Tag: Vocabulary

Folk dance of the Dai people

Folk dances of the 840,000 Dai Ethnic Group(傣族Dăizú) enjoy not only wide popularity but great diversity. Most of them imitate the movements of subtropical(subtropisch; the places have a climate that is warm and wet, and are often near tropical regions) creatures. The percussion instruments used for accompaniment include elephant-foot drums, gongs, and bronze drums. Different dances have their one special drumbeat and drum vocabulary. The drumbeat is not only the tempo of a dance but a kind of language for people to communicate their feelings.

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Gaocheng Golden Cymbal and War Drum藁城金钹战鼓

Golden Cymbal and War Drum(金钹战鼓jīnbó zhàngǔ), original named war drum, originated from the sacrificial rites, the essential dance team to pray for rain and pay respects to temples. It prevailed in the middle part of Hebei Province during the period of Tianbao (742-755) in the Tang Dynasty(唐代天宝年间Tángdài Tiānbǎo niánjiān), especially in Gaocheng City(藁城Gǎochéng).

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Cheongsam

Combining the elaborate elegance with unique elements of style, t he cheongsam(旗袍Q íp áo ) is a female dress with distinctive Chinese features and enjoys a growing popularity in the international world of high fashion.

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5 Popular Chinese Soap Operas 流行于中国的电视剧

Chinese TV series is also popular all over the world. Being a couch potato can finally be a good thing, at least for numerous young Chinese fans of American television shows (美剧迷 Měijù Mí). These eager viewers claim it’s a shortcut through excruciating reading comprehensions and vocabulary exercises to achieve English proficiency. In order to do so, they have bought “Friends” DVD box sets, and play episode after episode of “Grey’s Anatomy” on their iPhones. Whether it’s at home or on the subway, they are “studying” hard. In the same spirit, we have compiled a list of popular Chinese television shows for Chinese learners or prospective learners. At the same time being entertained with some Chinese drama, your Chinese proficiency may also be magically improved!

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The Usage of Pinyin

Pinyin is adopted and used by all over the world nowadays. It superseded older romanization systems like Wade-Giles (1859; modified 1892) and Chinese Postal Map Romanization, and replaced zhuyin as the way of Chinese phonetic instruction in mainland China. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) adopted pinyin as the standard romanization for contemporary Chinese in 1982 (ISO 7098:1982, superseded by ISO 7098:1991); the United Nations followed suit in 1986. The government of Singapore also accepted this system, as well as the United States' Library of Congress, the American Library Association, and many other international institutions.

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