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Nihau, wan shiu ting soi sing han yi.
Welcome to Takeaway Chinese.
I'm Nihon Lin with Steve Heatherly in the studio with me.
Hello, Steve! Hello there, Nihau.
Thanks for having me back.
Always a pleasure having you on the show.
So, what's new, what's up?
Anything fun happening in your life?
Oh, just kind of following what's been going on online in terms of new friends.
And I actually signed up to one of the social media apps here in China just so I could kind of keep abreast of what's going on and kind of check out some videos.
I'm talking specifically about the influx of American users into one particular application.
And I thought that was really interesting and really kind of heartwarming.
We talked about it on roundtable one day as well But yeah, I signed up so that I could watch some of the videos and it's really fun to watch You know people from the United States Talk and ask questions about China and then some people here in China are responding to and it's just kind of fun to observe The interaction.
It's really cool. Yes It is really cool because when we think we know each other in the sense that we know each other's country We understand each other's cultures.
We are wrong, we don't know because our understandings about a different culture would be limited to the sources that we use to know about the other cultures.
Unless we actually go to each other's countries, which makes the understanding quite limited.
And that is why when we actually interview people who are, you know, coming to China for the first time or who have been living here for a while, we like to ask the questions, ah, so before you came here, what was your impression?
When you're here, what are the differences?
And after so many years, what do you think impressed you the most, and what do you think you want to tell other people?
And at the same time, we realize that we should also be asking, what do you want to know?
What is something that interests you?
What can we answer?
What are you curious about?
Exactly. And the word curious in Chinese, by the way, is Yes.
Hao is like another pronunciation of 你 or good.
Remember 你 that's you good or hello.
So the same character 你 carries another pronunciation, this is actually a phenomenon in the Chinese language.
That is, we know a lot of different characters share the same pronunciations.
same pronunciations, similar, same, or different tones, but same pronunciations.
And another phenomenon is for the exact same character it might have more than one pronunciation.
Sometimes it's different pronunciations, sometimes it's similar pronunciations but different tones, but usually, when they are pronounced differently, they carry different meanings.
So here HAO it's good, we know RAO means good and when you pronounce that character to HAW it carries the meaning or the nature of the character transits to a verb means like something.
To like something. To like something.
Oh it changes from good to like something.
And you cannot really use it to for example I HAO.
Would be love and like to like something and here because it cares for the meaning of to like something, so, i how actually means hobby.
Ah. Yes. And yeah, I see the logic there even though that's the same character, right?
Okay, so then, what's the clue to know what you are reading then?
That is actually a very good question, but I can only answer you with the answer I've been using for quite many times.
That is, you have to read the context.
And also you have to know because we're only talking about a character But actually the smallest unit in the language is a word So the thing is we talked about how to see for example how to see is she what making you feel?
Huh, it's strange. So if I am Constantly showing This makes me feel it's strange.
I want to know more than I'm a curious person So, hǎo qi, curious.
And when it comes to aihou, for example, a hobby.
If you see aihou, you know this is a word and means hobby.
And also another example here would be for instance in very colloquial chinese maybe you can only see this phenomenon in the northern part of the country.
You can see wǒmei shào heo lài yǔ kǒu.
It means when I'm free, when I don't have any other things to do, I tend to, I like to have a glass of drink.
handgun, lày Otherwise, it's have a glass of drink.
So it's used in a very colloquial way and it's not that common especially among the younger generation yet that meaning definitely is there.
Okay, so the qi part of how qi, can you explain that again?
So that means to...
Feel strange. Strange, and the how.
Or to take an interest.
Oh, to take an interest.
Yeah. Okay. Okay, right.
So to take an interest in something that you like.
No, like to take an interest, always take an interest.
But again, I'm only explaining it, because characters have their meaning or sometimes even just tendency, maybe a better way or a more sustainable way of remembering Chinese words is to just remember them as words.
So if you try to break down each and every character and the relationship between each character You would be ended up remembering too much things actually easier to just remember the word.
I understand your point Yeah, it's just you get to a point in learning a language where it's time to stop asking questions if that makes I ask questions up to a certain point after a certain point Okay, but you'll just confuse yourself a little bit.
Yeah, no, I totally understand.
Hao qi equals curious.
Yes, so that's curious.
And ai how is hobby.
Hobby, yes. So now, for today's episode, actually, we are trying to answer some questions mostly raised by foreigners about China and see what are they being super curious about.
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So asking questions about China or let's say what is your biggest curiosity about China?
My biggest curiosity, well, now that I'm here, I don't have that many curiosities anymore.
But I'm learning so many things that I didn't know and didn't even think about.
I didn't know that there was a difference, a minor difference culturally between the northern part of the country and the southern part of the country When it comes to foods and when it comes to, perhaps, fashion style And I didn't even think about that because it didn't occur to me that there's different temperatures, right?
It's warmer in the south than it is in the north and I didn't even think about that before And of course, you're gonna get different temperatures, you're gonna get different characters, even And I'm guessing in the South, people are a little bit more relaxed or slower moving maybe, or you know, the culture's, because the weather's warmer.
It might be a little bit more chill in the South.
I don't know. I haven't discovered that yet, but I'm making, I'm making assumptions now based upon the things that I have learned.
Assumptions are sometimes true, but often not.
Uh, so I guess I'll learn when I get a chance to visit the South.
That's actually a very, very important and interesting topic because even people here living in China, we talk about the differences.
We say, nán bei, fǎng chà yi.
Nán bei, fǎng chà yi.
Yes. Nàn is south or the southern.
Bei is north and fǎng is actually fòng xiàng direction.
So different parts.
And chà yi means differences.
Okay. So we talk about it.
For you, it's in the sense of characters or personality or fashion style or temperature or like or dislike.
But what do Chinese people talk about?
The most important discrepancies when it comes to the northern part and the southern part would be preferences in food, whether or not it's salty or sweet, which one is better?
For example, the tofu, the jelly -like tofu, whether or not you should have it in a sweet way or a savory way, we talk about it all the time.
Oh, I can imagine that's a huge debate.
It's a huge debate, it's a funny one, too.
Yeah, right. Yes, so that's the question that you will start to have when you're actually here, when you see the people.
And there are other things too, right?
Like, if you look at China on the world map, you can see that it's big, but it doesn't necessarily mean anything to you until you get here and you realize that you can take a flight for a good few hours and still be in the country.
But that makes sense to me because you know if you fly from Vancouver to Nova Scotia it'll take seven hours So I get it.
It's just that it didn't really register With me how big it is here and then other things like Beijing.
I knew nothing nothing about Beijing Maybe a couple of landmarks but in the city, but that's about it and then being here.
You learn how Expansive it is and now I'm digging into a little bit of the history on the city So, it's funny, you know, when you first move to a new country, even in the first six months, I think, and maybe even up to the first year, you don't really realize that you're there, if that makes sense.
You know, I live really close to where I work, and I work in an English environment.
So it's not like I've been dropped into the middle of a small town in China where nobody speaks English.
What I mean is it's not so unfamiliar to me.
I've lived in other big cities around the world too that have great food.
Beijing has great food.
So, all of that is really familiar.
It's easy to forget that you're living in a brand new place and I'm still in that period where most of the time I don't think about it.
You know, my wife and I have this conversation.
We'll walk down the street, we'll ask, do you know that we're walking down the street in Beijing right now?
Like we live in China now.
We have that conversation all the time And we both answer the same way.
We both say not really.
It hasn't really hit home just yet, if that makes sense.
It might not. It makes a lot of sense.
And I think that is why the mentality between those who are actually in China and learning about China and those who are curious about the country but never visited would be very, very different.
For example, if we take a look at some of the questions asked to us from foreign people or people from the United States, for example, who have never been to China.
They ask the kind of question that I would even say is easy for you to answer, even though you've only been here for half a year.
Oh, okay. For instance, one of the questions is, hello, friends in China, is it true that your country is cashless?
Si, see an instant answer.
Yes. And it's something that I didn't know.
But here's the truth.
You can, of course, use cash.
You can use it. It's current currency.
It's a currency. I ran into that issue when I first came here for a visit.
I had cash with me to use.
And I was told, yeah, well, taxi drivers, you might have a little bit of a hard time using cash, but they can't refuse it.
This is what I was told.
They just might not have change.
What they would do in a lot of occasions, actually, I've seen videos and also comments on the Internet, they would stop, they would leave you in the car and go to a store, go to a store and also the car keys would still be in the car.
They don't even think about you driving away, car theft.
They don't think about it.
Doesn't register. They just go to a store, get the cash, get the change and give it back to you.
That was like day one that I arrived here.
But after that I learned that everything is through your phone literally everything's through your phone And I can't remember the last time I used cash for something and I've been here for like seven months I can I use cash to give my son red envelope.
Okay. Yes Yeah, it's more like ceremonial.
Yeah, but that's particular to this time of year.
Yes, and only this time of year When else do you use cash?
Honestly? When was the last other than that?
When was the last time you used cash?
I literally cannot remember.
Right? It's just too long.
Yeah. I mean you don't use it ever here.
And again, you can you can go to the supermarket and give them cash.
It's totally fine. You can go to a convenience store and give them cash.
It's totally fine and convenience stores and at the department store and things.
They will give you change.
They have it, but it's just Nobody uses, nobody uses it, except that my mom, my mom still uses it sometimes.
Does she? Yeah. So I was trying really hard to think about the last time I used cash, it was with my mom and I don't have any cash on me, but she did.
So cash in Chinese, by the way, would be Xi 'anjin, Xi 'anjin.
Yes. Xi 'an is gold, or currency, and the Xi 'an is like right now present, something here.
So Xi 'anjin is like the currency that you can provide, or the money you can provide, you can see it's something tangible so paper notes paper money notes was Shenzhen named after that because it's a wealthy city sounds similar to me yeah so that's question how about in rural communities would people use cash more often or it's just everywhere now where people use their phones Um, I recently went to different villages and counties and townships in Xizang, and um, I didn't use cash.
I didn't even bring cash.
So I would assume in most of the places, you can definitely choose not to use cash.
But again, it's legal to use cash, so if you have any, you can still use them.
Yeah. I guess my advice would be, if you're coming to China for the first time, set up your accounts that you need to so that you can use it through your phone, but also bring a little cash with you as well.
You might not use it, but just in case something goes wrong with ...
You know what's the downside of using electric payment or mobile payment?
What? For example, previously when I eat in a restaurant or go grocery shopping, one thing if I spend or if what I bought cost around the 17 Yuan or 17 .3 Yuan or .8 Yuan.
They would always say ah, 17 .8 but give me 17.
Or sometimes 16 .1 but give me 15.
Okay. But now because there's no problem.
Oh it takes the exact amount.
I feel like I'm spending a little more but it's only fair.
Yeah right. Yes. And, by the way, that action is called more -lian.
I am teaching you something that is no longer exists.
That is to wipe away the, so the point, the numbers after the point after the dot.
The decimal part, yeah, okay.
So, the idea is more wipe away the number after the dot.
I won't put that in my notes for today.
No, and another question for example is is it safe to travel to China?
Oh 100 % yeah 1000 % as a matter of fact one of the first signs that I saw when I arrived here, my wife and I we went to Xi 'an to see the terracotta warriors and Inside the park and outside the building that one of the buildings that holds the terracotta warriors there's a sign that says don't fight unless you don't mind going to the hospital or jail.
Depends on if you're winning or losing right?
The way it was phrased was perfect, don't fight unless you don't mind going to jail or the hospital.
I haven't seen, I said I've been here for what, eight months now?
I haven't seen any altercation on the streets, I haven't seen an argument on this?
Well, that's not true.
Yesterday I saw a boyfriend and girlfriend.
Yeah, she was not happy and he was silent.
He was just standing there on the side while I was like, Oh, what did you do?
Um, but I haven't seen anything at all.
And, and here's the most important point.
I have been out late at night here on a couple of occasions and I don't feel the need to look over my shoulder to make sure nobody's, you know, do you know what I mean?
Yeah. Even in Canada, in Halifax, where I'm from, if you're walking up at night by yourself.
You're going to look around and make sure.
And I'm sure being vigilant in Beijing is still a good idea.
But I've never felt that.
And if my wife were to be out, you know, going for a walk late at night, I wouldn't worry one bit.
Yes. And that is why many netizens here in China, when they see the question like this, they reply, for example, I often walk my dog alone at 2am.
And we've talked about it on ROUND TABLE that a lot of parks now provide a 24 hour service just because some people like to, you know, go have a little bit of me time during the middle of the night, graveyard, um, walk, maybe, and there's a lot of 24 hour gyms where you can go whenever you want.
And that's just another sign I think, I don't know, but I think that that type of thing here is taken very really seriously.
So it is a very safe place to be.
Yes. But we do have some different answers.
People say it's unsafe, you lose yourself in the midnight street food markets, you ended up eating too much.
That's a different type of danger, isn't it?
And the key word here is 안주.
안주? 안주 means safe. 안주.
안주. And you can use it in different occasions.
For For example we have the awareness of keeping yourself safe.
So means safe and is awareness.
But when you put them together, it's not simply safe awareness.
It's more like the awareness to keep yourself safe.
Okay. So it's that kind of relationship between these two words when you put them together.
If is safe, would mean dangerous.
Yes, you can also say, of course, but means dangerous.
And the reason I'm bringing about Anchuan Yixi is because actually people's awareness of keeping ourselves safe, keeping even strangers on the street safe, is also gaining.
Recently I've encountered a video showcasing a woman saying that one day on the street I saw a young lady who looks very drunk and a male is helping her walk and I stood there for around 5 seconds and I decided that even I'm a little bit scared of that male, I don't know what is he steal.
I steal one up and ask the man whether or not you really know this woman that you're helping where are you taking her and the man all of a sudden smiled and showed me a picture of both of them saying she's my wife but thank you very much for coming up and talking to me and it's basically like you're taking care of a stranger you're making sure she's not being taken away and it's a nice thing and people are saying more and more people are doing this because they're confident that if anything really is happening if this man is taking a strange woman to some places then people on the street would be
helping the girl who is asking the question.
She's not afraid of the situation that is why she's confident enough to go up and help and that is what I call Anqien Yixu, it's not only the awareness of keeping yourself safe but to help others in need as well.
Question. Can dangerous be used in English, we can use dangerous about other things like you said like the food market, you know, you're gonna eat too much.
If somebody brings a chocolate cake into the office, can I look at that and say oh no, buan chun.
Actually, I think people will understand.
But it's not typically used that way?
because instead of saying it's not safe, people would usually describe it as a kind of guilty behavior.
So it's more like saying, I'm going to be guilty if I consume it.
So we don't say buan chuan, we sometimes would say, it actually means guilty.
It's something that's I cannot have it, It's almost like a crime I'm committing if I finish that piece of chocolate.
So that's the thing I understand your feeling about it, but instead of saying it's dangerous, we're saying it's a crime.
And then another commonly asked question is, can you travel to China without knowing Chinese?
Yes. Um, but I don't know if that would be true everywhere.
Right? I think Beijing is quite English friendly.
I've heard Shanghai is even more English friendly than Beijing is.
Oh yes, yes, they're good.
But then again because China is so large I'm also guessing that if you travel to a smaller town or into the you know smaller communities, rural areas you're not gonna find anybody who speaks English there.
Now that's for conversation, right but we have those little magic rectangles called our smart phones and even if you are trying to deal with someone who doesn't speak English or or whatever language I'm just saying English because I'm an English speaker it could be anything but if you encounter someone who doesn't speak the same language as you do and you don't speak Chinese the applications on your phone are incredible for language translation.
And here's the other thing, every Beijinger that I've encountered in terms of, you know, a waiter or a waitress in a restaurant or someone working at a hotel or a taxi driver or anyone, they all know everyone has the app on their phone, the language translation app.
So sometimes people see me coming and they'll take out their phone and get ready knowing that they need to use the language translation app.
You don't need to speak Chinese to live in one of the big cities here, I guess, but learn a few words.
Anyway, and try to use those just because people appreciate it.
Yeah. I do that too when I traveled to different countries, I try to learn hello and I love you in that language.
It's just, you know, showing that you are trying as well here, you want to know their culture you are taking an interest.
So, shui jian, Zhongwen learn a little bit Chinese.
I mean I think that's probably true for many cities around the world.
But to answer your question fully, I would say it depends on where you are.
But for the big cities not really.
And on one hand we're saying that everyone is using their translator.
Or translating machine on their phone quite well it's funny because thinking about it you are the one who needs the translating machine yet everybody else is already having it and using it yeah and and the reason they have it at the ready is because you are not the first person they've seen that doesn't speak Chinese so they know but you know something um you'll run into people who speak English and you'll be surprised i was getting a haircut the other day and the lady sitting next to me was maybe 70 years old and she just looked at me and said do you need some help like that?
And I said oh no I'm good I'm just gonna show him a picture and she said okay if you need my help just ask me.
Yes, that's my on the other hand.
More and more people started to or more and more people have the ability of communicating with you quite fluently and quite smoothly, especially the younger generation, a lot of young kids are really good at English.
Yeah and then there's other things too right like I haven't found a lot of examples of English words in Chinese and even if they are in Chinese they sound like English but it's still going to sound a little bit different but then there's little examples like this like I learned from you here on Take Away Chinese, you can say bathroom but you can also say WC right and you say to anyone in public or at restaurant or something, WC.
Just say that, WC. And they know.
And they'll just point you in the right direction.
Yeah. The only danger you might encounter would be some kids, I don't think even middle school kids, primary school kids would drag you and would not let you go because they want to practice their English.
That has not happened to me just yet.
Might happen. Well, it'll take you five minutes, so yes.
Yeah, that's cute though.
Yeah, so you're listening turning to take away Chinese, I am Yuhan Lin with Steve Hathorly here where we realized that one episode cannot really conclude all the fun questions or the curiosities of those who are not currently in China yet want to know more about the country so we are going to have another episode so for a next episode, we'll still talk about the things that people are curious about.
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