User Comments - mafanni

Posted on: Spending Christmas in China

In the sentence below,  给 = with.  that throws me for a loop since 给 meant to me 'give'  I would have said ‘我们跟她一起过生日吧。’

Is your example more commonly spoken?

Can you give other examples of using 给 in this context?

周末是她的生日，我们一起给她过生日吧。
(This weekend is her birthday. Let's celebrate it with her.)

Posted on: Chinese Folk Medicine

is 艾草 popular in China?

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/dec/20/health/la-he-v-steam-20101220

if you can view the article, printed below

=================================

Vaginal steam bath finds a place among Southern California spa options

A Korean treatment for the vaginal area is said to aid health and fertility. What's missing is evidence.

December 20, 2010|By Sari Heifetz, Special to the Los Angeles Times

Pungent steam rises from a boiling pot of a mugwort tea blended with wormwood and a variety of other herbs. Above it sits a nude woman on an open-seated stool, partaking in a centuries-old Korean remedy that is gaining a toehold in the West.

Vaginal steam baths, called chai-yok, are said to reduce stress, fight infections, clear hemorrhoids, regulate menstrual cycles and aid infertility, among many other health benefits. In Korea, many women steam regularly after their monthly periods.

There is folk wisdom — and even some logic — to support the idea that the carefully targeted steam may provide some physiological benefits for women. But there are no studies to document its effectiveness, and few American doctors have even heard of it.

"It sounds like voodoo medicine that sometimes works," said Dr. Vicken Sahakian, medical director of Pacific Fertility Center in Los Angeles.

Niki Han Schwarz believes it worked for her. After five steams, she found she had fewer body aches and more energy. She also became pregnant eight months ago at the age of 45 after attempting to conceive for three years.

Han Schwarz and her husband, orthopedic surgeon Charles Schwarz, are determined to introduce vaginal steam baths to Southern California women. Their Santa Monica spa, Tikkun Holistic Spa, offers a 30-minute V-Steam treatment for $50. (The identical treatment is available for men, to steam the perineal area.)

At Daengki Spa in Koreatown, a 45-minute V-Herbal Therapy treatment can be had for $20 a squat. The steam includes a mixture of 14 herbs imported from Korea by spa manager Jin Young. The spa's website claims the treatment will "rid the body of toxins" and help women with menstrual cramps, bladder infections, kidney problems and fertility issues. "It is a traditional Korean health remedy," according to the website.

Across the country, chai-yok treatments are not easy to find. They are available in a scattering of alternative holistic health centers. The flashy Juvenex Spa in Manhattan offers its 30-minute Gyno Spa Cure for $75. A complete setup for a do-it-yourself steam — open-seated stool, boiler and herbs — can be purchased online at http://www.rakuten.com for $330.

The two predominant herbs in the steam bath mixture are mugwort and wormwood. Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris) has been used in Eastern medicine for hundreds of years to balance female hormones. It contains natural antibiotics and antifungal agents, according to herbalists and alternative medicine journals. It is also said to stimulate the production of hormones to maintain uterine health, protect the uterus from ulcers and tumors, stimulate menstrual discharge and ease fatigue, headaches, abdominal discomfort and nausea, among other claims.

Wormwood (Artemisia herba), an antimicrobial "cooling herb," is also popular in Eastern medicine. It has been used historically to induce uterine contractions and treat bladder infections, fevers, open sores, constipation, diarrhea, hepatitis, jaundice, eczema and parasitic infections. The leaves and young shoots are antibacterial and antiviral, and they also relax the blood vessels and promote the discharge of bile, according to historical tradition.

Neither herb has been subjected to the rigorous analysis used to vet Western medicines. But Han Schwarz says she and her husband became persuaded by the herbs' healing abilities after conducting a fact-finding mission in South Korea. They discovered that people there used the herbs to aid digestive disorders and immune system strength, for reduction of headaches and pain from inflammatory conditions, to improve energy, to regulate the menstrual cycle and hormones, and to detoxify the uterus.

One of their clients, Sherman Oaks-based writer Lanee Neil, said she prefers the V-Steam to the harshness of a douche and thinks of it as a "facial" for her private area.

"It's a simple, relaxing treatment," says Neil, who hopes it will help her become pregnant. "You can imagine people doing this in the forest somewhere."

Tae-Cheong Choo, who teaches at Samra University of Oriental Medicine in Los Angeles, strongly endorses chai-yok treatment, especially for gynecological problems and infertility. He says he used to administer it to his patients in Korea, but he doesn't have the time to prepare the formula here.

"Many infertility problems are related to coldness and stagnation," Choo says. "The chai-yok treatment is effective for coldness or poor circulation in the lower part of the body because it increases the blood circulation, and blood supplies nutrition, so the more blood supply, the faster the healing process."

Dr. Suzanne Gilberg-Lenz, an obstetrician and gynecologist at Women's Care of Beverly Hills Medical Group, says the idea of steaming the pelvic area is "not insane." The heat boosts circulation, and the increased blood flow brings more oxygen and "immune factors" to the region, she says.

However, she notes, it's impossible to say whether the herbal steam does any good.

"Most of these kinds of treatments are not put through intensive clinical trials, so it becomes challenging to evaluate the actual impact they have," she says. In addition, traditional practices like chai-yok "have been cut off from the larger system they grew out of, including factors of cultural and family life, diet, environment, etc. There's a bigger picture that we're really missing."

Posted on: Chinese Food at Foreign Prices

yup got twice ripped off in Sanya, a 150 kuai order ($20 meals) magically transformed to a 1000 kuai bill.  after a big fight ( my friend was arguing with the 'LAOBAN' ) I still had to pay.  happened twice.

lesson learn :  eat at 'name brand' establishments or hotels.

l'hole in the wall restaurants' go for the kill when they see the 'waiguoren' walk in.  also I believe our 'daoyou' played a part in steering us to these two restaurants.

Posted on: The Colors of Money

speaking of color  and the color green,  what does this mean?

眼睛都做绿了

Posted on: Where'd You Get That Food?

couple things

in the key vocab it has this

牛排niúpáiwhat

regarding this sentence :

在哪里买的？zài nǎlǐ mǎi de?

it can also be 你是在哪里买的？ 

having to recognize it's a shi...de  pattern the 是 shi was drop and why 的 de was added. yes/no?

Posted on: Festivals, Holidays, Vacations, and Leave

So Nov 11  was the celebration of "gangster' day.  光棍节

光棍 =  匪徒 but also means single person or bachelor.

context is everything !  wish all a happy 光棍节

It only took until lunchtime on China's main shopping holiday for consumers there to click their way to a new record for e-commerce sales in a single day.

Monday in China was Single's day, a day that e-commerce companies have turned into the world's biggest day for online shopping by offering a steady stream of promotions and deep discounts.

A final tally for the day is not yet available, but early sales data point to the fast growth of online shopping in China, which is poised soon to overtake the U.S. as the world's largest market for online sales

Posted on: Foot Bath

the first part is 'boiling' feet. why does the water have to be so 'hot'?

Posted on: An I for an I

‘太神了’ 什么意思？ = That was amazing?

Posted on: Ordering Pizza

how do you say

taco  is it 塔科

burrito is it 卷饼

Posted on: Connecting with Email

So the '用很少 ' or ‘没有' is not true, they just don't want to give it. correct?