Take Away Chinese, where you can take some Chinese away and experience progress day by day.
Take Away Chinese, we will promise you a difference!
Hi, welcome to Take Away Chinese.
I am Yeo Hong -lin, and with me today, Tada!
Steve Heatherly! Hello, Steve!
Hello, how are you doing?
I'm doing very well.
Special, I'm doing the show with you in the studio.
This is actually a new studio.
For those of you who cannot see us, it's a new studio.
It's not that fancy, but it gets the job done.
This feels like if you are at the airport and they bring you into the immigration office because they have some questions for you.
Isn't that bad? Really?
I don't know. There's a nice painting on the wall, I suppose.
Yeah, it's a huge painting.
This studio, because actually the building we work in has a really long history.
It's a really old building, but again, it gets the job done.
And this kind of setting sometimes makes me wonder, because in the world I talk about artificial intelligence, to talk about the next generation of technology, the futuristic thing happening, like, as if it was everything.
But it's not. It's, in life you see the advanced ones, you see the relatively not that developed things, but things work.
But it still reminds me that the world is a huge place and with a lot of diversity out there and some people are not to living in the very high -techy, futuristic setting.
Yeah, they're having their own fun in their own way and they're developing in their own pace.
I am impressed by new technology, But I'm also impressed by old technology because old technology at a time was the new Technology right and We work in media.
So sometimes we get to use really expensive microphones and cameras and beautiful studios Sometimes we get to use some of the older recording equipment as well, which is very cool to me at the same time So today is the latter as opposed to the former.
Yes, and you never know because sometimes it was precisely because this part of the world did not get on that development bus of this generation.
Catch or it caught the second one and the second one actually surpassed the first one if you know what I'm trying to say.
I know what you're trying to say.
Yes, it's like getting not as developed at this stage might not be a bad thing.
because it creates or it leaves you the space to develop in your own way, which one day might be a much more developed form.
100 % agree. And this also reminds me of the kind of scene I have witnessed in a lot of countryside and villages here in the country.
That is before visiting these places, I felt like these places might be much less developed.
It's a good thing to be in a very natural environment that you see the beautiful or trees and mountains and rivers and everything, and on the other hand, I was kind of expecting places to be, again, less developed with less technology, but it was not always the case.
It's a very interesting situation.
Uh -huh, we tend to, I think, use the word underdeveloped or less developed, there's some sort of negative connotation when there doesn't need to be a negative connotation.
Not everything needs to be cutting edge.
Not every town needs to have the highest skyscrapers in the world.
Sometimes the beauty is in not moving forward with the biggest and tallest building.
Sometimes the beauty is just leaving it the way it is because it's already perfect.
Yeah. Ah, I think that is a very beautiful way of describing the situation.
I was wondering, have you ever visited any countryside area, any rural area or village in China?
In China, I've been on a train going through the countryside.
Ah, a glimpse of it.
Yeah, so I'm watching it go by at 300 kilometers per hour, which again is a really interesting juxtapose, because I'm on one of the fastest trains in the world, zipping through an area that is not developed like one of the tier one cities in China.
Contrast in a way. It's an irony in a sense.
We say, well we said what we said, like you can leave things the way it is because it's already perfect but definitely when it comes to, for example, the living standard of people actually in the village the kind of condition that those for example elderly or children in the village who they cannot really just leave the place to find another job in a major city yet they need, they deserve a better life.
their feelings their choices actually matter much more than us so I think that is why when it comes to the development of these areas the vast land and in China that are what we call Nongchuan.
Nong -suen. Yes, Nong -suen, Nong cares the meaning of farming, agriculture, whereas zhuen is the village.
And we talk about Nong -yé, that's agriculture.
So, Nong we know is farming related and yé is like an industry.
So the farming industry, agriculture.
And nong -min, min, zhi -min, that's people.
So, nong -min would be the farmers.
And nong -yé, nong -suen, nong -min, the three known, the three agricultural related issue is actually one of the biggest concern or maybe not a concern.
More like something that we work on to develop so that people can have a better living standard.
Yeah, sure. I was speaking before about simply the geography of a location.
But when we're talking about the people and the opportunities of a village or a smaller town, then growth and development of course can be a wonderful thing.
Yes, and for our dear listeners out there, if you're interested in this side of the Chinese stories, if you want to travel to China not only to the major cities, but also to the villages to see the very beautiful natural scene in these places, actually this is going to be the topic of today's takeaway Chinese.
So, if you're interested in Chinese culture and you want to get a grip of the Chinese language this is the show for you.
Stick with us for 30 minutes and you soon see the rewards.
And for more fun Chinese learning, follow our Facebook page, Learn Chinese, to watch many fun videos and live streams.
But now let's provide you with some free Chinese for take -away.
I think we've already introduced the first three free Chinese to take -away, that is the San Nong, the three agriculture -related issue.
So Nong Ye, Nong Suen, Nong Min.
Nong Ye being agriculture, the industry.
Nong Suen being the villages, the rural area, and Nong Min farmers.
Perfect. So when you say Nong Min...
That's specifically farmer, that doesn't refer to other people living in a farming community or a smaller village.
No, I think I'm talking about the farmers in the rural area.
Because in China we have the registration system meaning that you would have your name under a certain household and there are different types of the households, so the ones are in rural areas would be the ones in cities would be so maybe, like you said, some people say people, they are living in rural areas.
Maybe they're not even living in rural areas anymore.
They have already moved to major cities to be a food delivery guy or be a technician in a huge, huge company already.
If their household registration is still within their original family, they can still call themselves a farmer in general.
But like you said, it's not that of a farmer.
So nongmin literally speaking is farmer.
So the agricultural people.
Understood. So it depends on your family registry.
And also, it depends on how you understand it or how you interpret it.
The general one or the very, very specific ones, both work actually.
And for those of you who are interested in visiting China, I think a more interesting topic would be the kind of travel experience you can enjoy in the rural area and we have a specific name for it.
We call it Nong jia lu.
Nong jia lu. Yes so Nong again we know it carries the meaning of agriculture related or village related and jia is a house or a home whereas lu means happy.
So Nong jia lu literally is farm house happiness Farmhouse happiness.
I love that. Right?
I think it's a kind of traveling type developed in the recent decade or so.
So does nongjial refer to a kind of vacation?
It's a kind of vacation.
It's a kind of service even.
It depends because I think at first it started with so many different reasons.
The first one being people living in major cities, living this fast -paced life.
They are tired of the ins and outs of everyday, the bustling lifestyle, and they wanted to have a deeper connection with the nature.
They wanted to enjoy themselves in a chilled out kind of way and they decided to go to a farmhouse, stay there, enjoy the very clean and natural and healthy food and talk to local people who are living this life style of in Chinese we say it's a long sentence no worries is the sun and means that when the sun rises you rise it means fall so when the sun goes down you go back to sleep it's kind of like describing the kind of life without electricity but it's not like that.
It's about the natural and healthy lifestyle of people living in the countryside.
And that was the lifestyle the people going after Nongjia Lue was going after.
And those are probably city people who are seeking that kind of Nongjia Lue vacation.
Yes. Get out of the hustle and bustle and the traffic and the congestion and all the people, so you can have a quiet, peaceful few days.
Yes, but these kind of vacation of traveling only got popular because of a condition that many people didn't actually think of, that is, going into the village is supposed to be easy and fun.
For example, you can just drive a car and go directly there in several hours.
It means the highway must be good, or maybe if you are traveling by train, then the high -speed train, like Steve has just mentioned, it has to be good.
It has to be easy for travelers.
And that is why Nong Jia Le only got popular in the recent couple of decades.
Previously the traffic condition was not good enough, but in the past 20, 30 years it got developed and people were able to enjoy this kind of travel.
So those villages prior were not easily accessible.
So, it wasn't even in consideration for people to visit there?
It would be too hard.
Yeah, if you think about it, if you need to spend more than five, six hours to get into a village, you might not want to do that.
So I think it only started to be a choice for people with the development of the society, of the economic social situation of the country.
And when that actually happened, the level of nongjiaole improved as well.
When I say level, I mean the kind of services they can provide has also upgraded.
So when you go this to experience this type of rural tourism, I guess one of the awesome things is that you get to taste the local dishes.
Yes we call them tú tú chán.
Tú tú chán. Yes, well tú tú chán is actually even more than that because tú carries the meaning of soil, the down to earth, local, quite natural, not super processed kind of food.
And Tu Tuchan is specialty.
So Tu Tuchan can be the kind of vegetables, fruits, the, for example, meats you eat, one day you go to the place, you see a little lamb caught Mary, the next day you're definitely not eating Mary but eating Mary's friend, something like that.
Okay. Okay. A bit too dark.
What I'm saying here is that it's very natural and it's very organic and it's very healthy.
But Tú Tú Chá is more than that.
You can bring ingredient back home.
You can buy some local artifacts, which can also be considered Tú Tú Chá.
Like I said, upgrading the service.
I was on vacation once, this was not in China.
and one of the themes of the hotel was exactly that.
This kind of nong chia le vibe with the toe tu chan food.
I don't know how to say it.
I'll explain like this.
Every morning when you woke up, instead of just going to the hotel restaurant, you could go visit the chickens first.
Because that's. And pick one you like?
Because that's where they got their eggs from.
So they would give you a little basket, and they would drive you over to the chicken coop, in a little golf cart, and then they say, go ahead, and you go in with the chickens, and you feed them first, and then after you can take some eggs.
And one day, I think it was the last day, have you ever picked up a chicken before?
Yes. I've actually raised the two chickens.
Did you really? They're much oilier than their feathers.
Yes. Are oilier than I kind of ever thought?
There's kind of a layer, I guess it's a protective layer on the outside of their feathers.
Anyway, they're quite docile I found and so I asked the guide person, oh, I don't see any eggs here and he said, oh, you have to pick her up.
So I picked her up and there was one egg under her.
And you stole her egg?
so I took the egg and I put her down.
Back in her, she was sitting down and she started looking around for the egg.
So I picked her up and I put the egg back and I said, I can't do this.
And I couldn't eat eggs for breakfast that day.
I just felt too terrible about it.
I felt like a thief.
That's the thing, you got the experience that you didn't used to have.
You didn't actually know.
That's the connection with nature and the reason that we can sit here and say these and Think that we can enjoy it has another Kind of at least for me as a condition that I need the place to have electricity Okay, so that's a condition for a lot of people.
Yes. Yes, and also need the place I kinda needed to be connected with the Internet, mmm, given my you know, I cannot really stand I maybe I am suffering from FOMO And you know, the thing with China is that more than 99 .6 % of the places in China are connected with internet and with Wi -Fi, actually.
I think all of the places are connected with internet if you're talking about the hard lines.
So that is another reason that people are now able to enjoy the kind of non -jalla service.
Yeah, so then when you go to the countryside, then you have the opportunity for perhaps of digital detox because there are activities there.
Yes, that you do not need to be connected anymore.
Yeah, exactly right.
Um I know fruit picking can be uh -huh.
It's definitely a thing.
We call it Saijai. Saijai.
Perfect. So, Sai is like pick and Jai is to get the fruit you want and get it disconnected from the stem.
So, both Saijai actually cares the meaning of pick, but Zha 'i is definitely talking about, get it away from his original plant.
Removing it from its source.
Yes, yes, so that's Zha 'i.
Zha 'i Zha 'i is very popular, because we know that if you were talking about an authentic nongjal experience, the travel experience, definitely you're going to the real villages, but if we're talking about the suburban area of a city, they have certain farms, greenhouses that you can already enjoy in Thai Chi.
It's quite enjoyable, especially if you have kids.
Florida in the United States is famous for, which beverage, do you know?
No. Orange juice. Oh, okay.
They have a lot of orange groves there.
And I remember being on vacation with my family when I was a kid, orange groves are just on the side of the road, right?
And you can pull over into the parking lot and go in and you can pay some money and they have a little juice stand there and it's 100 percent fresh orange juice and the oranges have just been picked from the trees and you will never taste orange juice like that in your life it is incredible but again you know that's an experience Zaijai.
Fruit picking that you can't get in downtown Beijing.
You know? It's a unique experience.
Yes. And here in China, I think some of the Zaijai experiences focus on like strawberry, tao mei, sometimes blueberry, lam mei.
Because if I think about it, when I was a kid, I used to play a little bit in my grandparents' is Home Tund which has this really huge corn farm.
You know how hard it is to pick corn?
It's really hard. They're tall.
It's labor intensive and it's not that fun.
So I guess they have also collected the kind of agriculture type, the kind of fruit and vegetables for you to, you know, play with a little bit.
One of the really cool things that I got to do in the countryside in Korea was visit the tea fields.
Ah. Yeah, you can have that in China, too.
Yeah, right. These huge...
I think it was green tea.
It was these shrubs that were about maybe three feet, four feet tall and you just kind of walk through the shrubs and then they had the building there where you get to have fresh tea or whatever.
It was a very peaceful, unique experience that I didn't ever get to get in Canada.
Actually, in China, we have a lot of those as well.
I assumed, yeah. Yes and we call it...
Again, sai is the pick up activity.
The removal from the original source.
I have visited several of these tea housing, tea mountains myself and they all offer different types of experience you can enjoy.
One really good one was in Fujian province in the southern part of the country, and it It was quite fun because it's a whole industrial link kind of experience.
In the morning you gotta go visit the actual tea farmland and then you go to a factory you see the tea leaves that you picked get processed and it's not the exact same one because they want you to see every process of tea making so you get to see every stage of the tea in each stage would take several days.
So you see each stage and it's a jasmine tea.
Moi li huà chà. And did you know this?
Actually the really good jasmine tea has no jasmine flour in it.
It's supposed to be that the jasmine flour was put under the actual tea leaf plate.
And then having it steamed a little bit, having the flavor, the scent of the jasmine tea to kind of surround the tea leaves so that afterwards I think there has to be more than 9 rounds so that afterwards you do not see any jasmine flower yet the tea leave itself is full of the jasmine fragrance.
Oh interesting, yes.
I have a jasmine tree in my house.
Ooh you can make some jasmine tea.
We do, that's really nice.
Yeah the flowers come I guess in the summertime it's winter now so there's no flowers on the tree at all.
A little tiny tree.
But yeah, when the flowers came out, we just pick them off and then we make a cups of tea.
It's really quite nice.
Yes, and that experience taught me that not only can I experience the soothing, calming, and nice and totally different from city life kind of experience, it can also learn a lot about the local industry, about the local people, about how they live.
And yeah, being able to share these stories like this This is quite enjoyable.
Question. How do you say birth?
Birth. Uh, it depends.
What kind of birth you're talking about, like birthday, for example, that would be shuang.
Shung? So, shuang shi kuai lu is happy birthday.
Why? Is it shuang jai, when a baby is born?
Tuo shuang, its baby is born.
Oh, because, I was just thinking, you're removing the baby from the original source.
Oh, no, no, no, no, please don't do this.
I was just using the logic of the word I know, but that's the thing about the Chinese language.
I think it's a good teaching point.
Let's use this teaching moment.
That is definitely all of the Chinese characters have some meanings.
They have their own meanings.
And when you put them together, you form words.
And when you put words together, you form phrase yet besides logic, definitely we have logic, but you cannot really create a word based on the knowledge of a previous example, because the words are already there and some words share same meanings.
Some characters share same meanings, some characters have different meanings.
So with all these varieties, actually putting two things together would almost always lead you to a mistake, especially Especially at the beginning stage of learning the language.
So I would always recommend you to use the words that you have heard already.
Some native speakers have used them.
So don't make the assumption because logic applies to one group of words that it might apply to another group of words.
Mm -hmm, understood.
Yes. So that is the kind of activity I enjoyed.
Right back to the Jasmine Flower tea story.
And now a lot of villages in the country are also providing the kind of experience related to their folk culture.
We call it Min Suo.
So we know Min Zhen, Min as the people and Suo is custom.
Okay, so the customs of the people.
Yes, so Min Suo that would be the folk culture.
For example, you can create handmade products like pottery, you can try to learn weaving, embroidery, paper cutting.
These might be the kind of skills that local people have mastered for thousands of years, and you can also enjoy some folk music and dances.
This is really cool because it can imagine in the middle of the night or maybe just in the evening.
There's a bonfire, everyone can get around it, singing and dancing, and you can even wear local costume, which usually is quite colourful and nice.
Yeah, yeah. Now that sounds fun.
I'm from the Canadian countryside, I guess you could say.
My hometown is very small, but we don't have...
See, Canada doesn't have that long a history, so we haven't really had a chance to develop any of these types of minsoor in some of our smaller towns.
In other smaller towns, absolutely 100 % true but where I'm from, we don't necessarily have any of these.
Then you would love experiencing these a little because they have a long history, they would have a lot of, for example, folk stories and backgrounds that you can explore.
For example, actually, I have personally visited Xidi and Hongshan village in Huangshan area in I think the relatively Eastern and southern part of the country, but still in the center, just towards the southern part, a little bit.
And the current 730 hectare area contains an integrated ecological landscape and unique collection of village alleyways, buildings, waterways, dating from the 14th century.
and the area also serves as a record of city and Hongshu art, cuisine, medicine, painting, and other elements of intangible cultural heritage, preserving and passing on the site spirit and culture, and I visited the place, the architecture, the architecture is quite distinct and the food is really, really spicy by the way.
Tell me about one of the dishes.
Have you ever tried stinky tofu?
I've heard of it and I've seen it, but I haven't tried it yet.
Have you ever tried stinky fish?
Oh, really, I was kind of hoping to lean you in from stinky tofu to stinky fish didn't realize you've tried stinky fish.
Yes, it's called something different in Korea.
It's called homo. And it's kind of a fermented fish that to me does how strong is the flavour?
Well, it smells quite stinky.
Yes, it tastes really good.
We call it chou gui yew.
Chou gui yew? Yes, chou meaning stinky.
Okay, maybe this is a different dish.
Maybe, yeah. Is it good?
It's really good and you should definitely try it since you like spicy food as I know.
And the tofu, the fish, and also the local duo jiao, we've already know that when it comes to spicy food, China actually has a lot of different varieties, not only the oily spicy kind but also the fresh pepper get chopped.
Oh okay. Yes, the kind of spicy, that's the spicy I enjoyed in Anhui Province where Citi and Hongcun villages locate.
That's a pretty small village, you said 730 hectares?
Yes not really huge, not really big.
Yet, in this place you can definitely enjoy a lot of Min Su, the folk culture.
Nice cuisine, Di Fang Mei Shie, and also Tmer Chan, the local specialties.
Yeah, the local specialties are always really fun to try when you're traveling.
And then I guess the other fun thing is to just kind of check out the area, too.
Yeah, sure. Just walk around and go for a hike if there are mountains there.
Just go for a long walk along the water if there happens to be water there, and just explore.
Yes. And in these local areas, in these villages and rural areas, they are developing not only their folk culture, the culture they have possessed for thousands of years.
They're also developing some new pop culture.
For example, they have their local or their original board games.
We call it Cuanqiao.
Cuanqiao. These have gained significant attention for their community -driven and vibrant atmosphere.
here. Actually, on top of Tunchou we also have Tswin Biai.
We definitely have heard of MBA.
There is also CBA, that is the China Basketball Association.
And Tswin Biai is the Village Basketball Association.
Oh, cool. Yes, it refers to the rural basketball tournaments held in China's villages.
And the Tunchou we mentioned.
It refers to rural soccer leagues akin to grass roots versions of professional
