Steve's sandbox

Tag: Mandarin

  • My Trip to Downtown – Anam Rahman, Shanghai, April 2017

    shì qū yóu ji

    wǒ lái shanghai zhī hòu, hái méi yǒu qu shì qū. shàng zhōu, wǒ qù le, gǐ gè shanghai zhùmíng de jǐng diǎn. wǒ xūyào liǎng gè xiǎo shí dào dá shi qù. shǒu xiān, wǒ cháng gōng jiāo chē dào xinzhuan, zhe dà gai xūyao sì shí fēn zhōng zhàn hòu wǒ cháng dì tiě. shànghái hěn dà. shànghái shì shìjiè shàng zuài dà de chéng shì. shànghái yǒu liǎn qiān wō bǎi wàn rén kǒu, yīn cǐ, Shanghai dí tiē hěn méng. Shàng ge xīngqíliù, wǒ qù le zhūmíng de Bund hé Yu Yuán. Tāmen dōu hěn bang. shǒu xiān, wǒ qù le Yu Yuan. Yu yuan shì fēicháng zhūmíng de lǎo de huā yuán, yǒu hēn duō měi lì jiàn zhù hé xiǎo hú. yīn wēi yu yuan hěn zhūmíng, zhè li yǒu hěn duō yǒu rēn. liù bǎi nián qián, yu yuan yīnwéi yí gè huǎng di de erzí. yóu lǎn le lǎo shanghai zhī hòu, wǒ qù le xīng shanghai zài Bund. The Bund, shì shanghai zuì zhūmíng de di fan. Shanghai shì yí gè hěn xiàn dài huà de chéng shì. xiàng bǐ hé qí tā chéng shì, Shanghai méiyǒu hěnduō lì shǐ.

    zài Bund, nǐ néng kàn dào gāo dà jiǎn zhù. cóng xià wǔ, wú diàn dào wǎn shàng qī diǎn, wǒ zài Bund. zhè shi tài měi le. yí tiáo jiāng gé kāi le Bund hé Mǎimái qū yù. xià yí cì, wǒ xiǎng cháng chuán. sì shí nián qián, Zhōng guó shì yí gě qiōng guó jiā. Shànghái xiàngzhēng Zhōng guó de xīng cái fù hé lì liang. wǒ lái zhōng guó zī qián, wǒ fei cháng xǐhuān zhōng guó de xīng cái fù. Duì wǒ lái Shuō, Shanghai shì zuìhǎo de cheng shì.

    ENGLISH:

    My Visit to Downtown Shanghai

    Since I have been in Shanghai I have not explored the city. Last week, I visited several famous places in Shanghai.  My journey to central shanghai is 2 hours long. Firstly I take a 40 minute bus to Xinzhuan and after I take a train.  Shanghai is very big.  Shanghai is the biggest city in the world. It has 25 million people, therefore the Metro is very busy. Last Saturday I went to the famous Bund and Yu Yuan Gardens.  They were both incredible. I started the day at the Yuan Gardens. It is a very old, famous Garden with lots of beautiful buildings and small lakes. It was a hot day which made it better. The Yuan Gardens is very famous so there were a lot of people. The Yuan gardens was built 600 years ago for a famous emperor’s son. After visiting old Shanghai, i went to New Shanghai at the Bund.  The Bund is the most famous part of Shanghai. Shanghai is a very new city. it does not have a lot of history compared to other parts of China.

    At the Bund, you can see the big buildings of the business district. I was at the bund from 5pm to 7m in the evening. It was beautiful. A river separates The Bund with the business area. Next time, I would like to try a boat ride. 40 years ago, china was a poor country. Shanghai symbolises China’s new wealth and power. Before I came to China, I was very interested in China’s new wealth. For me Shanghai is perfect city.

     

  • Emily Martin – Hong Kong and Macau, May 2015

    虽然在‘一国两制’政策下香港和中国是名义上“一国”的，这两个领土之间的差别很大。我一走下了飞机就发现北京和香港的许多明显区别—从湿乎乎的气候到盖住山丘的郁郁葱葱的植物，再到人们都说广东话。

    可是毫无疑问最值得注意的区别是许多白色摊子设在市中心。站着在这些摊子的人当众主张民主以及鼓励过路人来签署一份主张民主的请愿书。我在北京住了一年，这个时期中一个当众主张民主的人我也没遇到，我佩服这些敢于主张民主的人。我很快地发现香港人为香港人独立的身份感到很自豪。我用普通话跟出租司机说话的时候，他愤怒地告诉我他认为香港和 ‘蒙昧’的大陆截然不同。

    我坐船去澳门 —中国的拉斯维加斯。在那儿盘桓一天游览了各处名胜。澳门的葡萄牙历史的痕迹还残留着—尤其在漂亮的古老市中心—但是历史遗产是在某种程度上被巨大的娱乐场黯然失色的。花里胡哨的庞大娱乐场的营业额比拉斯维加斯的多五倍。最大的娱乐场叫 ‘The Venetian’。因为里面有3000多个老虎机，这家娱乐场本身变得 旅游景点。娱乐场的内部看起来和威尼斯一样。你要坐贡多拉船横渡运河河网来进去娱乐场。毫无疑问这是我一辈子最奇怪，最荒唐的经历之一， 娱乐场的豪华和铺张让我啧啧称奇。大部分玩着在娱乐场的人是中国大陆人。这个经历一定展示 巨富中国人的消费文化。

    澳门和香港有很多共同之处 — 两个都名义上 属于中国，可是两个领土的独立足够得选择和中国不同的发展道路。值得注意的是是否将来中国政府会维持现状或者会决定加强对香港和澳门独立的控制来让这两个领土和中国大陆的关系更密切。

     

    ENGLISH TRANSLATION:

    Hong Kong and Macau

    While supposedly in the same state under the Chinese government’s “One country, two systems” policy, Hong Kong and China could not be more different. As soon as I stepped off the plane the contrasts between Hong Kong and Beijing became very apparent – from the sticky humid heat, the lush green of the surrounding hills and of course, the multitude of voices speaking unintelligible Cantonese.

    The most poignant difference, however, is the white stalls scattered in the central area collecting signatures for pro-democracy petitions. Having lived in Beijing for almost a year without encountering any trace of resistance or support for democracy, I can only admire the bravery of those daring to champion democratic change.

    I soon discovered that Hong Kongers are fiercely proud of this separate identity. When I tried speaking to a taxi driver in Mandarin, he angrily informed me in English that Hong Kong is separate to the ‘uncivilised’ Chinese mainland.

    I took a short boat ride to go on a day trip to Macau – the Las Vegas of China. While signs of Macau’s colonial Portugese heritage still remain in the old town, with pretty villas and beautiful mosaic pavements, the vast casinos have somewhat eclipsed the historical heritage. These gargantuan structures with gaudy gold exteriors have roughly 5 times the annual turnover than those in Las Vegas. The largest of the casinos – The Venetian – is an attraction in itself with over 3000 slot machines. Designed to resemble Venice, you enter the casino by gondola on a network of canals. I’ve never experienced anything quite like it, the luxury and extravagance is other worldly and the sheer number of mainland Chinese in the casino offers an interesting glimpse into the culture of new Chinese wealth.

    Macau and Hong Kong have much in common – both are nominally a part of China, but have maintained a degree of independence to take different, and hugely prosperous paths. It will be interesting to see if the government pushes for further integration with the mainland in the next few years, or allows them to maintain the status quo.

     

  • Samuel Franklin – Beijing, China, February 2015

    my very patient teacher

    一般说和在国外学习中文比起来，在北京纯粹的汉语环境中练习中文有好多好处，特别是无限与当地人聊天的机会。我觉得这样的道理辩解我常常坐出租车的习惯。虽然很多与司机的闲谈有点儿像，但是我几次有过很有趣的对话。比如，有一次我遇到了一位对国外非常感到好奇的司机。我告诉他我来自英国以后，他先问我是否在英国每一天都有24个小时。我向他保证在英国每一天的确都有24个小时。接着，他想确认在英国每个星期都有七天，星期一到星期日。我又使他能够放心。然后他问我英国有没有四个季节。这次我开着玩笑说，英国只有两个季节—一个很长的雨季和一个很短的阳光灿烂的季节。不过，我意识到他可能会相信我，所以我决定通知他英国其实也有四个季节。顺便一提,他是一位能够的驾驶人。我向另外一个司机学习，在北京所有开出租车的司机都要考上一个包括英语部分的考试。这个消息让我吃惊，因为大多数外国人对北京司机的英语能力没有很好的印象。她笑着解释她什么外语都记不住。最后，有一位司机敬烟给我，但我不抽烟；并不是说这个事提高了我的口语水平。

    过去一个月我旅游到了很多不同以前没去过的地方。其中，云南是我最喜欢的省份。这不仅是因为那里的气候一直很宜人，还是因为尽管我不常欣赏自然风景，在大理和丽江的风景仍然给我留下了很深的印象。一个特殊的亮点就是在大理的山上，在一个茶园做普洱茶。在云南我甚至抽空锻炼：我在丽江的虎跳峡爬了几个小时的山，在大理的洱海骑了七个小时的自行车（我迷路了）。上个月我也享受在日本一边放松一边吃太多日餐。

    我最近从河北的石家庄回到了北京。为什么会有人要去河北呢（在中国污染最严重的省份）？当然是为了参加一场国际象棋比赛！我参加了中孚杯的公开组，通过5.5/9的表现得到了个奖金。排在前10名的棋手都很厉害，我认可了几位代表中国的特级大师。除了主要的公开组以外，还有各种年龄组—大概300多个孩子参加了这样比赛—对中国国际象棋的未来看来令人鼓舞。

    最后,春节的时候，我和几个朋友从我们位于27楼的房子里看到了成千上万的烟花无休无知地燃放。在北京的表演真壮观，我们一时甚至以为世界毁灭开始了。而且春节时北京几乎没有人，所以使用公交时不用担心人太多。不幸的是，现在我没有坐出租车的借口。

     

    I went for a walk in Kunming

    ENGLISH TRANSLATION:

    It’s said that compared to studying Chinese in England, practising one’s Chinese in a pure Mandarin speaking environment confers a great many advantages, in particular the limitless opportunities to have conversation with locals. For me, this kind of reasoning justifies my habit of frequently taking taxis. Although much of the small talk I’ve had with drivers has been a bit samey, I have had a number of interesting exchanges.  For example, I once came across a driver who was particularly curious about the world abroad. After telling him I was from England, he first asked me whether the English day has 24 hours. I assured him that English days do indeed have 24 hours. Following that, he wanted to confirm that the weeks back in England have 7 days – Monday to Sunday. I reassured him they do. Then he asked me whether we have four seasons in England. I joked that we only have two seasons – a long rainy one and a short sunny spell. But realising he would believe me, I decided to inform him that we do actually share another similarity in the form of four seasons. He was, by the way, a very competent driver. I learned from another driver that all Beijing taxi drivers have to pass a test that includes an English language section. This surprised me, as most foreigners’ impressions of Chinese drivers’ English are not very positive. She smiled and explained that she’d already forgotten any English she’d ever known. Finally one generous driver offered me a cigarette, but I don’t smoke; not that this exchange contributed much to my spoken Chinese.

    This past month I travelled to a number of places I’d never been before. Yunnan province was my favourite among them. This is not only because of the perpetually pleasant weather, but also because of the beautiful scenery in Dali and Lijiang, which is normally the kind of thing that doesn’t affect me very much. A particular highlight was making Pu’er tea at a plantation in the mountains in Dali. In Yunnan I even managed to find time to exercise: I went hiking in Lijiang’s Tiger Leaping Gorge and cycled for seven hours by Erhai Lake in Dali (I got lost). Last month I also enjoyed a week in Japan, relaxing and eating too much Japanese food.

    Recently I returned to Beijing from Hebei’s Shijiazhuang. Why would anyone want to go to Hebei (China’s most polluted province)? To play in a chess tournament obviously! I entered the tournament’s open section, where 5.5/9 was enough to win me a modest cash prize. Those finishing in the top 10 of the event were all serious players, a number of whom I recognised as top Chinese grandmasters from before. Apart from the main open section, there were also various age group categories where around 300 juniors were playing – an encouraging sign for the future of Chinese chess.

    Finally for New Year’s, a few friends and I, from our apartment on the 27th floor, watched an endless display of thousands upon thousands of fireworks being set off all over Beijing. The scene in Beijing was truly spectacular, and it even felt at times that we were in the middle of an apocalypse of sorts. During the spring festival in China, Beijing becomes relatively empty, so one does not need to worry about it being too busy on public transport. Unfortunately that means I presently lack an excuse to take a taxi.

    You won’t find ‘selfie’ listed under ‘skills’ on my CV!