Chinese A-Z (3)

- - UPDATED - -

'N' stands for Chinese 'No' Signs

For a sign to say "do not" something, usually means that the something is done very often. The sign acts as a reminder to people who do the bad act.

"Don't J-walk" / "Don't sabotage public property"


"Don't smoke in public areas" / "Don't spit on the floor"

"Respect old, love young, beautiful world" / "Sacrifice walks with me" / "Protect the environment"

There is another one which says: "送一片真情" ("Give a true heartfelt action"). Hahaha.

'O' stands for Chinese Old Man Park Karaoke

Karaoke station set up in a park for elderly people.

These men have vintage voices!

'P' stands for Chinese Parental Lock-Down

At a Chinese migrant school - school kids' parents locked down until 2:30pm on a Friday afternoon.

'Q' stands for Chinese Quarrellers

A quarrel starts from a trivial matter, and the matter being: 'Your tricycle cart can get through the metal pole barriers without banging'. Follow the story.

"Your tricycle cart can get thru the metal pole barriers without banging"

"No, the metal poles are too narrow."

"Get off. Let me show you how to do it."

Then this...

"Na wo qi gei ni kan ke yi ba?" Tussle tussle tussle. Ha.ha.ha.ha.

'R' stands for Chinese Rubbish Collectors

I'm quite sure that the people in white work for the restaurant next door.

At national park - uncle collecting rubbish with bare hands

'S' stands for Chinese Sticky Beaks

Police catch an illegal tricycle operator. A crowd gathers after 15 minutes of verbal exchange with the result of: the tricycle operator strongly refusing to go to the police station. Police used no force.

I have found Chinese people to be exactly like the people in Chinese ancient TV dramas, where when an argument, fight, or something unusual happens, people would make a encircle the situation and just stand there to watch. And throw in a few comments here and there as well! Such as: "Zhe ge ren ming ming bu dui" or "Zhen mei li mao" or "Dui, da ta! Da ta!" Maybe not the last one, but people love to gather to watch a good show. I like this characteristic. It's called "being open about interests".

'T' stands for Traditional Chinese Cat

At Yu Yuan, a famous garden in Shanghai - a Korean tour guide called this cat a "Traditional Chinese Cat", at which the Korean tourists ran up to the cat with "aaah aaah"s to take photos. For your information, this is an ordinary Chinese cat.

'U' stands for Chinese Upgrade Needer

A crowd gather on Nanjing East St outside Rolex to listen to a brilliant saxophonist playing on the balcony. Some people show appreciation, while others take out mobile phones and cameras to capture the music.

Hahahaha (!!!) at older uncle's video recording device.

'V' stands for Chinese Variety of Fishes

At a Japanese fish restaurant ("魚" means fish)

'W' stands for Chinese Warning Notices

No translation required. The basic message is to carry bags on the store side of the street while walking on the foot path.

'Y' stands for Chinese Youth Communism Uprising

Young Leader leads fellow grade two students in disciplinary exercises.



Observe the speed and ease of how the words roll off the tongues.

'Z' stands for Chinese Zoo

Entrance of a Chinese zoo.

The conversation at the ticket counter as below:

Sam: Ni men you shen me dong wu? (What animals do you have?)

Reception: Ni yao kan shen me dong wu? (Which animals do you want to see?)
Sam: You shen me dong wu? (What do you have to show?)
Reception: Hen duo zhong… li mian dou you. (Many types... we have all the animals)

Sam: (Face)

They had every animal in the zoo(!!)? I thought that was cute, because i was thinking of one of those big and slow-moving types.

Wish you enjoyed reading Sam's Chinese A-Z. There is much more content to write about. Visit me everyday.

Time for Stocktake

It has been 2 months, that's 60 days, since coming to Shanghai.

And now is the time to give a brief update of (20) of my current situation:

1. I now dislike oily foods, and fried foods. Which includes the street foods, and most Chinese restaurants.
2. I am currently 72kg, which is my weight 2 months ago.
3. I now do not take for granted the privacy i have in my own room back at home.
4. I now get over relationship problems easier, even if the relationship still has a problem.
5. I now understand that it is possible to build a good and strong friendship within 1 to 2 days.
6. Girls are not attractive here in Shanghai. Not even physically. (To me, for a relationship)
7. I miss my Church in Melbourne.
8. The only meal i have cooked is a dish for a potluck party.
9. I like Korean ballad music (slow and high, sung by guys).
10. I am now against piracy, because if i produced CDs or DVDs, i would want people to pay money for them.
11. I listen to Mike Bickle, Bill Johnson, Zhang Xiu Qin and Jason Westerfield to sleep. To be honest, Jason Westerfield is the only that puts me to sleep, because he speaks so rapidly.
12. I now have a new like for mixed accents between 2 or more nationalities.
13. The dormitory is very quiet. Do not think that there is a party here every night.
14. I love Chinese karaoke. How hard it is to find someone who knows and sings old --> modern Chinese songs.
15. I have found 'favourites'.
16. Have been to Shao Xing and Suzhou. I am not big on visiting places in China.
17. Have met lots of people. A percentage of whom i call friends.
18. Food further slips in its hold on my life, and has dropped significantly on my 'pleasures list'.
19. I have found a cell group full of great people.
20. I have found an underground Church to attend. Exciting.

If i have left out anything, please let me know. I will update you~!

Chinese A-Z (2)

'I' stands for Chinese Idle Waitresses

View of a Chinese food court.

'J' stands for Chinese Jam Exercisers

Drivers take a walk while roads jam on Chinese Qing Ming holiday weekend.

Grandma takes opportunity to exercises in traffic jam.

'K' stands for Chinese Korean Church

Big Korean Church - 4 services a day. Translation service for Chinese, English and Japanese.

Newcomers are asked to stand up, are given a rose, and receive a cordial welcome song. The more this song was stuck in my head during the week, the more i wanted to go back to the Church. The actions in the 2nd last bar of the song are most warm and lovely.

I found this particular leader at the front to be very energetic, has a high-pitched voice, and talks a LOT. The kids must enjoy this. Sunday school in a Korean Church is very refreshing and exciting!

'L' stands for Chinese Loaders

There's something about Chinese people and carrying loads on their non-motorized bikes.

"The bigger the load, the less trips i'll have to make." Hahaha.

'M' stands for Chinese Market Escorters

At any given time, there were 1-3 market escorters 'escorting' us. Escorters are not easy to identify with one glance. Therefore there must have been many of them inside the shopping centre.

Escorter either calls for backup or arrangements to be made up ahead in the shopping complex.

Market escorter disguised as pedestrian, identified!~

Chinese A-Z (1)

Throughout A-Z, you will hopefully be able to gain insight into the environment and culture and general feel of China as a bonus. I hope you enjoy. There may be second rounds.

'A' stands for Chinese Ambitious Recruiter

Recruiting 20 beauticians, 15 barbers, 10 stylists, etc!

'B' stands for Chinese Basketball Competition

Crowd shot.

'C' stands for Chinese Cracked Melon Seed Eater

Storekeeper eats cracked melon seed in clothing market.

'D' stands for Chinese Dining Hall

Many of these available on campus - Though -> Lunchtime over by 12:00pm || Dinner time over by 6:00pm

'E' stands for Chinese Etiquette

Explanation required: Abe was reading the description of the lake (to the right), and red jacket lady shoves in front of him to take a photo. HAHAHA

'F' stands for Chinese Fruit Seller

Fruit seller sells pineapple and watermelon for 1 kuai a stick.

'G' stands for Chinese Grade 1 Book

Back of workbook includes rules outlining the '2 musts', '2 must nots', '4 shoulds' and '4 should nots'. Highlight: "(1) Do not drink tap water (2) Do not eat unclean foods (3) Do not spit (4) Do not throw fruit skins carelessly"

'H' stands for Chinese History Preservation

In Yu Yuan gardens. The sign says: "Take good care of cultural relic. Don't climb up an antique." Which makes perfect grammatical sense~

Preliminary Chinese A-Z

Never before, have i been to a place where the environmental conditions are so fine. If a certain environmental condition is hot and smelly, it is okay. If a certain environmental condition is cold and not smelly, it is okay also.

But, when the environmental condition is cold and smelly, it is perfect. Because (1) it is impossible to sweat, and (2) if for some reason that i do smell of something, i would blend perfectly into the environment.

I've noticed that Chinese students like to start any sentence with: "Hmm...actually," for any answer that requires a bit of thinking, which is very predictable.

Anyway, here's a view of the Chinese stuents' dormitory room.


In one dormitory building, there are about 400 students on 7 levels. Each level has one toilet, and each building has one bathroom! Each bathroom has about 20 spots for a shower, and it is PUBLIC! That is very off-putting for having a shower, wouldn't you say so?

Introduction: Three Chinese Counsels

Before i came to Shanghai, i was given three warnings by my parents.

1) Shanghai girls are 利害 (poweful), and dangerous.
2) Traffic is very unruly so be careful when taking taxis and crossing roads.
3) Thieves are out and about, so watch out for belonging takers and always be alert to what the surrounding people are doing.

Not true, not true, and not true.

Firstly, Shanghai girls in my University are shy, studious and conservative. For the ones who are not shy, studious or conservative, their 利害 (power) comes in the form of speaking very loudly. So, you would have a lovely, pretty girl at the checkout counter. All lovely and pretty until she tells you total amount, and gives you a big fright.

Traffic is extremely safe in Shanghai. Although there are no rules, there are consequences for getting involved in an accident. So, as a pedestrian, you can expect to not be hit by a car, because cars expect by default, that people cross streets without adhering to standard traffic rules. Very safe.

Some Europeans tell me that Shanghai is probably one of the safest large cities they have been to. Violent activities are not common because security guards are cheap to hire, therefore they are, everywhere. So far, i have not lost anything to theft.


Here's a photo introduction to where i live. All the photos here are taken on my way back to the foreign students dormitory from class. In order.

Row of uni shops in foreground. Foreign Students Dormitory in the very background.

"Security guards" use big umbrella to keep out the sun. They're not really securing anything, it's really just for looks.

Foreign students dormitory side view.

Main entrance to the dormitory, which consists of 23 floors, and holds 800+ students. If you look carefully, you can see more 'security guards', who ask for students' dormitory cards when they go in.

Lobby - the place to be. Guards secure the entrance 24 hours a day. When coming back at 4am, you can see them fast asleep on tables that they drag closer to the door.

Rooms. The big gap in the middle is where the elevators are.

Our clean room + a roommate who keeps it very clean. This is a photo after 1.5 months. Amazed?

This is residence cat. He's my cat buddy, who can be found outside the dormitory main entrance most of the time. And most of the time, he finds the bike with the softest seat to sleep on. How nice.

I have decided to spend some time talking about some Chinese things via a 'Chinese A-Z', which takes one letter of the alphabet at a time and making a noun out of it with the word Chinese in front. e.g. "Chinese old ladies" for the letter O.

Look out for that! Accompanying photos available!

Shanghai: First Impressions First

Here in Shanghai, anything random can happen at anytime, to, on, or of anybody.
When it happens, it will usually happen really quick.
And after it happens, the persons who saw it happen will say: "What!! Was. That??" As everything goes back to normal again.

Abe has come to this place. And in one day, he had been inspired to be a short film producer. Of a certain topic known as: "Weird China".

I had agreed to write a blog for my university in melbourne about my experiences in China. And i have started. But, i have one difficulty. And that is, finding something really positive about China to write about after writing consecutive stories about some really unneat, embarrassing, uncivilized, Chinese happenings.

But, this current blog is not for the university, so i can write about anything, i like.
I hope to see you soon.

Sam

p.s. there are still some totally, positively funny things about the Chinese, be assured.