User Comments - jennyzhu

Posted on: I Want This

jonjar1979,

If the presentation of the food is good, you can use 漂亮.

leonelmail,

Thanks a lot for the compliment! Ken and John make me sound good.

Posted on: Morning at the Office

Chris,

While there are some fixed rules with tone changes, such as when there are 2 identical characters, the second one often becomes neutral tone, e.g. 爸爸/ba4 ba, 妈妈/ma1 ma. Some tone changes are more elusive such as 早上。But in everyday conversations, many people don't observe the rule or they pronounce 上 as neurtral tone but without pondering.

Search 'tone', you will get a list of lessons on tones and tone changes.

Posted on: Here she comes

Having a crush on someone can be a rather lovely feeling. The word for 'crush' is 暗恋/an4 lian4, which literally means 'secret love'.

Posted on: Hungry Traveler: Sichuan

A dish inspired by the Olympic stadium, the Bird's Nest.

Posted on: Hungry Traveler: Sichuan

bento,

I guess there is a very practical side for placing the ingredients on a stick: to keep track of whose food it is. Normally, malatang is boiled in a huge container of spicy soup in communal style. The owner has to manage the food ordered by many customers at the same time. So putting it on a skwer helps them do that. After it's cooked, the owner 'unskwer' the food.

I've never had malatang, because my mom is hyper particular about food hygiene. When I was really young, I got spanked for buying street food and lying about it to my mom. Ouch!

Posted on: Hungry Traveler: Sichuan

A typical malatang 麻辣烫 stand.

And the finished product,

Posted on: I Want This

kennyken,

Thank you for the translation! Also inspires me to channel my boredom positively.

qiren,

Thank you for your support!

Posted on: I Want This

urbandweller,

We do have Frenchpod. www.frenchpod.com

adriana,

Gracias!

checkingoutchina,

You can say :不用，可以了/bu2 yong4, ke3 yi3 le. It means 'no, those will do.'

Posted on: I Want This

French?!

Posted on: Business Interview: e-Commerce Guru

I remember when Taobao was launched, I thought how were they going to compete with Ebay who had already been operating in China. But Jack Ma has done it. It's become a daily habit for many urban youth to incessantly check and buy on taobao.