Month: June 2022

Beijing and Shanghai are the two biggest and most famous Chinese cities. One is an ancient city known for its cultural icons, while the other is a modern metropolis full of futuristic skyscrapers. So which city is better? Well, you’ll just have to visit them both and decide for yourself! This post is actually all about making comparisons in Chinese. The Beijing vs. Shanghai debate is a good place to begin this lesson, though. Let’s start with a question…

北京比上海好吗？
běi jīng bǐ shàng hǎi hǎo ma
Is Beijing better than Shanghai?

Now let’s break down the question:

• Beijing (北京 běi jīng)

• compare (比 bǐ)

• Shanghai (上海 shàng hǎi)

• good (好 hǎo)

• question word (吗 ma)

As you can see, it’s pretty easy to form the question:

Subject 1 + 比 + Subject 2 + Adjective + Question word

Now, how could you answer the question? Well, it depends on which side you’re on! Because I lived in Beijing for five years, of course I’d say…

北京比上海好
běi jīng bǐ shàng hǎi hǎo
Beijing is better than Shanghai.

However, some of my friends who call Shanghai home might disagree:

北京没有上海好
běi jīng méi yǒu shàng hǎi hǎo
Beijing isn’t better than Shanghai.

As you can see, to answer the question positively, you simply drop the question word 吗, and to answer negatively, you simply replace 比 with 没有, meaning “no.”

If you can’t travel to both Beijing and Shanghai to decide which one you like more, you can at least check them both out through some of our blog posts and videos! Here are a few of my favorites from over the years:

• A Perfect Day in Beijing
• Famous Beijing Landmarks
• Beijing Kao Ya: A Delectable Duck
• Cheap Eats in Shanghai
• Better Know a Municipality – Shanghai
• A Short Trip in Shanghai

Ok that’s enough of the Beijing vs. Shanghai debate for today. Let’s get on with the grammar lesson! Here are a few more examples of basic comparisons in Chinese using the character 比:

他比我忙
tā bǐ wǒ máng
He’s busier than me.

篮球比乒乓球有意思
lán qiú bǐ pīng pāng qiú yǒu yì si
Basketball is more interesting than ping pong.

咖啡比茶好喝
kā fēi bǐ chá hǎo hē
Coffee tastes better than tea.

我哥哥比我高
wǒ gē ge bǐ wǒ gāo
My older brother is taller than me.

苹果比香蕉贵
píng guǒ bǐ xiāng jiāo guì
The apples are more expensive than the bananas.

When making comparisons, you can be more specific. Let’s go back to the last example to see how to do that. Imagine you are shopping in the supermarket here in China and you see these signs:

Apples – 15 RMB/1 jin (苹果十五块一斤 píng guǒ shí wǔ kuài yī jīn)
Bananas – 10 RMB/1 jin (香蕉十块一斤 xiāng jiāo shí kuài yī jīn)

Well, you could just say, “the apples are more expensive than the bananas,” but you could also say…

The apples cost 5 RMB more than the bananas.
苹果比香蕉贵五块.
píng guǒ bǐ xiāng jiāo guì wǔ kuài

Here’s another example of a more specific comparison:

I’m 36 years old. My brother is 30 years old.
我三十六岁。 我弟弟三十岁。
wǒ sān shí liù suì. wǒ dì dì sān shí suì.

So, I can say…

I’m 5 years older than my brother.
我比我弟弟大五岁.
wǒ bǐ wǒ dì dì dà wǔ suì

Here are some more examples of making comparisons in Chinese in a video I made a while back:

Take what you’ve learned in this post and try to practice! Make three comparisons in Chinese, and try to answer this question as well:

中文比英文难吗？
zhōng wén bǐ yīng wén nán ma
Is Chinese more difficult than English?

The post Beijing vs. Shanghai first appeared on Chinese Language Blog.

Summer is right around the corner (夏天就在拐角处 xiàtiān jiù zài guǎijiǎo chù). It’s definietly my favorite season (季节 jìjié). Get ready for it by brushing up on your Chinese summer vocabulary. In this post, we’ll dive into all the options for summer fun in and around Beijing (北京 běijīng).

Summer Fun in the City

The winter (冬天 dōngtiān) months in Beijing are brutal, so people like to get out and enjoy the warm weather while it lasts. There are tons of things to do in the city that are more fun in the summer, so get out there and take advantage of it!

Check out some of the parks and temples, play games in the street, or take a boat out on Houhai (后海 hòuhǎi). Wander through the maze of hutong (胡同 hútòng) – Beijing’s traditional alleways – and take in the local culture (地方文化 dìfāng wénhuà). You’ll find men playing chess or elders practicing water calligraphy.

In the evenings, it’s all about the music, as people congregate in local parks to boogie down. Square dancing (广场舞 guǎngchǎng wǔ) is definitely a favorite summer pastime across the country. You’ll see a clip at the end of this very old school video from our YouTube channel:

Go For a Hike

There are many great hiking opportunities in the Beijing area, as the city is actually surrounded by mountains. For many city-dwellers, a popular summer activity is heading out of the city to hike/climb (爬山 páshān). While the heat of summer in the concrete jungle (混凝土丛林 hùnníngtǔ cónglín) can be a bit intense, it’s usually much cooler up in the mountains.

If you’ve got the initiative and can surf the ‘net in Chinese, it’s possible to plan hiking trips on your own, as public buses will take you just about anywhere. However, if you’d rather just join a group and have all of the tedious planning work taken care of, you’ve got lots of choices. There are hiking groups that head out on trips 3-4 times a week from the city in the summer months. Escaping the traffic jams and crowds for at least a few hours is great, and it’s good exercise (锻炼 duànliàn) as well.

Head to the Beach

Beijing really isn’t that far from the coast, so you can get to the beach (海滩 hǎitān) in a matter of hours. The fastest and easiest option is to head to either Beidaihe (北戴河 běidàihé) or Nandaihe (南戴河 nándàihé) in Hebei province. Once a popular retreat for Communist party leaders, this area makes for a nice weekend escape.

Don’t expect the nicest beaches in the world, but it’s fun to hang out here for a few days and much cheaper than flying to Thailand. While laying on the beach, drinking Yanjing beer, and having seafood BBQs are great, make sure you take at least one day to visit Shanhaiguan (山海关 shānhǎiguān). This is the part of the Great Wall (长城 chángchéng) that meets the sea and is a cool place to visit.

Camp on the Great Wall

Speaking of the Great Wall, why not just go have a camping (野营 yěyíng) trip on it? Many people are surprised to find out that this is actually allowed on a few sections. Pack up your tent, sleeping bag, and a little picnic, and head out for an adventure.

Based on my two experiences, I’d recommend the Gubeikou (古北口 gǔběikǒu) section. It’s a bit tricky to get out there, but all of the hard work pays off when you get to watch the sunset over one of the Seven Wonders of the World and then retreat to your tent in a watchtower to gaze at the stars. Check out some highlights in this video, which is one of my favorites I’ve made for the TL Chinese channel:

Hit a Beer Festival

Lots of cities in China now host beer festivals (啤酒节 píjiǔ jié) in the summer months, but the biggest and most famous one is definitely in Qingdao. Home to China’s first beer – Tsingtao (the old Wade-Giles format of spelling Chinese characters is still used) – this seaside city in Shandong province gets wild for a few weeks every summer as thousands of people pack into tents to sing along to pop music, munch on kebabs, and drink absurd amounts of beer.

After attempting to swim through the literal sea of people on the beaches here, you’ll probably need a few beers anyway. Not many foreigners make it here, so it’s easy to make friends (who will most likely give you lots and lots of free beer). Just make sure you book an extra day to recover because the hangover (宿醉 sù zuì) will be brutal. For a more detailed account of the Qingdao Beer Festival, click here.

Rock Out

Summer music festivals (音乐节 yīnyuè jié) are all the rage in China now, so why not check one out? From folk to heavy metal to drum & bass, just about every style of music is represented in the Middle Kingdom these days.

Some festivals go on in the city, while others take place in more remote locations where camping is available. I’ve had some wild times going to Chinese music festivals over the past few years – from getting lost and sleeping in a KTV, to sharing french fries with an Aussie metal band, to getting wild near the Great Wall with some international DJs. You can see what that experience was like by checking out this video:

 

That does it for our look at summer fun in and around Beijing. As you can see, there’s plenty to do to keep you busy for a few months! Let’s finish up with a practice question:

夏天的时候你喜欢做什么？
xiàtiān de shíhòu nǐ xǐhuān zuò shénme?
What do you like to do in the summer?

 

The post Summer Fun in And Around Beijing first appeared on Chinese Language Blog.

Pronunciation : jiàn Meaning : trample. (v) carry out. (v) Radical : 足 Strokes : 12 Traditional : 踐 ( Stroke Order ) Usage : 4.9%

1.

实践 shí jiàn

:

practise

1. Theories always do not accord with practice. lǐ lùn wǎng wǎng hé shí jiàn bù fú 。 理 论 往 往 和 实 践 不 符 。

理论 : theory 往往 : always 和 : and 实践 : practice 不符 : not conform to; not in agreement with

The post 践 appeared first on Learn Chinese Everyday – 天天学中文.

Pronunciation : bào Meaning : expose … to the sun. (v) Radical : 日 Strokes : 19 Traditional : 曝 Usage : 0.5% Notes : also as pù

1.

曝光 bào guāng

:

exposure; make public (a scandal, embarrassment, etc); reveal

1. After the expose he had to take it on the lam. shì qing bào guāng hòu ， tā bù dé bù qián táo 。 事 情 曝 光 后 ， 他 不 得 不 潜 逃 。

事情 : matter; thing 曝光 : expose 后 : after 他 : he 不得不 : have no choice but to; cannot but; have to; can’t avoid 潜逃 : abscond; to slink off

The post 扑 appeared first on Learn Chinese Everyday – 天天学中文.