Meet Market with Chinese Characteristics A mention of the Shanghai People's Park marriage market, known in Chinese as the Rénmín Gōngyuán Xiāngqīn Jiǎo 人民公园相亲角, is likely to elicit more than a few raised eyebrows from foreign visitors. After all, amidst all the international brands and skyscrapers, the whole idea seems rather anachronistic. In fact, it's [...]
Don't Homophone It In Last week we introduced you to the occasionally frustrating but always fascinating world of Chinese homophones. This week we're back with five more funny, sassy and potentially embarrassing Chinese homophones you definitely need to know! And of course, our helpful suggestions for how to ensure you don't get them mixed [...]
Conquering your Homophone-phobia Let's face it, learning Chinese is a constant lesson in humility. While studying a foreign language is never easy, Chinese sometimes appears to have been specifically designed to trip up hapless foreigners. And when it comes to spoken Chinese, one of the most difficult aspects is undoubtedly homophones, or words that [...]
Every Dog Has Its Day...and Year! Are you a Dog (Person)? First, a quick refresher. The Chinese zodiac (shēngxiào, 生肖) is a system where one of twelve animal signs is assigned to each year. In turn, each person is said to possess some of the characteristics of the animal from their birth [...]
A Quick Guide to China's Most Important Holiday The Chinese New Year, known in Chinese as chūnjié 春节 (literally "Spring Festival") is fast approaching. Since it follows the traditional Chinese lunar calendar it's also sometimes known as the Lunar New Year. This is why every year it falls on a slightly different date according to the [...]
Supercharged Podcasts They say it takes 10,000 hours of practice to truly master something. For those of us who struggle with an attention span degraded by too many nights on Youtube, this is truly a tall order. And if that “something” is your Chinese listening, the idea of spending the equivalent of [...]
Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival Paris of the orient China is so much more than Shanghai, and Beijing. With the biggest population on earth, China offers more diversity than any other country. In this blog post we’ll be introducing one of the most beautiful places in China (And coldest). Way up north, in [...]
Discovering China with Hutong School, and Jerry At Hutong School we teach hundreds of students every year, and each person means something very special to us. Every one of our students brings something unique to our company, each an individual brick in a great big puzzle. You guys help us staying up to [...]
Discovering the 8 different cuisines of China Dogs, Instant noodles and strange insects. That’s what they eat in China right? And rice of course, lots and lots of rice. This being a comical untrue preconception, China is still an undiscovered leaf for many people, thus leaving room for imaginary conceptions on life [...]
Will Not Speaking Chinese Be The New Illiteracy In The 21st Century? “The Chinese are everywhere!”, an exclamation echoed around the world. How did they get there, what is their relationship with the motherland and how long are they staying? With increasing economic power and international presence, what is said about “Made [...]
