User Comments - suxiaoya

Posted on: Giving up a Seat on the Bus

Hi maktubehlou -

"Shameless" is 不要脸 / bùyàoliǎn

You can see some usages here:

http://chinesepod.com/tools/glossary/entry/%E4%B8%8D%E8%A6%81%E8%84%B8

Seeing as "face" is so important in China, I'd think this is a good phrase to know!

Posted on: Getting Nationalities Straight

Hi darou -

In Chinese 英国 is commonly used interchangeably for England and Britain. You can see that in the English-Chinese dictionary nciku.com, they also have the same definition for 英国:

http://www.nciku.com/search/zh/detail/%E8%8B%B1%E5%9B%BD%E4%BA%BA/68159

I am from England so I am obviously very well aware of the sensitivities of this matter - and how this lack of distinction can offend (I've always found it puzzling myself). However, it is the way the language is used by native Mandarin speakers, and that is what ChinesePod generally focuses on. I'm sorry if you felt offended, this was certainly not our intention.

It's always possible to distinguish between the various countries:

苏格兰 - Scotland

威尔士 - Wales

北爱尔兰 - Northern Ireland

Posted on: Tomb Sweeping Day

Oh, also, if you haven't already, this 清明节-related episode of Poems with Pete is worth a listen:

http://chinesepod.com/lessons/tomb-sweeping-festival-%E6%B8%85%E6%98%8E

Posted on: Tomb Sweeping Day

I totally agree. I guess it won't be until next year, but I'm sure the team would happily fill in the gaps - I'll make sure your message is passed on!

Posted on: Tomb Sweeping Day

Ah, interesting - I'd never heard that before.

As a complete aside, one thing I did wonder is whether many tombstones were lost (destroyed?) during the Cultural Revolution? It seemed a lot of the tombstones I saw were relatively new.

Posted on: Tomb Sweeping Day

Hey Carlos, um, I don't actually know where exactly I was. I was on a run and we didn't have a map.

The place we found was sitting at the foot of mountains and there were tombstones all the way up one side of a mountain. We actually remarked that people must have been visiting over the course of the weekend because by yesterday there were remnants of a lot of such rituals strewn all over the place. Maybe it was the same one, though I didn't see any trumpeters!

P.S. I'm just finishing up your profile for the newsletter :-)

Posted on: Tomb Sweeping Day

Great pics, thanks for sharing! The tombstones are exactly like those in Hangzhou I saw yesterday. It's such a big family day, I think the respect that's shown is just great.

Posted on: Monopoly, Uno, or Twister?

Ooh, interesting question. Do Chinese people flip coins to find out who goes first when playing a game or whatever? Anyone have any insights?!

Posted on: Tomb Sweeping Day

I think 清明节 is a wonderful tradition.

Funnily enough, I was in Hangzhou yesterday and happened upon a large graveyard set in the tea plantations. Far from being melancholy, there was a lovely atmostphere there.

Countless families were sitting together on stone seats by the elaborate tombstones. In fact the graveyard was buzzing with their chatter - it was not as solemn as I'd have expected. People were burning paper money, eating picnics and just enjoying the sun. Their offerings of food and flowers added colour to the whole scene.

As a clueless foreigner, I felt privileged to have been able to see this pretty intimate, private and very "Chinese" tradition in practice. Nevertheless, everyone was very friendly and smiled and talked to us as we looked around (respectfully). It was a really nice experience.

Posted on: Tomb Sweeping Day

Amen, indeed! Did you hear that the Shanghai government have extended the May Holiday this year? Horaay for 世博会!!

http://www.cityweekend.com.cn/shanghai/articles/blogs-shanghai/cw-radar/extended-may-holiday-for-shanghai/