User Comments - bodawei

Posted on: Napkins

@mmadison & barbs

Ha ha - you guys have bene having fun with napkins. 

I cannot remember ever being refused a bed - but I travelled with 'dirty face and untidy hair' as one of my teacher's unkindly put it. 

My understanding is that the old system of preventing foreigners staying at the cheap places has been repealed. Unless they say 没空儿 (sorry no room). 

My cheapest separate room with two beds and a working TV was 15 RMB (2007) and I hardly had to negotiate. :-)  The laoban was Han Chinese but all of the restaurants were 'Korean' - for reasons that are beyond me my dinner cost more than my room.  They seemed to be charging South Korean prices for the food.

Posted on: Kungpao Chicken

@cobre

You might be observing either i) a dialect or ii) mis-spelt pinyin, or some combination of the two!  

It'll be either mifan4 （cooked rice) OR mifen3 (rice noodles) - one of the two!

The names of dishes cannot always be 'translated' - there is a preference for form (flowery language) over substance (description.)   You sometimes have to practice your Chinese by asking what is in the dish.

Posted on: Kungpao Chicken

@light487

my understanding is that it is simply colloquial - some might say 'bad Chinese' (not that I am in any position to judge!).  I noticed that young people hanging around with our son would say something like 'duoooooaaahqianaah?'  Like we might say 'Ow much?' But I think you are safe saying 'duoshao qian?' without becoming a social outcast.  :-)

Posted on: Renting a Bike

在杭州我从未祖过自行车可是我租画舫了。。 zai Hangzhou wo congwei zu guo zixingche keshi wo zu huafang le. In Hangzhou I never rented a bike but I did rent boats (for viewing the lake). 我有自行车一年左右， 新的买价一切包括在内的是两百块钱。  I bought a bike and kept it for about a year - it cost 200RMB new, all inclusive (lock, basket).

Anyone know why there is a 和 he2 (grain) radical with 租 zu?

Posted on: Getting Old Isn't Easy

@xuchen

I think getting a seat on the bus only works if you're Chinese; hasn't worked for me yet.  :-)

Posted on: Kungpao Chicken

@cobre

If you are a New Zealander 'fun' is 粉 fen3 (rice flour).  Only kidding :-)  粉 fen3 means rice flour and 米粉 mi3fen3 means rice noodles.  By comparison 面粉 mian4fen3 means wheat flour and 面条 mian4tiao2 means wheat noodles.

If you are not a New Zealander I think you are hearing 饭 fan4 - which can mean either cooked rice or a meal as in 我要吃饭 wo yao chi fan (I would like to eat).  饭 fan4 and 米饭 mi3fan4 both mean cooked rice. 

It is kind of interesting that 'rice' has at least four different terms in Chinese from

稻 dao4 (rice growing in a field)

米 mi3 (uncooked rice)

粉 fen3 (rice flour)

饭 fan4 (cooked rice)

Posted on: Seeking Without Finding -- 寻隐者不遇

@pete

关于诗的课再给你满分。

Another one I liked very much. You made all sorts of interesting connections.. even with Panasonic! C'est parfait.  Good work.  I'll change that to excellent work.

I tried to understand ithe poem by myself before listening to your breakdown; I got some of it but missed important points. I thought the old man was lost.  And I definitely missed the significance of 言。 I though 言师 would be some kind of 'man of letters'.

But .. maybe the hermit didn't want to be found? 

I'm wondering why the poet went to war at the age of 62.  One he's too old; two he's a poet.  Was he sent?  What drove him to war?  大概遇到麻烦吗？

Posted on: Kungpao Chicken

@matt

aiyaaaah!  演出以后，你应该吃了一片阿司匹林以解头痛！

Headbut 中文怎么说？ 

Another entertaining effort.  I like the exploration of food, ingredients and their history. 

Although I enjoy dishes cooked with 腰果 (cashews) and 花生 (peanuts) I particularly like the customary bowl of 油煎花生 (peanuts shallow fried in oil) before the rest of the courses appear.

Posted on: Boston

@user498

'..and it ain't that safe'.

Guys, guys guys.  Boston isn't that bad - you just stack your luggage up against your hotel room door when you go to sleep at night.  I did. 

Posted on: Napkins

@barbs

Ha ha.  Well, I am a little bloke, with middle age spread growing into what the clothing industry calls a Medium size, and a Chinese towel would just fail to go round my waist once.  So you support it there with one hand.  But this manouvre is not required in 长白山 because the baths are 没有衣服 。。