User Comments - chracol

chracol

Posted on: Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes

June 5, 2012 at 8:09 AM

But I just looked up my dictionary and 变化 is described as a verb, not a noun!

变化[biànhuà]

动性质、状态或情况跟原来有了不同

气候变化很大

变化无常

思想变化

Posted on: The Preposition 于(yu)

June 2, 2012 at 1:33 AM

我出生于1950年。

不满足于现在的中文水平。

我习惯于中国菜但是于鱼刺和鱼翅我不太习惯。

Posted on: The Tea Scam

May 31, 2012 at 3:58 AM

Haha! I went to Shanghai for a couple of days when I was working in Suzhou and got straight off the subway near that central park and ran into a couple of good looking girls who got me to the tea house purely on the basis of my desire to practice the little Chinese I had learned at that time - the bill came to something like 1000+ RMB and then I realised it was a rip off。 The girls and the tea house people sensed that perhaps I might re-organise the tea house interior but I settled on about 200 RMB because I'd had a lot of fun with the girls who then took me to a good hotel and helped me find a room - I got the number of one and gave her a call that night but there was no reply so I went elsewhere. Over the next couple of days I went back to the park and went through the same process with other tricksters - there seemed to be an endless and varied supply - working on my chinese until we got near the tea house where I gave them the flick ... so now if I run into the 'art gallery' scam in Beijing or whatever I know what to do and how far to go ... it's a free Chinese lesson ...

Posted on: Ancient Chinese Gods

May 29, 2012 at 9:00 AM

... the fact that China and the Chinese have 5000 years of 'cultural history' is often repeated and often used to show or imply that China has the historical upper hand as far as longevity goes, because although the Indus and Mesopotamian civilizations predate Chinese bronze age culture both those civilizations fractured and have since broken down into a variety of what we now call 'nations' which is essentially a 19th century concept anyway ... of course China has been broken up a few times too and it is debatable whether the first unification was the Xia dynasty back in 2100BC or thereabouts or the Qin Dynasty circa 210 BC - if the latter then David's assertion might be a little provocative as Iran can claim unification circa 550BC and Japan 650BC or thereabouts ...