User Comments - pearltowerpete

Posted on: Toilet Types

Hi vikram

Gesang is right. This is a regional difference. The words are interchangeable. Southerners like Connie say “这里”，and northerners like Jiaojie say“这儿”,

Posted on: Hungry Traveler: Halal

Hi bobm112

Google pinyin is very powerful. The instructions are in Chinese, but if you click on the big blue bar on the right, you should be fine.

Hi synesthasia88

You're right, 香 is a kind of catch-all term for things that smell or taste good. Tea and baijiu can both be called 香.

Posted on: Tomb Sweeping Festival -- 清明

Hi bababardwan

Thanks for raising some interesting etymological points.

遥 in the first line does mean "far, remote." But that word is unrelated to the idea of herding cows.

My note that the herding boy is not actually herding sheep but rather cows was taken from those Chinese articles at the top of the page.

And I'm honestly not sure if there is any connection between the idea of 云 and 魂. I presented that as a kind of home-grown mnemonic. But there is definitely a connection between 雨 and 云-- the traditional character of 云 is 雲.

Posted on: Thoughts on Returning Home 回乡偶书

Hi synesthasia88

Thanks for the kind words. The poet switches between 无 and 不 to avoid repetition. This is just a style point.

But the meaning is the same.

Posted on: Two Poems about Music -- 弹琴 and 听筝

Hi pgwilliams222 and darylk

Thanks for the thoughtful suggestions. Because this show is not my only task at CPod, I don't have time to talk about all the poems I'd like.

I tend to be a little conservative in choosing the poems. There are so many great poems from the Tang era that the safe choice is to keep picking from these time-tested favorites. Even while staying within the Tang, I've tried to promote a few gems that for some reason aren't very well known (at least among the CPod staff and my Chinese friends.)

But there is clearly some interest in modern poetry. I am giving this some serious consideration.

Posted on: Saved by the Gong: Music Class

Hi tarcy

我不会笑你的。我有个中国朋友，也是一个女生，在国外读过书，她也叫Tarcy. 搞不好她也是因为喜欢苏慧伦就给自己去了那个名字。

说一句实在话，那个名字不存在。但它比很多人的名字强得多。我在中国遇到过无数的 Candy, Bunny (在西方，你要去打炮或看艳舞才能看到这种名字呵呵）, Forrest， Gump, Parcel, 更别说了。

跟那些名字比，tarcy 已经很不错。至少好听，又没有什么怪怪的含义。我还是建议你别改咯 ；-）

Posted on: Saved by the Gong: Music Class

Hi John

我学会了“梁祝”才让你们听呵呵。我很久没练, 不太敢在大众面前拉啦！

我以前住在陕西南路地铁站附近，每天晚上都有一个瞎老头在那边拉小提琴，“Godfather主题歌，”啊　“但愿人长久”啊，拉得很很到位。

Posted on: Saved by the Gong: Music Class

有没有人把自己的乐器带到中国来，然后就发现没时间弹？

我在上海有小提琴，但接触到音乐的话，还是K歌更多一些。真可怜。

Posted on: Learning the Lei Feng Song

Hi stanimal,

The chances that CPod will discuss student uprisings and massacres are slim to none. And slim just left.

This is a for-profit enterprise that operates behind the "Bamboo Curtain." We love frank discussion and touchy subjects. The PRC government does not. It has blocked the site before, and would not hesitate to do so again. The good news is, there are hundreds of articles, books, and documentaries that will teach you all about that tragedy.

It sounds like your friends are similar to some of mine- highly educated in the West, to the point where "they should know better." But they strive for Party membership and high paying jobs-- usually dependent on, but not directly in, the government.

My theory is that this is a sort of Stockholm syndrome. It would be too horrifying to think of the people in charge as "evil." So people either support The Man, or at least numb themselves to his predations. As long as they have their iPods and their Volkswagens, they will keep their mouths shut.

Of course people's political views are extremely complicated. I can't presume to speak for everyone.

Posted on: Business Card Gone Wrong

Hi green_leaf

It's impossible to make blanket statements about women in any society. Just as there are Chinese men who 吃软饭, there are women who 傍大款.

I've known Chinese women who had one goal in life: to find a 浙商 (businessman from Zhejiang) to buy them fancy things. But I've also known plenty of hard-working, self-sufficient Chinese women. My girlfriend is an example.