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Starstruck Series: Out of This World With Bruno Mars

By on May 13, 2013 in Culture and Society, Intermediate and Advanced Chinese

Next up on our Starstruck Series, Bruno Mars! Despite great success writing songs like “Billionaire” for Travie McCoy, Bruno Mars got his break when he released his first album, Doo-Wops & Hooligans in October 2010. This got him 7 Grammy nominations and 1 Grammy Award!   Nickname & Origin Bruno Mars -火星哥(huǒ xīng gē) 火星 is a [...]

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Starstruck Series: Robert Downey Suits Up as Ironman in China

By on April 25, 2013 in Culture and Society, Intermediate and Advanced Chinese

Besides the suit, what else is Tony Stark? “Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist.” Lighting up (or blowing up?) the theaters next Friday will be Ironman 3, starring Robert Downey Jr. He’s gained much popularity not only from being Ironman but Sherlock Holmes & other cool characters in some awesome movies. Robert Downey Jr. has a pretty [...]

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Bottoms Up! The 21+ Drinks List in Chinese

By on April 3, 2013 in Chinese Vocab Word Lists, Intermediate and Advanced Chinese

Well, at least in the States the drinking age is 21+, in other countries it’s a bit younger. Regardless, I figured it’s be useful to know how to say some of the most popular beverages in Chinese. Some of my favorites are mojitos and the cosmo. I’m not exactly savvy in ordering drinks in Chinese [...]

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Starstruck Series: Rolling in the Deep with Adele

By on April 1, 2013 in Intermediate and Advanced Chinese

Six time Grammy Award winner Adele tied Beyonce for the most awards won by a female artist in one night, including Album Of The Year in 2012. Her singles aren’t just huge hits, breaking records on top billboards in the US but, popular in China as well. Because of her songs’ popularity in China, the [...]

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Top 8 Words for Qingming Festival, the Tomb Sweeping Holiday in China

By on March 26, 2013 in Intermediate and Advanced Chinese

This year’s Qingming Festival (清明节 － qīng míng jié) falls on April 4th, 2013. For those of you unfamiliar with the 2,500 plus years of tradition behind this holiday, it’s all about tomb sweeping, spring outings and kite flying. Check out this video & you’ll learn more. What distinguishes this festival from the others is [...]

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Starstruck Series: I’m Not in Kansas Anymore with James Franco

By on March 4, 2013 in Beginner Chinese

Will clicking your heels three times saying “there’s no place like home” get you out of Oz? Maybe not for James Franco in Disney’s new movie Oz The Great and Powerful. Thousands of Franco fans are excited about this new movie, including those in China!   Nickname & Origin James Franco: 付兰兰 (fù lán lán)  Though [...]

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Chinglish: How Literal Translations Make You Fall Carefully and Go Into Deformed Man Toilets

By on January 16, 2013 in Beginner Chinese, Embarrassing Moments

You know you’ve seen them before.  You can spot these walking by a park or on the way home from a restaurant in China. What are they? Those Chinglish signs! They make you stop, do a double take, and squint your eyes to make sure you’ve read the sign right. You furrow your eyebrows a [...]

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201314: Love You Forever

By on January 3, 2013 in Beginner Chinese, Hot on Weibo, Intermediate and Advanced Chinese

Though not an official holiday, on Jan 4th 2013, there’s something called “爱你一生一世” in China. This holiday got its name because the date, 二零一三一四 (èr líng yī sān yī sì - 2013.1.4.) sounds like “爱你一生一世” (ài nǐ yī shēng yī shì). This day can also be known as “万年真爱日” or “世纪情人节” or “世纪领证日”. 爱你一生一世 means “love you for life” [...]

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Top Slang Phrases Of 2012

By on December 27, 2012 in Advanced Chinese Slang, Advanced Chinese Vocab, Hot on Weibo, Intermediate and Advanced Chinese

Whoa what a year 2012 has been with the Mayans predicting doomsday and Xi Jinping replacing Hu Jingtao as the leader of the Chinese Communist Party! Whether it’s finding the latest on “The Voice of China” or what’s going on with the Diaoyu islands, everything is a click away on the internet. This year we’ve [...]

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2012: What To Write On Your Tombstone

By on December 18, 2012 in Beginner Chinese, Hot on Weibo, Intermediate and Advanced Chinese, Recommended Reading

The end of the world (世界末日: shì jiè mò rì)  in 2012 has been the buzz lately. Did the Mayans predict right? Since we won’t be around in the next few days, should we just spend what’s left in our savings and go out with a bang? Recently, in China people are talking all about [...]

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