Chinese websites

You use these websites all the time, but do you know how they are called in Chinese language? Here are the Chinese names of some popular websites:

谷歌(Gǔgē): Google

雅虎(Yǎhǔ): Yahoo

必应(Bìyìng): Bing

维基百科(Wéijībǎikē): Wikipedia

脸书(Liǎnshū): Facebook

And below are some really popular Chinese websites:

百度(Bǎidù): Chinese Google

阿里巴巴(Ālǐbābā): combination of eBay and Amazon

淘宝 (Táobǎo): Chinese eBay; owned by Alibaba group

优酷(Yōukù): Chinese YouTube

新浪微博(Xīnlàng wēibó ): Sina Weibo; combination of Twitter and Facebook

Hope this is useful. Feel free to add to this list.

my chinese poem . . .

This is my 100^th post and I would like to share something special. This is the only poem I have written in Chinese language. Actually it is the only poem I have written in any language. For one of my Chinese courses, I had to write a poem describing a picture I took in China. Below is a picture I took in Emei Shan and the poem I wrote about it. Hope you like it.

And here is the English translation:

On Emei Shan

You and I stand in front of candle lights

I feel warm on this cold day

Is it the candle flame, or you?

That’s wonderful

We just learned a new word 马马虎虎 (mǎmǎhǔhǔ). But where does it lie in the range of expressions used to describe the qualities of things?

好极了(hǎo jíle) ，太好了(tài hǎole)

 

非常好(fēicháng hǎo) ，很好(hěn hǎo) ，好 (hǎo)

不错 (bùcuò) ，还可以 (hái kěyǐ) ，马马虎虎(mǎmǎhǔhǔ)

不太好 (bù tài hǎo)

不好 (bù hǎo) ，差 (chà) ，坏 (huài)

It goes from That’s wonderful (好极了) to bad (坏). Now I hope you know how to express exactly how you feel.

Some Chinese words I love

When I first started learning Chinese, there were few words that instantly became my favorites. Today I am going to share them with you.

糟糕 (zāogāo): too bad

真糟糕！下起雨来了

马马虎虎 (mǎmǎhǔhǔ): so-so

他唱得马马虎虎

糊里糊涂 (hu li hú tu): confused

我很糊里糊涂

公共汽车 (gōnggòng qìchē): bus

我们坐公共汽车去吧

You can see a trend here. They all became my favorites because of the way they sound. Do you have any you can add to this list?

People’s Republic of China

We learned that China is called 中国 (Zhōngguó) in Chinese language. And maybe you also know that the official name of China is People’s Republic of China. But do you know how to say that in Chinese?

中华人民共和国

Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó

People’s Republic of China

Where else have we seen 人民 (Rénmín)? Do you remember this?

人民币 (Rénmínbì): People’s currency

人民币 (Rénmínbì) is the official currency of China.

Below are few other instances where you can find 人民 (Rénmín).

中国人民解放军

Zhōngguó rénmín jiěfàngjūn

People’s Liberation Army

人民广场

Rénmín guǎngchǎng

People’s Square

中国人民大学

Zhōngguó rénmín dàxué

People’s University of China

What about the ugly people?

We already talked about the Tall, rich and handsome men and White, rich and beautiful women. What about the ugly ones? Yes, there is an expression to describe people like me as well.

矮丑穷 (ǎi chǒu qióng): short, ugly and poor

矮(ǎi): short

丑 (chǒu): ugly

穷 (qióng): poor

There is also another expression, a bit shorter, used for short, ugly and poor people.

屌丝 (diǎosī)

屌丝 (diǎosī) has become a very popular word among the Chinese youth. Many of them also use this expression to describe themselves in order to distinguish them from the ‘Tall, rich and handsome men' and ‘White, rich and beautiful women’. So it is not necessarily a derogatory term.

It’s been two years …

I started this blog exactly two years ago. Can’t believe it’s been two years already. This is my 95^th post today, so that is almost 50 posts a year on average.  I couldn’t write as much during this year due to work and other obligations, but I hope to keep writing as much as I can. I have tried to cover as varied topics as I can. Let me know what you think. Anything you want me to write about?

And of course a big thank you to you all for reading my blog and leaving comments. If you keep reading, I will keep writing. Let the third year begin.

White, Rich and Beautiful

We just had a post on good looking men. Some of you might be waiting for a post about pretty women. Here it is.

So what is the female version of Tall, Rich and Handsome?

白富美 (bái fù měi): White, rich and beautiful

白 (bái): white

富 (fù): rich

美 (měi): beautiful

And here is another expression used for extremely pretty women:

倾国倾城 (qīng guó qīng chéng): drop dead gorgeous

倾(qīng): collapse/overturn

国(guó): country

城 (chéng): city

She is so beautiful that she can sweep a city or even a nation off their feet.

Prince on a White Horse

We just talked about the ‘leftover women’. Maybe the reason they are single is because they are waiting for their prince charming. In Chinese language, these men are called ‘Prince on a White Horse’

白马王子 (bái mǎ wáng zǐ): Prince on a White Horse

白马(bái mǎ): White horse

王子 (wáng zǐ): Prince

Here is another Chinese expression to describe good looking men

高富帅 (gāo fù shuài): Tall, rich and handsome

高 (gāo): Tall

富(fù): Rich

帅 (shuài): Handsome

Leftover women

Recently I came across a very interesting article. Apparently, unmarried female who are older than 27 are labeled as ‘leftover women’ in China. Leftover? That’s a harsh word to use.

As we always do, let’s learn how to say the phrase in Chinese language:

剩女 (shèngnǚ): leftover women

I normally use the word leftover when referring to food. So let’s learn how to say that as well:

剩菜 (shèng cài): leftovers

剩饭 (shèng fàn): leftovers

And below is a sentence showing a general use of 剩 (shèng):

还剩多少？

Hái shèng duōshǎo?

How much is leftover?

Jasmine Flower

It’s been a while since we learned a song. So let’s learn a very popular Chinese folk song today. Click here for the full lyrics.

茉莉花 (Mòlìhuā) Jasmine Flower

好一朵美丽的茉莉花,
Hăo yì duǒ měilì de mòlìhuā.
What a beautiful jasmine flower,

好一朵美丽的茉莉花。
Hăo yì duǒ měilì de mòlìhuā.
What a beautiful jasmine flower.

芬芳美丽满枝桠，    
Fēnfāng měilì măn zhī yā,
A spray of fragrance and lovely petals,

又香又白人人夸。  
Yòu xiāng yòu bái rénrén kuā.
Everyone loves your snow-white buds.

让我来将你摘下，   

Ràng wǒ lái jiānɡ nĭ zhāi xià,
Let me pick a jasmine flower,

送给别人家。   
Sòng gěi biérén jiā.
And give it to others.

茉莉花呀茉莉花。  
Mòlìhuā ya mòlìhuā.
Jasmine flowers, jasmine flowers.

Why did I pick this song? Not because this is one of my favorite, but because Celine Dion sang this song in Mandarin for a New Year Gala show. If you didn’t already know, February 10 was the Chinese New year and this is the year of snake. Check this post to learn how to say Happy New Year in Chinese language.

And below is a video of Celine Dion singing the Jasmine Flower song.

You get what you pay for

I flew Ryanair recently and thought of the expression ‘you get what you pay for’. For those who don’t know, Ryanair is a budget Irish airline which is notorious for its service.  Out of curiosity I looked up how to say ‘you get what you pay for’ in Chinese language and this is what I found.

一分钱，一分货
Yī fēn qián, yī fēn huò
One cent money, one cent goods

钱 (qián): money

As you might already know 人民币 (Rénmínbì) is the official currency of China. 人民币 (Rénmínbì) translates to ‘people’s currency’. 元 (Yuán) is the primary unit of 人民币 (Rénmínbì).

1元 (yuán) = 10 角 (jiǎo)
1角 (jiǎo) = 10 分 (fēn)

In everyday Chinese, money is referred as 块 (kuài) instead of 元 (Yuán). So, 100元would be called 一百块 (Yī bǎi kuài). 块 (kuài) is also a measure word for money.

I will love you forever

We just learned how to say ‘I will love you forever’ in Chinese language. Here it is again:

爱你一生一世

Ài nǐ yī shēng yī shì

Love you forever

What are some other ways of saying the same thing?

我会永远爱你

Wǒ huì yǒng yuǎn ài nǐ

I will love you forever

我会爱你一辈子

Wǒ huì ài nǐ yī bèi zi

I will love you forever

So here are few ways of saying ‘forever’ in Chinese language

一生一世 (yī shēng yī shì): for life; forever

永远 (yǒng yuǎn): forever; always

一辈子 (yī bèi zi): all life

Love you forever day

I recently read an article that thousands of couples in China were rushing to get married on January 4, 2013. The reason? In Mandarin, January 4 2013 sounds similar to the phrase ‘I will love you all my life’.

In an earlier blog post, we learned that we always use (year)年 (month)月 (date)日 format when writing dates in Chinese. So January 4, 2013 would be:

2013年 1月 4日

Èr líng yī sān nián yī yuè sì rì

Now take only the parts in bold above, that is only the numbers from the date, and you get:

Èr líng yī sān  yī sì

And this sounds very similar to:

Ài nǐ yī shēng yī shì

爱你一生一世

Love you forever

That is the reason why this day is also known as the ‘Love you forever’ day.

一生一世 (yī shēng yī shì): for life; forever

Check this post to find out on which another date the Chinese couple were rushing to get married.