User Comments - bodawei
bodawei
Posted on: Christmas Dinner
January 19, 2010 at 4:46 PM@calicartel
Each of the three terms are translated differently in the Expansion section and these translations neatly distinguish the three - they are not interchangeable. 点心 the general terms for small serves, sometimes referred to as 'snacks'. Taken together they can be a substantial meal, but some can be eaten as snacks on the run. 饺子 (dumplings) and 小笼包 - don't forget the 小 (the soup dumplings that I think are claimed by Shanghai) are distinct products. I really don't think that 小笼包 can be eaten on the run - I have enough trouble sitting at a table. The first term, 点心, is the most generic in that each of the other two may show up under the heading of 点心. But if you want dumplings you ask for 饺子。
Posted on: Where are you from?
January 19, 2010 at 3:56 PMI have a number of books published recently by 北京师范大学 and they do not follow the convention mentioned by Connie. I have seen proper names capitalised elsewhere but I don't think starting a sentence with a capital is common, is it? What I'm trying to say is that the convention is not followed religiously. Looking at it another way, I think that capitalising pinyin is in any case of limited use, because it is just an aid to pronunciation.
Posted on: Office Lunch Options
January 19, 2010 at 3:45 PMPerhaps because small dogs are more common here? I use 只 for a small dog (because with 只 I think of something the size of a stick) and 条 for a large dog (because 条 can be as large as a river.)
Posted on: Dogs and Wealth
January 19, 2010 at 11:27 AMHe/she looks much too sedate to be a Jack Russell. :-)
(ex Jack Russell owner.)
Posted on: Office Lunch Options
January 19, 2010 at 4:52 AMPauley
Yeh, I agree. Well I'm just off to have my daily Illy coffee. The sky is blue and its about 20 degrees. Life's not too bad in the sticks.
Posted on: Office Lunch Options
January 18, 2010 at 3:28 PMI have just checked a map myself - 兰州 Lanzhou is actually east of where I live! Holy cow - I do live in the sticks! I feel quite exotic now.
Posted on: Foot Therapy
January 18, 2010 at 1:57 PM在这里足疗只要10元四是分钟（包括泡脚和除了足以外手，碧，肩按摩）.
Posted on: Foot Therapy
January 18, 2010 at 1:48 PMFlickr is okay last time I looked.
Posted on: Office Lunch Options
January 18, 2010 at 11:17 AMHa ha. I could probably eat noodles every day but I've never tested that proposition. 拉面 làmiàn (pulled noodles) is the best known product of 兰州 Lanzhou restaurants but they do also make 米线 míxiàn (rice noodles), useful for people like me who do not eat gluten.
A reality check on prices (our hosts live in Shanghai, the most expensive city in China). The dishes are often served with 小 xiǎo (small) and 大 dà (large) options. Sit down or takeaway are normally the same prices. But note that it is common (where I live) to have soup and 泡菜 (pickled vegetables) available free, to drink and eat respectively while you wait for your ordered meal. The free stuff is self-serve.
拉面 làmiàn or 米线 míxiàn costs 4 - 5 RMB, 5 RMB would be a large bowl. These come with meat and vegetables, but less than in a 盖浇饭.
盖浇饭 (meat, vegetables on rice) costs about 5 - 10, even 20, RMB depending on quantity, ingredients and the restaurant. 盖浇饭 is, where I live, usually a very large serve (much larger than in the photo.) My local serves 三鲜盖饭 for 7 RMB and there is always fried egg in our 盖饭.
盒饭 héfàn (a boxed lunch) - I have never seen one!
Another common lunch dish here is 三鲜汤饭 tāngfàn (soup and rice) - this is as the name suggests a bowl of meat and vegetable soup plus a separate plate of steamed rice. Price 5 RMB.
Some abbreviations:
盖浇饭 is always 盖饭 here
便利店 is often 便利
One final thing, Jenny referred to 兰州 as north-west China, but if you look on a map you'll see that it is near the centre of the country (I believe that it possibly east of the geographic centre.) It seems to me that if you live in Shanghai anything west of Nanjing is considered 'west'. Not that we mind. :-)
Posted on: Where are you from?
January 19, 2010 at 4:57 PMYou are probably right, I think I am old school. I don't think of pinyin as offering any help apart from pronunciation. I find it difficult to read anything with pinyin there. I don't see what it adds to the characters in terms of 'recognising word patterns' because of the problem of ambiguity; the characters themselves provide more information than pinyin. It can help you identify a proper noun if capitalised; one little factor in its 'favour'. :-) I'd still prefer that it wasn't there, and that there was some other marker for proper nouns for learners.