Popup Chinese

Stirring up the South China Sea

Fri, 18 May 2012 09:00:00 +0800

This week on Sinica, as the situation in the South China Sea simmers and Chinese society turns noticeably xenophobic, we're pleased to be joined by Stephanie Kleine-Ahlbrandt from the International Crisis Group, a non-governmental organization which has just released a fantastic report on the actors and factors in Chinese policymaking that are contributing to increased tensions in the South China Sea. In contrast with much of the writing on this issue which assumes that China is a unitary actor, this report reveals a more complex picture of competing government agencies. Don’t miss this episode if you're curious about what is really happening in the South China Sea and why.

Joining Stephanie in our studio today is another guest we are delighted to have: Jeremiah Jenne, Dean of Chinese Studies at the IES program in Beijing, and the force behind the popular China blog Jottings from the Granite Studio. An expert on Chinese history and observer of current trends, Jeremiah joins us to talk about the recent upsurge in anti-foreign behavior in the Chinese media, including a new social movement encouraging Chinese citizens to turn in illegal foreign residents and workers.

Can't get enough of Sinica? Be sure to join us on Facebook or Twitter, or subscribe to our show through iTunes to download our latest episodes automatically as they are released. To take care of this manually just click on the option "Subscribe to Podcast" in the "Advanced" file menu of iTunes and provide the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica when prompted. We also encourage everyone to download this show as a standalone mp3 file and share it with friends and colleagues.

Occupational Hazard

Wed, 16 May 2012 09:00:00 +0800

Flying into Los Angeles at night was like falling into the stars themselves. Below the plane, the darkened sprawl stretched to the ends of the horizon, the streets bathed in a hundred thousand glimmering lights, flashing and twinkling as the cars on the expressway churned their way home. And welcoming them all was the LAX airport in the distance, its runways framed by strobing lights....

Drinks with the Boss

Mon, 14 May 2012 09:00:00 +0800

Remember the time you worked for that state-owned auto company and got invited to the annual banquet and said yes and were surprised when everyone started relaxing and having a good time and soon you were even flirting with Xiao Li and thinking it might go somewhere but then the next thing you remember was waking in a pitch-black room with your body wracked in a kind of throbbing scream and your mind seized with visions from Ecclesiastes, wondering how you managed to get from the banquet hall to this place, and where exactly was this place anyway?

Let us be frank: it does not take much exposure to China to learn that there are some activities in this country that are not conducive to either learning mandarin or continuing to live. This lesson covers one of those cases, but is also a bit of a dual-use podcast. Because while the mandarin we cover has the potential to get you into trouble, it can also help keep you sane in a different context. So listen up and use your newfound powers for good or evil as you wish.

Interesting Times

Fri, 11 May 2012 09:00:00 +0800

Joining Kaiser Kuo and Jeremy Goldkorn on Sinica this week are special guests Gady Epstein from the Economist and Ed Wong from the New York Times, here to discuss what has been a surreal two weeks even by Chinese standards, bringing us the spectacle of a blind activist's refuge in the American Embassy in Beijing, the ensuing diplomatic negotiations for his release, and an upsurge of popular Chinese outrage over a maritime dispute with the Philippines. Our guests also chat about "Ferrari-gate" and address the persisting rumors that a tuxedo-clad princeling drove up to the US Ambassadorial residence in a red Ferrari.

Enjoy the Sinica podcast? In addition to listening to new episodes through Popup Chinese, we invite all listeners to download and share this recording as a standalone mp3 file. Please also feel welcome to check out all of the other shows in our Sinica archives, or by subscribing to our dedicated iTunes feed. We also welcome your thoughts either in the discussion section below, or on facebook or twitter.

Thinking and Feeling

Wed, 09 May 2012 09:00:00 +0800

Our lesson today is for absolute beginners to the Chinese language, which means that even if you don't know any Chinese you should still find it accessible enough to pick up some of the basics. In it we cover two useful verbs you can use to tell others what you are thinking and feeling. And as a bonus, we also cover a useful phrase for apologizing in Chinese, either so you can apologize yourself, or so you can demand satisfaction from everyone around you.

New to Popup Chinese and not sure what we have in store? This lesson is for absolute beginners to the Chinese language, but if you're a more advanced student don't worry: we have hundreds of lessons at your difficulty level in our Chinese lesson archive. Just create a free account for yourself and you'll get full access totally free of charge. So create your own free account today and let us know what you think of our stuff.

The Monkey King: chapter 1, part 3

Mon, 07 May 2012 09:00:00 +0800

The Monkey King is one of the four classic works of Chinese literature, standing alongside Dream of the Red Chamber, the Water Margin and Three Kingdoms as foundational pillars in Chinese civilization. As such, we are pleased to present this unabridged and manually annotated transcript of the story for advanced students of Chinese literature. If you are starting from scratch, we suggest beginning with part one, which outlines the Chinese creation myth and discusses the mysterious origins of a stone monkey of apparently divine provenance living on a remote Pacific island.

As our story settles into straightforward narrative, our attention turns today from this mystic stone monkey to a pack of wild monkeys who live and play further down the mountain on this mysterious Pacific isle. On discovering a wild stream whose waters "gush out like melons", the pack determines to track down the source of the stream and set off up the mountain until they discover a mysterious waterfall set into the face of a cliff. But what curious secret is hidden in this waterfall, and how will . All is revealed in this passage.

As with all of our annotated Chinese short stories, we encourage premium subscribers to click through to our text page and read this 16th century classic in the original Chinese. Simply hover your mouse (or tap your touch-sensitive screen) over any character for a popup containing an exact definition of the word in its proper context, along with supplementary notes explaining particularly antiquated turns of phrase. And if you have questions or requests for other short stories you would like to see us annotate in this fashion, please send them by email to service@popupchinese.com.

Tearing it Up

Fri, 04 May 2012 09:00:00 +0800

Our clip today has it all: useful language for subverting the local establishment while showcasing the amazing vocal diversity in mainland film-dubbing circles. And for fun, we're happy to offer useful advice on pronouncing Colin Firth's name at no extra charge. So take a listen. And if you can identify our mystery clip, be sure to write Echo for a chance to win a free month of premium access. Good luck!

Son of Gump

Wed, 02 May 2012 09:00:00 +0800

The somnolent corpse twitched as the first jolts of electricity seared through its head, trunk and prostrate limbs until wreaths of blue flame arced up and down the leg braces as the voltage faded and the laboratory returned to silence, a silence filled with only the smell of charred flesh and the unspoken question that reached between the two observers, asking if this might finally be the time for the legend to rise again?

Our Chinese podcast for today is all about speed, and is filled with some hot-swappable expressions you can use when things start happening faster than you expect. But before you get started with the madness that is today's lesson, if you haven't heard our previous show titled "They Called Me Mad, The Fools" you might want to give it a listen first, since our story picks up where its predecessor left off.

Workplace Pickup Techniques

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 09:00:00 +0800

Every language learning program needs at least one lesson on creepy workplace stalking. And by this we mean a lesson filled with useful tips and tricks on how to pickup friends and coworkers without coming across like a creepy stalker. And that's why we've taken special pains to produce this show filled with tips and tricks for maximizing your chances of office romance. And also two really useful prepositions. What more could you want?

Sex and Marriage

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 09:00:00 +0800

We hurriedly cleaned up the studio and tried to set a bit more of a romantic tone this week, a feat accomplished mostly by positioning small candles and trays of potpourri by the microphones. And why else than because our subject today is sex and marriage, and perhaps more of the former than the latter. So join us for a show about who wants it, who gets it, and exactly how far some researchers will go when doing work on the Chinese sex industry.

Joining Kaiser Kuo and Jeremy Goldkorn on Sinica this week are Tricia Wang and Christina Larson. Tricia is an up-and-coming ethnographer whose focus is on the lives of China's down-and-out population. Christina is a long-time guest returning to Sinica this week to talk about dating and sex in China, and who we try to convince to give us an advance peek at a forthcoming piece of hers in Foreign Policy.

Enjoy Sinica? Since there may be some among you who feel life would be easier if Sinica just showed up automatically on your iPhone each week, we make it possible to subscribe to Sinica through RSS. If you use iTunes, you can do this simply by clicking on the "Advanced" file menu and selecting the option "Subscribe to Podcast". When prompted copy the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica into the box. Alternately, you're also welcome to download the show as a standalone mp3 file and share it with others.

Chinese Industrial Policy and the Automotive Market

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 09:00:00 +0800

Even as the Beijing Auto Show prepares to toast the Chinese market with its typical mixture of sex and tech, industry insiders have been stunned by recent news showing the market share of domestic Chinese manufacturers falling relative to their foreign counterparts, a trend that has persisted even in the face of strongly preferential government policies and even overt efforts to push the industry into Chinese hands. In this show, we ask what this failure means for Chinese ambitions to be an international automotive giant, and whether the government is losing its ability to pick favorites in the market?

Hosted by Kaiser Kuo and Jeremy Goldkorn, this episode of Sinica features special guest Greg Anderson, a political scientist and expert on the Chinese automobile market whose research involves tracking the differences between state-owned and private automotive companies, and who has found himself right in the middle of this curious puzzle. If you work or track any industry which the Chinese government considers strategic, this show is an absolutely must-listen: take a listen and be sure to let us know what you think in the comments section below.

And if you want more Sinica? To have your computer automate downloading new editions of Sinica as they're released, just subscribe to our show through iTunes. To do this open the Advanced file menu and select the option "Subscribe to Podcast" from the Advanced file menu. Provide the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica when prompted. Or just continue to visit Popup Chinese, and download our shows manually as we release them. The link for this week's show is right here.

Pulling a Car

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 09:00:00 +0800

Max was still not clear on exactly how his Volvo had ended up stuck in this patch of loose sand somewhere off-road in Utah, and Robert was not being exactly forthcoming about the details. The last thing he could remember was dozing off somewhere by Shiprock, only to be jolted awake by a sort of sliding brake that left them stranded on the side of this dirt road with two wheels spinning in the sand, no cellular signal and not another car in sight. This was a problem they would have to solve themselves.

Are you an Absolute Beginner to the Chinese language? If so, our Chinese lesson for today is designed with you in mind. In it, we cover a series of high-frequency phrases you'll hear mainlanders use when they're trying to avoid responsibility or work, and practice expanding it into a more general question asking whether something is possible.

The Saga of the Bottle Cap

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 09:00:00 +0800

Gandhi said something about being the change you want to see, and we agree. Because while you may have purchased that bottle of orangeade, and even handed over good money for it, it was a transaction made under false pretenses. So go stand up for yourself. Head back to that newspaper stand and tell the owner what you think of his business. You can insist this is not good enough and demand satisfaction.

Learning Chinese? We have more beginner lessons coming out later this week. In the meantime, our show for today is for the more wizened Intermediate crowd which already speaks some Chinese and is looking to sound even more native. And how are we going to help you with this but by teaching a number of colloquial but non-standard words you can use as drop-in replacements for high-frequency ones everyone already knows. So listen up and drop these words into conversation and in no time your friends will be looking at you with renewed respect and possibly even fear.

In Dialogue with China Dialogue

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 09:00:00 +0800

"So what you're saying is... you can't give awards for good journalism to bad journalism?"

After a few upbeat weeks on political intrigue in Chongqing, Sinica is back this week with another depressing show about the various ways China is killing us all. This week our conversation turns to cadmium-laced rice, endangered species and the pollution of the food supply in a conversation with writer and broadcaster Isabel Hilton, founder of China Dialogue, and Jonathan Watts, Guardian correspondent and author of the book When A Billion Chinese Jump.

As always, we hope you enjoy the show. If you like to keep up-to-date on things but have trouble tearing yourself off Facebook to check for a new show each Friday, one alternative is letting our podcasts come to you. Subscribe to our RSS feed by opening iTunes and selecting the option "Subscribe to Podcast" from the Advanced file menu. Provide the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica when prompted. And if you just want to download this specific show, you can grab the standalone mp3 file for this episode right here.

Conflicts in the Medical System

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 09:00:00 +0800

We're pretty lucky not to have had to deal with any major medical crises while in China. Which is probably a good thing judging by the contents of this Advanced podcast, which features a native-native Chinese conversation between Echo and Tiansen about the medical system and how it often puts doctors and patients at odds. So if you've already got pretty decent Chinese and are looking for listening practice that will help you pick up new words and phrases, give this podcast and shot and see how you do.

Memories of High School

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 09:00:00 +0800

Suffering the mockery of his high school peers, Stephen had retreated into scholastics to escape from pain and loneliness. Eventually, this would lead him to graduate with top honors and be accepted by one of the most prestigious universities in the nation. And yet as he accepted his diploma, he wondered if one day he might return to this small town and show them all that with courage and determination, a man could still succeed.

Muckraking with Chinese Characteristics

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 09:00:00 +0800

In one of the juicier quotes making the rounds on social networks this week a private equity investor in Shanghai savaged the Chinese media for its unblinking corruption, quipping to the New York Times that "if one of my companies came up with a cure for cancer, I still couldn’t get any journalists to come to the press conference without promising them a huge envelope filled with cash.”

Exactly how bad is this problem and were does it cross the line? This week Sinica dives into the question of how Chinese journalism works in practice with a show that splits cleanly along industry lines. Joining host Jeremy Goldkorn this week and representing the journalism and public relations industries in turn are Sinica friends Li Xin, managing editor of Caixin magazine, and Will Moss, China PR expert and blogger of Imagethief fame.

Want more Sinica? We've just passed our second anniversary with the show, and have a ton of shows covering a huge range of topics in our by now fairly massive Sinica archive. And if listening online isn't your thing, why not try downloading them? To subscribe to the Sinica feed, just click on the Advanced file menu in iTunes and select the option "Subscribe to Podcast". Provide the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica when prompted, and your computer will take care of the rest. If you want to download this show as a standalone mp3 file.

Advice for Dealing with New Parents

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 09:00:00 +0800

In the spirit of sharing a helpful tip for dealing with friends who procreate, one thing we've learned something of the hard way is the astonishing degree to which parents end up being more patient with their new offspring than they are with their non-childbearing but emotionally supportive friends, especially should one happen to make a stray remark about asking the little guy to hurry up because other people might need to go too.

Just starting to learn Chinese? Our podcast for today is one of our more difficult lessons at the Absolute Beginner level, since it presumes you've already run into the particle 了, and know it is used to put sentences into the past tense and signal what is known as a "change of state". But what you might not know is that sometimes you'll see this doubled-up in the same sentence. This lesson is about one case when this occurs, so that you can impress everyone with how native your Chinese is getting.

Happy Easter

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 09:00:00 +0800

I know you were doing email long before I signed up for the yahoo, but could anyone really have imagined what the Internet would have become when AOL invented it in 1993? I mean... just look at this beautiful scarf I bought to celebrate our Easter gift-giving tradition. It might seem like an ordinary piece of clothing at first, but if you look carefully you'll see it's hand-made. And I had to get it shipped in overnight from a store that specializes in one-of-a-kind pieces, so don't get it wet.

Learning Chinese? Today we celebrate Easter by combining the power of coverbs with the fun of collocations. The result is a set of powerful and fun ways to talk about your feelings towards people and objects. And there's no need for thanks. Just consider it a Merry Easter present from all of us at Popup Towers to you. Seriously though, be careful about getting this one wet, since it's more of an indoor scarf than all-weather gear.

The End of the Expat Package?

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 09:00:00 +0800

Heard the bad news? Word on the street is that Fat Package passed away in a Suzhou bar last month. We never really moved in the same circles as the guy, but if true we'll miss his presence in town. Even while we were hustling to make ends meet downtown, it was somehow comforting to know Fat was enjoying the Shunyi lifestyle. And with his place just a quick heiche from the Lido hotel who could be faulted for wondering what it might take for them to get a taste of the expat lifestyle too?

Curious where your "fat expat package" has gone? This week on Sinica, Kaiser Kuo and Jeremy Goldkorn welcome Will Moss of Imagethief and David Wolf of Wolf Group Asia for a dissection of the expat job market: what sort of jobs are available in China these days and what it takes to get on what we lovingly call the FEP. We put everything on the table this week, including some numbers that will either impress or horrify you. And for good measure, we also look at Sina Weibo's slap-on-the-wrist for its involvement spreading coup rumors two weeks ago, a retaliatory strike that turned China's biggest social network into a marginally better version of Twitter for a horrifying three days.

Trying to keep up-to-date on China? Sinica is a regular podcast covering the lastest chit worth chatting about on the China scene. If you like the show, remember that you can subscribe manually in iTunes by selecting "Subscribe to Podcast" from your "Advanced" file menu and providing the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica when prompted. We also encourage listeners to download this episode as a standalone mp3 file directly from our site.

Introduction to Pinyin

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 09:00:00 +0800

By now we assume you've heard of pinyin: the dominant method of writing the sound of Chinese characters using the roman alphabet. We use pinyin everywhere on Popup Chinese and while we obviously can't teach you all of the sounds in a single podcast, we did want to put something together for those of you having trouble making sense of the system, and in particular to clear up three common misconceptions people have about the romanization system: the mistaken idea that pronunciation follows English norms, the belief that the sounds in pinyin are internally consistent, and the confusion that strikes when it comes time to use pinyin to enter characters on a computer.

Beyond this podcast, we also want to take a minute and point out two resources here on Popup Chinese that most beginners overlook. The first is our online pinyin chart which is now bundled with our Chinese dictionary. You can use this to explore all possible pinyin sounds, see the relationship between different sounds, and hear the pronunciation of all sounds quickly and easily. Our second resource is our archive of pinyin recordings available for free download. They might not make for as easy listening as a podcast, but they're useful and you're welcome to use them with our compliments.

A Visit to the Dentist

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 09:00:00 +0800

Today we are pleased but mystified to present another edition of Popup Total Request Live, this time with an advanced show directed at the astonishingly large number of you (N > 1) who have written in to request a Chinese-only discussion on dental hygiene. Facing the incredulity of the rest of the office, Echo tried to explain your enthusiasm to us as follows. "It's because everyone loves the dentist," she said. "It's like a holiday when you take a day off work to go to get your teeth cleaned or have oral surgery."

So if you enjoy this podcast you should write echo@popupchinese.com to express your gratitude for her tireless efforts to bring this show to reality. The rest of us disavow any responsibility for it and are working hard to produce more family-friendly shows -- like the upcoming sequel to our plunger episode.

Where did you put the plunger?

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 09:00:00 +0800

Long-time listeners may be hard-pressed to forget our first foray into the exciting world of home plumbing, and if you're new to Popup Chinese you may want to listen to that show before exposing yourself to today's sequel, which picks where the last one left off. Our two protagonists now return home after a hearty lunch and turn their attention to the question we have left hanging all these three years: where did the plunger go anyway?

Learning Chinese? We're not sure if this lesson is a step up or a step down from its predecessor, which we've been told by multiple people has the distinction of being the most highbrow, lowbrow Chinese podcast in existence. In any event, we're certain you won't find the sort of thing we teach today in most or any textbooks, which is a pity since it is actually quite useful. In addition to covering some useful vocab for home cleaning, we also provide a useful reminder of why you should never let friends over to your house.

Excavation and Betrayal

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 09:00:00 +0800

With fears inflated by a few carefully placed rumors, the local populace was wise enough to stay away from the dig site, rightly fearing what might surface in a place which had lain buried for so long in the sands outside Cairo. And yet this same caution did not apply to the members of the excavation team, of whom no-one could predict which way their loyalties would bend once the tomb was opened and its treasures revealed once more to a waiting world.

Learning Chinese? Our Intermediate lesson for today features a dialogue straight out of an Indiana Jones archeological adventure. And as is fitting for such a topic, we spend a bit of time in this podcast stretching beyond simple language learning and look instead at the subtle and often collaborative process through which Chinese screenplays turn into Chinese films.

Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 09:00:00 +0800

The world's cultural heritage had been incinerated along with its servers when the first bombs fell, and what little film stock survived had decayed in the years that followed as human society struggled to rebuild itself after the apocalypse. And yet here (here!) in this musty storehouse in Tibet, Xiao Wang had somehow stumbled across an astonishingly large collection of twentieth century cultural artifacts. Would it be enough to piece the past back into existence, and rediscover the fabled Thunderdome of yore?

This week on Popup Chinese, Echo, Gao and Tiansen conduct an exercise in cultural anthropology, attempting to piece together the plot of the film Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome from nothing more than the music video for Tina Turner's classic rock anthem "We Don't Need Another Hero". What is the film about? Why the excessive human hair? And how on earth does one say Thunderdome in Chinese anyway? For answers to these questions and more, check out today's show and let us know what you think in the comments section below.

Adventures on the Second Ring Road

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 11:08:29 +0800

Stephen looked at his cab driver with newfound respect. Although traffic on the second ring road was otherwise touch-and-go, here at last was a man attempting to change it. Hunched over the steering wheel with his eyes on the road, the driver pushed forward at a slow but steady pace, sometimes lagging behind and sometimes nearly hitting the vehicle in front but never actually stopping. It was traffic smoothing applied as expertly as Stephen had ever seen done, as if this one man were trying to wrest Beijing congestion into shape through force of will alone.

Learning Chinese? Even if you don't speak any Chinese, this lesson should be at your level of difficulty. What we'll learn is how to double-up a number of high-frequency verbs in order to make suggestions. There's a simple trick here that's impossible to forget once you've learned it and using it will help you sound a lot more fluent than people who are learning from regular textbooks. So if you're working towards learning Chinese take a listen and see what you think. And if you have any questions, let us know in the discussion section below.

L'affaire Daisey

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 09:00:00 +0800

If you smell anything burning, it's likely your Internet cable melting from the heat of all these rumors. Which is why at Sinica we turn our unforgiving gaze this week at unsubstantiated press foreign and domestic, focusing first on reports of heightened police security in Beijing, midnight tank appearances, gunshots near the square, luxury car crashes, and even whispers of a coup d'etat. And more internationally, we can't help but discuss This American Life's recent retraction of a China-related story that was heavily fabricated: L'affaire Daisey.

Hosted by Kaiser Kuo and Jeremy Goldkorn, Sinica is proud to have Rob Schmitz on the show this week. Rob is of course the China correspondent for Marketplace who put two and two together and whose basic fact checking caught out a number of lies and inconsistencies in the Mike Daisey monologue as covered by a slew of major American news outlets. Joining us for the dissection of what happened here are two other China experts: Mary Kay Magistad of Public Radio International's The World and Tania Branigan of the Guardian, also known as the other founding member of Beijing's new Azure-Winged Magpie Appreciation Society.

Two quick notes before we get to the discussion. First is a reminder that you can subscribe to Sinica through iTunes using our RSS feed at http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica. Facebook users should also be happy to know we now have a new way to keep yourself up-to-date on Sinica - check out our group page at: http://www.facebook.com/sinicapodcast. And as always, a final reminder that if you don't want to listen to our show online, you're always welcome to download it directly from the site as a standalone mp3 file.

The Fate of an Industry

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 09:00:00 +0800

Things were starting to look ugly. While blockbuster films could still draw people to theaters, the rise of Youtube and Bittorrent had savaged the rest of the industry, destroying the rental income most studios relied upon to break even. And while the big studios had adjusted with ever more extravagant productions, the reality for most directors was less pretty. Unable to cast big name stars, smaller productions were forced into hiring cheaper and cheaper actors, to the point that the cast for this particular production resembled nothing so much as the extras from a George A. Romero flick.

Learning Chinese? Our lesson today is an advanced listening test set at a video shoot. Your challenge is to listen to this fast and colloquial clip and try to figure out who is being filmed and why? If you think your Chinese is good enough to tease out the answers from our one-minute dialogue take a listen and see how you do on our accompanying quiz. These aren't easy questions, so if you get anything wrong consult our transcript to see what you missed. We think you might be surprised at the results.

Holding Pattern

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 18:32:14 +0800

What was it about his in-law's apartment that put Derek on edge? The kitchen was small but serviceable and the rest of the apartment didn't seem to lack any amenities: the living room had a television and pull-out sofabed, a wireless router provided steady Internet access, and a fridge and washing machine stood tucked into a tiny alcove near the door. At only fifty square meters it wasn't exactly a place he would choose to live himself, but why should even a short visit give him such a strange sense of unease?

Midnight in Peking

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 09:00:00 +0800

In a China accustomed to glacial political change, Bo Xilai's dramatic fall from power this week has stunned observers nationwide. Joining us to help make sense of things is Guardian correspondent Tania Branigan, who helps review what exactly happened to the former Chongqing Party Secretary and once Politburo contender. Sinica then turns to a discussion of history, architecture and murder with fellow guest and soon-to-be-famous author Paul French, whose non-fiction murder mystery Midnight in Peking is set for a much broader international release next month.

Want to keep up-to-date on all things China? Hosted by Kaiser Kuo and Jeremy Goldkorn, Sinica is a regular show covering everything from politics to literature. If you like what you hear, drop by every Friday to hear the latest episode. Alternately, subscribe to the show by RSS to have your computer download new episodes automatically as they're released. To do this just select "Subscribe to Podcast" from the Advanced file menu in iTunes and provide the url http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica when prompted. [standalone mp3 download]

A Plunge from the Cliff

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 09:00:00 +0800

Given the recent death of Edward's solicitor and the mysterious disappearance of his wife, it seemed natural to suspect foul play in the millionaire's own untimely passing. But who could the culprit be? There were but five people on the island at the time of his death, and every one had an ironclad alibi, having gathered to dine not only with each other at the time of the murder, but with none other than Detective Wentworth Summers, the most reputable sleuth in all of Scotland Yard.

Learning Chinese? Today we take a break from verb conjugation drills to present a murder mystery that piles up the bodies faster than Greek Tragedy, all the while operating under conditions of voice recording austerity that would satisfy even the International Monetary Fund. So take a listen, and see if you can guess the solution to our mystery before all is revealed. And let us know what you think in the comments section too: we like that.

The Movie Store

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 09:00:00 +0800

Could the police crackdowns and online competition really be having such a deleterious effect on Shanghai's leading film shop? Whatever the cause, it was clear the quality of the merchandise at Movie World was regressing. As recently as the Shanghai Expo the store had managed to keep the latest releases consistently in stock. But now the shelves would stay empty for days on end, while the clerks showed almost complete indifference to the state of the selection.

Learning Chinese? This elementary Chinese podcast is probably different from any other learning material you've come across before. Instead of coddling you with artificially slow mandarin, at Popup Chinese we feature native-level Chinese spoken exactly the way people speak it in China. Adjusting to real Chinese speech can be a bit tricky when you start, but it also makes for a much faster learning curve. So if you want to learn Chinese and are tired of methods which do not work, give us a listen. And if you have any questions? Feel free to write us anytime by email at service@popupchinese.com.

The Mirror of History: China through the Looking Glass

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 09:00:00 +0800

Sinica is coming out a bit earlier than usual this week: we were lucky enough to catch Jeffrey Wasserstrom this Monday during a well-timed visit to Beijing, and so dragged him into the studio to get his views on the recent elections at Wukan, what is happening in Beijing right now with the CPPCC, and also his more general thoughts on the way people tend to look into China's past when seeking a mirror for its present: what comparisons are actually useful or valid for this current period?

For those unfamiliar with our guest this week, Jeffrey Wasserstrom is a professor of Chinese history at the University of California, Irvine, and the organizing force behind the excellent China blog The China Beat. Jeffrey is also the author of a number of popular books on China, including China’s Brave New World, Global Shanghai: 1850-2010 and China in the 21st Century. We enjoyed our chance to chat with him and hope you enjoy the show too.

Like Sinica? If you'd like to subscribe automatically through iTunes, just select "Subscribe to Podcast" from the Advanced menu and provide the URL: http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica. This will setup your computer to download new episodes of Sinica as soon as they're released. You can also download this show as a standalone mp3 file. And if you run into any trouble on either count, just send us an email at service@popupchinese.com.

Roald Amundsen's Shanghai Diaries

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 09:00:00 +0800

Winter had arrived with unexpected vigor, and from his window overlooking People's Square, Roald could still see the scattered husks of several unfortunate souls who had failed to find shelter. This was the survival of the fittest at work - in Shanghai as in Antarctica - and yet the Norwegian explorer's narrow escape from a similar fate still haunted the man. For despite the high price of rental properties in Shanghai, his current accommodations were still inadequate for the coming chill, and his nerves persisted despite his landlord's repeated pledges to weatherize the compound.

Learning Chinese? This is an advanced mandarin lesson featuring a lengthy Chinese diary from one of the lesser known Amundsen expeditions to Southern China, and capped-off by a discussion of something you won't hear about anywhere else: the traditional Chinese solar calendar, knowledge of which will allow you to come across as suffocatingly knowledgeable about Chinese culture at your next cocktail party.

What happened to my credit card?

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 09:00:00 +0800

We're not suggesting that the Lido hotel is evil in the same way as the Overlook from the Shining, but be informed that at least one of the bank machines in there is on the fritz, and withdrawing cash may involve a longer wait than is customary, with the exact length depending on how many technicians are needed to pry off the faceplate of the machine and dive into its innards in search of your American Express card.

Learning Chinese? This is a pretty basic lesson all about various cards (bank cards, credit cards, telephone cards) and the various things they can get up to with and without your permission. This lesson is suitable for anyone with less than two months of Chinese study, and will cover some useful vocabulary and sentences for daily life in China. We hope you like it, and please let us know if you have any feedback or suggestions in the comments section below.

China in the World

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 09:00:00 +0800

This week on Sinica, your hosts Kaiser Kuo and Jeremy Goldkorn are pleased to welcome Geremie R Barmé, the well-known Chinese historian, author, filmmaker and translator, and the Director of the Australian Centre on China in the World at the Australian National University in Canberra.

And the topic for debate? Today we take a break from our usual focus on current affairs for a more wide-ranging discussion that starts with the history and constant reinvention of Hangzhou's West Lake, and moves on to the Chinese penchant for top-ten lists, the lingering importance of Southern Song general Yue Fei to Chinese patriots, and the perennial issue of history's grip on the Chinese psyche and its role in determining China's place in the modern world. We hope you enjoy the show half as much as we enjoyed recording it. Be sure to let us know whether you agree or disagree with our opinions in the comments section as well.

Enjoy Sinica? Stay up-to-date on all things China by subscribing to the Sinica show through iTunes. The easiest way to do this is to select "Subscribe to Podcast" from the Advanced file menu in iTunes, and provide the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica when prompted. You'll be able to download new episodes automatically as soon as they're released. Note that this podcast is also available as a standalone mp3 file.

Father, why must you dress up like this every Wednesday?

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 09:00:00 +0800

A comedy-mystery-thriller laced with father-son conflict and a subplot involving the Transportation Security Administration, "Father, why must you dress up like this every Wednesday" is a masterpiece of contemporary drama that defies categorization while calling attention to the all too human costs of airport security theater.

Learning Chinese? Our dialogue today is about as fast as they get at the Elementary level. Our focus is on how to tell others to mind their own business using one of a number of common and fairly short phrases. We cover a variety of polite and not-so-polite ways of doing this, and we'll admit that two of our selections are ultimately a bit vulgar. That said, they're worth knowing about, if only to understand the recent upsurge in Chinese Internet ornithography.

Journey to the West

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 09:00:00 +0800

This week on Sinica, Kaiser Kuo and Jeremy Goldkorn are pleased to host Ed Wong from the New York Times along with Adrienne Mong who you've seen on NBC News. First up is Xi Jinping's recent visit to the United States, and a closer look at the personal and political background of the man who will be King. Also on our roster is a discussion of the state of development across Southeast Asia, and of course Eric Li's controversial editorial in the New York Times last week, which seemed to argue for the superiority of the Chinese political system over Western democratic models.

Enjoy Sinica? If you want to subscribe to the show via RSS, just open iTunes and select the option "Subscribe to Podcast" from the Advanced file menu. When prompted, provide the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica. Alternately, you're welcome to download the show as always as a standalone MP3 file, free to play as you wish or pass along to a friend. And let us know what you think in the comments section below.

Let the Bullets Fly

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 09:00:00 +0800

In our inaugural episode of the Popup Chinese movie show, opinions split over Let the Bullets Fly, the Chinese western directed by Jiang Wen and starring train-robbing, gun-shooting and horse-riding versions of himself and Chow Yun-Fat. This is the film that broke the Chinese box-office record shortly after its release, but considering that its competition that year included possibly the worst Chinese film ever made, we thought it about time for a discussion of whether the film is actually any good.

Learning Chinese? We're pitching this show at the intermediate to upper-intermediate level and aiming for a discussion that splits half-and-half between English and Chinese. The English is there to help weaker listeners follow the discussion, but there is a lot of Chinese-only material here too, especially as the show goes on. And if you're having trouble following it? We've added a vocabulary list with some of the more difficult words, along with a number of sample sentences to illustrate usage.

The Next Generation

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 09:00:00 +0800

Liu laid the device on the table to the confusion of the assembled crowd. It seemed to be nothing so much as a strange evolutionary variant of the mobile phone, perhaps half the size of a normal wallet, although illustrating the same folding mechanism. Gone was the touch screen and sleek glass cover, replaced with an industrial keyboard that folded into the casing. And there didn't seem to be anywhere to scrawl Chinese input.

Back in the 1990s, McDonalds used to bear the brunt of public riots here in Beijing. Apparently the new kid on the block is Apple, although the crowds these days are less pissed off about American culture forcing its way into China, and more irritated that it isn't forcing its way into the country fast enough to keep up with demand. Which means that if you really want the latest stuff, you have to have either special connections or an Internet connection.

Middle-Child Syndrome

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 09:00:00 +0800

Until the age of five, Simon had never known misery, his life being a series of happy discoveries, as the young boy discovered in turn the pleasures of self-locomotion, the power of speech, and eventually the joy of socializing with a group of well-adjusted peers in the local kindergarten. And yet these good times were not to last, as events beyond his control conspired to end this idyllic period of this life.

Learning Chinese? Our Chinese podcast today is for absolute beginners to mandarin. In it we cover some useful words and phrases for talking to children, and learn the basics of how to make simple sentences using adjectives. By the end of this ten minute show, you'll also know how to use simple possessives to say that something is yours, or his, or hers.

The Satellite Conspiracy

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 09:00:00 +0800

Although his vision was still clouded by the drugs in his system, James had enough sense to know he was in a scientific laboratory of sorts, or perhaps a telecommunications center. The distinct hum of an industrial-grade ventilation system and lack of any natural light suggested a deep subterranean lair or perhaps military-grade bunker. Yet it was not until his head began to clear and the room came into focus that the true peril of his situation became menacingly clear.

The Allure of the Southwest

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 09:00:00 +0800

This week on Sinica, Kaiser Kuo and Jeremy Goldkorn take a closer look at the beautiful city of Chongqing with a forthright discussion that delves into the myriad attractions of this beautiful and occasionally mysterious Chinese city, famous recently not only for its spicy cuisine and panda reserves, but now also as a leading destination for vacation-style medical treatment among the mainland elite.

Beyond this standard tourist fare, we're also pleased this week to host Jeremiah Jenne of Granite Studio renown, who shares his thoughts on the openly racist Super Bowl advert which has been stirring controversy in the United States and a sort of mystified astonishment from most foreigners in China. We're also privileged to hear from Stephanie Kleine-Ahlbrandt of the International Crisis Group, who joins us with an audio postcard to share her expertise on what China's recent veto in the Syria question means in terms of its relations with other members of the Security Council.

Enjoy Sinica? While you can always download this show as a standalone mp3 file, don't forget you can subscribe via iTunes as well. Just select "Subscribe to Podcast" from the advanced file menu and provide the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica when prompted. iTunes should take care of everything else.

Reading Passage Exercise #4

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 09:00:00 +0800

Our sample HSK tests here on Popup Chinese all consist of fifteen questions that measure your knowledge of the exact grammar and vocabulary points on which you will be tested for the real exam. Your challenge in this sample HSK test is to fill-in-the-blanks with the only word which makes contextual sense. Once you're done this exercise, you can find the rest of our HSK tests through our online HSK test center. Good luck!

The Great Wall of Music

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 09:00:00 +0800

We're developing a conspiracy theory that the Great Wall was really designed to act as a two-way non-permeable culture membrane. Because while it manages to keep an enormous amount of foreign music from getting into China, it also tends to trap what little amount trickles in, amplifying seemingly random musicians into Asian megastars and ricocheting their work around the country until it pervades everything from banking telephone hotlines to railways to practically every handheld device with an audio-out function.

Listening Exercise #2

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 09:00:00 +0800

Today we are pleased to present another HSK listening test for students preparing for China's official test of mandarin proficiency. These questions lie at the more difficult end of the spectrum for the this level. If you have no difficulty with this material challenge yourself and consider testing for a higher grade. You can find more difficult materials and many more sample tests in our HSK test center, along with official wordlists and other HSK study materials.

Running Dogs and Locusts

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:00:00 +0800

Ongoing tension between Hong Kong and mainland citizens erupted into open flames on February 1 when a Hong Kong group raised more than HKD 100,000 to publish a full-page anti-China advertisement in the Apple Daily comparing mainlanders to parasitic locusts and calling for curtailment of benefits enjoyed by Chinese visitors to the Special Administrative Region. The ad was the latest move in an increasingly acrimonious spat that shows no sign of letting up.

Joining Kaiser Kuo this week are Sinica co-host Jeremy Goldkorn, Mary Kay Magistad of Public Radio International, and the ever-stalwart Gady Epstein. We're also pleased to have Evan Osnos for joining in for discussion of how China has figured into the U.S. presidential race, a surprise appearance that leads to the sort of award-winning podcasting that can only happen when you put the China correspondents for the New Yorker (Evan) and Economist (Gady) together in the same room.

Enjoy Sinica? If you're looking for a less browser-centric way of enjoying the show, why not subscribe via RSS? Just click on "Subscribe to Podcast" in the Advanced file menu in iTunes and provide the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica when prompted. We also welcome everyone to download this show as a standalone mp3 file if you're more old-fashioned about this sort of thing.

The Beijing Accent and Standard Mandarin

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 09:00:00 +0800

It's probably the biggest source of misinformation out there about the Chinese language, so today Echo and David take to our studio to chat about what exactly constitutes the difference between standard mandarin and the Beijing dialect. If you're totally new to Chinese, you can use this show to practice some key words in a way that will help you come across like a native speaker. And if you're a more advanced beginner, we also have some real Beijing slang in here we encourage you to throw into conversation to bewilder and amaze your landlords, friends and neighbors.

Learning Chinese? Our podcast today is designed for absolute beginners to the Chinese language. What that means here at Popup Chinese is that even if you don't know any Chinese, you should find most of the materials covered totally accessible. We keep our discussion to high-frequency vocabulary, practice using words and phrases that you're actually going to use, and don't get into overly-complicated explanations that distract from having you talking in Chinese right away. So take a listen, and if you like what you hear, be sure to signup for a free account for much, much more.

Epilogue to A Scanner Darkly

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 09:00:00 +0800

Today we take a break from showcasing Chinese literature to feature the epilogue from the Chinese translation of Philip K. Dick's well-known short novel, A Scanner Darkly. As fans of PKD, we found the full translations to a number of his books buried in the foreign literature section of the Xinhua bookstore at Xidan and thought it might be worthwhile highlighting a passage as an example of a fairly straightforward English to Chinese translation.

On a related note, reading foreign literature in translation is an excellent strategy for making rapid progress towards communicative fluency, partly because Chinese translators tend to render complex phrasings into more commonplace expressions, and partly because native works often embrace obscurity in service to literary style. For someone working to master functional Chinese, reading foreign books in translation can be a good strategy for accelerating your exposure to the most high-frequency language you can really use: you'll spend less time consulting the dictionary and perhaps enjoying the writing more as well.

A Matter of Food Security

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 09:00:00 +0800

It felt as though the household was passing through some horrible wartime rationing. Once a daily luxury, the mid-afternoon milking had become at first irregular before fading to an almost complete absence. Conferring on the crisis from the comfort of the third floor sun deck, Edmund and Susan decided that the time had passed for inaction. If they were not to live at the mercy of others for their basic food security, it would be necessary to root out their own reserves, however problematic that might be without opposable thumbs.

Learning Chinese? Our elementary Chinese lesson for today covers the most native way Chinese people ask exasperated rhetorical questions, so that you can sound as world-weary as everyone else. Also in the mix: how to complain about Beijing's air quality and traffic problems and a cultural note on why no-one has their phones stolen in China. So if you're learning Chinese or just learning to get by in China, listen to our show and let us know what you think in the comments section below.

A Perversion of Justice

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 09:00:00 +0800

It had been particularly dark that evening, which lent some credence to the claims of the parking lot attendants not to have seen the actual killing. But while the evidence against the main suspect was admittedly circumstantial, the drive to secure a conviction was shared at all levels of government, with it being quite clear to those in power that whoever killed Andrei Prodan had not only an uncommon viciousness, but a fundamental disregard for the institutions of public governance itself.

The Elections in Taiwan

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 09:00:00 +0800

If your impression of Taiwanese politics has been dominated by the island's recurring stories of vote-buying and parliamentary brawls, you'll probably be shocked to hear what Mary Kay Magistad has to say about her recent trip to cover last week's elections on the island, in which Ma Ying-jeou of the Kuomingtang Party was re-elected to a second term in a surprisingly sedate process.

Trying to keep up with what's going on in China? Today Kaiser Kuo and Jeremy Goldkorn are joined by Mary Kay Magistad for a closer look at the political situation in Taiwan as well as a more general discussion about what it implies for the prospects for democratization in other countries where people also happen to speak mandarin. Also up for discussion are the latest trends in Chinese Internet and mobile usage, and of course a special list of holiday recommendations along with our best wishes for the upcoming Spring Festival. So regardless of whether you're off work, join us for our last show in the Year of the Rabbit. We hope you enjoy it.

Like Sinica and want more? An easy way to download all of the Sinica shows is to subscribe to our RSS feed via iTunes. To do this, simply open iTunes and pick the option "Subscribe to Podcast" from the Advanced file menu and provide the URL "http://popupchinese.com/custom/feeds/sinica" when prompted. If you'd just like to download this single episode as a standalone mp3 file and play it manually, you're more than welcome to do that as well.

The Ultimatum

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 09:00:00 +0800

The sales report was taking longer than Xiao Hong expected, which was surprising considering that sales were down two hundred percent in the quarter and there wasn't actually that much to write-up. Yet the document weighed on his mind, clouding his mid-morning QQ chats and distracting him during his pre-lunch sales meeting. Fortunately, the prospect of lunch with an old friend promised at least a brief respite from the dark clouds of work left undone.

Learning Chinese? The stark terror the Chinese labor force seems to install in workers abroad is lost on us, if only because our limited experience suggests that not a terrible amount of work gets done in large Chinese organizations and nepotism rather than meritocracy is the overarching organizational principle. That said, in the event you've hired someone like this or are underpaid for the work you do, you should find this podcast useful: it's all about giving ultimatums in Chinese.

Impressions of Sichuan

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 09:00:00 +0800

Our collective vote for the most incomprehensible Chinese we've ever heard still goes to whatever that farmer selling miniature Terracotta statues was speaking the day we stopped by Qin Shihuang's tomb in Xi'an. And compared to that, the Sichuanese accent is delightful and funny and amazingly comprehensible. And it's actually so very *almost* mandarin that - had history turned but slightly differently in 1955 - we would all be speaking it today.

Learning Chinese? Our advanced shows at Popup Chinese are entirely in native level Chinese. So you should be fluent at communicative Chinese if you hope to make much sense of them. And our show this time is all about the Sichuanese accent. We had a good time recording this show, so if you're looking to pass yourself off as a southwesterner or just want to pick up some Sichuanese slang to impress or confuse the relatives, take a listen. We hope you enjoy the show.

Year End Roundup

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 09:00:00 +0800

It was the year of the housing market (up then down), Ai Weiwei's imprisonment, Wukan, the Wenzhou train crash, air pollution, gutter oil, tainted milk, clenbuterol, China bulls and bears, government transparency, the soaring price of Maotai, Guo Meimei sticking it to the Red Cross, drinking and driving crackdowns, the sixth plenary session, Weibo and the real name system, Shenzhou 8 and Chinese space exploration, the 100th anniversary of the Xinhai revolution, SARFT declaration of war on vulgar culture, Yue Yue and Good/Bad Samaritan laws, the anti-child tracking campaign, the nationwide abuse of tablesalt, a Chinese upset at the French Open, Steve Jobs and Pan Shiyi, and more school bus accidents than we can count.

Today on Sinica hosts Kaiser Kuo and Jeremy Goldkorn take a closer look at the year that was as seen through some of the top ten lists circulating on the Internet. What do we all agree were the top news stories of the past year? How do Chinese and foreign accounts differ, and what stories have slipped through the cracks? Joining Kaiser and Jeremy as we work through the last year are two Sinica regulars: Will Moss of Imagethief fame and Josh Chin of the Wall Street Journal. So check out the show and we hope you enjoy it.

Want more Sinica? Manually downloading our entire Sinica archive is admittedly not for the faint at heart by now. Which is where RSS and iTunes can come in. If you want to subscribe to Sinica and have your computer download all of our shows, including new ones as they're released, just open iTunes and select "Subscribe to Podcast" from the Advanced menu. Provide the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica and you'll be set. And if you have any problems, leave us a comment or send us an email at service@popuchinese.com.

Hate iTunes? You can also download this show as a standalone MP3 file.

A Trip to the Gym

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 09:00:00 +0800

Surrounded by an objectively unpleasant mass of grunting, sweating fleshcakes, Hank's body resented his mind for its foolish attempt to impose such Spartan discipline on them both. And to have the gall to disguise it as self-improvement? Gone indeed were the halcyon days of 2011 with its late nights at the pub and mid-morning breakfasts, replaced with this daily hell of early-morning suffering and pain.

Learning Chinese? Even if you're as generally slothful as some of us you'll still be able to get quite a bit out of this mandarin lesson for absolute beginners to the Chinese language. The reason is that while our dialogue centers around generally athletic behavior, what we focus on linguistically is talking about taking turns, and this is remarkably useful language regardless of whether you're pushing your body to the limits at a health club, or just buying another round of drinks for some friends.

Horrors of the Chinese Rail System

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 09:00:00 +0800

Now that Chinese New Years is barreling down on us like a t-shirt salesperson at the Great Wall, the thoughts of pretty much everyone throughout China are turning to the obvious question of the holidays: how on earth to get home. If you've ever experienced traveling during what the locals euphemistically refer to as the "Golden Week", you'll know what this involves. And if you've been lucky enough to avoid the spectacle, let our Chinese podcast for today provide the horrifying illumination.

Learning Chinese? Our Chinese podcast for today isn't a lesson so much as a discussion aimed to provide advanced conversational listening practice. In the studio with Echo today are Gao and Tan, two younger actors on the Beijing scene who face the unpleasant prospect of figuring out how to get home. At least they're not from Xinjiang.

Comrades in Space

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 09:00:00 +0800

The Captain grew reflective as earth loomed out the starboard window. His crew would be pleased with their extended shore leave, but the inner planets were far too crowded for his tastes. Although the first few days off-ship were always refreshing, after that he would miss the constant adventures and brotherly camaraderie that had made his time in space so professionally and personally fulfilling. Years traversing the galaxy would do that to a man, he thought. In time you could come to feel free only in uniform.

Learning Chinese? In addition to a Chinese dialogue infused with space-faring camaraderie, we've also filled this podcast with some of the most underrated adjectives you'll need to know in China. Because while you may be able to express joy and delight by this point, what about frustration, angst, blame and resentment? All these emotions and more are yours for the listening. So take a listen, and we hope you enjoy the show.

The Fleet Street Murders

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 09:00:00 +0800

Fleet Street had embraced the killings with the unbridled enthusiasm of the British press, pouring rivers of ink into outraged editorials denouncing the demise of traditional values and calling for the heads of practically the entire city council. The authorities responded with the imposition of a strict curfew, yet seemed powerless to arrest London's downward spiral. Practically every dawn brought new rumors of death and dismemberment, and breathless reporting on the discovery of yet another dessicated victim.

In the midst of this surreal spectacle, Michael found his life acquiring a strangely dreamlike irreality, so much so that even the forced cheer of his two flatmates could hardly shake his suspicions that something was terribly amiss. And if his days were as a dream, his nights were worse, as he lay in a sleep haunted by visages of horrible and unspeakable violence.

The Wukan Uprising

Sat, 31 Dec 2011 09:00:00 +0800

For the last few days, international attention has focused on the small fishing town of Wukan in southern China where villagers are in open revolt. Simmering tensions caused by corruption and illegal land sales have escalated into an armed uprising by locals against security forces and local government, both of which have been driven into at least temporary exile.

Starting with the question of what exactly is happening down south, our conversation on Sinica this week eventually turns to a more general discussion of how China's liberal intelligentsia seems to be grappling with the idea of reform: whether it is possible and what it might look like if it ever arrives? Joining Kaiser Kuo and Jeremy Goldkorn for this discussion are Charlie Custer of the excellent translation blog China Geeks as well as Ed Wong of the New York Times. We're also delighted to have the stalwart Gady Epstein back with us, now in his new role as China correspondent for The Economist.

Please note: we ran into unexpectedly severe technical problems recording this show. Heavy editing has cleaned up the worst of the mess, but there are still noticeable problems. Our apologies in advance for the reduced audio quality, and we hope you still find the show reasonably coherent and listenable.

Writing Exercise #5

Wed, 28 Dec 2011 09:00:00 +0800

There are certain segments of the Chinese population whose terminal detention have led them to complain to fellow inmates that the Chinese government doesn't have a sense of humor. We believe this is not strictly true, since it's the people in the Chinese government rather than the institution itself who lack the introspection necessary for self-deprecation. Or that is the message we're taking from the hysterical fits the Chinese Internet seems to be throwing our way each time we try to view Monday's lesson which makes the mistake of praising Fearless Leader 6.0 for being less robotic than version 5.0.

In any event, while we'll be back with more podcasts soon, at least for today we're taking a break from thumbing our nose at authority by pushing out another HSK test. If you're interested in measuring your official level of Chinese proficiency, consider taking this and all of our other HSK tests. And if you have any questions about the test itself, feel free to ask below, or drop a note in our community forum. And good luck.

A Trip to the Orphanage

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 09:00:00 +0800

The Shaanxi orphanage was not where Xi Jinping had hoped to spend his weekend, but a western pilgrimage was an easy way to shore up support among the Party's left-leaning student faction and consolidate his lead as front-runner for replacing Hu Jintao as Party Chairman in 2012. Nonetheless, as the children bustled into the room screaming and yelling, one of the most powerful men on the Politburo couldn't help but think back to his last vacation in Tahiti, with its endless beaches, seaside tranquility and... well... lack of children.

Learning Chinese? If you're new to Popup Chinese be sure to signup for a free account to get immediate access to our massive archive of Chinese audio lessons just like this one. In this lesson we focus on the emotional differences between two popular ways of asking questions. Most textbooks don't cover this sort of emotional subtext, but knowing it is fundamental to really being able to communicate natively in mandarin. So enjoy the podcast, and let us know anytime if you have any comments or suggestions.

The Revolutionary Breakthrough

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 09:00:00 +0800

In real life, we suspect this Hollywood conversation would have a lot less breathless talk about "revolutionary breakthroughs" and a lot more apologetic mumbling about how "it seemed like a good idea at the time" and "is there any way we can avoid getting the Feds involved?" Not that we'd necessarily do anything differently to be perfectly frank, because what use are close friends and family if they're not going to be supportive about personal development goals and/or hostile to science?

Learning Chinese? Film Friday is our regular film guessing game at Popup Chinese. Join us each episode as we play a clip from a famous Hollywood movie that's been dubbed into mandarin, and then cover some of the more tricky things in the clip. And if you can guess our mystery film from nothing more than its Chinese soundtrack? Write echo@popupchinese.com for a chance to win a free month of premium access to everything at Popup Chinese. Good luck!

What Year-End Bonus?

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 09:00:00 +0800

There's a story circulating on Weibo that may or may not be apocryphal, but is whipping up resentment and envy among proles like us nationwide. You may have heard it: it's about a secretary in a Chinese investment company who broke down in tears after receiving a six-figure year-end bonus. When news of this hit our office, work stopped for at least a minute, although less out of shock at the excesses of finance and more from our collective inability to rapidly handle currency conversion when dealing with multiples of Chinese 万....

Learning Chinese? In this podcast, Echo takes to the studio with two guests whose voices will be familiar by now if you've listened to a lot of our more intermediate podcasts. And the subject of our discussion is the year-end bonus culture in China. If you're curious about how the numbers add up on the Chinese side, want to know if you're the only one who has been gifted cured pork ("as good as cash"), or just want some insider Popup gossip, take a listen to our advanced Chinese podcast for today.

Cthulhu visits the Wiltshire Bed and Breakfast

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 17:49:21 +0800

The dream had been rich in suffering and in omens of his imminent return: creatures of unspeakable form pooling in the blood-soaked depths, waves of terrible power foaming beneath a darkening midday sun. And through it all the chanting, chanting, chanting of his true name. Over and over the chorus called for his return, for the restoration of his empire and the slaughter of all mankind. And it would soon come to pass, once his sojourn in this quiet British village was complete.

Learning Chinese

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 09:00:00 +0800

Shortly after his arrival in China, the late, great, 19th century Sinologist Robert Hart would write his frustrations in his private diary, confiding that the convoluted phonemes of the Chinese language struck him like nothing so much as "the sounds one would make talking to a horse," and bemoaning his placement in Shanghai, a damnable city far from the Imperial capital where he considered it impossible to pick up mandarin "through one's skin."

Fast forward more than a century and while none of us are running the Chinese government yet, the joys and frustrations of learning the Chinese language are as high and low as they have ever been. Fortunately, we have a new avenue for kvetching in podcast form, which is what Sinica stalwarts Jeremy Goldkorn and David Moser have joined Kaiser to do this week. Also in the studio representing the next generation of Chinese speakers are newcomers Jessica Montesano and Charlie Melvoin, who join us to share their own experiences learning Chinese and talk about what exactly is happening in the States with bilingual education programs.

Like Sinica? If you'd care to have Kaiser and crew show up automatically in your iPod whenever a new episode is published, subscribe to the Sinica show by creating an account on Popup Chinese and visiting the site. Alternately, subscribe manually by selecting the option "Subscribe to Podcast" from the Advanced menu in iTunes and providing the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica when prompted. Those looking to download this show as a standalone mp3 file are also warmly invited to do so. Thanks for listening, and enjoy!

Beijing City Directions

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 09:00:00 +0800

We should have a special show called "Total Request Live" which will be much like MTV's video request show except with less sex and more conversational mandarin. In any event, that's what we're getting today as we're pleased to publish a Chinese lesson on a topic that's been requested by you guys: the basics of asking for directions in Chinese. The mandarin to do this is actually fairly simple, but our dialogue moves quickly so we're publishing this at the elementary rather than absolute beginner level.

Note: think we're missing something you've got a burning desire to know? If there's a topic you'd like to see us cover, please let us know either by leaving a suggestion in our comment section below, or reaching out to us by email at service@popupchinese.com. We promise to treat you with more civility than the befuddled tourist in today's podcast.

Asking for Directions

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 09:00:00 +0800

Two days west from Guilin and the riders were all but lost. Despite the effectiveness of China's Imperial road network, which strung together the major cities of the empire and helped ensure the political fealty of the far-flung provinces, nationwide travel was still dangerous. And the maps from the Imperial College in Beijing were nearly worthless too, showing only the general lay of the land and occasional geographic landmark. To find a small town in this maze-like mountainous region the two riders would have to ask for directions town by town....

Learning Chinese? Let us just admit it: the title for today's lesson is a bit tongue in cheek. Because it isn't about asking for directions in anything but the loosest possible sense, and instead focuses on how to communicate an attitude of condescension in mandarin. So listen up and in a short ten minutes we'll arm you with knowledge of how to quietly infuriate speaking partners. And if you have thoughts or feedback, send us an email at service@popupchinese.com anytime.

Chinese Literature

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 09:00:00 +0800

Our podcast this week is all about books and money in modern China. If you like us are tired of Lu Xun and Lao She, listen to Sinica this week as we look into the state of contemporary Chinese literature, asking what writers are hot, what writers are not, and even the more humdrum question of how much authors make these days.

Joining host Jeremy Goldkorn today are three of the most knowledgeable people from Beijing publishing circles. We're delighted to be joined by Jo Lusby, general manager of Penguin books in North Asia, Eric Abrahamsen of the translation consulting company Paper Republic, as well as Alice Liu, managing editor of the newly-launched translation journal Pathlight, which features translations of works from upcoming Chinese novelists including a piece from a name longtime Popup Chinese listeners will recognize.

Like Sinica? If you'd like to subscribe to the show automatically and have your mp3 player download new episodes as soon as they're released, just create an account on Popup Chinese and add the Sinica show to your list of podcasts. Alternately, subscribe manually by selecting "Subscribe to Podcast" from the "Advanced" file menu in iTunes and providing this URL whem prompted: http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica when prompted. Listeners can also download this episode as a standalone mp3 file as always.

Echo's Secret Diary

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 09:00:00 +0800

Discovered in a bundle of personal effects years after Popup Chinese morphed into the world's leading educational-military conglomerate, Echo Yao's secret diary paints a different portrait of the organization's early history than that found in the sanitized corporate histories which would follow. And while the authenticity of this material cannot be verified beyond all doubt, these fragmentary recordings offer historians a fascinating window into working class life in China at the start of the 21st century.

The Soul of Beijing

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 09:00:00 +0800

Today we're pleased to share a special live edition of Sinica recorded last Saturday at Capital-M in Beijing. Held to a standing-room only crowd, we talked all about our ongoing love-hate relationship with Beijing, and asked what on earth is happening to the city that so many of us have known since the 1980s and even earlier. As housing prices and rents soar, hutongs get ripped down and "crazy bad" air becomes the new normal, will Beijing maintain its heart as a cultural capital, or is the city losing itself and our affections?

Filled with stories of pig excrement, SARS babies, and enough Chinese cursing to satiate even the Beijing Profanity Alliance, this show was a pleasure to put on and we were really glad to see everyone who came out. Joining Kaiser Kuo on stage were two Sinica stalwarts: Chinese media export Jeremy Goldkorn and David Moser, jazz pianist and head of the CET Beijing program. We were also thrilled to be joined by Zha Jianying, author of China Pop and Tide Players, and a now-expat Beijinger from New York who admits to being torn between her two homes.

As always, if you'd like to have editions of Sinica stream to your computer automatically as they're released, be sure to subscribe to us using iTunes, following the instructions included with any other podcast. You can also download this podcast as a standalone mp3 file. And if you have any specific feedback or suggestions for future guests or topics you'd like to hear covered, you can send an email directly to Kaiser anytime at sinica@popupchinese.com.

The Deaf Pickpocket Gang

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 09:00:00 +0800

"Enough with this small-scale stuff," Wang Zecun signed. Although the pickpocket gang had been working the railroad station for years, using their heightened observation and non-vocal communication skills to outwit the authorities, the encroachments of the local police were becoming too obvious to ignore. "If they're going to crack down on us like this, we might as well get out of petty crime completely."

The Bears are Back in Town

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 09:00:00 +0800

Falling housing prices, soaring inflation and an export market peering over the brink of what seems a cataclysmic abyss. If you've been following the economic news lately, you can be forgiven for being overwhelmed by the chorus of bearish voices crying out that now - at last - the time has come for the Chinese economy to pay penance for its years of impressive economic growth. Is this really the end of good times?

This week on Sinica, we're delighted to have Arthur Kroeber from Dragonomics and David Pierson from the Los Angeles Times in the studio with Kaiser Kuo. Our conversation starts with the falling real estate market before examining what is really happening on the ground in Wenzhou and with controversial local financing vehicles. If you've been concerned that Chinese economy is sick, this is the podcast that will put your thumb on the pulse of the nation. So crank up those headphones as we bring you another great episode of Sinica.

Enjoy Sinica but want a more convenient way to listen to the show than our flash player on Popup Chinese? Then why not subscribe via iTunes? To have your computer download new episodes as soon as they're released, select "Subscribe to Podcast" from the Advanced file menu, and provide the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica when prompted. And please consider yourself warmly invited to download the podcast as a standalone file as well.

The Popup Cheerleading Squad

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 09:00:00 +0800

We'll admit, our Popup Chinese cheerleaders are probably not what you're expecting. First of all because they're all men in an industry dominated by the other gender. But also because their previous cheering experience consists mostly of mild swearing at the Beijing soccer team and the occasional caustic remark directed at Liu Xiang for selling out to Nike and letting down the hopes and dreams of the Chinese people in 2008.

Nonetheless, when we asked them to lend a hand and show us how to cheer in Chinese, our squad members were more than enthusiastic, and charged into the studio. And then silence, and a puzzled "so what do you want us to say anyway?" And the result was this podcast for absolute beginners to the Chinese language. So download it and listen as we cover the best and very possibly worst ways to cheer for almost anything in mandarin, Chinese.

Chinese Drinking Games

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 09:00:00 +0800

Since there are doubtless schoolchildren reading this, let us paint a picture for you: you've just arrived in China after a series of adventures in Southeast Asia and - hungry after the eight hour cargo flight from Nepal - head out to a local canteen to grab some dinner before heading back to your hotel. You've barely walked in when a small gang of local thugs saunters over to size you up. "A foreigner," the leader smirks, "I guess it's about time to see how much milk your stomach can handle...."

Learning Chinese? It doesn't take much experience socializing with almost anyone in China (but perhaps especially northern China) to realize that basically every social event is an opportunity to put this lesson into practice. Birthdays, weddings, and even official work dinners are opportunities for shared dairy consumption with your fellow Chinese friends and coworkers. In this Chinese podcast, we help you figure out what is going on. Just be careful not to die from excessive lactose consumption.

Occupy Sinica

Fri, 25 Nov 2011 09:00:00 +0800

Earlier this week, the New York Times published an editorial by prominent Chinese academic Yan Xuetong claiming that China would defeat the United States on the grounds of moral superiority. While the American bafflement over this piece has died down with the advent of a national day for mass turkey slaughter, we remain puzzled enough to have invited an unbiased contingent of international journalists to Occupy Sinica and give us the skinny on how the ever-simmering Chinese-American relationship looks from an international perspective.

Joining host Jeremy Goldkorn this week is an roster of journalists you've almost certainly read if you've been reading non-English language coverage of China. We are pleased to welcome Claudia Trevisan, China correspondent for the Brazilian newspaper Or Estado De San Paolo, Badr Benjelloun the Moroccan writer behind the great blog BeijingDaze, and Michael Anti, prolific Chinese blogger, and writer for the Southern Media newspapers.

Want more Sinica? If you're tired of constantly refreshing Popup Chinese to see when a new show is out, subscribe to the Sinica by using our RSS feed: http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica. If you use iTunes, just click on "Subscribe to Podcast" in the advanced menu and provide that URL when prompted. Those looking for a one-off commitment are of course still welcome to download the show directly from our site as a standalone mp3 file.

Opportunity Knocks

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 09:00:00 +0800

Now that our strategic T-shirt reserves are nearly depleted, we're having to stop with the blatant bribery and lean more towards intimidation and suggestion when it comes to making new friends. Occasionally this means implanting a subliminal message in one of our podcasts, such as - say - encouraging those of you with a bit of spare time to go door to door to help spread word.

And on the education front? In addition to covering some useful vocabulary we throw at the kids in our neighborhood whenever they come into sight, our Chinese podcast today covers five critical verbs you can use to describe the act of paying attention to someone or something, or - as is probably more the case - just ignoring them completely. And for bonus points, we'll even teach you the magical phrase you need to tell other people to mind their own business. Life is good.

The Apology, Part V

Mon, 21 Nov 2011 09:00:00 +0800

Written by Socrates' disciple Plato sometime in the decade after his mentor's death, The Apology is one of two surviving accounts of the trial of Socrates on charges of corrupting the youth of Athens. Delving into questions of morality, death and virtue, this speech as written by Plato is notable for Socrates uncompromising insistence on taking the moral highroad even at risk of condemnation and a capital sentence.

In this, our fifth and final installment of a Chinese translation of this famous essay, we read Socrates' reaction to his condemnation and his response on being sentenced to death. As previously though, Socrates is less concerned about the punishment itself than with questions of virtue and the afterlife. If you are new to this essay, we recommend starting from part one. And if you're looking for other Chinese short stories, consult our archive of manually annotated ones: simply put your mouse over any word in any paragraph for an instant popup with contextual definitions and guides to appropriate translation and pronunciation.

Is soft power always this damn boring?

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 09:00:00 +0800

In some ways, the latest deluge of rhetoric from the Party feels timeless. Ever since Mao's famous speech in Yan'an on literature and art in 1942, the CCP has made clear that culture ought to serve politics. But there's also something new about the renewed focus on culture, whether in the resurgent confidence in the Party's top ranks that digital media can be sculpted, or in the amazing willingness of the top-level elite to pour billions into expanding China's global media presence.

This week on Sinica, join host Kaiser Kuo and Sinica regulars Jeremy Goldkorn and David Moser for a wide-ranging discussion about recent changes in the Chinese media landscape. Also in our studio is Adrienne Mong, the Beijing correspondent for NBC News, who joins us with first-hand stories of how China's push for better global press is affecting not only the domestic news but also international perceptions of China, whether through the flood of Chinese journalists who now routinely cover international events, or perhaps through rising Chinese ambitions in the English language news sphere and the increasing challenges foreign journalists have getting credentialed to report the news in China legally.

Enjoy Sinica? There may be some among you who feel life would be easier if Sinica just showed up automatically on your iPhone each week. Well... those of you should consider subscribing to Sinica through RSS. If you use iTunes, you can do this simply by clicking on the "Advanced" file menu and selecting the option "Subscribe to Podcast". When prompted copy the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica into the box. Alternately, you're also welcome to download the show as a standalone mp3 file and share it with others.

Writing Exercise #4

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 09:00:00 +0800

We've had a lighter production schedule for the last two weeks as we've put more work into getting the next version of Popup Chinese ready. We have a fresh episode of Sinica for release tomorrow and a fresh roster of podcasts scheduled for release starting Monday. But in the meantime, we're pleased to release a sample HSK test at level five on the new exam. The challenge here is to rearrange the words provided into a grammatically correct sentence. We hope you do well, but if you have any questions feel free to leave a note in our comment section.

Get in Line

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 09:00:00 +0800

You know those stories about people lining up for hours at the Mac Store in Palo Alto? Or camping out overnight to get tickets to a movie premiere? Turns out that it doesn't tend to happen in China for a fairly simple reason: waiting in line is still something of a foreign concept in most of the country. We don't know if it's because Chinese people are on average too polite to call out people who cut in line, but as far as many people are concerned, why join the end when you can just gravitate to somewhere down front and eventually push your way in?

Learning Chinese? Our Chinese podcast for today is designed for absolute beginners to the Chinese language. Our podcast centers on a dialogue that is fast but fairly short. Following a quick walk-through, Echo and David go on to talk about how to make forceful suggestions in Chinese, the sort of thing you might find useful the next time someone tries to cut into line ahead of you....

Reading Passage Exercise #4

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 09:00:00 +0800

If you've done any test prep for the older HSK, something will strike you about the reading passages on the new exam: they're fairly easy, or at least easier than they used to be. Whereas the older HSK test encouraged skim-reading longer passages and answering several questions about them at once, the newer test rewards reading different shorter passages more closely, and then answering a single question about each.

Learning Chinese? On this sample HSK test, you'll find twelve questions that test you on the same grammar and vocabulary points tested for on the real exam. As with our other HSK tests, you can either quiz yourself on the materials through our online system, or download the questions (and answers) as part of our regular lesson transcript. And if you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment in our discussion space below. We look forward to hearing from you.

The Unsuccessful Journey

Wed, 09 Nov 2011 22:31:26 +0800

Perhaps you've read Tom Friedman's paean to China's high-speed rail technology? Up until the damn things started smashing into each other, China had a fairly successful history of developing high-speed trains. But you don't hear so much about them these days.

Donald Trump

Mon, 07 Nov 2011 09:00:00 +0800

When Brendan heard Echo and Sylvia were doing this podcast, he affected the motion of someone rolling over in a grave. But his complaints didn't stop the juggernaut that is this podcast, because despite Trump's bearish and often aggressive comments on China, the rest of us consider his show a must-see guilty pleasure, one that has somewhat amazingly survived replication by hordes of reality television programmers in China.

Learning Chinese and new to Popup Chinese? This is an advanced Chinese podcast, so unless you can follow a mandarin-only discussion it is going to be above your level. But if you're an advanced student, and especially if you do business in China or are involved with media take a listen. Our discussion starts with Trump and heads to politics before turning to the dismal state of reality television in China. It's unfeigned, and will give you the inside scoop on what all those Chinese tourists standing outside Trump Tower really know about the man inside.

The Extremes of China Media

Fri, 04 Nov 2011 09:00:00 +0800

It seems to be the consensus among long-time China watchers that the Chinese media has become more radicalized over the last five years, with both online and traditional channels now feeding the public conflicting stories of both reflexive scorn for the status quo or patriotic jingoism. But how radical are things getting? And what are the limits to how much further they can go, or will be allowed to go on either side?

This week on Sinica we look at two of the extremes. First up a discussion between Jeremy Goldkorn and Brook Larmer, whose recent essay on Chinese Internet humor for the New York Times looked not only at what is being said online but who is saying it and why. And then we look the other way, talking with journalist Christina Larson and Sinica-stalwart David Moser about the Global Times, a commercial newspaper under the auspices of the People's Daily so untempered in its nationalism that many consider the paper a government mouthpiece, with Foreign Policy even comparing the publication to Fox News.

As always, we hope you enjoy the show. If you're still visiting our website manually to check for updates, consider getting notified automatically whenever we release a new episode. You can subscribe through RSS either by signing up for a free account at Popup Chinese, or opening iTunes and selecting the option "Subscribe to Podcast" from the Advanced file menu. Provide the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica when prompted. Those of you who want to continue. The standalone MP3 file for this lesson is right here for those who wish to download it.

The Marriage of True Minds

Mon, 31 Oct 2011 09:00:00 +0800

Now that you're getting married it's time for a short digression. Assuming you're like most people who've clawed their way to some modicum of Chinese competence through traditional language schools, you've likely been taught that 了 indicates past tense and that 过 indicates past tense too. Oddly, an astounding number of people never get past this. We've even run into intermediate and advanced students with a decent feel for mandarin who can't explain the difference between these two simple particles.

So in the spirit of striking a blow for clarity and setting-things-straight-once-and-for-all, this is the lesson where Echo and Brendan wade into the morass of aspectual particles and set things right. So if you've ever been confused by the difference between the two or are just looking for a quick refresher, listen to this free Chinese podcast, and enlightenment will dawn.

Strictly Ballroom

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 20:52:45 +0800

Film Friday returns this afternoon with a longer clip from a Hollywood movie that you've almost certainly seen, but that Echo hadn't by the time we recorded this show. After hearing vague mention of the general theme, she promptly cleared her schedule and declared a Popup film night that evening, and the results did not disappoint. So if you're a film buff take a listen to our show today and see if you can guess our mystery movie from nothing more than a short clip dubbed into Chinese. And if you think you can guess? Enter to win a free month of premium access to Popup Chinese by writing Echo with your answer at echo@popupchinese.com.

Dwarf Net Epoch Park

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 09:00:00 +0800

The containment system had been designed by the greatest minds in the country. Keeping the animals in their pens were twin layers of barbed wire fencing with enough electricity surging through them to stun a herd of elephants. Cognizant of the dangers of reliance on the public grid, the park was powered by an off-grid system with enough reserve battery charge to keep the park operational for a week in the event of national disaster. Practically every potential security weakness had been rigorously guarded against, save for one....

The Art of the Paraphrase

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 09:00:00 +0800

If you've spent much time in traditional Chinese classes, you've likely had that moment of frustration shortly after arriving in China when you realize your textbooks have been lying to you, or at least featuring a more Panglossian form of mandarin than seems to be spoken by anyone you've met. And that not only do Chinese people rarely speak in formal prose, but a disappointingly small number seem to spend weekends climbing the Great Wall or exploring tea plantations.

We feel your pain, which is why our Chinese podcast for today is about a casual way to answer questions that most textbooks ignore, and some even get factually wrong. This is a common pattern you'll hear people use whenever they want to describe where something is or say where they got it. So if you're learning Chinese, spend ten minutes with us today and by the time we're done, we guarantee your mandarin will sound a lot more natural and genuine than the way you've most likely been speaking it before.

The End of the World

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 09:00:00 +0800

Shortly after the tsunamis wiped out the coasts, those inland were blindsided by solar flares, floods, landslides and volcanic eruptions. Within months the sky had blackened and from the pre-crash population only a handful of survivors remained, living mostly in fortified underground bunkers cut off from each other and the outside world. Theirs was a world of terror and crushing loneliness. And this Chinese podcast is their story.

Book Smarts

Tue, 18 Oct 2011 09:00:00 +0800

We know that many of you admire Brendan and Echo for their uncanny ability to make mandarin accessible without reducing it to baby-talk. But what you may not realize is that central to this is a hard-fought policy we created of not letting Brendan discuss Chinese grammar until the Elementary level. And this is more than a matter of keeping things easy: it's a defensive mechanism to prevent our ten minute podcasts from growing into half hour Odysseys which require serious editing work to get useable.

That said, there are times when Brendan is right and we've got to just throw some grammar your way. And this podcast is one of those times, because we want to introduce the continuous aspect: how to describe an action that is ongoing in Chinese. But even if you hate grammar, you should listen in because we'll temper the book smarts with the perfect excuse for getting out of conversation. So take a listen. And if you have any questions or comments? Leave a post in our discussion section, or write us anytime at echo@popupchinese.com.

Drinks with the In-Laws

Mon, 17 Oct 2011 09:00:00 +0800

Mike's relations with Julie's family had been poor for as long as he could remember, but this evening felt different. Perhaps it was the beer, or perhaps it was discovering how much he had in common with her older brother. But regardless of the cause, as the evening and drinks wore on Michael felt as if a weight had been lifted. While he still might not see eye-to-eye with his new family on politics, at least he was starting to feel like less of an outsider.

Learning Chinese? The bad news is that we can't really help you handle your in-laws. Or perhaps we can help you figure out what to call them. And actually being fluent in Chinese might help you handle their deadpan jokes about murdering the foreigner in his sleep. But beyond the basics, you're pretty much on your own. Still... why not take a listen to our latest intermediate Chinese podcast? And be sure to signup for your free account with us if you haven't yet.

Sun Yatsen and the Xinhai Revolution

Thu, 13 Oct 2011 09:00:00 +0800

One hundred years ago this week, local outrage over plans to nationalize provincial railways triggered the Wuchang Uprising, an act of sedition which marked the start of the Xinhai Rebellion and the beginning of the end for China's long-governing Qing court. Setting in motion forces that would establish a short-lived Republic and throw the country into its warlord period, the movement also created an icon of revolutionary authority in the figure of Sun Yatsen, a man whose political legacy remains hotly contested even a century later.

This week on Sinica, Kaiser Kuo hosts China history experts David Moser and Jeremiah Jenne for an in-depth discussion of the legacy of the Xinhai Revolution and Sun Yatsen. If you've listened to Sinica before, you'll remember David Moser as one of Beijing's most versatile academics and Director of the CET immersion program in Beijing. Jeremiah Jenne is another excellent Sinologist: Dean of Chinese Studies at the IES program in Beijing as well as author of the popular China history blog Jottings from the Granite Studio.

Enjoy Sinica? If you'd like to be notified automatically whenever a new episode of Sinica is released, create an account on Popup Chinese and subscribe to the Sinica show in your list of podcasts, or hook yourself up through iTunes using our standalone RSS feed: http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica. Just click on the option "Subscribe to Podcast" in the "Advanced" file menu and provide that URL when prompted. Anyone seeking less commitment is of course still invited to download directly from our site as a standalone mp3 file. Enjoy!

The Famous Detective MacGregor

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 09:00:00 +0800

It doesn't take much exposure to Chinese television to realize CCTV's recipe for juicing the ratings of any show: adding mandarin-speaking foreigners. And while we're always happy to see our compatriots getting paid by the Chinese government for a change, we'll be the first to admit that the mandarin fluency of many of our aspiring Western thespians leaves a considerable amount to be desired, at least in terms of communicating more subtle details as character motivations, emotional sincerity and overarching plot.

Learning Chinese? In this podcast, join our crew as we walk through the climactic scene from a recent CCTV production featuring everyone's favorite mandarin-speaking Scots detective... as heard by its Chinese audience. And once we're finished with that, keep listening as we offer up a quick cheater's guide to a Chinese genre that's equally impenetrable to the rest of the world. Soon you too can impress your friends with eerie foreknowledge about the plots of Chinese television shows you've never seen before and are unlikely to ever see again.

Casual Greetings in Chinese

Sun, 09 Oct 2011 09:00:00 +0800

What do native Chinese speakers say when they greet each other? You may be surprised to learn it isn't the standard "hello" you'll find taught in most textbooks. And that's why we've devoted this podcast to casual greetings in mandarin. So regardless of whether you're just starting to learn Chinese or have been working towards fluency for a while, join us in this Chinese podcast as we cover the language native Chinese speakers actually use when they want to say hello.

Emergency Evacuation

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 09:00:00 +0800

The arrival of the National Guard had done little to turn the tide at Wilmer Creek, where an unrelenting onslaught by the undead had pitched friend against friend, and neighbour against reanimated neighbour in a frenetic battle for control of the town. But even as the military struggled to reassure citizens that the situation was under control, a fresh offensive broke through the downtown blockade and routed the defense forces. It was time to evacuate.

Note: this Chinese podcast is all about prepositions in Chinese. Now since it's a bit hard to make this sort of thing sound sexy all by itself, just imagine yourself on a yacht in the Mediterranean surrounded by twenty or so of the most attractive linguists you can picture, all of whom are desperate for factually accurate information about Chinese grammar. Now picture yourself casually dropping the word "coverb" into this volatile mix and knowing what it means....

CCTV Sports Network

Tue, 04 Oct 2011 09:00:00 +0800

The Chairman of CCTV Sports threw the latest ratings report on his desk with a sense of frustration. Despite the enormous sums CCTV was investing in live sports coverage, none of their events seemed to be resonating with mainstream Chinese audience. And while it was true the domestic sports market was still immature, the lack of any traction among male sports fans was a real problem for the program. Now was clearly the time for a change in approach to the network's sports coverage, but what were the options?

Note: if you're listening to our advanced shows you should already speak relatively fluently and be looking for a challenge, which is why we've pushed today's advanced listening to unprecedented levels of difficulty. More than a native-level conversation, this listening test features rapid-fire mandarin sportscasting that is almost like the real thing, except for... well... we'll let you figure that out. So take a listen, and good luck on the test.

Mid-Autumn Depression

Mon, 03 Oct 2011 09:00:00 +0800

Wang Ziqian contemplated the ceiling from within his cocoon of self-imposed isolation. For the past week our voice actor had remained in his room, substituting regular work for sleep, sleep and more sleep. And the more he withdrew from the world, the stronger his urge to continue doing so. In fact, why not simply spend the rest of his life in bed? Even a week in this seemed by far preferable to leaving the comfort of his room.

Learning Chinese? We'll admit that this is probably the wrong week to have a podcast about inclement weather, given that either nature or the cloud-seeding arm of the Beijing municipal government has given us fantastic weather for the National Day holidays. But no matter! And in addition to complaints about the weather, we're also going to cover a critical grammar point about how to talk about the duration of events in both positive and negative sentences. This is essential knowledge for anyone learning Chinese, so if you're working towards fluency be sure to listen.

The Shanghai Train Accident

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 16:45:11 +0800

At least 284 people were injured on Tuesday when a train in the Shanghai metro smashed into another which had stalled on the tracks. The accident, which threw Shanghai into disarray, came only two months after another near-disastrous incident on the same line, and only three after a disaster on the high-speed bullet line connecting Wenzhou and Hangzhou. Like those early accidents, this one also sparked derisive outbursts from Chinese netizens, who took to their keyboards to ridicule the official characterization of the event as a "minor accident".

This week on Sinica, we're delighted to host Ananth Krishnanin, the China correspondent for The Hindu, who joins our hosts Kaiser Kuo and Jeremy Goldkorn for an in-depth discussion not only of this accident, but also of the general state of Chinese-Indian relations, which are showing strains as evidence rises suggesting the bilateral trade relations are somewhat one-sided. Ananth, Kaiser and Jeremy also discuss the general state of Islam in China, and talk about how the diaspora is developing across the region.

Like Sinica? If you'd like to subscribe to the show and have your computer download new episodes automatically as they're released, just create an account on Popup Chinese and add the Sinica show to your list of preferred podcasts. Alternately, you can subscribe manually by selecting "Subscribe to Podcast" from your "Advanced" file menu in iTunes and providing the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica when prompted. We also encourage listeners to download this episode as a standalone mp3 file directly from our site.

Doctor Himmel's Laboratory

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 09:00:00 +0800

The opening door spilled the children into the musty atmosphere of an underground research laboratory. Myriad scientific tracts with names like "Principles of Rocketry" and "Race for the Atom" filled the shelves, packed tightly between strange tanks and tubes filled with oddly-colored liquids. And yet what caught both of their eyes was something more sinister: an old newspaper spread open on the central worktable, a steel dagger plunged in anger through the dated headline.

Learning Chinese? Mandarin may not have been a critical asset in 1945, but the world is changing and who knows where danger will rear its head next. So if you've already pushed your mandarin to the conversational level, listen to our intermediate Chinese podcast for today, which will get you to the point where you too can thwart renegade threats to international peace and stability, not to mention deal with the more eccentric members of your family.

Impromptu Home Renovation

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 09:00:00 +0800

Hank had spent the morning preparing for their evening dinner party. And while the dining room had definitely improved from his attention, the living room was perhaps slightly the worse for it. For while the odds of one of their guests fatally tripping over the missing floorboard was quite small, it was admittedly greater than zero. Which was why Hank decided it was time for a trip to the hardware store. If he was lucky he could get everything fixed before anyone noticed the four foot gap.

Learning Chinese? Our Chinese podcast for today is designed for absolute beginners to the Chinese language. So even if you've never spoken a word of mandarin before, we know you'll feel comfortable listening to our latest radio show. And by the time you're done? You'll be fluent enough to ward off all those pesky inquiries from friends and family concerned about the hardware bills and all that time you've been spending in the basement.

The Gutter Oil Podcast

Fri, 23 Sep 2011 09:00:00 +0800

"It was really distressing for me to talk to a WHO expert and have him tell me, 'I have no idea where it's safe to buy food here....'" - Sharon LaFraniere.

When Luoyang journalist Li Xiang broke China's latest food scandal last week, exposing the industrial reprocessing and resale of "gutter oil" in a massive operation allegedly concealed by government officials in Henan, the news sparked yet more public outrage over China's food safety record, while triggering what seems to have been brutal retaliation by the producers, who are suspected of ordering the killing of Li earlier this week in what is being treated by the authorities as a murder-robbery.

As awareness has spread that the Chinese government is hoarding organic food for its own consumption, the question of food safety has never been a more sensitive public topic, which is why this week on Sinica we're pleased to welcome Barbara Demick of the Los Angeles Times and Sharon LaFraniere of the New York Times. Both excellent China watchers doing investigative work on China's growing food scandals, Barbara and Sharon join Sinica regulars Jeremy Goldkorn and Will Moss to bring us the inside scoop on how bad the situation really is and why food safety is so difficult for China to get right.

Enjoy the Sinica podcast? If you'd like Kaiser and crew to show up automatically in iTunes whenever a new episode is published, you can subscribe to the show by creating an account on Popup Chinese and selecting Sinica as one of your feeds. Alternately, subscribe manually through iTunes by selecting the option "Subscribe to Podcast" from the Advanced menu and copying the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica into the box when prompted. You are also welcome to download this mp3 directly from Popup Chinese as a standalone mp3 file and share it with friends. Enjoy!

The Dinner Party

Wed, 21 Sep 2011 09:00:00 +0800

Rachael wondered what she could possibly bring as a gift to the dinner party. When her ex-roommate had left the United States several years ago no-one could have predicted that living abroad would change her so completely. Yet now that Sylvia had returned home, her lifestyle and tastes were so different from what they had previously been that even her closest friends like Rachael felt baffled by the transformation. Reflecting on the difficulty of picking gifts for an enigma, Rachael decided that the safest gift was probably a simple bottle of wine.

Learning Chinese? The first thing you'll realize about our intermediate Chinese podcast for today is that it features one of the longest dialogues we've done at this level. That said, while the conversation is fast and moves quickly, it's otherwise fairly representative of the difficulty level you'll find at in our intermediate Chinese lessons. So if you're new to Popup Chinese and have a year or two of mandarin under your belt check this out and see how much you understand. And if it's too easy or too difficult for you, just visit our Chinese lesson archive and find something more your level.

Running with Scissors

Mon, 19 Sep 2011 09:00:00 +0800

Zoe bit her lip and watched the clock. It had now been forty minutes since her boyfriend disappeared uptown to fetch art supplies, and with him stuck in traffic on the way back each minute that passed was progressively unbearable. As the minute hand swept past the four o'clock mark, she realized it was now less than an hour before the courier would stop accepting overnight shipments. And with a giant stack of paper that still required swift cutting before she could send off her art project, time was of the absolute essence....

North Korea: open for business?

Fri, 16 Sep 2011 09:00:00 +0800

As the guillotine of debt contagion hangs over Europe, financial pressures in Asia have led an unexpected player to make a strategic shift. After months of escalating tensions with South Korea have shuttered its opportunities for expanded trade southwards, Pyongyang has turned north, launching several high profile initiatives to secure Chinese and Russian participation in new trade and investment schemes, and firm up the two countries' support for Kim Jong Il's succession plans.

With Pyongyang fast-tracking these projects at the highest levels, it's now a serious question whether this marks the beginning of the end for North Korea's economic isolation and a major step towards the creation of a transnational northeast shipping hub with the potential to rival the export power of the Yangtze delta region. Joining host Jeremy Goldkorn to talk about what this means for China watchers are three of the smartest observers of the East Asian security situation today: Edward Wong from the New York Times, Alexa Olesen from the Associated Press and Stephanie Kleine-Ahlbrandt from the International Crisis Group. With all three fresh back from a fact-finding mission to North Korea, join us on Sinica today for some candid discussion about what is happening on the ground, along with some scintillating gossip on the latest tourist for the Wenzhou investment class: luxury boat cruises along the North Korean coast.

Like Sinica? One of the best ways to enjoy Kaiser Kuo and company each week is to setup your com- puter to download new episodes as they are released. To do this, just create an account on Popup Chinese and customize your feed settings to include the Sinica show. Alternately, you can select the option "Subscribe to Podcast" from the Advanced menu in iTunes, and give your computer the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica when prompted, or simply download and share this show directly from our site as a standalone mp3 file.

Advanced Chinese Telephone Kungfu

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 09:00:00 +0800

The Henan factory boss remained prone on his office desk when the phone rang, but Stephen nonetheless froze in alarm. It was true the workers on the assembly line rarely disturbed their employer in his private enclave, but a failure to answer a direct internal call would unquestionably attract attention. Which was when the spy realized his original escape plan was doomed, and damned his superiors at Langley for their failure to purchase a discounted group subscription to Popup Chinese.

Note: we're not saying that this Chinese lesson is actively designed to fill a critical gap in Western intelligence training. It's actually a snippet of something we caught in our recording studio. But we do marvel at the lack of practical Chinese lessons elsewhere on how to impersonate chain-smoking middle-aged Chinese capitalists. Because while anyone can talk about their hobbies in mandarin, it's the ability to answer the phone like a power broker that separates the rhetorical men from the boys. Which is why we touch on this today, if only after covering how to say hello on the phone and some other basics.

Seafaring in the Industrial Age

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 09:00:00 +0800

As the merchant clipper sailed north, the leaden gloom that had settled on its crew gave way to levity. With the treacherous passage around Cape Horn complete, the sailors began to speak of their arrival as a fait accompli, driving the cabin boy so positively giddy with anticipation that he begged them to regale him time and time again with stories of the riches that awaited them in Peru. These tales then grew in the telling until the mere sight of a seagull would stir them all to dreams of a wealth beyond imagination.

Looking for a taste of something different? Let us be the first to admit our Chinese podcasts are occasionally somewhat eclectic. And this is among the more eclectic of them, so if you're easily offended please stay away and spare us the lecture. That said, we believe this is genuinely useful material to know, and you're not likely to learn it anywhere else. So if you've already got a fair bit of Chinese under your belt and want to know the language inside out, join us for this Intermediate lesson. You'll be speaking like a sailor in no time.

Innovation in the Chinese Dairy Industry

Thu, 08 Sep 2011 09:00:00 +0800

Longtime listeners to Popup Chinese know that we're big fans of the Chinese dairy industry. As such, in addition to forcing our staff to consume unhealthy amounts of milk and yoghurt on a daily basis, we also promote the industry by coming up with new and interesting uses for traditional dairy products. This podcast has been inspired by one of our more recent inventions, a product which brings respite from the summer heat and moisturizes while it cools.

Want to learn Chinese? This Chinese podcast is designed for students at the elementary level. That means that while we're past the basics, our dialogues and lesson materials are still relatively short and easy to understand. So if you've been studying Chinese for at least six months but less than two years, check this out and see how you do. And if it isn't right, just signup for a free account and visit our Chinese lesson archive to find something more at your level.

Insider Gossip

Tue, 06 Sep 2011 09:00:00 +0800

We stood in the hallway watching 9527 ease her hairpin into our lock. "It's Fujianese design," she said biting her lip in concentration before simultaneously twisting the pin and jerking the lever sideways. There was the brief sound of metal scraping reluctantly against metal and a brief shudder that ran up the door frame before the lock gave way and the door popped open.

We're still not sure if 9527 was talking about her hairpin or our home security, but changed the locks shortly afterwards and no longer consider it accidental that most of the locksmiths in Beijing come from down south. But regardless of where and how 9527 learned that particular skill, let us share this Chinese podcast with you that reveals how deep an impression she has made on her fellow voice actors, most of whom have no idea that she actually has a Chinese name and is not really on the lam.

Writing Exercise #4

Mon, 05 Sep 2011 09:00:00 +0800

Susan viewed the HSK with a curious mixture of loathing and admiration. The test had certainly not been kind to her; it took pleasure in pointing out her grammatical failings and treated errors in Chinese word choice as abominations. Yet it was hard not to admire the exam for its dedication to its mission. For while it was often cruel, its cruelty was a form of kindness, or at least emotionally indifferent assistance to those seeking self-improvement.

Planning on taking the new HSK? Our HSK test for today consists of fifteen questions that measure your knowledge of the exact grammar and vocabulary points on which you will be tested for the real exam. Your challenge here is to click-and-drag these fifteen sentences into proper order. Once you're done this exercise, check our massive HSK test archive, which by now has thousands upon thousands of questions to help you master the test and demonstrate mandarin proficiency.

Standing out from the Crowd

Fri, 02 Sep 2011 09:00:00 +0800

Spent the summer in withdrawal craving more Hollywood films with Chinese soundtracks? Then join us for the latest episode of our Chinese movie guessing game. This week we feature a short clip from a Hollywood film we're sure you've seen. So listen up, and if you think you know our mystery film then write echo@popupchinese.com with your guess for a chance to win a month of free premium access to Popup Chinese.

The Interrogation Room

Wed, 31 Aug 2011 09:00:00 +0800

The world was blue and Stephen floated in it. He could not be sure if he was truly awake or asleep, and it was even possible he was underwater. But why would he be underwater? There seemed to be a dim light somewhere above him which tapered off into darkness below, but it was hard to be certain in this world of translucent color. His sense of direction was lost. And the last thing he could remember was....

And then his vision cleared and reality came rushing back: the months of eavesdropping, the sting operation, and the betrayal that rendered his plan a suicide trap. And now this bleak warehouse, the ache in his left ribs and the look of terror in his partner's face, all the while their captor scrutinized him for consciousness, waiting to finish this grim mission.

Death in the Boardroom

Mon, 29 Aug 2011 09:00:00 +0800

As Susan prepared for her board presentation, the junior saleswoman at Cantor Williams reflected on the irony of her position. Despite the fact that her company specialized in selling downsizing packages to the Fortune 500, she had been saddled on this sales call with a partner who seemed at his most efficient when checking email or making lunch arrangements. Why had Connor been assigned to shadow her, and what possible benefit did the company gain from over-staffing?

Susan had complained about the situation to her manager, but he had simply told her "this is how it works." From their very first day with the firm sales associates were paired together in a process designed to promote solidarity, but which in fact pitted the groups against each other in a winner-take-all competition to climb the corporate ladder and make partner. Susan grimaced at the thought of Connor riding her coattails to the top, yet had to admit the extra pressure was effective at pushing her to the limits of her own ability to perform under pressure.

Zhao Liang and the South-North Water Diversion Project

Fri, 26 Aug 2011 09:00:00 +0800

This week on Sinica: China makes an about-face on Libya, we discuss a recent controversy in Beijing's arts community over independent filmmaker Zhao Liang, and get an on-the-ground update on the state of China's South-North Water Diversion Project: a little-publicized infrastructure effort that already dwarfs the Three Gorges Dam in both its human and environmental impact.

And we're lucky to have an incredible line-up of guests. Joining Kaiser Kuo in our studio this week is Ed Wong from the New York Times, whose recent profile of independent filmmaker Zhao Liang sets the stage for our discussion today. Kathleen McLaughlin from the Global Post is also here, fresh back in Beijing from a trip to Shaanxi to investigate the state of China's plans to redirect southern water to the country's parched north. We are also lucky to be joined by Sinica-stalwart Will Moss of Imagethief fame.

This week's recommendations from the host and guests of the Sinica podcast: Kathleen recommends animal rights charity Animal Asia.

Ed recommends his favorite Zhao Liang films Crime and Punishment (Zuì Yǔ Fá) and Petition (Shàng Fǎng) as well as Jia Zhangke's documentary Still Life (Sǎn Xiá Hǎo Rén).

Will recommends Guardian Asia environment correspondent and former Sinica guest Jonathan Watts' book on environmental impact, policy, and realities in China When A Billion Chinese Jump.

Kaiser "recommends" with caveats Sir Edmund Trelawney Backhouse's China memoir Décadence Mandchoue and recommends sincerely Hugh Trevor-Roper's biography of Edmund Backhouse, The Hermit of Peking.

Finally, for an interesting take on "filming a filmmaker," check out visual journalist Jonah Kessel's account of filming Zhao Liang for Ed's New York Times profile here.

Enjoy Sinica? Get on-the-ground commentary on all things China fresh in your MP3 player each week by signing up for a Popup Chinese account and subscribing to the Sinica show. Alternately, you can also download this show as a standalone MP3 file, or signup manually through iTunes by selecting "Subscribe to Podcast" from the Advanced file menu, and providing the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica when prompted. Enjoy the show, and let us know if you run into any problems.

They came from the sky....

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 09:00:00 +0800

There you'll be, ready to collapse into bed after an exhausting day doing whatever and just when you're about to drift off you'll see the first one get brave enough to buzz down from that hole in the ceiling, or out from behind the power sockets, and sooner than you know there's a group and holy $%#! if the one taking the lead is not the most massive insect you've ever seen airborne and even the dog is unnerved by it and you have a sinking feeling that maybe coming to China was a bad idea, and if the job paid a lot more than staying in Denver now at least you know why.

Hate mosquitoes? As you can tell, our Chinese lesson today is all about the repellent bloodsuckers, perhaps in part because August just happens to be the worst time of the year for them in Beijing thanks to all this humidity. That said, in the spirit of keeping our prejudices educational we also talk a bit about the past tense, and how to describe things that have already happened. If you're learning Chinese this is really useful stuff, so be sure to check out our podcast and let us know what you think.

Writing Exercise #3

Tue, 23 Aug 2011 09:00:00 +0800

Our HSK test for today is treated on the HSK as a writing exercise. In a real exam situation you'll be given a scrambled number of words or phrases and expected to write them into a complete sentence by hand. Since we can't exactly emulate that using the computer, on our system you should simply drag-and-drop the components into the right order. When you get the answer correct the sentence will transform into its final version.

The Chinese Ice Phobia

Mon, 22 Aug 2011 09:00:00 +0800

Any chance you remember that scene from Goldfinger where James Bond is trussed up on the cutting board, and he turns to the villain who then says something about expecting Bond to die in the slowest and most painful way possible? Well... if Goldfinger were a Chinese film we could replace his laser with a glass of iced water and show our villain laughing maniacally from the certain knowledge that Bond's mere proximity to the glass would usher in a fate at least as bad as and quite possibly much worse than death.

What we really mean to say is this: Echo and Brendan are in our studio today, and they both spend a non-trivial amount of time ignoring our dialogue in order to argue about the relative merits of Chinese medical superstitions involving food temperature. That may or may not be your thing, but if you're learning Chinese we think you'll find this lesson useful if only because it features an incredibly common sentence pattern you can use whenever you want to say "whenever". This is the 一/就 pattern and it's one of the most useful sentence structures to know in Chinese. So listen up and be sure to let us know what you think of the show in the discussion section below.

Not in my Backyard

Fri, 19 Aug 2011 09:00:00 +0800

While some Chinese media have flown into high dudgeon over allegations of sun-exposed hamburger buns at McDonalds, powder-based soy milk at KFC, and pork broth made from concentrate at Ajisen, a more grassroots protest gained notice across China when public anxiety in Dalian over safety issues at a local petrochemical plant resulted in what seems to have been spontaneous demonstrations and an apparent capitulation by the new mayor of the coastal city to public demands that authorities move the plant.

This week on Sinica, we're going to talk about both what happened in Dalian this week, as well as an upsurge in truly bizarre scandals getting coverage on CCTV. Kaiser Kuo is joined in our studio by Josh Chin from the Wall Street Journal. We're also privileged to have Christina Larson on hand. Christina is a contributing editor to Foreign Policy and often writes on Chinese environmental issues. She is also just back from Dalian and brings her personal perspective on what is happening on-the-ground there.

Enjoy Sinica? If you want to subscribe via RSS and download the latest shows automatically to your MP3 player, create an account on Popup Chinese and customize your feed settings to include the show. Alternately, open iTunes, select the option "Subscribe to Podcast" from the Advanced menu, and give your computer the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica when prompted. We also welcome you downloading and sharing this show as a standalone mp3 file.

The Shared Apartment

Wed, 17 Aug 2011 09:00:00 +0800

For months after purchasing his condominium, Henry Martin found himself experiencing episodes of almost religious transcendence, as if another universe had brushed up against his reality and somehow distorted it. He felt that time had somehow dissolved and his apartment strangely belonged to another family whose presence could be felt but never seen or otherwise known. The entire episode lasted for weeks, and gave him a profound sense of dislocation, and an unsettling suspicion there was more to life than his five senses could feel or perceive.

Learning Chinese? Our intermediate lesson series at Popup Chinese is designed for students with at least two years of experience at the university level. At this level we accelerate towards native-level fluency with Chinese lessons that feature native-level dialogues around thirty seconds in length. So if you already speak some Chinese and are looking for a way to get even better, listen up and see how you do.

Classified Information

Mon, 15 Aug 2011 09:00:00 +0800

Richard Thorpe eyed the customs officer with suspicion. Although his mission came down from the highest levels of government, he was certain that it would cause a scene regardless if homeland security found an intoxicated and possibly drugged cat in his backpack. As he reached for his passport, the former merchant banker decided to play his trump card.

Learning Chinese? Our lesson for today is a relatively short discussion of the strange behavior of measure words. We all know the basic rules for using measure words: put them in front of countable nouns and try not to mix them up too much. But as we learn today, that's not quite all there is. In fact, there are two situations in which Chinese speakers will commonly drop measure words, even if it's grammatically correct to include them. Listen to our podcast for the juicy details.

The Schadenfreude Podcast

Fri, 12 Aug 2011 09:00:00 +0800

Last week must have felt good for embattled Chinese patriots. Not only did the United States lose its coveted triple-A rating from Standard and Poor's, but months after unrest in the Middle East sparked renewed speculation about political disenfranchisement throughout Asia, riots in London suggest the West may have bigger problems closer to home. And China looks to be sitting quite pretty. Or is it?

This week on Sinica, Kaiser Kuo hosts a discussion of these issues and much more with Jeremy Goldkorn, Chinese media expert and founder of danwei.com. The two are joined in our studios by David Wolf, President of Wolf Group Asia and author of the popular China tech and economics blog Silicon Hutong. Also sharing her expertise is none other than Tania Branigan of the Guardian, who brings her usual erudition to our discussions of recent developments in China's western provinces.

Enjoy Sinica? While you can always download this and other episodes directly from our site, it's much easier to simply create a free account at Popup Chinese. Once you've signed up, you'll have the option of adding Sinica to your list of scheduled shows, and can click a single button to setup your iPod or iPhone to download new episodes automatically as soon as they're released. For those looking to setup iTunes manually, you can subscribe to the show by selecting the "Subscribe to Podcast" option from the Advanced file menu, and providing the url "http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica" when prompted.

Reading Passage Exercise #3

Thu, 11 Aug 2011 09:00:00 +0800

Questions start to get tricky at Level 3 on the New HSK test. In these fifteen questions, considered reading exercises on the new exam, your challenge is to pick the most appropriate missing word for a sentence from a list of four possible options. Making things somewhat easier is the fact that every answer will be used at least once, so you can use deductive reasoning to help narrow the field of possibilities once you've answered a few questions.

Reading Passage Exercise #5

Wed, 10 Aug 2011 09:00:00 +0800

In the turbid depths of Loch Ness, the HSK sloughed off its decades-long slumber and began a slow, reptilian ascent to the surface. The creature had lain dormant for so long it was now only a dim recollection in the minds of the eldest residents. But now the beast had been summoned to pass judgment on the proficiency of a new generation of Chinese speakers. And there would be blood....

Planning to take the HSK test? If you'd like to get a sense of how you'll do on the first level of the new Chinese proficiency test, check out our sample HSK test for today, which will test you on the same grammar and vocabulary points as the real exam.

Murder in the Red Chamber

Mon, 08 Aug 2011 09:00:00 +0800

Of the twelve beauties of Jinling, only six remained. The first deaths had seemed accidental if strangely prophetic. Yet the discovery of the latest victim hanging from a tree in the Grand View Garden had changed everything. And while the murders were grim, who or what malevolent force could be behind them? And what connection - if any - could the killings have to the mysterious family heirloom which had disappeared?

The China Rock Podcast

Sat, 06 Aug 2011 09:00:00 +0800

"Beijing has one of the best music scenes in the world," one of our guests intoned, triggering a brawl that quickly split along Beijing-Shanghai lines. And while we'll admit a case can be made for Shanghai too, there no question China has come a long way since the days attending a mainstream rock show meant seeing either Xu Wei or Cui Jian. These days China has an established concert circuit and you can't hit a local club without running into up-and-coming bands like Bigger Sky, Snapline, or Omnipotent Youth Hotel. Something strange is afoot, and we're going to talk about it.

Joining host Jeremy Goldkorn this week is of course Kaiser Kuo, who non-Sinica listeners may know for his time with the China metal bands Tang Dynasty and Spring and Autumn. Kaiser is joined in our studio by Archie Hamilton, founder of Asian concert promoter Split-Works and Splatter. Michael Pettis, bearish China economist to the rest of the world, is also here in the guise of his alter ego as owner of the D22 club and founder of the Chinese music label Maybe Mars.

Want more Sinica? Like the idea of this on-demand music service that Kaiser keeps talking about but is only available in China? Why not get the best of both worlds by signing up for a free account at Popup Chinese and subscribing to the Sinica show? Follow our instructions and new episodes of Sinica will download to your MP3 player as soon as they're released. Of course, if you're looking for a bit less commitment you're still invited to download the Sinica show directly from our site as a standalone mp3 file. Enjoy!

The Apology, Part IV

Wed, 03 Aug 2011 09:00:00 +0800

Today we continue our annotated Chinese edition of The Apology. In this fourth and penultimate passage from Plato's narration of the trial of his famous mentor, Socrates wraps up his defense before the Athenian assembly and prepares for judgment. After reviewing the evidence presented against him, the famous philosopher turns his attention to the more abstract question of what it means to live a good life, and what obligations man has to the idea of truth itself.

If you're new to Popup Chinese and don't want to start half-way through this essay, be sure to start reading from our first section. In it as with the rest of our Chinese short stories, we have annotated the entire transcript to make it easy for you to read Chinese without the need to constantly look up individual words. Just hover your mouse over any word for an instant popup containing the english definition and pinyin pronunciation of that very word in context. Reading Chinese has never been easier.

A Letter from the Cat

Mon, 01 Aug 2011 09:00:00 +0800

Mildred's relationship with her cat had taken a significant turn for the worse in the past few months, degenerating to the point it had started treating her with open resentment. In recent days the creature would sit on its perch by the window surveying her with a sullen contempt, an attitude that settled into begrudging acquiescence only when she ventured to change its litter or feed it a snack.

It was hard to say when exactly the shift had occurred, but it probably dated to the cessation of her academic leave and the reversal of her and her husband's schedule. Even since March she had been working routinely from her downtown office while Philip spent most of his time at home handling domestic matters and working on his home business. But even if that was the cause of the change, what exactly had triggered it. Feelings of betrayal, or loneliness?

Train Wrecks

Fri, 29 Jul 2011 09:00:00 +0800

After a long and hot July marked by the near-absence of most of our guests, Sinica host Kaiser Kuo is pleased to be back this week leading a discussion of the recent accident on the high-speed Hangzhou-Wenzhou rail line, an accident that has shattered public confidence in the rail system and undermined one of the most public symbols of China's economic and technical resurgence.

And while we don't want to downplay the human tragedy involved, we do have to ask: why all the fuss? After an abortive attempt to quite literally bury the accident, the state has acquisced to an explosion of public indignation over the accident. The outcry has become particularly visible on microblogging site Sina Weibo, and raises the question of why? Is this a sign of a general loosening of propaganda controls, a greater radicalization of the Chinese middle class, or perhaps even an internal power struggle within the arms of the Community Party. This week we consider the evidence for all these interpretations.

Also up for discussion is the question of what will happen to Sina Weibo? Leading away from the rail accident, we ask if China's answer to Twitter has become too big to censor and wonder about the future for the platform. We also take a look at a controversial article by David Sedaris and ask, has the popular humorist lost his sense of humour, or have we?

The Hottest Hotpot in Beijing

Wed, 27 Jul 2011 09:00:00 +0800

Every now and then someone writes us asking for the "hottest hotpot in Beijing", which is actually one of the easiest questions to answer: if you're a glutton for punishment go to Guijie and check out a restaurant called Kong Liang (孔亮). This restaurant is across the street from Little Sheep and its hot broth tastes like nothing so much as molten rock, so if you're looking to impress someone or simply want to end it all, this is your best bet.

And a note of warning... today's Chinese podcast is towards the upper-end of our difficulty spectrum when it comes to elementary lessons. If you're new to Chinese you'll have trouble understanding everything the first time around: our dialogue pushes forward at native speed and has a lot of colloquial expressions. That said, the sentences themselves are fairly short, so once you know what is going on, you should find it easy to follow along.

Reading Passage Exercise #2

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 09:00:00 +0800

Level 5 on the New HSK exam is intended to be equivalent to the intermediate level on the older HSK test. Both tests share the type of challenge presented in these fifteen sample HSK questions. Your challenge is to read a short passage with several missing words and pick the most appropriate word for each entry from several options provided. Your answers must complete the passage in the most sensible fashion possible.

Note: if you are serious about passing level five on the New HSK exam, we strongly recommend pushing yourself through our archive of test materials for the older intermediate HSK exam. Those intermediate level materials are more difficult than the test questions on the new HSK. If you can tackle those questions without any problem you will not have any difficulty with the new exam and may wish to consider pushing yourself to Level 6.

Unlimited Chinese Speaking Practice

Thu, 21 Jul 2011 09:00:00 +0800

As part of our July 2011 newsletter, we'll tell you how to get unlimited practicing speaking Chinese in a bit. But first an update from Kaiser Kuo about the Sinica show, which has spent the last few weeks escaping the summer heat at the beach:

*** A Sinica Update from Kaiser ***

After a bit of a summer hiatus (Jeremy and Gady have been out of town, and I've been swamped at Baidu), Sinica is ready to come roaring back next week. And we're pleased to announce we'll be getting help from a terrific new intern.

Ami Li grew up in Ann Arbor and is one of those blessedly bilingual people who happens to be a China news junkie, so we're lucky to have her helping out with the show. In addition to being the operations coordinator for music production company Split Works (spli-t.com), Ami is a freelance translator who has contributed to pieces published in the New York Times and Global Post. She graduated from Wellesley College.

*** Unlimited Speaking Practice - $100 USD ***

We're trying something new next month: unlimited speaking practice. Starting August 15th, we'll have at least one teacher available fulltime in our Beijing office from 9:00am to 6:00pm to handle one-on-one Skype lessons. You can book a 30 minute session anytime and study whenever you want.

If you're a university subscriber you'll get these unlimited classes *in addition* to your regular lessons. But we're also keeping EIGHT slots open for non-university subscribers, so if you're interested in being part of our shortlist, send us an email ASAP. We'll reply with the details, and will expect you to make a commitment by August 1st if you want to participate. The program will run from August 15th to September 15th, and may continue after that depending on how things work.

We're trying this out because we think it will be far, far superior to traditional classes, and are keeping the program small so we can work out scheduling problems and make sure everyone gets enough one-on-one time. And it should be fun. So if you're interested send us an email at service@popupchinese.com and we'll send you the details.

*** Popup Chinese is Hiring ***

Finally, we wanted to mention that we're looking to hire a native Chinese speaker in Beijing to help us develop some new and more advanced shows starting this September. We want to find someone who is fun, smart and creative. If you know of anyone in Beijing you think would do a good job. Please pass word - we'd love to hear from them.

And that's it.... As always, we've pushed out a lot of great new lessons over the last two months and would be remiss not to thank all of you who have supported our work with a paid subscription, or by telling your friends or reviewing us online. We're coming up to our third anniversary now, and we wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you. So thanks!

Friends in China

Thu, 21 Jul 2011 09:00:00 +0800

Given that Friends was such a popular sitcom in the United States, you probably won't be surprised to hear the show picked up a massive following in China as well. But how much of the show did its Chinese audience really understand? While we're not ready to say that everything got lost in translation, we'll be blunt: when we sent our voice actors into the studio to give us an intermediate dialogue inspired by the show, this is what they came up with....

Learning Chinese? While we normally like beginners, God help you if this is your first Chinese lesson ever. Our dialogue today is good for learning how to greet friends in casual mandarin, and how to make suggestions in a less formal tone than you might be used to, but if you're just getting started you might find the pace a bit fast. And yet there's no need to panic. If this is too fast for you just dig through our archive of easy Chinese lessons for something a bit slower.

The Beijing Ikea

Wed, 20 Jul 2011 09:00:00 +0800

Much like swimming in the surging waters that flushed out the Augean Stables, shopping at IKEA in Beijing means surrendering yourself to divine will and being carried helplessly along in a wave of Chinese shoppers intent on clearing out everything in their path. Sofas, dining sets, mattresses and jigsaw-shaped foam carpets? Nothing stands a chance once the doors of Beijing's furniture behemoth swing open to the milling crowds. And good luck getting home delivery....

Learning Chinese? While we assume you're here because you don't want to sound inarticulate in mandarin, it never hurts to know exactly how to sound inarticulate like a native. And that's why Brendan and Gail take to our studio today to share their own disaster stories about furniture shopping in Beijing, and pass along some tips on how to buy time in Chinese when you're not sure what to say next.

The Apology, Part III

Tue, 19 Jul 2011 09:00:00 +0800

More podcasts soon! In the meantime, we're pleased to present the third part in our manually annotated edition of Plato's Apology. In this section, Socrates concludes his dissection of Meletus, dragging his accuser into a self-evidently contradictory position. And yet his time is running out....

Learning Chinese? Our selection of Chinese short stories are intended for advanced learners looking to immerse themselves in written Chinese. Simply click through to the transcript page and hover your mouse over any Chinese character for a popup showing the contextual pronunciation and meaning of that word. This approach makes it easy to improve by eliminating the need for the constant distraction of putting down the text to consult reference materials. You can find the first page of this short story here.

And remember: if you're a premium subscriber just click on any word to have it automatically added to your private vocabulary list. Adding words to your vocab list will also shuffle them into your daily flashcard routine, making reading these stories a great way to figure out what words you don't know and solving that problem. And if you run into any problems, send us an email anytime at service@popupchinese.com. We look forward to hearing from you.

Reading Passage Exercise #3

Sun, 17 Jul 2011 09:00:00 +0800

There's no need for the swagger. Level four on the new HSK test might be more than halfway up the exam's new difficulty curve, but it only maps to the beginning level on the older test in terms of difficulty. This means it is suitable for students who have done about a year of serious fulltime study of the Chinese language. Anything less and you can expect to have difficulty getting through the material.

If you've already spent some time learning mandarin you should find the test relatively straightforward though. In each of the fifteen practice HSK questions included in this sample exam, our question consist of a sentence which is missing a single word. Your challenge is to pick the only word from the options given which completes the statement in a grammatically sensible way. And you need to do this all fairly quickly. In a real exam environment you would have a maximum of 45 seconds per question.

Captains of Finance

Fri, 15 Jul 2011 09:00:00 +0800

Veronica had been chairing Solomon Brothers' hiring committee for several months, and while she had interviewed countless candidates from the nation's leading schools, none of the recent graduates seemed to possess the killer instinct required in investment banking. And yet today's candidate seemed different. While his attire was certainly unorthodox, his near vivisection of one the downstairs guards suggested a certain ruthlessness that might be useful to the firm.

Learning Chinese? In today's intermediate Chinese podcast, Echo and David talk a bit about the difference between sincere and insincere compliments in China. There are plenty of situations where this will come in useful, and its nice to be able to pick up on the subtle signals Chinese people use to signal approval or disapproval when describing others. So if you're learning Chinese listen in and let us know what you think. And if you have suggestions on other topics we can cover, write anytime at service@popupchinese.com.

Writing Exercise #3

Wed, 13 Jul 2011 09:00:00 +0800

At the third level on the new HSK test, the HSK writing exercises are fairly simple: you will be given a number of words and simple phrases which have been scrambled into nonsense. Your goal is to rearrange these segments into a grammatically complete sentence. You will be asked to demonstrate proficiency with the written Chinese script by writing the complete sentences on the exam paper yourself.

For the most realistic test experience, you should probably print out this exam and try it yourself. That said, if you're looking for a quick test online, just load our online quiz and try to click and drag the words into the proper order. You'll know when you get the answer right, as the individual words will resolve into a complete sentence. So good luck and have fun.

Alternatives to the X-Ray

Tue, 12 Jul 2011 09:00:00 +0800

An older gentleman who began his medical career during the cultural revolution, Doctor Li had been always been slightly suspicious of imaging technology. Which was why the doctor stared at the X-ray with uncertainty. The image seemed to show a hairline fracture running the length of the patient's radius, but who could really be sure? Perhaps it was better to test his hypothesis a bit more directly.

Learning Chinese? Our Chinese podcast for today introduces some critical language involving pleasure and pain. By the end of this podcast you'll be able to tell people where it hurts, and will know some of the simplest sentences you can make in Chinese. And when you're done, click through to our Chinese lesson archive for hundreds upon hundreds of more great lessons that will have you speaking mandarin in no time.

The Apology, Part II

Sun, 10 Jul 2011 09:00:00 +0800

Plato's account of the Trial of Socrates presents a vivid portrait of the ancient Greek Philosopher in his struggle to defend himself against charges of heresy. Our selection today picks up where our first part left off: having explained why his past behavior has stirred such public enmity, Socrates turns his attention to his present accusers Meletus and Anytus and the specific charges on which he has been brought to court.

Learning Chinese? Our selection of annotated short stories in contemporary mandarin are intended for advanced learners who want to immerse themselves in written Chinese. Simply view our stories on the transcript page and hover your mouse over any Chinese character for a popup showing the pronunciation and meaning of that word in context. Our popup explanations make it easy to read native-level Chinese by eliminating the need for constantly looking up words in a dictionary. And they're better than a dictionary since the gloss is contextually accurate.

If you're a premium subscriber to Popup Chinese, you can click on any word on our transcript page to have it automatically added to your private vocabulary list. This will shuffle the word into your daily flashcard routine, and offers a great way to review materials and make sure you don't forget new words. And if you run into any problems, just send us an email at service@popupchinese.com. We look forward to hearing from you.

A Taste of Silicon Valley, China

Fri, 08 Jul 2011 09:00:00 +0800

Robert Lee regretted his trip to California. Although the young Chinese developer was accustomed to the vagaries of doing business in China, he had found his brushes with American capitalism even more frustrating: his meetings had been constantly interrupted, postponed or cancelled, while his counterparts had shown an astonishing lack of knowledge about technology developments in non-American markets.

The experience had spurred his hasty return to Beijing, where the entrepreneur now found himself surveying the high-tech district from the towering windows of Zhongguan Securities. The crowds far below surged through the streets like nothing so much as electricity pulsing through a computer circuit. It was not such a bad place for a tech company to start out, he mused. And with that thought the conference doors opened and Robert turned to meet the team....

Crime and Cryptocurrency

Tue, 05 Jul 2011 09:00:00 +0800

Bring us your tired, your poor, your huddled cryptocurrencies built on artificial hashing algorithms and stochastic probability measures. Bring us your illicit profits from online drug and kidney trades, international money laundering, and late-night poker sessions conducted in furtive retreat from the prying eyes of Internet censors. And long live this entire peer-to-peer thing: we think China could use a lot more of it.

Learning Chinese? Our Chinese podcast for today is an elementary lesson intended for anyone with an interest in digital currencies, or an abiding dislike for particular family members. That said, the content in our podcast is (mostly) true. If you're a bitcoin fan we're happy to share news that you can now use the currency to upgrade your account on Popup Chinese. Send us an email and we'll arrange for your upgrade at the prevailing market rates.

Reading Passage Exercise #2

Mon, 04 Jul 2011 09:00:00 +0800

On level three of the new HSK, reading passage exercises are designed to test your knowledge of basic Chinese grammar. In all of the fifteen questions on this practice HSK exam, your challenge is picking the single word that completes each question and also makes grammatical sense. These questions form a major part of the new HSK at this level, so you should be able to answer them quickly.

The Apology, Part I

Sat, 02 Jul 2011 09:00:00 +0800

Written by Socrates' disciple Plato sometime in the decade after his mentor's death, The Apology is one of two surviving accounts of the trial of Socrates on charges of corrupting the youth of Athens. Delving into questions of morality, death and virtue, the speech is notable for Socrates' uncompromising insistence on taking the moral highroad even at risk of condemnation and a capital sentence.

Learning Chinese? This selection is intended for advanced learners and is unlike our other short stories in being a Chinese translation of a famous Greek work rather than an indigenous Chinese text. It is like our other stories in presenting the fulltext of a noteworthy text annotated with word-by-word popups that show the english and pinyin pronunciation of each word in context when you hover your mouse over them. Our goal is removing the distraction of looking words up so that you can read more Chinese and focus on the story rather than the meaning of individual words.

On a final note, while it takes a great of time to produce these annotated works, we are always looking for ways to improve our annotations to make them clearer. If you have any suggestions on passages you find could use more explanation, please let us know in the comments section below, or by sending us an email at service@popupchinese.com. Likewise, we welcome suggestions on stories and other reading materials to add to our archives.

A Calculated Risk

Thu, 30 Jun 2011 09:00:00 +0800

"You say you've never played before," Gerard struggled to maintain his composure. The date had been going well until that point: he had leveraged possession of South America to seize control of North America. And he had just been poised to cross into Europe when his date placed armies in Kamchatka and moved across the straits, striking a fatal blow to his plans for world domination.

Want to learn Chinese? Our lesson for today is designed for Absolute Beginners to the Chinese language. This means that even if you don't know any mandarin at all, you'll still be able to pick up some of the basics from our podcast and transcript today. So take a listen and check it out, and when you're ready for more signup for a free account and explore our Chinese lesson archive, which has hundreds upon hundreds of more great lessons.

Reading Passage Exercise #5

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 09:00:00 +0800

The HSK test is the official Chinese proficiency exam for measuring your fluency in mandarin. These fifteen questions are reading exercises corresponding to level two on the six-level exam. Your challenge in all cases is to select the word from the options provided which makes the most sense in the context of the question. So good luck, and feel free to write us with any questions at service@popupchinese.com.

An Evening at the Rock and Roll Club

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 09:00:00 +0800

Consider the stock photo accompanying this lesson illustrative of the truly great times we have had partying at several Beijing clubs that are not the Loft nor Maggies and that Oliver Stone has yet to frequent at three o'clock in the morning, at least as far as we know.

You see, Shanghai might be the clubbing capital of China, but Beijing has Rock and Roll, the only place we've ever been that has featured fire-breathing dancers and a choreographed routine involving a massive man-eating snake. Add to this the Titanic videos that still play on loop and the disc jockeys of indeterminate gender, and you've got to admit that the place has its own vibe.

Reading Passage Exercise #4

Mon, 27 Jun 2011 09:00:00 +0800

Level one on the New HSK is the easiest and most accessible level. So if you're not sure whether your Chinese is good enough to take the exam, try this test out and see how you do. In a real exam situation, you'll have around forty-five seconds to answer each of these questions. So good luck, and feel free to ask any questions in the comment section below.

Evolutionary Strategies of Household Pets

Thu, 23 Jun 2011 09:00:00 +0800

When your pet starts rummaging through the knife drawer because it hasn't been fed, it's probably time to get another pet. But what about the warning signs? What other clues do cats and dogs give us that something is off in your relationship, or that they're expecting a bit more attention? This is the critical question we explore in today's lesson for Absolute Beginners to the Chinese language.

And now a warning. Although this lesson is intended for newcomers, if this is your very first time hearing Chinese, you'll probably find the dialogue a bit fast for comfort. So be aware that once we've pushed past our blitzkrieg-paced dialogue things slow down and we cover the material more slowly. But if it's still too fast for you don't panic, because we have plenty more lessons in our archives, so go check those out!

Writing Exercise #2

Wed, 22 Jun 2011 09:00:00 +0800

This HSK test simulates a certain kind of writing exercise you'll find on the New HSK. In these questions, you will be given a list of words or phrases and expected to rewrite them into a proper sentence. And since we can't simulate that online we have the second best thing, a click-and-drag list of words you are expected to rearrange into a proper sentence. When you get the order right you'll know it.

Crash Landing

Tue, 21 Jun 2011 09:00:00 +0800

A crucial trait for any pilot is constant situational awareness, or keeping watch for small problems which might signify larger ones to come. And while James Washburn was an excellent pilot in this regard, nothing in his career could have prepared the seasoned captain for the events which were to unfold this particular evening, on what was otherwise a perfectly routine flight from New York to Boston....

Learning Chinese? We haven't been treating you with kiddie gloves at our Absolute Beginner and Elementary levels, but where we really shine is the Intermediate level, which will put you on the fast track to fluency with complex dialogues that feature advanced speaking patterns and lots of emotional nuance. So if you're learning Chinese with the goal of professional fluency, be sure to listen in: you won't regret it.

Writing Exercise #2

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 09:00:00 +0800

Level four in the New HSK corresponds to the beginner level in the older HSK, so while the test is ramping up in difficulty it still within the reach of beginner students. And the writing exercises are fairly straightforward and do not demand much in the way of character memorization: on these questions the HSK simply gives you a list of individual words and characters and asks you to re-write them into a complete and grammatically correct sentence.

The Saga of the Power Crystals

Fri, 17 Jun 2011 09:00:00 +0800

One of the benefits China offers as an expat destination is the refreshing lack of streetside vendors hawking power crystals and comfort necklaces. Unfortunately, while the Orient is insulated from the prevailing trends on late-night American television, if you live here you will have to deal with a whole new category of mystical concepts that have seized the local imagination. Except for acupuncture, which we're willing to admit might have some merits....

Learning Chinese? Our Elementary lesson for today is a bit faster and more complex than most of our podcasts at this level, but still consists of fairly simple sentences and high-frequency vocabulary. So if you already know some Chinese but are looking to push yourself closer to fluency, give us a shot and experience Chinese the way it's actually spoken in mainland China. And if you have any questions or thoughts, consider yourself warmly invited to let us know in the discussion section below.

Writing Exercise #2

Thu, 16 Jun 2011 09:00:00 +0800

There is a type of question on the new HSK that involves rearranging words and phrases into grammatically sensible sentences. Our online system emulates these questions with a click-and-drag interface. Drag the words into the correct order and they'll morph into a complete sentence automatically when you get it right. Since it is technically impossible to get the questions wrong, try creating the sentence in your mind before you start playing around with the mouse.

Not Even Close

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 09:00:00 +0800

So it turns out that not everything in Beijing is really in "walking distance" from your hotel as your tour guide promised. Or that's how it feels now that you're halfway between Xizhimen and Sanlitun with only twenty minutes left before the show. Suffice it to say that the maze of hutongs in which you are lost no longer seem as charming as they did from the outside....

Learning Chinese? Our podcast for today is designed for absolute beginners to the Chinese language. This means that even if you don't have any background in mandarin, you should be able to follow along and pick up some of the basics of this fascinating language. So give us a listen and be sure to signup for access to our premium features like transcripts, tests and extra audio recordings.

Crisis in Washington

Mon, 13 Jun 2011 09:00:00 +0800

A mere two hours after he had ordered the mission, the President read his security briefing with a seething fury, his thoughts as stormy as the clouds darkening the skies above Washington. His administration could deal with a partisan Congress. And no-one expected a free ride from the media on issues of national security. But to face what must either be gross incompetence or deliberate obstruction from his own military advisers? He reached for the phone....

Learning Chinese? Today's lesson is an intermediate listening test filled with drama. This is Chinese the way you'll hear it on television or in the theaters. So if you have a few years of mandarin under your belt take a listen to our dialogue and then click through to our quiz section to gauge your comprehension. And if you have any questions? Feel free to leave questions in our discussion section below, or check out our online popup Chinese transcript and see what you missed.

Reading Passage Exercise #4

Sun, 12 Jun 2011 09:00:00 +0800

Our mock HSK test for today is intended for students preparing to take Level 2 on the New HSK, China's official proficiency test for non-native speakers of mandarin. Because of the way the HSK test is designed, level two is not that much harder than level one. So even if you've only been studying Chinese for a few months, you've got a decent shot at doing well. So if you're new to mandarin take a shot and see how you do. And if you have any questions, feel free to leave us questions in our discussion space below.

A Bad China Day for Dashan

Thu, 09 Jun 2011 09:00:00 +0800

We have enormous respect for Mark Rowswell, but there's still something unsettling about the constant cheer his alter ego Dashan manages to project on state television. It's almost as if Mark's creation lives in a different China than us, one where bureaucratic corruption and intransigence don't exist and the food companies aren't constantly trying to poison one with new and inventive nutritional supplements.

In any event, while we suspect Mark has his ups-and-downs like the rest of us, we actually wonder what if anything he can do about it. Because how exactly can you have a bad China day when you're supposed to be the most upbeat foreigner in China. And given his reputation for impeccable mandarin, will his friends and family even notice?

The Lecture Circuit

Tue, 07 Jun 2011 09:00:00 +0800

Much later in life, Qin would still wake from terrible nightmares of his college days. Yet unlike his many classmates who struggled with the math, his decision to major in physics was not the trigger for these episodes so much as his choice of studying in Urumchi, where the finest minds in the province would lecture on the most pressing scientific questions in whatever language and accent seemed most convenient at the time.

Listening Exercise #2

Mon, 06 Jun 2011 09:00:00 +0800

Today we're pleased to present another HSK listening test for beginner students preparing to take the HSK test. As unlike more advanced levels, at Level 1 on the New HSK exam, you should be allowed to listen to each passage twice during the course of the exam. So take a listen and see how you do. And if you have any questions contact us anytime at service@popupchinese.com.

Water on the Brink

Fri, 03 Jun 2011 09:00:00 +0800

As the southern Yangtze region struggles with its worst drought in a century, China's grand plans for water diversion projects and its Three Gorges Dam have come under renewed scrutiny, as have expectations Beijing can maintain economic stability. For beyond the environmental disaster wracking southern China, questions are growing of whether Beijing is veering towards a similar fate itself, with city planners expecting a thirty percent increase in the capital's population in a region that's already far beyond its carrying capacity.

Joining Sinica host Kaiser Kuo to discuss this year's China drought are Sinica stalwarts Jeremy Goldkorn of Danwei and Gady Epstein of Forbes magazine. China entrepreneur and frequent guest Bill Bishop also joins to share his thoughts on a situation that "is a game changer". Join us for a podcast that talks about China's ongoing water problems, and then moves on to other flashpoint issues: environmental unrest in Inner Mongolia, and a tragic bombing in Fuzhou.

We've reminded you countless times that you can signup for an account and get Sinica to download automatically to your computer every time it's release. So let's do something different today. If you use Twitter and want to join the constant stream of discussion about China news, we cordially invite you to follow Kaiser Kuo at @KaiserKuo, Jeremy at @danwei, Gady Epstein at @gadyepstein and Bill Bishop at @niubi. Oh yes, and @relevantorgans. And here is the standalone MP3 file.

Writing Exercise #1

Tue, 31 May 2011 09:00:00 +0800

Our sample HSK test for today is a writing contraction exercise. This is a new type of question you'll find on level 6 of the New HSK exam. Your challenge is to read the passages provided and summarize them while covering all of the points raised. As such, these exercises are intended to measure both reading comprehension as well as writing ability.

Note: because this is a writing exercise our online system can't correct these for you in real time. If you're a premium subscriber, feel free to send your answers by email to echo@popupchinese.com. We'll happily take a look and let you know if we see any problems and/or give some general suggestions on how you can improve.

Sometimes you just can't take it anymore....

Mon, 30 May 2011 09:00:00 +0800

At the Silk Market in Beijing, Robert had been the center of attention, with polo shirts and Timberland jackets thrust at him blindly from all sides. And now, after a brief respite at his hotel, the frenzy had begun again. Barely had the poor man cleared his plate, when a fresh serving of mutton, beef or fish would be spooned onto it by one or sometimes several of his Chinese colleagues simultaneously.

Want to learn Chinese? We love China most of the time, but admit to find it grating when Chinese people assume that foreigners are incapable of putting food on their own plates. And while we usually grin and bear it, sometimes enough is enough. Which is what this lesson is about. Join us for an introductory walk through the Chinese language in which we learn a few ways to assert yourself in mandarin with varying degrees of forcefulness.

The Commuting Life

Sun, 29 May 2011 09:00:00 +0800

"And then there was the time a fight almost broke out in our studio over the Tokyo metro...."

Our advanced Chinese podcast for today another merciless onslaught of full-speed, native-level Chinese. Hosted by Nicole who you might know from our site for learning Cantonese, it showcases a mix of both northern and southern accents, and covers a topic is dear to the hearts of everyone struggling to get by in Beijing: commuting and the toll it takes on your work-life balance. Listen in and then let us know how you're coping too.

Cosplay Jiang Zemin

Wed, 25 May 2011 09:00:00 +0800

The first time the Communist Youth League suggested a cosplay outing to Beihai park, Xiao Wang was taken aback by the idea. She had always thought joining the Communist Party would be a romantic, intellectual journey filled with serious discussions about the fate of the nation and her responsibilities as a prospective Party member. And yet if costume play was what they wanted... let no-one say she wasn't willing to play the part.

Learning Chinese and dismayed by the general lack of lessons about cosplay and senior Party leadership? Let our Intermediate Chinese podcast for today fill this critical gap as we cover both topics in a single podcast. And we welcome lesson suggestions for other topics you feel are equally underrepresented: send us your suggestions at service@popupchinese.com or leave a note in our comment section below.

Squeak the Cat

Tue, 24 May 2011 12:59:38 +0800

We took Squeak in after a friend found him huddling in the bushes of her apartment complex. As he's grown up, our once-tiny kitten has developed a fondness for gnawing on things as a general solution to any problem, along with a voracious appetite for lychee and fondness for fetching paper balls. Given that our last non-Chinese cat spent most of its time sleeping, our conclusion is that Chinese cats are pretty cool.

Learning Chinese? At the elementary level our dialogues start moving away from simple words to more complex sentences. And while our dialogue for today is still not that complex, it moves as quickly as the language you'll hear on the streets of Beijing. So if you're pushing ahead with your mandarin or are an animal lover looking to pick up some pet-related vocabulary, join us for a lesson that will set you on the right track.

Reading Passage Exercise #2

Sun, 22 May 2011 09:00:00 +0800

The HSK had already reholstered its pistol by the time the corpse of the Chinese Proficiency Test hit the ground. When the sheriff showed up later, his investigation would be cursory. And the few witnesses who had seen the shootout through shuttered windows would stay quiet. In this town, the HSK test was king.

Note: the fourth level on the New HSK test corresponds to the first level of the older HSK exam in terms of its difficulty. What this means is that you should be able to tackle this material after one or two years of study. So give it a try and see how you do. And if you can routinely get over 12 answers correct? Promote yourself to level five.

Inscrutable China

Fri, 20 May 2011 09:00:00 +0800

It may be because we've yet to finish Kissinger's latest book on the subject, but we'll admit to having found life in China a bit more inscrutable than normal these past few weeks, and all evidence suggests we're not alone. Seen through the prism of Yahoo's mounting frustration with Alibaba's financial contortions or own own escalating difficulty accessing Gmail, we now wonder if - as Vice-Premier Wang Qishan commented in a recent interview on Charlie Rose - our Western perspective is too simple-minded to understand the strategic complexity of life in the Orient.

Feel the same way? Then why not join host Kaiser Kuo this week for a baffled look at the latest China news. Joining Kaiser to talk about these issues are regular Sinica stalwarts Jeremy Goldkorn from danwei.org and Gady Epstein, whom we officially congratulate for his upcoming shift from Forbes to the Economist. Way to go, Gady!

On a final note, are you tired of constantly refreshing Popup Chinese to see when Sinica is released? For a more convenient way to listen, create an account on Popup Chinese and subscribe to the Sinica show in your list of podcasts, or subscribe to the Sinica show on iTunes using our standalone RSS feed: http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica. We also still have the show available from our site as a standalone mp3 file.

A Lifetime of Remorse

Wed, 18 May 2011 09:00:00 +0800

He had heard that the Owl of Minerva flies only at twilight, and yet the old man had dismissed such philosophy when young. As a boy, enlightenment had raced before his grasping fingers. It was only now as he lay on his deathbed that the old man knew the cruel truth in the form of a pained regret for a lifetime of deeds left undone....

The Grandmother Enigma

Tue, 17 May 2011 09:00:00 +0800

"It says that Chinese people really care about family," Larry Page leafed through the consulting report. For the last few months, impassioned youth from all over the country had been flooding the Internet with impassioned pleas filled with references to their grandmothers. From its headquarters tracking online sentiment, Google was sure somewhat strange was happening in the country, but what exactly?

Learning Chinese? This lesson is for Absolute Beginners to the Chinese language. Even if you don't know any mandarin this lesson should be simple enough to get you started. So join us as we cover two essentials: how to ask questions about time, and when and where to invoke the names of close friends and relatives. We thrive on your comments and suggestions, so if you have any, please feel free to leave a comment in the discussion space below or send us an email at service@popupchinese.com.

Listening Exercise #1

Mon, 16 May 2011 09:00:00 +0800

After months of practice, Squeak was beginning to differentiate between the fourth and the second tones. The fourth tone, he had learned, was easier to hear from a distance and almost never accompanied by food. And what a world of difference from the second tone, whose lilting charm frequently forecast exotic meals of the most divine delicacies a cat could imagine.

HSK Tip #724: even if you are a tone-challenged cat, you have a 25 percent chance of getting these questions right. And since you don't get penalized for incorrect answers, don't blow easy marks by failing to guess if you aren't sure.

The Dumb, Illiterate Judge of Hakensaw County

Fri, 13 May 2011 09:00:00 +0800

Those who say justice is blind never met Samuel Trappers, famed throughout the fourteenth circuit for his unorthodox approach to law and personal hygiene. More than one counsel had met her match arguing the finer points of law before his court, and many were those to arrive with meticulously prepared briefs only to have their entire cases thrown out in a fit of pique over slight failings in ceremonial attire.

Looking for a good way to learn Chinese? At our elementary level, our lessons start to creep up in length, but they still feature high-frequency vocabulary and avoid complex grammar structures. So they're exactly the sort of lessons you need if you're still trying to internalize the basics of the language. So if you're an elementary student listen in and let us know what you think. You can reach us by email anytime at service@popupchinese.com.

Reading Passage Exercise #3

Wed, 11 May 2011 09:00:00 +0800

Calling this a reading test is a bit misleading, because on the first level of the new HSK test, you aren't expected to be able to parse anything more complex than a sentence, and a fairly simple one at that. That said, since this level is intended for people who have just started learning Chinese, it's not necessarily as easy as it sounds. So if you're new to the language give it a shot and see how you do.

Not sure how to prepare for the HSK test? This sample HSK test is one of many we have here at Popup Chinese. If you're new to our site, create a free account and we'll give you access to hundreds upon hundreds of the best Chinese you'll find anywhere online. Our test prep materials are reserved for supporters, but we'll give you a seven day free trial with full access to them when you signup, so be sure to check them out - starting with this one.

An Inclination to Casual Looting

Tue, 10 May 2011 09:00:00 +0800

John was the school's most popular thief. Sifting through a bag left unattended for a moment, he'd strike up conversation with the owner as they returned, hardly pausing from his single-minded plunder of their personal electronics. Yet while the boy had been repeatedly disciplined by the relevant authorities, his crimes never seemed to come to a head: there remained something almost charming about his childish enthusiasm for theft that disarmed even his most outspoken victims.

Learning Chinese? Today we're proud to present a Chinese lesson for Absolute Beginners to the Chinese language. If this sounds like you, join us for a fun session that shares the secret everyone who has gone through the learning process knows about how not to sound like a robot when speaking Chinese. This is the sort of thing your textbooks won't teach you. And it's only from Popup Chinese. So listen up and let us know what you think!

Reading Passage Exercise #3

Mon, 09 May 2011 09:00:00 +0800

As it struggled to work out the second derivative, the New HSK test felt a welling sense of shame and inadequacy. Intellectually, the mandarin proficiency exam knew that its frustration came from overly-ambitious parental expectations, but that didn't make the emotions involved any easier to handle. And what perverse logic insisted that all Asian tests had to be good at math anyway? Why couldn't a standardized test simply focus on reading and writing for a change?

Please note: when you take the real HSK test you have an average of 45 seconds to answer each question. This time includes the time needed to read the passages on advanced reading exercises like these. So read quickly, and good luck!

Crazed Madmen, Foreign and Domestic

Sat, 07 May 2011 09:00:00 +0800

Despite losing almost a dollar for every dollar of revenue last year, Chinese Facebook clone 人人网 made a spectacular launch on Wall Street last week, raising $743.4 million in a crazed initial public offering. So it's no surprise that Wall Street is on our agenda again today, along with Chinese reactions to the assassination of Osama Bin Laden and a curious foreign investment play by a shady Chinese company. We also touch briefly on China's new Internet regulatory overlords and the long-gone May 4th movement.

With Kaiser away in New York, Sinica is chaired this week by Jeremy Goldkorn of Danwei fame, who is joined in our studio by the ever-stalwart Gady Epstein and China public relations expert Will Moss. We're also privileged to be joined by Charles Custer of the China Geeks translation blog, as well as Jeremiah Jenne, Dean of Chinese Studies at the IES program in Beijing. So listen up and be sure to let us know what you think in the comments section below.

Enjoy Sinica? The easiest way to listen is to subscribe through RSS to get new episodes downloaded to your mp3 player as soon as they come out. To do this either create an account at Popup Chinese and add Sinica to your list of preferred shows, or open iTunes and select the option "Subscribe to Podcast" from the Advanced menu. When prompted copy the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica into the box. We also welcome listeners to download the show as a standalone mp3 file. Enjoy!

The Secret Nazi Threat, part II

Thu, 05 May 2011 09:00:00 +0800

George S. Patton charged into Hitler's bunker with revolver drawn. Frustrated by the creeping pace of Allied progress, the American general had torn ahead with trusty aide in his private jeep, single-handedly clearing out entire squads of enemy soldiers in his drive to beat the Red Army to Berlin. Little could he know the surprise lying in wait for him at the heart of the Third Reich....

Reading Passage Exercise #1

Wed, 04 May 2011 09:00:00 +0800

At level 5 of the New HSK, the reading passages are still relatively short, but the difficulty of the passages is greatly increased. You'll be faced with more advanced adjectives and adverbs, and a number of proper nouns you are not expected to have seen before, but are expected to make sense of given the context of the passage. Time is also shorter than with our fill-in-the-blank questions, as you have only 45 seconds to answer each question.

The Secret Nazi Threat

Tue, 03 May 2011 09:00:00 +0800

Nevermind that filming had been ongoing for weeks, and the script was explicitly based on records of Allied meetings during the Battle of the Bulge. The envoy from the Ministry of Culture had been adamant: changes were needed to both script and cast if shooting was to continue on schedule. Which was how the international WWII production found itself in disarray as its director headed off for an emergency meeting with his executive producer.

If you're learning Chinese and are at the intermediate level, we think you'll like this lesson. It's based on a fairly lengthy dialogue, but is a fun one filled with colloquial mandarin spoken they way you'll hear on television and on the streets in China. We also move beyond teaching vocabulary to talk about a useful way to sound ironic, sarcastic and disappointed when something doesn't go your way. We hope you enjoy it!

Nouriel Roubini gets it in the a** in China

Fri, 29 Apr 2011 09:00:00 +0800

China Doomerism, the once familiar retreat of a chummy pantheon of economic cranks, recently went mainstream with Nouriel Roubini's pronouncement that the Chinese economy is wrestling with over-investment and his prediction that it will likely to come to a hard landing and deflationary spiral sometime after 2013. We read the same news he does, which leads us to ask what the experts have to say about this, and what on earth any of this has to do with Shanghai truckers and Groupon China?

In addition to regular guests Jeremy Goldkorn and Gady Epstein, this week Sinica is pleased to host Andrew Batson, former journalist for the Wall Street Journal and current head of research at Dragonomics, a leading research advisory on the Chinese economy and publisher of the China Economic Quarterly. And we hope you'll join us yourselves as Gady confronts Andrew with probing questions about the Chinese economy: what do the statistics tell us about whether China is investing too much and consuming too little. If you follow economics and enjoyed our earlier episode with Arthur Kroeber then this is a podcast you don't want to miss.

Enjoy Sinica and want to get Kaiser and crew downloaded to your mp3 player automatically every week? Then consider subscribing to Sinica via RSS feed. If you use iTunes, you can do this most easily by creating an account at Popup Chinese and following the instructions provided. Alternately, open up iTunes and select the option "Subscribe to Podcast" from the Advanced menu. When prompted copy the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica into the box. And if you'd like to listen to this podcast on the go, you're also welcome to download the show as a standalone mp3 file. Enjoy!

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Popup Chinese Crossover Madness

Thu, 28 Apr 2011 09:00:00 +0800

There are some things about Chinese that you won't learn in a classroom, and some dialogues that conventional textbooks simply won't feature. For an example of the latter consider our crossover dialogue for today, inspired by a mixture of 1980s films, serial nightmares involving thirsty politburo members and a certain orange-flavored carbonated beverage that just happens to taste delicious when mixed with a bit of rum and drunk on the beach.

If you've listened to Popup Chinese for a while, you'll know what to expect. Or maybe you won't. But regardless of whether you're inured to the way we teach Chinese yet, listen up for our Chinese podcast that covers three elementary topics: an prepositional exception that proves the rule, an adverb you can use to tell friends that - as it happens - you don't really have the time to help them move, and a very colloquial way to order dinner. Because this is a long podcast and by the time it's done you'll probably be starving too.

Listening Exercise #1

Tue, 26 Apr 2011 09:00:00 +0800

Considering taking the national Chinese proficiency exam? Or are you just wondering how good your mandarin really is? The HSK offers a reasonably objective way of measuring your progress towards fluency, which is why we are pleased to present this listening test for students preparing for level four on the new HSK exam. This is the equivalent of the low-intermediate level on the older HSK test. If you think your Chinese is getting good, why not take a listen and see how you do?

Worth noting: our HSK tests attempt to emulate the real exam as closely as possible, even to the point of structuring our questions in groups of fifteen. That said, while there's no limit to the number of times you can listen to each question on our online exams, in a real exam situation you will only be able to listen to each audio passage once. Good luck!

Military Escalation

Mon, 25 Apr 2011 09:00:00 +0800

The war had been raging for an eternity. At first the enemy would seize a strategic advantage and seem on the cusp of victory, only to be pushed back at the last moment. And then the pattern would play out in reverse. This ebb and flow had happened so many times that as the months and years wore on, both sides settled into an almost permanent stalemate of frustrated militarism: desperate and craving for escalation as a kind of perverse emotional release.

Our Intermediate Chinese lesson for today is filled with military lingo and terminology (bombs and parachutes and planes, oh my!). And since we recognize that you may not have personal cause to start World War III, we also spend a bit of time exploring the differences between 按照 and 照着, two words that are so remarkably similar in meaning that even native speakers have been known to get their usage wrong. So fire up the warplanes, get listening and we hope you enjoy the show.

China's Second Internet Bubble?

Fri, 22 Apr 2011 09:00:00 +0800

Interest in Chinese Internet companies has reached fever pitch. Fueled by the fact that roughly fifty percent of the companies that went public on NASDAQ last year were Chinese in origin, at least 17 more high-profile companies are planning foreign IPOs this year. Yet given the fact these businesses still face massive market and political risk, their planned valuations are unsettling many investors and rekindling memories of the late 1990s boom.

This week, Kaiser Kuo hosts some of China's leading Internet experts for a podcast that asks tough questions about Chinese Internet fever. In addition to Sinica regulars Gady Epstein of Forbes, Jeremy Goldkorn of Danwei and Bill Bishop of Digicha, we are privileged to host two new guests on the show: David Wolf, president of Wolf Group Asia and author of the outstanding blog Silicon Hutong; and Kai Lukoff, editor of the excellent up-and-coming China tech site Techrice. So join us as we share our candid impressions and word-on-the-street knowledge about what is pushing and in some cases delaying these prospective IPOs.

Enjoy the Sinica podcast? To subscribe to Sinica automatically through RSS, either create an account here at Popup Chinese or setup your personal feed in iTunes. This second option is as easy as opening the iTunes program, clicking on the "Advanced" menu and selecting the option "Subscribe to Podcast". When prompted copy the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica into the box provided. You are also welcome to download this show as a standalone mp3 file. Enjoy!

Beautiful and Mysterious

Wed, 20 Apr 2011 09:00:00 +0800

Brad's heart was a wreck. The previous evening he had met a girl he could only describe as perfect. And she had seemed interested between their drinks and dancing. Yet when the party drew to a close, she simply smiled when he asked for a telephone number or email address and told him to look her up. But as best he could tell from a cursory search of the Internet, she was entirely off the grid as well. What was a man to do? Hunt through the city of Beijing door-by-door in search of a single girl?

Reading Passage Exercise #3

Tue, 19 Apr 2011 09:00:00 +0800

Three years after his knockout in the eight round of the oral exam, Ted Hearns was back. Eager for the accreditation which had almost been his, the American boxer had trained two full years and was in peak physical condition for the rematch. Yet he was to go down in ignominious defeat again, for while he had not, the HSK test changed. Once a measure of sheer physical stamina, the examination had morphed into an intellectual challenge the likes of which he could scarcely have imagined.

A Serial Problem

Mon, 18 Apr 2011 09:00:00 +0800

The first murder had seemed accidental, and would have been officially registered a suicide if not for the near imperceptible signs of break-and-enter the forensics team had found at the scene of the crime. And even then the investigation would likely have ended up as boxes of dusty papers orphaned in the police warehouse if not for the astonishing series of events which followed, events which had the local authorities floundering in denial even as the situation escalated dramatically.

Learning Chinese? At the Intermediate level, our Chinese podcasts feature fast, real-life Chinese dialogues spoken at native pace and filled with emotionally rich and complex sentences. If you're just getting started these are probably above your level, but if you're working towards fluency and are looking to get past your textbook, they're the type of materials we think you need. So take a listen and let us know what you think.

The Rose and Sister Nine

Wed, 13 Apr 2011 09:00:00 +0800

Shen Congwen is one of the most famous Chinese authors of the twentieth century, and also the least known outside his homeland. Born in Hunan in 1902, Shen moved to Beijing in the 1920s where he attended classes at Peking University. He began writing later that decade, although his most famous works were produced in the 1930s and 1940s. Political persecution in the decades that followed led to his general withdrawal from literary life.

Despite his relative obscurity beyond China, Shen wrote more than 80 compilations of prose and poetry during his lifetime, making him the most prolific Chinese author in the 20th century. Nominated for a Nobel Prize in 1987, Chen lost and was renominated in 1988, only to pass away in April before the award ceremony in which he was favored to win. If you enjoy this story and are looking for more, we highly recommend his medium-length novel 边城, a dream-like story set in Hunan.

Note: since our collection of Chinese short stories are fairly advanced materials, we're doing something interesting with our lesson vocabulary: highlighting some older words and phrases you will find mostly in literature, along with some more colloquial words with their origin in the Sichuan dialect. If you'd like to add other words in any of our transcripts to your vocabulary lists, just click on any popup to have it automatically added to your account.

Our Nearsighted Colleague

Tue, 12 Apr 2011 09:00:00 +0800

Need to express surprise or issue forceful denials? These are two things we find ourselves doing with alarming regularity when escorting a certain nearsighted colleague of ours around Beijing. But while this lesson is inspired by real life, it's fairly easy and is crammed full of useful expressions for anyone starting to learn Chinese. So if you're just starting to use Popup Chinese, listen in and let us know what you think.

Hell Freezes Over

Fri, 08 Apr 2011 09:00:00 +0800

In the last three years mandarin has become the de facto language to know for people working in Hollywood. And while we're getting inured to seeing Asian celebrities show up in mainstream Hollywood films, every now and then hell freezes over and we get an A-list American celebrity working their way through actual Chinese dialogue. The results are not often pretty, but we give full points for effort....

Join us this week we take a break from our normal Film Friday routine and try a different sort of guessing game. After highlighting a recent film that made Echo both laugh and cry, we present three mystery clips featuring other Hollywood stars throwing themselves into mandarin with varying degrees of success. Take a listen and see if you can identify them. And if you can? Get your guesses in to echo@popupchinese.com for a chance to win a month of free premium access here at Popup Chinese.

A Betrayal of Family

Wed, 06 Apr 2011 09:00:00 +0800

Like Al Pacino in Coppola's rickety Godfather series, our mob boss is getting cranky as he ages, longing to pass the yoke of his responsibilities to the next generation, but torn by its lack of competence and inclination to familial disloyalty. In this Chinese podcast we delve into his struggle to keep his criminal syndicate intact, and come to terms with the fact we're only a single degree of separation from the real Chinese mob. So listen up, and feel free to let us know if you need any kneecaps broken in the comments section.

This is the third podcast we've done in our Big Boss series, but the first which merits classification at the Elementary level. So if you missed our first two because they weren't at your level, listen to this and then check out the originals once you're done. Because we hear the mob is hiring, and if you want to get into the Beijing or Shanghai underworlds, it's good to sound like you belong right from the start.

Reading Passage Exercise #2

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 09:00:00 +0800

Today we're pleased to present another practice HSK exam for students preparing to take the Chinese government's official test of mandarin proficiency at its easiest level. These fifteen questions are designed to be fairly easy. But they can still be a challenge if you're just starting out, so good luck!

As you work through these fifteen questions, you'll notice that the answers come in groups of four. The reason for this is that on the real exam there is a question type that asks you to insert four words into four different sentences. Here we are keeping the challenge the same, but reformatting the questions to make each question more of a standalone challenge.

A Simple Transaction

Mon, 04 Apr 2011 09:00:00 +0800

The Chinese teaching establishment had cornered us in a bar at Houhai, and was telling us it couldn't be done over shots of tequila. "Who can teach coverbs to absolute beginners," they scoffed. "You want to start with a lesson on drinking tea." The head of the Confucius Institute was nearly falling off his chair, but still chipped in something about the Great Wall. It was less a suggestion than something more forceful. "Play up the culture and make China look good, you know?"

And so we nodded and finished our drinks before heading home. "And down the hatches," Brendan said heading into the studio. "If we're going out in a blaze of glory, at least it'll be a blaze of linguistic glory that illustrates the topic-oriented nature of the Chinese language when it comes to giving instructions." The rest of us nodded. The world could drink tea on its own time. In our corner of the Internet, there was an urgent need for more podcasts about coverbs and topic-oriented sentences. The Great Wall could wait.

Scandal in Baidu and Chongqing

Fri, 01 Apr 2011 09:00:00 +0800

A year after our first show memorialized Google's retreat from the China market, our first anniversary sees Sinica host Kaiser Kuo and his employer on the defensive as Gady Epstein and Bill Bishop grill Kaiser over recent allegations of copyright infringement by China's biggest search engine. Without Google as a leveling force, the Chinese media industry has turned on its own in recent weeks as attacks by a loose consortium of Chinese authors and publishers have prompted a radical overhaul of at least one of Baidu's online services.

Never one to shy away from controversy, our discussion then turns to a brewing scandal you're unlikely to have read about in the news... yet. Stretching up to the highest levels of the Politburo and down into the local real estate markets and mafia circles in Chongqing, this story concerns who is really running Chongqing. Joining Kaiser to dissect this emerging scandal is John Garnaut of the Sydney Morning Herald and Li Xin, managing editor of investigative magazine Caixin.

On a final note, if you have ever felt life would be easier if Sinica just showed up automatically on your iPhone each week, you should consider subscribing to the show through RSS. If you use iTunes, do this by clicking on the "Advanced" menu and selecting the option "Subscribe to Podcast". When prompted copy the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica into the box. And if you'd like to listen to this podcast on the go, you're also welcome to download the show as a standalone mp3 file. Enjoy!

The Peasant Workers - In the Spring

Wed, 30 Mar 2011 09:00:00 +0800

As its name suggests, The Peasant Workers (农民工) is a Beijing band consisting entirely of migrant workers. Discovered late last year singing in an underpass in Beijing, the group started getting more serious attention after several recordings made in their dorm began spreading online. It took less than two months for the band to hit the apex of popularity when it was invited to perform at China's annual New Years gala.

The recording above is their most well-known song, and it's definitely a good one. Filled with nostalgia for youth, spring and a China long-past, it's easy to see why this song has provoked such a strong response. Viewers in China having difficulty watching this on Youtube are encouraged to watch the Youku version instead.