Some useful introductions for foreigners living in China

BICC has put together 100 most useful sentences in Spoken Mandarin Chinese for foreigners to memorize and use to impress their Chinese friends, colleagues, etc. while in China.

The second chapter of the Spoken Mandarin Chinese is on ‘Useful common introductions for foreigners living in Beijing, China’. Here are the most used sentences:


Jièshào
 介绍
Introductions

1。 Nǐ shì nǎ ɡuó rén? 
   你 是 哪 国 人？            
       Where are you from?

2。 Wǒ shì měi ɡuó rén／yīng guó rén／ dé guó rén.
    我 是 美 国 人／ 英 国 人／ 德 国 人。                 
          I am American/ British/ German.

3。 Nǐ jiào shénme mínɡzi?  
你 叫 什么 名字？ 
What is your name?
     
4。 Wǒ jiào Mǎlì.
我 叫 玛丽
My name is Mary.     
     
5。 Nǐ jīnnián jĭ suì?   
你 今年 几 岁？                   
How old are you?
   
6。 Wǒ jīnnián èrshí suì.  
      我 今年 二十 岁。      
       I am twenty years old.
   
7。 Nǐ jiā yǒu jǐ kǒu rén? 
你 家 有 几 口 人？  
How many people are there in your family?

8。 Wǒ jiā yǒu wǔ kǒu rén.
       我 家 有 五 口 人。    
       There are five people in my family.

 9。 Nǐ zuò shénme ɡōnɡzuò?  
 你 做 什么 工作？             
  What work do you do?

 10。Wǒ shì lǎoshī/xuéshenɡ/shānɡrén.
 我 是 老师/学生/商人。
 I am a teacher/ I am a student/ I am a businessman.

  11。Wǒ zài Běijīnɡ ɡuójì hànyǔ xuéyuàn xuéxí hànyǔ.
  我  在 北京 国际 汉语 学院 学习 汉语。
   I am learning Chinese at Beijing International Chinese College.

 12。Zhè shì wǒ de mínɡpiàn.
 这 是 我 的 名片。     
 This is my business card.

The meaning of Chinese Lunar New Year Celebrations By BICC

Although it is still very cold outside, Chinese people believe that Spring season has arrived. The Chinese Lunar New Year is regarded as a celebration of Spring, thus the Chinese Lunar New Year is also called the Spring Festival (traditional Chinese: 春節; pinyin: Chūnjié). 

The Chinese Calendar follows the moon cycle, and this year, the Lunar New Year  falls on Thursday, Feb 19th (new moon). But the Chinese also follow the solar calendar, which divides the year into 24 seasonal segments. The celebrations for the Spring Festival usually start on 4th of February, which marks the 1st  segment of the solar segments and is regarded as the first day of spring (LiChun).

The Spring Festival is the longest holiday of the year. In the past, people used to celebrate for a whole month, but now, most of the celebrations start on New Year’s Eve (ChuXi) and finish on March 5th with the Lantern festival (full moon). As part of the New Year Celebrations, people spend time with their families, they eat traditional dishes like steamed buns and dumplings, family members and friends give money to the children in red envelopes (Hong Bao) and everyone wears something new on the New Year’s Day.

There is a little poem that describes the Chinese celebrations best.

二十三糖瓜粘、(pinin: Er Shi San Tang Gua Zhan, Translation: on the 23rd day of the lunar year <11th of Feb 2015> stick the malt sugar together
二十四扫房子、(pinyin: Er Shi Si Sao Fangzi, Translation: on 24th of the lunar year <12th Feb 2015> clean the house
二十五磨豆腐、(pinyin: Er Shi Wu Mo Doufu, Translation: on the 25th of the lunar year <13th Feb 2015> grind the tofu
二十六去割肉、(pinyin: Er Shi Liu, Qu Ge Rou, Translation: on the 26th of the lunar year <14th Feb 2015> go cut the meat
二十七杀只鸡、(pinyin: Er Shi Qi, Sha Zhi Ji, Translation: on the 27th of the lunar year <15th of Feb 2015> kill a chicken
二十八把面发、(pinyin: Er Shi Ba Ba Mian Fa, Translation: on the 28th of the lunar year <16th of Feb 2015> , leaven the dough
二十九蒸馒头、(pinyin: Er Shi Jiu Zheng Man Tou, Translation: on the 29th of the lunar <17th of Feb 2015>, steam the buns
三十晚上熬一宿 (Pin Yin: San Shi Wan Ao Yi Xiu, Translation: on the 30th of the lunar year <18th of Feb 2015> stay up all night.

Have a Happy Lunar New Year! ChunJie Kuai Le! 春节快乐！

 BICC Team 
www.hibicc.com 

Celebrate the approaching of the Chinese New Year

To celebrate the approaching of the Chinese New Year (Feb 18 Feb 24), BICC held two cooking classes weeks where BICC students and friends of BICC had the chance to cook a few Chinese dishes popular at this time of the year. 

During the first class, BICC students prepared Chinese pickles made from garlic cloves and vinegar (pinyin: LaBa Suan), traditional Chinese Spring Rolls (pinyin: Chun Juan) and Sesame Paste Pancakes (pinyin: Ma Jiang Bing). 

Pickled Garlic

The pickled garlic recipe (Laba Suan) is usually prepared on the 8th (LaBa) day of the month in Chinese Lunar Calendar, which is considered the coldest day in Northern China. The Chinese Spring Rolls (Chun Juan) is also a very popular dish around Chinese New Year. BICC students made this dish with shredded chicken breast, carrots and bean sprouts as the main ingredients, then prepared the thin pancake to wrap the meat and vegetable mix. 

Making Chinese Spring rolls

The class finished with the famous Chinese Porridge, made from a combination of nuts (pine nuts, walnuts, peanuts), beans (mung beans, red kidney beans, red beans) and grains (glutinous rice, white rice, millet). 

Chinese Porridge boiling

Chinese Porridge

The filling for the Chinese Sprig Rolls

The second class had BICC students trying the pickled garlic prepared the week before. The students also had the opportunity to learn how to cook Steamed Turnip (pinyin: Zheng LuoBo) and Chinese Porridge (PinYin: LaBa Zhou). 

The Steamed Turnip is a dish very common during winter which helps alleviate cold symptoms and coughing. Combined with goji seeds and honey, it is the perfect remedy on a cold winter’s day. 

BICC would like to wish everyone a Happy Chinese New Year! 

BICC students visit the prestigious Shichahai Olympic Sports School in Beijing

BICC Chinese Language School invited the Embassy Officials participating in a two-month Chinese language course at BICC to take part in a tour of the famous Shichahai Olympic Sports School in Beijing.

More than 40 embassy officials and their family members enjoyed an afternoon in the company of Olympic champions and future Olympic athletes. During the school tour, the embassy officials were acquainted with the various sports practiced at the school, such as table tennis, badminton, gymnastics gold and martial arts, taekwondo, boxing and fencing.

Later, the embassy officials and their children took a fun Tai Chi class.  The evening continued with a Kung Fu Show presented by the Shichahai Martial Arts World Champions.

The evening concluded with a buffet dinner at the dining hall of the Shichahai Sports School, where the embassy officials tried the various organic dishes prepared especially for the school’s athletes.

Established almost 60 years ago, Shichahai Olimpic School has cultivated more than 200 world and national champions. Among them are Jet Li (Martial Artist), Xie Jun (International Chess champion), Zhang Yining (Table tennis champion), Kui Yuan Yuan (Gymnastic champion) etc.

Contact Details:
Chaoyang Park West Road No.11, 2F, Chaoyang district, Beijing, P.R.China. 100125

Tel:+8610-65931055

Email: info@hibicc.com