With all the dramatic changes in the country over the last twenty years, people are still moving, adapting, and trying to find their places in society.  As this is happening, they are are coming up with terms to describe these new types of people that have cropped up.

高富帅 (gāo fù shuài) and 白富美 (bái fù měi) are both words that can describe millions all over China who are eagerly hoping to marry. The former is used to describe affluent males that are not only rich, but who are also tall and handsome; it literally translates as “tall-rich-handsome”. The second word is the female equivalent, and is literally “white-rich-beautiful”. There is a unisex antonym for these two words  used derogatorily: 矮穷矬 (ǎi qióng cuó / “poor-short-ugly”).

Other words have sprung up to describe the nouveau-riche.土豪 (tǔ háo) literally translates as ‘local tyrant’, but today, it has come to signify the new generation of get-rich-quick Chinese who have wads of cash but lack in the style and taste department. Though the word is generally used to describe people who genuinely are newly rich, the word is also commonly used, and many other similar words like this, tongue-in-cheek to poke fun at friends.

A word that is slightly more pejorative than the aforementioned土豪 (tǔ háo) is 富二代 (fù èr dài). This is prescribed to the rich, second generation children whose parents have prospered from Deng Xiao Ping’s opening up of policies in the 1980’s. The word usually connotes young people who lavishly spend their parents` money on fast cars, partying, and luxury, and who have little concern for issues that concern regular people.

Two other words that have sprung up to describe newcomers in society are 女汉子 (nǚ hàn zi) and 非主流 (fēi zhǔ liú).

女汉子, literally ‘woman man’, is used to describe a somewhat “manly woman”, quite similar to the English word ‘tomboy’. It means a woman who is capable of doing the same things a man can do, who maybe even carries the same demeanor as a man, and is very strong in character.

非主流 can mean  a person who is anti-mainstream, underground, or alternative, but increasingly it has come to be slightly dismissive in that it describes the ‘emo’ generation. In addition to gothic or punk styles, 非主流 can also be identified by their Korean and Japanese influences. It’s common to see a group of a young guys walking the streets with all kinds of colorful, manga-style hairdos. Someone who considers himself or herself cool may shudder to think that others would call them 非主流.

There are a variety of other expressions that have become popular in use, such as 给力 (gěi lì/give power), which is an adjective to describe anything impressive, awesome or powerful.

Hold 不住’  (Hold bú zhù) is a phrase derived from a Taiwanese television show that later on became popular online. Combining English and Chinese, it denotes a scenario where you can’t control yourself anymore, maintain composure, stay calm, or hold steady. It can be used in many different scenarios. For example, if in a classroom something extremely funny or embarrassing happened and one classmate couldn’t control himself/herself from laughing he/she could say “我hold不住啦!”, but another classmate encouraging him/her to keep calm could say “Hold住” – this is hold不住’s opposite.

Some of the new words can seem so versatile in use that it has become quite confusing for foreigners to know when, exactly, they can be used. 坑爹 (kēng diē) is certainly one of these words. Typically meaning the intention to cheat or deceive, it can also be generally used to describe something that sucks, that is ironic, or that has an undesirable effect. For example, upon seeing a corrupt politician exposed, a netizen might comment “太坑爹了” (tài kēng diē le), which criticizes the politician for the way he has swindled the people by taking advantage of his power.

With society changing rapidly, new words for arising phenomena are constantly being created and spread on the internet, serving the purpose of describing the different situations and circumstances that have come about.

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In other words, it could be argued that Mandarin is one of the most expressively visual languages in human history, and fluency depends on recalling the association of characters to meaning as well as pronunciation.

Tongue placement, mouth shape, and the origin of the sound make up proper pronunciation, and pinyin is the necessary tool to learn this.  For example, the English “J” sound as used in Mandarin  has a similar sound represented by “ZH” in Pinyin, which has both a different mouth shape and tongue placement, and can completely change the meaning of a word.  For example: when buying food, if you ask for jiāng (姜), you are asking for ginger; if you ask for zhāng (鱆), you are asking for an octopus.

Pinyin is also a necessary aid in knowing the correct tones of characters. Remember that variations in tones for the same sound can alter the meaning of a word.  Here’s a funny example: if you introduce your qīzi  (妻子), you are introducing your wife; if you introduce your qǐzi (起子), you are introducing your bottle opener.

Pinyin is an important part of learning Chinese pronunciation, but it is the equivalent of training wheels on a bike. Remember that Chinese publications are always written in characters, rarely with pinyin.  Thus, studying characters and recognizing them will help with reading. To help your learning, buy children’s books from bookstores and study those characters, then write them down on flash cards, shuffle them, and read each character out loud. If they are translations of stories you remember from childhood, even better. You can also watch movies with subtitles so that you can hear the spoken language while trying to identify the characters. You won’t be able to identify many at the start, but with time, you’ll recognize words, phrases, and eventually entire sentences, and you’re sure to feel elated with your steady progress.

Just like when you learned to read in your mother tongue, learning to read Chinese will take lots of practice and time. Dedication is important. Here’s another learning tip: wherever and whenever you see something written in characters – a business name, a newspaper headline, a restaurant menu –  try to read it. When you come across a character you don’t recognize, say “什么” (shénme), which means “something” in the context of reading and not recognizing a character, and then keep reading the rest. Remember those characters you couldn’t identify (take a quick photo of them if you have to), then look them up when you have time. Eventually your 什么count will go down and you’ll be reading more and more fluently.

Learning Chinese in China provides you a great opportunity to learn characters quickly as   they can be found everywhere  in China: on street signs, on menus, printed on posters or magazine covers, everywhere. Take pictures of store and street signs that you see often and learn what they say. Advertisements in elevators and on bus stops typically change on a monthly basis, so learn the characters accompanying an image and review them each time you see them until you reach the point that you can read, understand, and dismiss them quickly, just as you would in your first language. If you’re brave enough, change the language setting on your phone or tablet to Mandarin Chinese so you see characters every time you use your device. The more you practice, the faster you will learn.

Keep in mind that your goal is to continually improve. Improvement should always be the goal. Fluency comes through growth and everyday commitment.  You should not restrict your learning to a set time period or a limited number of characters known. Always strive to learn more, because that is how you become good at something.

“Practice makes perfect” holds true when learning to read Mandarin, so any opportunity you get, write new characters and read them loud, then look for them either online or in other day-to-day life experiences. The more you do this, the sooner you’ll be reading Mandarin  as if it was your first language.

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#1 Don’t Trust Your Dinner to Chance

守株待兔 (shŏu zhū dài tù)

The literal meaning of this Chinese idiom is, “watch plants wait for rabbit,” but without knowing the story behind this Chengyu, it doesn’t really make sense.

The story is about an old farmer toiling away in his field day after day. One way while he was tending his plants, he saw a rabbit run straight into a large tree trunk. The rabbit died instantly. The old farmer thought to himself, “How wonderful, tonight I will have a wonderful dinner, and all I had to do is watch for the rabbit and pick it up afterward! Perhaps in all of my time working, I have missed my dinner all of these years.”

His dinner was so delicious and it was so easy to come by that the next day the tired old farmer thought he would just sit down and watch for rabbits instead of tending to his fields.

Day after day the farmer waited and waited, but no more rabbits arrived on his dinner table. All his plants rotted in his field because he gave up tending to them in order to watch for rabbits. The farmer and his family grew very hungry waiting for rabbits.

The lesson behind this story is, do not expect reward without hard work. The actual meaning of this proverb is if a man will not work, he won’t eat. When you understand the tale surrounding守株待兔 it is much easier to remember that it is used to mean “don’t trust your dinner to chance”, or “without toil, you will not eat.”

Example 1:  

他辞职以后没有主动找新的工作，只是守株待兔，等待新的机会。
(Tā cízhí yǐ hòu méi yǒu zhǔdòng zhǎo xīn de gōngzuò, zhǐ shì shǒuzhūdàitù, děng dài xīn de jīhuì.)
After he quit his job, he did not try to find a new job. He is just waiting for the new opportunity to come.

Example 2:

他总是守株待兔，被动地等待别人的帮助。
(Tā zǒng shì shǒuzhūdàitù, bèi dòng de děngdài bié rén de bāngzhù.)
He waits for the chance to come, passively waiting for help from other people.

Example 3:

没有人能靠守株待兔取得成功。
(Méi yǒu rén néng kào shǒuzhūdàitù qǔ dé chénggōng.)
No one can succeed without hard work.

#2 Enthusiastic Destruction

拔苗助长(bá miáo zhù zhǎng)

This next Chengyu is also related to farming or growing crops. Literally, 拔苗助长means “pull seedling help grow.”

This Chinese idiom also derives from a tale about a farmer. This young farmer worked along steadily, but wanted faster results. He was a very impatient person (不耐烦的人, bù nàifán de rén). Every day as he worked he would try to think of new ways to grow his crops faster.

One day he finally thought he had developed a brilliant plan. He thought if he could pull on each plant, this would stretch it and make it grow faster. That day he worked very hard going from seedling to seedling, pulling on each one. At the end of the day the young farmer was very tired but very happy. He thought it would not be long before he could harvest and sell his crops to make a great profit.

The next morning when he went to his field he was shocked to see all of his once beautiful plants bruised, wilted, and dying on the ground.

In his enthusiasm the young farmer caused great destruction. So this idiom means to not be hasty because it might spoil things in the end.

 Example 1:

给员工一些挑战和压力是可以的，但是一定不能拔苗助长。
(Gěi yuán gōng yì xiē tiǎo zhàn hé yā lì shì ké yǐ de, dàn shì yí dìng bù néng bámiáozhùzhǎng.)
It is reasonable to give your employees some challenges and pressure, but you cannot push them too much, which might cause loss.

Example 2:

我们不能过分追求公司的发展速度，这无异于是拔苗助长。
(Wǒ men bù néng guòfèn zhuīqiú gōngsī de fāzhǎn sùdù, zhè wú yì yú shì bámiáozhùzhǎng.)
We cannot push too much on the development of the company, and this would lead to destruction.

Example 3:

文化艺术事业不能拔苗助长，急于求成，需要时间来积累和沉淀。
(Wénhuà yìshù shìyè bù néng bámiáozhùzhǎng, jí yú qiú chéng, xūyào shíjiān lái jīlěi hé chéndiàn.)
The accomplishment of art cannot be achieved in a very short time, because it needs time to accumulate and be experienced.

#3 No Pain, No Gain

悬梁刺股(xuán liáng cì gŭ)

This third Chinese idiom is about those who do work hard. The literal meaning is “hang beam thorn share,” and you really have to understand the tale to grasp its meaning.

This Chengyu is about two students who did in fact work very hard. Their names were Sūn Jìng and Sū Qín. They studied night and day. But they often studied so long that they found themselves very tired and would fall asleep. They had to do something to keep from dozing off during their important studies.

One decided to tie his long hair to the beam that supported the roof. When he started to doze, the tug on his hair would awaken him. The other decided he would hold a sharp pick or thorn on his leg and when he would begin to nod off the small stabbing pain would wake him up.

This Chengyu, 悬梁刺股, is very similar to the English saying “no pain no gain” but is generally more positive. It is used to mean sometimes pain is necessary to gain something.

Example 1:

你要用悬梁刺股的精神来学习汉语。
(Nǐ yào yòng xuánliángcìgǔ de jīngshen lái xuéxí hànyǔ.)
You need to work very hard to learn Chinese.

Example 2:

我相信只要拿出悬梁刺股的精神，我们就一定能取得好成绩。
(Wǒ xiāngxìn zhǐ yào ná chū xuánliángcìgǔ de jīngshen, wǒ men jiù yí dìng néng qǔ dé hǎo chéngjì.)
I believe that as long as we work very hard, we will definitely get great scores.

Example 3:

为了考大学，他效仿古人悬梁刺股的学习精神。
(Wèi le kǎo dà xué, tā xiàofǎng gǔ rén xuánliángcìgǔ de xuéxí jīngshen.)
In order to get admitted into a university, he imitated ancient people’s learning spirit.

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There are many new beliefs about marriage surfacing in Chinese society today, and new Mandarin terms are emerging along with these ideas. Here are a few new terms about how relationships are changing in China.

Trial Marriage

试婚 (shì hūn)

In this new type of “marriage,” basically a couple “tries out” what is like to be married without actually getting married. It is living like you are married without the commitment, 承诺(chéngnuò), that would traditionally accompany it.

More and more young couples are beginning to “give marriage a shot” before officially tying the knot. Many individuals value their freedom and independence; hence he or she fear making the wrong choice or getting tied down too soon.

And it is not just young couples whom are beginning to think this is a good idea. Some parents are starting to encourage their children to “try being married to someone” to see if their children can get along well or even in some cases if they are actually able to have children together before getting legally married.

Naked Marriage

裸婚 (luǒ hūn)

A naked marriage is not an actual naked wedding, but a marriage between two people who do not yet have a lot of economic assets. In a naked marriage the couple possessed no ring, no home, and no car. There also may not be a true ceremony or honeymoon.

The rising costs of housing in cities is one cause that is leading to more “naked marriages.” Others would argue though that more young couples choose a naked marriage in order to marry for love rather than money. They place more value on the person than the wealth the individual can bring to the marriage.

Weekend Marriage

周末婚 (zhōu mò hūn)

A weekend marriage is also usually influenced by economical concerns. In this type of marriage the husband and wife live separately, often great distances apart and only see each other as frequently as on the weekend or even as rarely as on holidays.

Usually this type of marriage is due to the husband and wife only being able to find good jobs in different geographical areas. However, there are those who think that the phrase “absence makes the heart grow fonder” is true and this type of marriage actually enriches their relationship.

Flash Marriage

闪婚 (shǎn hūn)

A flash marriage is one that happens very quickly. Similarly, in America, a shotgun wedding is also one that happens very quickly, usually because the couple is pregnant and the families push the couple into marriage..

These conditions are not necessarily true of a Chinese lightning fast marriage. The couple might decide to get married quickly to combine households sooner. Or the couple may wish to marry quickly to appease anxious parents who fear their children are getting past marrying age.

Marriage Markets

人民公园相亲角 (rén mín gōng yuán xiāng qīn jiǎo)

In the midst of all of these new types of marriages, there are still some parents to wish to help arrange a marriage for their child. Shanghai has a particularly famous “blind date park” or “marriage market corner” in one of their public parks. But many other large cities have a similar public park or gathering place where parents exchange facts about children of marriageable age and look for suitors for their offspring.

With people marrying later and later, many parents are worried that their child will never find a suitable spouse and look to these public gather places for possible matches. Many of today’s generation do not particularly appreciate this kind of match-making, but others go along with it in hope of finding the rare gem of a mate that they would otherwise miss.

Marriage

婚姻 (Hūn yīn)

And of course, even with all of the changes in relationships there are many of what we would think of in the West traditional marriages (婚姻, hūn yīn) that are thriving as well. That is two: one husband, one wife, and in many cases one or more children making up the family. In China, often both parents are working and the grandparents will help to raise any children the couple may have.

These are some new phenomenon about the marriage in China. Change is happening in all walks of life, where the some Western ideals are becoming more popular in the China. We hope you gain some insights of Chinese wedding culture. How is the marriage culture in your country? Please share with us!

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There are many chengyu that have to do with work, work ethic and how to use one’s talents. Here are three very interesting chengyu that all have to do with using your particular talents well.

Having Only One Skill But Using it Well

一技之长 (yí jì zhī cháng)

This chengyu is fairly straightforward, but the story behind it is still very interesting. Literally, 一技之长 means “one skill it long.”

The tale behind this Chinese idiom is said to date back to the Warring States Period. It is said that there was a very famous scholar named Gong Sun Long who surrounded himself with skilled workers and wise advisers in all specialties that he could find. He said, “The wise will embrace all those who have a specialty.”

One day, he heard a knock on his door from a man who was very dirty and had ripped clothes. Gong Sun Long asked what the man wanted and the man replied that he had a special talent.  Gong Sun Long asked what his talent was and the man said he was very good at shouting.

Gong Sun Long turned to his other advisers and asked if any among them were good at shouting, but no one was. Therefore Gong Sun Long and his fellowship took the man into the group. A few days later the group was traveling when they came to a river, only to find the ferry on the wrong side of the wide water.  Gong Sun Long asked his new follower to try to get the ferryman to come and get them. The man yelled loud and clear, then the ferryman came over at once.  Gong Sun Long was very pleased he had met his latest follower.

Today 一技之长 (yí jì zhī cháng) is used to describe one particular skill or a valuable professional skill. Remember even if you only have one talent you can still use it well. Here are several examples of how to use the chengyu.

Example 1:

如果你没有一技之长，很难找到好工作。
(Rúguǒ nǐ méiyǒu yíjìzhīcháng，hěn nán zhǎo dào hǎo gōngzuò.)
If you don’t have a particular skill, it is very hard to find a job.

Example 2:

这个分享经验的活动为那些没有一技之长的人提供了很多好的学习机会。
(Zhège fēnxiǎng jīngyàn de huódòng wèi nàxiē méiyǒu yíjìzhīcháng de rén tígōng le hěn duō hǎo de xuéxí jīhuì.)
The experience sharing activity provides great learning opportunities for those who do not have particular skills.

Example 3:

现在找工作竞争越来越大，如果你想有一个好的将来，你必须有一技之长。
(Xiànzài zhǎo gōngzuò jìngzhēng yuè lái yuè dà, rúguǒ nǐ xiǎng yǒu yí gè hǎo de jiānglái， nǐ bìxū yǒu yíjìzhīcháng.)
It is getting more competitive to find a job, so if you want to have a bright future, you have to have a particular skill.

Don’t Waste Your Talent

大材小用 (dà cái xiǎo yòng)

This idiom reminds us to use our talents wisely and not waste them on mindless tasks.

The literal meaning of 大材小用 is “great materials/resources small use” and can refer to high quality material resources or to personal talent.

The story behind this Chinese idiom is said to have come from the Jin Dynasty from the writings of Shi Chong. Shi Chong describes a time when high quality materials were used of inconsequential purposes.

Today, this phrase is more often applied to people squandering their talent on petty jobs or mindless tasks. This is one of the main reasons why today so many Chinese people, and people around the world, attend college or university to develop their special skill and help them to obtain a job that utilizes it. Let’s see how it can be used in Chinese.

Example 1:

他在外国学习过三年，他觉得在这家小公司工作就是大材小用。
(Tā zài wàiguó xuéxí guò sānnián，tā juédé zài zhè jiā xiǎo gōngsī gōngzuò jiù shì dàcáixiǎoyòng.)
He studied abroad for three year. He feels that his talent is wasted in this small firm.

Example 2:

你把那么豪华的一个房间改造成一个储物室太大材小用了。
(Nǐ bǎ nàme háohuá de yí gè fángjiān gǎizào chéng yí gè chǔwùshì tài dàcáixiǎoyòng le.)
He changed such a luxury room into a storage room. This is really a waste.

Example 3:

让你一个教育专家来教我儿子做小学一年级的数学练习真是大材小用。
(Ràng nǐ yí gè jiàoyù zhuānjiā lái jiāo wǒ érzi zuò xiǎoxué yī niánjí de shùxué liànxí zhēn shì dàcáixiǎoyòng.)
Letting an education specialist teach a boy in Grade 1’s math is really a waste of talent.

There is Plenty of Room

游刃有余 (yóu rèn yǒu yú)

This is a very fascinating chengyu that you really have to learn the story behind it to understand. To translate 游刃有余 literally in English you would say “travel blade there is,” but this makes very little sense.

The story behind this idiom is about a very famous skilled butcher. The job of a butcher may seem common or lowly to some, but this man perfected his craft to an art form. One day, he gave a demonstration of his work. At first the crowd of observers was not impressed as his slow methodical natures. Then after the initial preparation of the beast, he finished the job of cleaving the animal with a few lightning fast movements. After he finished he explained that he could complete his work so quickly and expertly because he had spent years studying exactly how to prepare the animal and where to cut. He said游刃有余 (yóu rèn yǒu yú) there is plenty of room for the knife, but you need to know where to cut.

Nowadays 游刃有余 (yóu rèn yǒu yú) is used when describing a master of a craft, someone who is very adept at his job and performs his tasks with great skill and appears to execute them almost effortlessly. Here are some examples of how it is used today.

Example 1:

他常常练习那首歌，所以表演那首歌对他来说游刃有余。
(Tā chángcháng liànxí nà shǒu gē, suǒyǐ biǎoyǎn nà shǒu gē duì tā lái shuō yóurènyǒuyú.)
He often practices that song, so it is a small case for him to perform that song.

Example 2:

他经验丰富，处理起这样的事儿来总是游刃有余。
(Tā jīngyàn fēngfù，chǔlǐ qǐ zhèyàng de shìr lái zǒngshì yóurènyǒuyú.)
He is very experienced, so it is very easy for him to handle such problems.

Example 3:

无论是在经济、商业还是投资领域，她都可以做得游刃有余。
(Wúlùn shì zài jīngjì、shāngyè háishì tóuzī lǐngyù，tā dōu kěyǐ zuò dé yóurènyǒuyú.)
No matter in economics, business or investment, she can always do a great job.

There are numerous amounts of Chinese idioms, but some are more commonly used than others. All of which will have an interesting history tied to the chengyu. Do you know more Chinese idioms about particular talent? Share with us and comment below!

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