A new global market study has shown higher growth rates than expected for Chinese language learners. The founders of Hutong School, Mr. Jeremie Rossignol and Mr. Jan Wostyn, announced the results of the study which showed substantial growth in the number of learners both within China and globally. As numbers of Chinese students continue to grow [...]

Is there a logic behind Chinese characters? For a Chinese learner who has just started to get introduced to characters, the combination of strokes seems arbitrary at best and ridiculous at worst, without any major logic behind. However, that is far from true. A very long time ago, characters were actually often images of the object or an [...]

Embarking on a new language is not too different from scaling a mountain. You start at the very bottom, looking up and the whole thing is towering above you. You cannot even see the top as it is covered in clouds and you are asking yourself what on earth was I thinking, can I really [...]

During June and July, the people of Beijing voted on the annual That’s Beijing Lifestyle Awards. With categories in food, drinks, entertainment, language learning, and many more, this award is the most encompassing of all the expat oriented awards in the city. Voting takes place on their website and on WeChat, and the results are [...]

The first challenges When I went to China end of February this year, it was my first time ever being in Asia. So everything was new to me from the moment I left the plane. The first challenge started when buying a metro ticket. Was it Changshu Road or Changshou Road, I was wondering where [...]

The Dragon Boat Festival or Duanwujie is upon us! This traditional holiday that commemorates the famous Chinese Scholar Qu Yuan, known as China's first poet, takes places on the fifth day of the fifth month of the traditional Chinese lunar calendar. This date is also the source of the alternative name used to refer to [...]

Learning Chinese is a difficult task for many and when translating Chinese words into another language, people will inevitably bump into difficulties at a given point because some words don’t have a direct translation. This causes non natives to fail to grasp the exact meaning of the word and maybe even to fail to understand [...]

The year of the fire monkey kicked off with neither bang nor spark. No fireworks were set off in Shanghai for the year of the monkey due to the strict instructions of the government. Pollution levels being what they are, throwing more soot and smoke into the sky is not considered a good idea. On New [...]

Spring in China has now officially sprung. To mark the occasion Hutong fixture and Beijing local Lao Guo has written an article about what to eat and how to stay healthy during this time of year. See below for the original article in Chinese, and an English summary. ​ 立春 今年立春是在2018年3月20日星期二。 立春不仅是农历二十四节气中的第一个节气，立春是从天文上来划分的，而在自然界、在人们的心目中，春意味着风和日暖，鸟语花香；春也意味着万物生长。  立春期间，气温、日照、降雨，开始趋于上升、增多。但这一切对全国大多数地方来说仅仅是春天的前奏。 立春后气温回升，但在强冷空气影响的间隙期，偏南风频数增加，并伴有明显的气温回升过程。 立春是一个时间点，也可以是一个时间段。说的是东风送暖，大地开始解冻。 立春的传统饮食： [...]

In 2003 Chengdu based Sichuan Airlines made a CN¥2.33 million investment. Their purchase: the phone number 8888 8888.