User Comments - miantiao
miantiao
Posted on: Olympic Excitement
May 18, 2009 at 9:06 AMperhaps some transparency and justice for the parents of earthquake victims caused by shoddy construction and endemic corruption would have been more appropriate as well.
unfortunately the only heads that are likely to roll will be those of the aggrieved parents if they don't shut up.
alas, the school site in 都江堰 has now been efficiently mopped up, leaving no trace of evidence. likely to take its place will be an apartment block.
Posted on: Sweet and Sour Spare Ribs
May 17, 2009 at 4:08 AM@cassielin
I think chinesepod is trying their best to provide an enjoyable way for poddies to learn chinese.
And keep up the good work! :-)
Posted on: Hungry Traveler: Taiwan
May 17, 2009 at 2:52 AM@carlos
牛肉面 is not a native taiwanese dish. the dish varies in flavour wherever you go around china.
in sichuan it is very spicy, noodles cabbage bamboo shoots and of course a few chunks of beef. the locals prefer beef cartilege and fat. the soup the dish is served in is loaded with chilli and sichuan peppers. only a true hardened chili lover who has abused their tastesbuds over a long period(a sichuan,among other mid-west provences, local) will attempt drinking the soup, generally a few sips at the end is customary, yummo.
on the other hand when i was in guangdong provence and ordered the same dish i was dissapointed by the blandness, i love chilli.
while in shanghai i went to a small shop where itinerant construction workers from the country ate their lunch. a typical hygienically challenged place full of basic wage workers, the type of place i love to eat at most. the dish there was different again,if one wanted chilli one had to ask for some and add it. i got quite a few strange looks from the tired looking workers when i proceeded to add two large spoon fulls of chilli, plus a dash of vinegar.
@effie
what did you eat in taiwan effie? your comment ridiculous, and unlike other well-mannered poddies, think you should be told.
i liked the food in taiwan, a hotch potch of all that the mainand offers and plus!
Posted on: Dealing With Depression
May 14, 2009 at 11:01 PM@siteng
这些害你感到郁闷的事件里，你可把它里面的积极因素当成能使你想开的机会。
Posted on: Dealing With Depression
May 14, 2009 at 10:51 PM@siteng
没错！
积极有两个意思。 positive and active，
用积极来形容某人，意思是active,energetic.
用积极来形容抽象东西，意思是positive
关于stereotype用中文来说的问题，据我所知，珠姐给的说明很清楚。stereotype的意思表示某人、某东西、某状态被典型化、模式化。
Posted on: Going to Church
May 14, 2009 at 10:25 AM@reigau
that's a relief mate, thought i was losing my aussie, come from ireland/uk/malta/sicily, sardonic sense of humour.
i think it's great that atheists can use humour in defence of their beliefs. the threat of being buggered by lucifer and his mates doesn't do it for me i'm afraid. quite fantastical in the extreme.
i do know one thing. atheists can't prove gods don't exist, and believers of any religion that worship metaphysical beings or entities can't prove there is one.
although going by the anecdotal evidence so far, i find it hard to believe there is one.
i believe that the universe is inexplicable. we know of something about it, yet we know nothing. laozi put it very succinctly in his first couple of sentences of the 道德经：
道可道，非常道。明可明，非常明。although there is an energy, or way, in all things belonging to the universe, such an energy or way is inexplicable, and invisible to the naked eye.
Posted on: Olympic Excitement
May 18, 2009 at 11:21 PM@calkins
difficult because of the following.
apart from the first time soldiers entered the stadium carrying the national flag since 1936, here are some other points that are not convincing.
in order to give face, and to ensure continued economic partnerships after the games, your country and mine decided to deny our own people their freedom of speech. in the case of mine it was done covertly and in cahoots with chinese agents.
the ccp through their agents in australia organised thousands of expats and students to quell and put down any sign of protest during the torch relay. tibetan protesters were beaten by nationalist mobs in the streets of our capital. images of young mobs of chinese students overwhelmed with nationalist fervour beating peaceful protesters with chinese flagpoles stick in my mind. no charges were ever laid for assault. protesters were hospitalised with seroius head and body injuries. our govt allowed this to happen. an overt display of soft power.
your govt decided not to have a torch relay, well not a public one anyway, denying your citizens the joy of taking part in what should be a celebration of peace and solidarity among word citizens. and a chance to offer any criticism of the governing bodies of the host nation.
the french and the british had the balls to allow their citizens to express themselves freely, whether for right or wrong.
chinese citizens were encouraged to lodge applications for protest rights, ony to be locked up once the list of names was finalised.
and what's with the blue tracksuit 'protectors' of the flame.
the chinese people deserve better pr than what was offered by their masters.
as much as anyone would like to say the modern olympics is not political, it is. every country that stages the olympics comes under the scrutiny of the rest of the world for how it treats its citizens. and the countries hosting the olympics do everything it can to prevent prying eyes from disclosing truths.
i'm not a big fan of mixing sport and politics. it's a sad indightment for a govt when people have to resort to mixing the two to get their voices heard.
south-africa comes to mind.