User Comments - toianw

Posted on: Trick or Treat!

damn, it's November already?

Oh, well - guess we'll have to wait 'till next year.

Posted on: Trick or Treat!

So, what would do you think would happen if I got dressed up and went around my community here in Beijing knocking on doors and saying "不给糖，就捣蛋"?

I guess I could try and find out, though I'm probably a bit old for trick-or-treating. But I'm curious, would the average Chinese person immediately associate this phrase with 万圣节, and be aware of this custom, or would they just think I was crazy?

Posted on: Fasten that Safety Belt

A good question indeed. What is it in the Chinese psyche that makes people go to such lengths to not wear the seatbelt? Maybe it's considered unmanly to wear a seatbelt. I don't know. Maybe someone Chinese can help answer your question. I'll try to ask around and see what Chinese people say.

Posted on: Fasten that Safety Belt

In China, some of the newer, imported cars have those alarms that sound if the driver is not wearing their seatbelt. Many drivers will buy a separate clip to insert to avoid having to 系 the 安全带. 

Posted on: Job Shopping in Modern China

For the record, I hear the two second tones clearly in the dialogue. Does anyone else hear differently?

As far as accents / 'non-standard' mandarin goes, I'd prefer to hear a variety of different accents here. If I could perfectly emulate the 'bad mandarin' I hear on ChinesePod I'd be a very happy poddie.

Posted on: Reserving a Taxi Cab by Telephone

I don't know if any automated services use voice recognition but voice recognition for Chinese certainly exists. I've seen people use voice recognition with their mobiles to search the web.

Interestingly, here in Beijing there's a company that's developing this kind of software for the British market. I helped them test it by speaking a whole load of words and phrases into a phone and seeing what web pages it came up with.

Posted on: Renting an Apartment through an Agent 4

Hi RJ,

Rent in China (at least in Beijing) is always quoted as a monthly amount regardless of how it's paid. I agree with Jason - there's nothing in the dialogue, that suggests the rent will be paid on a monthly basis. In Beijing, I (and nearly everyone I know) pay quarterly, though it's possible to negotiate.

With the cheaper accommodation (say under 500 RMB a month) it's more likely you'll be able to pay each month. You just need to give a month's notice before moving out or you'll lose your deposit - though you can usually negotiate a cheaper rate if you pay quarterly. Needless to say, there's no estate agent involved in this kind of deal.

Posted on: The Hunan Accent

Hi baba,

All provinces have a 1 character abbreviation. You can find a list on this page.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Administrative_divisions_of_China

You're most likely to come across these on the number plates of cars - This character followed by the other numbers and letters. The only other time I've heard them is in styles of food. Several of them collocate with 菜 to denote the style of cooking in that region. e.g 粤菜 = 广东菜, 川菜 = 四川菜，湘菜 = 湖南菜。

Posted on: Walking the Bird

Anyone know why the 养鸟的人 always put a cloth cover over the cage when they 遛鸟?

Posted on: Can't Get a Taxi

北京