Tag Archives: China

Helping a Chinese in Shanghai

I’ve always been waiting for a chance to help a Chinese, just because so many Chinese had helped me here already with various matters, especially when it comes to reading and writing Chinese. But…I didn’t expect to get this chance in Shanghai and due to my English skills. Sitting outside at a Starbcks cafe, being approached by a Chinese usually means that they want to sell watches, handbags, or DVDs to you. So I am often very reserved talking to these guys. Continue reading Helping a Chinese in Shanghai

Water the Flowers

Here’s finally a gag for my Chinese friends…or those who want to learn Chinese:

I had a nice bug in yesterday’s Chinese class…my poor teacher couldn’t stop laughing: She was questining me for vocabulary, at that time focusing on the usage of “给” (gei) like 给你打电话 (“gei ni da dianhua”, to give you a call).

The Sentence to be translated now: “Water the flowers / give the flowers water”.

Birger’s answer: “Gei hua shui jiao”.

Funny, isn’t it? 🙂 Continue reading Water the Flowers

Guilty Conscious

I was skating again today. Do that quite frequently recently 😉 And I ran over a red traffic light. So what? That’s China here… I skate around the Century Park as usual, clock-wise, so to my right-hand side there is always the park, no street coming from there. All traffic lights are due to streets coming from the left, no obstacle for me, nobody stops if there’s no street to your right. So what? There was a police car next to the traffic light. So what? Police cars are exactly those cars running over a red traffic light second-most frequently. (Most frequently do that these always blue huge construction or container trucks, no matter if police around or not.) The officers were watching the intersection. So what? They sometimes do that…also need to earn money. There were other bikes (cycles, e-cycles, motor bikes) on the bike lane where I use to skate. So what? There’s always traffic. They all had stopped. Continue reading Guilty Conscious

Thurnberger Sausages and DVD Subtitles

I started to feel hungry. That unfortunately happens nearly every evening. Since I am now working 2 days per week only (yea!) I have to take care of myself alone the other days :..(. This noon I had only a comparably small lunch at a simple Thai place. Not bad…but I had expected a soup and a Pad Thai to fill me, but it was a bit small.

DeGuo MianBao
DeGuo MianBao

So I decided for German bread (yeah, Marco Polo sells something they really call 德国面包 = déguó miànbāo, which tastes as close to a German bread as you can get here) plus some warm side dish. And searching my fridge I came across a nice buy from Carrefour:
Continue reading Thurnberger Sausages and DVD Subtitles

Yangshuo 阳朔

“Ah, Yángshuò, that legendary backpacker hang-out just 65km south of Guìlín. Guìlín gets all the press, but Yángshuò , a great, laid-back base from which to explorer other small villages in the nearby countryside, arguable surpasses it visually. […] Pedalling through the rice fields amid the splendid green-topped limestone peaks for a day, or three, is for many their top China experience.” Lonely Planet China guide Book introduction to Yangshuo. While I would argue if LP was right on Guilin I have to say: It is absolutely right on Yangshuo!
Continue reading Yangshuo 阳朔

Guilin 桂林

“Say ‘Guìlín’ and watch the looks of rapture (and pride) on the faces of Chinese people. Dotted with supernaturally lovely karst topography gracing the Li River (Li Jiāng) – these bizarre limestone upthursts shape-shifting in dancing mists and haze – the city’s beauty has been celebrated for generations by painters and poets.” This is how the Lonely Planet guide book on China starts describing Guilin. Thereafter also come some warnings about dminished charme due to modern development and cashing-in on the tourist attractions. But prepared with such statements you nonetheless start your journey with highest expectations. Continue reading Guilin 桂林