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What is your favorite Chinese dish for Spring Festival? muTu Note - Learn Chinese with Chinese Girl

In China, there are many delicious food, especially during the Spring Festival. What is your favorite dish for Chinese Spring Festival?

Dumplings

Dumplings

Dumplings are a very common dish for northern China, symbolizing reunion and fortune.

Rice dumplings

Rice dumplings

Rice dumplings are made from glutinous rice flour. The fillings can vary from region to region. The round shape of the rice dumplings symbolizes “reunion”.

Fish

Fish

“Fish” in Chinese sounds similar to the character for “prosperity”, symbolizing an abundant and comfortable life. Most families would have fish on their New Year’s Eve dinner.

Lion-head meatballs

Lion-head meatballs

One of the representative dishes of Huaiyang cuisine, it has a lucky connotation from its name.

Poon choi

Poon choi

A regular dish in southern China, the magnificent and auspicious poon choi contains up to 20 luxury ingredients served in a big wooden or clay-pot bowl.

Eight treasure rice cake

Eight treasure rice cake

The eight treasure rice cake is a quintessential Chinese New Year dessert. Many families across the nation would choose to finish their meal with this dessert.

Hot pot

Hot pot

Those in South China’s Sichuan province may choose to have a meal of hot pot on their New Year Eve’s dinner. As everyone eats from the same pot, it is also a symbol of reunion.

Braised pork

Braised pork

During less economically developed times, people often had to wait a full year to enjoy a dish of meat. Braised pork, or hong shao rou in Chinese, is part of a mouthwatering memory of New Year’s Eve dinner for many Chinese of the older generation.

Buddha jumping over the wall

Buddha jumping over the wall

This is a soup that is popular in South China. It uses luxurious ingredients, such as sea cucumber, abalone, shark’s fin, dried scallops, ham and more. Its name comes from the tantalizing scent of the soup, enough to lure a Buddha, who is vegetarian, to want to jump over the wall and drink it.

Rice cakes

Rice cakes

Most people in South China would have rice cakes for Spring Festival for its auspicious meaning: Wishing to be elevated (in whatever area one desires) in the new year.

Lettuce in oyster sauce

Lettuce in oyster sauce

Lettuce, or shengcai in Chinese, sounds similar to the Chinese phrase “gaining fortune”. It is not hard to see why people across the nation would opt for this vegetable dish.

A dish of tofu

A dish of tofu

The Chinese pronunciation for tofu sounds similar to “luck for all”.

Hometown of web celebrity hot tourist spot muTu Note - Learn Chinese with Chinese Girl

A young man whose good looks and innocent（纯洁的，chún jié de） smile（笑容，xiào róng） have turned him into an internet celebrity（网红，wǎng hóng） has sparked a surge in interest in his hometown（家乡，jiā xiāng） among tourists.

Ctrip（携程）, an online travel agency, said that after a video of Tamdrin（丁真）, a 20-year-old ethnic Tibetan man from Litang county in Sichuan province’s Garze Tibetan autonomous prefecture, went viral online last month, the number of searches for Litang（理塘） soared.

On Ctrip’s website, searches（搜索，sōu suǒ） for Litang started going up on Nov 20. In the week from Nov 23 through Sunday, the search average shot up 620 percent compared with the previous week and was four times greater than during the National Day holiday in October.

Tamdrin first came to netizens’ attention after a photographer（摄影师，shè yǐng shī） posted a video of him on the Douyin（抖音） short-video platform（短视频平台，duǎn shì pín píng tái）. In the video, the young man wore a traditional Tibetan costume（藏族服饰，zàng zú fú shì） and smiled broadly.

He then posted a short video on his own Douyin account, introducing his white horse（白马，bái mǎ） in not-so-fluent（不太流利的，bú tài liú lì de） Mandarin, attracting millions of viewers and followers.

Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for the Foreign Ministry, featured Tamdrin in three consecutive tweets on her Twitter account on Monday.

“The channel of Sichuan TV has a new ‘anchor（主持人，zhǔ chí rén）’. Tamdrin, who broadcasts（播报，bō bào） news（新闻，xīn wén） in his native Tibetan language（藏语，zàng yǔ） as a guest（嘉宾，jiā bīn）,” she wrote.

“Tamdrin recently became a social media star（明星，míng xīng） after a photo of his bright, sunny and innocent smile had gone viral.”

She also posted（发布，fā bù） a short clip of Tamdrin riding a horse and introducing himself in subtitling: “They call me ‘prince on a horse（赛马王子，sài mǎ wáng zǐ）’. The happiest thing for me is to race horses with my bros. I’m really good at（擅长，shàn cháng） horse racing and often rank first in our village.”

Tamdrin has now been hired（聘用，pìn yòng） by Litang Culture Tourism and Sport Investment Development Co. to promote tourism for the county.

Du Dongdong, the company’s general manager（总经理，zǒng jīng lǐ）, told China Central Television it hoped the herder’s son could grow and develop alongside local tourism, which has just started to take off.

He said that Tamdrin’s job included shooting（拍摄，pāi shè） short videos that introduce（介绍，jiè shào） and promote（推广，tuī guǎng） the beautiful scenery of Litang county and Garze prefecture, and operating social media platforms.

“To do the job well, Tamdrin needs to cooperate（合作，hé zuò） with colleagues and learn about a lot of things, such as culture, history, tourism and society. He also needs to improve his Mandarin（普通话，pǔ tōng huà）,” Du said.

Tamdrin said in a CCTV interview that he didn’t know why he had become so well-known to netizens, but he was happy that so many people knew of him, and he was excited to help people learn more about his hometown.

He added that he planned（计划，jì huà） to learn many things and hoped he would do well in his work for the company（公司，gōng sī）.

“At the same time, I still want to race horses and continue to be a champion（冠军，guàn jūn）,” he said in Tibetan.

Chinese Christmas Vocabulary muTu Note - Learn Chinese with Chinese Girl

It’s that time of year folks … tree lightings, special winter menus, and of course, the occasional Christmas carol (圣诞颂歌 shèng dàn sòng gē):

Oh, the weather outside is frightful, But the fire is so delightful. And since we’ve got no place to go, Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

Ok, it’s probably not going to snow; nevertheless, Christmas in the capital is still a jolly time of year.

And for an added Xmas gift, here’s more Christmas time words 单词 (dān cí) worth knowing:

Candy cane 拐杖糖 guǎi zhàng táng Christmas card 圣诞贺卡 shèng dàn hè kǎ Christmas carol 圣诞颂歌 shèng dàn sòng gē Christmas Eve 平安夜 píng ān yè Christmas tree 圣诞树 shèng dàn shù Eggnog 蛋酒 dàn jiǔ Feast 盛宴 shèng yàn Hot chocolate 热巧克力 rè qiǎo kè lì Hot cider 热苹果酒 rè píng guǒ jiǔ Merry Christmas 圣诞节快乐 shèng dàn jié kuài lè Mince pie 圣诞馅饼 shèng dàn xiàn bǐng Nutcracker 胡桃夹子 hú táo jiá zi Present 礼物 lǐ wù Wrapping paper 包装纸 bāo zhuāng zhǐ Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer 红鼻驯鹿鲁道夫 hóng bí xún lù lǔ dào fū Santa Claus 圣诞老人 shèng dàn lăo rén

There Must Be a Use for My Talent muTu Note - Learn Chinese with Chinese Girl

I amcompletely unsure what I want to do  in the future. People  always ask me what I will do after I leave school. I think that there must be a  use for my talent!

我完全不知道我以后会做什么。人们总是问我不上学了之后要做什么，我的回答也总是同样的：我不知道。但是我始终认为天生我材必有用！

我很羡慕我的一些朋友，他们很清楚自己要做什么。尽管我从来没有野心和目标，这可不代表我没有什么技能。事实上，我觉得自己很特殊。

我想我擅长和人们一起工作。我很有幽默感，可以和遇到的每一个人相处得很好。人们喜欢也信任我。我认为这本身就是一种天资。一些人擅长收益，有些人很有美感或者是在其他方面有天赋——但是，我是一个很有人缘的人。也许我应该做老板或是领袖吧！

I amcompletely unsure what I want to do  in the future. People  always ask me what I will do after I leave school. My answer is the same: I don’t know. But I always think that there must be a  use for my talent!

I envy  some of my friends. They are very clear about what they will do. Although I have never had ambitions  and goals, that doesn’t mean I have no skills. In fact, I feel very special.

I think I am  very good at working with people. I have a good  sense of humor. I get on well with everyone I meet. People like and  trust me. I think this to be a talent in itself. Some people are good with their hands, some people are very artisitic or gifted in other ways —— but I am a very good  people person. Perhaps I should be a boss or a leader.

A Step-By-Step to Homemade Fermented Rice Wine muTu Note - Learn Chinese with Chinese Girl

Chinese cuisine would be incomplete if not for the array of snacks passed on from generation to generation.

Of those, one of the oldest, and perhaps tastiest, is the impeccable dish,láo zāo（醪糟 fermented glutinous rice wine）, otherwise referred to as mǐ jiǔ （米酒） or jiǔ niàng（酒酿）. This seeming cross between a pudding（布丁，bù dīng） and soup is typically translated as fermented glutinous rice wine due to its alcoholic nature, however, the alcohol（酒精，jiǔ jīng） is barely noticeable and children are often introduced to it very early on in life. Fermented glutinous rice wine cooked with glutinous rice balls (汤圆，tāng yuán) is a traditional food for marking the end of Chinese New Year.

A Step-By-Step to Homemade Fermented Rice Wine

How to make fermented glutinous rice wine

As with all fermentation recipes, cleanliness is paramount. Make sure that everything that will come into contact with the rice is clean（干净，gān jìng） and sterile（无菌，wú jūn） before you begin, and at every step along the way. Otherwise, mould（霉菌，méi jūn） will develop and you will have to start again.

Cook a bowl of glutinous rice in a rice cooker（电饭锅，diàn fàn guō）. After it’s cooled down（冷却，lěng què）, transfer the glutinous rice into a plastic food container. Boil a kettle（壶，hú） of water and wait for that to cool down as well. Once both substances are at room temperature（室温，shì wēn）, gradually pour the water into the rice while using a pair of chopsticks（筷子，kuài zi） to separate the individual rice pieces. Do not add too much water – just enough to come level with the top layer of rice.

Steps:

1. Cook the rice

2. Take a packet of rice leaven (甜酒曲，tián jiǔ qǔ) and sprinkle it onto the rice. This powder will stimulate the fermentation（发酵，fā jiào） process. Using chopsticks or other utensils, stir the mixture until the powder is fully dissolved.

3. Make a hole（洞，dòng） in the center of the rice so any alcohol produced can gather there.

4.Close the lid of the plastic container and place it somewhere in your house. Anywhere is fine as long as（只要，zhǐ yào） it’s not directly under the sun. Leave it there to brew for the next two days. The temperature must be maintained above（之上，zhī shàng） 20 degrees Celsius, which is why summer is the ideal season for this process.

5. After two days the fermented glutinous rice wine is ready! You can add lily petals（百合，bǎi hé）, goji berries（枸杞，gǒu qǐ）, and egg to make a tasty soup.

6. To do this, take out a packet of dried lilies and soak the pieces in a bowl of cool tap water（自来水，zì lái shuǐ）. Let the water soften the petals for an hour or so. Bring a pot of water to boil, then transfer the fermented glutinous rice into the boiling water.

6. Bring the pot back up to boil. This time while you wait（等待，děng dài）, take out a package of dried goji berries and rinse them in tap water. Once it’s boiled, place both the goji berries and soaked lilies inside and stir（搅拌，jiǎo bàn） the mixture.

7. Wait for it to boil again. Meanwhile, prepare a raw egg（生鸡蛋，shēng jī dàn） and crack it directly into the pot. This time, make sure to stir the mixture thoroughly and wait for it to boil one last time before bringing it to the dinner table. Depending on your preference（喜好，xǐ hào）, extra white sugar can be added after it’s served.

Chinese Diary Entry: clear snow muTu Note - Learn Chinese with Chinese Girl

When I got up and look out from the window, I found, to my great surprise, it was snowing heavily. I was very excited since it was the first snowfall this winter.

起床后我往窗外看去，惊讶的发现正在下大雪。我很兴奋，因为这是今年第一场雪。

我很快穿上衣服，跑到院子里。一些孩子已经在那里了。我们堆雪人，滚雪球，打雪仗，又笑又喊，开心极了。突然，我们注意到，由于厚厚的积雪，公共汽车和小汽车开得很慢。“为什么我们不去扫雪呢？”有人建议。听了他的话，我们跑去拿来工具，开始扫雪。我们扫了整整一个早晨，路上的雪被清扫干净了，我们高兴地回家了。

When I got up and look out from the window, I found, to my great surprise, it was snowing heavily. I was very excited since it was the first snowfall this winter.

I quickly got dressed and ran into the yard. Some kids were already there. We made some snowmen and rolled snowballs. We also enjoyed the fun of having snowball fights. Laughing and shouting, all of us were so happy. Suddenly we noticed that buses and cars were moving slowly because of the heavy snow. “Why don’t we go to clear the snow?” Someone suggested. At these words, we ran to fetch tools and began clearing the snow. After the whole morning’s hard work, the snow on the road was cleared and we went home happily.

Watching the snow falling down from the sky, I felt excited at once.

看到雪花正从天上飘落下来，我立刻兴奋起来。

The snow was so thick that the buses and cars couldn’t go fast.

雪太厚了，以至于公交车和小汽车都开不快。

What is the mean of lěng chǎng 冷场 muTu Note - Learn Chinese with Chinese Girl

“最怕空气突然安静~”，约会中遇到“冷场”那真是超级尴尬了。“冷场”，本意是指表演者由于忘词等原因，造成舞台演出的突然停止，现在也比喻正在进行的话题中断，气氛突然尴尬，可以翻译为“awkward silence或awkward pause”。

例句：

ér qiě wǒ men sī háo méi yǒu gān gà lěng chǎng 而且我们丝毫没有尴尬冷场。 And we haven’t had any of those awkward pauses.

lěng chǎng zhēn shì yuē huì zhōng zuì zāo gāo de shì 冷场真是约会中最糟糕的事。 Awkward silences really are the worst part of dating.

China Interview Do you have any questions for us? muTu Note - Learn Chinese with Chinese Girl

北方各地初雪都下了一阵了，应届生们关心的秋招也接近尾声。经历了重重面试的人大多都被问到过一个问题：“你对我们公司/这个岗位还有什么问题吗”（ Do you have any questions for us? ）多数人可能就说“暂时想不到 /没有了”。Reddit网友也发现基本没人反过来问招聘官问题。

Interviewers have often told me almost no one asks questions during interviews. 面试官们经常跟我提到说面试时几乎没有面试者提问。

有人想问薪水、工作职责等等，但又不知道如何开口。

Remember, at a job interview, YOU are also interviewing the company. 要记住，工作面试时，你同样也在面试这家公司。

An interview is a two-way street. The interviewer asks questions to learn about you, while you prepare questions to ask the interviewer about the position, the company and potential development within the company in order to make sure the position is a good fit for you. 一场面试是一个双向的通道。面试官通过提问来更多地了解你，同时你也该准备问题，向面试官就职位、公司、潜在发展等等进行提问，以此来确定该职位是否适合你。

Reddit网友TeamWaffleStomp认为，自己面试能成功全靠结束时问的那两个问题。

I’m currently working a dream job I’m barely qualified for. I’m pretty sure two questions I asked are what got me the job. 我现在在做的这份梦想工作我自己都觉得我有点配不上。我很确定他们录用我是因为我问的那两个问题。

问题1

“Could you explain your daily operations and schedule?” “你能告诉我该职位的日常工作和安排吗？“

问题2

“Is there anything in my resume or any answer I’ve given that raises questions about my ability to perform this job that I can go ahead and address?” “我简历里面或者我刚刚的回答中有什么问题使得你们对我做这份工作的能力产生了怀疑吗？如果有，我想跟进解决下。”

第一个问题帮他弄清楚真实的日常职责是什么样的，这样一来，第一天上班的时候就不会有什么不愉快的“惊吓”。

第二个问题让他展示了自己的自省能力并且有机会在面试官面前挽救一把，同时，就算没拿到offer，也弄清楚了自己可以提高的地方。

A lot of an interviewer’s task is listing out pros and cons very quickly for candidates. If you can take even two minutes to qualify your negatives, or even just acknowledge “Ah, I am aware that’s a shortcoming of mine and I’m taking X/Y/Z steps to fix/address it”, you basically erase them from the negatives list in that person’s mind. 大部分面试官要做的事情是很快地列出候选人的利弊。如果你能花两分钟的时间来给自己的短板打下圆场，哪怕就是大胆承认：“啊，我知道这是我的一个短板，我正在采取一二三点步骤来修正/解决它”，那么你基本上打消了别人对你能力的疑虑。

比方说，常见的“问题/短板”可以这样回答：

1、你两份工作间有很长的空档？

“Oh, for that gap in my resume I was actually doing a lot of freelance work, but I didn’t know how to format that into my work history.” “噢，说到那个空档，那段时间我其实是在做很多自由职业性质的工作，但是呢，我不知道怎么把它规范地写到简历的工作经历里”。

2、你的旧东家查无此公司？

“There’s no references listed for that company because it went bankrupt, sadly. If you’d like I can offer the phone number of my old manager, or show some old pay stubs from my time there to verify my employment.” “查不到这家公司是因为，很遗憾，它倒闭了。如果你需要，我可以把我以前经理的电话给你，或者我也可以给你看那时候的工资条，以此证明我在那儿上过班。”

Something like that. Super easy, only takes about a minute, but you can wipe out a ton of negative speculation. 就像上面那样。很简单的，虽然只花你一分钟，但是你可以打消人家对你的大量疑虑。

  不过也有人觉得这个问题比较冒险，本来人家可能没有记下你的短板，但是经你这么一提，面试官就开始想了。

It’s a bold move and I find it doesn’t really pay off. It means they have to think of all your negative qualities when they might not have even clocked any, and then you’re leaving the interview with that fresh on their mind. 这个问题比较冒险，我发现这么问也不一定有用。因为可能面试官根本就没写下几条你的短板，但是这么一问意味着他们就得去想一下你是否有弱点。你离开面试地的时候，人家脑子里全是这个问题。

Maybe the only answer they could offer you on site was “Hmmm nothing comes to mind”, but after you left, they would be looking for your negative qualities and you don’t get to address them. 当时，他们顶多会跟你说：“呃…暂时想不到”，但你走后，他们可能就会开始找你的短板，而且你也不会再有机会去处理了。

不过反问问题这个部分有时候也会收到出其不意的回答，直接帮你认清一家用人单位。

网友ILiketheBike面试的时候只是想知道有什么员工关怀措施能把人留下来安心工作，结果人告诉他“喝酒啊”。

I took an interview at a non-profit. I had an inkling it was a fairly high-stress position, so I asked if there are company policies on encouraging employee sustainability and how the organization supported its staff. 我去面试过一家非营利机构。此前就得知这个职位压力挺大的，所以我就问，公司是否有政策可以鼓励员工留下来，以及贵机构是如何践行员工关怀的。

The three people who were interviewing me looked at each other, and the Executive Director chortled and said, “we drink”. 面试我的那三个人面面相觑，随后主管大笑起来，说道：“我们喝酒啊。

It was immediately crossed off my list the moment I got up from the chair. 刚从椅子上起身我就在心里把这家机构划掉了。

甚至有公司在咖啡机旁边放啤酒的。这种公司不辞留着进ICU吗。

Ugh. I basically worked at a startup that was like this. They even had beer on tap, and I can remember a couple of engineers sneakily filling coffee mugs far too early in the morning and have a very vivid memory of my manager pouring a small bottle of hard liquor into his soda. 啊。我也在一家作风类似的初创公司干过。他们甚至有桶装啤酒可以接。我记得一大早就有几个工程师偷偷用咖啡杯接啤酒喝，记忆犹新的事儿还有就是，我的经理有次往自个儿苏打水里加了一小瓶烈酒。

…

I quit shortly after. 不久我就辞职了。

  除此之外，还有人问得很敏感——为什么有这个空位？之前那个人去哪了？

I will ask why they have a vacancy. If they bash the previous person, I’m probably less interested. 我会问为啥有这个职位空缺。如果他们狠狠地数落之前那个人，那我就会对这家公司兴趣大减。

我们搜集了一些常见的可以问面试官的问题以及一些小贴士，按需取用哦。

1. What is your biggest challenge, and would I be in a position to help you solve this problem? 贵公司最大的挑战是什么？我的职位会帮到你们解决这个挑战吗？

2. Can you walk me through a typical day in the life of this role? 您能给我梳理下这个职位一天通常的工作流是什么样的吗？

3. What have you enjoyed most about working here? 您工作在这儿最喜欢的一点是什么？

4. Do you have any hesitations about my qualifications? 您对我的资质经历有什么疑虑吗？

5. How will my success be measured in this role? What are the kinds of KPIs you have in place? 我在该职位的成功如何衡量？目前你们有哪些关键绩效指标？

6. Do you offer continuing education and professional training? 贵公司提供继续教育或者职业培训吗？

7. Can you tell me about the team I’ll be working with? 您能谈谈我即将共事的团队吗？

8. When your staff comes to you with conflicts, how do you respond? 当你的下属找来并跟你起冲突，你会如何回应？

9. What are some of the challenges that the predecessor faced in this role? 这个职位之前那个员工所碰到过的挑战有哪些？

10. Is this a new position? If so, why was this created? If not, why did the last employee leave? 这是一个新职位吗？如果是，为什么需要开设这个职位呢？如果不是，之前那名员工为什么离职？

11. I read X about (company name) in (media name). Can you tell me more about this? (This question shows you did your homework.) 我在……看到过贵公司的……您能跟我详细讲讲吗？（这个问题能显示出你为面试做过准备）

12. What is the typical career path for someone in this role? 该职位的通常职业路径是什么样的？

13. What are your expectations for this role during the first 30 days, 60 days, year? 您对该职位在30天内，60天内，或1年内的表现有什么期望吗？

14. What is the next step in the process? 招聘流程下一步怎么走？

If appropriate, try to weave these questions in as the interview is progressing. It demonstrates to the interviewer that you’re proactive and engaged in the process. Alternatively, wait until the end – but if the question has already been answered during the course of the interview, don’t ask it. 如果合适的话，尽量把这些问题穿插在面试中。这样能够向面试官展示出一个主动积极参与的你。不然，就等到最后再问。不过如果某个问题之前已经解答过了，那就不要问了。

Don’t ask a question that can easily be answered by researching the company website, or on Google. 不要问那种可以轻易地在公司官网或者谷歌上找到答案的问题。

找到工作了的朋友们，如果有啥忘了问，赶紧拿着这些问题问上司吧。还没有定下来的也别急，春招快来了。

Notes

qualify [ˈkwɒlɪfaɪ] v 使缓和：使减少刺耳或减轻 stub [stʌb] n 存根；票根 clock [klɒk] v 用机械设备登记或记录 chortle [ˈtʃɔːrtl] v 开怀大笑；哈哈大笑；高兴地咯咯笑

Blood is thicker than water Relatively Speaking ChengYu muTu Note - Learn Chinese with Chinese Girl

Blood is thicker than water: This well-worn chestnut is one of few idioms to take the exact same form in English and Chinese (血浓于水), though it is not clear if the phrases in the two languages are related.

Given the importance Chinese traditionally placed on family lineage, it is not surprising that many four-character idioms (chengyu) exist to describe one’s ties to blood relatives, or 亲戚 (qīn qi). Whether they reward you with “red envelopes” at Chinese New Year, or pepper you with intrusive questions, everyone has relatives, and can appreciate the following phrases:

骨肉至亲 Flesh and blood kin

骨肉, literally “bone and flesh,” is a metaphor for one’s blood relatives that appears in many family-related chengyu. This idiom describes one’s closest relatives, whether by lineage or emotional ties:

Gǔ ròu zhì qīn yīng tuán jié. 骨肉至亲应团结。 Blood relatives should be united.

六亲不认 Disowning one’s closest relatives

The term 六亲, literally means“six relations,” appears in many chengyu about family. In the ancient history text the Chronicle of Zuo(《左传》), 六亲 referred to six types of family relations that were considered to be the most important, namely father and son, brothers, father’s sisters, uncle and nephew, one’s wife’s father, and one’s son-in-law’s father.

Over time, 六亲 became a colloquialism simply meaning “close relatives,” and the idiom 六亲不认 refers to a heartless person who feels no kindness or gratitude toward anyone—not even their closest kin:

Qián kě yǐ ràng rén liù qīn bù rèn. 钱可以让人六亲不认。 Money can cause a person to forget their closest relatives.

沾亲带故 Claims of kinship and friendship

故 is an archaic way of referring to one’s friends, and this chengyu describes an assortment of people who can claim relation or friendship with oneself:

Tīng shuō tā chū rén tóu dì, suǒ yǒu zhān qīn dài gù de rén dōu fēn fēn lái tǎo hǎo tā. 听说他出人头地，所有沾亲带故的人都纷纷来讨好他。 After he became a success, everyone who was remotely connected to him came to curry favors.

皇亲国戚 Relative of the emperor and kin of the nation; powerful people

Bringing honor to one’s relations is all well and good, but the truly illustrious families were those who governed a country: in the past, the emperor’s relatives often took high political office, and could even rule the country as regents. 皇亲国戚 is a metaphor for a person who is so powerful, they might as well be related to the emperor himself:

Tā de gǎi gé dé zuì le gōng sī lǐ suǒ yǒu de “huáng qīn guó qī.” 他的改革得罪了公司里所有的“皇亲国戚”。 His reforms offended all the bigshots in the company.

情同骨肉 As dear as flesh and blood

Family can come in all shapes and sizes, and a friend can sometimes feel as close as a blood relative—hence this chengyu:

Wǒ men jǐ gè rén shì huàn nàn zhī jiāo, qíng tóng gǔ ròu. 我们几个人是患难之交，情同骨肉。 We have gone through many hardships together, and are as close as family.

Let’s Travel to Hainan in Winter muTu Note - Learn Chinese with Chinese Girl

场景：大卫从广州出差回来，约李丽一起吃饭 Scene: David came back from a business trip in Guangzhou and asked Li Li to have dinner with him 人物：大卫和李丽 Characters: David and Li Li

大卫：广州真是个好地方。城市很漂亮，好吃的东西也很多。 李丽：天气热吗？ 大卫：很热。现在是秋天了，北京已经凉快了，但是广州还是很热。 李丽：中国的地方大，所以南方跟北方的气候很不一样。 大卫：没错。秋天还是在北京舒服。 李丽：对，秋天是北京最好的季节。不过，再过一个月，天气就冷了。 大卫：北京的冬天有多冷？ 李丽：肯定比你的家乡冷多了。到时候你就知道了。 大卫：对了，今年冬天我有两周的假期，去哪儿旅游比较好呢？ 李丽：冬天去海南吧。海南在中国的最南边，有阳光和沙滩，最适合冬天度假。 大卫：你有假期的话，跟我一起去吧。 李丽：好啊，希望今年能有假期。

课文 Text

Dà wèi ：Guǎngzhōu zhēn shì gè hǎo dìfang. Chéngshì hěn piāoliang，hǎochī de dōngxi yé hěnduō. 大 卫： 广 州 真 是 个 好 地方。城市 很 漂亮， 好吃 的 东西 也 很多。 Lǐ Lì ：Tiānqì rè ma？ 李 丽：天气 热 吗？ Dà wèi ：Hěn rè. Xiànzài shì qiūtiān le，Běijīng yǐjīng liángkuai le，dànshì Guǎngzhōu háishì hěnrè. 大卫： 很 热。现在 是 秋天了，北京 已经 凉快 了，但是 广州 还是 很热。 Lǐ Lì ：Zhōngguó de dìfang dà ，suóyǐ nánfāng gēn běifāng de qìhòu hěn bù yíyàng. 李 丽：中国 的 地方 大，所以 南方 跟 北方 的 气候 很 不 一样。 Dà wèi ：Méicuò. Qiūtiān háishì zài Běijīng shūfu. 大卫： 没错。 秋天 还是 在 北京 舒服。 Lǐ Lì ：Duì ，qiūtiān shì Běijīng zuìhǎo de jìjiē. Búguò ，zàiguò yí gè yuè ，tiānqi jiù lěng le. 李 丽：对，秋天 是 北京 最好 的 季节。不过，再过 一 个月，天气 就冷了。 Dà wèi：Běijīng de dōngtiān yǒu duō lěng ？ 大卫：北京 的 冬天 有 多 冷？ Lǐ Lì ：Kěndìng bǐ nǐde jiāxiāng lěng duō le. Dàoshíhou nǐ jiù zhīdao le. 李 丽：肯定 比 你的 家乡 冷 多 了。到时候 你 就 知道了。 Dà wèi ：Duìle ，jīnnián dōngtiān wó yǒu liǎng zhōu de jiàqī ， qù nǎr lǚyóu bǐjiào hǎo ne ？ 大卫：对了， 今年 冬天 我 有 两 周 的 假期，去哪儿 旅游 比较 好 呢？ Lǐ Lì ：Dōngtiān qù Hǎinán ba. Hǎinán zài Zhōngguó de zuì nánbiān，yǒu yángguāng hé shātān， 李 丽：冬天 去 海南 吧。海南 在 中国 的 最 南边， 有 阳光 和 沙滩， zuì shìhé dōngtiān dùjià. 最 适合 冬天 度假。 Dà wèi ：Ní yǒu jiàqī de huà，gēn wǒ yìqǐ qù ba. 大卫：你 有 假期 的 话，跟 我 一起 去 吧。 Lǐ Lì ：Hǎo a ，xīwàng jīnnián néng yǒu jiàqī. 李 丽：好啊，希望 今年 能 有 假期。

重点句 Key Sentences

Xiànzài shì qiūtiān le， Běijīng yǐjīng liángkuai le. 1. 现在 是 秋天 了，北京 已经 凉快了。 Zàiguò yí gè yuè ，tiānqi jiù lěng le. 2. 再过 一 个 月，天气 就 冷 了。 Dàoshíhou nǐ jiù zhīdao le. 3. 到时候 你 就 知道 了。 Xīwàng jīnnián néng yǒu jiàqī. 4. 希望 今年 能 有 假期。

讲解 Explanations

1.……有多+adj: 本结构用于疑问句，构成“主语+有多+adj？”的句式，一般用于对话中，而且用于这样的上下文中：上文已经提到一个情况的程度，问话者用“……有多+adj？”追问具体达到了何种程度。例如： （1）A；北京的冬天挺冷的。 B：北京的冬天有多冷？ A：最冷的时候有零下十几度呢。 （2）A：你真高，你有多高？ B：1.75米。 （3）A：咱们从这儿去天安门，走路去太远了。 B：从这儿到天安门有多远？ A：大约40公里。 例（1）中A说“北京的冬天挺冷的”，B追问“北京的冬天有多冷”，得到的具体程度是“最冷的时候有零下十几度呢 。”例（2）中A觉得B个子很高，想知道B的具体身高，用了“你真高，你的个子有多高？”。 ……yǒuduō+ adj: The structure Subject + yǒuduō+ adj is used in questions. It fits the following contexts: when person A mentions a degree, and person B wants to make a detailed inquiry, Subject + yǒuduō+ adj can be used. For example: (1) A: Běijīnɡ de dōnɡtiān tǐnɡ lěnɡ de。Winter in Beijing is quite cold. B：Běijīnɡ de dōnɡtiān yǒu duō lěnɡ？How cold is it in Beijing? A: Zuì lěnɡ de shíhou yǒu línɡxià shíjǐdù ne。The temperature is lower than -10℃ in coldest time. (2)A: Nǐ zhēn ɡāo，nǐ yǒu duō ɡāo？ You are really tall! How tall are you? B：1.75 mǐ。 I’m 1.75 meter. (3)A: Zánmen cónɡ zhèr qù Tiān’ānmén，zǒulù qù tài yuǎn le。 It’s too far for us to walk to Tian’anmen from here. B：Cónɡ zhèr dào Tiānānmén yǒu duō yuǎn？ How far is it from here to Tian’anmen? A：Dàyuē 40 ɡōnɡlǐ。 It’s about 40kilometers.

2.到时候：有“等到做某件事或见到某人的时候”、“到了约定时间的时候”的意思，一般用于表达将来时间的句中。例如： （1）A：北京有多冷？ B：到时候你就知道了。 （2）明天咱们去广州，到时候在机场见。 （3）咱们约好这个周日一起看电影，到时候你一定要来啊。 Dào shíhou: When the time comes. It’s used in sentences indicating future time. Examples include: (1)A:Běijīnɡ yǒu duō lěnɡ？ How cold is Beijing? B:Dào shíhou nǐ jiù zhīdào le。 You will know that in store. (2)Mínɡtiān zánmen qù Guǎnɡzhōu，dào shíhou zài jīchǎnɡ jiàn。 We’ll fly to Guangzhou tomorrow, let’s see then at the airport. (3)Zánmen yuēhǎo zhè ɡe zhōurì yìqǐ kàn diànyǐnɡ，dào shíhou nǐ yídìnɡ yào láia。We arranged to go to the cinema together this Sunday. You must be sure to come.

3.还是：A.表示动作、行为或状态保持不变，有“仍然”的意思。例如： （1）北京已经凉快了，但是广州还是很热。 （2）十年过去了，她还是很年轻。 （3）《飘》是个老电影，不过还是有很多人喜欢看。 B.表示经过比较、考虑，有所选择，“还是”后的结构为做出的选择。例如： （1）秋天还是北京舒服。 （2）尝了很多国家的美食，我还是最爱吃中国菜。 （3）现在是交通高峰期，咱们还是坐地铁去故宫吧。 Háishì: A. It expresses that an action or a state keep unchangable. It means still. For example: （1）Běijīnɡ yǐjīnɡ liánɡkuài le，dànshì Guǎnɡzhōu háishì hěn rè。 Beijing has already got cool, but Guangzhou is still hot. （2）Shínián ɡuòqù le，tā háishì hěn niánqīnɡ。 She is still so young after 10 years. （3）《Piāo》 shì ɡè lǎo diànyǐnɡ，búɡuò háishì yǒu hěnduō rén xǐhuɑn kàn。 Gone with the wind is an old movie, but people still like it. B. It indicates that someone has a choice after comparison and consideration. The choice follows after háishì. For example: （1）Qiūtiān háishì Běijīnɡ shūfu。 Beijing is more comfortable after all. （2）Chánɡ le hěnduō ɡuójiā de měishí，wǒ háishì zuì àichī Zhōnɡɡuó cài。 I’d prefer Chinese food to other countries’ fine food. （3）Xiànzài shì jiāotōnɡ ɡāofēnɡqī，zánmen háishì zuò dìtiě qù Gùɡōnɡ bɑ。 It’s peak traffic hour, let’s take subway to the Palace Museum.

练习 Exercises

Xiànzài Běijīng rè ma ? 1.A：现在 北京 热 吗？ Xiànzài shì qiūtiān le， B: 现在 是 秋天 了，_______________。

Qiūtiān Guǎngzhōu rè ma? 2.A：秋天 广州 热 吗？ B: ___________________。

Běijīng de dōngtiān yǒu duō lěng ？ 3.A：北京 的 冬天 有 多 冷？ B: _________________。

Jīnnián dōngtiān gēnwǒ yìqǐ qù Hǎinán ba. 4.A：今年 冬天 跟我 一起 去 海南吧。 Hǎo a ， B: 好啊，__________________。

参考答案 Reference answers

Běijīng yǐjīng liángkuai le. 1. 北京 已经 凉快 了。 Qiūtiān Guǎngzhōu háishì hěn rè. 2. 秋天 广州 还是 很 热。 Dàoshíhou nǐ jiù zhīdao le. 3. 到时候 你 就 知道 了。 Xīwàng jīnnián néng yǒu jiàqī. 4. 希望 今年 能 有 假期。

语言点：“了”的用法 Language point: Usages of le

助词“了”的用法较多，以下分别说明。 A.助词“了”用于句尾，表示已经完成了，用于已经发生的事情。例如： （1）昨天我去颐和园了。 （2）大卫上星期回国了。 用于句尾的“了”的否定形式是：……没VP。例如： （3）昨天我没去故宫。 B.“了”用于动词后，表示动作已经完成，用于已经发生的事情，动词宾语前一般带数量词作定语。也用于将来发生的事情，宾语前无此限制。例如： （1）昨天我买了一个西瓜。 （2）明天我吃了饭，就去公司。 用于动词后的“了”的否定形式是：……没VP。例如： （3）昨天我没买西瓜。 C.表示状态出现了变化，用于句尾，其否定形式是：……不VP了。例如： （1）北京已经凉快了。 （2）要下雨了，我们回家吧。 （3）我不去广州了。

The particle le has many functions. Its usages are as follows:

A.le is placed in the end of sentence, which indicates an action occurred in the past and the state has been ended. Examples include: （1）Zuótiān wǒ qù Yíhéyuán le。 I went to the Summer Palace yesterday. （2）Dàwèi shànɡxīnɡqī huíɡuó le。 David went back to his country last week. The negative form of le is: ……méi VP. For example: (3)Zuótiān wǒ méi qù Gùɡōnɡ。 I didn’t go to the Palace Museum.

B.le is used after verbs which indicates an actions has finished. A quantifier should be used before objects when le is used in past tense. le can also be used in future tense which has no limitation for objects. (1)Zuótiān wǒ mǎi le yíɡè xīɡuā。 I bought a melon yesterday. （2）Mínɡtiān wǒ chī le fàn，jiù qù ɡōnɡsī。 I’ll go to the company as soon as I finish eating. The negative form of le in this case is:……méi VP. For example: (3)Zuótiān wǒ méi mǎi xīɡuā。I didn’t buy a melon yesterday.

C. le indicates that a state has changed which is placed in the end of a sentence. Its negative form is: ……bù + VP + le. For example: （1）Běijīnɡ yǐjīnɡ liánɡkuài le。 Beijing has got cool. (2)Yào xiàyǔ le，wǒmen huíjiā bɑ。 It’s raining. Let’s go home. (3)Wǒ bú qù Guǎnɡzhōu le。 I’m not going to Guangzhou.

Can a One Year Old Decide Their Own Career? muTu Note - Learn Chinese with Chinese Girl

If you thought declaring your major as a college freshman（大学新生，dà xué xīn shēng） was a lot of pressure, try deciding your career path at just one year old! The adorable ceremony that I’m referring to is called Zhuazhou (抓周，zhuā zhōu), a tradition that’s been taking place in China since the Qing Dynasty (1644 – 1911) and was mainly a tradition celebrated among noble families（贵族，guì zú）.

The Zhuazhou ceremony（仪式，yí shì） is where various objects, each representing a different career path（职业道路，zhí yè dào lù）, are placed around either a large table or on the bed. Then like a turtle race, the crawling baby is set loose and close family and friends watch as the birthday boy or girl crawls（爬行，pá xíng） toward all the various objects around him/her. Then based on what the baby selects（选择，xuǎn zé） first, it was believed that object was an indication（暗示，àn shì） of their future career path.

Back in the ancient days, items like Chinese calligraphy brushes（毛笔，máo bǐ）, ink, paper, sword, abacus, coins, jewelry, food, and toys were placed around the babies. For baby girls, they’d include items like spoons, scissors, and thread which represented the girl would become a good housewife（家庭主妇，jiā tíng zhǔ fù） in the future. It was also believed that in the olden days parents would sometimes put celery and shallots in the mix as well because these vegetables have Chinese names with positive homonyms. If the baby picks the celery (芹 qín) it meant that he or she will be hardworking（勤奋的，qín fèn de） and if they pick the shallots (葱 cōng) it meant that he or she will be smart（聪明的，cōng míng de）.

Today, the tradition（传统，chuán tǒng） of Zhuazhou is still practiced around China, but it’s definitely not taken seriously anymore. This is more for entertainment（娱乐，yú lè） at a first birthday（生日，shēng rì）, because, well, how else will adults stay entertained at a one year old’s birthday?

Nowadays, instead of items like abacus（算盘，suàn pán） and gender specific items for girls, parents are replacing traditional Zhuazhou items with things like a syringe (representing a future as a doctor), calculator (entrepreneur，企业家), balls (athlete，运动员), pens (artist，艺术家), ruler (lawyer，律师), books (scholar，学者), phones (tech guru，技术专家), microphones (singers，歌手), or stamps (government official，政府官员).

The tradition of Zhuazhou has lasted for generations, and even though it’s highly unlikely that new parents today are still superstitious（迷信的，mí xìn de） enough to believe that their crawling baby will decide their future on their first birthday simply by choosing an item, the custom（习俗，xí sú） has been passed down through generations（代代相传，dài dài xiāng chuán） and still practiced today – but mostly just for entertainment.

How to give gift to Chinese girl muTu Note - Learn Chinese with Chinese Girl

Do you know how to give gift to Chinese girl or other people in the world? 无论是为了某个特别的节日，还是为了表达感谢，抑或是为了让对方明白你很在乎，赠送礼物都是人类共同的习俗。各地赠礼的目的也许相近，但赠礼的传统却因国而异。在某地表示尊重的赠礼行为，在另一个地方看来则可能会被视为无礼。一起看看世界各地独一无二的赠礼传统吧。

In Europe, don’t accidentally cut yourself out of someone’s life.在欧洲，别不小心与人一刀两断。

Here in the US, a set of kitchen knives seems like the perfect gift idea for a wedding or holiday. However, in certain European countries like Germany, superstition dictates that a knife presented as a gift will sever your friendship. There is a way to beat this superstition: Tie a penny to the knife or gift box. The receiver then returns the penny to you as a “payment” to nullify the bad luck.

在美国，一套厨房刀具似乎是十分理想的婚礼或节日礼物。然而在某些欧洲国家，如德国，迷信让人们相信赠送刀具会割断朋友之间的友谊。打破这种迷信的办法是：在刀或礼品盒上绑一枚硬币。收礼人把硬币还给赠礼之人以示“付款”，用以抵消厄运。

In Britain, diamonds are 60th wedding anniversary gifts.在英国，60周年结婚纪念日礼物是钻石。

Lottery tickets are bought and exchanged here more than they are anywhere else in the world, and often make a suitable birthday gift. Though diamonds originally symbolised 75 years of married life in the UK, they are now associated with 60, as Victoria’s 60 years on the throne marked her Jubilee.

在英国，彩票的购买、交换比世界上任何地方都要多，而且适合作为生日礼物。原本钻石在英国象征75年婚姻生活，但由于维多利亚女王登基60年便举办了钻禧庆典，因而现在钻石代表60周年纪念。

At an Italian wedding, buy yourself a piece of the tie.参加意大利婚礼，给自己买片领带。

There’s a well-known Italian wedding tradition where the groom’s tie is cut into a number of tiny pieces. Wedding guests can then “buy” these tie slices in exchange for cash. It’s a fun way to give money to the bride and groom that leaves guests with a wedding souvenir. In addition to a visit from Santa, Italian kids have their stockings filled by a fallacious witch at the end of Epiphany on January 6. Interestingly, gifts are not exchanged between or within companies, as the act is deemed a little tacky.

意大利婚礼上有名的传统就是把新郎的领带切成许多小片。婚礼来宾通过“购买”这些领带片，交换现金给新人。这种有趣的方式让宾客得到婚礼纪念品，又给新郎新娘随了礼金。意大利的小朋友除了受到圣诞老人的眷顾外，在1月6日主显节结束时，还会收到巫女装进他们袜子里的礼物。有趣的是，公司之间或公司内部不会互赠礼物，因为人们认为这种行为有点俗气。

In Russia, Vodka is not a desirable gift.在俄罗斯，伏特加酒并不是称心的礼物。

Due to the way Russia was governed during the Soviet era, Russians celebrate New Year with more gusto than they do at Christmas. While Vodka might seem the most suitable gift for a Russian, a lot of them would see it as an unimaginative gesture. Many even perceive the notion as insulting.

受苏联时期统治方式影响，与圣诞节相比俄罗斯人更乐于庆祝新年。也许伏特加看起来是最适合俄罗斯人的礼物，可实际上在很多俄罗斯人看来这是没创意的礼物。许多人甚至会认为送伏特加酒这一想法就是无礼的。

In Israel, nobody’s giving or receiving gifts.在以色列，没人送礼物，也没人收礼物。

Despite the kind gesture, thank you cards and notes are not a common part of the gifting custom in Israel. Contrary to the way American Jews exchange gifts during Hanukkah, those from or residing in Israel won’t typically receive gifts from one another.

尽管有送礼物这种善意的举动，但感谢卡和感谢便条在以色列赠礼传统中并不常见。与美国犹太人在光明节互换礼物不同，来自以色列或在以色列居住的犹太人通常不会互换礼物。

In Native America, your host gives gifts rather than receive them.在印第安人中，主人赠送礼物，而不是接收礼物。

Native American gifting etiquette is exactly the opposite to that of any other culture. Traditionally during weddings and powwow celebrations (birthdays aren’t always recognised), guests are the receivers of gifts rather than whomever the host may be.

印第安人的赠礼礼节与任何其他文化都相反。按照传统，在婚礼和预祝仪式上（生日不算在内），其他文化中是主人接收礼物，而印第安文化中则为来宾接收礼物。

In Japan, presentation is paramount.在日本，赠礼方式至关重要。

The Japanese place a great emphasis on the act of gift giving (it’s not unheard of to send a thank-you gift for a thank-you gift), and presentation plays a big role in determining how your gift is received. For example, it’s considered distasteful to hand off uncovered cash. So whether you’re sending money as a gift or just leaving a tip, place your money in an envelope to ensure it’s received in a respectful manner. It’s also customary to place a tight decorative knot on a wedding gift envelope, since folklore dictates that the envelope should be “impossible to open.”

日本人非常重视赠礼（因收到感谢礼物而又赠出感谢礼物也不足为奇），而赠礼方式直接影响礼物的接收。举例来说，赠送无包装的现金会令人不快。那么，无论用作礼物还是支付小费的现金都要装进信封，保证收礼物的人受到尊重。按照惯例，人们会在新婚礼物的信封上打个装饰死结，因为民间传说新婚礼物的信封应该“打不开”。

In China, red envelopes and even denominations bring good luck.在中国，红包和双数会带来好运。

Chinese New Year has a rich set of traditions. One of the most popular customs of this holiday is giving out money in red envelopes. Known as “yasuiqian” which means “the money used to suppress the evil spirit,” these gifts are meant to bring good luck. In addition to how you give money, there’s also superstition around the amount you give. Gifting an odd numbered amount of money is associated with the “baijin,” gifts given during funerals, and is considered bad luck. It’s important to make sure that even the first digit is even, as numbers like 30 and 50 are considered odd.

中国新年有一整套丰富的传统。节日里最流行的习俗就是赠送装在红色信封里的钱，这叫作“压岁钱”，是“用来镇恶驱邪的钱”，是要带来好运的。除了送钱的方式，对礼金的金额也有迷信。单数金额跟“白金”（葬礼上的礼金）相联系，被视为厄运。哪怕是礼金的第一位数都一定要保证是双数，像30和50都被视为单数。

In India, gifts are given with the right hand.在印度，用右手送礼物。

As left hands are considered unclean in Indian culture, gestures such as touching, passing money, or giving gifts are to be done with the right hand. Contrary to some other cultures, an odd number of objects or currency denotes good luck. For example, £11 should be given as opposed to £10.

印度文化认为左手不干净，像接触、传递钱物或赠送礼物都要用右手。与某些文化不同，印度文化视单数的物件或钱为吉利。例如，11镑比10 镑好。

In South America, sharp objects are unlucky.在南美，锋利的物件不吉利。

The majority of people from South American countries will see the offering of sharp objects as a sign that you want the relationship with them severed, so scissors and cooking knives are best avoided. On the eve of January 6 at the end of the Christmas period, Argentinian children will customarily leave their shoes by their beds to be filled with small gifts. Meanwhile in Brazil, seaside settlements will send gifts of f lowers, fruits or jewellery out to sea to honour the Goddess of Water.

南美洲国家的大部分人认为赠送锋利尖锐的物件是想断绝关系的标志，所以送礼物最好避免赠送剪刀和厨刀。圣诞节节期最后一天1月6日前夕，阿根廷的孩子们通常会把鞋留在床边，等着装满小礼物。在巴西，海边的居民会把鲜花、水果或珠宝撒向大海以祭水神。

In Trinidad and Tobago, nobody’s too young for a gift.在特立尼达和多巴哥，年龄再小都能收礼物。

In Trinidad & Tobago, it’s customary to celebrate the birth of a newborn baby by placing money in its hand. This gesture conveys best wishes for the child’s healthy and prosperous upbringing.

在特立尼达和多巴哥，人们习惯把钱放在新生儿手里来庆祝孩子的出生。这种做法表达了对孩子健康茁壮成长的美好祝愿。

In Zimbabwe, a dance can speak a thousand words.在津巴布韦，舞蹈胜过千言万语。

In Zimbabwe, it is not uncommon to be directly asked for a gift. When one has been bought even without requesting it, the worst you can do is to refuse the offering, even if the family giving is starving. Also, gestures of thanks are preferred over verbal reciprocation. These may include jumping up and down, dancing, or whistling.

在津巴布韦，直接要礼物的情况并不少见。在没提要求而收到礼物的情况下，即使送礼方家庭极度贫困，拒绝接收也绝对是下下策。同时人们认为用动作表示感谢胜过口头答谢。表示感谢的动作可以是蹦蹦跳跳，也可以是翩翩起舞，或者吹个口哨。

How to talk About Covid19 Pandemic with Chinese muTu Note - Learn Chinese with Chinese Girl

If you’re learning Chinese, and have Chinese friends, family, or coworkers, you may have been wanting to check in with them, to see how they’re doing amid the pandemic.

You can learn how to chat about life during the pandemic with Chinese people you know!

小美：张明，你最近怎么样啊？还好吗？ xiǎo měi: zhāng míng nǐ zuì jìn zěn me yàng a hái hǎo ma Xiao Mei: Zhang Ming, how have you been lately? Have you been OK?

张明：你好小美，好久没联系了！ zhāng míng: nǐ hǎo xiǎo měi hǎo jiǔ méi lián xì le Zhang Ming: Hi Xiaomei, it’s been a while since we’ve talked last!

张明：我这边还不错，你呢？ zhāng míng: wǒ zhè biān hái bù cuò nǐ ne Zhang Ming: I’ve been pretty good. How about you?

小美：我也是，你们家里人都好吗？ xiǎo měi: wǒ yě shì nǐ mén jiā lǐ rén dōu hǎo ma Xiao Mei: Me too. How is your family?

张明：我们家里人都很好，谢谢你的关心！ zhāng míng: wǒ men jiā lǐ rén dōu hěn hǎo xiè xie nǐ de guān xīn Zhang Ming: Our family is great. Thanks for being concerned!

张明：你们家呢？希望一切都好。 zhāng míng: nǐ men jiā ne xī wàng yī qiè dōu hǎo Zhang Ming: How about your family? I hope everything is good.

小美：我们挺好的，还好家里没人感染病毒。 xiǎo měi: wǒ men tǐng hǎo de hái hǎo jiā lǐ méi rén gǎn rǎn bìng dú Xiao Mei: We’re pretty good. Luckily none of my family members have gotten the virus.

小美：因为疫情的原因，我现在都在家里工作了，所以很少出门了。 xiǎo měi: yīn wèi yì qíng de yuán yīn wǒ xiàn zài dōu zài jiā lǐ gōng zuò le suǒ yǐ hěn shǎo chū mén le Xiao Mei: Because of the pandemic, now I’m working from home. I don’t go out much.

小美：你们公司的情况怎么样？ xiǎo měi: nǐ men gōng sī de qíng kuàng zěn me yàng Xiao Mei: How is your company’s situation?

张明：没办法，因为我在银行工作，所以得每天都去上班。 zhāng míng: méi bàn fǎ yīn wèi wǒ zài yín háng gōng zuò suǒ yǐ děi měi tiān dōu qù shàng bān Zhang Ming: There’s nothing that can be done. I have to go to work every day because I work at a bank.

张明：不过，公司有很多新的安全措施来保护我们的。 zhāng míng: bù guò gōng sī yǒu hěn duō xīn de ān quán cuò shī lái bǎo hù wǒ men de Zhang Ming: But, our company has many new safety measures to protect us.

小美：哦，那还不错！ xiǎo měi: ò nà hái bù cuò Xiao Mei: Oh, that’s good!

张明：嗯，公司要求我们每个员工还有客人戴口罩。 zhāng míng: èn gōng sī yāo qiú wǒ men měi gè yuán gōng hái yǒu kè rén dài kǒu zhào Zhang Ming: The company requires every employee and customer to wear a face mask.

张明：然后排队办理业务时需要保持两米左右的距离。 zhāng míng: rán hòu pái duì bàn lǐ yè wù shí xū yào bǎo chí liǎng mǐ zuǒ yòu de jù lí Zhang Ming: And then when lining up to handle things, everyone needs to maintain a distance of 2 meters.

张明：恰好柜台以前就有玻璃，这样就可以保护我们和客人的安全了。 zhāng míng: qià hǎo guì tái yǐ qián jiù yǒu bō lí zhè yàng jiù kě yǐ bǎo hù wǒ men hé kè rén de ān quán le Zhang Ming: It just so happens that the counter already had a glass before, this way it can protect our and the customers’ safety.

张明：另外，我们还会戴手套。 zhāng míng: lìng wài wǒ men hái huì dài shǒu tào Zhang Ming: Also, we wear gloves.

张明：每个人桌子上也有自己的免洗杀菌洗手液，这样可以经常消毒什么的。 zhāng míng: měi gè rén zhuō zi shàng yě yǒu zì jǐ de miǎn xǐ shā jūn xǐ shǒu yè zhè yàng kě yǐ jīng cháng xiāo dú shén me de Zhang Ming: Each person’s desk also has its own hand sanitizer, this way each of us can sanitize often and whatnot.

小美：嗯，听起来还挺安全的！ xiǎo měi: èn tīng qǐ lái hái tǐng ān quán de Xiao Mei: Yeah, it sounds pretty safe!

小美：银行这个行业需要当面和客人交流，帮助办理业务什么的。 xiǎo měi: yín háng zhè gè háng yè xū yào dāng miàn hé kè rén jiāo liú bāng zhù bàn lǐ yè wù shén me de Xiao Mei: In the banking industry you have to communicate with customers in person, help them handle business, etc.

小美：感觉你们还是很辛苦的！ xiǎo měi: gǎn jué nǐ men hái shì hěn xīn kǔ de Xiao Mei: It seems you guys are working hard!

小美：希望能尽快恢复正常。 xiǎo měi: xī wàng néng jìn kuài huī fù zhèng cháng Xiao Mei: I hope things will go back to normal soon.

张明：看看疫情过后，咱们一起去吃个饭吧！ zhāng míng: kàn kan yì qíng guò hòu zán men yì qǐ qù chī gè fàn ba Zhang Ming: After the pandemic, let’s have a meal together!

小美：好啊，这么说定啦！ xiǎo měi: hǎo a zhè me shuō dìng la Xiao Mei: OK, it’s decided!

小美：希望疫情能早点儿过去！ xiǎo měi: xī wàng yì qíng néng zǎo diǎn er guò qù Xiao Mei: I hope the pandemic will pass soon.

张明：是啊！ zhāng míng: shì a Zhang Ming: Yeah!

张明：我这边还有点儿事，那我先忙了，咱们保持联系！ zhāng míng: wǒ zhè biān hái yǒu diǎn er shì nà wǒ xiān máng le zán men bǎo chí lián xì Zhang Ming: I have something to take care of. I’ll get back to work now. Let’s keep in contact!

小美：嗯，好的！拜拜！ xiǎo měi: èn hǎo de bái bái Xiao Mei: Yeah, OK! Bye!

张明：再见！ zhāng míng: zài jiàn Zhang Ming: Bye!

My views on the development of private car ownership muTu Note - Learn Chinese with Chinese Girl

With improved social developments, more and more Chinese families are beginning to afford private cars.

随着社会的发展，越来越多的中国家庭能够买得起私人轿车。然而，对于是否应该发展私人轿车，人们的观点则各有不同。

在有些人看来，私人轿车给他们提供了很大的便利和灵活性，人们不再依赖公共交通，他们可以随心所欲地去自己想去的地方。然而，发反对者则认为私人轿车使城市的交通状况更为糟糕，到处都出现堵车现象；并且，过多的私人轿车及大地污染了空气。

在我看来，私人轿车数量的增加是我国现代化的一个标志，但是我们 应该制定相关政策来严格控制私人轿车。

With improved social developments, more and more Chinese families are beginning to afford private cars. Yet opinions of whether we should develop private car ownership or not differ from person to person.

In some people’s eyes, private cars offer them great convenience and mobility. People no longer have to depend on public transportation and they can go wherever they want. However, opponents of this idea think that private cars make the situation of city traffic even worse. There are already so many traffic jams. What’s more, so many private cars greatly pollute the air.

As far as  I’m concerned, the increasing number of private cars is a symbol of the modernization of our country, but we should try to carry out some relative policies to put the use of private cars under firm control.

What pets do you like? Look here! muTu Note - Learn Chinese with Chinese Girl

Nowadays, many people would like to keep pets as their companions. There are so many pet shops, pet foods, and even pet clinics around us.

现在，很多人喜欢喂养宠物作为自己的伙伴。我们周围有许多宠物店、宠物食品甚至宠物医院。对于那些宠物的饲养者来说，宠物是他们最好的朋友并且能给他们带来无尽的乐趣。

然而，宠物也会给他人带来麻烦。有些人抱怨他们的生活被如此多的狗吠声所骚扰；小猫小狗还很可能伤及孩子，许多人认为喂养宠物应该受到限制。

就我而言，宠物是我们的朋友，我们应该善待他们，然而我们也应估计他人的感受。我希望在我们享受宠物给我们带来的快乐的同时，他人仍然能够拥有宁静祥和的生活。

Nowadays, many people would like to keep pets as their companions. There are so many pet shops, pet foods, and even pet clinics around us. For pet owners, pets are their favorite friends and can bring them countless pleasures.

However, pets can bring problems to others as well. Some people complain that their lives are disturbed by so many dogs’ barking; some children even get hurt by the dogs or cats. Many people think that pet-keeping should be limited.

As far as I am concerned, pets are our friends so we should treat them kindly. Yet we should also consider other people’s feelings. I hope while we are enjoying the happiness pets bring to us, other people can also continue their quiet and peaceful lives.

Choice Chengyu: Idioms That Go Boom muTu Note - Learn Chinese with Chinese Girl

Gunpowder, one of China’s “Four Great Inventions,” was probably an accident: Historians believe that alchemists were trying to make the pill of immortality when the ingredients in the cauldron (sulfur, nitrates, and honey, according to a ninth-century recipe) went boom.

Choice Chengyu: Idioms That Go Boom

Whether or not gunpowder has made a positive impact on the world in the 1,200 years since it was invented, however, is up to debate—and, judging by idioms that have to do with the explosion, even ancient people were themselves far from sure. While a great force was sometimes admired, or at least feared and respected, as a driver of progress and change, its destructive potential was considered troubling, as shown by many of the sayings below:

血肉横飞 Xuě ròu héng fēi Blood and flesh flying horizontally

What could make blood and flesh fly horizontally? A powerful force like an explosion, of course. This gruesome chengyu describes a scene of great carnage after a natural or human-made disaster.

狂轰滥炸 Kuáng hōng làn zhà Bombarding savagely and indiscriminately

Another self-explanatory chengyu, this is often used to describe modern warfare, especially battles with huge losses to civilian life. However, it can also figuratively describe the feeling of being overwhelmed by information.

zhàn zhēng zhōng duì nàn mín yíng de kuáng hōng làn zhà shì bù kě kuān shù de 战争中对难民营的狂轰滥炸是不可宽恕的。 There is no excuse for the indiscriminate bombing of refugee camps in war.

石破天惊 Shí pò tiān jīng Shattering the earth and shocking the heavens

Though it sounds similar to the idioms above, this chengyu is a positive one, used to describe an earth-shakingly original idea or occurrence. It originally appeared in a Tang dynasty (618 – 907) poem by Li He (李贺), which tells the musician Li Ping’s (李凭) wonderful skill at the konghou (箜篌), an ancient harp-like instrument. Supposedly, Li Ping’s music was so touching that it broke open the five-colored rock with which the goddess Nüwa (女娲) had repaired the sky, and made the heavens rain.

běn wén duì cǐ shì jìn xíng le chōng fèn de fēn xī，bìng dé dào le yī gè shí pò tiān jīng de jié lùn 本文对此事进行了充分的分析，并得到了一个石破天惊的结论。 This essay analyzed the issue thoroughly and arrived at an earth-shattering conclusion.

一触即发 Yī chù jí fā Triggered by a single touch

This chengyu refers to a tense situation that has reached a critical point, where any small trigger can set off a crisis.

liǎng guó zhī jiān de jǐn zhāng zhuàng tài yǐ dá dào yī chù jí fā de chéng dù 两国之间的紧张状态已达到一触即发的程度。 Tensions between the two countries have reached a boiling point.

It’s time for a simple Mandarin Test! muTu Note - Learn Chinese with Chinese Girl

Do you know what your Chinese level is now? It’s time for a simple Mandarin Test!

Given that learning is a lifelong endeavor – especially when it comes to linguistics – practice certainly does make perfect, or at least something approximating perfection.

Here is an opportunity to test your Chinese proficiency. With any luck, it will reignite your passion to explore the wider world of this rich language and culture we’ve all chosen to immerse ourselves in.

It’s time for a simple Mandarin Test!

（1）Choose the correct pinyin for the word below 汉堡包 1.Hàn bǎo bāo 2.Hàn bǎo bao 3.Hàn bǎo bǎo 4.Hán bāo bāo

  （2）Choose the correct meaning for the following word 留学 1.Bleed 2.Detention 3.Study Abroad 4.Foreign Student

  （3）Choose the right meaning for the following idiom 大腹便便 1.To describe someone who is broad-minded 2.To describe someone who is fat 3.To describe someone whose belly is full of poop 4.To describe someone who is stingy

  （4） Choose the character that is not polyphonic 1.朝 2.重 3.砾 4.仇

  （5）Choose the right word to fill in the blank if you want to express the idea, “This burger is so tasty!” 这个汉堡也太好吃了（） 1.吧 2.吗 3.唉 4.哼

  （6）Choose the correct meaning of the following phrase 核酸检测 1.Atomic Bomb 2.Nucleic Acid Test 3.DNA 4.Mid-term

  （7）Choose the correct one-word abbreviation for Hubei Province 1. 京 2. 赣 3. 湘 4. 鄂

  Answering the following questions based on the dialogue below 小红：你这个人能不能不要一整天阴阳怪气 小明：好好好，您说得对

（8）What is Xiaoming accused of? 1.Practicing martial arts that will connect the yin and yang energy 2.Keeping dangerous pets 3.Being sarcastic all day long 4.Being superstitious

（9）Does Xiaoming agree with this accusation? 1. Yes 2. No

  （10）If you are a native Beijinger where will you put your er in the following word 三里屯 1.三儿里屯 2.三里儿屯 3.三里屯儿 4.三儿里儿屯儿

  Bonus Questions:

Which of the following words is not the name of a solar term 1.中秋 2.惊蛰 3.白露 4.芒种

Which of the following lines from a poem was not written for Mid-Autumn Festival 1.但愿人长久，千里共婵娟。 2.今夜月明人尽望，不知秋思落谁家。 3.海上生明月，天涯共此时。 4.独在异乡为异客，每逢佳节倍思亲

Answer: (Scroll down after you complete the test, or before if you’re a cheater)

It’s time for a simple Mandarin Test!

Answer: 1, 3, 2, 3, 1 2, 4, 3, 2, 3 1, 4