Mandarin Monday: Sinoglot’s Kellen Parker shares some tips on learning

What follows is the second in our weekly Mandarin Monday series, that discusses Chinese learning. The series will deliver advice through interviews with long-time Mandarin learners, sharing resources and discussing learning techniques. This week we speak to Kellen Parker, co-founder of Sinoglot, an organisation of Chinese linguistics researchers. Kellen is an American linguistics researcher who’s …Read More

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From Peking to Beijing: A Long and Bumpy Trip

Not long ago I went out to dinner with some friends who had just recently arrived in China.  Since this was their first time in Beijing, we naturally went for the city’s signature dish at Quanjude.  Just as any religious pilgrimage is accompanied by certain obligatory rituals and prayers, so too does the Beijing visitor’s …Read More

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Mandarin Monday: ChinesePod’s John Biesnecker dishes up some language advice

This is the first in a new series of posts, called Mandarin Monday, that will discuss Chinese learning. The series will deliver advice through interviews with long-time Mandarin learners, sharing resources and discussing learning techniques. Our first guest in the series is John Biesnecker. John is an American software developer who has been in China …Read More

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Fast Food in China: Beyond the Golden Arches

For many in China, “fast food” means McDonalds and KFC. To the average laowai, a visit to the nearest burger joint (or a phone call to the bicycle delivery man) is a periodic necessity for those craving a reminder of life back home and a break from their usual Chinese diet of rice and noodles. Even many Chinese consider fast food to be a uniquely foreign –- or specifically American –- phenomenon.

But Western fast food restaurants in China have long been outnumbered by native competitors. For decades, these Chinese chains were mostly small-scale operations limited to a particular city or province. But in recent years, a persistent handful have begun to extend their reach across the country and establish themselves as national, or at least regional, brand names. A diverse group, their menus range from American fast food staples to regional Chinese specialties, and some imaginative creations that don’t quite fit any category. Here’s a guide to five popular and fast-growing Chinese chains you’ll likely come across (if you haven’t already)Read More

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Xinhua featuring weird science, poor grammar and hybrid boobs

It’s tough being a Chinese press agency. It’s even tougher being the Chinese press agency. Everyone’s just waiting for you to stumble, people label you as a “mouthpiece”, call you “unethical” and “biased”, and dub you “pseudo-journalists”; but through it all you staunchly hold your head high and publish this:Read More

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