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Category Archives: society

Zhonglish for two-year-olds

On how English messes with even the kids’ Mandarin

After months of exile in Minneapolis, Siberia, the nominal proprietor of Beijing Sounds now has concrete plans to return to the main studio location in beautiful suburban Shàngdì in the northwest outskirts of the capital city. The mood surrounding this semi-permanent move, to take place around the [...]

Posted 25 January 2009 † syz § linguistics § music § personal § recipes § street § teacher § tones § wàidìrén § zhonglish ‡ Comments (7) °

The Beijing-R exposed! (yet still sublime)

On the ineffable act of naming, the Beijing-R dissected by the white coats, and the ultimate BeijingerSometimes convergence happens. Not the dream where you’re listening to God Save the Queen belted out by a punk cover band in your company’s cafeteria, talking to Grandma Gertrude about Suzie (who you liked in high school) who’s supposed [...]

Posted 17 August 2008 † syz § Chao Yuen Ren 赵元任 Zhào Yuánrèn § Nigel Greenwood § beijing-r § běijīnghuà § education § linguistics § zhonglish § érhuàyīn ‡ Comments (2) °

Zrrr, Zrrr! What does your police car say?

More on the “sounds” front: a Beijing dialect vocalization.

Learning what animals say in languages other than your native one is always jolting. Consider, if you will, the utter silliness of Mandarin-speakers thinking dogs should say “wàng wàng” when everyone knows they say “woof woof”.
After a few illogical discussions of that sort, you eventually acknowledge that [...]

Posted 20 April 2008 † syz § beijing-r § kid culture § érhuàyīn ‡ Comments (19) °

Beijing’s Absurdists

Sometimes the holidays bring unplanned entertainment — the best kind. Uncle Fred and Aunt Helen re-gifting to your sister-in-law the Christmas ornament she’d so lovingly handmade them three years ago. Your father and father-in-law exchanging giftcards of the same amount to the same store.But who would have thought that a holiday season show in Beijing [...]

Posted 10 January 2008 † syz § TV ‡ Comments (3) °

Did your holiday party sound like this?

[Audio clip: view full post to listen]
OK, so the BJ office party makes free use of merry-making accouterments. Makes sense; they’re all made here.

This was my first Beijing holiday party, and my expectation was that, like everything else in the world, this cultural phenomenon would be heavily internationalized and sterilized, taking many cues from US [...]

Posted 18 December 2007 † syz § business ‡ Comments (2) °

The Quiet Beijinger

Beijingers are the work-hard-stay-quiet type. I have proof. Listen:
[Audio clip: view full post to listen]
That was my subway in the morning a few days ago. I left in the announcer lady just to prove I hadn’t turned down the volume. Granted it was a bit early for Beijing — 7:45 — but the car was [...]

Posted 08 November 2007 † syz § subway ‡ Comments (5) °

Taxi palavering and the great taxi fraud

The average Beijing taxi driver is licking his chops to get a foreigner into the back seat so he can drive him three times around the third ring before delivering him to the overpriced Shangri-la on the premise of having confused it for the Hilton.Right?
That’s the going logic. And there’s no shortage of scams [...]

Posted 28 October 2007 † syz § fraud § taxi ‡ Comments (4) °