (ji4). The city was first called “北京” in 1403, and later changed to 京师 and 北平. In 1949, the PRC government officially named the city “北京”. In Taiwan, the official name of Beijing is "北平", but not "北京", for political reasons.
I love 燕京啤酒！
蓟 (ji4)
燕都 (yan4 du1) The capital city of 燕国.
燕京 (yan4 jing1)
幽州 (you1 zhou1)
幽都 (you1 du1)
南京 (nan2 jing1) .....!! Don't ask me why.
燕山 (yan4 shan1)
中都 (zhong1 du1)
大兴 (da4 xing1)
大都 (da4 du1) The capital city of Yuan dynasty.
汗八里 (han4 ba1 li3) The other name of 大都.
北平 (bei3 ping2) Ming dynasty, and 1928 ～ 1949
京师 (jing1 shi1)
…… etc.
Posted on: 老上海印象
November 28, 2008 at 10:09 AM梦想就是动力，哈哈！
Posted on: 老上海印象
November 28, 2008 at 8:55 AM我爱听爵士乐。我在东京的时候每到周末几乎都去爵士乐酒吧，好好享受快乐的音乐时间。二十几年前我第一次去美国出差，那时候我好不容易抽出时间到新奥尔良去，这当然是为了欣赏地道的爵士音乐。我在新奥尔良路上碰到一个老黑人吹萨克斯管，就是我所盼望看到的理想场面，到现在我记得很清楚。听说老上海有很多一流爵士乐家，而且新上海也有很多人喜欢爵士乐。我有一个梦想，希望有一天在上海的一家高级酒吧一边喝三得利啤酒一边听现场爵士演奏。如果我旁边有一个年轻漂亮的姑娘陪我听音乐，哎呀，“夕死可矣”！
Posted on: Do you have a cold?
November 27, 2008 at 10:30 AMHi missworld traveler,
There are some usage differences in other situations
Let me elaborate this a little more. "一定" often implies "certainty" based on your intention or subjective estimate. On the other hand, "肯定" usually implies "certainty" based on objective assessment.
This is the reason why "我一定～" is more commonly used than "我肯定～". If Holmes says "他肯定是自杀的", you should take his words for it. If Watson says "他一定是自杀的吧....", you must be careful not to jump to his conclusion.
"肯定" is also used as a verb (approve) and a noun (approval), but "一定" is not.
Posted on: Chinese New Year Plans
December 2, 2008 at 12:17 PMHi rjberk,
You've got me there, haha. As you pointed out, 腊月 sometimes has 29 days, instead of 30 days, as well as other lunar months.
2008 - 30
2009 - 30
2010 - 30
2011 - 30
2012 - 29
2013 - 29
2014 - 30
2015 - 30
2016 - 29
2017 - 30
2018 - 30
2019 - 30
2020 - 30