User Comments - bodawei

Posted on: A Stroll through the Hutongs

Two steps:

1. Upload your photo from the computer to a site such as Flickr (because then us China-based poddies can see your photos)

2. Grab the html code at Flickr (see 'Sharing') and paste it onto this site. The photo has a size constraint imposed by ChinesePod. Check on Flickr to make sure you are taking the code for a size that meets the constraint.

PS. Others are more expert but they just helped me get back into the photography club so I am passing on the favour.

Posted on: Taxable Salary

Tax evasion is a criminal offence in China and the penalties can be considerably more severe than in the the US. :) But I assume you are talking about legal deductions - isn't it just a matter of visiting your tax accountant in either country? If you mean there are bigger deductions legally available for high income earners you may be right - but this is only about 3% of total income tax collections. Your main tax payments are made when you buy things - which is very sensible in a country like China.

Posted on: Taxable Salary

Hmm, if this 'deducting your rent to arrive at taxable income' is true I have not been told about it.  Maybe I need a new accountant?  :) 

Certainly you can reduce your taxable income to the extent that you receive a separate rental allowance - you are not taxed on the rental allowance - but this dialogue is suggesting something else, right?  

Can anyone confirm that this dialogue conveys the correct impression in relation to tax liability?  I have never heard this angle.   

Incidentally, if you come from a country with a mutual understanding with China (as Australia now has) - cutting your Chinese taxes does not remove your liability. In Australia's case you are required to pay the difference to bring it up to the Australian tax rate.  But only if you work in China and earn this money over a period less than 90 days.  If you are deemed a Chinese resident (working here for more than 90 days) your liability in Australia changes too - you pay more tax (all else equal) in Australia than you would if you were resident in Australia.  They get you one way or another. 

Chinese personal income tax rates are not high on Australian standards but consumption taxes are much higher.  Again, they get you one way or another. 

Posted on: Four Uses of the Complement 起来 (qilai)

Hi lujiaojie

Thanks for that - interesting. So the brand is kind of 'daring' the Chinese man to buy their wares - 'hey! Are you good enough to wear these clothes?!'

The English translation is kind of interesting - sept meaning 7 (even though September is the ninth month). I remember learning in school that the word September came into the language because it was the seventh month of the Roman calendar.

I like it, despite the pronunciation difficulty - saying Sept-Wolves is a bit of a tongue twister. But of course no-one here ever actually says Septwolves. (My students just refer to it as 七匹狼). The English is there for visual impact only.

Posted on: Transportation Card

The dialogue implies that the 交通卡 are not sold from a machine - certainly in the rest of China they are usually sold at a dedicated office in the city. In some cities it is not easy to buy one (paperwork); in other cities it may be unavailable unless you have 户口 (Chinese residency status).

Posted on: Four Uses of the Complement 起来 (qilai)

想起了‘说起来很容易，做起来很难’是我最爱的话。

Posted on: Four Uses of the Complement 起来 (qilai)

It's discussed in the lesson. Well, not the fact that it is one of your favourite expressions. :)

Posted on: Too Many Food Allergies

In the West people assert their rights of ownership to photos. When working for a big multi-national I could only use the photos that the company had paid for - any photo included in a report had to come from the 'library'. I guess that this kind of thing is developing in China along with other aspects of intellectual property?

Posted on: Four Uses of the Complement 起来 (qilai)

The 'big bad wolf' reference makes me wonder how this resonates in Chinese culture.. 

the 七匹狼 qīpǐláng* (seven wolves or Septwolves) brand is very popular in China.  Not being a smoker I did not realise until last week that it is a cigarette brand as well as a clothes brand. 

Are wolves seen as good or bad symbols in China - it seems it may have a positive image?  

* 匹 pǐ is the measure word for wolves  

Posted on: Four Uses of the Complement 起来 (qilai)

To clarify a bit .. to go upstairs you would use 上楼　shànglóu (upstairs)

她上楼去了(she went upstairs)

But this suggests a topic for another Qing Wen:

All the variations on going up and going down. There are multiple meanings in English, and just as many ways of expressing 'going up' and 'going down' in Chinese. Eg.

The sun went down (came up)

The price of eggs has gone down (up)

The noise has gone down (up) a little (abated/risen)

He went down in history for inventing the lightbulb.

The lead character eventually goes down in the world.

He went down like a sack of potatoes.

His life went down the drain.

Abbott went down to Gillard in the election.

Hmm, THAT went down well!