Note: This article is a rant. And I wrote it in 2012. It was published in another website which, recently, went offline forever. Since the thoughts I shared are still (very) relevant to China and its society, we decided to publish it on SDC.

Today I did something I’m not proud of.

Fast backward to this morning.

I’m one of the few bloggers on this planet that has no internet at home. The (Chinese) firm I work for provided me with a nice apartment for a convenient price but, since three months, the internet connection is gone.

I’m not complaining, I could have moved to a more expensive and less nice apartment and get an internet connection. Instead, I accepted the situation because, well, I’m lazy.

The solution I’ve found consists of staying later at the office when I have something urgent to do, like check the last results of my favorite Italian football team or post another no-sense article on my website.

However today is Sunday and I’m not at the office. I need a connection because it’s been a month since I’ve called my mom and it would be nice to notify her I’m still alive. [Read more…]

This article was writter by TutorMandarin, an online Chinese tutoring service that helps students how to speak Mandarin using an their Android mobile app and PC Software.

P.S. Click here to jump directly to an interesting infographic that showcases the most common Chinese surnames for each Province.

Naming is an absolutely integral part of Chinese culture. In the eyes of the Chinese, a child’s name can play a large role in determining his or her future education, career, and even marriage! Unlike English names, each Chinese name is individually created (not choosing a standard James, William, or Michael) and takes into account several factors for bringing good luck or fortune.

Chinese names, in contrast to their English counterparts, are made with family name first and then the given name. Children usually take their father’s family name, though it is legal for a child to follow either their father’s or mother’s family name. When choosing the given name, Chinese tradition places importance worth on the five elements (metal, earth, water, fire, and wood). The idea is that the correct balance of elements is needed to ensure the right name. [Read more…]

Chinese culture is rich and boasts a very ancient history. A first step in getting to know this world better is to get into the narrative and discover the literary works.

The theme of this article deals with the figure of fox spirits, of which you can also find a trace of in our time but traces its origins in a far off past.

This fantasy figure is developed in both Chinese and Japanese works, but today we’ll consider the subject just from the Chinese point of view.

Through the discovery of fox spirits one can obtain interesting information on the relationship between men and women, and humans and animals.

What is a fox spirit

Foxes (狐, hú) are usually animals with magical powers that can transform themselves by assuming various forms.

At least in the earliest known works, the fox is presented not only as an astute figure, as is also common in the West, but also a harbinger of ruin and misfortune, feared by men (Krappe Alexander 1944, “Far Eastern Fox Lore”, California Folklore Quarterly, Vol. 3, No. 2, Apr., pp. 124-147). [Read more…]

The Chinese word used to indicate the art that we call calligraphy is shū​fǎ​ (书法); composed of shū (书) which means book, letter, document and by extension writing (even if the word for to write has its own character: xiě,​ 写), and of ​fǎ (法) which means law and/or rule.

From a semantic analysis of this two-syllable word, you can deduce that its concept includes something like “the rules of writing”, in a word: syntax.

In reality this form of writing with ink and brush has its own range of art since it goes well beyond only the application of rules, but you can also say that it is mainly made up of the research and aesthetic development of both the characters and composition.

Here’s why the best word to translate this is calligraphy.

The word calligraphy comes from the Greek word Kalligraphia, composed of the prefix “Kallos” which means beauty and the suffix “graphia” which means to write; that’s where it got its definition as the art of beautiful writing.

From the term’s etymology its clear that the Greek civilization already gave attention to the aesthetics of writing and already considered the ability to trace characters with a profile that is both understandable and pleasant to look at an art form. [Read more…]

As we’ve discussed in a previous article (Why Native English is Worth its Weight in Gold in China), learning English is something of a priority for the Chinese.

But, despite all the time, money, and effort, China just can’t seem to produce very many competent ESL speakers. The flip side is no different; Chinese is consistently ranked among the very hardest languages to learn for native English speakers. The number of Chinese programs in American higher education is growing rapidly, so more and more people are feeling the pain many of our readers struggle with on a daily basis.

In this and in my next article, I’m going to take a stab at explaining why exactly this is – starting with why English is such a nightmare for Chinese students. [Read more…]

Disclaimer: This article is an opinion article based on contrasting information and personal experience. The comments section is open to discussion. However, just like with any article on SDC, any comments considered to be clearly offensive or insulting will be deleted.

Lately, we received a wave of insulting comments against Chinese people, and strangely on an article dedicated to dog meat in VIETNAM. This fact bugged me a bit, as first of all, I don’t like to spend all day deleting insulting comments and second of all, the comments didn’t have anything to do with the article. Why insult Chinese people on an article on Vietnam?

Regardless, I was curious about the reason for this wave of comments. I found the answer quickly by reading the newspaper. Apparently, people had started a worldwide campaign to stop the Lychee and Dog Meat Festival in the Chinese city of Yulin, in Guangxi, which is held every year on June 21.

This is the reason why I have decided to cover this subject in the most objective way possible today.

Truths and myths about the consumption of dog meat in China

[Read more…]