This one of many guest posts here at Discovering Mandarin. This post/lesson is from my friend Megan (@megoizzy on twitter). I have actually been sat here talking to myself for ages after reading it. I implore you to do the same!Mandarin Pronunciation DebaclesMy first semester of learning Chinese was probably the most difficult one. Each week, my fellow wannabe Mando-philes and I were presented with a new series of 10 vocabulary terms, which...

Chinese New Year is next Sunday (14th Feb)! It is the year of the Tiger! (在虎! hǔ​ nián!) Happy New Year!! (新年快樂!! xīn nián kuài lè!!)Chinatown in London will celebrate Chinese New Year on the following Sunday 21st Feb 2010 between 12pm-6pm. There will be dragon dancing, lion dances outside shops and firecrackers to mark the event.In China the mythical creature Nian (年兽, nián shòu) is a beast that lives underground or in mountains (it also...

Hours (时辰 shíchen) within the Four Pillars of Destiny represent the final and most personal pillar. The secret animal is thought to be a person’s truest representation, since this animal is determined by the smallest denomination. It is used by fortune tellers that use the Four Pillars as the pillar representing information about one's kids or late age.The hours are represented by the helpful 12 Earthly branches (and the same animal mnemonic as years, months and days within the four pillars) which were determined by Chinese...

The day is the third of the Four Pillars of Destiny and in Chinese fortune telling represents information about the person him/herself, his/her adult and married life.The sexagenry cycle was used in China since the second millennium BC (Shang Dynasty), as a means of naming days (just as western cultures use the days in the week). This use of the cycle for days is attested throughout the Zhou dynasty. More recently this is not as popular...

泥娃娃 : ní​wá​wa​I found this, and it made me giggle, I think it is actually 'Mud Doll' essentially a Doll made of clay not an ugly doll as the video says. I have taken a picture of what I imagine to be 泥娃娃 ní​wá​wa​.It is a horribly catchy song and after a while gets really quite annoying. But here is a popular Chinese children's song that caught my attention, I have translated it below. I hope you enjoy it. I have been singing along....

Months and Solar TermsWithin the Four Pillars, the month (本月 běn​yuè​) that you are born is the pillar that represents information about the person's parents or later years in life. Many Chinese astrologers consider the month pillar to be the most important pillar in determining the circumstances of one's adult life.The Gregorian (Western) calendar is used for day to day activities in most of East Asia, but the Chinese calendar is still...

Four Pillars Year & Sexagenary Cycle六十花甲 liùshí huājiǎ or干支gānzhīWithin the Four Pillars (Ba Zi) Years are the largest element. They are the most generic and least personal in fortune telling. The years are based off of the Ten Heavenly Stems (十天干 shí tiāngān) and Twelve Earthly Branches (十二地支 shí'èr dìzhī).There are 5 'Elements', 五行 wǔ​xíng​ in Chinese Astrology, * Wood 木 mù * Fire 火 huǒ * Earth 土 tǔ * Metal 金 jīn * Water 水 shuǐThese...

Four Pillars of DestinyEven today, when people talk about Chinese Astrology, it is a common misconception that the animals assigned by year are the only signs of the zodiac. Many western descriptions of Chinese astrology draw solely on this system. In fact, there are also animal signs assigned by month (called inner animals) and hours of the day (called secret animals).Four Pillars of Destiny is a Chinese term that comprises of four elements of a person’s destiny or fate. The four components are taken from the moment of birth....

I recently got a comment on my Heisig post from a while back asking how I was doing (as today was supposed to be my finish date if I had kept up with my proposed schedule).I have got to admit I have been lazy, or if you like excuses; I have been so busy that I have ended up ignoring what I wanted to achieve. I have got about 600 characters into Heisigs method and despite a lot of effort have found my motivation waning. I read Greg's recent...

Dragon Beard Candy - 龙须糖 - lóng​ xū​ táng​This is a Chinese sweet treat, Dragon Beard Candy (龙须糖) or (龍鬚糖) consists of many very fine strands of sugar, which gives an appearance and consistency of a fine beard, apparently like that of a dragon – hence its name. You can get many flavours of this tasty speciality, spicy, crispy icy, almond and ones I cannot imagine like wasabi laver and black sesame and the list goes on.I bought some almond...

It is being widely reported that this looks like Google removing their censorship in China. What I see though, is Google finding a way to remove itself from the problems it faces in China."We have decided we are no longer willing to continue censoring our results on Google.cn, and so over the next few weeks we will be discussing with the Chinese government the basis on which we could operate an unfiltered search engine within the law, if...