Chinglish and Signs

At the Olympic Stadium, I noticed a few things that caught my eye. They're not exactly "Chinglish," but they sound and look kind of awkward. I made sure to document them so I could share them with you.

Now, I think this makes sense. I get it. I just think it sounds weird and very... sentimental? It's awfully gushy to be at something like the Olympics. Know what I mean?


This is funny. First of all, this sign is actually in the water fountain. So as you're drinking water, you can look down and see this sign. Secondly, it's just worded awkwardly. Thirdly, saving water is not a virtue.



Here's a water fountain sign. I thought it was cool. And there's Collin in the background. He was having a good time.



I see these every now and then. I'll try to take more pictures when I see things like this.

Olympic Mascots

Since we're on the topic of the Beijing Olympics, I thought I'd show you this.



These are the Beijing Olympic mascots.

All of their names are 2 syllables. As I'm sure you can see, the 2 syllables of each of their names are the same: Beibei, Jingjing, Huanhuan, Yingying, and Nini. If you put each syllable together, it says: Beijing huanying ni (北京欢迎你). This means, "Beijing welcomes you."

Each of the animals represents an Olympic ring (you know, the Olympic symbol with the 5 rings intersecting) and has some sort of traditional Chinese aspect to it.

For example, Beibei (the blue one) is a fish. Well, it's not a fish... it's a mascot, but it has fish-like characteristics (and a fish-like headdress). Anyways, he represents prosperity.

Each one is unique and represents something about China. It's really cute. You can check this link out for more info: http://en.beijing2008.cn/spirit/beijing2008/graphic/n214068254.shtml

Olympic Stadium

I went to the Olympic stadium on Friday!

Collin and I took the subway there. We got onto Line 10 and transferred to Line 8 to get there. Now, Line 8 was used specifically to transport visitors who came to see the Olympics. Needless to say, the subway stations on Line 8 were super nice. Here's a diagram of subway line 8. It lays it out pretty well.



We went to the Bird's Nest first. This is the Bird's Nest from relatively far away. This was my view when Collin and I came out from the subway.



This is a Collin at the Bird's Nest. He's my Chinese friend.



Here's my outtake of Collin in front of the Bird's Nest... just so you know that I didn't google search a picture of a random Chinese guy in front of the Bird's Nest. :)



Here's a close-up picture of the Bird's Nest. Collin said that it looks like it's made of metal, but the material it's made out of feels like wood.



Here's the Water Cube. It's pretty sweet.





There were also a lot of random buildings that had the Olympic logo that I decided to take pictures of. This one says "Olympic Construction Exhibition Hall."







There were also a lot of sculptures and artsy-type things in the area. This one is of people running. Isn't it cute?



This is a stick figure depiction of all the different olympic games.



The Stadium was divided into different parts. There was the section where all the games were played, but there was also a section that seemed like it was designed more for relaxation. It was like a park, kind of. But I think the idea was to introduce some traditional Chinese things to the visitors.

Here is a big wall of drums.



Here's a sculpture of 3 ladies playing a musical instrument.



This is really cool. It's an instrument... on the side of a building! They're like guitar strings. Or harp strings. But they're legitimately on the side of the building. You can even play them!

China and Numbers

We talked about lucky and unlucky numbers in my Comprehensive class today.

Our teacher said that 4 (四, pronounced sì) is an unlucky number in China because it has the same pronunciation as "death" (死, pronounced sǐ). Only the tone is different.

On the other hand, 8 is a lucky number. That's because 8 (八, pronounced bā) is similar to the word for "to get rich" (发 from 发财, pronounced fā).

WangFuJing (王府井)

I went to WangFuJing this past weekend with Collin.

WangFuJing is a really modern street in the center(ish) of Beijing. There are lots of malls and restaurants and stuff.

WangFuJing has lots of little side streets that go off of the main shopping street. The place where all the crazy food is is a branch of WangFuJing (if that makes sense).

So, here's the entrance to the little street of crazy food. Collin said that the set up was a tradional Qing dynasty style. So this is supposed to be pretty old school.



Here are some of the delicacies. Here are some baby scorpions and starfish. I have a funny story about this picture. So, I went right up to the counter so I could get a good picture. I go ahead and take my picture and everything and as I'm right up close to the little baby scorpions and starfish, I notice that the scorpions were alive! They were writhing and wiggling on those little sticks! It jumped me a little bit because I just had assumed that they were dead. Then the guy asked me if I wanted some... and told me they were delicious. I didn't care to find out.





Try to guess what this is.


(It's octopus)

Here are some big black scorpions, some cockroaches, and some more baby scorpions.





I dont know what this is, but it looked pretty interesting.



Here are some random WangFuJing street shots.







Here's a big Yao Ming. He's a superstar here. A lot of my IELTS students are really into him.



I love milk. I thought this was cute.





Like I said, WangFuJing is a big shopping place. The buildings are really big and pretty.

Hutong (胡同)

Last weekend I went to a hutong with Collin. A hutong is like a Chinese slum. This slum still has the traditional Chinese architecture, but it's been fixed up and has lots of new, modern shops and restaurants in it.

We got off the bus in front of this mammoth. Collin said that it was some sort of building that people went to to wish for good dreams. Something like that. I just thought it looked cool.



Here's some really nifty Chinese architecture. Can you see the little lions on the roof?







Again, some more architecture.





And here are some sweet windows:



I took some random street shots of the hutong. I've decided that I like taking random pictures. You can sort of get a feel for the atmosphere and look around in the background and stuff.







Here's a gong. It's pretty sweet.



There was a bunch of construction going on at this little hutong. Here are some people working. There were a lot of these rubble piles.



Here's the exit of the little hutong street.



After we exited the little hutong street, Collin and I took a right and walked down the street a little bit. We came to this place with a lot of bars by a lake. It was pretty sweet. We walked around.

This is the entrance to the place.



I saw this little old lady and I had to take a picture. This is everywhere in Beijing. People will bring a blanket and a bunch of stuff to sell. Or a big wheelbarrow full of stuff to sell. They're everywhere. And you have to bargain for it.



This is a Starbucks set up in a traditional Chinese-type place. I thought it was weird, so I had to take a picture.



Starbucks and all of the bars and stuff were next to a big lake. These are some cute little boats in the lake.



Here's the street. It's super crowded with a ton of shops and stuff.





And this is for you Curtis: