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20 Oct 08
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8 Mistakes To Avoid When Learning Chinese “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” - Lao Tzu
Learning Chinese is hard, but not too hard.
Especially if you know the mistakes to avoid.
Seven years after taking my first crack at tones, I’m no closer to mastering... |
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25 Sep 08
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China to America: No More Money For You It seems America’s days of free lunches are drawing to a close.
Today the news came out that Chinese banks have been given a directive from the CBRC (China Banking Regulatory Commission) to stop lending to American banks while the crises is still... |
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23 Sep 08
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China Belittles Bigger Bailout China knows where its interests lie.
But could they be with regular Americans?
While many in China praised the bailout of Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac, many others are correctly damning the bigger bailout being passed for Wall Street.
Strangely enough,... |
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19 Sep 08
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Is China Milk Safe? Melamine has been found in all of the major Chinese milk brands, not just in Sanlu baby milk powder where this crises started.
The question becomes: Which Chinese milk brand is safest?
The answer might be none for now.
But after a suitable period of tim... |
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11 Sep 08
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Is China More Free Than America? Seven years ago today this question would have been ridiculous.
Time has a way of changing things, though, and the day that the answer to this question is ‘yes’ may be closer than anyone would have thought possible.
What kind of... |
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11 Sep 08
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Nude Running in Shanghai I still remember that night in late July when my cat swiped my face and I woke up in a sweat.
Suddenly, an urge hit me to get outside and go for a run - that way I could get in four runs in for the week (I haven’t run in three months... |
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10 Sep 08
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Kunming and Changes in China’s Cities What the heck happened in three years?
It’s been that long since I’ve been to Kunming.
The first time was part of a three week journey across Sichuan and Northern Yunnan during my first spring festival in China - as a stopover between Dali and... |
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27 Aug 08
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Is China Doomed? Has the mainstream media ever been right about China’s future?
For as long as China has piqued my interest, there have been articles prognosticating over China’s coming decline.
You’ve seen the claims that China will slip and fall into a... |
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13 Aug 08
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How a Cute Chinese Girl Faked The Opening Ceremonies Do you remember the Chinese girl with enormous apple cheeks?
Apparently she faked the song she sang, “Ode to the Motherland”:
Personally, I think they made the right decision (note:tongue somewhat in cheek) - the goal was to present a... |
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10 Aug 08
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2008 Olympic Medals - Will China Take The Gold? Back in 2004, I remember very clearly all of the newspapers and news outlets (in China) claiming that China had come in second place in Athens.
This was repeated for months on end, long after the Olympics had ended.
But did China really take second?
Yes,... |
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06 Aug 08
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Warning: Chinese Girls Heat Up China Olympics The weather forecast says that it’s going to be 95°F / 35°C on the day the Olympics open.
But something will turn up the heat even more.
While China has managed to screw up the air, the mascots, and the PR swirling around the Olympics, they did se... |
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06 Aug 08
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Is the New US Embassy in China a Trap? The US has built a massive new embassy in China. According to the MSNBC article this picture is from, President Bush will cut the ribbon to open this $434 million, 500,000 square foot compound on the opening day of the Olympics.
Similarly, China i... |
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04 Aug 08
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Cabin Fever in China For the past month and a half, I’ve been staying with my new parents-in-law in what amounts to small town China.
After getting legally married and applying for a visiting relatives visa, we decided to hang around for a little while.
Pretty easy to... |
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17 Jul 08
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Strong Women and China’s National Anthem What do strong women and China’s national anthem have to do with each other?
Well… it seems that Chinese women are expected to win more medals than Chinese men in the upcoming Olympics. And every time someone from China wins a gold medal, th... |
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12 Jul 08
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Beijing Massage Beijing Massage Guide
If you’re looking for a guide to massages in Beijing, you’ve come to the right place. First, let’s take a look at main kinds of massage venues available in Beijing:
Kinds of Massage in Beijing
Hai... |
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10 Jul 08
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The Tortoise and The Plastic Bag (original photo by Goa Entranced per this license)
My father-in-law loves turtles. He has four of them in a bucket outside next to several birds.
He loves the turtles, saying like ‘they are the best thing since sliced bread’. Sometimes ... |
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10 Jul 08
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When Was The Great Wall of China Built? The Great Wall of China is not one but a series of walls built over many Dynasties.
The first wall was completed by the first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang. During the Qin Dynasty (221 BC until 206 BC), he extended and connected walls built by severa... |
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10 Jul 08
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How Many People Worked On The Great Wall of China? (original photo by Exfordy per this license)
It is hard to find accurate estimates for how many people worked on the Great Wall of China, and the question changes depending on which Dynasty’s Great Wall you are asking about.
What could be called... |
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10 Jul 08
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How Was The Great Wall of China Built? (original photo by Exfordy per this license)
The Great Wall of China was built by soldiers, prisoners, and the common people. Since the Great Wall is not just one but a series of walls built during many different Dynasties, how it was built and th... |
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10 Jul 08
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What Is The Great Wall of China’s Nickname? (original photo by Exfordy per this license)
The Great Wall of China is sometimes given the nickname “The Long Graveyard”, because of the amount of people who died building the wall and the myth that they were buried underneath the... |
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10 Jul 08
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Where is The Great Wall of China Located? The many different sections of the Great Wall of China stretches across great swaths of Northern China, as far North as modern day Russia, as far east as modern day Pyongyang (the capital of North Korea), and as far west as Xinjiang province in modern day... |
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10 Jul 08
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How Was The Great Wall of China Defended? (original photo by Exfordy per this license)
The Great Wall of China was defended primarily by archers. Since it was too expensive to keep the Wall perpetually manned, sentries along the length of the walls in use served to warn against impendin... |
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10 Jul 08
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Great Wall of China Do you leave your footprints on the Great Wall of China, or does it leave its footprint on you?
As Mao Zedong famously said:
不到长城非好汉 (bù dào cháng chéng fēi hǎo hàn)
Which means: If you haven’t been to the Great Wall, you̵... |
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10 Jul 08
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Can You See The Great Wall of China From The Moon? (original photo by Exfordy per this license)
Of course you can see the Great Wall of China from the moon!
While North America, the continent, is hard to make out from such a far distance, the Great Wall sticks out like a human hair viewed from 2000... |
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02 Jul 08
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The Secret To Tasty Chicken Feet Do you like chicken feet? What if I told you there’s a way to make them even more tasty?
Even if you don’t like them now, you’ll love them with this easy tip.
Personally, I kinda like chicken feet. When they come in the form ... |
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25 Jun 08
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The REAL History Of The Great Wall of China Do you know the real history of the Great Wall of China?
Despite thousands of years of scholarship about the history of the Great Wall of China, no one seems to be getting its story history right, so hopefully this article will help clarify things for you.
You see, the Great Wall of China wasn’t constructed [...] |
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27 May 08
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Does China Bring Out Your Inner Entrepreneur? There is something different in the air in China, and I’m not talking about particulate matter.
It’s something else.
Something that ignites a fire under the ass of your inner entrepreneur. And it doesn’t blow out.
China Manufacturer... |
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25 May 08
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A Taiwanese View of The World Have you ever wondered how some Taiwanese people stereotype the rest of the world?
Well, I haven’t either, but if you want to find out just click on the map above (warning: this is non-pc and a bit stupid. But it has bright colors!)
Thanks to Ni... |
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22 May 08
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Moments of Silence to Remember in China Did you fill up with pride when seeing the shots of Sichuan’s minutes of silence from all over China? From the mountaintops of Lhasa to the rolling hills of inner Mongolia, the scenes inspire great pride in China.
Moments of Silence in China
I... |
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09 May 08
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A Hong Kong Person’s View of China How do Hong Kong people look at the rest of China? Just click on the map to find out.
This really is the way that people in Shenzhen look at China too - at least that’s the impression that lingers.
Click through to see how Beijingers look at Chin... |
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08 May 08
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A Shanghainese View of China Ever wondered how people from Shanghai really look at the rest of China?
Just click on the map to find out.
You can also click here to find out how Beijingers see China. This is all in good fun, no matter how not pc it is.
Thanks go to John, Micah... |
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08 May 08
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A Beijinger’s View of China Ever wondered how Beijingers talk about the rest of China behind other people’s backs?
Just click on the map to find out.
You can also find out how people from Shanghai see the rest of China.
This is just a tad non-pc, so don’t get too... |
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25 Apr 08
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A Tale of Two Factories (and a Monkey) Why is China developing so fast as America’s industrial base disappears?
If you say this video is a terrible simplification of things that ignores many important factors, you’re right. But watch it anyway and let me know what you think =) |
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17 Apr 08
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Is Chinese Art The Next Bubble to Burst? With China’s stock market imploding, the question becomes: is Chinese art next?
You see, Chinese art has increased in price eight times over the past seven years - as this excerpt from this week’s print edition of Modern Weekly... |
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25 Mar 08
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What’s Really Driving China’s Growth It’s a fat guy on a donkey. Really. That’s what’s driving China’s growth.
It sure as heck isn’t China’s government.
Economic growth and prosperity stands on the shoulders of countless people making self interested... |
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10 Feb 08
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8 Things That Made My Chinese New Year in 2008 So it’s that time of the year again. Time to go back home to the girlfriend’s hometown, and from there to pass the Chinese New Year at her grandmother’s farm.
The way that people pass the New Year in China differs from province to... |
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27 Jan 08
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Chinese New Year Warnings When is Chinese New Year This Year?
In case no one has told you yet, Chinese New Year (the first day of the lunar calendar) is on February 6th this year. The night before is as important as the day of, and most people in China will get off at the latest... |
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17 Jan 08
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3 Reasons Not to Control Food Prices in China What happens when you prevent prices from rising to the rate they would fetch on the free market?
If you guessed shortages and/or reductions of quality of goods, you’re right on the money. For some goods, I wouldn’t give a damn. But food? ... |
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14 Jan 08
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YouTube in China With rumors floating around that Youtube might be taken down until it can be harmonized, it's a good time to reflect on what Youtube means to me, and probably to a huge number of expats in China (especially Americans). |
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27 Dec 07
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The Secret To Panda Breeding Adult panda videos are not the secret to better panda breeding. But they help.
That’s the conclusion caretakers at the panda research centre at Wolong in Sichuan province came to.
Reading a little further into this article at The Economist (rea... |
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24 Dec 07
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Another Christmas in China When you're far away from home holidays pass, one after another, like any other day, and eventually start to lose their significance. A bucket from KFC is no substitution for Thanksgiving - unless your whole family is huddled around the bucket, giving... |
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17 Dec 07
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What It’s Like To Be The Other Ben Ross quoted an excellent passage from East of Eden by John Steinbeck, published in 1952. It shows through story what it feels like to be a foreigner in a relatively closed off place or country. |
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07 Dec 07
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Fake China What? In China, anything can be faked.
In case you haven't guessed from the picture, that includes chocolate. |
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06 Dec 07
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5 Reasons Why Learning Chinese Could Be a Waste of Your Time Is learning Chinese a waste of your time? |
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04 Dec 07
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China’s Chery What’s China’s fastest growing car company?
Chery Automobile
If you guessed Chery Automobile, you’re probably right. The signs are obvious. Tons of new Chery models on the road in China, Wall Street Journal in depth articles... |
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04 Dec 07
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9 Ways To Compete With Chinese Workers Is your wallet a bit empty? Afraid of losing your job to someone in China, India, or Eastern Europe?
Trying to figure out how to really compete with workers from these countries? Remember, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. What follows are nine tips on... |
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03 Dec 07
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How to Get a Shanghai Business Visa It’s a seemingly simple process to get a business visa in Shanghai. There are just two steps (at least for US passport holders, many other nationalities should be similar):
Shanghai Business Visa Steps
Get a tourist or business visa from outside... |
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26 Nov 07
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4 Reasons Why Alibaba is Overvalued Running across an article on Alibaba’s rise via China Law Blog was a bit scary in its presentation of Alibaba as safe investment. Sure, Alibaba is a decent site with a fair bit of money rolling in, and Jack Ma is an entrepreneur that has don... |
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22 Nov 07
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Life in China and Giving Thanks What does the coin in the picture mean to you?
A Penny Saved Is... Not Much
If it's a penny, it's pretty much worthless now no matter where you live in this little world.
Imagine instead that the coin in the picture is a gold coin. If you're reading... |
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19 Nov 07
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China Stops Bank Loans Near Peak of Bubbles If you’re trying to lessen the effects of a bubble, it’s probably a better idea to stop it before it gets very far rather than throw a grenade at it when it’s already grown to the size of a small planet.
China’s Bubbly Prices
But... |
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