User Comments - cinnamonfern

Posted on: Tea Refill

I think you probably have to be careful in any large city in the tourist areas. I almost got scammed in Beijing in October. I took the wrong subway line to the Forbidden City and ended up in this really made-up touristy area where I would never have gone normally. These two 'nice people' came up to me and started talking in decent English (this should have tipped me off). I was okay walking around and talking to them until they wanted to go into a building to 'exchange email addresses'. I knew about the tea scams so I was instantly apprehensive...but I still went inside.

We went upstairs, the girl was acting tired and fake-yawning (I think it takes skill to pull off a convincing yawn). And then they wanted to get tea. I promptly asked the waitress to see the menu. The outrageous price and the bad acting convinced me I was about to be ripped off. So I said I didn't want any tea and quickly took off.

Posted on: Chinese Baijiu and the Best of the Worst

Hmm, I just remembered something interesting from my trip. My friend's new in-laws gave her ginseng to take home to her parents. And her parents placed it in a large jug and poured a lot of baijiu around it - eventually resulting in a ginseng-infused baijiu.

Is it common to infuse baijiu with things? My friend's dad had an aneurism a few years ago and he's not completely recovered, so I assumed it was specifically to help him continue healing.

Posted on: Discussing Basketball Teams

Thanks John! So I could just say "...看到姚明劝所有的人都..." So is this a bit more unclear and could either mean I saw him in person or I saw him on TV?

Posted on: Chinese Baijiu and the Best of the Worst

Ok - haven't listened to the lesson yet, but I'd heard lots of people saying that baijiu is the strongest and the worst stuff ever. So I avoided it. And I'm a girl, so I can get away with it - 不能喝酒 (bùnéng hējiǔ) - which is untrue, I just don't drink baijiu.

In then end, my friend's father-in-law asked me to drink some and I couldn't refuse anymore. I didn't 干杯 (gānbēi) it, and I only drank a few sips, but I didn't think it was too bad really - no worse than whiskey, and it had an interesting sweet or fruity aftertaste. At least it was alcoholic like it was supposed to be, unlike the 红酒 (hóngjiǔ) that tasted strangely like melted grape popsicles. :)

Posted on: Inside the Baozi Business

LOL. :D Don't forget the hànbǎo 汉堡! 西餐在中国！ (xīcān zài Zhōngguó!)

Posted on: Inside the Baozi Business

Aside from them looking completely different (you can check out the pics by googling the images) 包子 (bāozi) has thicker steamed bread on the outside which is made using yeast. 饺子 (jiǎozi) has a much thinner outside layer (饺子片儿 - jiǎozi piānr） that is made with just water and flour. I think you could put the same fillings (馅儿- xiànr) in either.

While both are generally steamed, you can boil 饺子 (how I usually make them) but I wouldn't want to try boiling 包子 (probably messy).

Posted on: Annoying Ringtone

So here you used 大 (dà) to describe a loud sound (大声) (dàshēng). I know it can also be used to describe a strong wind (大风). What else can you use 大/小 for? 

Also...I'm guessing you can't use 大 to describe a strong or thick accent, or for describing strong alcohol. (大口音 [dà kǒuyīn]？大酒 [dà jiǔ]?) What word would you use?

Posted on: Discussing Basketball Teams

Speaking of 鲨鱼 (shāyú) and 姚明 (Yáo Míng)...and...okay, it's not about basketball at all.

我最近看到一个电视的广告。。。姚明问人民都不吃鱼翅汤. 我觉得很给力！

[What I was trying to say: I recently saw a TV advertisement where Yao Ming asked people to not eat shark fin soup. I thought it was "hengelivable".]

Three questions:

1. How can I transition between the clauses in Chinese? In English I used the word "where".
2. Can you use 问 (wén) in the sense of to request people to do or not do something? I've only heard it used for questions. Is 让 (ràng) better？
3. Can you use 人民 (rénmín) as the generic word for all people? Or is there a better word or phrase to use here? Can I use 什么都的人 (shénme dōu)?

Posted on: Switching Seats on a Plane

Oh - I had this same exact situation happen to me twice in China in the past two days -  once on the train and once on the plane. However, I was the askee not the asker.  :)

Interestingly, while in China you cannot choose your specific seat in the train (or airplane...at least the small airlines I've traveled), you can choose your specific seat in the movie theaters in Hong Kong.

Posted on: What's in a name?

When picking my name I decided against two of the options I liked because when I ran them through Google Images, one had a majority of pictures of a rather scantily clad red-haired anime character and the second had a lot of pics of Princess Peach from Mario Brothers. :) My current name is more nondescript.

I also heard a story of a girl who picked a name and didn't find out until she came to China that it was also a brand name of feminine hygiene products. Ouch.