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Cao Xueqin and His Life Story

Cao Xueqin (1715-1763) was a Qing Dynasty Chinese writer, best known as the author of Dream of the Red Chamber, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. He was born into a family which for three generations held the office of Commissioner of Imperial Textiles in Nanking, a family so wealthy that they were able to entertain the Emperor Kangxi four times. But calamity overtook them and their property was confiscated. Cao Xuegin was living in poverty near Peking when he wrote his famous novel The Story of the Stone (also known as The Dream of the Red Chamber), of which this is the second volume. The four other volumes, The Golden Days, The Warning Voice, The Debt of Tears and The Dreamer Wakes, are also published in the Penguin Classics.

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Growing up with Chinese Lesson 89

Growing up with Chinese(成长汉语) is an entertaining, fun and easy Chinese series. This series teaches 300 of the most commonly spoken Chinese phrases to teenagers. It is hosted by Charlotte MacInnis, known to the Chinese audiences as Ai Hua.

Key words:
吵 chǎo:noisy
街 jiē:street
网络 wǎngluò:internet
开通 kāitōng:to put into use
茶船 cháchuán:tea boat
路线 lùxiàn:route
清楚 qīngchǔ:clear
护照 hùzhào:passport
是否 shìfǒu:whether or not
暂时 zànshí:temporarily
入住手续 rùzhù shǒuxù:check-in procedure
无线网络 wúxiàn wǎngluò:wireless internet
功夫茶 gōngfūchá:any kind of tea that requires some skills to brew

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Ice cubes used by fast-food giants contained bacteria

Ice cubes used by fast-food giants KFC, McDonald's and Guangzhou-based Kungfu at branches in Beijing contained bacteria far in excess of the national limit, according to China Central Television. Some were even dirtier than toilet bowl water, CCTV said.中国中央电视台报道,快餐巨头肯德基、麦当劳和总部设于广州的真功夫北京分店出售冰块里的细菌含量远远超过国家标准,甚至有些比马桶水还要脏。
The three fast-food operators said they were carrying out inspections and enhancing disinfection at the stores involved. CCTV reporters sent ice cubes from the Chongwenmen outlets of KFC, McDonald's and Kungfu for lab tests. The KFC ice cubes were 20 times the limit, and 13 times higher than water samples taken from toilet bowls.三家快餐店运营商均表示,他们对餐厅都进行过卫生检查,还加强了消毒措施。中央电视台记者将北京崇文门肯德基、麦当劳和真功夫分店供应的冰块送到实验室检测,发现肯德基冰块细菌含量超过国家标准20倍,超过厕所马桶水细菌含量13倍。
The amount of bacterial colonies found at McDonald's and Kungfu ice cubes reached 120 CFU and 900 CFU (colony-forming units) per milliliter respectively, exceeding the national limit of 100 per milliliter. The CFU level of Kungfu's ice cubes was six times higher than toilet water, CCTV reported.中央电视台报道,麦当劳和真功夫的冰块里细菌含量分别为每毫升120菌落单位和900菌落单位,均超过每毫升国家标准100菌落单位。真功夫冰块里细菌含量超过马桶水6倍。
The intake of food with excessive level of colonies could lead to dysentery and diarrhea, said Ding Ke, an associate professor of food science and engineering of the Beijing University of Agriculture. Wu Jing, a doctor at Beijing Shijitan Hospital, said excessive amount of colonies meant a higher chance of pathogenic bacteria and may make food rotten and stale.北京农业大学食品科学与工程副教授丁轲说,食用菌落单位大量超标的食物有可能导致腹泻、痢疾等疾病。北京世纪坛医院医生吴静说,菌落总数超标,就意味着致病菌的机会增加了,还可能造成食物的腐烂、变质。
Dirty ice machines and a poor awareness of food safety such as the importance of washing hands and poor sterilization procedures are some of the reasons that may lead to high level of bacterial colonies, experts said.有专家称,不干净的制冰机、缺乏食品卫生观念、忽视洗手重要性、消毒过程大意等都是造成细菌菌落数过高的原因。

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Top 5 Things NEVER to ask foreigners

Recently, in our Chinese Media section, we published an article called, May I Practice My English? which explains to Chinese people how to start up conversations with China’s foreigners, or laowai. The article includes many tactical points on what topics expats are interested in like weather, China, etc. While I don’t agree completely on the suggested topics, I feel what is missing from this article is a list of things NOT to do. These are simple cultural differences which, while no harm is meant, can be the difference between meeting a friend or having someone shrug you off. Therefore, here is my list of important points that Chinese people should NOT do if they want to make friends with random laowai.

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Growing up with Chinese Lesson 88

Growing up with Chinese(成长汉语) is an entertaining, fun and easy Chinese series. This series teaches 300 of the most commonly spoken Chinese phrases to teenagers. It is hosted by Charlotte MacInnis, known to the Chinese audiences as Ai Hua.

Key words:
字 zì:character
画 huà:painting
传统 chuántǒng:traditional
陶器 táoqì:pottery
外滩 wàitān:the Bund
摄影 shèyǐng:photography
天才 tiāncái:genius
研究 yánjiū:research
你吹吧 nǐ chuī ba:You just keep bragging.
聚精会神 jùjīnghuìshén:to concentrate one’s attention
历史古迹 lìshǐgǔjì:historic site
中国字画 zhōngguó zìhuà:Chinese calligraphy and painting

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Hong Kong’s Top 10 attractions——Clock Tower

Standing 44-metres tall, the old Clock Tower was erected in 1915 as part of the Kowloon–Canton Railway terminus. The once-bustling station is long gone, but this red brick and granite tower, now preserved as a Declared Monument, survives as an elegant reminder of the Age of Steam. It has also been a memorable landmark for the millions of Chinese immigrants who passed through the terminus to begin new lives not just in Hong Kong, but in other parts of the world via the city’s harbour.

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Chinese Language to Dominate the Internet

  Since the advent of the internet, the majority of its users have always used English. There are a lot of reasons for that. The internet's origins are in an English-speaking country, global perceptions are that English is an "international" language, heck, the coding languages that all websites are written in are even based in English. But in a few years, for the first time ever, English-speakers on the net will be in the minority.

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Growing up with Chinese Lesson 87

Growing up with Chinese(成长汉语) is an entertaining, fun and easy Chinese series. This series teaches 300 of the most commonly spoken Chinese phrases to teenagers. It is hosted by Charlotte MacInnis, known to the Chinese audiences as Ai Hua.

Key words:
停留 tíngliú:to stay
留园 Liúyuán:the Lingering Garden
鸳鸯 yuānyāng:mandarin duck
简朴 jiǎnpǔ:simple and unadorned
华丽 huálì:magnificent
为了 wèile:in order to
刮目相看 guāmùxiāngkàn:to look at someone with new eyes
大名鼎鼎 dàmíngdǐngdǐng:well-known
说什么也 shuō shénme yě:No matter what happens,…won’t happen.
……才是…… cáishì:used to add some tact to a suggestion

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