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What is your favorite Chinese dish for Spring Festival?

What is your favorite Chinese dish for Spring Festival? muTu Note - Learn Chinese with Chinese Girl In China, there are many delicious food , especially during the Spring Festival. What is your favorite dish for Chinese Spring Festival? Dumplings Dumplings Dumplings are a very common dish for northern China, symbolizing reunion and fortune. Rice dumplings Rice dumplings Rice dumplings are made from glutinous rice flour. The fillings can vary from region to region. The round shape of the rice dumplings symbolizes “reunion”. Fish Fish “Fish” in Chinese sounds similar to the character for “prosperity”, symbolizing an abundant and comfortable life. Most families would have fish on their New Year’s Eve dinner. Lion-head meatballs Lion-head meatballs One of the representative dishes of Huaiyang cuisine, it has a lucky connotation from its name. Poon choi Poon choi A regular dish in southern China, the magnificent and auspicious poon choi contains up to 20 luxury in...

Hometown of web celebrity hot tourist spot

Hometown of web celebrity hot tourist spot muTu Note - Learn Chinese with Chinese Girl A young man whose good looks and innocent(纯洁的,chún jié de) smile(笑容,xiào róng) have turned him into an internet celebrity(网红,wǎng hóng) has sparked a surge in interest in his hometown(家乡,jiā xiāng) among tourists. Ctrip(携程), an online travel agency, said that after a video of Tamdrin(丁真), a 20-year-old ethnic Tibetan man from Litang county in Sichuan province’s Garze Tibetan autonomous prefecture, went viral online last month, the number of searches for Litang(理塘) soared. On Ctrip’s website, searches(搜索,sōu suǒ) for Litang started going up on Nov 20. In the week from Nov 23 through Sunday, the search average shot up 620 percent compared with the previous week and was four times greater than during the National Day holiday in October. Tamdrin first came to netizens’ attention after a photographer(摄影师,shè yǐng shī) posted a video of him on the Douyin(抖音) short-video platform(短视频平台,duǎn shì pín pí...

Chinese Christmas Vocabulary

Chinese Christmas Vocabulary muTu Note - Learn Chinese with Chinese Girl It’s that time of year folks … tree lightings, special winter menus, and of course, the occasional Christmas carol (圣诞颂歌 shèng dàn sòng gē): Oh, the weather outside is frightful, But the fire is so delightful. And since we’ve got no place to go, Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Ok, it’s probably not going to snow; nevertheless, Christmas in the capital is still a jolly time of year. And for an added Xmas gift, here’s more Christmas time words 单词 (dān cí) worth knowing: Candy cane 拐杖糖 guǎi zhàng táng Christmas card 圣诞贺卡 shèng dàn hè kǎ Christmas carol 圣诞颂歌 shèng dàn sòng gē Christmas Eve 平安夜 píng ān yè Christmas tree 圣诞树 shèng dàn shù Eggnog 蛋酒 dàn jiǔ Feast 盛宴 shèng yàn Hot chocolate 热巧克力 rè qiǎo kè lì Hot cider 热苹果酒 rè píng guǒ jiǔ Merry Christmas 圣诞节快乐 shèng dàn jié kuài lè Mince pie 圣诞馅饼 shèng dàn xiàn bǐng Nutcracker 胡桃夹子 hú táo jiá zi Present 礼物 lǐ wù Wrapping paper 包装纸 bāo zhuāng ...

There Must Be a Use for My Talent

There Must Be a Use for My Talent muTu Note - Learn Chinese with Chinese Girl I amcompletely unsure what I want to do  in the future. People  always ask me what I will do after I leave school. I think that there must be a  use for my talent! 我完全不知道我以后会做什么。人们总是问我不上学了之后要做什么,我的回答也总是同样的:我不知道。但是我始终认为天生我材必有用! 我很羡慕我的一些朋友,他们很清楚自己要做什么。尽管我从来没有野心和目标,这可不代表我没有什么技能。事实上,我觉得自己很特殊。 我想我擅长和人们一起工作。我很有幽默感,可以和遇到的每一个人相处得很好。人们喜欢也信任我。我认为这本身就是一种天资。一些人擅长收益,有些人很有美感或者是在其他方面有天赋——但是,我是一个很有人缘的人。也许我应该做老板或是领袖吧! I amcompletely unsure what I want to do  in the future. People  always ask me what I will do after I leave school. My answer is the same: I don’t know. But I always think that there must be a  use for my talent! I envy  some of my friends. They are very clear about what they will do. Although I have never had ambitions  and goals, that doesn’t mean I have no skills. In fact, I feel very special. I think I am  very good at working with people. I have a good...

A Step-By-Step to Homemade Fermented Rice Wine

A Step-By-Step to Homemade Fermented Rice Wine muTu Note - Learn Chinese with Chinese Girl Chinese cuisine would be incomplete if not for the array of snacks passed on from generation to generation. Of those, one of the oldest, and perhaps tastiest, is the impeccable dish,láo zāo(醪糟 fermented glutinous rice wine), otherwise referred to as mǐ jiǔ (米酒) or jiǔ niàng(酒酿). This seeming cross between a pudding(布丁,bù dīng) and soup is typically translated as fermented glutinous rice wine due to its alcoholic nature, however, the alcohol(酒精,jiǔ jīng) is barely noticeable and children are often introduced to it very early on in life. Fermented glutinous rice wine cooked with glutinous rice balls (汤圆,tāng yuán) is a traditional food for marking the end of Chinese New Year. A Step-By-Step to Homemade Fermented Rice Wine How to make fermented glutinous rice wine As with all fermentation recipes, cleanliness is paramount. Make sure that everything that will come into contact with t...

Chinese Diary Entry: clear snow

Chinese Diary Entry: clear snow muTu Note - Learn Chinese with Chinese Girl When I got up and look out from the window, I found, to my great surprise, it was snowing heavily. I was very excited since it was the first snowfall this winter. 起床后我往窗外看去,惊讶的发现正在下大雪。我很兴奋,因为这是今年第一场雪。 我很快穿上衣服,跑到院子里。一些孩子已经在那里了。我们堆雪人,滚雪球,打雪仗,又笑又喊,开心极了。突然,我们注意到,由于厚厚的积雪,公共汽车和小汽车开得很慢。“为什么我们不去扫雪呢?”有人建议。听了他的话,我们跑去拿来工具,开始扫雪。我们扫了整整一个早晨,路上的雪被清扫干净了,我们高兴地回家了。 When I got up and look out from the window, I found, to my great surprise, it was snowing heavily. I was very excited since it was the first snowfall this winter. I quickly got dressed and ran into the yard. Some kids were already there. We made some snowmen and rolled snowballs. We also enjoyed the fun of having snowball fights. Laughing and shouting, all of us were so happy. Suddenly we noticed that buses and cars were moving slowly because of the heavy snow. “Why don’t we go to clear the snow?” Someone suggested. At these words, we ran to fetch tools and be...

What is the mean of lěng chǎng 冷场

What is the mean of lěng chǎng 冷场 muTu Note - Learn Chinese with Chinese Girl “最怕空气突然安静~”,约会中遇到“冷场”那真是超级尴尬了。“冷场”,本意是指表演者由于忘词等原因,造成舞台演出的突然停止,现在也比喻正在进行的话题中断,气氛突然尴尬,可以翻译为“awkward silence或awkward pause”。 例句: ér qiě wǒ men sī háo méi yǒu gān gà lěng chǎng 而且我们丝毫没有尴尬冷场。 And we haven’t had any of those awkward pauses. lěng chǎng zhēn shì yuē huì zhōng zuì zāo gāo de shì 冷场真是约会中最糟糕的事。 Awkward silences really are the worst part of dating. from WordPress https://ift.tt/38644bg

China Interview Do you have any questions for us?

China Interview Do you have any questions for us? muTu Note - Learn Chinese with Chinese Girl 北方各地初雪都下了一阵了,应届生们关心的秋招也接近尾声。经历了重重面试的人大多都被问到过一个问题:“你对我们公司/这个岗位还有什么问题吗”( Do you have any questions for us? )多数人可能就说“暂时想不到 /没有了”。Reddit网友也发现基本没人反过来问招聘官问题。 Interviewers have often told me almost no one asks questions during interview s. 面试官们经常跟我提到说面试时几乎没有面试者提问。 有人想问薪水、工作职责等等,但又不知道如何开口。 Remember, at a job interview , YOU are also interview ing the company. 要记住,工作面试时,你同样也在面试这家公司。 An interview is a two-way street. The interviewer asks questions to learn about you, while you prepare questions to ask the interviewer about the position, the company and potential development within the company in order to make sure the position is a good fit for you. 一场面试是一个双向的通道。面试官通过提问来更多地了解你,同时你也该准备问题,向面试官就职位、公司、潜在发展等等进行提问,以此来确定该职位是否适合你。 Reddit网友TeamWaffleStomp认为,自己面试能成功全靠结束时问的那两个问题。 I’m currently working a dream job I’m barely qualified for. I’m pretty sure two questions I asked are what got me the job. ...

Blood is thicker than water Relatively Speaking ChengYu

Blood is thicker than water Relatively Speaking ChengYu muTu Note - Learn Chinese with Chinese Girl Blood is thicker than water: This well-worn chestnut is one of few idioms to take the exact same form in English and Chinese (血浓于水), though it is not clear if the phrase s in the two languages are related. Given the importance Chinese traditionally placed on family lineage, it is not surprising that many four-character idioms ( chengyu ) exist to describe one’s ties to blood relatives, or 亲戚 (qīn qi). Whether they reward you with “red envelopes” at Chinese New Year, or pepper you with intrusive questions, everyone has relatives, and can appreciate the following phrase s: 骨肉至亲 Flesh and blood kin 骨肉, literally “bone and flesh,” is a metaphor for one’s blood relatives that appears in many family-related chengyu . This idiom describes one’s closest relatives, whether by lineage or emotional ties: Gǔ ròu zhì qīn yīng tuán jié. 骨肉至亲应团结。 Blood relatives should be united. 六亲不认 Disowni...

Let’s Travel to Hainan in Winter

Let’s Travel to Hainan in Winter muTu Note - Learn Chinese with Chinese Girl 场景:大卫从广州出差回来,约李丽一起吃饭 Scene: David came back from a business trip in Guangzhou and asked Li Li to have dinner with him 人物:大卫和李丽 Characters: David and Li Li 大卫:广州真是个好地方。城市很漂亮,好吃的东西也很多。 李丽:天气热吗? 大卫:很热。现在是秋天了,北京已经凉快了,但是广州还是很热。 李丽:中国的地方大,所以南方跟北方的气候很不一样。 大卫:没错。秋天还是在北京舒服。 李丽:对,秋天是北京最好的季节。不过,再过一个月,天气就冷了。 大卫:北京的冬天有多冷? 李丽:肯定比你的家乡冷多了。到时候你就知道了。 大卫:对了,今年冬天我有两周的假期,去哪儿旅游比较好呢? 李丽:冬天去海南吧。海南在中国的最南边,有阳光和沙滩,最适合冬天度假。 大卫:你有假期的话,跟我一起去吧。 李丽:好啊,希望今年能有假期。 课文 Text Dà wèi :Guǎngzhōu zhēn shì gè hǎo dìfang. Chéngshì hěn piāoliang,hǎochī de dōngxi yé hěnduō. 大 卫: 广 州 真 是 个 好 地方。城市 很 漂亮, 好吃 的 东西 也 很多。 Lǐ Lì :Tiānqì rè ma? 李 丽:天气 热 吗? Dà wèi :Hěn rè. Xiànzài shì qiūtiān le,Běijīng yǐjīng liángkuai le,dànshì Guǎngzhōu háishì hěnrè. 大卫: 很 热。现在 是 秋天了,北京 已经 凉快 了,但是 广州 还是 很热。 Lǐ Lì :Zhōngguó de dìfang dà ,suóyǐ nánfāng gēn běifāng de qìhòu hěn bù yíyàng. 李 丽:中国 的 地方 大,所以 南方 跟 北方 的 气候 很 不 一样。 Dà wèi :Méicuò. Qiūtiān hái...

Can a One Year Old Decide Their Own Career?

Can a One Year Old Decide Their Own Career? muTu Note - Learn Chinese with Chinese Girl If you thought declaring your major as a college freshman(大学新生,dà xué xīn shēng) was a lot of pressure, try deciding your career path at just one year old! The adorable ceremony that I’m referring to is called Zhuazhou (抓周,zhuā zhōu), a tradition that’s been taking place in China since the Qing Dynasty (1644 – 1911) and was mainly a tradition celebrated among noble families(贵族,guì zú). The Zhuazhou ceremony(仪式,yí shì) is where various objects, each representing a different career path(职业道路,zhí yè dào lù), are placed around either a large table or on the bed. Then like a turtle race, the crawling baby is set loose and close family and friends watch as the birthday boy or girl crawls(爬行,pá xíng) toward all the various objects around him/her. Then based on what the baby selects(选择,xuǎn zé) first, it was believed that object was an indication(暗示,àn shì) of their future career path. Back in the anci...

How to give gift to Chinese girl

How to give gift to Chinese girl muTu Note - Learn Chinese with Chinese Girl Do you know how to give gift to Chinese girl or other people in the world? 无论是为了某个特别的节日,还是为了表达感谢,抑或是为了让对方明白你很在乎,赠送礼物都是人类共同的习俗。各地赠礼的目的也许相近,但赠礼的传统却因国而异。在某地表示尊重的赠礼行为,在另一个地方看来则可能会被视为无礼。一起看看世界各地独一无二的赠礼传统吧。 In Europe, don’t accidentally cut yourself out of someone’s life.在欧洲,别不小心与人一刀两断。 Here in the US, a set of kitchen knives seems like the perfect gift idea for a wedding or holiday. However, in certain European countries like Germany, superstition dictates that a knife present ed as a gift will sever your friendship. There is a way to beat this superstition: Tie a penny to the knife or gift box. The receiver then returns the penny to you as a “payment” to nullify the bad luck. 在美国,一套厨房刀具似乎是十分理想的婚礼或节日礼物。然而在某些欧洲国家,如德国,迷信让人们相信赠送刀具会割断朋友之间的友谊。打破这种迷信的办法是:在刀或礼品盒上绑一枚硬币。收礼人把硬币还给赠礼之人以示“付款”,用以抵消厄运。 In Britain, diamonds are 60th wedding anniversary gifts.在英国,60周年结婚纪念日礼物是钻石。 Lottery tickets are bought and exchanged h...

How to talk About Covid19 Pandemic with Chinese

How to talk About Covid19 Pandemic with Chinese muTu Note - Learn Chinese with Chinese Girl If you’re learning Chinese, and have Chinese friends , family, or coworkers, you may have been wanting to check in with them, to see how they’re doing amid the pandemic. You can learn how to chat about life during the pandemic with Chinese people you know! 小美:张明,你最近怎么样啊?还好吗? xiǎo měi: zhāng míng nǐ zuì jìn zěn me yàng a hái hǎo ma Xiao Mei: Zhang Ming, how have you been lately? Have you been OK? 张明:你好小美,好久没联系了! zhāng míng: nǐ hǎo xiǎo měi hǎo jiǔ méi lián xì le Zhang Ming: Hi Xiaomei, it’s been a while since we’ve talked last! 张明:我这边还不错,你呢? zhāng míng: wǒ zhè biān hái bù cuò nǐ ne Zhang Ming: I’ve been pretty good. How about you? 小美:我也是,你们家里人都好吗? xiǎo měi: wǒ yě shì nǐ mén jiā lǐ rén dōu hǎo ma Xiao Mei: Me too. How is your family? 张明:我们家里人都很好,谢谢你的关心! zhāng míng: wǒ men jiā lǐ rén dōu hěn hǎo xiè xie nǐ de guān xīn Zhang Ming: Our family is great. Thanks for being concerned! ...

My views on the development of private car ownership

My views on the development of private car ownership muTu Note - Learn Chinese with Chinese Girl With improved social developments, more and more Chinese families are beginning to afford private cars. 随着社会的发展,越来越多的中国家庭能够买得起私人轿车。然而,对于是否应该发展私人轿车,人们的观点则各有不同。 在有些人看来,私人轿车给他们提供了很大的便利和灵活性,人们不再依赖公共交通,他们可以随心所欲地去自己想去的地方。然而,发反对者则认为私人轿车使城市的交通状况更为糟糕,到处都出现堵车现象;并且,过多的私人轿车及大地污染了空气。 在我看来,私人轿车数量的增加是我国现代化的一个标志,但是我们 应该制定相关政策来严格控制私人轿车。 With improved social developments, more and more Chinese families are beginning to afford private cars. Yet opinion s of whether we should develop private car ownership or not differ from person to person. In some people’s eyes, private cars offer them great convenience and mobility. People no longer have to depend on public transportation and they can go wherever they want. However, opponents of this idea think that private cars make the situation of city traffic even worse. There are already so many traffic jams. What’s more, so many private cars greatly pollute t...

What pets do you like? Look here!

What pets do you like? Look here! muTu Note - Learn Chinese with Chinese Girl Nowadays, many people would like to keep pets as their companions. There are so many pet shops, pet foods, and even pet clinics around us. 现在,很多人喜欢喂养宠物作为自己的伙伴。我们周围有许多宠物店、宠物食品甚至宠物医院。对于那些宠物的饲养者来说,宠物是他们最好的朋友并且能给他们带来无尽的乐趣。 然而,宠物也会给他人带来麻烦。有些人抱怨他们的生活被如此多的狗吠声所骚扰;小猫小狗还很可能伤及孩子,许多人认为喂养宠物应该受到限制。 就我而言,宠物是我们的朋友,我们应该善待他们,然而我们也应估计他人的感受。我希望在我们享受宠物给我们带来的快乐的同时,他人仍然能够拥有宁静祥和的生活。 Nowadays, many people would like to keep pets as their companions. There are so many pet shops, pet foods, and even pet clinics around us. For pet owners, pets are their favorite friends and can bring them countless pleasures. However, pets can bring problems to others as well. Some people complain that their lives are disturbed by so many dogs’ barking; some children even get hurt by the dogs or cats. Many people think that pet-keeping should be limited. As far as I am concerned, pets are our friends so we should treat them kindly. Yet we shou...

Choice Chengyu: Idioms That Go Boom

Choice Chengyu: Idioms That Go Boom muTu Note - Learn Chinese with Chinese Girl Gunpowder, one of China’s “Four Great Inventions,” was probably an accident: Historians believe that alchemists were trying to make the pill of immortality when the ingredients in the cauldron (sulfur, nitrates, and honey, according to a ninth-century recipe) went boom. Choice Chengyu: Idioms That Go Boom Whether or not gunpowder has made a positive impact on the world in the 1,200 years since it was invented, however, is up to debate—and, judging by idioms that have to do with the explosion, even ancient people were themselves far from sure. While a great force was sometimes admired, or at least feared and respected, as a driver of progress and change, its destructive potential was considered troubling, as shown by many of the sayings below: 血肉横飞 Xuě ròu héng fēi Blood and flesh flying horizontally What could make blood and flesh fly horizontally? A powerful force like an explosion, of course. Th...

It’s time for a simple Mandarin Test!

It’s time for a simple Mandarin Test! muTu Note - Learn Chinese with Chinese Girl Do you know what your Chinese level is now? It’s time for a simple Mandarin Test! Given that learning is a lifelong endeavor – especially when it comes to linguistics – practice certainly does make perfect, or at least something approximating perfection. Here is an opportunity to test your Chinese proficiency. With any luck, it will reignite your passion to explore the wider world of this rich language and culture we’ve all chosen to immerse ourselves in. It’s time for a simple Mandarin Test! (1)Choose the correct pinyin for the word below 汉堡包 1.Hàn bǎo bāo 2.Hàn bǎo bao 3.Hàn bǎo bǎo 4.Hán bāo bāo   (2)Choose the correct meaning for the following word 留学 1.Bleed 2.Detention 3.Study Abroad 4.Foreign Student   (3)Choose the right meaning for the following idiom 大腹便便 1.To describe someone who is broad-minded 2.To describe someone who is fat 3.To describe someone whose bel...

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test2 muTu Note - Learn Chinese with Chinese Girl ceshi2 Learn Chinese:The weather is much hotter in Guangzhou than in Beijing from WordPress https://ift.tt/2GCfKbQ

Learn Chinese:The weather is much hotter in Guangzhou than in Beijing

Learn Chinese:The weather is much hotter in Guangzhou than in Beijing muTu Note - Learn Chinese with Chinese Girl 场景: 大卫、王兰和陈经理到达广州,在从机场去酒店的路上 Scene: David, Wang Lan and Manager Chen have arrived at Guangzhou, and are on the way to hotel now. 人物:大卫、王兰和陈经理 Characters: David, Wang Lan and Manager Chen   大 卫:这是我第一次来广州。 王 兰:感觉怎么样? 大 卫:广州比北京热多了。 王 兰:广州是南方城市。你看,路边的风景跟北方的不一样。 大 卫:没错,南方的风景也很漂亮。陈经理以前来过广州吧? 陈经理:来过几次,不过我对广州不太熟悉。王兰比我熟悉得多。 王 兰:是啊。我在广州上了四年大学。 大 卫:是吗?那你一定知道哪里有好吃的。听说广州的美食特别多。 王 兰:确实很多。晚上我带你们去吃有名的广东菜吧。 陈经理:不着急。明天的事情办完以后,我请你们吃。 王 兰:您说得对,明天再去吃。工作比吃饭重要得多。 课文 Text Dà wèi:Zhèshì wǒ dì yī cì lái guǎngzhōu. 大 卫:这是 我 第一次 来 广 州。 Wáng lán:Gǎnjué zěnmeyàng ? 王 兰:感觉 怎么样? Dà wèi:Guǎngzhōu bí Běijīng rè duō le. 大 卫:广 州 比 北京 热 多了。 Wáng lán:Guǎngzhōu shì nánfāng chéngshì. Nǐkàn,lùbiān de fēngjǐng gēn běifāng de bù yíyàng. 王 兰:广 州 是 南方 城市。你看,路边 的 风景 跟 北方 的 不 一样。 Dà wèi :Méicuò,nánfāng de fēngjǐng yé hěn piāoliang.Chén jīnglǐ yǐqián lái guò Guǎngzhōu ba? 大 卫:没错,南方 的 风景 ...