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Sinica - Live: The Cultural Revolution at Fifty

Wed, 04 May 2016 09:00:00 -0700

50 years ago, Mao Zedong launched the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, inaugurating a decade of political turmoil with his calls for young people to "bombard the headquarters." In this special live edition of our podcast recorded at The Bookworm Literary Festival in March, Kaiser Kuo and David Moser welcome Melinda Liu, longtime China bureau chief of Newsweek for a discussion of the 50th anniversary of this definitive event. Melinda shares stories about her brother, who remained in China after the civil war and experienced it firsthand. [standalone mp3 file] [rss feed]

Sinica - Live: The Cultural Revolution at Fifty (pdf)

Wed, 04 May 2016 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Public Opinion with Chinese Characteristics

Mon, 18 Apr 2016 09:00:00 -0700

The immense popularity of social media has afforded China watchers a terrific window onto public opinion in China. In recent years, a slew of English-language websites have emerged to interpret the various trends and phenomena, discourse and debates on the Chinese Internet for non-Chinese audiences, but for our money, the very best of the bunch is ChublicOpinion.com — public opinion with Chinese characteristics — written by Ma Tianjie. A graduate of Peking University who now works for China Dialogue, Ma Tianjie offers penetrating insight and analysis written with great flare. He joins Kaiser, Jeremy, and Ada Shen in the studio for a wide-ranging discussion that reveals the mysterious origins of "diaosi" culture and looks at some of the controversies and conversations that have dominated Weibo and WeChat in recent months. [standalone mp3 file] [rss feed]

Sinica - Public Opinion with Chinese Characteristics (pdf)

Mon, 18 Apr 2016 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Everything Old is New Again

Sun, 13 Mar 2016 09:20:09 -0700

Members of the Politburo are rarely praised for their dancing skills, but consider Xi Jinping's almost flawless execution of the political two-step: first casting himself as the voice of liberal moderation in the face of Bo Xilai's mass propaganda, and then draping himself in the mantle of Maoist China and the Communist Revolution once his position was secure. The changes are enough to prompt anyone to ask: how exactly did this happen and does it even make sense?

Today on Sinica we take a look at the political movement some academics are calling Neo-Maoists, the traditionally conservative politicians and Party members whose influence began eroding with market reforms in the 1980s but have arguably witnessed a comeback of sorts in the last two years. In conversation with Jude Blanchette, former Assistant Director of the 21st century China program at UCSD, now with the Conference Board, Kaiser and Jeremy take a look at the history of the movement, who the major players are today, and how it is playing out in the Chinese media. Also, we pick our favorite upcoming events from the Beijing Literary Festival. [standalone mp3 link] [sinica rss feed]

Sinica - Everything Old is New Again (pdf)

Sun, 13 Mar 2016 09:20:09 -0700

Sinica - Allegiance

Fri, 19 Feb 2016 09:00:00 -0800

Kaiser and Jeremy recorded today's show from New York, where they waylaid Holly Chang, founder of Project Pengyou and now Acting Executive Director of the Committee of 100 for a discussion on spying, stealing commercial spying, spying and broadway.

Yes, you read that right. After catching the Broadway musical Allegiance about the Japanese-American internment camps in WWII, we wanted to do a show discussing the experiences people of Chinese heritage have with racial profiling today, and particularly the experiences of the Chinese diaspora community in the United States. Give the show a listen and let us know what you feel in the comments section below! [standalone mp3 download]

Sinica - Allegiance (pdf)

Fri, 19 Feb 2016 09:00:00 -0800

Sinica - Sauced: American Cooking in China

Fri, 05 Feb 2016 09:00:00 -0800

Kaiser Kuo and David Moser are joined this week by Howie Southworth and Greg Matza, creators of the independent video series Sauced in Translation, a reality show that journeys into the wilder parts of China in search of local Chinese specialities that can be repurposed into classic American dishes. The show is a great concept, brilliantly executed, and we're delighted to have Howie and Greg here to share some behind-the-scenes stories and talk about how they got started mixing Chinese and American cuisine. [standalone mp3 download]

Sinica - Sauced: American Cooking in China (pdf)

Fri, 05 Feb 2016 09:00:00 -0800

Sinica - The China Meltdown

Sat, 23 Jan 2016 09:00:00 -0800

With equity markets in freefall, housing prices skipping downwards, foreign reserves plummetting, and industrial production on a roadtrip back to the last decade, it's no surprise permabears like Gordan Chang are stocking up on popcorn to bask in what they see as the long-due collapse of the Chinese economy. It all raises the question of how bad things are going to get, which leads to the question of how bad they are right now.

Joining Kaiser, Jeremy and David in the studio today to talk about the Chinese economy and its recent tailspin is none other than Tom Orlik, an economist at Bloomberg and author of the book Understanding China's Economic Indicators. Tom has years of experience writing about China and joins to share his thoughts on what parts of the economy are doing decently and where the real problems lie. We hope you love the show. [standalone mp3 file]

Sinica - The China Meltdown (pdf)

Sat, 23 Jan 2016 09:00:00 -0800

Sinica - Air Pollution and Climate Change

Fri, 08 Jan 2016 12:43:01 -0800

This week on Sinica, Kaiser Kuo and David Moser are joined by Deborah Seligsohn, former science counselor for the US Embassy in Beijing and currently a doctoral candidate at UCSD, where she studies environmental governance in China. With more than 20 years of China experience, Deborah is one of the most knowledgeable people in the world on the question of China's policy response to questions of air pollution and climate change, which is why we are delighted to have her on the show.

Like Sinica? Don't forget that you can subscribe to our iTunes podcast feed by using our custom RSS feed. And please feel free to download this show as a standalone mp3 file and share with anyone you think might also like hearing the show. Thanks!

Sinica - Air Pollution and Climate Change (pdf)

Fri, 08 Jan 2016 12:43:01 -0800

Sinica - While We're Here: China Stories from a Writers' Colony

Fri, 18 Dec 2015 09:00:00 -0800

When Ernest Hemingway somewhat presciently referred to Paris as a movable feast ("wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you") he captured the feelings of many long-term China expats rather concisely. So why exactly does everyone like to compare life here to Paris in the 1920s? And if life is so romantic here, where are the writers in our midst and what are they producing anyway?

This week on Sinica, Kaiser Kuo and David Moser are delighted to host the editors of While We're Here: China Stories from a Writer's Colony, a compilation of short stories, poems and more lovingly assembled by Alec Ash and Tom Pellman of The Anthill. Join us to hear some selections and gossip unapologetically about the writers in question. And if you want to pick up the book, you can find it for your Kindle here on Amazon or drop by The Bookworm in Beijing for a physical copy. [standalone mp3 link]

Sinica - While We're Here: China Stories from a Writers' Colony (pdf)

Fri, 18 Dec 2015 09:00:00 -0800

Sinica - Out of Africa: the Swifts of Beijing

Fri, 11 Dec 2015 09:00:00 -0800

With amazing research now suggesting that Beijing swifts, the tiny creatures most residents pass by without noticing, are some of the most well-travelled birds on the planet, averaging an astonishing 124,000 miles of flight in their life, barely landing for years-on-end, and migrating as far as the southern tip of Africa. this week on Sinica hosts Kaiser Kuo and Jeremy Goldkorn invited Terry Townshend, founder of the environmental education organization Eco-Action and author of Birding Beijing for an inside look at how the scientific community discovered these amazing facts, and then more generally for a discussion of how the changing urban landscape in Beijing is affecting the natural environment for these amazing creatures.

Sinica - Out of Africa: the Swifts of Beijing (pdf)

Fri, 11 Dec 2015 09:00:00 -0800

Sinica - Live at the Bookworm, Part II

Fri, 27 Nov 2015 09:00:00 -0800

This is the second part of our episode of Sinica recorded last month during a special live event at the Bookworm literary festival. In this show David Moser and Kaiser Kuo were joined by China-newcomer Jeremy Goldkorn, fresh off the plane from Nashville to field questions from our live Beijing audience. During this show we talk about what Beijing means to us and what we see happening in China going forward.If you're a long-time listener, be sure to check out this unusual episode—recorded in front of a live audience. [standalone mp3 file]

Sinica - Live at the Bookworm, Part II (pdf)

Fri, 27 Nov 2015 09:00:00 -0800

Sinica - Live at the Bookworm, Part I

Fri, 13 Nov 2015 19:17:19 -0800

Our episode of Sinica this week was captured last month during a special live event at the Bookworm literary festival, where David Moser and Kaiser Kuo were joined by China-newcomer Jeremy Goldkorn, fresh off the plane from Nashville. During the show we talked about Beijing-lifers and how the city has changed during our time here. If you're a long-time listener, be sure to check out this unusual episode—recorded in front of a live audience. This is part one: the second half will follow [standalone mp3 file]

Sinica - Live at the Bookworm, Part I (pdf)

Fri, 13 Nov 2015 19:17:19 -0800

Sinica - Hope and Fear in the Age of Asia

Tue, 27 Oct 2015 09:00:00 -0700

The West has spent decades pleading with China to become a responsible stakeholder in the global community, but what happens now that China is starting to take a more proactive role internationally? In today's show, Kaiser Kuo and David Moser are delighted to be joined by Dutch journalist Fokke Obbema (the de Volkskrant correspondent with a perfectly normal Dutch name), author of the recent book China and the West: Hope and Fear in the Age of Asia.

As always, if you'd like to download new episodes of Sinica automatically, subscribe to our show via iTunes using our custom RSS feed. The easiest way of doing this is to open iTunes, select the option "Subscribe to Podcast" from the Advanced menu and copy the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica into the box when prompted. Everyone is also welcome to download this show directly from Popup Chinese as a standalone mp3 file. Enjoy and let us know what you think.

Sinica - Hope and Fear in the Age of Asia (pdf)

Tue, 27 Oct 2015 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Tu Youyou and the Nobel Prize

Wed, 21 Oct 2015 19:14:55 -0700

This week on Sinica, we are delighted to present a show on Tu Youyou, the Chinese scientist who recently shared a Nobel Prize in Medicine for her discovery of the anti-malaria compound artemisinin, thus making her the first citizen of the People's Republic of China to receive the Nobel Prize in the natural sciences. [standalone mp3 file]

Sinica - Tu Youyou and the Nobel Prize (pdf)

Wed, 21 Oct 2015 19:14:55 -0700

Sinica - Edmund Backhouse in the Long View of History

Sat, 03 Oct 2015 14:14:09 -0700

Edmund Backhouse, the 20th century Sinologist, long-time Beijing resident, and occasional con-artist, is perhaps best known for his incendiary memoirs, which not only distorted Western understanding of Chinese history for more than 50 years, but also included what in retrospect can only be seen as patently fictitious stories of erotic encounters between the British Baronet and the Empress Dowager Cixi.

This week on Sinica, we are delighted to be joined by Derek Sandhaus of Earnshaw Books, who has recently produced an abridged edition of Backhouse's memoirs for the Hong Kong publishing house. As an expert on the facts and fictions of Edmund Backhouse, Derek joins us for a discussion of what is real and less-than-real in Backhouse's deathbed reminiscences, and what we can and should learn about Qing-era China from his memoirs. [standalone mp3 download]

Sinica - Edmund Backhouse in the Long View of History (pdf)

Sat, 03 Oct 2015 14:14:09 -0700

Sinica - Hip Hop in China

Thu, 24 Sep 2015 10:13:01 -0700

Kaiser Kuo and David Moser are joined today by Jerry Chan and Matt Sheehan for a look at hip-hop in China. Both guests should be familiar to long-time listeners in Beijing. Jerry has been involved with the local music scene for over a decade and now works as marketing director for True Run Media. Matt Sheehan is the Beijing correspondent for the Huffington Post and has recently written on rap in China as well. [standalone mp3 download]

Sinica - Hip Hop in China (pdf)

Thu, 24 Sep 2015 10:13:01 -0700

Sinica - Parading around China's Military Legacy

Fri, 11 Sep 2015 09:00:00 -0700

The interpretation of history is an inherently political act in China, and the struggle for control of the narrative of the War of Resistance Against Japan—World War II—has heated up during the approach to the September 3 parade commemorating the Japanese surrender. Joining us to talk about changing interpretations of World War II and the big miitary parade in front of Tiananmen is Rana Mitter, professor of modern Chinese history at Oxford University and the author of two books on twentieth century Chinese history: China’s War with Japan, 1937-1945: The Struggle for Survival and A Bitter Revolution: China's Struggle with the Modern World. [standalone mp3 download]

Sinica - Parading around China's Military Legacy (pdf)

Fri, 11 Sep 2015 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - China's Millennials

Fri, 04 Sep 2015 09:00:00 -0700

This week on Sinica, Kaiser Kuo and Jeremy Goldkorn record from San Francisco, where they interview Eric Fish: long-time China resident, writer at the Asia Society and author of the recent book "China's Millennials: The Want Generation". Join us as we talk with Eric about the stereotypes and realities surrounding the millennial generation in China. [standalone mp3 download]

Sinica - China's Millennials (pdf)

Fri, 04 Sep 2015 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Bill Bishop: The Exodus

Mon, 31 Aug 2015 17:50:08 -0700

As anyone who reads the Sinocism newsletter knows, Bill Bishop is among the most plugged-in people in Beijing with an uncanny ability to figure out what is actually happening in the halls of power. But as casual readers may not be aware, he is also an excellent podcast guest due to his habit of bringing first cupcakes and now amazingly smooth bottles of Japanese whisky to our recording sessions before trading the latest gossip about the goings-on in Zhongnanhai.

On today's show we mark Bill's departure from China and his return to the United States where he plans to live for the next few years with his family. While not exactly your requisite "Why I Am Leaving China" blog post, this show gives Kaiser Kuo and David Moser the chance to talk to Bill about the reasons behind his decision, and explore why he sees an increasingly strained relationship between China and the United States over the next few years. [standalone mp3 file]

Sinica - Bill Bishop: The Exodus (pdf)

Mon, 31 Aug 2015 17:50:08 -0700

Sinica - The Tianjin Explosion

Fri, 21 Aug 2015 09:00:00 -0700

Insurance scam? Industrial accident? Political machinations? After August excursions to lands of clean air and English-language media, the Sinica team is back this week with a show covering the astonishing explosions that gutted the Binhai economic development zone in Tianjin last week. As the Chinese government struggles to deal with public pressures for greater transparency and conspiracy theories mount, we take a closer look at what we know and don't about the port explosion.

Enjoy Sinica? Join Kaiser Kuo and David Moser this week as they talk with two journalists who covered the aftermath of the Tianjin explosions in person from the Chinese equivalent of ground zero: Julie Makinen who heads the China bureau for the LA Times and Fergus Ryan who covers China for The Guardian. Please feel welcome to listen online or download our show as a standalone mp3 file and share with friends and colleagues.

Sinica - The Tianjin Explosion (pdf)

Fri, 21 Aug 2015 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Beijing's Great Leap Forward

Sat, 25 Jul 2015 09:00:00 -0700

Great Leap Brewery is an institution. As one of the earliest American-style microbreweries in China, not only has the company rescued us from endless nights of Snow and Yanjing, but its also given us something uniquely Chinese with its assortment of peppercorn, honey and tea-flavored beers. So as much as we love the other microbreweries in Beijing and throw our money at them too, it's no accident the Great Leap taproom is our most frequent destination most evenings after recording a show.

Today on Sinica, Kaiser Kuo sits down with Great Leap founder Carl Setzer to talk about his story in China: why Great Leap got started, how the company fits into the beer industry in China, and what it's like to run a food & beverage startup as a foreigner. This is a surprisingly intimate look at one of the places we've grown to take for granted, filled with details on their touch-and-go early years and the bureaucratic run-in that almost crippled the business. We hope you enjoy hearing their story as much as we did. [standalone mp3 link]

Sinica - Beijing's Great Leap Forward (pdf)

Sat, 25 Jul 2015 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Good Riddance, Monsieur Epstein

Fri, 10 Jul 2015 09:00:39 -0700

We're not surprised that Gady Epstein is moving on. We used to buy the papers for his "Telegrams from the Orient", but then he took that Economist gig and his productivity plummeted and it has become hard to even remember what his writing is like anymore. "When are you going to come out with something new," we'd needle him over Chinese Twitter, only to be met with the vague insistence that he was "working on something" or "rushing to press" and "stop bothering me please." And then not a single byline for months....

Given this track record, it may be surprising that we even have him back on the show, but we figured it might help kick Gady out of his rut, and maybe also work as a sort of therapy session in which we try to get into the mind of one of the China Greats. Also, beyond discussing his future plans and long history of covering China, we also wanted to know what's he's learned on the beat and where in his opinion one can find the best Sichuan food in Beijing. [standalone mp3 file]

Sinica - Good Riddance, Monsieur Epstein (pdf)

Fri, 10 Jul 2015 09:00:39 -0700

Sinica - Who will save us from the self-help revolution?

Wed, 01 Jul 2015 11:11:05 -0700

Someone desperately needs to call a fumigator, because China's self-help bug is eating up the woodwork. Train station bookstores may always have served the genre's trite pabulum to bored businessmen legging it cross-country, but in recent months the popularity of the cult has spread more widely, to the point one can't go to a party these days without being accosted for one's thoughts on "the Secret", or hear co-workers fume over where their cheese might have gone and which of their colleagues has probably taken it.

Drowning in this morass of anti-Enlightenment thinking? Join us on Sinica as we excoriate the self-help movement in a show featuring an almost unanimous bewilderment, tempted only by the fascinating insights of Eric Hendriks, Peking University postdoc and lecturer and researcher on this fascinating topic. We welcome all listeners to share their feedback and thoughts in the comment section below, and encourage everyone to download our standalone mp3 file to share this show with friends and colleagues who may have fallen victim to the self-help bug.

Sinica - Who will save us from the self-help revolution? (pdf)

Wed, 01 Jul 2015 11:11:05 -0700

Sinica - The Brother Orange Saga

Tue, 23 Jun 2015 09:13:10 -0700

The story started when a Buzzfeed editor lost his iPhone in an East Village bar in February of last year and blossomed into the Sino-American romance of the century, and probably the most up-lifting and altogether unlikely China story that we can remember. It features Apple products, global crime networks, human flesh search engines, the draw of instant celebrity, and Ellen DeGeneres. Who can resist the cross-cultural romance of Matt Stopera and Brother Orange?

Joining Kaiser, Jeremy and David us to talk about this phenomenon and its backstory and are two guests who've seen it unfold from the inside: Matt Sheehan, China Correspondent for the Huffington Post, who wrote this piece about the saga, and Cecilia Miao, agent for Brother Orange and creator of Channel-C, a community for Chinese students who have studied abroad. So listen in online or download our show as a standalone mp3 file and share with friends.

Sinica - The Brother Orange Saga (pdf)

Tue, 23 Jun 2015 09:13:10 -0700

Sinica - The People's Republic of Cruiseland

Mon, 15 Jun 2015 22:44:06 -0700

We have enough favorite writers on China that we've had to develop a sophisticated classification system just to keep track of everyone. That said, one of our hardest to place somewhere in the long-form taxonomy is Chris Beam, who you may have heard on past episodes talking about his experience in Chinese ping-pong bootcamp, or maybe his account of the birth of American football with the saga of the Chongqing Dockers.

If you liked those shows as much as we did, you'll be delighted to hear that Chris is back this week to talk about his latest essay, an entertaining and surprisingly sympathetic look at the international Cruise Industry and its attempts to romance one of the least sea-faring countries on the planet. And considering the phenomenal timing of this show -- taking place almost exactly as Jeremy Goldkorn "goes native" in America and enjoys his very first mega cruise -- we hope you enjoy the show as much as we enjoy bringing it to you.

Enjoy Sinica? Add our show to your favorite RSS reader using our customer feed. We also welcome all listeners to write us at sinica@popupchinese.com with suggestions on guests you'd like to hear from and topics you'd like to hear us cover. And feel free to download the standalone mp3 file of this show to share with friends and colleagues.

Sinica - The People's Republic of Cruiseland (pdf)

Mon, 15 Jun 2015 22:44:06 -0700

Sinica - Writers: Heroes in China?

Mon, 08 Jun 2015 03:39:05 -0700

If you happen to live in the anglophone world and aren't closely tied to China by blood or professional ties, chances are that what you believe to be true about this country is heavily influenced by the opinions of perhaps one hundred other people, the reporters who cover China for the world's leading media outlets and the writers who build a narrative to encompass it beyond the frenetic drumbeat of current affairs.

This week, Kaiser Kuo, Jeremy Goldkorn and David Moser are joined by accomplished writer Ian Johnson to talk about this phenomenon at first generally, but then specifically with regards to a piece Ian recently authored in the New York Review of Books called An American Hero in China, a look into the way China has embraced Peter Hessler and his writings on the country. We try to make sense of how exactly reporting is done here, what sorts of editorial decisions are made that affect coverage, and how the voice of the author struggle to make China intelligible to the outside world.

Like Sinica? Don't forget that you can subscribe to our iTunes podcast feed by using our custom RSS feed for the show. And please feel free to download this show as a standalone mp3 file and share with anyone you think might also like hearing the show. Thanks!

Sinica - Writers: Heroes in China? (pdf)

Mon, 08 Jun 2015 03:39:05 -0700

Sinica - Earthquake in Nepal!

Sun, 31 May 2015 12:50:16 -0700

On April 25, an 8.1 magnitude earthquake shook the Katmandu Valley in Nepal, causing over 8000 deaths, countless more injuries, and triggering mountain avalanches which sent snow careening down the slopes of Mount Everest and burying the human settlements below. The days that followed Nepal would see a disjointed international rescue force arrive in the country as global geopolitical tensions spilled into the politics of local disaster relief.

This week on Sinica, we take a look back at the Nepalese earthquake through the perspective of two foreign correspondents who traveled to Nepal and reported on the disaster first hand: Julie Makinen, reporter for the Los Angeles Times' Beijing bureau, and Tomasz Sajewicz, head of the Beijing Bureau for Polish Public Radio. Our two guests are joined for this discussion by Kaiser Kuo, Jeremy Goldkorn and David Moser. Listen online, or download this show as a standalone mp3 file.

Sinica - Earthquake in Nepal! (pdf)

Sun, 31 May 2015 12:50:16 -0700

Sinica - Identity, Race and Civilization

Sun, 24 May 2015 17:27:16 -0700

It doesn't take much exposure to China to realize the pervasiveness of identity politics here. Indeed, whether in the Chinese government's occasionally hamfisted efforts to micromanage ethnic minority cultures or the Foreign Ministry's soft-power promotion efforts abroad, it seems that barely a day goes by without someone in the Chinese government confusing the idea of China (the state) with the Han ethnic diaspora.

This week, Kaiser Kuo and Jeremy Goldkorn are delighted to be joined by David Moser, director of the CET immersion program in Beijing, and Jeremiah Jenne, renegade Qing historian and director of The Hutong. We chat about what it means to be Chinese, where these ideas came from and whether anything is likely to change them in the future. So check out the show online, or download and share it here as a standalone mp3 file.

Sinica - Identity, Race and Civilization (pdf)

Sun, 24 May 2015 17:27:16 -0700

Sinica - Leonard Bernstein and China

Sun, 17 May 2015 13:10:35 -0700

This week on Sinica, Kaiser Kuo and David Moser are delighted to host Alexander Bernstein, son of Leonard Berstein and director of the Bernstein Family Foundation, and now also in China on part of a cultural tour. Accompanied by Alison Friedman of Ping Pong Productions and mezzo soprano Carla Dirlikov, Alexander joins us for a discussion on music, Broadway, the strengths and weaknesses of musical theater in China, and of course Bernstein's impressions of China itself.

Like Sinica? Write us anytime at sinica@popupchinese.com with complaints, feedback and suggestions for show topics you'd like to hear covered in the future. And if you know someone you think might make a good guest, why don't you drop a line to let us know as well. Also, feel free to subscribe to our dedicated RSS feed if you want to grab new shows as soon as they are released. [standalone mp3 file]

Sinica - Leonard Bernstein and China (pdf)

Sun, 17 May 2015 13:10:35 -0700

Sinica - India comes to China

Fri, 08 May 2015 09:00:00 -0700

Today we're going to talk about the upcoming visit to China of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who served from 2001 to 2014 as chief minister of Gujarat and was sworn into office almost one year ago this month. Modi's visit comes at an interesting time in Sino-Indian relations, following closely on the heels of recent Chinese summitry with India's arch-rival Pakistan and the closing of roughly 46 billion dollars in investment deals in the region.

Joining Kaiser Kuo and Jeremy Goldkorn for this discussion are two friends and experts on Sino-Indian relations: Ananth Krishnan of the India Today Group, and Sutirtho Patranobis of the Hindustan Times. This is a fun show and we're delighted to have such insightful guests. Join us as we get the background politics on Modi's visit, make occasional side-forays into Bollywood, and even discuss Modi's strange and celebrity happenings on Twitter.

New to Sinica? If you'd like to get notified when new episodes are available, subscribe to our private RSS feed using iTunes or your preferred RSS reader. All listeners are more than welcome to download our show as a standalone mp3 file directly from the site for saving or sharing with friends. Enjoy!

Sinica - India comes to China (pdf)

Fri, 08 May 2015 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - The Furor and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

Fri, 01 May 2015 09:00:00 -0700

A total of fifty-seven countries have now joined the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, China's newly-launched competitor to the Asian Development Bank that has sparked a flurry of objections from the United States, even culminating in a failed diplomatic campaign by the superpower to lobby allies including the United Kingdom and Australia to abandon the organization, whose stated mission is funding infrastructure projects in underdeveloped parts of Asia.

Although the news has passed mostly unnoticed in the American media, the political furor has raised questions about the future of the Bretton Woods system and China's place in it: what are the American concerns over the AIIB and is there any validity to them? Why is China attempting to setup a development bank outside the Bretton Woods framework, and what actions may have triggered the Chinese move? And quite specifically, how does the AIIB compare to its competitors both in capitalization as well as its power in the region.

Joining Kaiser Kuo and Jeremy Goldkorn for this discussion are two guests who are plugged into the financial gossip mill. They are Trey McArver, creator of China Politics Weekly, a newsletter which aims to keep business leaders, diplomats, and scholars abreast of developments in Chinese politics, as well as Simon Rabinovitch, former FT correspondent now working for The Economist out of Shanghai. [standalone mp3 file]

Sinica - The Furor and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (pdf)

Fri, 01 May 2015 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Let me do it, myself

Tue, 28 Apr 2015 09:00:00 -0700

One of the things we're proud of at Popup Towers is our hard-fought ability to wring natural dialogues out of less-than-natural voice-actors, a skill that usually involves unleashing Grace at them in varying degrees of rage. And since recording a dialogue this way can take up a bit of time, the result is that we usually end up with a number of variants for each one, usually getting more and more natural as we go along.

If you're totally new to Chinese we suggest coming back to this show later -- the lesson is a bit tricky for the Absolute Beginner level -- but we wanted to showcase it here for two reasons. The first is that this show features not one but two dialogues. The interesting thing is that the first dialogue sounds a bit stilted while the second sounds extremely natural. And since they basically saying the same thing, we wanted to contrast and compare them, to learn what it is that makes mandarin sound forced and what makes it more colloquial.

Absolute Beginners - Let me do it, myself (pdf)

Tue, 28 Apr 2015 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Let me do it, myself (dialogue)

Tue, 28 Apr 2015 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Nationalism and Censorship

Mon, 27 Apr 2015 10:36:39 -0700

This week on Sinica, Kaiser Kuo, David Moser and Jeremy Goldkorn pull Christopher Cairns into the studio for a discussion of an upcoming paper the Cornell graduate student has scheduled for publication in the China Quarterly. Why are we so interested in this topic? Because Cairns and his colleagues at Cornell have actually found a way to measure the extent of government censorship over time, and their research has unearthed some particularly interesting ideas about the relationship between anti-Japanese nationalism and the extent of censorship on Weibo. So saddle-up your VPNs and get listening!

Enjoy Sinica? Be sure to add us on iTunes to get notified automatically whenever a new episode is released. The address of our feed is http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica -- and, yes, the address will work with any RSS feed reader, including non-iTunes software as well. Also, if you have comments, feedback or suggestions on guests we should have on the show, give us a shout at sinica@popupchinese.com. [standalone mp3 download]

Sinica - Nationalism and Censorship (pdf)

Mon, 27 Apr 2015 10:36:39 -0700

Sinica - China's Ideological Spectrum

Fri, 17 Apr 2015 09:00:00 -0700

Last week Harvard doctoral student Jennifer Pan and MIT graduate student Yiqing Xu co-released a paper on "China's Ideological Spectrum" that has garnered a tremendous amount of attention in China-watching circles. And the reason for the fracas? Their paper uses data from the Chinese Political Compass to try and map out Chinese ideological tendencies and surprisingly discovers that China's ideological spectrum may be more uni-dimensional than it seems.

Joining Kaiser Kuo and David Moser to discuss this study and the question of what - if anything - Pan and Xu missed is Trey McArver, founder of China Insight and author of the China Politics Weekly newsletter. This is a fun show that veers from George Lakoff to Confucianism to Chinese patriotism and the anti-corruption crackdown. Join us and let us know what you think. [standalone mp3 file]

Sinica - China's Ideological Spectrum (pdf)

Fri, 17 Apr 2015 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Styling it in China

Sun, 12 Apr 2015 01:19:21 -0700

If you've been reading the Chinese blogosphere for a few years, you might remember our guest from a series of blog posts he wrote in 2007 while working as the only foreign "hair-washing trainee" in a Fuzhou hair salon. Sociologist Ben Ross has since moved on to become a doctoral student at the University of Chicago, where he focuses on Chinese labor migration and related issues.

Like Sinica? If you'd like to know when we release new shows, please feel welcome to subscribe to our dedicated Sinica RSS feed. And if you have any suggestions on topics you'd like to hear covered or guests you think would do well on the show, email us anytime at sinica@popupchinese.com. [standalone mp3 file]

Sinica - Styling it in China (pdf)

Sun, 12 Apr 2015 01:19:21 -0700

Sinica - Cyber Leninism and the political culture of the Chinese Internet

Tue, 07 Apr 2015 18:03:22 -0700

Yesterday evening, Kaiser Kuo and David Moser were delighted to be joined in Popup Towers by Rogier Creemers, post-doctoral fellow at Oxford, author of the fantastic China copyright and media blog, and one of the most informed academics working on Chinese Internet governance. We've always enjoyed our previous chances to grill Rogier on his thoughts, and our discussion this week didn't disappoint either.

Enjoy Sinica? This month marks the fifth anniversary of our show, which means that we have an enormous archive of materials covering most of the significant political and economic developments in China over the past five years. If you're interested in checking them out, please feel welcome to grab them from our dedicated Sinica RSS feed. Suggestions about future show guests or topics you'd like to hear covered are also always welcome by email at sinica@popupchinese.com. [standalone mp3 file]

Sinica - Cyber Leninism and the political culture of the Chinese Internet (pdf)

Tue, 07 Apr 2015 18:03:22 -0700

Sinica - Comfort Women and the Struggle for Reparations

Fri, 27 Mar 2015 09:00:00 -0700

This week on Sinica, we are delighted to be joined by Lucy Hornby, China correspondent for the Financial Times, and author of this phenomenal piece on China's last surviving Chinese comfort women, and their longstanding and often futile attempt to seek reparations in both China and Japan. Join us today as we talk about this piece, but also other stories of reparations and post-war politics that may leave you - like us - somewhat less cynical going out than coming in.

Enjoy Sinica? If you want iTunes to download new episodes of Sinica automatically as we publish them, feel welcome to subscribe to our Sinica RSS feed. You can also find Kaiser on Twitter at @KaiserKuo and Jeremy at @danwei. And here is the standalone MP3 file too. We hope you enjoy the show.

Sinica - Comfort Women and the Struggle for Reparations (pdf)

Fri, 27 Mar 2015 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - In Manchuria: A Village Called Wasteland

Fri, 20 Mar 2015 09:00:00 -0700

This week, Kaiser Kuo and David Moser are delighted to be joined by Michael Meyer, the author of The Last Days of Old Beijing and now In Manchuria, a part literary travelogue and part journalistic account of three years spent living with family in rural Jilin.

Starting with stories of crime and punishment on the rural bus network and the ever-delicate question of where rice tastes best, our podcast moves on from the personal towards the broader subject of how Jilin's agricultural economy is transforming in the face of market pressures. And we also talk about the past, in the area's Manchu footprint and its continuing legacy from its period of Japanese occupation, both of which can still be seen as much from the people themselves as well as the monuments and cemeteries in the region.

Note: care to get notified when new episodes of Sinica are released? If you use podcast software like iTunes, try subscribing to our free Sinica RSS feed. We welcome everyone to listen to the show online, but if you'd like to download this show to share or just save for later, go for it: here is the standalone mp3 file.

Sinica - In Manchuria: A Village Called Wasteland (pdf)

Fri, 20 Mar 2015 09:00:00 -0700

Advanced - From the Archives of the CBC

Wed, 11 Mar 2015 09:00:00 -0700

Classical pianist Glenn Gould, the most improbable sex symbol in Canadian music history, set the world ablaze in the 1960s and 1970s with his emotional reinterpretations of Bach's keyboard repertoire. But what really distinguishes Gould from his contemporaries is the sheer volume of experimental recordings he bequeathed the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation on his death, recordings made at home during his final years in recluse and only now available to the public for the first time....

Note to Listeners: we tried to keep this show focused on classical music, but then Grace kept mentioning how much she doesn't like Taylor Swift, and David felt forced to wave his populist flag, and that is how our podcast descended into nonsense shortly after our two hosts offhandedly diagnosed the vast majority of the Chinese population with obsessive compulsive disorder.

Advanced - From the Archives of the CBC (pdf)

Wed, 11 Mar 2015 09:00:00 -0700

Advanced - From the Archives of the CBC (dialogue)

Wed, 11 Mar 2015 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Under the Dome

Mon, 09 Mar 2015 12:01:15 -0700

"Under the Dome," Chai Jing's breakout documentary on China's catastrophic air pollution problem, finally hit insurmountable political opposition last Friday after seven days in which the video racked up over 200 million views. The eventual clampdown raised many questions about the extent of internal support for the documentary.

In this episode of Sinica, Kaiser Kuo and David Moser interview Calvin Quek of Greenpeace, who works on pollution problems and has significant experience lobbying the private sector to curtail investments into the worst-offending, environmentally unsustainable technologies. We are also joined by Peggy Liu, chairperson of JUCCCE (Joint US-China Collaboration on Clean Energy), a non-profit organization focused on Chinese government training and other green initiatives.

Enjoy Sinica? Get notified when new episodes are published by subscribing to our dedicated RSS feed. You are also welcome to download this show as a standalone mp3 file. Thanks for listening and please send us comments and feedback by email at sinica@popupchinese.com.

Sinica - Under the Dome (pdf)

Mon, 09 Mar 2015 12:01:15 -0700

Sinica - Keep in Touch, Nightman

Sat, 28 Feb 2015 14:45:26 -0800

"What have I done, and what am I doing here?"

In 1997, Beijing was smaller city, and Keep in Touch, Jamhouse and Nightman were the hippest venues around. There was no traffic on the ring roads, and if you got tired of Chinese food you might take a trip to Fangzhuang to visit this Italian restaurant that had suddenly appeared (should we go to Fangzhuang tonight, honey)? And the really plugged-in? They might even heard of this new district called "Sanlitun" that had a couple of upcoming bars like Poachers....

This week on Sinica, Jeremy and Kaiser are joined by two old friends from the 1990s, Jessica Meider (now a professional musician) and Jonathan Ansfield (now a professional journalist). We don't chat much about, but if you're a long-timer in Beijing, or just curious what it used to be like, join us as we look back at youth, music and share tips on how to do a backflip in a PLA-owned bars.

Sinica - Keep in Touch, Nightman (pdf)

Sat, 28 Feb 2015 14:45:26 -0800

Sinica - Business and F*cking in China

Fri, 13 Feb 2015 09:00:00 -0800

"Murdering a guy together is how you really get to know someone...."

So begins our discussion with James Palmer, and you won't know how badly we're twisting his words out of context until you listen to the full show, which starts with us grilling James on "what you have to do to be part of Chinese business culture" and descends from there into stories of the sort of booze-and-ketamine-fuelled business dealmaking that seems to consist of a large amount of male business culture in China. But why? And what is happening to the whole industry under Xi Jinping's recent crackdown?

Haven't heard of our guest yet? James Palmer is one of our favorite long-form writers on contemporary China, who counts among his China-related books The Death of Mao: The Tangshan Earthquake and the Birth of the New China (short-listed for the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize in 2012). James is also the author of a number of fantastic pieces from AEON magazine on China's post-1980s generation and the deliberate marginalization of the disabled. We hope you enjoy the show as much as we do.

iTunes has been spotty for everyone in China since the New Year. But if you are outside China and would like to use it to keep up-to-date on the Sinica show, you can subscribe using our private RSS feed. We also invite everyone to download this show as a standalone mp3 file to share with your friends. If you have questions or suggested topics, feel free to reach out to us anytime by email at sinica@popupchinese.com.

Sinica - Business and F*cking in China (pdf)

Fri, 13 Feb 2015 09:00:00 -0800

Sinica - The Visual World of Jonah Kessel

Sun, 08 Feb 2015 07:24:03 -0800

This week on Sinica, Jeremy and Kaiser are joined by Jonah M. Kessel, former freelance photographer and now full-time videographer for the New York Times who has covered a wide range of China stories, traveled widely through the country, and produced a series of great videos on everything from the Foxconn scandals and the Southeast Asian heroin trade to more practical coverage on how to walk your cabbage. Join us as we talk to Jonah about his work and his experiences in China.

Like Sinica? Because our new layout makes it a bit harder to keep abreast of what has recently been published, we encourage all interested listeners to subscribe to our show via our dedicated RSS feed. And if you have questions or comments, please feel welcome to leave them in our comment section, or reach out to us by email at sinica@popupchinese.com. [standalone mp3 download]

Sinica - The Visual World of Jonah Kessel (pdf)

Sun, 08 Feb 2015 07:24:03 -0800

Sinica - Shanghai and the Future Now

Fri, 30 Jan 2015 09:00:00 -0800

Expats in Beijing may be partial to our rugged smogtropolis, but even the most diehard northerner will admit that Shanghai is the more romantic of the two cities, with its very name conjuring up images of 19th century opium dens, jazz bars in the 1930s, and a sort of transcendent cosmopolitanism that connects the mystique of the city's international past with its almost tangible hunger for the future. Yet it was only really in the early-to-mid-1990s that Shanghai pulled away from its status as a second-tier city and began re-establishing itself as the world's future city.

Today on Sinica, we take our eyes off Beijing for a change, and direct our gaze to Pudong and Puxi, and talk about what Shanghai means to us, itself and others. Joining us for this discussion is Anna Greenspan, author of Shanghai Future. Among her other accomplishments, Anna is also a teacher of urbanism and cybernetic culture at NYU Shanghai, and is the founder of the Shanghai Studies Society and Hacked Matter. If you're living down south be sure to check them out! [standalone mp3 file]

Sinica - Shanghai and the Future Now (pdf)

Fri, 30 Jan 2015 09:00:00 -0800

Sinica - Inside the Property Revolution

Fri, 23 Jan 2015 09:00:00 -0800

This week on Sinica, Jeremy is delighted to host Luigi Tomba, expert on municipal government in China, fellow at the Australian Centre on China and the World, and author of the book The Government Next Door: neighborhood politics in urban China. Since 2005, Luigi has also been the co-editor of The China Journal, a well-known academic journal on Chinese affairs.

We're also delighted to have Luigi since it gives us an excuse to talk about the property market, without obsessing over real estate speculation and prices per square meter. Instead, after starting with a look at the emerging middle class in China, we move on to talk about Luigi's ideas on how China's property revolution and the dismantlement of the danwei system has counterintuitively ended up strengthening rather than weakening the government's ability to control its citizens on a local level. We also look at how China's shift to community-based governance structure has improved the image of the Party at the grassroots level. [standalone mp3 download]

Sinica - Inside the Property Revolution (pdf)

Fri, 23 Jan 2015 09:00:00 -0800

Sinica - China and Charlie

Sun, 18 Jan 2015 05:48:01 -0800

First there were the terrorist attacks in Paris. And then there was the global reaction to the attacks, with its spate of frenzied free-speech cartooning. And then there was the counter-reaction to the initial reaction, which played out mostly on Facebook. And then the China Daily decided to wade into the fray, vaguely blaming Charlie Hebdo for “[persisting] in its way of doing things" and alienating most thinking people with its somewhat baffling display of not-quite-sympathic-but-not-exactly-condemnatory rhetorical showboating.

So what does all of this have to do with China, and how are the terrorist attacks getting read by the Chinese government? Joining our two hosts to talk about this story is none other than Ada Shen, renowned social-media wunderkind, and longtime friend of both Jeremy and Kaiser. Ada joins us for an interesting discussion that meanders us from Algeria and King Lear to ancient Chinese horses and their sometimes-controversial burial customs. So please grab a seat!

Sinica - China and Charlie (pdf)

Sun, 18 Jan 2015 05:48:01 -0800

Advanced - Intrigue at the National Gallery of London

Thu, 15 Jan 2015 17:15:59 -0800

The tip-off? It had come from an old landline in the basement of the National Gallery, so the caller could have been anyone associated with the institute, and possibly even the director himself. But finding out exactly who had made that call was proving more troublesome than Inspector Zhang had anticipated, since the phone had been wiped clean of prints, and none of the staff - even when questioned privately - showed anything but bewilderment at any suggestion of impropriety.

So who had snuck into that backroom, and was there any substance to their allegations of artistic skullduggery? Complicating matters further was the demand for extreme discretion coming down from his supervisors at Scotland Yard, who themselves were now under pressure from Downing Street and the House of Windsor, both parties well aware that with the integrity of the Royal Collection at stake, the nation itself might face a public scandal that could threaten the integrity of the monarchy itself.

Advanced - Intrigue at the National Gallery of London (pdf)

Thu, 15 Jan 2015 17:15:59 -0800

Advanced - Intrigue at the National Gallery of London (dialogue)

Thu, 15 Jan 2015 17:15:59 -0800

Sinica - From the Interpreter's Booth

Fri, 09 Jan 2015 09:00:00 -0800

This week on Sinica, Kaiser and Jeremy are joined by Lynette Shi and William White, two globe-trotting adventurers who've found unconventional careers navigating the shoals of the professional interpretation circuit in China. So whether you're considering a career in interpretation and want the inside story on how to do it, or are just curious what two of the working greats consider the most unexpected and hilarious moments of their careers, join us for this show.

On a side note, the audio quality is a bit soft during this recording. We've tried to fix it as we can, but there are a few moments that might -- we'll be fixing this moving forward. In the meantime, if you have your own thoughts on Chinese-English interpretation or just want to nitpick our translators, please feel welcome to comment in the discussion space below, or write Kaiser and Jeremy directly at sinica@popupchinese.com. We're also pleased to release this show as a standalone mp3 file if you don't want to stream directly from Popup Chinese. Enjoy!

Sinica - From the Interpreter's Booth (pdf)

Fri, 09 Jan 2015 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - Negotiation and Fortune

Wed, 07 Jan 2015 02:17:22 -0800

As a professional negotiator with more than twenty years experience on the force, Richard had dealt with hostage cases before and knew that this would be a particularly tough one to crack. And his was an impression confirmed by the grim visages on the faces of the SWAT team. Holed up on the upper floors of the National Bank, the kidnappers had settled into a defensive position that would make storming the building a disastrous exercise in bloodshed, making a negotiated settlement the only practical option.

Intermediate - Negotiation and Fortune (pdf)

Wed, 07 Jan 2015 02:17:22 -0800

Intermediate - Negotiation and Fortune (dialogue)

Wed, 07 Jan 2015 02:17:22 -0800

Sinica - Second Call-In New Years Show

Fri, 02 Jan 2015 09:00:00 -0800

Sorry for the delay in getting this show released, folks (all hail Internet issues), but we're delighted to finally publish Sinica's second annual New Years call-in-show. If you've been following all of the news and gossip involving China for the last year, join Kaiser and Jeremy as we take your questions and talk insider politics on everything from the ongoing anti-corruption campaign to the question of coming media controls and what on earth we are all doing with our lives in China anyway.

As we pull into 2015, let us remind you that in addition to listening to Sinica here on Popup Chinese, you are warmly invited to download our show as a standalone mp3 file. Questions or suggestions about the show are welcome by email at sinica@popupchinese.com, while we also encourage everyone to check out our dedicated RSS feed right here.

Sinica - Second Call-In New Years Show (pdf)

Fri, 02 Jan 2015 09:00:00 -0800

Sinica - Regulating the Fourth Estate in China

Fri, 26 Dec 2014 09:00:00 -0800

The explosion of the commercial media sphere in China over the last decade hasn't been particularly subtle, especially if you're anything like us and walk past multiple Chinese newsstands in the morning. But let's look beyond the way kiosks have traded promoting the Beijing Evening News for hawking glossy cosmetics adverts and celebrity gossip rags, and ask how the rise of a for-profit motive in the press has affected the way the Chinese government regulates the industry, and what the consequences of this are for the rise of what we traditionally think of as the role of the fourth estate in Western democracies.

As we turn our focus to these questions this week, Kaiser Kuo is delighted to be joined by Daniela Stockmann, assistant professor of Political Science at the University of Leiden and the woman who quite literally wrote the book on this subject with the publication of Media Commercialization and Authoritarian Rule in China, a fact-heavy tome that goes into detail about how China has managed to maintain its apparatus of media control despite its ostensible shift towards a commercially-oriented media sector.

On a final note, we should point out that we've just put together a new version of Popup Chinese platform, and one of the features of the new site is a fancy new javascript-powered audio player that will let you listen to all of our shows directly using your iPhone or Android or flash-free tablet. That said, if you still want to download today's show as a standalone mp3 file, please consider yourself welcome to do so. And if you have any feedback on the show or suggestions about guests you'd like to see us host in the future.

Sinica - Regulating the Fourth Estate in China (pdf)

Fri, 26 Dec 2014 09:00:00 -0800

Sinica - Cooperation or Exploitation: Howard French on China in Africa

Fri, 19 Dec 2014 09:00:00 -0800

Exactly how exploitative are Chinese development activities on the African continent? What exactly is motivating the various resources-for-development deals inked by African governments over the last decade, and what strategies are these governments now adopting in the face of power imbalances with China? What is driving the mass migration of Chinese workers to the African continent, and why does everyone from Senegal seem to come from Henan?

This week on Sinica, we ask these questions and many more as Kaiser Kuo and Jeremy Goldkorn are joined in conversation with Howard French. If you've spent a while in China, you may have head of Howard as the author of a well-known book on Shanghai's architectural legacy, and lecturer on the subject. What you may not know is that he is also an expert on African development, and the new author of China's Second Continent: How a Million Migrants Are Building a New Empire in Africa.

Want more Sinica, but frustrated at your biological limitations that force you to have to download each episode one-by-one (hint: standalone mp3 link)? Why not join the 21st century and set your computer to the task by subscribing to our Sinica RSS feed. If you have ideas on topics you'd like to hear covered or suggestions on guests we should feature on the show, please feel welcome to write the team at sinica@popupchinese.com.

Sinica - Cooperation or Exploitation: Howard French on China in Africa (pdf)

Fri, 19 Dec 2014 09:00:00 -0800

Sinica - Band of Brothers: China and South Africa

Fri, 12 Dec 2014 09:00:00 -0800

You'd be forgiven for thinking that China and South Africa weren't actual neighbors given all the pomp and ritual that surrounded South African President Jacob Zuma's recent state visit to China, a trip that saw China roll out the red carpet in a very uncritical fashion not often seen these days, with even Xinhua getting into the spirit of international camraderie with fulsome editorials praising the South African people and their international spirit.

And in the spirit of confusing co-host Kaiser and changing the balance of power in the studio, Jeremy is delighted to have invited a "real" South African to join us this week. And so our guest is John Bailey, Asia Correpondent of ENCA, the 24-hour television news broadcaster focusing on South African and African stories. In this hour-long show, John joins us to talk about what is happening in South Africa, and why the country's relations with China have taken such a rosy turn.

Enjoy Sinica? If you like this show and would like more to show up automatically on your iPhone as we publish them, subscribe to Sinica manually by selecting the option "Subscribe to Podcast" from the File menu in iTunes and providing the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica when prompted. We also welcome everyone to download this show directly from our server as a standalone mp3 file, and to send comments and suggestions for future shows to us at sinica@popupchinese.com. Enjoy!

Sinica - Band of Brothers: China and South Africa (pdf)

Fri, 12 Dec 2014 09:00:00 -0800

Sinica - Domestic Abuse in China

Fri, 05 Dec 2014 09:00:00 -0800

It doesn't take a lot of time in China to see household violence play out in supermarkets, in schools, or even in the streets. But exactly how common is domestic violence in China? In the face of recent evidence from Peking University that more than 70 percent of all children suffer from some form of physical or emotional abuse, not to mention the never-stopping stories of spousal abuse (by both men and women) that pour out in the press, we wanted to take an episode to look into the issue and ask what the hell is going on?

That's why this week, Sinica is delighted to host Su Wenying and Cai Yiping, two leading advocates of women and children's rights who join us for a discussion of domestic violence in China. Our conversation starts with a discussion of the current legal landscape, and moves on to the prevalence of domestic abuse with some surprising stats about how education and social status does and does not affect the prevalence of violence in this country, before we look at public awareness of the problem, and ask to what extent it seems likely to change anytime soon.

Enjoy listening to Sinica? We invite everyone to download this show as an standalone mp3 file for listening offline or sharing. If you have any feedback on the show or suggestions about topics you'd like to hear covered, please feel welcome to leave a note in our comments section, or send us an email at sinica@popupchinese.com.

Sinica - Domestic Abuse in China (pdf)

Fri, 05 Dec 2014 09:00:00 -0800

Sinica - Internet Wrangling in Wuzhen

Tue, 25 Nov 2014 09:00:00 -0800

With Jeremy Goldkorn conscripted into family duties as father of lucky newborn, Kaiser Kuo hosts alone this week as we turn our attention to the World Internet Conference last week, when a last minute attempt by Chinese organizers to foist the so-called Wuzhen Declaration on participants provoked an international backlash over concerns it was attempting to make the international community complicit in even sharper restrictions on Internet usage China seems poised to impose under the country's new Internet Tsar, Lu Wei.

Missed the news? Joining us to bring everyone up-to-date with a combination of insider-gossip and academic analysis is Rogier Creemers of Oxford University, founder of the China Copyright and Media Blog, and one of the unsung heroes of China-watching given his penchant for producing rapid and accurate translations of important Chinese policy documents and speeches that tend to be ignored by the rest of the press. Welcome Rogier!

Sinica - Internet Wrangling in Wuzhen (pdf)

Tue, 25 Nov 2014 09:00:00 -0800

Sinica - Banned but Booming: Golf in China

Fri, 21 Nov 2014 09:00:00 -0800

"If you're not working in China, you're probably not working at all...."

Despite China's legal moratorium on the development of the golf industry, a policy driven by concerns over illegal farmland seizures and the potential misallocation of agricultural land and water resources, the golf industry has experienced an unprecedented frenzy of development over the past thirty years, with the very government organs that overtly disapprove of the luxury sport often promoting its growth, leading to a situation where not even the central government has more than a vague inkling of how many courses actually exist in the country.

With rumors of an impending crackdown on the industry circulating in the industry though, and questions of whether this kind of growth will or can continue, we are delighted to be joined in the studio by Dan Washburn, former founder of The Shanghaiist, and now Chief Content Officer for the Asia Society in New York, where Dan has lived while working on his latest book: The Forbidden Game: Golf and the Chinese Dream.

Like Sinica? Don't forget that you can download this show and all of our previous shows as a standalone mp3 file. And if you have any suggestions on topics you'd like to see us tackle or just feel like yelling at Kaiser or Jeremy, feel welcome to write us anytime at sinica@popupchinese.com.

Sinica - Banned but Booming: Golf in China (pdf)

Fri, 21 Nov 2014 09:00:00 -0800

Sinica - Behind the Curtain at APEC

Fri, 14 Nov 2014 09:00:00 -0800

With tensions between the West and Russia running high over Ukraine, China and Japan still wrangling over the Diaoyu islands, and America and China fighting over pretty much the same old petty stuff, it's easy to be cynical about APEC. But this year's summit seemed to accomplish quite a lot, and not just cleaning up the air in Beijing for a week or so. This week on Sinica, we look behind the public politics with an insider's guide to what was really going on.

Joining Jeremy and Kaiser for this analysis of the scene-behind-the-scene are two great political analysts and commentators tied closely to American geostrategy in Asia: Evan Feigenbaum, Vice President of the Paulson Institute and adviser on China to Deputy Secretary of State Robert B. Zoellick, along with Damien Ma, fellow at the Paulson Institute and author of In Line Behind a Billion People.

Like Sinica? As always, let us remind you that we have a special RSS feed that feeds out nothing but Sinica shows if you're interested in subscribing to the podcast that way. We also welcome comments and feedback by email at sinica@popupchinese.com and are pleased to make this show available as a standalone mp3 file for everyone interested in downloading it, or passing it along to friends. And thanks for listening!

Sinica - Behind the Curtain at APEC (pdf)

Fri, 14 Nov 2014 09:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - 10 signs you may have an asshole for a husband

Tue, 11 Nov 2014 11:40:36 -0800

As the whirlwind romance that preceded Mary's honeymoon faded, it became increasing clear that her ill-fated marriage had thrust her into a conjugal death march. Yet despite her husband's passive aggressive hostility, Mary lived in the hope that sheer enthusiasm could somehow break through his frustrated silence, and so continued to ask after him and express an interest in his affairs, and all despite the fact that -- let's face it -- the man was an unremitting asshole.

Absolute Beginners - 10 signs you may have an asshole for a husband (pdf)

Tue, 11 Nov 2014 11:40:36 -0800

Absolute Beginners - 10 signs you may have an asshole for a husband (dialogue)

Tue, 11 Nov 2014 11:40:36 -0800

Sinica - Damned Lies, Statistics and China

Sat, 08 Nov 2014 09:00:00 -0800

In a country where every single province frequently reports annual growth rates exceeding the national average, and the country's premier is applauded for publicly ignoring his own National Bureau of Statistics, it isn't hard to take Mark Twain's famous aphorism about "lies, damned lies and statistics" to heart as practical advice for navigating the complexities of life in China.

But since this raises the question of how anyone is supposed to know anything at all about this place we live, this week on Sinica Jeremy Goldkorn is delighted to be joined by Matthew Crabbe, author of the recent book Myth-Busting China's Numbers, who brings us a lot of delicious anecdotes on just how crazy Chinese statistics can get, along with practical advice on sorting out the reliable from the purely fantastical. And just when you would think the podcast can't get any better? That's when the surprise guest happens.

Final Note: the standalone mp3 download is here if you need it. If you've been listening to Sinica for a while you may also remember our recent interview with Sascha Matuszak about martial arts in China. As mentioned in that podcast as well as this one, Sascha is running a Kickstarter to fund a documentary video on the subject. If you're interested in checking it out or supporting the project, you can find details of the project online right here.

Sinica - Damned Lies, Statistics and China (pdf)

Sat, 08 Nov 2014 09:00:00 -0800

Sinica - David Walker on China in the Australian Mind

Fri, 07 Nov 2014 09:00:00 -0800

This week on Sinica, Kaiser and Jeremy are delighted to by joined by Professor David Walker, chair of the Australian Studies department at Peking University, and historian with a special focus on Australian immigration policies and relations with China since 1850. Starting with a look back at Australia's history of exclusion, our discussion moves forward to look at the state of relations today, as well as the state of Australia studies in China more generally.

Like Sinica? If you want to have Kaiser and Jeremy show up automatically on your computer or Android/iPhone whenever a new episode is released, fire up your favourite RSS reader and subscribe to our custom feed, available right here. Comments and suggestions for future shows are welcome in our discussion section, as well as by email at sinica@popupchinese.com. We also welcome everyone to download this show as a standalone mp3 file for listening or sharing with friends. Enjoy!

Sinica - David Walker on China in the Australian Mind (pdf)

Fri, 07 Nov 2014 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - American Hukou

Mon, 27 Oct 2014 09:00:00 -0700

The admission process had already taken four months. Four months of school tours, and meetings with first the principal and then every fourth grade teacher on payroll. Four months of paperwork, paperwork and more paperwork as Jonathan sat sullenly at home wondering when he would finally be able to go back to school. It had been a long wait, but today, at least, his parents would get an answer to that question.

Intermediate - American Hukou (pdf)

Mon, 27 Oct 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - American Hukou (dialogue)

Mon, 27 Oct 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Chomping at the Bitcoin

Fri, 24 Oct 2014 09:00:00 -0700

After a shocking expose of Jeremy Goldkorn's criminal past, Sinica this week moves on to examine the Bitcoin phenomenon in China. Joined by Zennon Kapron, fintech expert, owner of the Shanghai consultancy Kapronasia, and recent author of the book Chomping at the Bitcoin, we delve into the driving forces behind the cryptocurrency revolution in China, as well as take a quick look at the various other kinds of innovation surfacing in China's online financial sector.

Interested in more Sinica but shy about signing up at Popup Chinese? If you'd like to get iTunes to download new episodes of Sinica automatically as they are released, don't forget you can subscribe to our free public RSS feed and have your computer download new episodes as soon as they are released. Twitter users are also welcome to join the constant stream of discussion about China news by following Kaiser at @KaiserKuo and Jeremy at @danwei. And we welcome everyone to download this show as a standalone MP3 file too.

Sinica - Chomping at the Bitcoin (pdf)

Fri, 24 Oct 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - China Daddy Issues

Fri, 17 Oct 2014 09:00:00 -0700

We've all heard about the difficulty of finding good schools in China, and know first hand about the food and air safety problems. But what about the terrors of pedestrian crossings, the dilemmas of how much trust you should inculcate in your kids, or how much abject poverty should be included in family outings? For our answers to these questions and much more, join Kaiser Kuo, Jeremy Goldkorn and David Moser for this no-holds-barred and boys-only discussion of what it's like to be a father in China.

Enjoy Sinica? If you'd like to have Kaiser and crew show up automatically on your computer whenever a new episode of Sinica is published, you can subscribe to our RSS feed by opening iTunes, selecting the option "Subscribe to Podcast" from the File menu and providing the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica when prompted. We also welcome listeners to download this show as a standalone mp3 file. Thanks for listening, and enjoy!

Sinica - China Daddy Issues (pdf)

Fri, 17 Oct 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - The Sounds of Old Beijing

Fri, 10 Oct 2014 09:00:00 -0700

This week on Sinica, Kaiser and Jeremy are joined by Colin Chinnery from the Beijing Sound History Project, a recording project that aims to preserve the distinctive clangs, songs and shouts of traditional Beijing life. In addition to sampling some recordings from the archives, we also talk about Chinnery's work with the Shijia Hutong Museum, which recreates life in the narrow hutongs of Old Beijing.

Have thoughts? Once you've done listening, please share your thoughts in our comments section, or write us at sinica@popupchinese.com. We encourage everyone to subscribe to the Sinica show through RSS as well. You can do this by opening up iTunes, 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. Or download this show as a standalone mp3 file.

Sinica - The Sounds of Old Beijing (pdf)

Fri, 10 Oct 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Chinese Martial Arts

Fri, 03 Oct 2014 09:00:00 -0700

This week on Sinica, Jeremy Goldkorn and David Moser are pleased to be joined by Sascha Matuszak, a Chengdu-based expert on Chinese martial arts and the producer of a new documentary on Chinese MMA, a competitive tournament series where competitors combine different styles from varying schools of combat in a frenzied quest to pummel their opponents into submission.

Enjoy Sinica? If you'd prefer to have new episodes of Sinica stream to your computer automatically as they're released, subscribe to our special RSS feed using iTunes. Alternately, you can get into the spirit of Daoism and download our shows week-by-week as we release them: this podcast is available for download right here as a standalone mp3 file. We also welcome feedback on our shows as well as suggestions for future guests or topics by email directly to Kaiser and Jeremy at sinica@popupchinese.com.

Sinica - Chinese Martial Arts (pdf)

Fri, 03 Oct 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Shattered Dreams

Tue, 30 Sep 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Rather than a regular podcast, today we are pleased to publish a longer Elementary dialogue designed to test your listening comprehension. The language used here is not terribly difficult, but it is spoken at native pace and with the sort of emotional inflection you'll find living and working in China. So take a listen and click through to our quiz to see how much you understand. Our annotated transcript is there as always in case you have difficulty.

Elementary - Shattered Dreams (pdf)

Tue, 30 Sep 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - In Conversation with Mara Hvistendahl

Sat, 27 Sep 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Kaiser and Jeremy are joined this week by Mara Hvistendahl, Pulitzer Prize-nominated author and long-standing resident of Shanghai, to discuss her two main works. Along with discussing the twists and turns of her murder novel, And the City Swallowed Them, we also touch upon on law enforcement in China, the global modeling industry, the parallel lives of ex-pats and migrant workers in big Chinese cities, and the different philosophical approaches to punishment. Also, we look into sex-ratio imbalances around the world and its diverse adverse social repercussions, the topic Mara explores in Unnatural Selection.

You like listening to Kaiser and Jeremy as much as we do? Subscribe to Sinica through our private RSS feed, or download this show as a standalone mp3 file to share with your friends. If you have questions or suggested topics, feel free to reach out to us anytime by email at sinica@popupchinese.com.

Sinica - In Conversation with Mara Hvistendahl (pdf)

Sat, 27 Sep 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Quiz Night - The Mysteries of Taobao

Wed, 24 Sep 2014 09:00:00 -0700

With the Alibaba IPO throwing daytraders worldwide into a frenzed adulation of all things China, and the press going wild over Jack Ma and his Chinese e-commerce engine, this week's show takes a closer look at Taobao - the jewel in the Alibaba crown - with a hard-hitting quiz covering the most important things no-one seems to be able to remember about our favourite shopping site. Also on the show: questions about Beijing and the secrets of Uighur time....

Quiz Night is a regular feature here at Popup Chinese that we've put together for intermediate to upper-intermediate students. And our goal is not so much teaching anything in particular so much as producing a half-mandarin, half-english show that features higher-level vocabulary you won't run into in other learning materials. Today, join us and learn everything from the name of Goldman Sachs in Chinese, to the essential catchphrases needed to outsource your thesis to somewhere south of Wuhan.

Quiz Night - The Mysteries of Taobao (pdf)

Wed, 24 Sep 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - LGBT China

Fri, 19 Sep 2014 09:00:00 -0700

This week on Sinica, Jeremy Goldkorn and David Moser are joined by Fan Popo for a discussion of the way life works for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual (LGBT) community in China. For those who have not heard of him, Fan is an accomplished film-maker and social activist, best known as author of the book Happy Together, a complete record of 100 queer films, as well as the director of the China Queer Film Festival.

If you like this show, give a thought to subscribing to Sinica through our private RSS feed, or download this show as a standalone mp3 file to share with friends. Finally, if you have questions or suggested topics for the show, please feel welcome to reach out to us anytime by email at sinica@popupchinese.com.

Sinica - LGBT China (pdf)

Fri, 19 Sep 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - The Public Security Alarm

Fri, 12 Sep 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Through many countries and over many seas I have come, dear brother, to this futuristic society in which you live, only to find myself astonished and humbled by its paradoxical embrace of social monitoring tools which seem to assure social order, yet also remain respectful of individual privacy and democratic rights. But alas! What is that pale cry? From whence comes that demonic shriek which fills the air with groans of woe, and strikes my soul with fear?

Learning Chinese? This is a fairly easy beginning lesson that covers the basics of asking and answering questions, such as asking what things are. We also give you a great phrase you can use to make yourself seem more understood, and help you apologize as you push yourself off the subway. So if you're just getting started with mandarin, check it out!

Absolute Beginners - The Public Security Alarm (pdf)

Fri, 12 Sep 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - The Public Security Alarm (dialogue)

Fri, 12 Sep 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Islamic State Sinica

Fri, 05 Sep 2014 09:00:00 -0700

With the recent capture of a Chinese ISIS solder triggering speculation about the involvement of Chinese citizens in the Iraqi civil war, Kaiser Kuo and Jeremy Goldkorn are joined in our studio by Edward Wong from the New York Times and Prashant Rao of AFP, both of whom have spent considerable time reporting from Iraq. Their discussion starts off with an expose on the nature and identity of IS before moving on to China, talking about the ways in which the rise of the militant Islamic movement has affected Iraqi perceptions of China, and then a look into how these events relate to the broader crisis in the Middle East and US-China relations.

As always, if you enjoy Sinica, let us remind you that you can download this episode as a standalone mp3 file. Everyone is also welcome to subscribe to our Sinica RSS feed through iTunes, or get in touch with us at sinica@popupchinese.com with suggestions about topics and guests you'd like to see on the show.

Sinica - Islamic State Sinica (pdf)

Fri, 05 Sep 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Beijing, 2015

Mon, 01 Sep 2014 09:00:00 -0700

The government had first dismissed rumours of the city's impending water scarcity, yet as the months dragged on and the supply trucks grew less and less frequent, public denial morphed into slow acceptance as the city baked. In time, even the moat around the Forbidden City drained to nothing, its dry stones picked clean by the dessicated husks of those who remained, parched shadows of their former selves.

Learning Chinese? This is an upper-level recording that features an original movie trailer. If your Chinese is getting up there, take a listen and see how much you understand. While we don't walk through the recording line-by-line, David and Grace do point out some of the more difficult bits, including some revolutionary language you may not yet know. So take a listen and let us know what you think.

Intermediate - Beijing, 2015 (pdf)

Mon, 01 Sep 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Beijing, 2015 (dialogue)

Mon, 01 Sep 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Ghost Cities to Luxury Malls

Fri, 29 Aug 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Remember the good old days when people did not talk obsessively about real estate and housing prices, and dinner parties would feature conversations about art? Well so do we, but with those days long gone, we're delighted to host two experts on the real estate market in China, who join us for a show that looks into the current state of China's most famous ghost towns from the last decade as well as the retail space with mall development and more.

Joining host Jeremy Goldkorn for this discussion are Rob Schmitz, China correspondent for the American Public Media's Marketplace show, who shares his personal experience visiting famous ghost cities like Ordos and who will tell us what they are like these days. Also in the studio is Timothy Coghlan, a long-time China hand who is an expert in the luxury and fashion industries and currently works as an expert on the real estate market for Savills real estate consulting company.

Please note: all listeners are warmly invited to download this show as a standalone mp3 file. We also encourage anyone who wants to be notified when new episodes are released to subscribe to our custom iTunes feed. Questions and comments are also always welcome at sinice@popupchinese.com. We look forward to hearing from you.

Sinica - Ghost Cities to Luxury Malls (pdf)

Fri, 29 Aug 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Finding the Essence of China

Fri, 15 Aug 2014 09:00:00 -0700

This week, Kaiser Kuo and David Moser are delighted to host Jeremiah Jenne, Director at The Hutong, Beijing’s premier cultural exchange center, for a conversation that picks apart this country's obsession with "Chinese characteristics" and asks whether this is empty rhetoric, or something that actually matters. In the process, we wade back to Imperial efforts to reconcile the "essence" of China with "practical" Western technologies and ideas (中体西用).

Have your own thoughts? Share them in the comments section below, or write to us at sinica@popupchinese.com. And remember, to subscribe to the Sinica show through RSS, just open up iTunes, click on the "Advanced" menu and select the option "Subscribe to Podcast". When prompted, copy the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica into the box. If you'd like to download this mp3 directly from our site you can also grab it as a standalone mp3 file. Enjoy!

Sinica - Finding the Essence of China (pdf)

Fri, 15 Aug 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Advanced - Zhu Jing and Her Music

Thu, 14 Aug 2014 15:18:46 -0700

“梦想是很单纯的”、“当你无法左右这个世界的时候，就去创作吧”、“妈妈，我希望下辈子你可以做我的女儿，这样我就可以像你爱我一样来爱你”……今天，让我们一起走近朱婧——一位才华横溢的创作歌手，去了解她与音乐的不解之缘，去聆听她歌声背后的一个个平凡、真实又感动人心的故事。那时，那人，那天籁般的歌喉……

Advanced - Zhu Jing and Her Music (pdf)

Thu, 14 Aug 2014 15:18:46 -0700

Sinica - In Memory of Jenkai Kuo

Fri, 08 Aug 2014 09:00:00 -0700

This week on Sinica, Jeremy and David welcome back Kaiser to remember the life and lessons of his father, Jenkai Kuo (Guo Jingkai) (郭倞闓). He was an upstanding man who spent much of his life dedicated to his passions, none more important than his family. From the beginning, he formed a strong self-identity as Chinese and, after raising his family in America, dedicated himself to building bridges to China. Trained as a Mechanical Engineer at National Taiwan University, Ohio State University and the University of California, Berkeley, Jenkai was known for his intellectual prowess and steadfastly worked on his inventions until his passing.

Coming to see himself as living in two worlds, Jenkai reconciled this with integrity and ferocious logic, two traits which stood out to those who met him. His profound love for his family and country(ies) can be seen through his evolving views on justice as well as his lasting legacy of Sino-US identity. The spirit and quality of a man of Jenkai’s ilk is rare, and on what would have been his 82nd birthday, we are proud to hear some of his life as chronicled by his son, Kaiser.

Enjoy Sinica? If you'd like to download the show without playing it through our on-site player, please feel free to grab the standalone mp3 file. You can also use any RSS feed reader to subscribe to this podcast and get updates automatically: just use our dedicated feed which can be found on http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica here at Popup Chinese.

Sinica - In Memory of Jenkai Kuo (pdf)

Fri, 08 Aug 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - The Rule of Law in China

Sat, 02 Aug 2014 09:00:00 -0700

This week on Sinica, Jeremy and David are joined by Donald Clarke, professor at George Washington University where he specializes in Chinese law, for a discussion of what is happening with the Zhou Yongkang corruption scandal, as well as ongoing events in the 4th Plenary Session. Although you may not have heard of his name, we are fairly sure you'll have run into his work, seeing as Professor Clarke founded and maintains ChinaLaw, the leading English-language Internet resource for discussing legal issues in China.

As always, before we go let us remind you that - in addition to listening through our site and RSS feed - you are warmly invited to download this show as a standalone mp3 file. And if you have questions or suggestions about the show or want to contact us by email, please feel free to write us at sinica@popupchinese.com and we'll do our best to get back to you in a timely fashion.

Sinica - The Rule of Law in China (pdf)

Sat, 02 Aug 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Travelling Light

Mon, 04 Aug 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Xiao Wang strained to tighten the security strap around her luggage, pressing her knee against the bulging fabric to muscle the suitcase closed. She was not sure when or how packing had become this problematic. For while she had long ago become accustomed to the need for travelling light, it nonetheless seemed that there was somehow more and more to pack for each trip.

Elementary - Travelling Light (pdf)

Mon, 04 Aug 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Hong Kong Protests and Suicide in China

Sat, 26 Jul 2014 09:00:00 -0700

This week on Sinica, we’re delighted to welcome back the stalwart Mr. Gady Epstein, Beijing correspondent for The Economist, to discuss the recent protests in Hong Kong, as well as the flux in China's suicide rates. And specifically, we’ll be looking at the similarities and differences in the stories told by officials and rural women on this front.

Enjoy Sinica? Just remember that if you have trouble listening to the show through our on-site player, you are always welcome to download this show as a standalone mp3 file. All listeners are also welcome to subscribe to this and future shows using iTunes, which can be hooked up to our decidated RSS feed. Inquiries and suggestions for future show topics or guests are also welcome by email at sinica@popupchinese.com.

Sinica - Hong Kong Protests and Suicide in China (pdf)

Sat, 26 Jul 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Quiz Night - Einstein on the Beidaihe

Mon, 21 Jul 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Did you ever thumb through a fresh copy of City Weekend and wonder why the Readers' Choice Award for Creepiest Park in Beijing has been awarded to Jingshan Park every year since the mid-1660s? In this episode, Megan squares off with returning champion Zhiqiang to answer this as well as questions on rehab and earth's diminishing dolphin population. Normally, Megan and Joakeem are trapped in a discussion on how to define their relationship but during Quiz Night this week they stay off that topic for 16 uninterrupted minutes of bliss.

Learning Chinese? The Popup Chinese Quiz Night is easy-to-digest mixed-language edutainment for intermediate learners. Our goal is offering up stimulating high-level vocabulary that can help you hone your listening comprehension and vocab while havng fun, or at least enjoying the warm feeling of knowing that your Chinese is better than that of the Swedish guy who is hosting the show.

Quiz Night - Einstein on the Beidaihe (pdf)

Mon, 21 Jul 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Debating Societies in China

Fri, 18 Jul 2014 09:00:00 -0700

This week on Sinica, we're happy to welcome back Jeremy Goldkorn in conversation with David Weeks, founder and president of the National High School Debate League of China, a debating society currently established in twenty-seven cities throughout China. Join us as we discuss the history and current state of debate activities here in China and look into the role that these kind of groups play in promoting critical thinking in the Chinese education system.

Enjoy Sinica? If you'd like Kaiser and crew to show up automatically in iTunes or on your phone whenever we publish a new episode of Sinica, you can subscribe to Sinica manually by selecting the option "Subscribe to Podcast" from the File menu in iTunes and providing the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica when prompted. Or you can download this show directly from our server as a standalone mp3 file for listening yourself or sharing with friends. Enjoy!

Sinica - Debating Societies in China (pdf)

Fri, 18 Jul 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Advanced - Beijing Fun Life

Mon, 14 Jul 2014 09:00:00 -0700

是不是生活中总能遇到一些让你困惑不解、茫然无措的人和事？总有那么一些不可思议的人和事让你无语、无奈、甚至抓狂、崩溃，但也哭笑不得？很多时候我们选择了一笑而过。毕竟，林子大了，什么鸟儿都有。在这个多元化的社会里，那些奇闻趣事也不失为我们茶余饭后的谈资。也毕竟，怪圈里怎能没有奇葩？

Advanced - Beijing Fun Life (pdf)

Mon, 14 Jul 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Education in China

Fri, 11 Jul 2014 09:00:00 -0700

This week on Sinica, Kaiser Kuo and David Moser are joined by Jiang Xueqin, deputy principal of Tsinghua Fuzhong Affiliated High School and author of Creative China, for a discussion of the education system in China. Specifically, we’re curious to find out how China’s education system ranks internationally, how the politics of education play out here, and all the unscrupulous top-down planning that goes into modernizing Confucian education while maintaining political orthodoxy.

Have ideas? Once you're done listening, please feel welcome to share your thoughts in the comments section, or by writing us at sinica@popupchinese.com. Also remember, you can subscribe to the Sinica show through RSS by opening up iTunes, clicking on the "Advanced" menu and selecting the option "Subscribe to Podcast". Copy the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica into the box when prompted. Or download this show as a standalone mp3 file.

Sinica - Education in China (pdf)

Fri, 11 Jul 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - A Loosely Hammer-Related Lesson

Mon, 07 Jul 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Xiao Zhang loved his job. Even that time he fractured his arm at the water cooler, it wasn't until the pain began to trigger hallucinations that he even thought of going to the hospital. And then there was the day he had a spinal fracture and laughed it off until the company owner personally strapped him to a spinal board and ferried him to the emergency room. So a bruise? This was nothing. Hardly even visible.

Learning Chinese? And confused by our lesson photo this week? While we're willing to admit that this lesson doesn't have much to do with a hammer, all of the photos of bruises that we could find were offputting. And this lesson is going to live in our archives for a long time. So everyone gets a hammer instead. Consider it one degree of separation from our topic this week, and considerably better looking.

Absolute Beginners - A Loosely Hammer-Related Lesson (pdf)

Mon, 07 Jul 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - A Loosely Hammer-Related Lesson (dialogue)

Mon, 07 Jul 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Sin and Vice

Sat, 05 Jul 2014 09:00:00 -0700

This week on Sinica, Jeremy Goldkorn and David Moser turn their attention to vice, in conversation with Robert Foyle Hunwick, a media consultant and editor for BeijingCream.com. We talk about everything naughty that happens here, with special attention to the nightlife scene. Jumping around Southeast Asia, Robert gives a bit of dirt on the many vices of the night elsewhere in Asia.

Enjoy listening to Sinica? If you find listening to our show through the online flash player discomfiting, remember that you are always welcome to download it as a standalone mp3 file. Suggestions for and feedback on the show are always welcome in our comments section, or by email at sinica@popupchinese.com.

Sinica - Sin and Vice (pdf)

Sat, 05 Jul 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The Anarchists and the Printing Press

Tue, 01 Jul 2014 09:00:00 -0700

After years in the metaphorical wilderness, the Society of Anarchists had finally gathered enough funds to purchase their printing press. Tucked away covertly below the buildings of parliament, the machine stood as a symbol of intellectual resistance within the very halls of a power. Its presence would spark a revolution in dissent and art both, and draw the ire of the very political establishment whose ideology it mocked.

Intermediate - The Anarchists and the Printing Press (pdf)

Tue, 01 Jul 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The Anarchists and the Printing Press (dialogue)

Tue, 01 Jul 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Narendra Modi and Sino-Indian Relations

Fri, 27 Jun 2014 09:00:00 -0700

This week on Sinica, Kaiser and Jeremy grab Ananth Krishnanin, correspondent for India's national newspaper The Hindu, and drag him into our studio for a discussion of the state of Sino-Indian relations. In particular, we're curious why Sino-Indian relations seem to have warmed up after the election of Narendra Modi despite the new Prime Minister's seemingly nationalist agenda.

Enjoy Sinica? Even if you can't find India or China on the map, we'd still love to hear your suggestions on important topics you'd like to hear covered. So if there's a topic you'd like to hear us cover, send us an email at sinica@popupchinese.com and let us know. And please also feel welcome to download this show as a standalone mp3 file, or subscribe to our list of shows using our custom RSS feed.

Sinica - Narendra Modi and Sino-Indian Relations (pdf)

Fri, 27 Jun 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - A Trip to the Hospital

Mon, 23 Jun 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Having spent the weekend puttering around Chaoyang hospital listening to the groans of the infected, certain members of our staff would like to suggest that a priority for the next Fifth Year Plan be fixing the vending machines in all major health centers, so that at least some of this world's inevitable pain and suffering can be partially offset by the ready availability of fresh caffeine mixed with high-fructose corn syrup.

Learning Chinese? In previous lessons we've taught you the difference between 才 and 就. Most textbooks stop there, but we've decided to plow on with this lesson that is going to confuse things even more, by showcasing a specific case in which the two characters are actually used to mean exactly the same thing. Just think of this as one of those times when Chinese decides to kick you in the teeth... for fun.

Elementary - A Trip to the Hospital (pdf)

Mon, 23 Jun 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - A Trip to the Hospital (dialogue)

Mon, 23 Jun 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Isolda Morillo: una vida en China

Fri, 20 Jun 2014 09:00:00 -0700

This week on Sinica, Kaiser and Jeremy are delighted to be joined by Isolda Morillo, a Peruvian journalist for the Associated Press whose life story is as interesting as they come. Growing up in Beijing in the 1980s, where she attended local schools, Isolda went on to attend university in South America before launching a career in journalism which has taken her to Cuba, France and the United States as well as back to China.

Enjoy listening to Sinica? If you find listening to our show through the online flash player discomfiting, remember that you are always welcome to download it as a standalone mp3 file. Alternately, if you want to let iTunes do all of the work, feel free to subscribe to our dedicated RSS feed. Suggestions for and feedback on the show are always welcome in our comments section, or by email at sinica@popupchinese.com.

Sinica - Isolda Morillo: una vida en China (pdf)

Fri, 20 Jun 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Behind the Scenes at Popup Towers

Tue, 17 Jun 2014 13:53:38 -0700

This week at Popup Chinese, we take you behind the scenes of a recording session as Grace and Li Zhiqiang struggle to coax a decent performance out of a new voice actor. This is a fairly difficult intermediate show, but if you've been listening to us for a while, we think you'll like it. Not only does it help show what our recording sessions are usually like, but it provides a good excuse for talking about some of the less obvious words and phrases Chinese people use to describe more complex emotions.

Intermediate - Behind the Scenes at Popup Towers (pdf)

Tue, 17 Jun 2014 13:53:38 -0700

Intermediate - Behind the Scenes at Popup Towers (dialogue)

Tue, 17 Jun 2014 13:53:38 -0700

Sinica - Leftover women, misogynistic trolls and post grad study in China

Fri, 13 Jun 2014 09:00:00 -0700

This week on Sinica, Kaiser and Jeremy are joined once again by Leta Hong Fincher, newly-minted Ph.D. and author of Leftover Women, a book which gazes into the state of women's rights in China, and documents the way state-sanctioned propaganda, family-driven social pressures and legal customs in things like the housing market all effectively conspire to roll back much of the progress on gender equality China has made over the last twenty years. So we talk about that, and then about misogynistic Internet trolls, and what it's like to do a doctorate at Tsinghua University.

Have thoughts? Once you've done listening, please feel welcome to share your thoughts in the comments section, or by writing us at sinica@popupchinese.com. Also remember, you can subscribe to the Sinica show through RSS by opening up iTunes, clicking on the "Advanced" menu and selecting the option "Subscribe to Podcast". Copy the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica into the box when prompted. Or download this show directly from our site as a standalone mp3 file.

Sinica - Leftover women, misogynistic trolls and post grad study in China (pdf)

Fri, 13 Jun 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - You Had One Job

Mon, 09 Jun 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Sarah had struggled for years with her company's internship program, which seemed to saddle her each year with marginally less competent and marginally more slack-jawed members of the local student population. Yet while the interns had never been exactly productive, Jared was in a class of his own....

Elementary - You Had One Job (pdf)

Mon, 09 Jun 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - You Had One Job (dialogue)

Mon, 09 Jun 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Rice, Wheat and Air Filters

Fri, 06 Jun 2014 09:00:00 -0700

This week on Sinica, we're delighted to be joined by Thomas Talhelm, Ph.D. candidate in psychology at the University of Virginia and author of a recent paper proposing a fascinating connection between rice and wheat-growing communities, and persistent differences in psychological orientations of people from different parts of China. So join us as we talk about divorce, collectivism and violence, and get the dirt on all the various tests psychologists are using to measure it all here in the Middle Kingdom.

And even if psychology isn't your thing, we suspect that breathing is -- which is another reason to listen. In addition to his growing reputation in academic circles, Thomas is also known in China for his production and proselytization of do-it-yourself air filtration kits, which he sells through his company Smart Air Filters. If you are interested in getting a filter without spending a fortune, be sure to check them out. [standalone mp3 download]

Sinica - Rice, Wheat and Air Filters (pdf)

Fri, 06 Jun 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Advanced - The Huang Haibo Sex Scandal

Mon, 02 Jun 2014 09:00:00 -0700

在这个文化多元化、经济快速发展的社会里，那条所谓的道德界限开始日渐模糊。浮躁、虚荣让越来越多的人开始迷失自己，亦或是...在找回自己？及时行乐也开始成为越来越多人的人生座右铭。只是，行乐要有度，要有道德标准和法律约束，起码要对自己负责。乐与不乐其实都有它的代价。快来加入Grace和李莉，针对嫖娼及出轨等一些敏感话题一起八卦一下，探讨一下，感慨一下...

Advanced - The Huang Haibo Sex Scandal (pdf)

Mon, 02 Jun 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - OMG, in conversation with Jessica Beinecke

Fri, 30 May 2014 18:43:06 -0700

In today's show, Kaiser Kuo and Jeremy Goldkorn interview Jessica Beinecke, host of the VOA-funded OMG Meiyu, a Chinese show on English slang that has earned Jessica hundreds of thousands of followers in China. Now the owner of her own production company, Jessica is on the show to chat about her future plans and other projects. She is joined by David Moser, longtime Sinica stalwart and director of the CET immersion program in Beijing.

Enjoy Sinica? If you'd like to keep abreast of new episodes as soon as we release them, be sure to subscribe to our free RSS feed. We also invite listeners to download this show as a standalone mp3 file and get in touch at sinica@popupchinese.com with suggestions on topics or guests you'd like to see featured on the show.

Sinica - OMG, in conversation with Jessica Beinecke (pdf)

Fri, 30 May 2014 18:43:06 -0700

Elementary - Hurting the Feelings of the Chinese People

Tue, 27 May 2014 09:00:00 -0700

One moment Xiao Liu had been suggesting a weekend retreat to Zhongshan Park, and the next his entire office had plunged into a leaden silence. As he would shortly discover, there were feelings that had been hurt, and if he hoped to paper over the situation the only thing to do was to make an apology and mend his ways.

Elementary - Hurting the Feelings of the Chinese People (pdf)

Tue, 27 May 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Hurting the Feelings of the Chinese People (dialogue)

Tue, 27 May 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - History of the Internet in China

Sat, 24 May 2014 09:00:00 -0700

The Internet has always been near and dear to our hearts here at Sinica. Four years ago, our very first show covered Google China and the fracas that followed their decision to pull out of China. And in the years since, we've frequently talked about Twitter and Weibo and now Weixin. With various anniversaries looming and our Internet connections getting almost as bad as they were ten years ago, today we wanted to take a step back and chat about how the Internet has grown and changed China.

Joining long-time hosts Kaiser Kuo and Jeremy Goldkorn in our studio today are three stalwart guests who have experienced the worst and the best of the Chinese Internet: Duncan Clark from BDA China, Gady Epstein who writes for the Economist, and Bill Bishop who everyone should know as the author of the Sinocism newsletter. Join us for this discussion either by listening to this show online, or by downloading it as a standalone mp3 file and share with friends.

Sinica - History of the Internet in China (pdf)

Sat, 24 May 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - An Invitation to Violence

Wed, 21 May 2014 09:00:00 -0700

A rose tucked away at the bottom of the pantry, clumsy letters wrapped in ribbons and hidden in the attic: such as these had been her efforts at concealment. Yet how brazen were their mid-day meetings in the park near the wharf, making it nonetheless inevitable that her husband would hear of her affair, and take steps to bring it to a decisive and final end.

Learning Chinese? This is a bit of an easier Intermediate show than some of our more recent ones, so if you're clambering up to full fluency from the Elementary level, give it a try and see how much you can understand. In the show itself, Grace and David talk a bit about duelling, and teach a grammar pattern that - even if you hate - you should still find useful.

Intermediate - An Invitation to Violence (pdf)

Wed, 21 May 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - An Invitation to Violence (dialogue)

Wed, 21 May 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Goldfinger

Mon, 12 May 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Auric supervised the construction of his cutting laser feeling relief laced with loathing. Procuring the damn thing from China had promised cheaper costs, but prompted endless foot-dragging from US customs over environmental standards and power supply issues. Between those delays and the inevitable miscommunications with his Shenzhen supplier, it would have been easier to import Swiss equipment from the start.

Elementary - Goldfinger (pdf)

Mon, 12 May 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Goldfinger (dialogue)

Mon, 12 May 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - China in Three Keys: first experiences from the 1970s through 1990s

Fri, 09 May 2014 09:00:00 -0700

In this show: dating tips for hooking up with your Marxist-Leninist thought instructor, advice on what modern music and seasonal vegetables to smuggle in from Hong Kong, the origins of China's somewhat unorthodox driving customs, and instructions on reaching your nearest Communist bandit hotline should the red menace become too much to handle. Also making repeat appearances: Filipino rock bands.

This week on Sinica, we take a nostalgic look back at China in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, the decades in which our hosts first visited China. Recorded at the new Australian Centre on China in the World, this is a lovely discussion between Jeremy Goldkorn, Geremie Barme and Linda Jaivin, all of whom have been previous guests on Sinica and none of whom need any introduction. [standalone mp3 file]

Sinica - China in Three Keys: first experiences from the 1970s through 1990s (pdf)

Fri, 09 May 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Advanced - Thoughts on Hong Kong

Wed, 07 May 2014 09:00:00 -0700

近期，大陆夫妻带孩子香港当街小便一事引起了热议。港人声讨内地游客素质问题，大陆人却也因当事记者拍照侵权展开了反驳。习惯、素质、理解、矛盾、文明......陷入了一场辩论战，加之网络的煽风点火与断章取义，更使得这场论战愈演愈烈！当街小便固然不对，但是背后也许另含隐情；冷眼“取证”固然有过，但是法律和规章是需要遵守的！归根结底，究竟什么是文明？文明应以何种方式发展和传承？

Advanced - Thoughts on Hong Kong (pdf)

Wed, 07 May 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Quiz Night - Glaston and Woad

Sun, 04 May 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Occasionally, we think back on our years in China and look back at our casual brushes with death with the sort of nostalgia other people feel for high school prom. For such were those heady days of SARS, when the streets of Beijing were clean, taxis were readily available, and glaston and woad were part of the everyday lexicon here. Also on this show, what happened to the inventor of the flying car who strapped Cessena wings to a Ford Pinto.

Learning Chinese? Our Popup Chinese quiz show is intended for people who already have pretty good mandarin but are looking for a fun way to expand their vocabulary. This week we have nine questions split into three thematic categories, covering everything from mouthwash to our favorite ineffective Chinese herbal remedies. So if you're an upper-level student, check out the show and let us know what you think.

Quiz Night - Glaston and Woad (pdf)

Sun, 04 May 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Excess Baggage: Chinese identity, publishing, and gender issues

Sat, 03 May 2014 13:52:01 -0700

This week on Sinica, Jeremy Goldkorn is pleased to be joined by two people navigating the English-language publishing industry as it involves China: Alice Xin Liu, editor of Pathlight magazine, and Karen Ma, first-time author of the well-received book Excess Baggage. Listen to the show online, or grab it manually to save or share online using our standalone mp3 download.

With both of our guests being women, our conversation starts out by talking about gender issues in the publishing industry, but from there segues into questions of Chinese identity, life abroad, and what sort of books the market supports. We eventually settle into the China-India rivalry with our own impressions about the differences between the two countries, not only in terms of the air quality, but also how New Dehli stacks up against Beijing in the literary scene.

Sinica - Excess Baggage: Chinese identity, publishing, and gender issues (pdf)

Sat, 03 May 2014 13:52:01 -0700

Elementary - The Starbucks Dance

Tue, 29 Apr 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Popup Towers has nothing against Starbucks. In fact, as a language training company, we admire the way they've found success getting otherwise sensible people to use made-up words like venti and trenta in normal conversation. Nonetheless, as occasional coffee drinkers ourselves, we also hope that someone at Starbucks listens to this lesson if only so that corporate headquarters gets a wake-up call about how insanely frustrating it is ordering a medium coffee anywhere in the Middle Kingdom.

Incidentally, if you're already used to learning Chinese with us you'll find this Chinese lesson a bit different than its predecessors. And that's because we don't really teach standard mandarin so much as the bizarre subset of it needed by anyone growing weary of repeating themselves about seventy or eighty times to make sure they get the right-sized drink, or going through the physical pantomime we call the "Starbucks dance", a highly repetitive ritual between you and your barista that involves rhythmic turn-based pointing at the cup rack.

Elementary - The Starbucks Dance (pdf)

Tue, 29 Apr 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Starbucks Dance (dialogue)

Tue, 29 Apr 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Trash Talk with Adam Minter

Fri, 25 Apr 2014 19:16:12 -0700

Anyone living in China doubtless has a sense of the unholy number of people who seem to be involved in the trash trade here, and who will ferret away everything from your cardboard boxes to plastic bottles faster than you can consume their contents. And maybe you've seen the opposite end of the supply chain, in televised shots of cities like Guiyu which seem to resemble nothing so much as the inner circles of Dante's inferno, upended and ripping apart consumer electronics with all of hell's fury.

But what is the real story behind the trash trade in China, and why does it remind us of the Godfather movies at times? Today on Sinica we find out the answers to these questions and many more in an interview with Adam Minter, author of Junkyard Planet: Travels in the Billion-Dollar Trash Trade. We recorded this a few weeks ago during the Beijing Bookworm Literary Festival, and have been looking forward to today - the day we can finally bring it to your attention - for some time!

Enjoy Sinica? If you'd like to have new episodes of Sinica stream to your computer automatically as they're released, be sure to subscribe to us using iTunes. Or get into the spirit of Daoism and download shows week-by-week as we release them: you can grab this podcast right here as a standalone mp3 file. Specific feedback or suggestions for future guests or topics you'd like to hear covered are also welcome by email directly to Kaiser and Jeremy at sinica@popupchinese.com.

Sinica - Trash Talk with Adam Minter (pdf)

Fri, 25 Apr 2014 19:16:12 -0700

Intermediate - The Secret Room in the Attic

Mon, 21 Apr 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Something was hidden in the attic. That much was certain, yet how could Mark and Susan find out the secret of the orphanage? Any passage leading to the upper crawlspace was well cloaked, perhaps even sealed off years ago in the renovations that followed the death of the last schoolmaster. And with Miss Gruntle known to prowl the school grounds at night, their only opportunity to truly explore opened them to the risk of a lifetime of lashings.

Intermediate - The Secret Room in the Attic (pdf)

Mon, 21 Apr 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The Secret Room in the Attic (dialogue)

Mon, 21 Apr 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - American Football in China

Fri, 18 Apr 2014 09:00:00 -0700

"American football in China" is a sport/location combo that at first sounds like a joke, like “Jamaican bobsled team.” But according to the rule that, in a country of 1.3 billion people, everything is happening somewhere, the existence of Chinese football should come as no surprise....

This week we're delighted to be joined by Christopher Beam, author of the passage quoted above, which we unceremoniously filched from his fantastic New Republic essay about his year with the Chongqing Dockers, one of the many new amateur football teams that has sprung up in China as of late. And if you haven't read the piece, you should stop what you're doing and check it out now.

If you like this show, be sure to check out Christopher's other excellent essay on tackling 12 year old ping pong players in Shichahai. And also be sure to subscribe through iTunes to get notified of new episodes of Sinica as we release them. Our custom feed address is http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica. And if you have questions or suggestions for the show, please feel welcome to reach out to us anytime by email at sinica@popupchinese.com too. [standalone mp3 file]

Sinica - American Football in China (pdf)

Fri, 18 Apr 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Quiz Night - Return of the Quiz Show

Wed, 16 Apr 2014 09:00:00 -0700

After a lengthy hiatus, we're pleased to release another episode of our Chinese Quiz Night. Joining new hosts Joakeem and Grace in our studio are two contestants known and feared by the other residents of Beijing: Martin the Destroyer, famous around Beijing for his mastery on the pub quiz circuit, as well as Ban "the terror from Qinghai" Yan, who is admittedly less intimidating in person that we were expecting.

Not sure what this show is doing in your iTunes feed? Our Chinese Quiz Show at Popup Chinese is a mixed English-Chinese concept show we're developing for upper-intermediate students: a quiz game that mixes Chinese questions with just enough English to keep things intelligible. We're still tweaking the balance, but if you're stretching past the intermediate level and looking for fun listening materials we think you'll like it -- our topics today range from general China knowledge to popular and not-so-popular singers, as well as a final category with language we hope none of us ever to have to use. Listen up and find out why.

Quiz Night - Return of the Quiz Show (pdf)

Wed, 16 Apr 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Office Romance

Mon, 14 Apr 2014 09:00:00 -0700

We strive to make Popup Towers the sort of freewheeling love nest where interoffice relationships are highly encouraged, but sometimes struggle with the consequences. After Lily's break-up with Luo Hao, we took her aside and said "relax baby, there are plenty more fish in the sea for a hot cat like you." But she kept moping about, so we had to move her desk near the elevator.

Elementary - Office Romance (pdf)

Mon, 14 Apr 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Office Romance (dialogue)

Mon, 14 Apr 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Live at the Association for Asian Studies

Fri, 04 Apr 2014 09:00:00 -0700

This week Sinica presents a special live recording from the annual meeting of the Association for Asian Studies (AAS) which convened last week in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Listen to the show right through your browser using our online player, or download it to share or save as a standalone mp3 file.

Regular listeners please note that the audio quality here isn't up to our usual standards: we didn't have professional audio equipment on hand during the meeting, but tried our best given the opportunity to trap both Jeffrey Wasserstrom and Pankaj Mishra in live conversation. As Sinica regulars may know, Jeffrey Wasserstrom is a Professor of History at UC Irvine and publisher of the Journal of Asian Studies, while Pankaj Mishra is author of "From the Ruins of Empire" and "Temptations of the West".

Sinica - Live at the Association for Asian Studies (pdf)

Fri, 04 Apr 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Assault, Battery and the Future

Mon, 07 Apr 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Just getting started learning Chinese? Today we offer you a lesson containing assault, battery, and just a touch of the future tense. Not that Chinese really has a future tense, but if you want to talk about things that haven't happened yet, we have everything you need to get started in a dialogue that's so simple even an absolute beginner can handle it.

Absolute Beginners - Assault, Battery and the Future (pdf)

Mon, 07 Apr 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Assault, Battery and the Future (dialogue)

Mon, 07 Apr 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - In Conversation with Timothy Garton Ash

Fri, 04 Apr 2014 09:00:00 -0700

This week on Sinica, Kaiser Kuo and Jeremy Goldkorn are pleased to host a conversation with Timothy Garton Ash, professor of history at Oxford University, and recent participant in the Capital M Literary Festival in Beijing. We warmly invite you to listen to this podcast on our site, or download the show as a standalone mp3 file.

As one the world's leading historians of the end of the Cold War, Ash joins us for a conversation about history and revolutions: both in China and abroad. In this week's episode, we talk to him about China's model of authoritarian capitalism, whether moral values are universal, recent developments with Russia and Crimea, as well as his own experiences uncovering a personal Stasi file after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Sinica - In Conversation with Timothy Garton Ash (pdf)

Fri, 04 Apr 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Return of the Chinese Tutor

Mon, 31 Mar 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Teaching Chinese may have been Xiao Wang's first love, but diversifying into English just made business sense. Not only were there a lot more English learners than foreigners in Beijing, but the students she picked up seemed more appreciative of her talents and receptive to her teaching methods. Sure, every now and then someone would come along who thought they knew better, but had they lived in London for four months?

Learning Chinese? In this show, the second time our Chinese tutor has surfaced, we cover some essential classroom vocabulary you may have missed: words and phrases like "say it again" and "what fresh hell is this". So if you can't yet understand Chinese spoken at natural speed but are getting there, give this show a listen and let us know what you think in the comments section.

Elementary - Return of the Chinese Tutor (pdf)

Mon, 31 Mar 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Return of the Chinese Tutor (dialogue)

Mon, 31 Mar 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - The Chinese Labour Corps in World War One

Fri, 28 Mar 2014 09:00:00 -0700

This week on Sinica, Kaiser Kuo and David Moser are delighted to host Mark O'Neill, author of the The Chinese Labour Corps, for a discussion of the Chinese contribution to World War One. As a comprehensive look into China's role in The Great War, Mark's book concerns the history of the roughly 135,000 workers from Shandong who worked on the battlefields of Europe where they handled everything from digging trenches to building munitions even under the threat of regular bombing.

Enjoy Sinica? While we encourage you to listen through our onsite MP3 player, if you have trouble please feel welcome to download this show as a standalone mp3 file. You can also get your computer or mp3 player to download new episodes of Sinica automatically by subscribing to our custom RSS feed using iTunes.Inquiries and suggestions for future show topics or guests are also welcome by email at sinica@popupchinese.com.

Sinica - The Chinese Labour Corps in World War One (pdf)

Fri, 28 Mar 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Rotten from the Head Down

Mon, 24 Mar 2014 09:00:00 -0700

The board had taken quick action when rumours of accounting irregularities had hit the local papers, commissioning Detective Zhen to investigate the allegations. But once he had uncovered evidence of embezzlement at the local subdivision, something had compelled him to keep digging. And the further he dug, the less regular overall corporate finances seemed, and what he found pointed to much deeper problems than a single corrupt staffer....

This week on Popup Chinese, the fish rots from the head down in a show that features bribery, embezzlement, kickbacks and more. Join us as we explore the darker side of corporate malfeasance, and teach you the language you'll need to know to navigate your way through blackmail and corruption in the Middle Kingdom.

Intermediate - Rotten from the Head Down (pdf)

Mon, 24 Mar 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Rotten from the Head Down (dialogue)

Mon, 24 Mar 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - We will make you learn to love Baijiu

Fri, 21 Mar 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Forget our complaints about the pollution, China has an even more intractable public relations problem that has everything to do with the country's favorite hard liquor. And yes, we are talking about baijiu. In 1854, French Catholic missionary Régis Huc introduced the drink to Western civilization as "absolutely like liquid fire," while Dan Rather -- covering Nixon's seminal 1972 trip to China -- compared it to "liquid razor blades."

Given that we have had similar experiences ourselves, and given the pervasiveness of this attitude, Jeremy Goldkorn is delighted to host David Moser and Derek Sandhaus for a discussion of the history, craft and business of traditional Chinese liquors. David is of course an old Sinica hand. Derek is an American writer, baijiu convert and most recently the author of Baijiu: The Essential Guide to Chinese Spirits, an encyclopedic compendium that includes not only details on some of the best drinks in China, but also -- stunningly -- some great cocktail recipes for putting that bottle of Erguotou to good use at your next dinner party.

Enjoy Sinica? While everyone is welcome to download and share this week's show as a standalone mp3 file, remember you are welcome to subscribe to our entire archive of lessons either by signing up for an account on Popup Chinese, or subscribing to our custom Sinica RSS feed. And don't forget to check us out on Facebook once you've got your VPN setup properly.

Sinica - We will make you learn to love Baijiu (pdf)

Fri, 21 Mar 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Will China Dominate the 21st Century

Fri, 14 Mar 2014 09:00:00 -0700

This week on Sinica, we are pleased to present a live show recorded earlier this week at The Bookworm, where Kaiser Kuo interviewed Jonathan Fenby, author of the book Will China Dominate the 21st Century. Listen to the show live on our site, or download it and share it as a standalone mp3 file.

If you haven't heard of Jonathan Fenby, you should know him as a former editor of the Observer and the South China Morning Post and a founding partner and Managing Director of Trusted Sources Research Service. He is the author of several popular books on China, including the acclaimed Tiger Head, Snake Tails (2013) and The Penguin History of Modern China (2009) and was appointed a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2000 New Year Honours List for his services to journalism.

Sinica - Will China Dominate the 21st Century (pdf)

Fri, 14 Mar 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Awake, Masters of Darkness!

Mon, 10 Mar 2014 09:00:00 -0700

The good news about living in China is that you're unlikely to get abducted and forced into a satanic ritual. Part of this may be a lack of personal experience with raising the dead, but part is also a lack of the basic linguistic tools necessary for communing with the masters of darkness. Which is really a cultural issue, because it took us about five minutes to explain what a pentagram was to our confused voice actors....

Intermediate - Awake, Masters of Darkness! (pdf)

Mon, 10 Mar 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Wealth and Power: Intellectuals in China

Fri, 07 Mar 2014 09:00:00 -0800

This week Kaiser and Jeremy are joined by David Moser and Orville Schell. While long-time listeners will of course know of David Moser as one of our favorite resident sinologists, if you haven't also heard of Orville Schell we think you should have. Currently director of the Center on US-China Relations at the Asia Society, and previously an academic sinologist with an outstanding list of publications on Chinese politics and society, Orville has most recently authored Wealth and Power: China's Long March to the Twenty-first Century.

Up for discussion: recent developments at ChinaFile (what the site has been doing and where we expect it to go), the state of modern academic and intellectual discourse in China as part of a broader look at Orville's new book, and finally a closer look at the terror attacks in Kunming last week which have seized the global presses.

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

Sinica - Wealth and Power: Intellectuals in China (pdf)

Fri, 07 Mar 2014 09:00:00 -0800

Short Stories - San Mao - The Trash Collectors

Mon, 03 Mar 2014 09:00:00 -0800

Have we mentioned that we love San Mao? A precocious child who read Dream of the Red Chamber at age five, San Mao grew into one of the best and most widely-traveled writers of her generation, attending university in Germany, living for a long time in the Western Sahara with her Spanish husband, and eventually traveling as far as Chile while publishing travel journals, autobiographical essays and reflective letters which remain some of the most charming pieces of writing produced by anyone in her generation.

And this selection? What we have for you today is an excerpt from the book 背影, a collection of reminisces in which San Mao looks back at her experiences as a child in Nanjing. This particular essay concerns a run-in she had with a teacher in China's traditional education system....

Short Stories - San Mao - The Trash Collectors (pdf)

Mon, 03 Mar 2014 09:00:00 -0800

Sinica - In Line Behind a Billion People

Fri, 28 Feb 2014 09:00:00 -0800

This week on Sinica, Kaiser and Jeremy are joined by Damien Ma, author of In Line Behind a Billion People, a new book for China-watchers by Ma and William Adams, looking at how China's lack of affordable housing, its food and air pollution, the country's poor education system as well as its pervasive "moral scarcity" are going to affect global politics as well as China's own modernization drive over the next twenty years.

For those who haven't heard of our guest yet, Damien Ma is a Fellow at The Paulson Institute and previously a lead China analyst at the Eurasia Group, where he specialized in China's energy and commodities markets, industrial policy, relations with America, and social and Internet policies. Before joining the Eurasia Group, Ma managed publications for the US-China Business Council in Washington. He has written for The Atlantic Monthly online and has been published in a number of prominent journals including Foreign Affairs, The New Republic, Slate, and Foreign Policy.

Sinica - In Line Behind a Billion People (pdf)

Fri, 28 Feb 2014 09:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - Adventures on WeChat

Wed, 26 Feb 2014 20:52:00 -0800

Facebook spent 16 billion dollars on some kind of mobile phone app? We heard something about that, but we're not really sure what you guys are doing outside China. Because we have our own thing going on in the mobile chat space, and pretty much everyone in this country of 1.3 billion mobile users is on it. So you should get on it too.

Learning Chinese? In today's show, we feature two dialogues about asking someone for their Wechat/Weixin number. This is a useful way of hooking up with new friends, and a non-threatening way to meet new people -- it's not as aggressive as asking someone for their phone number, and it lets you find out more about them through an entirely new and innovative method of digital stalking. Needless to say, we highly recommend it.

Absolute Beginners - Adventures on WeChat (pdf)

Wed, 26 Feb 2014 20:52:00 -0800

Sinica - The Disabled in China

Sat, 22 Feb 2014 13:14:53 -0800

This week on Sinica, Kaiser and Jeremy are joined by James Palmer and John Giszczack for a discussion of the disabled in China. Join us as we discuss how the Chinese language defines the concept of disability, what public attitudes are prevalent about the disabled, and what resources the Chinese government makes -- and doesn't make -- available to help those with disabilities integrate themselves into society.

As a quick introduction to our guests, James Palmer is making his second appearance here on Sinica today, and is well-known for his excellent pieces on China, including this favourite of ours on the 1980s generation in Aeon Magazine. John Giszczack is the co-founder of Abled Lives, a med-tech company focused on improving the quality of life for disabled people in China.

Enjoy Sinica? Let us remind you as always that you can use iTunes to download new episodes of Sinica as they get released. To do this, click on the File menu and select "Subscribe to Podcast" from the available choices. Your computer will prompt you to enter a URL, so give it http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica. Please also consider yourself welcome to download this and all of our other shows as a standalone mp3 file. We hope you like it.

Sinica - The Disabled in China (pdf)

Sat, 22 Feb 2014 13:14:53 -0800

Elementary - We Love You, Fridtjof and Ragnvald

Tue, 18 Feb 2014 18:09:38 -0800

"I can't believe you still haven't covered Sweden!" Living on the front lines of our ongoing battle to disregard user feedback, and particularly feedback that requires expending effort, Gail was upset about our prolonged disregard of the requests of not just one but two of her more Nordic students. But while the wheel of podcast production may grind slowly, it grinds very fine indeed. So here you go Sweden. And here you go Ikea. And here you go Fridtjof and Ragnvald....

And how about you? Do you have any ideas for a topic we haven't covered yet? While we don't suggest getting your hopes up in the short-term, let this episode stand as testament that not only will we do our best to eventually and somewhat laggardly produce stuff that people keep harassing us about, but that we will also somewhat concomitantly find world experts on the topic to help make the materials stick. So don't be afraid to email us, or - better yet - praise us online somewhere in an authentic but perhaps marginally spammy way, mentioning almost in passing that if only (if only!) we also had a lesson on __________ then there wouldn't be any reason for any sane person not to listen.

Elementary - We Love You, Fridtjof and Ragnvald (pdf)

Tue, 18 Feb 2014 18:09:38 -0800

Elementary - We Love You, Fridtjof and Ragnvald (dialogue)

Tue, 18 Feb 2014 18:09:38 -0800

Sinica - Dissecting the 2014 Spring Festival Gala

Fri, 14 Feb 2014 09:00:00 -0800

A casual survey suggests that 98 percent of Sinica listeners have at some point joined Chinese friends or family in watching the annual television spectacular known as the Spring Festival Gala. Sadly, whether from excessive pork consumption or the mildly sedative effects of baijiu, the same percentage report occasional difficulties making it through the entire show....

That's excuse enough for Sinica to take a look back this week, asking not only whether this year's show was any good, but how we think the show will last and what its change in direction this year under filmmaker Feng Xiaogang tells us about the priorities of the new administration. Joining Kaiser for this discussion is Alice Xin Liu from the Chinese translation magazine Pathlight as well as David Moser, who shares insider knowledge of how the gala works gleaned from a previous appearance on the show.

Sinica - Dissecting the 2014 Spring Festival Gala (pdf)

Fri, 14 Feb 2014 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - Dancing to the Stars at Lincoln High

Mon, 10 Feb 2014 11:53:02 -0800

Xiao Ming would always remember her first day at Lincoln High, if only because the Chinese student's shock at the reality of an inner-city American school almost drove her to tears. Little did she know that she would be a celebrity within the year. But even when her peers started giving her high-fives walking down the hallway, Xiao Ming didn't let the attention go to her head. Because none of this was about her: it was about the dance team, and about saving their school.

Learning Chinese? This intermediate show has two separate dialogues that tell the story of Lincoln High, and what Xiao Ming did there. In addition to some new vocabulary and a few interesting patterns, this lesson also features a common northern expression we encourage you to drop into conversation with your friends, especially if you are nowhere near Heilongjiang and feel like pulling one up on the locals....

Intermediate - Dancing to the Stars at Lincoln High (pdf)

Mon, 10 Feb 2014 11:53:02 -0800

Intermediate - Dancing to the Stars at Lincoln High (dialogue)

Mon, 10 Feb 2014 11:53:02 -0800

Elementary - Where are the Car Keys?

Mon, 03 Feb 2014 09:00:00 -0800

Every other industrial operation in China may have shutdown now that it's Chinese New Years, but fortunately we've managed to keep our lesson-producing slavemill podcast studio open during the break, all the better to continue delivering the sort of fresh and interesting Chinese learning shows that will help you join our ranks as oppressors of the working classes and partisans strictly opposed to things like compulsory holidays.

On a pedagogical note, our recent lessons at this level have climbed up the difficulty gradient to the point they're almost intermediate-level shows. If you've found them a bit challenging don't worry -- in this show, Brendan and Echo take a step back from the brink, with a simpler dialogue that reveals a charming technique you can use to imply that you're stating the obvious, or what should be the obvious at least.

Elementary - Where are the Car Keys? (pdf)

Mon, 03 Feb 2014 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - Where are the Car Keys? (dialogue)

Mon, 03 Feb 2014 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - Like Father, Like Son

Thu, 30 Jan 2014 09:00:00 -0800

When the doctor entered the room, the boy was sitting motionless on the floor where he had been several minutes before, still staring intently at a crack in the nearby wall, as if there was some secret in the darkness beyond which promised some profound revelation. Yet the doctor's attention was not on his young patient, but rather the father who stood anxiously several feet away. For how could he break the news?

In this intermediate lesson, we cover two relatively advanced ways of making comparisons. First with a structure that is used to compare things which are quite alike, and then with a more tricky pattern that can be used to make percentage comparisons. This is a tricky point, wrapped in a very colloquial lesson, so if you're working towards fluency, give us a listen and see what you think. Feedback and thoughts welcome below as always!

Intermediate - Like Father, Like Son (pdf)

Thu, 30 Jan 2014 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - Like Father, Like Son (dialogue)

Thu, 30 Jan 2014 09:00:00 -0800

KTV Wednesday - Zhang Xuan - How

Wed, 29 Jan 2014 09:00:00 -0800

What a phenomenal song we have this week! The last time we featured Zhang Xuan on Popup Chinese, the Taiwanese songwriter had just come out with her wonderful lullaby. This second song shows how much she has changed as an artist in such a short few years, and we hope you enjoy it as much as we all do.

KTV Wednesday - Zhang Xuan - How (pdf)

Wed, 29 Jan 2014 09:00:00 -0800

Sinica - Talking about Taiwan

Fri, 24 Jan 2014 09:00:00 -0800

This week on Sinica, Kaiser Kuo is joined by David Moser and Paul Mozur for an in-depth discussion about everyone's favorite renegade province. This is a lively conversation that stretches from questions of personal identity in Taiwan to the island's media sensationalism, close ties with the United States, and obviously political relations with the mainland as well.

Enjoy Sinica? As always, before you listen let us remind you that suggestions, questions and comments are always welcome in our comments section below. We also welcome correspondence by email at sinica@popupchinese.com. So enjoy the show, and let us know what you think. (Note: standalone mp3 download)

Sinica - Talking about Taiwan (pdf)

Fri, 24 Jan 2014 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - Not a Big Deal

Thu, 16 Jan 2014 09:00:00 -0800

William had been home a mere two hours before his father sequestered him in the living room with a suggestion they sit down and insinuation of a serious conversation to come. This was followed at first by a general humming and hawing, and a few pregnant pauses, and William began to wonder what could be of such obvious concern? What had happened while he was away at university?

Learning Chinese? Our intermediate lesson for today is at the more difficult end of the difficulty spectrum at the Elementary level. But we still felt it was worth publishing, for it focuses on a rarely-taught but incredibly useful expression for telling other people that something isn't a big deal. If this is too difficult for you don't worry though, most of the material at this level is a bit easier to understand, so just check our archives for a show that's closer to your level.

Elementary - Not a Big Deal (pdf)

Thu, 16 Jan 2014 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - Not a Big Deal (dialogue)

Thu, 16 Jan 2014 09:00:00 -0800

Advanced - The Perils of Philately

Wed, 08 Jan 2014 09:00:00 -0800

We don't really know what it is about China and stamp collecting. In most countries the activity exists as a sort of underground movement, and no-one admits lightly to philately. But here in China things are different. Very different.

Advanced - The Perils of Philately (pdf)

Wed, 08 Jan 2014 09:00:00 -0800

Sinica - Birds of Beijing and the Air They Fly In

Fri, 03 Jan 2014 09:00:00 -0800

This week Sinica responds to the fevered requests of the Azure-Winged Magpie society with a show all about birding in Beijing. And why not? Because despite the air pollution that wracks our fair city, Beijing remains one of the best places in the world for serious bird-watching. Join us as we explain the why and how of this ornithological mystery, before moving on to complaining about the various other things that are in the air....

Joining Jeremy Goldkorn for this discussion are two guests we are delighted to feature on the show: avid birder Terry Townshend from the blog Birding Beijing, as well as Jonathan Kaimen, a journalist for The Guardian in Beijing who has covered China's environmental problems and reported most recently on the country's estimated 176 billion USD bill for cleaning up its air pollution issues.

Enjoy Sinica? Even if birding isn't your thing, the lesson to take away from this show is that we do requests. So if there's a topic you'd like to hear us cover, send us an email at sinica@popupchinese.com and let us know. And please also feel welcome to download this show as a standalone mp3 file, or subscribe to our list of shows using our custom RSS feed.

Sinica - Birds of Beijing and the Air They Fly In (pdf)

Fri, 03 Jan 2014 09:00:00 -0800

Sinica - Sinica goes to the Movies

Sat, 28 Dec 2013 17:20:14 -0800

As much as expats in China like to complain about the state of Chinese film and television, this week Kaiser and Jeremy remind of that there is a lot of great art out there too, in a show that asks the critical question of what is worth our collective time? Joining to give their takes on this question are guests Raymond Zhou, film reviewer for China's biggest film magazine and columnist for the China Daily, as well as the ever-brilliant David Moser, director of the CET immersion program in Beijing.

Like Sinica? Remember that if you find listening to the show through our online flash player discomfiting, you are always welcome to download this show and all of our others as a standalone mp3 file. Alternately, you can subscribe to all of our shows by RSS using our public feed at http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica or send feedback or suggestions for future show topics to us by email at sinica@popupchinese.com.

Sinica - Sinica goes to the Movies (pdf)

Sat, 28 Dec 2013 17:20:14 -0800

Intermediate - Flow My Tears

Wed, 25 Dec 2013 09:00:00 -0800

Save for his passing look of furtive intelligence, the police would hardly had given the beggar a second glance, for even if loitering on public property was technically a crime, it hardly served anyone's interests to harass those without even the limited means of paying the necessary fines to secure due process. And so the truly poor and desperate were permitted to exist on the margins of society, secure in their poverty from unreasonable search and seizure.

Intermediate - Flow My Tears (pdf)

Wed, 25 Dec 2013 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - Flow My Tears (dialogue)

Wed, 25 Dec 2013 09:00:00 -0800

Sinica - Rectifying Chinese Names

Fri, 20 Dec 2013 09:00:00 -0800

Living in a community of China watchers, we are unceasingly assaulted by words and phrases for which definitions are unclear, or ambiguous, or over which there is controversy or disagreement. And so bearing Confucius' admonition that the most important thing for understanding China is "to call things by their right names," Kaiser and Jeremy set out this week to do exactly that with a show all about rectifying names in Chinese.

With this aim in mind, we solicited a list of words and phrases needing such rectification (everything from "50 center" to "middle class"), and found two great guests at whom we could throw the pressing questions of what on earth do these words actually mean? Putting themselves in the difficult position of answering are thus Rogier Creemers, creator of the China Copyright and Media blog, and David Moser, who is not only director of the CET immersion program in Beijing but also a mean jazz pianist to boot.

Like Sinica? If you enjoy this podcast, be sure to give us your take on things in the comment section below, or by writing us at sinica@popupchinese.com. And remember that you can also subscribe to the Sinica show through RSS. To do so just open up iTunes, click on the "File" menu and select the option "Subscribe to Podcast" and copy the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica into the box when prompted. Those of you who'd like to download this mp3 directly from our site can also grab it as a standalone mp3 file. Enjoy!

Sinica - Rectifying Chinese Names (pdf)

Fri, 20 Dec 2013 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - Comparative Workplace Efficiency

Tue, 17 Dec 2013 09:00:00 -0800

Stephen hit the refresh button without much expectation, his mind preoccupied with the question of whether now might afford a good opportunity for another visit to Starbucks. After all, no serious market analyst could be expected to write a report like his without the most up-to-date sales data from finance, and who could fault him for being securely caffeinated when those all-important documents finally did arrive?

Learning Chinese? Or just a slacker seeking that ever-elusive job that combines maximum pay with minimum expectations? Whatever the reason you've come to Popup Chinese, join Brendan and Echo in our studio today as we talk about how to use directional verb complements to send email to colleagues and resuscitate the near-dead.

Elementary - Comparative Workplace Efficiency (pdf)

Tue, 17 Dec 2013 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - Comparative Workplace Efficiency (dialogue)

Tue, 17 Dec 2013 09:00:00 -0800

Sinica - From the underground to the Internet - contemporary art in China

Fri, 13 Dec 2013 09:00:00 -0800

In the late 1990s, the visual arts in China operated on the fringes of society, and those who dared to flirt with public prominence risked finding themselves on the disapproving end of a government clampdown. And yet how different things seem today, with tens of thousands of artists struggling on the fringes while a small minority enjoy what can seem to be fairly stable and even politically protected positions within the arts establishment... provided that they keep a healthy sense of their own career trajectory.

In this episode of Sinica, Jeremy Goldkorn is delighted to welcome two Beijing-based artists and critics to our studio for a discussion of the arts scene in China. In particular, we are delighted to be joined by Matthew Niederhauser, the artist and photojournalist responsible for the wonderful exhibit Counterfeit Paradises, as well as Philip Tinari, Director of the Ullen Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing and founding editor of the Leap bilingual magazine about contemporary art in China.

Enjoy Sinica? If you'd like to keep abreast of new shows as soon as they are released, be sure to subscribe to our free RSS feed. And please also feel welcome to download this show as a standalone mp3 file and write us at sinica@popupchinese.com with suggestions on shows and guests you'd like to see in conversation on our show.

Sinica - From the underground to the Internet - contemporary art in China (pdf)

Fri, 13 Dec 2013 09:00:00 -0800

Sinica - Joe Biden and the Air Defense Identification Fracas

Fri, 06 Dec 2013 09:00:00 -0800

On the weekend of November 23, Beijing announced the establishment of a new Air Defense Identification Zone. Covering a large swath of the East China Sea, the move was intended to assert China's control over disputed islands in the region, and predictably antagonized Beijing's relations with Taiwan, South Korea and Japan. The move also prompted escalated tensions with the United States, which sent an unannounced flight of B-52 bombers through the airspace on Monday.

Coming immediately before a lengthy visit to Beijing by US Vice President Joe Biden, the fracas has raised tensions between China and the United States, while prompting questions over what could possibly come from Biden's trip to China, where the American politician spent at least 5 hours in conversation with Xi Jinping and apparently did not ask China to nullify or retract its claim for air-sovereignty.

Joining Kaiser to talk about these issues and more are two excellent Beijing-based China watchers: Jane Perlez, Chief diplomatic correspondent for the New York Times, as well as Peter Ford, Bureau Chief of the Christian Science Monitor. We are delighted to have both of them on the show and hope you enjoy listening to their thoughts and more. Also, if you'd like to download a standalone copy of this podcast, please feel free to do so and share it around.

Sinica - Joe Biden and the Air Defense Identification Fracas (pdf)

Fri, 06 Dec 2013 09:00:00 -0800

Advanced - A Matter of Philosophy

Mon, 02 Dec 2013 09:00:00 -0800

In recent news, Beijing University has disbanded its Chinese philosophy department. "We listened to the latest advanced show from Popup Chinese," department chairman Wang Xiaoming stated, "and realized that they nailed it... wrapping up essentially all outstanding academic disputes in a mere fifteen minutes." With no research remaining to be done and no need for further books on the matter, the professoriat is disbanding to focus on university administration.

Learning Chinese? There are a couple of philosophical debates in mandarin that form such a core part of the language that it's impossible to be a well-rounded Chinese speaker without being aware of them. The question of "original sin" is exactly one such issue: is evil inherent to the nature of man, or a product of social upbringing? We were curious how everyone at Popup Towers came down on this, which is why we invited Sylvia, Echo and David into our studio for a debate over 性本善 or 性本恶. Why not take a listen and let us know what you think?

Advanced - A Matter of Philosophy (pdf)

Mon, 02 Dec 2013 09:00:00 -0800

Sinica - One Journalist's Journey through China

Fri, 29 Nov 2013 09:00:00 -0800

This week, Kaiser and Jeremy are pleased to be joined by Isabel Hilton, a longstanding British journalist whose youthful interest in China got her blacklisted by the British security services and the British Broadcasting Corporation and redirected into a career in journalism in Latin America and China, where she has covered the country for publications including the Daily Express, Sunday Times, The Independent and The Guardian among others.

In addition to talking about what China was like for a junior reporter back in the 1980s, we move on to talk about Daniel Ortega and the Falklands Wars, Christopher Hitchens, Richard Gere, water and air pollution, and of course Isabel's work promoting greater knowledge of China abroad first as editor-in-chief of Open Democracy as well as China Dialogue, one of the most longstanding bilingual journals online.

Enjoy Sinica? In addition to listening to our show online, or grabbing it as a standalone mp3 file, please feel yourself warmly welcome to visit the Sinica Facebook page, as well as hooking up iTunes to our dedicated RSS feed. And if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to write us at sinica@popupchinese.com as well.

Sinica - One Journalist's Journey through China (pdf)

Fri, 29 Nov 2013 09:00:00 -0800

Sinica - Doubling Down on Dengism

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 09:00:00 -0800

It's an all-American (and all-star) lineup of guests this week, as Bill Bishop, Gady Epstein and James Fallows join Kaiser for an in-depth discussion of the Third Plenary Session, the outcome of which has produced a rare consensus among China-watchers — and an even rarer consensus among guests and host at Sinica. Trust us on this: this one is actually interesting.

So tune in for the latest political gossip from the dusty hutongs of the Capital, for the view on things from Washington these days courtesy of Jim Fallows, and for everyone's take on the troubles a certain financial news organization has been facing in recent weeks. And remember, in addition to listening online, you are also warmly invited to download this episode as a standalone mp3 file. Enjoy!

Sinica - Doubling Down on Dengism (pdf)

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 09:00:00 -0800

Sinica - Partners and Rivals

Sat, 16 Nov 2013 12:46:55 -0800

Few will dispute that the Sino-American relationship constitute the most important bilateral relationship of our time, shedding a sort of lunar influence on international politics which helps shape not only the dynamic of global tensions, but also the course of domestic politics in both superpowers. And while the United States may look uneasily on China as both partner and potential threat, there is no question that China harbors aspirations for a more important role in global politics.

With this in mind, Jeremy and Kaiser are delighted to be joined by Wendy Dobson to discuss the state of US-Chinese relations in our show today. For those who may not know her, Wendy is the Former Associate Deputy Minister of Canada and now Adjunct Professor and Co-Director of the Rotman Institute of International Business at the University of Toronto, where she has recently published the book Partners and Rivals: the Uneasy Future of China's Relations with the United States.

Note: if you'd prefer to download this show for listening later, please feel free to grab it as a standalone mp3 file.

Sinica - Partners and Rivals (pdf)

Sat, 16 Nov 2013 12:46:55 -0800

Elementary - Huang Xiaoming at the Stylist

Wed, 13 Nov 2013 09:00:00 -0800

Huang Xiaoming brushed his hand through his hair, which glistened in the morning sunshine in a somewhat unusual way. "After the army, I wanted to be able to express myself more fully." Pens scratched against paper in the silence that followed. "But how could I do that with clothing and music alone?" Xiaoming's voice dropped into quiet intimacy, as if he was reaching out to each listener personally. "And that was when I knew I needed to make real innovations in Chinese hairstyling."

Learning Chinese? Or stuck in Yiwu on a sourcing trip and really need to get a haircut? Fortunately, in this Elementary show, we cover both of these likely possibilities in a show that reviews most of the language you'll need to get a haircut, or maybe just a trim, at your neighborhood hairdresser. And - yes - we actually mean hairdresser. If the shop doesn't have scissors you're on your own....

Elementary - Huang Xiaoming at the Stylist (pdf)

Wed, 13 Nov 2013 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - Huang Xiaoming at the Stylist (dialogue)

Wed, 13 Nov 2013 09:00:00 -0800

Sinica - Daoism for the Action-Oriented

Fri, 08 Nov 2013 09:00:00 -0800

What Would Confucius Do? What for that matter would Laozi not do? This week on Sinica, Kaiser and Jeremy ask these and other questions of Sam Crane, professor of contemporary Chinese politics at Williams College and author of the new book Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Dao. And given that this show explores uniquely Chinese ideas of how to live a life through right action, and how ancient Chinese philosophy might be applied to contemporary American ethical challenges, we're also delighted to be joined by Jeremiah "Honorable Mencian" Jenne, scholar of Qing history, popular China blogger and now director of the IES immersion program.

We really enjoyed our discussion with Sam and Jeremiah this week. If you do too and want more Sinica, be aware you can subscribe to our podcast via our Sinica RSS feed. You can also continue to download this and every other Sinica show directly from our site as a standalone MP3 file. Because choice is good.

Sinica - Daoism for the Action-Oriented (pdf)

Fri, 08 Nov 2013 09:00:00 -0800

Sinica - In the News

Sun, 03 Nov 2013 10:49:20 -0800

This week on Sinica, we return to our China roots with a show covering recent developments in the news including the recent terrorist attack in Beijing and political hiring-and-firing at Peking University. Joining Kaiser and Jeremy to talk about everything that has made both the press and the bar circuit are Andrew Jacobs, correspondent for the New York Times, and Eric Fish, correspondent with the English division of the Economic Observer and co-creator of the China Hangup podcast.

On a side note, we're sorry our show is coming out a bit late this week, and as well for a few minor audio glitches you may or may not notice while listening. As always, we'd like to encourage longtime listeners to subscribe to the show via our Sinica RSS feed. And in the meantime, please feel welcome to download this show as a standalone mp3 link.

Sinica - In the News (pdf)

Sun, 03 Nov 2013 10:49:20 -0800

Sinica - Chinese Literature in Translation

Fri, 25 Oct 2013 09:00:00 -0700

This week, Sinica is delighted to be joined by Linda Jaivin and Alice Liu for a discussion on Chinese literature in translation. As many listeners will know, Linda is a long-standing force in the Chinese literary community and the author of many China-related books including New Ghosts, Old Dreams, A Most Immoral Woman, and Confessions of an S & M Virgin. Alice is the brilliant managing editor of Pathlight Magazine and a long-standing supporter of the Chinese translation community in Beijing.

Enjoy Sinica? Just remember that if you have trouble listening to the show through our on-site player, you are always welcome to download this show as a standalone mp3 file. And if you'd like to subscribe to this and future shows using iTunes, you are welcome to hook up the software to our free public feed at http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica. Inquiries and suggestions for future show topics or guests are also welcome by email at sinica@popupchinese.com.

Sinica - Chinese Literature in Translation (pdf)

Fri, 25 Oct 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Advanced - Things We Love About China

Mon, 21 Oct 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Some of our shows can be admittedly negative about China, given all of the pressures and stresses that people deal with living here. But China also remains the world's happiest nation, at least according to North Korean media. So for all of the grumbling that we do, there is plenty to love about living here. Which is why we invite everyone feeling down about life in the Middle Kingdom to join Sylvia and Echo today for an advanced podcast in which we chat about everything we really like about life in China. We keep things upbeat for a change, how about that?

Advanced - Things We Love About China (pdf)

Mon, 21 Oct 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Innovation in China

Fri, 18 Oct 2013 09:00:00 -0700

In China, innovation has become one of those political buzzwords which - like harmony - seems to mean anything and everything to the Central Propaganda Department. So much so that we find it difficult to walk down the streets in Beijing now without getting accosted by giant character banners encouraging us to economic feats of creative daring. But how much of what passes for innovation in China is actually the least bit innovative?

To help Sinica answer this question, this week Kaiser and Jeremy are pleased to be joined by Tom Saunders, a researcher and policy analyst at the Nesta think-tank on innovation who is in Beijing as part of a high-level British delegation focused on strengthening economic ties with China. More importantly, Tom is also the author of a recent report on China's Absorptive State: innovation and research in China, a report which tries to make sense of how much innovation in China is genuine, and what this means for the rest of the world.

Like Sinica? If you have trouble with our on-site player, don't forget that you can download the latest episode of Sinica as a standalone mp3 player. Users of iTunes or other RSS feed readers please also note that you can subscribe to our show by using this dedicated RSS feed.

Sinica - Innovation in China (pdf)

Fri, 18 Oct 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Faking the Art of War

Mon, 14 Oct 2013 09:00:00 -0700

In this Intermediate show, David, Echo and Sylvia drop into our studio to chat about The Art of War, revealing not only what the Chinese military classic has in common with Monty Python, but also our own personal favorites from among the text's celebrated 36 strategems. And our goal? Helping you seem hyper-educated: because we're all about shortcuts, and why read the original text when you can just fake it through a podcast?

Learning Chinese? This lesson is a touch on the more difficult side for our intermediate series. Not only do we have a lot of native Chinese spoken in the discussion section of our podcast, but our non-dialogue focus is on some of the more commonly used strategems from The Art of War that you'll run into in daily life in China. But if you're an upper-level student, please do check it out and let us know what you think.

Intermediate - Faking the Art of War (pdf)

Mon, 14 Oct 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Faking the Art of War (dialogue)

Mon, 14 Oct 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Steven Schwankert and the HMS Poseidon

Fri, 11 Oct 2013 09:00:00 -0700

When the HMS Poseidon struck a Chinese freighter in the Gulf of Bohai in 1931, the collision sparked a devastating accident that would see the British submarine plunge to the ocean floor in mere minutes, claiming the lives of nearly half the crew, but then making history through the daring escape of six submariners who found themselves trapped in the torpedo room of the doomed vessel and made their way to the surface nearly an hour after its sinking.

This week on Sinica, Kaiser and Jeremy help peel back the mystery of this Poseidon, as well as the secret Chinese salvage operation that took place decades later unbeknowst to the British Navy, in a discussion with Steven Schwankert, managing editor of The Beijinger, owner of the SinoScuba training school, and now author of the just-released book Poseidon: China's Secret Salvage of Britain's Lost Submarine.

Enjoy Sinica? If you're looking for an easy way to keep up-to-date on what we produce, feel free to subscribe to our RSS feed. If you use iTunes this will download new episodes of Sinica automatically as they become available. And let us know if you have any suggestions or feedback at sinica@popupchinese.com. [standalone mp3 download]

Sinica - Steven Schwankert and the HMS Poseidon (pdf)

Fri, 11 Oct 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Buzzing Up (and hating China)

Thu, 03 Oct 2013 09:00:00 -0700

So this story is somewhat off-topic, but after you hear the podcast you'll understand. The back-story is that Amazon emailed (repeatedly) to notify us that some books we had ordered for next-day delivery were shipped and would arrive that afternoon. But then after changing plans to make sure someone was home, we were notified by a telephone call in the late afternoon that the shipper hadn't even bothered to put the books in the mail. Because they wanted to check that we really wanted them.

Admittedly, this isn't a bit deal in the scheme of things, but is complaining about it unreasonable? Does it mean we hate China? Because maybe it means we've got other stuff on our plate: you be the judge.

Elementary - Buzzing Up (and hating China) (pdf)

Thu, 03 Oct 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Buzzing Up (and hating China) (dialogue)

Thu, 03 Oct 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Laszlo Montgomery and the China History Podcast

Fri, 27 Sep 2013 09:00:00 -0700

The broken chopstick fell to our studio floor, its shaft splintered beyond repair where Laszlo had snapped it between his fingers. "Alone we are weak," he looked Jeremy and Kaiser in the eyes while those of us outside the studio wondered faintly who would be cleaning up the mess. "But together," he continued, pulling out a bundle of many more bound tightly between ribbons of silk. "Together we are unbreakable."

As should be obvious from our title, this week on Sinica we are delighted to be joined by the one-and-only Laszlo Montgomery, the force behind the China History Podcast. We waylaid the creator of our favorite history podcast during his most recent trip to Beijing, and dragged him into the studio to hold him accountable for everything he says on his shows. So if you're a fan like us, be sure to join us as we talk shop.

Enjoy Sinica? Please note that we invite everyone to download and share this week's show as a standalone mp3 file. And please consider yourself warmly invited to keep yourself updated on the release of new shows with our Sinica RSS feed. We hope you like the show!

Sinica - Laszlo Montgomery and the China History Podcast (pdf)

Fri, 27 Sep 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Ambulance Days

Wed, 25 Sep 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Although we claim to be experts in basically everything involving China, we should admit that no-one at Popup Towers has ever had to call an ambulance. The one time a friend came down with a medical problem that needed one, he staggered to the local convenience store and someone took care of it for him. But since you're living in China and can't count on that, be sure to give this lesson a listen as we cover all the Chinese you should need to know to get help in an emergency. Or at least dial the right number.

Learning Chinese? At our absolute beginners level, all lessons are designed for people who have no previous experience speaking Chinese. So even if you don't know any Chinese, you should be able to understand the materials we cover in this class. And when you start finding this stuff too easy? Head up to our elementary level which features more spoken Chinese in the podcast, and longer dialogues in general.

Absolute Beginners - Ambulance Days (pdf)

Wed, 25 Sep 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Ambulance Days (dialogue)

Wed, 25 Sep 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Chinese Twitter and the Big-V Takedown

Fri, 20 Sep 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Joining Kaiser and Jeremy this week are David Wertime and Rachel Lu from Tea Leaf Nation, along with Paul Mozur from The Wall Street Journal. And our topic? None other than the firestorm that has engulfed Sina Weibo following China's effective criminalization of anti-government tweeting on September 9th, and then the political crackdown that followed this week targeting the more rabble-rousing of celebrity microbloggers on China's most popular public messaging service.

At the heart of this crackdown lie the fates not only of some of China's most prominent tech companies, but also the degree of editorial independence of some of the most-followed and influential non-Party businessmen, celebrities and intellectuals in China. In addition to discussing this, we also ask whether Sino Weibo will continue to be popular under this sort of chilling effect, and to what extent evidence shows that online discussions are already migrating away from the web towards popular mobile services like Weixin (WeChat) with stronger limits on public broadcasting.

Enjoy Sinica but hate our in-site audio player. Please note that this show is - like all Sinica shows - available as a standalone mp3 file. Please feel free to download it and share with friends.

Sinica - Chinese Twitter and the Big-V Takedown (pdf)

Fri, 20 Sep 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Petroleum and Purges

Fri, 13 Sep 2013 09:00:00 -0700

The Beijing rumor-mill is back on overdrive. With the trial of Bo Xilai only barely concluded and the country now openly speculating on the length of the disgraced politician's likely sentence, factional battles targeting Bo's remaining supporters have moved center-stage, as the government has launched an anti-graft probe into the country's petroleum industry, a sector heavily connected to Zhou Yongkang, China's feared former security chief who reputedly continued to back Bo Xilai against the wishes of the rest of the Politburo.

Joining us to discuss these rumors are two outstanding observers of modern Chinese politics: Bill Bishop from Sinocism, and Jeremy Page from the Wall Street Journal. So join us as we discuss what seems to be happening behind the scenes, what this suggests for Bo Xilai's sentence and the future of the politburo, and what the implications of this probe suggest for everything from internal party politics to China's ongoing air pollution problems.

Note: don't want to use the in-site audio player? Download our standalone audio file!

Sinica - Petroleum and Purges (pdf)

Fri, 13 Sep 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - A Goodbye to the Magistad

Fri, 06 Sep 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Can it have been merely a few weeks ago that we sequestered Evan "the turncoat" Osnos in our studio and grilled the celebrated writer on his decision to leave China for what must have myopically seemed like greener pastures? At the time, we intended our podcast to act as a deterrent against further defections among the Beijing literati and set a forceful example of why journalists should love China and stop hurting the feelings of the Chinese people.

Sadly, recent developments indicate that further intimidation tactics may be necessary, as it has now come to our attention that none other than Mary Kay Magistad is also leaving China. One of the legends in Beijing journalism, Mary Kay got her start in 1993 when she began work as National Public Radio's full-time Southeast Asia correspondent. She later took charge of opening NPR's Beijing Bureau in 1996 before starting her decade-long involvement with The World. So clearly, we have quite a bit of debriefing to do....

Note: please feel invited to download this show as a standalone mp3 file.

Sinica - A Goodbye to the Magistad (pdf)

Fri, 06 Sep 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - The Trial of the Century

Fri, 30 Aug 2013 09:00:00 -0700

The spectacular trial of Bo Xilai seized the media's attention last week as the fallen politburo member - still widely admired in Chongqing and Dalian and heavily connected among the Party elite - defended himself with unexpected vigor against charges of corruption, and hardly pausing to implicate his wife and subordinates in murder, mutual poisoning and financial skullduggery.

This week on Sinica, Kaiser and Jeremy host two guests: Ed Wong from the New York Times and James Miles of The Economist for a closer look at what some Chinese commentators are calling China's "trial of the century". Join us for an in-depth discussion to the trial which looks not only at what this means for media transparency in China, but also extends to historical comparisons with previous political purges, including the famous case against Jiang Qing and the Gang of Four following the Cultural Revolution.

Enjoy Sinica? As always, let us remind you that you can always use iTunes to subscribe to Sinica. To do this, just click on the "File" menu and select the option "Subscribe to Podcast". When prompted, enter the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica and iTunes will download all of our shows to your computer, updating automatically as new episodes are released. Alternately, we welcome all listeners to download this show as a standalone mp3 file. We hope you enjoy it.

Sinica - The Trial of the Century (pdf)

Fri, 30 Aug 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Lost in a Parking Garage

Tue, 27 Aug 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Safely ensconced on the fifth floor (5A-West) of the parking garage, the Volkswagen Beetle waited patiently for the return of its masters. Minutes passed into hours, and then hours into days. And when winter stretched into spring and spring into summer, the passage of time caused little discomfort for the unprepossessing automobile. Its owners would come, and when they did it would be time to take them and their shopping home.

Learning Chinese. In this show, we cover a few words and phrases useful for getting out of just about anything in mandarin, and remind you that verbs describing thinking and feeling are always used in the present aspect. Finally, we cover a use of 又 which is impossible to translate, since the character carries almost no independent meaning into the sentence.

Elementary - Lost in a Parking Garage (pdf)

Tue, 27 Aug 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Lost in a Parking Garage (dialogue)

Tue, 27 Aug 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Turning the Tables on Sinica

Fri, 23 Aug 2013 09:00:00 -0700

This week sets a new record for introspective profanity as we reverse our usual format, in a show that features David Moser and Mary Kay Magistad turning the tables on Jeremy Goldkorn and Kaiser Kuo with an interview that explores how both view Sinica’s relationship with the world of academic Sinology as well as China-related journalism, and question to what extent both are relevant and irrelevant in this digital age.

As long-standing guests on our show with roots in the academic and journalism fields respectively, David and Mary Kay are more than qualified to hold Kaiser and Jeremy to account. David Moser is one of the most well-regarded Sinologists in Beijing, and works as the Academic Director for the CET program in Beijing. Mary Kay Magistad is a veteran China correspondent for Public Radio International with over 20 years of experience living in and reporting on Asia.

Enjoying Sinica but frustrated by our on-site flash player? Two solutions are either downloading this show as a standalone MP3 file, or using any RSS feed reader to subscribe to this podcast automatically. In of Sinica right to your computer. In iTunes, you can do this by selecting "Subscribe to Podcast" from the Advanced file menu and providing the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica when prompted.

Sinica - Turning the Tables on Sinica (pdf)

Fri, 23 Aug 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Advanced - Chinese Pet Stories

Mon, 19 Aug 2013 09:00:00 -0700

The worst childhood pet stories we've ever heard are variants of Cujo or Pet Semetary, involving a once-beloved puppy which not only goes crazy, but massacres large portions of a small rural village in the process. And in that sense, these childhood stories of Echo and Sylvia are somewhat tame by comparison. But they also make us wonder at the sensibilities of a country which trains its children to raise worms.

Advanced - Chinese Pet Stories (pdf)

Mon, 19 Aug 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - David Moser interviews Mark Rowswell

Fri, 16 Aug 2013 17:06:29 -0700

If you're a long-timer in China, this is a show that needs no introduction. One of the most famous foreigners in China, Mark Rowswell (a.k.a. Dashan) shot to fame in the early 1990s after a fortuitous break on Chinese television. In this live interview with David Moser conducted at Capital M earlier this month, David and Mark talk a bit about their shared experiences on Chinese television before some light sparring in a deeper discussion of how Chinese media and the Chinese sense of humour have changed over the years.

This is a really great interview and we're delighted to be able to feature it here on Sinica. With that said, before you listen let us remind you as always that suggestions, questions and comments are always welcome in the comments section below, or on our facebook page. We also welcome correspondence by email at sinica@popupchinese.com. So enjoy the show, and let us know what you think.

p.s. here is the standalone mp3 file for download.

Sinica - David Moser interviews Mark Rowswell (pdf)

Fri, 16 Aug 2013 17:06:29 -0700

Absolute Beginners - The Art of Email

Mon, 12 Aug 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Xiao Luo stared at the business card with the patience and intensity of an archeologist exhuming an ancient Pharoh. Unexpectedly, the combination of her own sweat and the Shanghai summer heat had given the once cream-colored paper a greyish-blue tint, and smudged the delicate combination of numbers and letters which had previously been the email address of the most important businessman in her field. Could she reconstruct it from memory?

Learning Chinese? This lesson has one of our more difficult dialogues at the Absolute Beginner level, although we try to work you up to it slowly. Nonetheless, if you are a total beginning to mandarin, you'll probably want to start with an easier show from our beginner lesson archive. If you've already got a few under your belt though, join us for this show and learn all the Chinese you need to ask for someone's email address. If you're new to China, you'll find this is oddly more difficult than it is abroad.

Absolute Beginners - The Art of Email (pdf)

Mon, 12 Aug 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - The Art of Email (dialogue)

Mon, 12 Aug 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Alison Friedman on China and the Arts

Fri, 09 Aug 2013 09:00:00 -0700

The last ten years have seen a genuine transformation in China's arts world, as a large sector that used to be dependent almost exclusively on government funding has been downsized into the maelstrom of the market, leaving survivors to navigate not only China's rapidly changing market forces but also the vagaries of state preferences and political vacillations.

This week on Sinica, Kaiser and Jeremy take a closer look at what these changes have done to both larger and smaller arts studios, in conversation with Alison Friedman. As the founder of Ping Pong Productions, an organization at the crossroads of the Western and Chinese art worlds, Alison has spent the last several years helping Chinese performers find work outside China while also setting up tours and collaborations for performers visiting the country from abroad. She has an insider's view on the arts scene here that has made her one of the only foreigners regularly consulted by the Chinese Ministry of Culture for her expertise in China's contemporary performing arts. We are delighted to have her in our studio.

Enjoy Sinica? As always, let us remind you that if you'd care to subscribe to Sinica via iTunes, you can do this by clicking on the "Advanced" file menu and selecting the option "Subscribe to Podcast". iTunes will show a popup prompting you to enter the URL of your desired podcast, at which point you should enter http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica. We also encourage all listeners to download the Sinica show as a standalone mp3 file for listening or sharing with friends. Enjoy!

Sinica - Alison Friedman on China and the Arts (pdf)

Fri, 09 Aug 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Sheep Disappointment

Mon, 05 Aug 2013 09:00:00 -0700

The first month after the apocalypse was the worst, as China struggled not only with efforts to fend off its relentless onslaught of undead, but also to keep its survivors motivated and well-fed as food supplies ran low and major cities found themselves cut-off from more well-stocked regional outposts. Fortunately, it was not long before Chinese ingenuity offered a solution to the nation's predicament.

Learning Chinese? In today's show we cover a pretty strange grammar pattern that appears twice in our dialogue. And it's strange not only because it fails to obey common grammar conventions, but also because we can't really explain what is happening ourselves on a fundamental level. If you think you can do better, take a listen and share your thoughts in the comments section below. We'd be curious if anyone can give us a good systematic explanation for what is going on.

Intermediate - Sheep Disappointment (pdf)

Mon, 05 Aug 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Sheep Disappointment (dialogue)

Mon, 05 Aug 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Shop Talk with Phonemica

Fri, 02 Aug 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Feeling crowded out by all the laowai speaking putonghua these days? Fortunately for the more adventurous among us, China has no shortage of other dialects, which is why we're delighted to host the creators of Phonemica, a crowd-sourced project to build a digital map of Chinese languages. In our studio to talk about their project and how it's being received in China are the two founders: Kellen Parker, a linguistics graduate student at National Tsinghua University in Taiwan, and Steve Hansen, a university professor and long-time resident in Beijing.

Enjoy Sinica? If you find listening to the show through our online flash player inconvenient, remember that you are warmly invited to download this show as a standalone mp3 file. Alternately, you can subscribe to all of our shows by RSS using our public feed at http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica. Inquiries and suggestions for future show topics are also always welcome by email at sinica@popupchinese.com.

Sinica - Shop Talk with Phonemica (pdf)

Fri, 02 Aug 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Chinese Commercials - The Legendary K-Touch

Mon, 29 Jul 2013 09:00:00 -0700

We've never heard of this phone, and don't feel particularly inclined to buy it, especially after seeing this video associating the device with daytime soap Chinese operas. We state this merely as evidence that not all viral videos are equal, and that a strategy of making the audience want to gun down your cast is perhaps not the best sales approach.

Chinese Commercials - The Legendary K-Touch (pdf)

Mon, 29 Jul 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - The Strange History of Pasta in China

Fri, 26 Jul 2013 09:00:00 -0700

After almost three years of podcasting, this week on Sinica we bow to the inevitable with a show about Chinese cuisine, and in particular the strange history of pasta in China. Joining us for this journey is Jen Lin-Liu, author of On the Noodle Road: From Beijing to Rome, with Love and Pasta. Joining her in our studio is Sinica regular David Moser, academic director of CET Beijing and our go-to man for restaurant recommendations in Beijing.

Enjoy Sinica? Remember that you can download this show as a standalone mp3 file. If you want to subscribe to this and future shows by RSS to automate the downloading via iTunes, please remember that you can subscribe to our public feed at http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica. Inquiries and suggestions for future show topics are also always welcome by email at sinica@popupchinese.com.

Sinica - The Strange History of Pasta in China (pdf)

Fri, 26 Jul 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The General Relativity Ultimatum

Mon, 22 Jul 2013 09:00:00 -0700

It was at precisely the moment Xiao Zhang was supposed to be mulling over his options and trying to find an escape from his predicament, that his mind somehow veered back to Einstein's theory of General Relativity and the conceptual experiment of the accelerating elevator. Because if gravity was the same thing as constant acceleration, then what exactly was five minutes anyway? Wasn't time relative? And if it was, then how could it ever come to an end? The thought seemed oddly comforting.

Learning Chinese? Rather than assault you with more , today we're pleased to present a simpler lesson intended to help you practice all the Chinese you need to deal with time, whether it involves procrastinating at work or hectoring the overattentive wait staff at your favorite Chinese restaurant. We hope you enjoy it, and if you have suggestions on future topics you'd like to hear covered, let us know anytime at service@popupchinese.com.

Elementary - The General Relativity Ultimatum (pdf)

Mon, 22 Jul 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The General Relativity Ultimatum (dialogue)

Mon, 22 Jul 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Advanced - Flight Delays of the Gods

Wed, 17 Jul 2013 09:00:00 -0700

The Beijing Capital Airport is not only the busiest airport in the world by traffic volume, but it's apparently also the most vindictive and spiteful when it comes to the treatment of non-national airlines. Or that's the most likely explanation we can think of for how a four hour flight to Beijing transformed into a thirty hour Odyssey that included a two day layover in Taiyuan while our plane was cleared for "permission to land" in the capital.

Admittedly, the delay could have been an accident. Or it could have involved mechanical difficulties. But we're leaning towards corruption as the most likely answer, and if you're interested in the reasons why, Echo and Sylvia in our advanced show for today as they talk about this epic flight delay, and share some local gossip about the airline industry in China. And with that in mind, we'd be interested to hear if anyone has similar stories, so please feel invited to leave a comment in the discussion section below, or write Echo directly with your experiences at echo@popupchinese.com.

Advanced - Flight Delays of the Gods (pdf)

Wed, 17 Jul 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Brownie Cake, Part II

Mon, 15 Jul 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Deep within the bowels of his Shanxi fortress, lungs safely ensconced behind an industrial breathing apparatus, Gao opened his oven to gaze inside with paternal pride. Thick, rich and spewing forth unquestionably carcinogenic vapour, his second generation of brownies looked deliciously irresistible. In fact, it if weren't for his intimate knowledge of the physical agony awaiting anyone who sampled even a single bite, Gao would have been tempted to try one himself.

Learning Chinese? Newcomers to Popup Towers might wonder why our staff seem so intent on killing each other using homemade imitations of popular Western desserts. We worry less about the homicidal impulses of our voice actors and more about providing interesting Chinese learning materials that also feature Chinese the way it is actually spoken here in China. So we hope you enjoy this lesson. And if you're still confused by the story, be sure to check out this lesson which outlines the background to Gao and 9527's epic Popup rivalry.

Intermediate - Brownie Cake, Part II (pdf)

Mon, 15 Jul 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Brownie Cake, Part II (dialogue)

Mon, 15 Jul 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Ripples from the Egyptian Revolution

Fri, 12 Jul 2013 09:00:00 -0700

In Egypt in 2011, what was by all accounts a free and fair democratic election resulted in the victory of Mohammed Morsi, a controversial figure whose brief rule ended last week after being overthrown by the Egyptian military. With Western media outlets largely stepping in to support this coup d'etat, the events have raised questions about popular commitment to democratic reforms worldwide, and raised questions about what this implies for the future of even gradualist democratic reforms in China.

This week on Sinica, Kaiser Kuo and Jeremy Goldkorn are delighted to be joined by Anthony Kuhn, longtime China correspondent for NPR who has recently reported on developments throughout Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Joining him is Sinica stalwart David Moser, the most renaissance of renaissance men in Beijing, and director of the CET immersion program at Capital Normal University.

Enjoy Sinica? If you've been listening for a while, you should know that you can always download the latest episodes of Sinica either from our custom Sinica RSS feed or individually from our site as standalone mp3 files like this one. And if you have any suggestions or comments, write us anytime at sinica@popupchinese.com.

Sinica - Ripples from the Egyptian Revolution (pdf)

Fri, 12 Jul 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - In the Army (Huang Xiaoming edition)

Tue, 09 Jul 2013 09:00:00 -0700

As the most handsome member of his squadron, Huang Xiaoming was routinely tasked with the more photogenic military duties: fielding media interviews, organizing photo shoots for recruiting purposes and posing as "Mr. December" for the division's annual charity calendar. Content with their second-tier status in the world of masculine beauty, Huang's squadmates would drift into supporting roles on these projects: lifting heavy items, cleaning weapons, or playing with animals for b-roll.

Learning Chinese? Our dialogue today is a bit of a mix of more formal public speech, as well as the sort of casual mandarin that you'll hear people speak in more unguarded moments. And what are we learning? Beyond the listening practice, what we hope you take away from this is that Chinese speakers regularly make exactly the sort of mistakes that Chinese learners do as well. So don't worry too much about getting your speaking habits perfect, although we'll tell you how to do that too.

Elementary - In the Army (Huang Xiaoming edition) (pdf)

Tue, 09 Jul 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - In the Army (Huang Xiaoming edition) (dialogue)

Tue, 09 Jul 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Myanmar's Uncertain Glasnost

Fri, 05 Jul 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Buddhist terrorists, military juntas, resource clashes and pro-Western democracy movements? If China has lulled you into thinking that Southeast Asia is predictable and boring, join us for this week's discussion of Myanmar, the former client state of China which has undergone a remarkable transformation in the past five years, launching itself into an uncertain Glasnost that has opened the country to democracy internally as well as set it on course for a foreign policy that is more skeptical of China and sympathetic to the west.

Joining Jeremy Goldkorn for this closer look at China's southern neighbor are guests Simon Montlake and Josh Gordon. The Beijing Bureau Chief for Forbes Magazine, Simon has been a frequent visitor to Burma since 1998, and is the recent author of a piece on General Electric and their Burmese dreams. Coming from a more academic background, Josh is an expert on Burmese-Chinese relations. We are lucky to have them both on our show.

Like Sinica? As usual, let us take a minute to remind you that it is possible to subscribe to Sinica by RSS. We are also pleased to make each episode available as a standalone mp3 file for you to download and share as you please. And if you have any questions, contact us anytime at service@popupchinese.com.

Sinica - Myanmar's Uncertain Glasnost (pdf)

Fri, 05 Jul 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Advanced - If You Are the One

Mon, 01 Jul 2013 09:00:00 -0700

On our advanced show this week, Echo and Sylvia go head-to-head on the topic of modern dating, with a conversation specifically about 非诚勿扰, the most popular dating show on Chinese television. Sylvia isn't a big fan of the show, but Echo wishes she could take part. If you're looking for native-level conversation to practice your listening skills, join us for this show and learn why.

Advanced - If You Are the One (pdf)

Mon, 01 Jul 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - The Fate of Traditional Chinese Medicine

Sat, 29 Jun 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Bill Bishop swears by part of it. Jeremy Goldkorn swears regularly at it. Chances are you've got strong opinions on Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) yourself, which is why we're delighted to be joined by James Palmer this week, author of The Death of Mao, and the mind behind two phenomenal China pieces in Aeon Magazine, one on the 1980s generation, and the most recent on the fate of TCM in modern China.

Enjoy Sinica? Please remember that in addition to listening online or downloading this show as a standalone MP3 file, you can also subscribe to Sinica through iTunes using our free podcast feed. Just head to the iTunes store and search for Sinica and you'll be steps away from downloading our entire archive of audio shows for free.

Sinica - The Fate of Traditional Chinese Medicine (pdf)

Sat, 29 Jun 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Chinese Commercials - The Spirit of Revolution

Fri, 28 Jun 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Wang Daqiang's arrest - the third in as many months - had thrown the revolutionary leadership into panic. The police dragnet was tightening, and with Zhang Xiaoming the agent of their betrayal, it was clear their entire movement was compromised. The foreign concessions could provide only temporary safeguard: it would be necessary to flee Shanghai at once....

Chinese Commercials - The Spirit of Revolution (pdf)

Fri, 28 Jun 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Quiz Night - Battle of the Antipodes

Tue, 25 Jun 2013 09:00:00 -0700

In our fourth episode of Quiz Night, Tony from New Zealand matches matches his wits against Will from Australia in a battle that covers everything from T.S. Eliot's favorite detective novel, to horrific industrial accidents in Russia. Also up for your enjoyment? David repeatedly mispronounces the word "nuclear" and we learn the best place in Beijing for volleying ammunition into the Forbidden City.

Learning Chinese? Our quiz show is geared for anyone with good listening comprehension also looking for a fun way to expand their vocabulary. This show is a bit heavy on English and we're likely to push back towards a more Chinese-intensive show in future episodes, but even so there is still a decent amount of upper-level mandarin here. So join us for a fun romp through history, pop culture and modern China, and let us know what you think.

Quiz Night - Battle of the Antipodes (pdf)

Tue, 25 Jun 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Duel

Mon, 24 Jun 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Knowing he might never see her again, Nevis had stood in the snow outside her window all night. And now he stood, hands trembling slightly in the morning breeze, fingers wrapped tightly around a thin grip of steel, prepared to face the worst if so he must. And it would be worth it. It would be worth all of it.

Learning Chinese? We have an interesting sentence in our dialogue for today, because it is completely time-agnostic. Put it into the past, and it doesn't change. Use it to refer to ongoing conditions, and it doesn't change. And stick it into the future? Yup - no change at all. So join us in out studio today as we take a look at this great sentence pattern and teach you how to use it like a native.

Elementary - The Duel (pdf)

Mon, 24 Jun 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Duel (dialogue)

Mon, 24 Jun 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - The Evan Osnos Exit Interview

Sat, 22 Jun 2013 09:00:00 -0700

In a summer when many reporters and their families are departing Beijing (including many people who have appeared on this podcast), perhaps the biggest loss to the foreign correspondents' pool in the Chinese capital is the departure of Evan Osnos, who has been in China since 2005 and writing for the New Yorker since 2008. In today's show, Kaiser and Jeremy caught Evan before he leaves for Washington next month to talk about the big kerfuffle at NYU, how the Snowden affair may or may not affect Sino-American diplomacy, his forthcoming book, and about his time in China. We're sure that once you listen to this you'll understand why Evan will be so sorely missed.

Like Sinica? Don't forget you can download this podcast as a standalone mp3 file. And if you'd like to download out entire archive in one go, just open up iTunes and subscribe to our custom Sinica feed at http://popupchinese.com/custom/feeds/sinica. And if you run into problems, we can be reached for support at service@popupchinese.com.

Sinica - The Evan Osnos Exit Interview (pdf)

Sat, 22 Jun 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - China in Images and Words

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 09:00:00 -0700

This week on Sinica, Kaiser Kuo and Jeremy Goldkorn are delighted to host Matthew Niederhauser. A photographer focusing on urban development in China, Matthew has been published in various journals including The New Yorker, National Geographic, The New York Times Magazine, Le Monde, and Time Magazine among others. As Jeremy describes it, his visuals of Beijing and other parts of modern China capture the feeling of a society that operates on a scale both "beautiful and horrifying" at the same time.

Matthew is currently working on a project documenting China's megablock urban development project. But all of his work is stunning. So while you're listening to the show, be sure to click through the following links and check out his photos on China's counterfeit paradises as well as its visions of modernity. Quick Hint: if you want to see the photo exhibit be sure to scroll right on your monitor rather than scrolling down.

And want more Sinica? As always, this show is available as a standalone mp3 file for those of you who'd like to download it instead of listening through our on-site flash player. And if you're looking to subscribe through iTunes, just visit the iTunes store, click on podcasts, and then do a search for Sinica. Once the proper page loads you'll be a click away from downloading everything automatically.

Sinica - China in Images and Words (pdf)

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - A Good Scrubbing

Mon, 10 Jun 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Even years after her sudden death from apoplexy, Robert's mother would haunt her son's dreams, her corpulent and open-palmed presence bellowing with outrage over his "filthy, filthy pants" and threatening to give the boy "a good scrubbing." As his court psychiatrist would later testify, this classic case of childhood trauma not only colored his relations with the opposite sex, but also affected his notions of acceptable personal hygiene.

Interested in learning Chinese? Or perhaps you're not really interested in learning Chinese at all but are still curious how exactly to speak to household cleaning staff. You know, wanting to know enough Chinese so that you can walk that fine line between being the sort of permissive employer who attracts every layabout in the Middle Kingdom, and the sort of tyrant immortalized in the oral histories of Fujian and Anhui? Then this podcast is for you.

Absolute Beginners - A Good Scrubbing (pdf)

Mon, 10 Jun 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - A Good Scrubbing (dialogue)

Mon, 10 Jun 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - What China is Getting Right

Fri, 07 Jun 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Complain as we might about life in China, the last thirty-four years or so haven't been all bad: we've seen three decades of roughly ten percent GDP growth, a whole lot of people eating a whole lot better than they did, and impressive progress improving life expectancy, infant mortality, literacy rates and more, not to mention a slew of prescient infrastructure investments in transportation and telecommunication networks.

This week on Sinica, Kaiser Kuo and Jeremy Goldkorn are joined by Jeremiah Jenne, director of IES Beijing and popular blogger, for a look into what we love about China, and what the government is doing right. It was fun coming up with our own lists and comparing them, so we'd be curious what yours looks like too: please share in the comments section below.

As always, this podcast is available as a standalone mp3 file if you'd like to download the show manually instead of listening through our on-site flash player. And for all of you to subscribe to Sinica through RSS, you can get your computer to automatically download all of our shows by visiting the iTunes store, clicking on podcasts, and then doing a search for... you guessed it... Sinica. And let us know if you have any questions or problems.

Sinica - What China is Getting Right (pdf)

Fri, 07 Jun 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Chinese Commercials - Muscle Man

Wed, 05 Jun 2013 09:00:00 -0700

This week is moving week at Popup Towers, and so we actually bought this toilet cleaning product after we saw the state of the washroom in our new apartment. After about an hour putting its claims to test, we can confirm that Mr. Muscle leaves a somewhat pleasing antiseptic smell in your washroom, although if you don't rinse well it can translate into nasal irritation. They really don't mess around with their chemicals.

Chinese Commercials - Muscle Man (pdf)

Wed, 05 Jun 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Quiz Night - Attack of the Fascist Refreshments

Mon, 03 Jun 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Nazi refreshments, racist stereotypes from the 1980s and boy bands that refuse to die. Such are just a few of the topics you can expect this week on our Popup Quiz Night, along with our usual round of China questions designed to make you absolutely insufferable to friends and family alike.

Learning Chinese? Our Popup Chinese quiz show is intended for people who already have pretty good mandarin but are looking for a fun way to expand their vocabulary. It features nine questions split into three thematic categories, with Chinese-heavy questions and a vocabulary review tucked onto the end. We've tried to make this show more difficult than our last one, so let us know what you think, and good luck!

Quiz Night - Attack of the Fascist Refreshments (pdf)

Mon, 03 Jun 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - The Abuse of Children

Fri, 31 May 2013 09:00:00 -0700

After a few weeks grousing about the state of Chinese humor, sex and Bill Bishop, we turn our gaze to the plight of the nation's children, and the stories of child abuse and maltreatment which have filled the mainland press for the last several weeks. And with the news today of child abuse protester Ye Haiyan's own detention and corporal punishment our core question could not be more timely: is there something about Chinese culture that has encouraged society to sweep this problem under the rug?

With Kaiser Kuo in Italy this week, Jeremy Goldkorn is hosting this episode solo, joined by two excellent guests: the incomparable Tania Branigan who writes for The Guardian, and Leta Hong Fincher, an American academic with a research interest in women's issues in China. We're delighted to have both guests back on the show, and hope you enjoy our discussion.

Have a love-hate relationship with us? If so, don't forget that you can subscribe to new episodes of Sinica automatically by RSS. If you use iTunes, just select "Subscribe to Podcast" from the "Advanced" file menu and provide the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica when prompted. Alternately, please feel welcome to download this show as a standalone mp3 file. And let us know what you think!

Sinica - The Abuse of Children (pdf)

Fri, 31 May 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - The Abuse of Children (dialogue)

Fri, 31 May 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Chinese Commercials - Seven-Up - Snow White

Wed, 29 May 2013 09:00:00 -0700

A popular commercial from Seven-Up based loosely around the story of Snow White. And we say loosely because we don't see any mention of the seven dwarves. Or the wicked witch. In fact, major elements of the story seem to have been changed to include mention of carbonated soda and twist-off-the-cap prize giveaways.

Chinese Commercials - Seven-Up - Snow White (pdf)

Wed, 29 May 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The Oregon Trail

Mon, 27 May 2013 09:00:00 -0700

The largest investment for any family daring the Oregon Trail was the purchase of oxen. Bullets? Medicine? Clothing for the children? Safe passage across dangerous rivers? All of these were luxuries. Even children were a luxury, since in a worst case scenario your adults could survive on squirrel meat and repopulate once they reached the west coast. But if your oxen died? Then the grim ghosts of dysentery that stalked the trail would show no mercy.

Learning Chinese? This week on Popup Chinese we boot up the Apple II and discover the surprising amount that Chinese people know about American history. And Super Mario and Contra and strange Chinese role-playing games involving mystical swords. Also, details on the not-so-legit Nintendo gaming systems that were all the rage in the days before the XBox.

Intermediate - The Oregon Trail (pdf)

Mon, 27 May 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The Oregon Trail (dialogue)

Mon, 27 May 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Chinese Commercials - McDonald's - Discount Coupon

Wed, 22 May 2013 09:00:00 -0700

It probably isn't even necessary to have the coupon to be honest. Because if you said that you had the coupon at home and just stood there like tank man until you got your ten percent off, we're pretty sure that McDonald's would just give you the discount. Or you could be creative write a coupon for your own business right on the spot. Add as many zeroes as you'd like.

Chinese Commercials - McDonald's - Discount Coupon (pdf)

Wed, 22 May 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Something you don't know about your wife

Mon, 20 May 2013 14:29:49 -0700

Robert suspected his wife's strange preoccupation with Beijing Opera was beginning to affect their marriage. While he had always been aware of her fascination with Chinese culture, after she became involved in a local theatre troupe, June seemed much less willing to compromise on the small issues, or even consider things from his perspective. And then there were her midnight practice sessions, furtive telephone calls and paranoid protectiveness of personal toiletries.

Learning Chinese? Our elementary lesson today is a bit trickier than most, but if you've been with us for a while we think you'll enjoy it, since it introduces a new sentence pattern we haven't run into yet, and that we're not aware of being covered in any textbook we've stumbled into to date. Despite the hour of pain that preceded the recording, we had a good time making this show and hope you enjoy it too.

Elementary - Something you don't know about your wife (pdf)

Mon, 20 May 2013 14:29:49 -0700

Elementary - Something you don't know about your wife (dialogue)

Mon, 20 May 2013 14:29:49 -0700

Chinese Commercials - Tencent - Studying Abroad

Mon, 20 May 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Almost everyone who leaves China stops using QQ in favor of software that won't rootkit your laptop. Strangely, Tencent's attempt to reverse this involved hiring a director with a clear Woody Allen hangup, resulting in a bizarre mishmash that not only romanticizes the United States, but reminds many overseas students of the very reason they were so keen on studying abroad in the first place.

Chinese Commercials - Tencent - Studying Abroad (pdf)

Mon, 20 May 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - An Evening with Bill Bishop

Fri, 17 May 2013 09:00:00 -0700

This week Kaiser and Jeremy welcome back Bill Bishop, the force behind the invaluable Sinocism newsletter and the man Evan Osnos once referred to as "the China watcher's China watcher." Starting with a look at Bill's past and how he ended up in China, our discussion moves on to why he decided to start his esteemed newsletter before segueing into his take on the most important but overlooked China stories of the past month.

Enjoy Sinica? Please remember that if you don't want to listen through our site, you are always welcome to download this show as a standalone mp3 file. If you want to subscribe to this and future shows by RSS to automate the downloading via iTunes, please remember that you can subscribe to our public feed at http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica. Inquiries and suggestions for future show topics are also welcome by email at sinica@popupchinese.com.

Sinica - An Evening with Bill Bishop (pdf)

Fri, 17 May 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Chinese Commercials - Seven-Up - Time Travel

Wed, 15 May 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Seven-Up is fighting a losing battle for market-share in China, if only because the name Sprite has become synonymous with colorless and tasteless cola. As such, this commercial hints at Coca Cola company's desire to turn back the clock and introduce its drink earlier in Chinese history, and perhaps in Song dynasty poetry so that children will be forced to memorize the name as part of their early childhood education.

Chinese Commercials - Seven-Up - Time Travel (pdf)

Wed, 15 May 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Advanced - Chinese Parenting

Tue, 14 May 2013 09:00:00 -0700

It was another ideas meeting at Popup Towers, and the topic had turned to our advanced Chinese-only shows. "Why can't we have an upbeat podcast for a change," David had suggested. "I'm worried listeners are going to think we're chronically depressed between our discussion of pollution, academic bribery and corporal punishment." The room hung silent. "Couldn't we have a happy show about family and love or something like that?"

Advanced - Chinese Parenting (pdf)

Tue, 14 May 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Humor in China

Fri, 10 May 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Feel that your jokes have been falling flat lately? Enough that you've even started wondering whether China is a grand experiment in irony and deadpan humor? This week on Sinica, hosts Kaiser Kuo and Jeremy Goldkorn are delighted to invite guests David Moser and Jesse Appell on our show for a discussion on the differences between Chinese and American senses of humor, asking why these two cultures feel so different and where - if anywhere - they meet?

If you're a longtime Sinica listener, you'll already know David Moser as a regular guest on our show and as director of the CET Immersion program in Beijing. You may not be aware that David also studied Chinese crosstalk with Ding Guangquan and has written on Chinese humor in the past. Jesse Appell is has also given a lot of thought to this subject, first as an academic doing research into contemporary Chinese humor, and second as the producer of a Gangnam Style parody video that ended up spreading through the Chinese Internet.

Enjoy Sinica? We're actually sorry about getting the show out so late this week: the Internet ended up being quite slow and that delayed us. Since this could always happen in the future, if you're looking for an easy way to keep up-to-date on what we produce, feel free to subscribe to our iTunes feed. This will download new episodes for you automatically as they become available. And let us know if you have any suggestions or feedback at sinica@popupchinese.com. [standalone mp3 download]

Sinica - Humor in China (pdf)

Fri, 10 May 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Chinese Commercials - Oppo - Travel the World

Wed, 08 May 2013 09:00:00 -0700

This video, selected for its absolutely gorgeous footage of Tibet, is based on the true story of Molly (the online nickname of the girl in the video), a student in Shanghai who chose a life of backpacking over a regular job. In a country where this sort of thing is incredibly rare, Molly's story spread quickly, and she has since parlayed her experience into a job traveling around southeast Asia and writing about her experiences.

Chinese Commercials - Oppo - Travel the World (pdf)

Wed, 08 May 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Quiz Night - Communist beards we know and love

Mon, 06 May 2013 09:00:00 -0700

After succumbing last episode to Brendan's wide-ranging knowledge of everything save contemporary pop music, Echo has switched sides this week to serve as Chinese quizmaster in a show that pits podcaster Sylvia against voice-legend Andy in a China-vs-China battle of the wits. And with a Chinese Mobile recharge card hanging in the balance, and SMS messages just waiting to be sent, the stakes could not be higher for our contestants.

Learning Chinese? Our quiz show is intended for people who already have pretty good mandarin but are looking for a fun way to expand their vocabulary. And with that in mind, our topics covered this week include famous American companies which have bought other famous American companies, people who did not win the Nobel Peace Prize, and Communist beards we know and love. This is a fun romp through history, pop culture, and German facial hair, so join us for the quiz and let us know what you think.

Quiz Night - Communist beards we know and love (pdf)

Mon, 06 May 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Sex in China

Fri, 03 May 2013 09:00:00 -0700

This week on Sinica, we deliver a salacious podcast that covers everything you always wanted to know about Sex in China, but have been afraid to ask. And with a discussion that stretches from Daoist sex manuals and imperial sex customs to getting jiggy during the Cultural Revolution and even matters like homosexuality in contemporary China, this is a podcast you don't want to miss... unless talking about sex makes you uncomfortable in which case you might actually want to skip it.

For the rest of us, this is a stellar show however. With Kaiser Kuo and Jeremy Goldkorn leading the questioning as usual, in this episode of Sinica we're delighted to be joined by Richard Burger, subject matter expert and author of the book Behind the Red Door: Sex in China. Also joining us for this conversation is Richard's publisher Graham Earnshaw, founder of Earnshaw Books, and one of the most well-traveled expats living in China today.

Enjoy Sinica? If you use an RSS feed reader like iTunes, please remember that you can subscribe to all of our Sinica shows by hooking up to our custom Sinica feed at: http://popupchinese.com/custom/feeds/sinica. We also warmly invite all listeners to download this show as a standalone mp3 file and share with friends and colleagues.

Sinica - Sex in China (pdf)

Fri, 03 May 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Chinese Tutor

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Sean couldn't mask his dismay at the literal exactitude with which his Chinese lecturer approached her teaching duties. Even after months of parroting back her sentences like a trained parrot, he still struggled with spontaneous communication. It struck him as absurd that anyone expect a student to reach fluency this way, but that was why he'd finally taken the plunge and hired a local tutor. Even if his new teacher wasn't professionally trained, at least his time with her would afford the chance for some genuine conversation.

On the off-chance that this is your first lesson, don't be scared: while this is the longest dialogue we've ever produced at the Elementary level, the vocabulary is not terribly complex and we think you can handle it. And if you have any questions or comments? Feel free to write us anytime at service@popupchinese.com. We look forward to hearing from you.

Elementary - The Chinese Tutor (pdf)

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Chinese Tutor (dialogue)

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Healthcare in China

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 09:00:00 -0700

The state of healthcare in China is in many ways better than it was in the era of the barefoot doctors, with average life expectancy in the country now trailing the United States by only three years and morbidity rates far lower too. But while even the most cutting-edge medical services are available in first-tier cities for a price, China's transition to a market economy has left many in the lurch, with out-of-pocket healthcare costs soaring even as the government rolls out more comprehensive health insurance support. How have the new healthcare system reforms inaugurated in 2009 worked out so far?

If you're curious what's happening in the Chinese healthcare industry, don't miss this show. Joining Kaiser Kuo and Jeremy Goldkorn from Danwei (a Financial Times company) are three guests with deep expertise on the healthcare industry in China: Dai Lian, a former reporter for Caixin and now executive editor at CN-Healthcare; Benjamin Shobert, founder and managing director of Rubicon Strategy Group who writes on the Chinese healthcare market for CNBC and Forbes; and Dr. David Rutstein, Vice-President for Medical Affairs at United Family Healthcare and former acting deputy surgeon general of the United States.

Note, our thanks to Damjan Denoble who writes for the Asia Healthcare Blog and was instrumental in setting up our guests for this week's discussion. So thanks Damjan! And please also note that we invite everyone to download and share this week's show as a standalone mp3 file, or keep yourself updated on the release of new shows with our Sinica RSS feed. And we hope you like the show!

Sinica - Healthcare in China (pdf)

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Advanced - Memories of School Days

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Our Popup crew had dinner at a Sichuan restaurant last week, and for whatever reason the conversation quickly turned to traumatic childhood experiences. And it turns out that while attending school in any country can give kids a rough time, if you attended school in China in the 1980s and 1990s you had to add teacher-management and bribery strategies into your list of daily problems, as Echo and Sylvia discuss in today's show.

Curious what it was like attending primary school in China in the late 1980s and early 1990s? If so, join us today for a podcast that shares the dirt on the Chinese school system, and finally gives Sylvia and Echo a chance to come clean about their traumatic pasts. And if you have comments of your own or suggestions about future topics you'd like to see us discuss in the future, leave us a note below or send us an email at service@popupchinese.com. We look forward to hearing from you.

Advanced - Memories of School Days (pdf)

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Do Not Marry Before Age Thirty

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 09:00:00 -0700

This week on Sinica, Kaiser and Jeremy are delighted to be joined by Joy Chen, former deputy mayor of Los Angeles, and now high-profile author of the book Do Not Marry Before Age 30, a look at the state of gender issues in China that's finding traction among a generation of women facing frustrations with their careers, marriages and life prospects in general. Join us as we look into the state of things for women in China.

Like Sinica? If you'd like to subscribe via iTunes, just open the software and click on the "Subscribe to Podcast" option from the main File menu. When prompted copy the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica into the box provided and you're done. We also encourage all listeners to download and share this show as a standalone mp3 file. Enjoy!

Sinica - Do Not Marry Before Age Thirty (pdf)

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - The Gossip Mongers

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Our new Ayi is great, except for her propensity to gossip. We'll tell her things like what we had for breakfast or how much sleep we got the night before, and the next thing you know she's shared that on Weibo and Facebook and then we're getting inbound telephone calls from strangers in Henan with occasionally useful but somewhat overfamiliar advice. Truth be told, we're not sure exactly how to deal with it, since she does a really good job otherwise.

Learning Chinese? In this lesson, we cover an incredibly useful expression that is unfairly ignored by textbooks worldwide. And in the process, we try to illustrate one of the nicest things about learning mandarin: the looser grammatical structure makes many Chinese expressions more flexible and universally applicable than their English counterparts.

Absolute Beginners - The Gossip Mongers (pdf)

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - The Gossip Mongers (dialogue)

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Advanced - Richard III

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 09:00:00 -0700

People often ask us how we get such great voice acting, as if there were a secret we could simply put into words. Whereas the truth is that acting is a form of Zen, and it takes years to develop a sensitivity to the art. For us a key part was spending our formative years at the Central Academy of Drama. And as much as it pains us to admit now that we are trained thespians, we'd never even heard of the Bard before attending that venerable institute. In those days, as our teachers would often tell us, truly we were green as lettuce.

Learning Chinese? This lesson is mostly just fun listening practice, but if you're looking for a challenging way to build from it, spend a few minutes on our associated vocabulary list and quiz, which will test you on how well you can recognize famous quotes from Shakespeare... translated into Chinese. This ends up being harder than you think, although it may help to note that we've only used one selection per play.

Advanced - Richard III (pdf)

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Gady Epstein on The Internet

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 09:00:00 -0700

The Internet was expected to help democratize China, but has instead enabled the authoritarian state to get a firmer grip. So begins The Economist's special fourteen page report on the state of the Internet in China, a survey that paints the country's online communities as canaries in gilded cages of sorts, and touches on everything from what censorship tells us about who really wields power in China, to more broader patterns of innovation and investment in China's high-tech industry.

Given our longstanding predilection for tech gossip, we are delighted to be joined on Sinica this week by none other than Gady Epstein, author of the Economist's fourteen page survey and our resident expert on general techniques for nailing jello to the wall. And if you're interested on the Internet in China be sure to listen up: we promise is a wide-ranging and fun discussion touching on many of the pieces in The Economist, along with some insider gossip about what points the Economist decided were simply too much to print.

Like Sinica? If you enjoy this podcast, be sure to give us your take on things in the comment section, or write us at sinica@popupchinese.com. We also invite you to download this show as a standalone mp3 file, or subscribe to the Sinica podcast via RSS by opening iTunes, selecting "Subscribe to Podcast" from the "Advanced" file menu, and providing the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica when prompted. Enjoy!

Sinica - Gady Epstein on The Internet (pdf)

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Quiz Night - Welcome to the Quiz Show

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 09:00:00 -0700

This is the pilot episode of a new concept show we're developing for upper-intermediate students: a quiz game featuring mostly Chinese questions with just enough bilingual discussion thrown in to keep things intelligible. We had a good time producing this, and if you're stretching past the intermediate level we think you'll like it too -- our topics range from ancient Rome to 19th century English literature and there is plenty of useful vocab here you won't find elsewhere, if only because dialogues about malaria are generally considered to be a bummer.

And what exactly is at stake? This week we pitch China against the rest of the world in a climactic showdown that aims to establish definitively whether East or West is better at trivia. So if your Chinese is already pretty good and you're looking for a fun way to make it even better, join us and put your general knowledge to the test. And then don't forget to send us feedback by email at service@popupchinese.com so we can improve on things and hopefully turn this into a regular feature here at Popup Chinese.

Quiz Night - Welcome to the Quiz Show (pdf)

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - The Transgressions of Apple Computer

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 09:00:00 -0700

While foreign media coverage these last two weeks has focused on environmental disasters, over-fishing and emerging forms of the avian flu, the Chinese state media has turned its gaze towards the transgressions of Apple Computer, which found itself excoriated by CCTV on World Consumer Rights Day for its warranty policy and for using refurbished parts in mainland phone repairs.

Considering the enthusiasm of the Chinese market for Apple products, the state media-led hullabaloo has raised questions about whether the Chinese government is targeting Apple as a competitive threat to mainland companies. And what exactly is going on behind the scenes and what does it forebode for Apple? In today's episode of Sinica, we are delighted to welcome David Wolf from Allison + Partners and Laurie Burkitt of the Wall Street Journal to our studio to join hosts Kaiser Kuo and Jeremy Goldkorn for a discussion and analysis of the situation.

As always, we would like to remind you that you can use iTunes to subscribe to Sinica, and get the latest episodes delivered automatically to your iPad or iPhone. To get started, just click on the "File" menu and select the option "Subscribe to Podcast". When prompted, enter the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica and let iTunes work its magic. Alternately, you are welcome to download this show and others as a standalone mp3 file. We hope you enjoy it.

Sinica - The Transgressions of Apple Computer (pdf)

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - To Catch a Thief

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 09:00:00 -0700

When Detective Smith started his slow climb up the professional ladder, his unorthodox crime-fighting techniques and obsession with furniture made him a laughingstock to the local criminal underclass, as well as many of his more conventional colleagues. Yet his persistent and creative efforts to clean up the city would eventually earn him the grudging admiration of even his most vocal foe, and lead to a sea change in policing techniques nationwide.

Learning Chinese? This is among the more difficult of our Elementary lessons, but if you're working towards understanding television and radio in China you should find it useful: the conversation is natural and reflects the sort of Chinese you'll hear every day in real media. So give it a listen and let us know what you think by email at service@popupchinese.com or in the comments section below.

Elementary - To Catch a Thief (pdf)

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - To Catch a Thief (dialogue)

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Xi Jinping goes to Russia

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Xi Jinping's trip to Moscow earlier this week, his first journey abroad as China's new head of state, has raised interesting questions about China's ambitions in Asia, and coupled with Washington's "pivot to Asia" is resurrecting the spectre of a strategic standoff between southern and northern Asia around the world's two leading superpowers. How realistic is this vision? In today's show, we try our best to find out....

Joining Kaiser Kuo for this discussion are two longstanding followers of Chinese foreign policy: Ananth Krishnan who reports for The Hindu, and Jane Perlez who works as the Chief Diplomatic Correspondent for the New York Times. We are also delighted to have Jeremy Goldkorn back in the studio again this week following his month-long trip to the Southern Hemisphere for some fresh air.

Enjoy Sinica? On a final note, if you want to download all of our shows to your computer you have two options. The first is to download them manually through links like this one that point to standalone mp3 files for each show. The second is to open iTunes, and click on "File" and then "Subscribe to Podcast". Provide this URL when prompted: http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica and iTunes will take care of the rest. Let us know if you run into any problems.

Sinica - Xi Jinping goes to Russia (pdf)

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Advanced - Leaving Beijing

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 14:11:08 -0700

If this show is a bit introspective, that's because the "at what cost" question has been a recurring theme of late in our conversations with colleagues and friends. For some the decision to move on is about money and lifestyle, while for others it is just time to do something different. What do we think about this? What do you think about this? If you understand native-level Chinese and are looking for listening practice, why not join us for this advanced show and let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

Advanced - Leaving Beijing (pdf)

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 14:11:08 -0700

Sinica - Unsavory Elements and Earnshaw Press

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 09:00:00 -0700

No, this week's Sinica isn't an attack on Element Fresh. Rather, it's a discussion hosted by Kaiser Kuo about the new book Unsavory Elements, an anthology of stories and essays about the experiences of expats in China. And joining us for this discussion is none other than Tom Carter, editor of the book, along with Shanghai-based publisher Graham Earnshaw of Earnshaw Press. You can either listen to the show using our online player, or download it as a standalone mp3 file.

As a quick note before the show, if you'd like to subscribe to Sinica via iTunes and have your computer automatically download new episodes as they become available, just open iTunes, click on the "File" menu and select "Subscribe to Podcast". When prompted for the address of our RSS feed, provide the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica. And if you have any problems, write us anytime at service@popupchinese.com.

Sinica - Unsavory Elements and Earnshaw Press (pdf)

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Brownie Cake

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Factional alliances had been coalescing for months, for as the availability of work narrowed, it was obvious to all that sacrifices would simply have to be made. And so it was that Popup Towers became a place of whispers and sideways glances among the voice acting team, as a hundred secret alliances blossomed and then withered overnight. And then there was the baking....

Learning Chinese? At the Intermediate level we try to present genuine Chinese dialogues prepared and presented without concerns over reducing the difficulty or sculpting the language spoken to make it easier for beginners. This means you get fully natural Chinese passages in speed, tempo as well as emotion. And once you can follow along at this level, you should be ready to step up to both native media as well as our more advanced shows.

Intermediate - Brownie Cake (pdf)

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Brownie Cake (dialogue)

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - A Discussion with Geremie R. Barmé

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 09:00:00 -0700

On March 8th, Kaiser Kuo hosted a conversation at Capital M in Beijing with Geremie R. Barmé, the well-known Sinologist and now director of the Australian Centre for China in the World, as part of the Capital Literary Festival. This week on Sinica, we are pleased to present a live recording of this show for anyone who may have missed it. As a live show, the quality is not quite the same as in a closed studio, but this is an intellectually rewarding discussion and we hope you enjoy it.

As always, a quick reminder before the show. If you would like to subscribe to Sinica through iTunes and download new shows automatically as they become available, you can subscribe by using our RSS feed at http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica. Just click on "File" and then select "Subscribe to Podcast" and provide that address when prompted. You are also welcome to download this show directly from our site as a standalone mp3 file.

Sinica - A Discussion with Geremie R. Barmé (pdf)

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Under Pressure

Mon, 11 Mar 2013 09:00:00 -0700

It's been an adjustment having a new roommate here at Popup Towers. We chat a bit at breakfast and dinner, but he mostly keeps to himself, working and studying in his room rather than the common areas. But it isn't like he's a social recluse or anything. Far from it. He has plans to go far, as we know all too well.

Elementary - Under Pressure (pdf)

Mon, 11 Mar 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Under Pressure (dialogue)

Mon, 11 Mar 2013 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Mo Yan and the Nobel Prize

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 09:00:00 -0800

When Chinese author Mo Yan won the Nobel Prize for literature last year, many critics were fast to pounce on his selection, accusing the committee of making a political choice that glossed over what many consider to be pervasive self-censorship in the writer's prose. But how much of this is true? In today's episode of Sinica, we take a closer look at Mo Yan and his work, including an exclusive audio excerpt from his most recent work in English translation.

Joining Kaiser today for this discussion are three names you might recognize from the Beijing literary community: Brendan O'Kane, who many of you already know through Popup Chinese but who is also well-known as a translator, Alice Liu who is the lead editor of Pathlight Magazine, and David Moser, an academic and periodic guest on Sinica who heads the CET Beijing immersion program. All three have different but equally informed impressions of Mo Yan and his work, so why not join us and make up your own mind.

Sinica - Mo Yan and the Nobel Prize (pdf)

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 09:00:00 -0800

Advanced - Beijing Air Pollution

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 09:00:00 -0800

Our advanced podcast for today is a show Echo and Sylvia recorded about the air pollution in Beijing. What's it like living in a city where you can't breathe? How do Chinese people cope and what are people doing to solve the problem or deal with it? If you're an advanced Chinese student looking for some upper-level language practice, join us for today's show and let us know what you think in the comments section below.

Advanced - Beijing Air Pollution (pdf)

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - The Glory of Imperial Russia

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 09:00:00 -0800

It had been a winter of great discord, with even Russia's wealthiest cities stalked by a sweeping tide of violent bolshevism. And yet how far the Tsar's summer home seemed from all this blood, as the rich strolled on the warm grass oblivious to the death fast approaching. And even now was their blindness anything but the arrogance of the Imperial throne, and characteristic of this age of contradictions?

Learning Chinese? Our lesson for today is inspired by several of the Russian television series we've seen imported into China over the years, and dedicated to anyone who has ever watched a full episode of these imported soap operas, or even just stumbled across the name of the Russian Foreign Minister when working through the news. Because you're not alone to find eight-character foreign names excruciatingly difficult to pronounce.

Intermediate - The Glory of Imperial Russia (pdf)

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - The Glory of Imperial Russia (dialogue)

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - A Bad China Day

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 09:00:00 -0800

Sometimes life in China doesn't make much sense. Which is why we'd like to introduce your head to this concrete wall now while everyone is still being sociable. We think you should get to know each other, and learn a bit about your hobbies and special interests, because you'll be running into each other fairly often now that you're in town. And can you use chopsticks? Yeah? Just checking.

Elementary - A Bad China Day (pdf)

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - A Bad China Day (dialogue)

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 09:00:00 -0800

Sinica - Death, Fraud and Corporate Skullduggery

Thu, 21 Feb 2013 09:00:00 -0800

This week on Sinica we talk shop about Caterpillar's discovery of massive accounting fraud and subsequent $580 million write-down from a Chinese company the American equipment manufacturer acquired. We also look at the mysterious death of an American engineer in Singapore, ruled a suicide but believed by the late engineer's parents to be a cover-up involving, perhaps, controversial Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei. Joining host Kaiser Kuo to look behind the news at these stories are special guests Simon Montlake, the Beijing Bureau Chief for Forbes Magazine, and Bill Bishop, "the China Hand's China Hand" and the force behind the must-read China news aggregator Sinocism.

Enjoy Sinica? In addition to signing up for Bill's newsletter, other things you can do to keep in touch with us include following us on Twitter and checking out our Sinica Facebook page. And if you want more Sinica than a single webpage can offer, feel free to subscribe to our Sinica RSS feed, or download this show as a standalone mp3 file to share with others.

Sinica - Death, Fraud and Corporate Skullduggery (pdf)

Thu, 21 Feb 2013 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - We can remember it for you wholesale

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 09:00:00 -0800

We've been trying to keep our feature film project under wraps and don't want to do the whole Kickstarter thing, but if anyone knows the Spielberg brothers tell them to answer our emails, because we only need a bit of cash to start shooting at this point and the story basically sells itself. I mean... if someone else made this movie, we would probably see it a couple of times in the theater at least. Multiply that by the number of people in China and you'll have a sense of what this can mean.

The concept? We're working from an original script, but imagine something like Inception except on Mars and with a spy angle as well. And we don't even need to cast: we've already got provisional commitments from Kate Bekinsale, Anne Hathaway and David Tennant. Granted, not everyone has signed on paper yet, but as soon as they see our concept art it'll be impossible to pry the pens from their fingers. And since everyone will be speaking Chinese, Steven will finally have a shot at that Best Foreign Language Oscar.

Intermediate - We can remember it for you wholesale (pdf)

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - We can remember it for you wholesale (dialogue)

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - What's in the Box

Mon, 11 Feb 2013 09:00:00 -0800

David Mill's eyes settled on the blood-stained box lying before him. It was the same box that Somerset had carried over moments earlier... or would have carried over were he actually in this scene and not taking the day off from work. Somewhere in his subconscious, David realized that this meant the script made no sense. Without his partner, he must have gone over and picked up the box himself. But why would he carry it all the way back to Joe Doe before opening it, and what kind of sane police officer would just leave a serial killer alone in the desert?

If you've been with us since year one, you doubtless know all about our penchant for slasher films by now. And you probably also know that our dialogues sometimes don't make any sense. So we recommend you don't think too carefully about the setup to this one. Just enjoy the show, hopefully learn a bit more about when questions aren't questions, and write us anytime at service@popupchinese.com if you have feedback or suggestions on things you'd like to see us cover.

Elementary - What's in the Box (pdf)

Mon, 11 Feb 2013 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - What's in the Box (dialogue)

Mon, 11 Feb 2013 09:00:00 -0800

Sinica - Revenge of the Call-in Show

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 09:00:00 -0800

Curious what happened to Sinica last week? Well... as it turns out our call-in show from two weeks ago wasn't exactly pleased with how quickly we managed to replace it, and took out its anger on the laptop we use to record new shows, smashing the hard drive into such a state of disrepair that it required immediate attention from the geniuses at our local Apple Store, who - we feel compelled to point out - were not in fact genius enough to save the actual data.

Nonetheless, in the spirit of never letting a good thing die, this week Sinica hosts Kaiser Kuo and Jeremy Goldkorn went back to our studios to resurrect our second call-in show with none other than special guest Jeremiah Jenne, Director of the IES program in Beijing and force of nature behind the Qing Dynasty history blog Jottings from the Granite Studio. So join us for another episode of Sinica in which we field the thorniest of questions from none other than you!

Want more Sinica? If you've been listening to us for a while, you probably have the show sorted out. For the rest of you, don't be afraid to subscribe to our podcast via our Sinica RSS feed. You can also continue to download this and every other Sinica show directly from our site as a standalone MP3 file. Because choice is good.

Sinica - Revenge of the Call-in Show (pdf)

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - The Iron Chicken

Mon, 04 Feb 2013 09:00:00 -0800

Iron Chicken knows which way the winds are blowing. It knows how much that shirt sells for at the Chegongzhuang Discount Market, and it isn't afraid of telling you straight out. So don't try to pull one over the Iron Chicken. It will not pity you. It will stick fast to its ideals of fairness, justice and affordable cotton casual-wear. And if you still insist on your ridiculous markup, it will walk away. Because the Iron Chicken does not need you. It does not need anyone.

Learning Chinese? While there is less fowl here than our title might suggest, we had fun recording this show and would like to reiterate that the entire dialogue is Echo's idea. So please do not use our general email address for your complaints. Rather, please direct your hate mail straight to the source by writing echo@popupchinese.com. In fact, feel free to write multiple times under different pseudonyms. And don't forget to compliment the rest of our Popup Staff while you're at it.

Intermediate - The Iron Chicken (pdf)

Mon, 04 Feb 2013 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - The Iron Chicken (dialogue)

Mon, 04 Feb 2013 09:00:00 -0800

Short Stories - Dashiell Hammett - Red Harvest

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 09:00:00 -0800

In a mining town steeped in vice, an ambitious newspaper editor is shot dead on the street, and almost everyone in the community seems to have an interest in his death, even his colleagues and his ice-cold wife. In this passage from the Chinese translation of Dashiell Hammett's seminal Red Harvest, Hammett's hard-boiled detective confronts the grieving father of the murdered man... entirely in mandarin.

Trying to get past competence towards real fluency? One of the things we recommend to more advanced students is worrying less about reading Chinese literature and more about just exposing yourself to whatever fiction will keep you turning the page. And if you like detective fiction we think you'll enjoy this selection. We won't spoil the ending, but if you like the story you can pick up the whole book for less than 15 RMB on Amazon China. And if you can't for some reason send us an email and we'll figure out how to buy it for you.

Short Stories - Dashiell Hammett - Red Harvest (pdf)

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 09:00:00 -0800

Sinica - The Call-in Show

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 09:00:00 -0800

So our show this week isn't technically a call-in show given the lack of phones in our studio, but it is as close as we can get it, so thanks to everyone who sent us a pre-recorded question. We had a lot more responses than we expected, and the result is today's weird and wonderful mix of commentary on everything from Beijing's inner-city gang problems to Jeremy's predictably lame go-to KTV song. So if you're a regular Sinica listener, don't miss our show this week as Kaiser Kuo, Jeremy Goldkorn and Gady Epstein field the thorniest of questions from you, the listener. We had so much fun that we're planning on doing it again!

Enjoy Sinica? If you've been listening for a while, we're getting you know that you can always download the latest Sinica shows from Sinica RSS feed as well as individually from our site as standalone mp3 files like that one. But do you also know that in addition to following our stuff here, you can also keep yourself in the loop by joining our Sinica page on Facebook? Well now you do....

Sinica - The Call-in Show (pdf)

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 09:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - What's wrong, Lassie?

Mon, 21 Jan 2013 09:00:00 -0800

Timmy needed her! And just like that our faithful collie no longer felt the sting of the ice round her paws, or the frozen wind blowing through the woods. Instead, blood surged through her veins as instinct took command and she drove headlong back to the farmhouse in search of help, her small body throwing itself across the fields and over the old wooden fence in a single bound as she raced home for help.

Learning Chinese? At the Absolute Beginner level at Popup Chinese, our focus is on covering the basics of the Chinese language in a series of shows you can cover in any order. In today's episode, join Echo, Brendan and David as we talk about why Lassie never made it big in China, and then discuss an easy way to put your sentences into the Chinese equivalent of the future tense.

Absolute Beginners - What's wrong, Lassie? (pdf)

Mon, 21 Jan 2013 09:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - What's wrong, Lassie? (dialogue)

Mon, 21 Jan 2013 09:00:00 -0800

Sinica - China's Urban Billion

Fri, 18 Jan 2013 09:00:00 -0800

Lurking silently behind practically every story on Chinese economic growth over the last thirty years has been the country's unprecedented shift from being an overwhelmingly rural society to what is now a largely urban one, with almost 700 million urban residents now outnumbering their rural counterparts.

Joining Kaiser Kuo and Jeremy Goldkorn to talk about the biggest migration in human history is Tom Miller, analyst at GK Dragonomics and author of the newly-published China's Urban Billion. If you find this topic as fascinating as we do, join us for an in-depth discussion of why China has reluctantly embraced urbanization, and how the resulting pressures are forcing changes in China's hukou system, land-usage rights, and ask with us whether these changes are pushing cities like Beijing into a new kind of urban dystopia.

ANNOUNCEMENT: This week let us mention as well that we're trying something new next week: a call-in show featuring Kaiser, Jeremy and Gady Epstein from the Economist. Also in the show will be whatever questions and comments you'd like to throw their way. So if you've got any thoughts you'd like to throw into the fray, record yourself asking the question and send it in to us at sinica@popupchinese.com. We'll cover as many submissions as we can. Details on our Facebook page.

On a separate note, we usually take a minute before each show to remind you that it is possible to subscribe to Sinica by RSS, as well as share a link you can use to download this show as a standalone mp3 file.

Sinica - China's Urban Billion (pdf)

Fri, 18 Jan 2013 09:00:00 -0800

Advanced - Impressions of America

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 09:00:00 -0800

With air pollution off the charts in Beijing, we turn our gaze outwards this week and invite Echo and Amber into our studio for an advanced show about their experiences living and traveling across the United States. Little did we know that we would not get a podcast about the majestic sweep of American wilderness, the dynamism of a working Republic, or even the great American foods like deep-dish pizza. Instead, they both went on about something completely different....

Learning Chinese? At the advanced level, we try to showcase a wider variety of materials than explicit lessons, which means we also have some shows featuring the kind of Chinese-only advanced conversation featured in this podcast. Beyond listening to this sort of listening material, we also encourage advanced students to check out our manually annotated collection of Chinese short stories, our not-as-regular-as-it-used-to-be film guessing game, and our archive of upper-level HSK materials.

Advanced - Impressions of America (pdf)

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 09:00:00 -0800

Sinica - The Southern Drama

Fri, 11 Jan 2013 09:00:00 -0800

Mere months after China's handling of the 18th Party Congress suggested the country would undergo a peaceful leadership transition, the issue of freedom of the press surged to attention this week after a censored editorial in the Southern Weekly (Nanfang Zhoumo) resulted in a vociferous protest from the newspaper's editorial staff, and an unexpected ripple of agreement across the country. As this situation continues to play out, we look this week at what brought on these protests, what is at stake, and what the response suggests about the way China's new government will handle media relations.

And who are our guests? Joining Kaiser Kuo and Jeremy Goldkorn in the studio to talk about this ongoing constitutional kerfuffle are two guests we are delighted to welcome back to our studio: Ian Johnson, the former Beijing bureau chief for the Wall Street Journal who now writes for the New York Times, and Jeremiah Jenne, the new director of the IES Program in Beijing.

Enjoy Sinica? If you use an RSS feed reader like iTunes, you can subscribe to all of our Sinica shows by subscribing to our custom Sinica feed at http://popupchinese.com/custom/feeds/sinica. All listeners are also welcome to download individual shows as standalone mp3 files, as this link to our show for today.

Sinica - The Southern Drama (pdf)

Fri, 11 Jan 2013 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - The Newsroom

Tue, 01 Jan 2013 09:00:00 -0800

While Bruce may simply have been standing in the right place at the right time, the mood in the newsroom was nonetheless elated, with even the interns well-aware that this unexpected scoop would catapult their local paper to national attention, and perhaps even net them a National Newspaper Award for excellence in photojournalism.

Learning Chinese? At the intermediate level one of the things we try to highlight is entirely natural and improvisational Chinese as opposed to the sorts of heavily scripted and largely unnatural speech featured on other learning programs and textbooks. And this dialogue is a case in point: the difficulty is not so much in understanding the vocabulary here as simply following what is happening as our native Chinese speakers communicate casually the way you'll hear everywhere in mainland China.

Intermediate - The Newsroom (pdf)

Tue, 01 Jan 2013 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - The Newsroom (dialogue)

Tue, 01 Jan 2013 09:00:00 -0800

Sinica - Return of the China Blog

Fri, 28 Dec 2012 09:00:00 -0800

All of you Sinica old-timers might remember a show we ran two years ago on the death of the China blog, in which Jeremy, Kaiser and Will Moss mused about whether the combined forces of Twitter, Facebook and Bill Bishop would manage to drive a stake through the heart of independent China blogging. So how refreshing is it to find that despite the growth of these online collossi, we still find ourselves reading and recommending blog posts from other China hands old and new.

How has the China blog scene changed in the last two years? If you're curious about the state of affairs too, join Kaiser Kuo and Jeremy Goldkorn in our studio today as we are delighted to host two of the younger and more influential bloggers writing on China today: Eric Fish from the Economic Observer who gravitates to more analytic pieces at Sinostand, and Anthony Tao from Beijing Cream, who specializes in shorter posts and high-quality snark on Chinese popular culture.

Enjoy the Sinica show? Let us take a break from pushing our RSS feed today to remind you that we want this show to be a two-way street. So if you have any recommendations for show topics you'd like to hear us cover, or guests you think would make for great listening, please let us know. Suggestions are more than welcome in our comment section, and please consider yourself welcome to fire an email to us for private consumption at sinica@popupchinese.com. Oh yes, and lest we forget, you can download this show as a standalone mp3 file if the player isn't exactly your thing. Cheers!

Sinica - Return of the China Blog (pdf)

Fri, 28 Dec 2012 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - On the Road

Tue, 25 Dec 2012 09:00:00 -0800

Memories of New York were fading rapidly as we pulled over to the first roadside station we had seen in hours, our gas tank hovering a touch above empty after what seemed to have been an interminable drive through the desert. It wasn't clear exactly where we had ended up, but the gas was cheaper than expected and the counter inside sold some of the best falafels we'd ever eaten....

Elementary - On the Road (pdf)

Tue, 25 Dec 2012 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - On the Road (dialogue)

Tue, 25 Dec 2012 09:00:00 -0800

Sinica - China versus the S.E.C.

Sat, 22 Dec 2012 05:35:14 -0800

An ongoing battle between the American Securities and Exchange Commission and China over whether Chinese accounting firms can release accounting information required by US law or whether these constitute "state secrets" is pushing China and the United States into conflict in global capital markets, threatening to force the US agency responsible for overseeing capital markets to effectively de-list all Chinese companies.

Joining Jeremy Goldkorn to look at this issue, sparked by an SEC investigation into potential investor fraud which wiped out sixty one percent of Chinese and Hong Kong stocks traded in the U.S. markets since 2011, is Paul Gillis, an adviser to the U.S. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board and professor at Peking University Guanghua School of Management. We are also delighted to have Patrick Chovanec from Tsinghua University come back to contribute to this discussion as well.

As always, this show is available as a standalone mp3 file if you'd like to download it instead of listening through our on-site flash player. For those of you looking to subscribe to Sinica through RSS using the new iTunes, the preferred method is now going to the iTunes store, clicking on podcasts, and then doing a search for Sinica. Once the proper page loads you are a click away from having everything automated.

Sinica - China versus the S.E.C. (pdf)

Sat, 22 Dec 2012 05:35:14 -0800

Advanced - A Visit from the Doctors

Mon, 17 Dec 2012 09:00:00 -0800

Earlier this month, in an effort to make our advanced shows more interactive, and ensure they address the needs of professional workers throughout the world, Popup Towers invited the staff of the Surgery Department at the China-Japan Friendship Hospital to our recording studios to participate in the making of a dialogue and podcast dedicated to members of their profession. This is a mistake we will not be making again....

Over time, most intermediate students pick up on the basics of medical vocabulary, learning to talk about CT scans and ultrasounds and recount the names of a huge number of virii and diseases that can kill and maim in various horrible fashions. But despite this, most advanced students still have no clue how to talk about sprains, bruises, cramps and other really common ailments, which is why we've put together this lesson today.

Advanced - A Visit from the Doctors (pdf)

Mon, 17 Dec 2012 09:00:00 -0800

Advanced - A Visit from the Doctors (dialogue)

Mon, 17 Dec 2012 09:00:00 -0800

Sinica - China 3.0

Fri, 14 Dec 2012 09:00:00 -0800

Today on Sinica, join us for a discussion on economics, politics and geopolitics with Mark Leonard from the European Council on Foreign Relations. Our specific focus is China 3.0, the council's recent compendium of essays on contemporary Chinese approaches to policy issues from leading Chinese intellectuals and thinkers.

What is China 3.0? The thinking behind this book is that China’s recent leadership transition in Beijing marks the country's shift into a third stage of its development following the Maoist revolution in 1949 and Deng Xiaoping's embrace of market reforms in the late 1970s. This is a meaty discussion about people, ideas and social change. So join Kaiser and Jeremy as they grill Mark on what he thinks about recent developments in China and what they mean for Sinica listeners worldwide.

As always, this show is available as a standalone mp3 file if you'd like to download it instead of listening through our on-site flash player. For those of you looking to subscribe to Sinica through RSS using the new iTunes, the preferred method is now going to the iTunes store, clicking on podcasts, and then doing a search for... you guessed it... Sinica. And let us know if you have any questions or problems.

Sinica - China 3.0 (pdf)

Fri, 14 Dec 2012 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - The Gods of Powerpoint

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 09:00:00 -0800

After watching his guest power-cycle the projector in baffled dismay for five straight minutes, Wang's internal struggle to maintain composure was fast approaching breaking point. Why did every fiscal quarter end like this? Flush with enthusiasm for whatever latest management theory was trending in California, headquarters would inevitably dispatch a fresh graduate with no actual experience in the industry to lecture his battle-scarred team about their own supply chain issues. And now this?

Learning Chinese? Our lesson today falls midway between the Elementary and Intermediate levels, and we were a bit on the fence about how to classify it. The reason for this is that while our dialogue is a bit easier than most others at this level, our subject matter and vocab is more professional and stretches beyond the basics into the hinterlands of Chinglish, that hazy region on the linguistic map where the familiar can be surprisingly exotic.

Intermediate - The Gods of Powerpoint (pdf)

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - The Gods of Powerpoint (dialogue)

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 09:00:00 -0800

Sinica - Time to leave China?

Fri, 07 Dec 2012 15:08:57 -0800

It wasn't very long ago that the Chinese blogosphere became engrossed with two near-simultaneous and very public posts by well-known expats marking their decisions to leave China for greener pastures. While grumbling about this country is nothing new, this event was notable for kicking off a flurry of media coverage internationally on the question of whether China is becoming hostile to foreigners, and when and to where disgruntled expats should hoof it.

That is why this week on Sinica we are delighted to be joined by none other than Will Moss of Imagethief, whose own valedictory post earlier this week made for surprisingly sentimental reading, being not the least negative about China and we think it's worth talking about why. Also up for discussion: what if anything does Xi Jinping mean in his public remarks on China's coming "restoration", and where is the best place in Beijing that we've found to date for azure magpie spotting.

Have a love-hate relationship with Sinica? Don't forget that you can subscribe to new episodes automatically using iTunes. Just select "Subscribe to Podcast" from the "Advanced" file menu and provide the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica when prompted. Or skip the hassle and download this show as a standalone mp3 file. Links to the other podcast downloads are all available on the individual show pages, which can be found in the Sinica archive.

Sinica - Time to leave China? (pdf)

Fri, 07 Dec 2012 15:08:57 -0800

Elementary - Casanova's Roommate

Tue, 27 Nov 2012 09:00:00 -0800

For most of the evening, Jay had hovered on the cusp of sleep, kept awake by the muted sounds of bossa nova pouring from his flatmate's stereo, its dim beats peppered with the occasional rattling of pipes and a series of strange falsetto screams. And on the few occasions he managed to drift off, his mind was flooded with strange images of his thesis committee at a Cuban beach party, reading his thesis and laughing at it in a series of oddly-familiar falsetto screams.

Our latest show is an elementary Chinese lesson. For us the elementary level means that you're able to follow the basics in spoken Chinese, but have difficulty watching television or listening to the radio at normal speed without assistance. This is the level where we like to highlight the basic grammar points we assume everyone knows at our higher levels, where our focus shifts to how and why Chinese people break them. So if you're an elementary Chinese student get started by listening to this show, and then check out our chinese lesson archive for more than a thousand other great shows.

Elementary - Casanova's Roommate (pdf)

Tue, 27 Nov 2012 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - Casanova's Roommate (dialogue)

Tue, 27 Nov 2012 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - The Acrobats

Mon, 19 Nov 2012 09:00:00 -0800

Detective Wilders was coming face-to-face with a world few members of proper society even acknowledged: the underclass of the acrobatic arts. And yet perhaps underclass was not the proper word. For as not unlike members of a secret society, acrobats did not reject the tenets of civil society so much as simply live by a separate code. Theirs was a world not easily entered by outsiders, but one which once entered, must be entered completely.

Intermediate - The Acrobats (pdf)

Mon, 19 Nov 2012 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - The Acrobats (dialogue)

Mon, 19 Nov 2012 09:00:00 -0800

Sinica - The State of the Navy

Fri, 16 Nov 2012 09:00:00 -0800

After two weeks focusing on developments at the 18th Party Congress, and with the next generation of China's leadership now public news for the world to digest, this week on Sinica we take a break from China's leadership transition and turn our attention to more long-term developments in Chinese foreign policy. And with this in mind, Kaiser Kuo is delighted to be joined by Taylor Fravel, Associate Professor of Political Science at MIT and expert on Chinese foreign policy and particularly its naval development.

On a side note, we should mention that we've had quality issues recording this show. The audio isn't horrible, but it isn't the quality we'd like and we're sorry for the listening pain, which starts about five minutes in. That said, we will fix this in the future, and if you want to subscribe to future shows by RSS, you can do so by using our public feed at http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica. Inquiries and suggestions for future show topics are also welcome by email at sinica@popupchinese.com.

Sinica - The State of the Navy (pdf)

Fri, 16 Nov 2012 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - Book Club

Tue, 13 Nov 2012 09:00:00 -0800

The heart of the operation was a claustrophobic room tucked away in the bowels of just another city bar. Once through the trap door into the basement, visitors were greeted by a tiny circle of chairs arranged haphazardly atop an unfinished concrete floor. It was not a place anyone would come for civil discussion. The air was fetid, and pools of water collected unevenly on the floor as water dripped down from the cooling pipes which snaked across the ceiling.

Learning Chinese? Our lesson today features an intermediate-level dialogue, along with a quick book club of our own. Want to know who we consider to be the Hemingway of China? And who else is worth reading now that you're up to this level? Get our verdict in this show, and leave your own thoughts in the comment section below to share recommendations on contemporary authors we've missed.

Intermediate - Book Club (pdf)

Tue, 13 Nov 2012 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - Book Club (dialogue)

Tue, 13 Nov 2012 09:00:00 -0800

Sinica - 18th Party Roundup

Sat, 10 Nov 2012 13:07:45 -0800

This week on Sinica, our hosts Kaiser Kuo and Jeremy Goldkorn are joined by Gady Epstein from the Economist and we turn our attention to the 18th Party Congress which officially started in Beijing earlier this week. As China's capital descends into the pomp of another ten year leadership transition, we take an inside look at all the news and rumor fit for podcasting as history unfolds in real-time around us.

Enjoy Sinica? If you want to keep up-to-date on everything happening with the show, 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 do 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.

Sinica - 18th Party Roundup (pdf)

Sat, 10 Nov 2012 13:07:45 -0800

Elementary - iPad Acquisition Techniques

Tue, 06 Nov 2012 09:00:00 -0800

Before you send us hate mail, be aware that we tried getting 9527 to slow down. "Whatdoyoumeanslowdown," she said in bewilderment, "Imalreadyspeakingslowly." And we sighed and told her maybe to try a bit harder, since even our microphone only caught about thirty percent of what she said and she looked at us like we were crazy and headed back into the studio clucking softly and proceeded to do another take on fast-forward.

Learning Chinese? If you're at the elementary level, you shouldn't find the vocab in this dialogue challenging in the least, although you'd be forgiven for missing the english word that gets repeated throughout considering that most of our voice actors seemed to have trouble pronouncing the letter D. Fortunately, our focus isn't English phonetics so much as Chinese grammar: a sentence pattern you'll hear all over the place that native Chinese speakers use to place an extra emphasis on the ownership or possession of an object.

Elementary - iPad Acquisition Techniques (pdf)

Tue, 06 Nov 2012 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - iPad Acquisition Techniques (dialogue)

Tue, 06 Nov 2012 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - Without a Clue

Thu, 01 Nov 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Our somewhat confused efforts to introduce the American board game Clue to our Chinese friends has resulted in a number of Friday pickup games near Sanlitun. But even after several months, the concept of the game seems strangely difficult for some people to grasp. And we sympathize, because knowing who killed whom with what hardly addresses the much more important why.

Learning mandarin? At our intermediate level, we don't shy away from giving you native-speed, colloquial Chinese dialogues. And there really isn't much hand-holding in this episode, but if you find it too difficult don't worry - just head to our intermediate archives and find an easier lesson from among the hundreds we've already published. And let us know what you think anytime in the comments section below, or by sending us email at service@popupchinese.com.

Intermediate - Without a Clue (pdf)

Thu, 01 Nov 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Without a Clue (dialogue)

Thu, 01 Nov 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Buying Earphones

Mon, 29 Oct 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Learning Chinese? Our mandarin lesson for today features a short but simple dialogue covering the way real Chinese shoppers ask for prices. We expect it will come in handy the next time you're strolling down the street and see imitation Apple products available for one-tenth of their normal retail price.

Absolute Beginners - Buying Earphones (pdf)

Mon, 29 Oct 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Buying Earphones (dialogue)

Mon, 29 Oct 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Party Congress Preview

Fri, 26 Oct 2012 09:00:00 -0700

With less than two weeks to go before the 18th Party Congress, speculation on China's upcoming leadership transition could not be more intense here in Beijing, where insiders are trading lists of potential Politburo Standing Committee members which disagree not only on who will be elevated to the highest ranks of China's leadership, but even how many members will be on the PBSC.

How are things going to play out in the during the Party Congress and in the coming transition? Joining Kaiser Kuo and Jeremy Goldkorn this week for an insider look at China's upcoming leadership transition are three guests we are delighted to have here on Sinica: journalist and author John Garnaut from the Sydney Morning Herald, popular blogger and Tsinghua business professor Patrick Chovanec, and Jamil Anderlini who heads the Beijing bureau for the Financial Times. We think you'll enjoy what all three have to say.

Trying to keep up-to-date on China? In addition to listening to new episodes of Sinica through Popup Chinese, we invite all listeners to download and share this recording as a standalone mp3 file. You can grab the audio for previous shows either through our Sinica archives, or by subscribing to our dedicated iTunes feed. We also welcome all listeners to share your thoughts either in the discussion section below, or on our dedicated Sinica page on Facebook.

Sinica - Party Congress Preview (pdf)

Fri, 26 Oct 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Advanced - The Voice of China

Mon, 22 Oct 2012 09:00:00 -0700

American Idol premiered in the United States in 2005, and China has had a metric ton of song-related reality television shows since then. So what exactly is it that has turned The Voice of China into a nationwide craze? Since its premiere in July on Zhejiang Television, the show has become probably the most talked-about television series in the entire mainland, with a band of fanatical followers including some of us here at Popup Towers.

Learning Chinese? If your Chinese is already at a relatively advanced level, join Echo, Andy and Gao today for an advanced Chinese lesson focusing on a lot of vocabulary related to The Voice of China and other reality television shows. Our conversation here is entirely in mandarin, but if you have any questions or problems, we encourage you to leave comments or questions in the discussion space below, or write Echo at echo@popupchinese.com

Advanced - The Voice of China (pdf)

Mon, 22 Oct 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - From the Ruins of Empire

Fri, 19 Oct 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Today on Sinica, Kaiser Kuo and Jeremy Goldkorn host a discussion with Pankaj Mishra on his book From the Ruins of Empire, a history of Asia's intellectual response to Western imperialism in the late 19th and early 20th century. Also joining us for this wide-ranging discussion is Jeffrey Wasserstrom, Chinese historian, frequently published columnist, and editor most recently of Chinese Characters, a collection of essays on Chinese individuals by many well-known China watchers.

Links to materials discussed are coming in the comments section below. In the meantime, let us remind you that it's easy to subscribe to Sinica through our RSS feed. To do this, simply click on the "Advanced" file menu in iTunes and select the option "Subscribe to Podcast". Copy the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica into the box when prompted. Or skip the whole fuss and just download this show as a standalone mp3 file for sharing with others.

Sinica - From the Ruins of Empire (pdf)

Fri, 19 Oct 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The CCTV Minority Show

Wed, 17 Oct 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Nathan struggled to make sense of the mugshots. The young banker could remember countless details about the previous evening: the costumes, the songs, even the taste of exotic milk-based dishes. But how could he ever pull the criminals out of a line-up? Almost everything about the evening had been designed to draw attention away from their individual appearances.

Learning Chinese? This is one of our easier lessons at the Intermediate level, since we go light on difficult vocabulary, but if you're used to the slow and artificial pace of textbook Chinese you may still find it quite a challenge. So why not take a listen and see how much you understand? And let us know what you think by email at service@popupchinese.com.

Intermediate - The CCTV Minority Show (pdf)

Wed, 17 Oct 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The CCTV Minority Show (dialogue)

Wed, 17 Oct 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Mother's Secret Past

Mon, 15 Oct 2012 09:00:00 -0700

All through their autumn romance, Susan had seemed so eager that Michael meet her parents, and the two of them had planned a joint trip home at Thanksgiving just for this purpose. Yet now that the date was upon them, her enthusiasm had changed into an almost brooding depression, forcing Michael to wonder what could possibly have gone wrong. Had something in their relationship changed? Was she upset at him? Or had her parents heard something about him and disapproved of them being together?

Learning Chinese? Dealing with relationship issues? Regardless of whether you have to meet the folks or not, we encourage you to listen to our lesson today as we stress the all-important point about how the Chinese language can sometimes be totally and utterly illogical, and how its easy to make amateur mistakes which will give you away as a non-native speaker simply by following all the normal rules outlined by your teachers.

Intermediate - Mother's Secret Past (pdf)

Mon, 15 Oct 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Mother's Secret Past (dialogue)

Mon, 15 Oct 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - No Ancient Wisdom, No Followers

Fri, 12 Oct 2012 09:00:00 -0700

As China continues to subsidize inefficient state enterprises on a massive scale, an increasing number of critics - domestic and foreign - are questioning whether current policies mark a rejection or corruption of the vision championed by reformers like Zhu Rongji in the 1990s. Their complaints paint a stark picture of crony-capitalism ossifying to the point where entrenched incumbents become a threat to the future of a prosperous market-oriented China. Are they true?

Joining Jeremy Goldkorn to speak about these issues today is James McGregor, former China Bureau Chief for the Wall Street Journal, chief executive of Dow Jones China's business operations, and Chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce. James is also well-known as the author of the book One Billion Customers, and more recently No Ancient Wisdom, No Followers, a in-depth look at the way the Chinese economy has changed over the past several years.

Care to subscribe to Sinica via iTunes? Just click on the "Advanced" file menu and select the option "Subscribe to Podcast" from the available choices. When prompted copy the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica into the box and you're done. We also encourage all listeners to download the Sinica show as a standalone mp3 file for listening or sharing with friends. Enjoy!

Sinica - No Ancient Wisdom, No Followers (pdf)

Fri, 12 Oct 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Gangnam Style

Wed, 10 Oct 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Rich Koreans, carnivorous teddy bears and Nazis. Lest anyone think we are oblivious to pop culture, today we are pleased to present an Elementary Chinese lesson on the latest Internet sensation sweeping across China. Also, considering the continued availability of Titanic gear in shops nationwide, we expect to continue hearing about this for at least the next decade, so it doesn't hurt to bone up on it.

Elementary - Gangnam Style (pdf)

Wed, 10 Oct 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Gangnam Style (dialogue)

Wed, 10 Oct 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - An Evening of Romance and Laughter

Mon, 08 Oct 2012 09:00:00 -0700

June's colleagues had been so eager to set her up with Peter that she had resisted for over a month, coming up first with this excuse and then that one before finally succumbing to at least one date. But now that the two of them were alone together, she wondered why had she waited? He was handsome, and funny and charming. Even the waiters, ever sensitive to the delicacy of unfolding love, had slowly cleared the rest of the guests indoors, leaving the two of them alone on the candlelit terrace.

Learning Chinese? Our show today is at the more difficult end of our spectrum when it comes to lessons for absolute beginners. In it, we cover a useful sentence pattern for telling other people how you feel about them... or life in general. But if it is too difficult for you, don't worry. Just hop back to our lesson archive for hundreds of even easier lessons for total beginners to the Chinese language.

Absolute Beginners - An Evening of Romance and Laughter (pdf)

Mon, 08 Oct 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - An Evening of Romance and Laughter (dialogue)

Mon, 08 Oct 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Short Stories - Wang Xiaobo - A Special Pig

Tue, 02 Oct 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Wang Xiaobo is one of the most well-known contemporary Chinese authors. Born and raised in Beijing in the 1950s, Wang was sent down to the countryside as a "rusticated youth" in his late teens where he lived in both Yunnan and Shandong before returning to Beijing in the early 1970s. In the mid-1980s he spent time in the United States doing academic work before returning to Beijing where he gained recognition through the next decade in part for pieces like this one.

Although Wang Xiaobo died of a heart attack in the late 1990s, his literary reputation has only continued to grow after his death, surviving in a sizable collection of short essays which are frequently read and often compared to the works of Kafka. Wang also continues to be widely cited as a literary influence by contemporary authors and popular bloggers like Han Han.

Short Stories - Wang Xiaobo - A Special Pig (pdf)

Tue, 02 Oct 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - An evening at the Beijing Bookworm

Fri, 28 Sep 2012 09:00:00 -0700

On September 13, Sinica co-host Jeremy Goldkorn was delighted to chair a panel discussion at the Beijing Bookworm with authors Ian Johnson and Christina Larson, two well-known China journalists and now contributors to Chinese Characters, a collection of essays on individualism in modern China edited and published by Jeffrey Wasserstrom of the Asia Society and the University of California, Irvine.

Our show today is a recording of that event, and while this is a bit more public than most of our recordings, it was a lot of fun nonetheless. So listen in to Sinica today as we revisit that evening two weeks ago when Ian and Christina joined Jeremy for a discussion that swept from mercantilist monks to renegade geologists before settling on the question of whether Peter Hessler's writings constitute their own independent oeuvre of literature on China, and what on earth is the man doing in Egypt these days anyway?

Looking for the link where you can download this show as a standalone mp3 file? Well there it is. And here it is again too. Please feel welcome to download and share, or subscribe to our show through iTunes by using the RSS feed: http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica.

Sinica - An evening at the Beijing Bookworm (pdf)

Fri, 28 Sep 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Advanced - A Sound of Thunder

Wed, 26 Sep 2012 09:00:00 -0700

As the time machine settled emerged from the plasma void, the world came back into focus through the tiny porthole. It was a jungle, and the jungle was high and broad and the entire world forever and forever. Sounds like music and sounds like flying tents filled the sky, and those were pterodactyls soaring with cavernous gray wings, gigantic bats of delirium and night fever. As the machine started its cooldown cycle, Eckles reached for his rifle and pursed his lips in satisfaction: after years of anticipation, it was finally time for the hunt to begin.

Learning Chinese? Our shows at the advanced level assume that you're either relatively fluent in mandarin, or very close to being fluent. Because of this, we focus less on colloquial Chinese and more on the sort of problems that upper-level students face: advanced vocab acquisition and dealing with less colloquial Chinese. In this show, join us as we explore the problems of paradox and let us know what you think in the comments section below.

Advanced - A Sound of Thunder (pdf)

Wed, 26 Sep 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Advanced - A Sound of Thunder (dialogue)

Wed, 26 Sep 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Box on Head

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 09:00:00 -0700

You know the tin-foil hat wearing, conspiracy-paranoid crowd that started showing up almost overnight when X-Files became mainstream and that you'll still run into every now and again in the States, and especially if you live in San Francisco? Well... the good news is that China doesn't really have this kind of counterculture yet. The paranoid life is simpler here. More direct. And much less high-tech.

Learning Chinese? The elementary level at Popup Chinese is where we get most of our grammar out-of-the-way, and today's lesson is no exception, focusing on what you'll come to know and love as the continuous aspect: the Chinese way of communicating than an action is ongoing. In this lesson we cover two common ways of doing this and talk about both the similarities and slight differences between these techniques. This is rarely taught in textbooks, but its the sort of thing that separates native speakers from second-language learners, so if you're working towards fluency be sure to give it a listen, and let us know what you think.

Elementary - Box on Head (pdf)

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Box on Head (dialogue)

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - The Island Imbroglio

Fri, 21 Sep 2012 09:00:00 -0700

As Xi Jinping has stepped back into the public eye this week, the reappearance of China's heir apparent has been upstaged by large demonstrations across the country as tensions mount over territorial claims to the Diaoy (or Senkaku) Islands. As memories of earlier episodes of over-exuberant patriotism resurface, the events have the Sinica folks recalling with some nostalgia that the last time both Xi Jinping and a bunch of islands were in the news, the excitement was over Xi's vacation stopover in Fiji on his way to a state visit to Latin America.

This week on Sinica, Kaiser Kuo is pleased to host new guests: Damien Ma, analyst with the Eurasia Group, who also contributes frequently to the Atlantic Monthly, and Ian Johnson, former Beijing bureau chief for the Wall Street Journal, now with the New York Times. We are also thrilled to be rejoined by Tania Branigan, ace correspondent for the Guardian in Beijing and soon-to-be member of our "stalwart" class of Sinica supporters.

On a final note, we would be remiss not to mention that subscribing to Sinica via RSS is the easiest way to catch up on developments in China. To get started, either sign-up for an account on Popup Chinese or open iTunes, click on the Advanced file menu in iTunes and select the option "Subscribe to Podcast". When your computer prompts you, provide the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica and iTunes will take care of everything else, downloading new episodes automatically as soon as they are available. And for the less adventurous or iTunes poor, we're pleased to bring you this show as a standalone mp3 file as always. We hope you like it!

Sinica - The Island Imbroglio (pdf)

Fri, 21 Sep 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Corn Batman

Wed, 19 Sep 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Bruce Wayne surveyed the hospital room where Gordon lay in babbling incoherence. The police commissioner had been delusional since being pulled from the Gotham sewers two days ago. And while the fallen officer could offer no words to explain his predicament, the keen eyes of his guest nonetheless understood. For lying on the table beside him were the remnants of a dinner too much for any man to bear: an untouched slab of beefsteak, a spoonful of mashed potatoes. And then the corn. Two pieces of corn on the cob, gnawed clean to the bone.

Learning Chinese? We are working with industry contacts in Hollywood to bring a greater and better vision of The Dark Knight to Chinese cinemas, one with more corn and less Dickens. Shooting a film is a pretty big endeavor, but while we get it off the ground we are pleased to bring a double-header podcast to help share our vision of the film, and drum up support for what we think will be a much more ambitious and literary take on the Batman mythos.

Intermediate - Corn Batman (pdf)

Wed, 19 Sep 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Corn Batman (dialogue)

Wed, 19 Sep 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Lost in the Desert

Mon, 17 Sep 2012 09:00:00 -0700

"There's no excuse to find oneself stuck in a desert these days," Philip muttered as he crested another dune. Between satellite positioning systems and cellular phones, it was practically impossible to get disconnected from society at all. So what were they doing trudging through what appeared to be the Sahara desert? The last few days may have been a bit muddled in his mind, but whatever the reason, Philip was pretty sure this was somehow James' fault. Whenever they got into a situation like this it was always James' fault....

Learning Chinese? Our lesson today is intended for absolute beginners who are just starting to learn Chinese. This means that even if you don't know any mandarin, you'll still be able to make sense of this dialogue. And by the end of our ten minute lesson, you'll be able to use a simple sentence pattern to say or ask how much more of something is left, whether it be distance or time.

Absolute Beginners - Lost in the Desert (pdf)

Mon, 17 Sep 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Lost in the Desert (dialogue)

Mon, 17 Sep 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Hollywood comes to China

Fri, 14 Sep 2012 09:00:00 -0700

When Xi Jinping headed to the United States earlier this year in what everyone assumed was a pre-coronation victory lap, one of the more surprising outcomes of his visit ended up being a stopover in Los Angeles, where China agreed to increase the number of Hollywood films released in mainland theaters each year and significantly hike the percentage of box office revenue allocated to overseas producers.

With these pledges finally beginning to take effect, Jeremy Goldkorn hosts a special look at the state of the Chinese film industry this week in an episode of Sinica that features two veterans of the Chinese media scene: Will Moss from Imagethief and Jonathan Landreth, a Beijing-based freelance media and entertainment reporter who has written for major American publications ranging from the New York Times to the Hollywood Reporter. In a long and wide-ranging discussion, all three talk about China's on-again-off-again relationship with Hollywood, discuss China's new concessions and what they mean for the cinema industry, and ask how the rise of the Internet and digital distribution is affecting box office sales and the prospects of Chinese entertainment companies both at home and in foreign markets like the United States.

Tired of watching Chinese movies? Get a better grip on what is happening in China by listening to Sinica: a regular podcast we host that covers the lastest chit worth chatting about in the China scene. If you like the show, remember that you can subscribe to it manually by selecting "Subscribe to Podcast" from the "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 server.

Sinica - Hollywood comes to China (pdf)

Fri, 14 Sep 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The Ayi Strikes Back

Wed, 12 Sep 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Let us break from the tradition of language instruction and instead offer some practical home-cleaning tips for making the best of your time in China. First, we recommend buying separate mops for the washroom and the rest of your home. Having a third mop dedicated for kitchen use is advisable but not necessary. And don't forget to keep your cleaning rags out of the kitchen, and take care lest they get tossed into the wash with the rest of your clothing. Other than that, living in China is great.

Intermediate - The Ayi Strikes Back (pdf)

Wed, 12 Sep 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The Ayi Strikes Back (dialogue)

Wed, 12 Sep 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Most Popular Lawyer in Hogtown

Mon, 10 Sep 2012 09:00:00 -0700

After the scandalous acquittal of Nathan Darnell, Jeremy Harvale became one of the more sought-after solicitors in the city, his services in demand by everyone from white-collar criminals to gang leaders and hardened murderers. And while his popularity may not have reflected a vote of confidence in the ethics of the legal profession, it never helped to be too fastidious about morality when hundreds of thousands of dollars and years of personal freedom were on the line.

Learning Chinese? Let us confess up-front that today's Elementary lesson is harder than most of the others at this level: our dialogue really pushes the limits of what we consider elementary. What we want you to take away from this show is much simpler though, being an easy way to transform fairly straightforward questions into skeptical expressions of doubt. This is an easy emotional twist that will make you sound a lot more fluent, so if you're learning Chinese, be sure to take a listen and then let us know what you think in the comments section below.

Elementary - The Most Popular Lawyer in Hogtown (pdf)

Mon, 10 Sep 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Most Popular Lawyer in Hogtown (dialogue)

Mon, 10 Sep 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Shopping with Naomi Klein

Wed, 05 Sep 2012 09:00:00 -0700

After reading our declaration of solidarity with the workers of the world, Naomi Klein dropped by Popup Towers the other day for a solidarity march to Wangfujing, where we mobilized the masses in protest of oppressive capitalism in general, and the replacement of sensible, logo-free clothing with rhinestone-encrusted t-shirts and pleated stonewashed jeans in particular. And then we went shopping.

Learning Chinese? Our elementary Chinese lesson is like most of the others at this level: it features a fast and colloquial dialogue that's representative of the sort of Chinese that is rarely featured in modern textbooks, but is the way people actually speak here in China. So if you haven't created an account at Popup Chinese yet, be sure to signup for a free account and get immediate access to not only this lesson, but our archive of literally thousands of other great shows to pull your Chinese up into fluency.

Elementary - Shopping with Naomi Klein (pdf)

Wed, 05 Sep 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Shopping with Naomi Klein (dialogue)

Wed, 05 Sep 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The French Revolution

Mon, 03 Sep 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Lest there be any doubt to the French protestors who have taken to milling about outside Popup Towers, let it be known that - like Byron - our hearts stand firmly with your people, save in those edge cases where demonstrations of solidarity run up against our inveterate hatred of early-morning calisthenics and other forms of fascist reveille.

And what is that mon ami, you are learning Chinese but tired of the oppressive pablum that constitutes most Chinese textbooks? Then shake off your shackles and liberate your mind with a free account here at Popup Chinese. We have well over a thousand shows in our free lesson archive, and you're welcome to listen to them all.

Intermediate - The French Revolution (pdf)

Mon, 03 Sep 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The French Revolution (dialogue)

Mon, 03 Sep 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - The Huawei Enigma

Fri, 31 Aug 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Is there any other company that better captures the dual way China is perceived internationally than Huawei? As one of China's few market-based telecommunications equipment providers, the company is in many ways a symbol of China's high-tech, global future. And yet this is the same company frequently tarred as a security threat by foreign journalists who play up the military background of founder Ren Zhangfei and point with some justification to China's dismal record in Internet security and online freedom.

How do people in the telecommunications industry think about Huawei? And what is really going on with the Shenzhen-based ICT conglomerate. Joining Kaiser Kuo and Jeremy Goldkorn this week to talk about Ren Zhangfei and the company he built are two experts in the Chinese telecommunications market: David Wolf, president of the ICT consulting firm Wolf Group Asia, and Will Moss, a Chinese public relations expert who works in the telecommunications industry.

As always, two quick reminders before we get to the show. First please be aware that you can subscribe to Sinica through iTunes using our RSS feed at http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica. Facebook users are also welcome to check us out there on our group page at http://facebook.com/sinicapodcast. And as always, please be aware that if you don't want to listen to our show online, you're always welcome to download it directly from our site as a standalone mp3 file.

Sinica - The Huawei Enigma (pdf)

Fri, 31 Aug 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Advanced - Turtle in the Mud

Mon, 27 Aug 2012 09:00:00 -0700

It turns out that our first mistake doing business in China was giving our hosts a gift of dessicated turtle bones wrapped in bamboo and silk. They were polite enough to accept our offering and one of the younger staffers even commented on how well preserved the carapace seemed to be, but we never did get that contract, and they stopped replying to our emails. Chalk it up to cultural differences.

This is an advanced show,and it's a bit different from anything we've done to date. While we have a reading here that teaches some of the basics in parsing classical Chinese, our focus is more than just providing a resource for those interested in reading classical Chinese, since we also have the chance to highlight some of the debates that real Chinese people continue to have about traditional Chinese philosophy, and Zhuang Zi in particular.

Advanced - Turtle in the Mud (pdf)

Mon, 27 Aug 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - The Raid of the Scorned Mongol Woman

Fri, 24 Aug 2012 09:00:00 -0700

This week on Sinica, we take a break from the trial of Gu Kailai, the 18th Party Congress, and the recent flurry of disgruntled expat blog posts to cast our gaze back to the age of Mongol politics, barbarian cross-border raids, and that period in Chinese history which gave us the Great Wall as it currently stands in the mountains north of Beijing.

With Kaiser Kuo abroad on business our show is a more intimate interview this week. Hosting is Jeremy Goldkorn of danwei.com renown, who is speaking with David Spindler, graduate of the Harvard Law School, alumni of the McKinsey consulting company, and now self-motivated and self-funded Great Wall scholar whose research over the past fifteen years has made him one of the foremost experts on the subject, not to mention more familiar with the countryside north of Beijing than anyone else we know.

Need to feed your addition to Sinica? Have your computer download new episodes as they're released by subscribing through iTunes. This is as easy as selecting "Subscribe to Podcast" from the Advanced file menu and providing the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica when asked. As always, we also welcome people to download copies of our shows as standalone mp3 files.

Sinica - The Raid of the Scorned Mongol Woman (pdf)

Fri, 24 Aug 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - The Second Vaccination

Thu, 23 Aug 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Learning Chinese? We've already had a few lessons about basic numbers in mandarin, so in today's show we take a step beyond that and talk about ordinals, or how to say that it is your first, second, third or four hundredth time doing something. The rules for doing this are much easier in Chinese than in English, so take a listen and in less than ten minutes you'll be well on your way to the elementary level, at least as far as numbers are concerned.

Absolute Beginners - The Second Vaccination (pdf)

Thu, 23 Aug 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - The Second Vaccination (dialogue)

Thu, 23 Aug 2012 09:00:00 -0700

KTV Wednesday - Murong Xiao Xiao - Love for Sale

Wed, 22 Aug 2012 12:55:33 -0700

Old enough to remember when Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves came out and you suddenly couldn't go anywhere without hearing Bryan Adams, and this kept up for a year or two before he did some flamenco covers for the Don Juan DeMarco soundtrack, and then Western civilization hit its breaking point and decided to revive boy bands instead? Well... Murong Xiao Xiao is the Chinese version of first-stage Bryan Adams. At this point, all evidence suggests her music will continue to play until the heat death of the universe.

On hearing we were covering this song for KTV Wednesday, Echo remarked that "it reminds me of those hair salons where you can get a cheap prostitute... why are you writing that down? Don't quote me on that!" Other places you will hear this include massage parlors, bus stations, hospitals, convenience stores, wholesale bazaars, t-shirt shops near tourist attractions, elevators nationwide, low-level government ministries, the province of Henan, and Western hotels with local staff who have seized control of the music system.

Having trouble viewing this show on Youtube? A China-hosted version of this song can be found on Youku, or by simply searching online for 爱情买卖 ("Love for Sale") by 慕容晓晓 ("Murong Xiao Xiao").

KTV Wednesday - Murong Xiao Xiao - Love for Sale (pdf)

Wed, 22 Aug 2012 12:55:33 -0700

Elementary - Any Shanghai Restaurants Open Late?

Mon, 20 Aug 2012 09:00:00 -0700

This introduction has zero bearing on our actual lesson, but considering the gravity of the subject matter, if you live in Shanghai please throw us a bone and tell us where on earth people go for late-night dining. The "Eat Drink Man Woman" diner on Tongren Lu used to be a great place with serviceable coffee and 24-hours of nutritious WIFI. But with that shut down it seems the entire city's late-night dining options are restricted to McDonalds, 永和大王 and 避风塘. Say it ain't so.

Elementary - Any Shanghai Restaurants Open Late? (pdf)

Mon, 20 Aug 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Any Shanghai Restaurants Open Late? (dialogue)

Mon, 20 Aug 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - The Fourth Estate

Fri, 17 Aug 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Following the Chinese media's intense coverage of the blitzkrieg trial of Gu Kailai, those of us at Sinica want to take this opportunity to look back at the most riveting China story of the year. And while we've covered developments week-by-week and assume you have too, as Kaiser Kuo and Jeremy Goldkorn point out in today's show, there's been very little discussion of how the story itself broke: how and when did Western journalists cut through the Chinese rumor mill?

Answering these questions and representing the fourth estate in our studio today are two excellent journalists who've covered the story from unsubstantiated rumor through to courtroom trial. We're pleased to be joined specifically by Gady Epstein, a long-time China correspondent currently writing for the Economist, as well as Jeremy Page, an experienced China journalist who writes for the Wall Street Journal and made his name as one of the first investigative reporters to crack and confirm the Gu Kailai / Neil Heywood connection back when most coverage of the Wang Lijun affair consisted of myriad and conflicting rumors centered on Bo Xilai and the United States consulate in Chengdu.

Like Sinica? To subscribe to the show automatically through iTunes, just select the option "Subscribe to Podcast" from the Advanced menu in iTunes and provide the URL: http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica when prompted. This will setup your computer to download new episodes of Sinica as they're released. Alternately, we warmly invite all listeners to download this show as a standalone mp3 file.

Sinica - The Fourth Estate (pdf)

Fri, 17 Aug 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Advanced - Gollum visits Beijing

Wed, 15 Aug 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Andy Serkis tossed the dungeons and dragons treatment onto his coffee table, where it thudded to rest atop the scattered remains of nine other fantasy scripts previously discarded. With The Hobbit in post-production and Game of Thrones earning rave reviews on HBO, there was no shortage of epic fantasy projects looking for his participation. How ironic that after years of struggling for this sort of legitimacy he was now hoping for a more conventional role in a dramatic comedy.

And it was exactly then, just as Andy was beginning to feel sorry for both himself and Western culture more broadly, that he noticed the small yellow envelope which had fallen from the table to the yellow carpeting. The writing on the front was written in curiously formal capital letters. And while this was enough to entice him to open the letter and begin scanning it in nonchalant boredom, it wasn't long until his eyes returned afresh to the start of the page, and began anew as he realized the invitation to Beijing was serious.

Advanced - Gollum visits Beijing (pdf)

Wed, 15 Aug 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Advanced - Gollum visits Beijing (dialogue)

Wed, 15 Aug 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The Linguistic Massacre

Mon, 13 Aug 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Murder, wiretapping and blackmail aside, our focus today is actually on a more pedestrian form of linguistic crime: the way many Chinese speakers are managing to butcher mandarin by virtue of not understanding its origins. Specifically, today we focus on five useful idioms that almost every single native speaker now uses to mean the exact opposite of what they actually mean.

This is more difficult show than most of our intermediate lessons, since we spend a bit of time talking about classical Chinese, but if you're looking to push your way past colloquial mandarin into our upper level, we think you'll find this really useful. In addition to covering some extremely useful chengyu, in the next fifteen minutes you'll learn more about their origins than most native speakers ever will, knowledge we expect you to put to good use at your own discretion.

Intermediate - The Linguistic Massacre (pdf)

Mon, 13 Aug 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The Linguistic Massacre (dialogue)

Mon, 13 Aug 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - The Chairman

Fri, 10 Aug 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Ten years after his elevation to General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, Hu Jintao remains almost as much of an enigma now as he was on first taking power. What do we know about the man beyond his reputation as a somewhat robotic consensus-seeker, and how will history look back at his time in power? To discuss this question and all the other news that is fit to podcast, Sinica host Jeremy Goldkorn is delighted to be joined for Sinica today with Economist correspondent Gady Epstein, and none other than Kerry Brown, director of the China Studies Centre at the University of Sydney and author of the recent book Hu Jintao: China's Silent Ruler.

Trying to keep current on what's happening in China? Stay up-to-date on everything we think is worth mentioning by subscribing to the Sinica show on iTunes. The easiest way to do this is selecting the option "Subscribe to Podcast" from the Advanced file menu once iTunes is running, and then providing the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica when prompted. Alternately, you are welcome to download this show as a standalone mp3 file as always.

Sinica - The Chairman (pdf)

Fri, 10 Aug 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Giving Directions in Shanghai

Wed, 08 Aug 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Things we love about Shanghai include its great subway system, fantastic nightlife, and its green and walkable city streets. But then there are the taxis... and have you ever tried getting a cab in Shanghai? First there is the matter of flagging one down in a place where convention demands that taxi lines are formed in parallel to the road. And assuming you wrest one from the masses and clamber in? Well... then your adventure has only begun.

Learning Chinese? Our lesson today is all about over-specifying when giving directions, a skill that is actually quite useful to have regardless of where you end up living in China. So if you're learning mandarin and already know the basics, join us for a show that will help push you beyond them and towards more upper-level fluency. And if you have any questions, please do let us know in the comment section below, or by email at service@popupchinese.com.

Elementary - Giving Directions in Shanghai (pdf)

Wed, 08 Aug 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Giving Directions in Shanghai (dialogue)

Wed, 08 Aug 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Squeak: Master and Companion....

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Squeak is our office cat who in the last few years has turned Popup Towers into his own private fiefdom of glass, aluminum and dot-com excellence. Whenever we're recording, he'll paw at the studio door trying to get in. Visitors are always greeted with excitement out of the hope they might bring something edible, and when he wants to relax on his favorite chair, good luck dragging him away from the computer or getting any work done.

Learning Chinese? This lesson is intended for Absolute Beginners to the Chinese language. We start with a fairly simple and straightforward dialogue, and move on with a podcast that will teach you some of the absolute basics to speaking mandarin. So if you're new to Chinese give it a listen and see what you think. And if you have comments or questions, feel free to leave a note, or contact us anytime by email at service@popupchinese.com.

Absolute Beginners - Squeak: Master and Companion.... (pdf)

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Squeak: Master and Companion.... (dialogue)

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Yeah, She Wins - Sinica at the Olympics

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 09:00:00 -0700

This week on Sinica, we go to the Olympics in recognition of what is unarguably the biggest story coming out of London: the spectacular performance of Chinese swimming sensation Ye Shiwen and the subsequent allegations of doping and anti-competitive behavior by the international and particularly American media which has - unsurprisingly - prompted a defensive backlash throughout the Chinese Internet.

Beyond the various Olympic scandals, we also turn our attention to other China stories that have slipped more unnoticed in the press. Hosting our discussion this week is Jeremy Goldkorn. We are delighted to have him joined in our studios this week by Will Moss, popular blogger and founder of Imagethief. Also in our studio for his first time on the show is Andrew Jacobs, whose name discerning readers will recognize as a leading China correspondent for the New York Times.

Trying to keep current on all things China? Sinica is a regular podcast covering the lastest news worth knowing about the China scene. And while you can always download our shows as standalone mp3 files, if you like the show and want your computer to download new episodes automatically, 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. Let us know if you have any problems.

Sinica - Yeah, She Wins - Sinica at the Olympics (pdf)

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Chinese Negotiation Tactics

Tue, 31 Jul 2012 09:00:00 -0700

The Shenzhen company's pricing strategy was simple but effective. Five minutes after any customer arrived, they would be guided to the executive sundeck and given several glasses of cool spring water while they waited for the executive team. Once the customer was sufficiently hydrated, their counterparts would arrive with apologies and a gift of the region's finest green tea. After several toasts, the pricing negotiations were never quite as protracted as some customers may have wished.

Learning Chinese? Our elementary lessons at Popup Chinese stretch beyond the baics into dialogues which feature more complex constructions. While these feature common sentence patterns and can help you push your way to fluency, they also highlight the same sort of conversational and colloquial speech you'll find spoken every day in mainland China. So if you're learning Chinese, give us a listen and hear for yourself how much different real spoken Chinese is from the dry, unnatural texts you may be accustomed to from other textbooks.

Elementary - Chinese Negotiation Tactics (pdf)

Tue, 31 Jul 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Chinese Negotiation Tactics (dialogue)

Tue, 31 Jul 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Advanced - The Beijing Floods

Mon, 30 Jul 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Memories of last week's floods in Beijing are dying hard, at least judging by the way the hottest selling items on Taobao continue to be car escape kits, and the way traffic now manages to grind to a halt everywhere around the capital anytime there's even a touch of inclement weather.

As a consequence, today on Popup Chinese we're happy to publish a fully-Chinese discussion podcast for advanced listeners. This is really just listening practice, but we have a discussion focused on the topic of last week's flooding in Beijing and there is plenty of new vocabulary for those of you boning up on disaster terminology. And in an interesting twist, we also managed to get Bunny in the studio to talk about this with Echo. In addition to being a now-famous voice-actor, Bunny is also working his way up the ranks as a member of the Chinese security establishment and was out on the streets that day. We hope you like the show.

Advanced - The Beijing Floods (pdf)

Mon, 30 Jul 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - A Torrential Rainstorm

Fri, 27 Jul 2012 09:00:00 -0700

This week on Sinica, attention turns to the torrential flooding which plagued Beijing earlier this week and claimed the lives of at least 77 residents in the Chinese capital. As tempers flare and city officials resign, questions mount over whether this natural disaster is turning into a political crisis for the city government. Also under discussion is a sharp increase in hospital killings, a brazen rise in online shadow banking, Chinese acquisitions in foreign oil-field markets, and first-hand reports of potentially edible wildlife in the vicinity of the Lido Hotel.

Joining Kaiser and Jeremy in our studio to discuss all of these issues and more are Alexa Olesen, a long-time China watcher and journalist for the Associated Press, and Josh Chin who writes for the Wall Street Journal and does a lot of detailed investigative work for the China Real Time Report. We're privileged to have such great journalists join us to share their perspectives on these stories yet again.

As always, let us remind you that if you'd like to download new episodes of Sinica automatically as a new show is released, you can subscribe to the show via iTunes. The easiest way of doing this is to open iTunes, select the option "Subscribe to Podcast" from the Advanced menu and copy the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica into the box when prompted. We also encourage people to download this show directly from Popup Chinese as a standalone mp3 file. Enjoy and let us know what you think!

Sinica - A Torrential Rainstorm (pdf)

Fri, 27 Jul 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Suicidal Tendencies

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Samuel had always appreciated architecture, which was why he had insisted on hiring a top-tier architect to design his new office. So how ironic that it would be here - in the iconic glass lobby that had symbolized his success - that he would end both his career and his life. It had not been an easy choice, but what other could he make? In the last week everything he had lived for had been taken away in an elaborate and cruel con game in which even his closest friends and relatives seemed complicit.

Learning Chinese? In our Chinese lesson for today, Brendan, David, Echo and take to our studios to talk about scams in Chinese. This lesson features a fast and natural-speed dialogue involving a man on the brink, so if your mandarin is already at the intermediate level, join us for both it, as well as a discussion on common scams in China and the language you need to know to talk about them. And let us know what you think in the comments section below.

Intermediate - Suicidal Tendencies (pdf)

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Suicidal Tendencies (dialogue)

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Attack of the Piranhas

Fri, 20 Jul 2012 09:00:00 -0700

This week on Sinica, Chinese economic growth is on the rocks, ASEAN tensions are breaking through the facade of East-Asian political unity, a major Chinese telecom company is implicated in an international trade scandal, and man-eating fish have escaped into the wilds of Guangxi, prompting a profusion of local get-rich-quick schemes and threatening our plans to take a break from it all with a swimming vacation in southern China.

Joining host Jeremy Goldkorn for this week's wide-ranging show is public relations expert and amateur ichthyologist Will Moss, a frequent Sinica guest you might also recognize through his other life as a blogger on Imagethief and Rectified.name. We're also delighted to be joined by Tania Branigan, Beijing correspondent for The Guardian and now-connoisseur of fish-eats-man stories.

Like Sinica? One easy way to stay in touch with all things China is to subscribe to our podcast via iTunes. To do this, open iTunes and click on the option "Subscribe to Podcast" from the "Advanced" file menu. iTunes will prompt you to provide the address of your desired podcast. Give it the address http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica and -- voila -- subscribing couldn't be easier. Of course, those without iTunes are welcome to download this show as a standalone mp3 file as always.

Sinica - Attack of the Piranhas (pdf)

Fri, 20 Jul 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Good Morning, Mr. Bond

Thu, 19 Jul 2012 09:00:00 -0700

The sheer scale of Emilio Largo's China operations -- including the military bunker in which James found himself sequestered -- suggested far more menacing plans than the mere narcotics-smuggling suspected in London. But there were more questions here than how MI5 had missed the rebirth of SPECTRE, such as how his former adversary had survived their last encounter, or how anyone could setup such a labyrinthine operation in Shanghai without attracting the attention of the Chinese government?

As the sun rose into view through the cell window, James' thoughts turned back to the question of why he was still alive. Perhaps Largo was simply unsure of what exactly Britain knew. If true, this offered some small point of leverage for the imprisoned spy, although after thirty hours without sleep James wondered if he could possibly be alert enough to seize any advantage afforded by it when meeting Emilio later this morning. What he really needed was a coffee.

Elementary - Good Morning, Mr. Bond (pdf)

Thu, 19 Jul 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Good Morning, Mr. Bond (dialogue)

Thu, 19 Jul 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - A Glass of Ice Water

Tue, 17 Jul 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Although he couldn't remember any details of the accident, having been knocked unconscious by the force of the truck's initial impact, Xiao Li found himself scarred by the collision in unexpected ways. Even months after waking up in a Shunyi hospital, the young man would find his thoughts drifting off at the strangest of times. And his memory was not what it had been in the past, something particularly problematic for someone in the service profession.

Learning Chinese? This is a Chinese lesson for Absolute Beginners. This means that even if you don't know any Chinese, we keep things simple enough that this lesson should be accessible to you. If you're a higher-level student, check out our massive archive for tons more difficult lessons covering everything from simple grammar patterns to advanced colloquial Chinese. And let us know if you have any feedback by writing us at service@popupchinese.com.

Absolute Beginners - A Glass of Ice Water (pdf)

Tue, 17 Jul 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - A Glass of Ice Water (dialogue)

Tue, 17 Jul 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Sino-American Perceptions

Fri, 13 Jul 2012 09:00:00 -0700

This week on Sinica, Kaiser Kuo is joined by two guests from the Committee of 100, an organization formed over twenty years ago by I.M. Pei and other prominent Chinese-Americans to address issues in the Sino-American relationship. The Committee recently released its fourth in-depth survey, the 2012 US China Public Opinion Perceptions Survey which turns up some surprising findings about changes in how Americans and Chinese perceive each other.

Representing the Committee of 100 to talk about some of the surprises from the recent survey is Angie Tang, the executive director of the organization, who has previously served as regional representative for the US Department of Labor in 2001 and who headed up former NYC mayor Giuiliani's Office of Immigrant Affairs and Language Services. Also in our studio is Mercy Kuo, the committee's research director and author of a book on Chinese foreign policy and the Sino-Soviet Split.

Enjoy the Sinica show? To download all of our past episodes using iTunes, simply open iTunes, pick the option "Subscribe to Podcast" from the Advanced file menu, and provide the URL http://popupchinese.com/custom/feeds/sinica when prompted. All listeners are also welcome to download individual shows as standalone mp3 files, as with our link to today's show here.

Sinica - Sino-American Perceptions (pdf)

Fri, 13 Jul 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Knife to a Gunfight

Wed, 11 Jul 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Officer Stevens pried open the warehouse door and slipped into the musty interior. Although armed solely with a knife, he was not the least concerned about his lack of firepower. More pressing in his mind was the far-off wail of sirens, an audible sign the rest of his squad was closing in on this complex. In perhaps fifteen minutes the entire compound would be surrounded by uniformed officers, at which point the escape options for everyone would narrow considerably.

Learning Chinese? This lesson has been a long time in coming, but today we're pleased to present a lesson on verbs which are "secretly gei". And our point here is simple but unexpected. Because while most verbs in Chinese take 给 as either a coverb or complement when they want to communicate the idea of giving something to someone, there are a few curious outliers which can still go-it-alone.

Intermediate - Knife to a Gunfight (pdf)

Wed, 11 Jul 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Knife to a Gunfight (dialogue)

Wed, 11 Jul 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Home Invasion

Mon, 09 Jul 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Hands trussed behind his back as the thieves ransacked his flat, the diamond merchant reflected with unromantic detachment that this could be the work of almost any of his colleagues. Yet he was not totally unprepared for this eventuality, which was why his thoughts kept returning to his home security system. "There's a special wireless mode enabled by default," the salesperson had confided in him. "It can't be bypassed by cutting the wire, and when the alarm is forcibly disabled it will alert us through secondary channels."

Learning Chinese? Our Elementary level at Popup Chinese is where things get a bit more complicated. By this level you should already know the basics and be able to parse simple sentences. This lets us start exploring more complicated grammar structures and more colloquial expressions that are harder to translate literally into English. But we still do this within the context of dialogues that showcase the sort of genuine mandarin you'll hear the next time you're trussed up in a home invasion waiting for the police to arrive.

Elementary - Home Invasion (pdf)

Mon, 09 Jul 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Home Invasion (dialogue)

Mon, 09 Jul 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Consoling a Friend

Wed, 04 Jul 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Providing emotional support isn't exactly our forte here at Popup Towers, and it probably isn't wrong to call our philosophy closer to the sink-or-swim variety. But when an esteemed listener wrote in requesting a lesson on how to console a distraught friend, we couldn't say no. So if you're curious how to handle yourself the next time a Chinese-speaking friend suffers a nervous breakdown, we have your back with this podcast. Because life will probably get better for them. Maybe.

Elementary - Consoling a Friend (pdf)

Wed, 04 Jul 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Consoling a Friend (dialogue)

Wed, 04 Jul 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Advanced - Undue Pressure

Mon, 02 Jul 2012 09:00:00 -0700

If you're living or dating in China, it's impossible not to notice the enormous pressure Chinese society places on young people to get married as quickly as the laws of physics permit. Casual dating is somewhat of a foreign concept, so much so that women past the age of twenty-five often bemoan their spinster-like condition. And for men, the situation is equally bad, as the pressure to attract a wife creates attendant pressures to purchase a home, car and other material products which are effectively unaffordable for many workers.

Learning Chinese? In this advanced and all-native Chinese podcast, Echo, Gao and Qin take to our studio to talk about their own experiences with marriage and their attempts to deal with the pressure. As we find out, one of the three is actually planning to get married quite soon, which provides more grist for the gossip mill. There is a lot of advanced vocabulary in this show, so if your Chinese is good enough to follow natural-speed conversation, join us and find out which of the three is staring down the marriage aisle.

Advanced - Undue Pressure (pdf)

Mon, 02 Jul 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - The Manchu Legacy

Fri, 29 Jun 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Archers, tiger hunters and horse-riders from beyond the Great Wall, the Manchu people made their first mark on history as founders of the Northern Jin Dynasty (1115-1234) before consolidating their influence in 1644 when their militaristic society swept south from Manchuria to drive the Ming Dynasty from power, establishing the Qing Empire and an astonishing three century period of rule over what would become the multicultural, pan-Asian state we know as China today.

Curious what happened to the Manchu? Or how to spot and chit-chat with banner-bearers lurking in your midst? In today's Sinica podcast, Kaiser Kuo and Jeremy Goldkorn take a break from current affairs to take a look at China's Manchu legacy, as evident everywhere from the streets of Beijing to high Chinese fashion. So join us this week as we talk about what happened to the Manchu. Joining us for this discussion is Jeremiah Jenne, Qing historian, popular blogger and Associate Director for Chinese Studies at the IES Abroad program in Beijing.

Enjoy Sinica? Did you know it is possible to subscribe to this show via iTunes, in which case your computer will download new episodes of the show as they become available. To do this just select "Subscribe to Podcast" from the Advanced podcast menu and provide the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica when prompted. And if you have any questions or suggestions for future topics or guests, feel free to leave a comment or email Kaiser anytime at sinica@popupchinese.com. You can also download this show anytime as a standalone mp3 file.

Sinica - The Manchu Legacy (pdf)

Fri, 29 Jun 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Our Hong Kong Subsidiary

Wed, 27 Jun 2012 09:00:00 -0700

While the financial meltdown ravaged Squire and Huddington's continental operations, the transnational's activities in Hong Kong remained surprisingly resilient to slumping European demand. Western analysts attributed the growth to continued demand-pull in Asia and management's hands-off attitude to letting its Hong Kong subsidiary refocus on the Asian market, and there may even be some truth to that....

Learning Chinese? Our show today is about lies, gossip and rumors. If you're a Chinese learner at the intermediate level or above and feel comfortable listening to a show that is half in Chinese and half in English, join us for a bilingual discussion of the Chinese rumor mill. We'll cover some practical vocabulary for spreading malicious gossip yourselves, and take a quick look at some of the more outlandish rumors that have circulated on the Chinese Internet in recent years.

Intermediate - Our Hong Kong Subsidiary (pdf)

Wed, 27 Jun 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Our Hong Kong Subsidiary (dialogue)

Wed, 27 Jun 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Lost in the Forest

Mon, 25 Jun 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Thirty years later the entire class would laugh about it over drinks, or most of them would anyway. For his part, Zhang Hua would simply get a far-away look in his eye whenever his mind travelled back to those five days he had spent huddled for shelter in a moss-covered hollow after his teacher and classmates had driven back to the city oblivious to the significance of the empty seat in the back of the bus.

Learning Chinese? By now you've learned that Chinese people like to answer questions by repeating the verb used to ask them in either the affirmative or negative form. But did you know there are some situations in which this rule isn't quite so reliable? This podcast covers one of these cases, in which the common verb 是 is - much like Zhang Hua in our dialogue - strangely absent from its usual place.

Elementary - Lost in the Forest (pdf)

Mon, 25 Jun 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Lost in the Forest (dialogue)

Mon, 25 Jun 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - The One Child Policy

Fri, 22 Jun 2012 09:00:00 -0700

While the African community in Guangzhou has taken to the streets to protest the suspicious death of a foreign national in police custody, the Chinese Internet has proven equally volatile as gruesome photos of a late-stage abortion have circulated online to the shock and horror of many netizens. This week Sinica turns its attention to both events, but mostly the one child policy, as we discuss first the history of China's family-planning restrictions and then look at the political forces within China arrayed for and against the status quo.

Trying to steer the discussion through these controversial waters is your host Kaiser Kuo, who is joined in our studio by Alexa Olesen, a long-time China watcher and journalist for the Associated Press who has written extensively on how China's family planning policies work at the local level. We're also delighted to be joined by Evan Osnos, staff writer for the New Yorker, who has written about the African community in Guangzhou. Conspicuously absent for the second week running is Sinica co-host Jeremy Goldkorn, who any minute now--and probably by the time you're reading this--will have become father to a baby girl.

Like Sinica? If you'd like to subscribe to the show via iTunes and have your computer automatically download new shows as they become available, just click on "Subscribe to Podcast" from the Advanced file menu and provide the url http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica when prompted. If you'd prefer, you can also download this show as a standalone mp3 file. Links to all of our previous shows are available on the podcast pages, which you can find in our Sinica archive.

Sinica - The One Child Policy (pdf)

Fri, 22 Jun 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - The Limits of Evolution

Wed, 20 Jun 2012 09:00:00 -0700

We have had many dark moments at Popup Towers, but perhaps none darker than the summer of 2009 when Echo bought a cricket from a street peddler on Nanluoguxiang, and proudly placed "The Great General" by the window in his wicker cage. For the first few days as our guest settled into his new quarters, his timid nature made him an amiable office companion. This period of quietude was not to last, and while his death three months later was sad, it was not without its upside considering we run a recording facility.

Learning Chinese? We've decided that this is a lesson perfect for Absolute Beginners to the Chinese language... or really Advanced students looking to brush up on their pronunciation of what we've decided is basically the hardest word in the entire Chinese language. If this is your first lesson you might be better off picking another one from our lesson archives, but if you're up for a challenge, take a listen and let us know what you think.

Absolute Beginners - The Limits of Evolution (pdf)

Wed, 20 Jun 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - The Limits of Evolution (dialogue)

Wed, 20 Jun 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Crossing the Border

Mon, 18 Jun 2012 09:00:00 -0700

After months setting up shell companies everywhere from Hong Kong to the Cayman Islands, Xiao Li's plans would still hinge on his single exit interview at the Shenzhen border. The mid-level manager had amassed enough paperwork from contacts outside the country to make his trip seem innocuous to superiors at the Foreign Ministry, but there was always the potential for things to get ugly at the border crossing....

Intermediate - Crossing the Border (pdf)

Mon, 18 Jun 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Crossing the Border (dialogue)

Mon, 18 Jun 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Advanced - The Detective Welder, part II

Wed, 13 Jun 2012 09:00:00 -0700

The murder had happened around noon, when Winter Reynolds III had met a thick length of steel piping in a restroom at the Federal Reserve. The bludgeoning to death of America's most reclusive financial magnate was heady stuff for a press starved of political gossip: given the number and influence of the tycoon's avowed public enemies, his killer could have been almost half of New York or Washington.

And yet, Detective Stronach thought as he surveyed the crime scene, this mystery could be unraveled by the evidence in this room. For who could have wielded the weapon? Initial evidence pointed to the plumber who had been repairing the executive washroom upstairs. Who else could have had the opportunity to sneak the murder weapon into the building or the professional acumen to wield it with such destructive force. And yet something about this hypothesis was also unsettling to the detective. But why?

Advanced - The Detective Welder, part II (pdf)

Wed, 13 Jun 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Advanced - The Detective Welder, part II (dialogue)

Wed, 13 Jun 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The State Bowling Champion

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 09:00:00 -0700

In the weeks after the interns discovered John's status as State bowling champion, his ranking was all the gossip in the office. For despite the fact that none of his coworkers had ever expressed the slightest interest in his sport, John now found he could hardly head to the watercooler without one of the marketing crew attempting to give him a high-five, or an engineer rushing out to ask for tips on ball-handling. He would have been sure the entire spectacle was some elaborate setup if it weren't for everyone's apparent sincerity about the whole escapade.

Learning Chinese? One of the things we try to do at our higher levels here at Popup Chinese is step away from just reviewing the literal meanings of various words and focus more on the ways that native Chinese speakers communicate more subtle emotions. And that's exactly our focus in this lesson, which talks about a common way to express reluctance that we've yet to see covered in any other textbook. So you see, it's not that we need to teach this, but shouldn't someone...?

Intermediate - The State Bowling Champion (pdf)

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The State Bowling Champion (dialogue)

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Morally Adrift?

Fri, 08 Jun 2012 09:00:00 -0700

It's easy to get depressed about China's apparent drift toward amorality: the kind of pervasive screw-your-neighbor approach to getting ahead (or even just getting by) that seems increasingly common on the mainland. The news is full of horrific stories about apathy and callousness, punctuated by occasional stories of altruism, self-sacrifice, and personal heroism. Both types of stories seem to touch off real soul-searching, with public intellectuals, political leaders, and everyday people in pained discussion of the problem's roots and its possible remedies. How can China reverse the decline in civic consciousness? Does the answer lie in Confucianism? Buddhism? Christianity? Secular public school education? Good Samaritan laws?

Joining Sinica hosts Kaiser Kuo and Jeremy Goldkorn this week for a look at this crucial issue for China are special guests David Moser, Director of the CET immersion program in Beijing and longstanding China watcher, and Didi Kirsten Tatlow from the International Herald Tribune, who joins us again after blowing us away last week in her first appearance in the All Sinica Federation of Women show. We lured Didi back to share even more insights on everything from holy fruit to schoolyard violence in China.

Want a faster and better Sinica? To have new episodes download to your computer or cellphone automatically each week, just subscribe to Sinica via RSS. You can do this by opening iTunes and selecting the option "Subscribe to Podcast" from the Advanced menu and providing the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica when prompted. And if you'd prefer to download the show manually, feel free to grab it as a standalone mp3 file. And thanks for listening!

Sinica - Morally Adrift? (pdf)

Fri, 08 Jun 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Advanced - An Education for Life

Wed, 06 Jun 2012 09:00:00 -0700

As Detective Stronach surveyed the ransacked vault, he felt time contract on itself, as if it were but yesterday he had first found work in the London shipyards, joining the local welding crew as its youngest and skinniest wharf rat. In those days he had learned the trades the hard way, clambering into tightest of crawlspaces and down the narrowest of industrial pipes to finish dangerous corner welds and affix steel plating to the hull. It had been difficult and claustrophobic work, but it had given him an education for life.

Advanced - An Education for Life (pdf)

Wed, 06 Jun 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Advanced - An Education for Life (dialogue)

Wed, 06 Jun 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Network Transfer

Mon, 04 Jun 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Han Lin grinned at his girlfriend as he gestured towards the office headquarters that rose above the small park where they were eating lunch. China Mobile was one of the more prestigious places for a new engineer to find employment, and Han couldn't help but want to show off his employee privileges. "I'll just send the file over the corporate network then," he smiled as he pocketed the USB drive, adding that "even something this big should only take a few minutes at most."

Living in China? No matter what industry you're in, at some point you are going to find yourself in an office environment locked in mortal combat with office equipment. Fortunately, regardless of whether you need to scan documents, backup files to a USB drive or just transfer files across the network, in this lesson we cover the key vocabulary you need to get things done. So take a listen, let us know what you think in the discussion section below, and feel free to email us anytime at service@popupchinese.com.

Elementary - Network Transfer (pdf)

Mon, 04 Jun 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Network Transfer (dialogue)

Mon, 04 Jun 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - All Sinica Federation of Women

Fri, 01 Jun 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Considering that this was the week Zhang Ziyi found her name dragged through the mud on the Bo Xilai scandal, there couldn't be a more topical subject for Sinica than the double standards that are often applied to women in China, and the way Chinese society is often structured to favor men in everything from higher education and home ownership to retirement and even expectations of marital fidelity.

This week on Sinica, we're proud to have a special episode of the show discussing the state of gender equality in China. Stepping in as guest host is none other than MaryKay Magistad, correspondent in China for the Public Radio International/BBC program "The World." She is joined by sociologist Leta Hong Fincher, who's doing her PhD at Tsinghua University, Didi Kirsten Tatlow of the International Herald Tribune, and Cao Haili, managing editor of the upcoming Chinese language online version of the New York Times.

Like Sinica? If you'd like to subscribe to the show automatically and have iTunes download new episodes as soon as they're released, just open iTunes and select "Subscribe to Podcast" from the "Advanced" file menu. Provide the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica when prompted. Or skip the hassle and download this show as a standalone mp3 file. Links to the other podcast downloads are all available on the individual show pages, which can be found in the Sinica archive.

Sinica - All Sinica Federation of Women (pdf)

Fri, 01 Jun 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Beijing Autopia, 2157

Thu, 31 May 2012 12:20:57 -0700

After the construction of the new downtown expressway, drivers had raced through the streets of Beijing with an almost cavalier disregard for the laws of physics, for who among us would not feel exalted to speed from the outskirts of Shunyi to the downtown core in just ten minutes? And yet within a few years, even this technological marvel would prove no match for the ingrained habits of an entire generation of Beijing cab drivers.

Intermediate - Beijing Autopia, 2157 (pdf)

Thu, 31 May 2012 12:20:57 -0700

Intermediate - Beijing Autopia, 2157 (dialogue)

Thu, 31 May 2012 12:20:57 -0700

Elementary - Return of the Roommate

Mon, 28 May 2012 09:00:00 -0700

The hardest thing about Andy's transition to university was adjusting to life with a roommate. Having become accustomed to studying through the night, sleeping in late and otherwise treating his living space as exclusive personal territory, sharing his day-to-day routine with someone was a new experience. And while it was nice to have company in some ways, it was an adjustment putting up with his roommate's eccentricities, and it seemed the semester would involve many lessons in not only applied maths but also in compromise.

Learning Chinese? A lot of people trying to learn Chinese feel that they're missing out from not having a Chinese roommate, and lament all the time they spend in expat circles. Because of this, we're happy to announce a new program aiming to mimic the experience of studying at Tsinghua: for only $1000 a month Popup Chinese will send a Chinese person to live with you in your flat or apartment. No guarantees on hygiene or personal behavior, but it will probably work out. To take us up on this generous offer, just email Echo!

Elementary - Return of the Roommate (pdf)

Mon, 28 May 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Return of the Roommate (dialogue)

Mon, 28 May 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - The Indiana Jones of China

Fri, 25 May 2012 09:00:00 -0700

After his controversial involvement with the Tarim mummy excavations in Western Xinjiang, Victor Mair might just be the closest thing Sinology has to Indiana Jones, assuming the fictional Spielberg character was a renowned linguist, translator and popular blogger in addition to his standing as a historian/archeologist. So it can be no surprise that we're delighted to be joined by Victor today for a discussion that delves from the origins of well-known Buddhist texts to digressions on ancient migration patterns, and even a bit of myth-clearing on Chinese romanization.

In addition to Victor Mair, joining Sinica hosts Kaiser Kuo and Jeremy Goldkorn for one of the most wide-ranging shows we've done to date is David Moser, a close Sinica friend and Director of the CET immersion program in Beijing. Everyone is very much on their game, and this is a great show for anyone with an interest in Chinese history. So be sure to check out today's show, and please feel welcome to leave your comments in the discussion section below.

Want new episodes of Sinica streamed to your computer automatically as soon as they're released? Just subscribe to us on iTunes by clicking on "Subscribe to Podcast" in the Advanced file menu and providing the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica when prompted. We also welcome everyone to download this podcast as a standalone mp3 file, or join us on our Facebook and Twitter communities. And if you have any specific feedback or suggestions for future guests or topics you'd like to hear covered, you can send us an email anytime by writing sinica@popupchinese.com.

Sinica - The Indiana Jones of China (pdf)

Fri, 25 May 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - The Interminable Wait

Wed, 23 May 2012 09:00:00 -0700

At forty-five minutes past the hour Mark was visibly restless, and by a quarter past he was positively pacing. It didn't matter to him that this was a sensitive legal affair involving three major parties across two continents. Considering that Hawkins-Billet was extending its services pro bono - hardly an inexpensive favor - surely it wasn't too much to expect punctuality from the client?

Learning mandarin? Our lesson today teaches how to make confident statements about the future using what Brendan refers to as a "prediction sandwich" and the rest of us call the 会... 的 construction. But don't let this grammatical lingo scare you off -- by the end of this lesson you'll have learned a tremendously easy way to make predictions about what will happen. So join us for today's show and if you have any questions, feel free to let us know in our discussion section below.

Absolute Beginners - The Interminable Wait (pdf)

Wed, 23 May 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - The Interminable Wait (dialogue)

Wed, 23 May 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Advanced - The Anti-Foreign Crackdown

Tue, 22 May 2012 01:05:43 -0700

If you've been following the news, you'll know our title for this show refers to the latest "official crackdown" going on in Beijing: this time aimed at the apparent flood of itinerant foreigners in China to steal money, jobs and women from Yang Rui at CCTV. In unrelated news, if you want to buy some drugs, you can apparently still pick them up at Sanlitun.

As far as we can tell, the most immediate effect of all this commotion has been a clampdown on visas issued in Hong Kong and a tightening of the agency system many people rely on to assist with visa applications. But what is likely to happen long-term? This is a topic worth talking about, which is why in today's show Amber, Brendan and Echo take to the studio to chat about public enemy number one. In the process, we cover some of the more useful vocab you can use for talking about these developments with your own friends and colleagues.

Advanced - The Anti-Foreign Crackdown (pdf)

Tue, 22 May 2012 01:05:43 -0700

Sinica - Stirring up the South China Sea

Fri, 18 May 2012 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Sinica - Stirring up the South China Sea (pdf)

Fri, 18 May 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Occupational Hazard

Wed, 16 May 2012 09:00:00 -0700

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....

Intermediate - Occupational Hazard (pdf)

Wed, 16 May 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Occupational Hazard (dialogue)

Wed, 16 May 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Drinks with the Boss

Mon, 14 May 2012 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Elementary - Drinks with the Boss (pdf)

Mon, 14 May 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Drinks with the Boss (dialogue)

Mon, 14 May 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Interesting Times

Fri, 11 May 2012 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Sinica - Interesting Times (pdf)

Fri, 11 May 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Thinking and Feeling

Wed, 09 May 2012 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Absolute Beginners - Thinking and Feeling (pdf)

Wed, 09 May 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Thinking and Feeling (dialogue)

Wed, 09 May 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Short Stories - The Monkey King: chapter 1, part 3

Mon, 07 May 2012 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Short Stories - The Monkey King: chapter 1, part 3 (pdf)

Mon, 07 May 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Film Friday - Tearing it Up

Fri, 04 May 2012 09:00:00 -0700

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!

Film Friday - Tearing it Up (pdf)

Fri, 04 May 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Son of Gump

Wed, 02 May 2012 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Intermediate - Son of Gump (pdf)

Wed, 02 May 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Son of Gump (dialogue)

Wed, 02 May 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Workplace Pickup Techniques

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 09:00:00 -0700

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?

Elementary - Workplace Pickup Techniques (pdf)

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Workplace Pickup Techniques (dialogue)

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Sex and Marriage

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Sinica - Sex and Marriage (pdf)

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Chinese Industrial Policy and the Automotive Market

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Sinica - Chinese Industrial Policy and the Automotive Market (pdf)

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Pulling a Car

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Absolute Beginners - Pulling a Car (pdf)

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Pulling a Car (dialogue)

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The Saga of the Bottle Cap

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Intermediate - The Saga of the Bottle Cap (pdf)

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The Saga of the Bottle Cap (dialogue)

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - In Dialogue with China Dialogue

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 09:00:00 -0700

"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.

Sinica - In Dialogue with China Dialogue (pdf)

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Advanced - Conflicts in the Medical System

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Advanced - Conflicts in the Medical System (pdf)

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Memories of High School

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Intermediate - Memories of High School (pdf)

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Memories of High School (dialogue)

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Muckraking with Chinese Characteristics

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Sinica - Muckraking with Chinese Characteristics (pdf)

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Advice for Dealing with New Parents

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Absolute Beginners - Advice for Dealing with New Parents (pdf)

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Advice for Dealing with New Parents (dialogue)

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Happy Easter

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Elementary - Happy Easter (pdf)

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Happy Easter (dialogue)

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - The End of the Expat Package?

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Sinica - The End of the Expat Package? (pdf)

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Introduction to Pinyin

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Absolute Beginners - Introduction to Pinyin (pdf)

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Advanced - A Visit to the Dentist

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Advanced - A Visit to the Dentist (pdf)

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Where did you put the plunger?

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Intermediate - Where did you put the plunger? (pdf)

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Where did you put the plunger? (dialogue)

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Excavation and Betrayal

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Intermediate - Excavation and Betrayal (pdf)

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Excavation and Betrayal (dialogue)

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Advanced - Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Advanced - Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (pdf)

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Adventures on the Second Ring Road

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 11:08:29 -0700

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.

Absolute Beginners - Adventures on the Second Ring Road (pdf)

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 11:08:29 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Adventures on the Second Ring Road (dialogue)

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 11:08:29 -0700

Sinica - L'affaire Daisey

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Sinica - L'affaire Daisey (pdf)

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Advanced - The Fate of an Industry

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Advanced - The Fate of an Industry (pdf)

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Holding Pattern

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 18:32:14 -0700

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?

Elementary - Holding Pattern (pdf)

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 18:32:14 -0700

Elementary - Holding Pattern (dialogue)

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 18:32:14 -0700

Sinica - Midnight in Peking

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 09:00:00 -0700

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]

Sinica - Midnight in Peking (pdf)

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - A Plunge from the Cliff

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Intermediate - A Plunge from the Cliff (pdf)

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - A Plunge from the Cliff (dialogue)

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Movie Store

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Elementary - The Movie Store (pdf)

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Movie Store (dialogue)

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - 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.

Sinica - The Mirror of History: China through the Looking Glass (pdf)

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

Advanced - 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.

Advanced - Roald Amundsen's Shanghai Diaries (pdf)

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

Absolute Beginners - 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.

Absolute Beginners - What happened to my credit card? (pdf)

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

Absolute Beginners - What happened to my credit card? (dialogue)

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

Sinica - 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.

Sinica - China in the World (pdf)

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

Elementary - 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.

Elementary - Father, why must you dress up like this every Wednesday? (pdf)

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

Elementary - Father, why must you dress up like this every Wednesday? (dialogue)

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

Sinica - 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.

Sinica - Journey to the West (pdf)

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

Chinese Movies - 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.

Chinese Movies - Let the Bullets Fly (pdf)

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

Intermediate - 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.

Intermediate - The Next Generation (pdf)

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

Intermediate - The Next Generation (dialogue)

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

Absolute Beginners - 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.

Absolute Beginners - Middle-Child Syndrome (pdf)

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

Absolute Beginners - Middle-Child Syndrome (dialogue)

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

Intermediate - 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.

Intermediate - The Satellite Conspiracy (pdf)

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

Intermediate - The Satellite Conspiracy (dialogue)

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

Sinica - 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.

Sinica - The Allure of the Southwest (pdf)

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

Elementary - 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.

Elementary - The Great Wall of Music (pdf)

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

Elementary - The Great Wall of Music (dialogue)

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

Sinica - 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.

Sinica - Running Dogs and Locusts (pdf)

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

Absolute Beginners - 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.

Absolute Beginners - The Beijing Accent and Standard Mandarin (pdf)

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

Short Stories - Philip K. Dick - 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.

Short Stories - Philip K. Dick - Epilogue to A Scanner Darkly (pdf)

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

Elementary - 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.

Elementary - A Matter of Food Security (pdf)

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

Elementary - A Matter of Food Security (dialogue)

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

Intermediate - 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.

Intermediate - A Perversion of Justice (pdf)

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

Intermediate - A Perversion of Justice (dialogue)

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

Sinica - 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.

Sinica - The Elections in Taiwan (pdf)

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

Intermediate - 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.

Intermediate - The Ultimatum (pdf)

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

Intermediate - The Ultimatum (dialogue)

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

Advanced - 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.

Advanced - Impressions of Sichuan (pdf)

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

Advanced - Impressions of Sichuan (dialogue)

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

Sinica - 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.

Sinica - Year End Roundup (pdf)

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

Absolute Beginners - 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.

Absolute Beginners - A Trip to the Gym (pdf)

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

Absolute Beginners - A Trip to the Gym (dialogue)

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

Advanced - 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.

Advanced - Horrors of the Chinese Rail System (pdf)

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

Elementary - 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.

Elementary - Comrades in Space (pdf)

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

Elementary - Comrades in Space (dialogue)

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

Intermediate - 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.

Intermediate - The Fleet Street Murders (pdf)

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

Intermediate - The Fleet Street Murders (dialogue)

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

Sinica - 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.

Sinica - The Wukan Uprising (pdf)

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

Elementary - 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.

Elementary - A Trip to the Orphanage (pdf)

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

Elementary - A Trip to the Orphanage (dialogue)

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

Elementary - A Trip to the Orphanage (fix)

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

Film Friday - 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!

Film Friday - The Revolutionary Breakthrough (pdf)

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

Film Friday - The Revolutionary Breakthrough (dialogue)

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

Advanced - 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.

Advanced - What Year-End Bonus? (pdf)

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

Elementary - 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.

Elementary - Cthulhu visits the Wiltshire Bed and Breakfast (pdf)

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

Elementary - Cthulhu visits the Wiltshire Bed and Breakfast (dialogue)

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

Elementary - Cthulhu visits the Wiltshire Bed and Breakfast (fix)

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

Sinica - 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!

Sinica - Learning Chinese (pdf)

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

Elementary - 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.

Elementary - Beijing City Directions (pdf)

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

Elementary - Beijing City Directions (dialogue)

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

Intermediate - 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.

Intermediate - Asking for Directions (pdf)

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

Intermediate - Asking for Directions (dialogue)

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

Sinica - 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.

Sinica - Chinese Literature (pdf)

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

Advanced - 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.

Advanced - Echo's Secret Diary (pdf)

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

Sinica - 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.

Sinica - The Soul of Beijing (pdf)

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

Elementary - 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."

Elementary - The Deaf Pickpocket Gang (pdf)

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

Elementary - The Deaf Pickpocket Gang (dialogue)

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

Sinica - 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.

Sinica - The Bears are Back in Town (pdf)

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

Absolute Beginners - 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.

Absolute Beginners - The Popup Cheerleading Squad (pdf)

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

Absolute Beginners - The Popup Cheerleading Squad (dialogue)

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

Intermediate - 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.

Intermediate - Chinese Drinking Games (pdf)

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

Intermediate - Chinese Drinking Games (dialogue)

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

Sinica - 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.

Sinica - Occupy Sinica (pdf)

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

Elementary - 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.

Elementary - Opportunity Knocks (pdf)

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

Elementary - Opportunity Knocks (dialogue)

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

Sinica - 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.

Sinica - Is soft power always this damn boring? (pdf)

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

Absolute Beginners - 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....

Absolute Beginners - Get in Line (pdf)

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

Absolute Beginners - Get in Line (dialogue)

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

Intermediate - 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.

Intermediate - The Unsuccessful Journey (pdf)

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

Intermediate - The Unsuccessful Journey (dialogue)

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

Advanced - 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.

Advanced - Donald Trump (pdf)

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

Sinica - The Extremes of China Media

Fri, 04 Nov 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Sinica - The Extremes of China Media (pdf)

Fri, 04 Nov 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Marriage of True Minds

Mon, 31 Oct 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Elementary - The Marriage of True Minds (pdf)

Mon, 31 Oct 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Marriage of True Minds (dialogue)

Mon, 31 Oct 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Film Friday - Strictly Ballroom

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 20:52:45 -0700

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.

Film Friday - Strictly Ballroom (pdf)

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 20:52:45 -0700

Film Friday - Strictly Ballroom (dialogue)

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 20:52:45 -0700

Intermediate - Dwarf Net Epoch Park

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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....

Intermediate - Dwarf Net Epoch Park (pdf)

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Dwarf Net Epoch Park (dialogue)

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Art of the Paraphrase

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Elementary - The Art of the Paraphrase (pdf)

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Art of the Paraphrase (dialogue)

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Advanced - The End of the World

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Advanced - The End of the World (pdf)

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Advanced - The End of the World (dialogue)

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Book Smarts

Tue, 18 Oct 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Absolute Beginners - Book Smarts (pdf)

Tue, 18 Oct 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Book Smarts (dialogue)

Tue, 18 Oct 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Drinks with the In-Laws

Mon, 17 Oct 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Intermediate - Drinks with the In-Laws (pdf)

Mon, 17 Oct 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Drinks with the In-Laws (dialogue)

Mon, 17 Oct 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Sun Yatsen and the Xinhai Revolution

Thu, 13 Oct 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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!

Sinica - Sun Yatsen and the Xinhai Revolution (pdf)

Thu, 13 Oct 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The Famous Detective MacGregor

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Intermediate - The Famous Detective MacGregor (pdf)

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The Famous Detective MacGregor (dialogue)

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Casual Greetings in Chinese

Sun, 09 Oct 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Absolute Beginners - Casual Greetings in Chinese (pdf)

Sun, 09 Oct 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Casual Greetings in Chinese (dialogue)

Sun, 09 Oct 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Emergency Evacuation

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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....

Elementary - Emergency Evacuation (pdf)

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Emergency Evacuation (dialogue)

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Advanced - CCTV Sports Network

Tue, 04 Oct 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Advanced - CCTV Sports Network (pdf)

Tue, 04 Oct 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Mid-Autumn Depression

Mon, 03 Oct 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Elementary - Mid-Autumn Depression (pdf)

Mon, 03 Oct 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Mid-Autumn Depression (dialogue)

Mon, 03 Oct 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - The Shanghai Train Accident

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 16:45:11 -0700

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.

Sinica - The Shanghai Train Accident (pdf)

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 16:45:11 -0700

Intermediate - Doctor Himmel's Laboratory

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Intermediate - Doctor Himmel's Laboratory (pdf)

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Doctor Himmel's Laboratory (dialogue)

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Impromptu Home Renovation

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Absolute Beginners - Impromptu Home Renovation (pdf)

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Impromptu Home Renovation (dialogue)

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - The Gutter Oil Podcast

Fri, 23 Sep 2011 09:00:00 -0700

"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!

Sinica - The Gutter Oil Podcast (pdf)

Fri, 23 Sep 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The Dinner Party

Wed, 21 Sep 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Intermediate - The Dinner Party (pdf)

Wed, 21 Sep 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The Dinner Party (dialogue)

Wed, 21 Sep 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Running with Scissors

Mon, 19 Sep 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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....

Elementary - Running with Scissors (pdf)

Mon, 19 Sep 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Running with Scissors (dialogue)

Mon, 19 Sep 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - North Korea: open for business?

Fri, 16 Sep 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Sinica - North Korea: open for business? (pdf)

Fri, 16 Sep 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Advanced Chinese Telephone Kungfu

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Absolute Beginners - Advanced Chinese Telephone Kungfu (pdf)

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Advanced Chinese Telephone Kungfu (dialogue)

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Seafaring in the Industrial Age

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Intermediate - Seafaring in the Industrial Age (pdf)

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Seafaring in the Industrial Age (dialogue)

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Innovation in the Chinese Dairy Industry

Thu, 08 Sep 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Elementary - Innovation in the Chinese Dairy Industry (pdf)

Thu, 08 Sep 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Innovation in the Chinese Dairy Industry (dialogue)

Thu, 08 Sep 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Insider Gossip

Tue, 06 Sep 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Intermediate - Insider Gossip (pdf)

Tue, 06 Sep 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Insider Gossip (dialogue)

Tue, 06 Sep 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Film Friday - Standing out from the Crowd

Fri, 02 Sep 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Film Friday - Standing out from the Crowd (pdf)

Fri, 02 Sep 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - The Interrogation Room

Wed, 31 Aug 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Absolute Beginners - The Interrogation Room (pdf)

Wed, 31 Aug 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - The Interrogation Room (dialogue)

Wed, 31 Aug 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Advanced - Death in the Boardroom

Mon, 29 Aug 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Advanced - Death in the Boardroom (pdf)

Mon, 29 Aug 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Advanced - Death in the Boardroom (dialogue)

Mon, 29 Aug 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Zhao Liang and the South-North Water Diversion Project

Fri, 26 Aug 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Sinica - Zhao Liang and the South-North Water Diversion Project (pdf)

Fri, 26 Aug 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - They came from the sky....

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Absolute Beginners - They came from the sky.... (pdf)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - They came from the sky.... (dialogue)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Chinese Ice Phobia

Mon, 22 Aug 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Elementary - The Chinese Ice Phobia (pdf)

Mon, 22 Aug 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Chinese Ice Phobia (dialogue)

Mon, 22 Aug 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Not in my Backyard

Fri, 19 Aug 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Sinica - Not in my Backyard (pdf)

Fri, 19 Aug 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The Shared Apartment

Wed, 17 Aug 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Intermediate - The Shared Apartment (pdf)

Wed, 17 Aug 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The Shared Apartment (dialogue)

Wed, 17 Aug 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The Shared Apartment (fix)

Wed, 17 Aug 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Classified Information

Mon, 15 Aug 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Elementary - Classified Information (pdf)

Mon, 15 Aug 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Classified Information (dialogue)

Mon, 15 Aug 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - The Schadenfreude Podcast

Fri, 12 Aug 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Sinica - The Schadenfreude Podcast (pdf)

Fri, 12 Aug 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Murder in the Red Chamber

Mon, 08 Aug 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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?

Intermediate - Murder in the Red Chamber (pdf)

Mon, 08 Aug 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Murder in the Red Chamber (dialogue)

Mon, 08 Aug 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Murder in the Red Chamber (fix)

Mon, 08 Aug 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - The China Rock Podcast

Sat, 06 Aug 2011 09:00:00 -0700

"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!

Sinica - The China Rock Podcast (pdf)

Sat, 06 Aug 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - A Letter from the Cat

Mon, 01 Aug 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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?

Elementary - A Letter from the Cat (pdf)

Mon, 01 Aug 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - A Letter from the Cat (dialogue)

Mon, 01 Aug 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Train Wrecks

Fri, 29 Jul 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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?

Sinica - Train Wrecks (pdf)

Fri, 29 Jul 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Hottest Hotpot in Beijing

Wed, 27 Jul 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Elementary - The Hottest Hotpot in Beijing (pdf)

Wed, 27 Jul 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Hottest Hotpot in Beijing (dialogue)

Wed, 27 Jul 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Friends in China

Thu, 21 Jul 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Absolute Beginners - Friends in China (pdf)

Thu, 21 Jul 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Friends in China (dialogue)

Thu, 21 Jul 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Beijing Ikea

Wed, 20 Jul 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Elementary - The Beijing Ikea (pdf)

Wed, 20 Jul 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Beijing Ikea (dialogue)

Wed, 20 Jul 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Captains of Finance

Fri, 15 Jul 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Intermediate - Captains of Finance (pdf)

Fri, 15 Jul 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Captains of Finance (dialogue)

Fri, 15 Jul 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Alternatives to the X-Ray

Tue, 12 Jul 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Absolute Beginners - Alternatives to the X-Ray (pdf)

Tue, 12 Jul 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Alternatives to the X-Ray (dialogue)

Tue, 12 Jul 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - A Taste of Silicon Valley, China

Fri, 08 Jul 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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....

Intermediate - A Taste of Silicon Valley, China (pdf)

Fri, 08 Jul 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - A Taste of Silicon Valley, China (dialogue)

Fri, 08 Jul 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Crime and Cryptocurrency

Tue, 05 Jul 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Elementary - Crime and Cryptocurrency (pdf)

Tue, 05 Jul 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Crime and Cryptocurrency (dialogue)

Tue, 05 Jul 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Short Stories - Plato - The Apology

Sat, 02 Jul 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Short Stories - Plato - The Apology (pdf)

Sat, 02 Jul 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - A Calculated Risk

Thu, 30 Jun 2011 09:00:00 -0700

"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.

Absolute Beginners - A Calculated Risk (pdf)

Thu, 30 Jun 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - A Calculated Risk (dialogue)

Thu, 30 Jun 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - An Evening at the Rock and Roll Club

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Elementary - An Evening at the Rock and Roll Club (pdf)

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - An Evening at the Rock and Roll Club (dialogue)

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Evolutionary Strategies of Household Pets

Thu, 23 Jun 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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!

Absolute Beginners - Evolutionary Strategies of Household Pets (pdf)

Thu, 23 Jun 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Evolutionary Strategies of Household Pets (dialogue)

Thu, 23 Jun 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Crash Landing

Tue, 21 Jun 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Intermediate - Crash Landing (pdf)

Tue, 21 Jun 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Crash Landing (dialogue)

Tue, 21 Jun 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Saga of the Power Crystals

Fri, 17 Jun 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Elementary - The Saga of the Power Crystals (pdf)

Fri, 17 Jun 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Saga of the Power Crystals (dialogue)

Fri, 17 Jun 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Not Even Close

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Absolute Beginners - Not Even Close (pdf)

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Not Even Close (dialogue)

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Crisis in Washington

Mon, 13 Jun 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Intermediate - Crisis in Washington (pdf)

Mon, 13 Jun 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - A Bad China Day for Dashan

Thu, 09 Jun 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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?

Intermediate - A Bad China Day for Dashan (pdf)

Thu, 09 Jun 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - A Bad China Day for Dashan (dialogue)

Thu, 09 Jun 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Lecture Circuit

Tue, 07 Jun 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Elementary - The Lecture Circuit (pdf)

Tue, 07 Jun 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Lecture Circuit (dialogue)

Tue, 07 Jun 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Water on the Brink

Fri, 03 Jun 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Sinica - Water on the Brink (pdf)

Fri, 03 Jun 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Sometimes you just can't take it anymore....

Mon, 30 May 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Absolute Beginners - Sometimes you just can't take it anymore.... (pdf)

Mon, 30 May 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Sometimes you just can't take it anymore.... (dialogue)

Mon, 30 May 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Advanced - The Commuting Life

Sun, 29 May 2011 09:00:00 -0700

"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.

Advanced - The Commuting Life (pdf)

Sun, 29 May 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Cosplay Jiang Zemin

Wed, 25 May 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Intermediate - Cosplay Jiang Zemin (pdf)

Wed, 25 May 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Cosplay Jiang Zemin (dialogue)

Wed, 25 May 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Squeak the Cat

Tue, 24 May 2011 12:59:38 -0700

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.

Elementary - Squeak the Cat (pdf)

Tue, 24 May 2011 12:59:38 -0700

Elementary - Squeak the Cat (dialogue)

Tue, 24 May 2011 12:59:38 -0700

Sinica - Inscrutable China

Fri, 20 May 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Sinica - Inscrutable China (pdf)

Fri, 20 May 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - A Lifetime of Remorse

Wed, 18 May 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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....

Intermediate - A Lifetime of Remorse (pdf)

Wed, 18 May 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - A Lifetime of Remorse (dialogue)

Wed, 18 May 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - The Grandmother Enigma

Tue, 17 May 2011 09:00:00 -0700

"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.

Absolute Beginners - The Grandmother Enigma (pdf)

Tue, 17 May 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - The Grandmother Enigma (dialogue)

Tue, 17 May 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - The Grandmother Enigma (fix)

Tue, 17 May 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Dumb, Illiterate Judge of Hakensaw County

Fri, 13 May 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Elementary - The Dumb, Illiterate Judge of Hakensaw County (pdf)

Fri, 13 May 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Dumb, Illiterate Judge of Hakensaw County (dialogue)

Fri, 13 May 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - An Inclination to Casual Looting

Tue, 10 May 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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!

Absolute Beginners - An Inclination to Casual Looting (pdf)

Tue, 10 May 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - An Inclination to Casual Looting (dialogue)

Tue, 10 May 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Crazed Madmen, Foreign and Domestic

Sat, 07 May 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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!

Intermediate - The Secret Nazi Threat, part II

Thu, 05 May 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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....

Intermediate - The Secret Nazi Threat, part II (pdf)

Thu, 05 May 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The Secret Nazi Threat, part II (dialogue)

Thu, 05 May 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The Secret Nazi Threat

Tue, 03 May 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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!

Intermediate - The Secret Nazi Threat (pdf)

Tue, 03 May 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The Secret Nazi Threat (dialogue)

Tue, 03 May 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Nouriel Roubini gets it in the a** in China

Fri, 29 Apr 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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!

Sinica - Nouriel Roubini gets it in the a** in China (pdf)

Fri, 29 Apr 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Popup Chinese Crossover Madness

Thu, 28 Apr 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Elementary - Popup Chinese Crossover Madness (pdf)

Thu, 28 Apr 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Popup Chinese Crossover Madness (dialogue)

Thu, 28 Apr 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Military Escalation

Mon, 25 Apr 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Intermediate - Military Escalation (pdf)

Mon, 25 Apr 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Military Escalation (dialogue)

Mon, 25 Apr 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - China's Second Internet Bubble?

Fri, 22 Apr 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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!

Sinica - China's Second Internet Bubble? (pdf)

Fri, 22 Apr 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Beautiful and Mysterious

Wed, 20 Apr 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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?

Absolute Beginners - Beautiful and Mysterious (pdf)

Wed, 20 Apr 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Beautiful and Mysterious (dialogue)

Wed, 20 Apr 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - A Serial Problem

Mon, 18 Apr 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Intermediate - A Serial Problem (pdf)

Mon, 18 Apr 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - A Serial Problem (dialogue)

Mon, 18 Apr 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Short Stories - The Rose and Sister Nine

Wed, 13 Apr 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Short Stories - The Rose and Sister Nine (pdf)

Wed, 13 Apr 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Our Nearsighted Colleague

Tue, 12 Apr 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Absolute Beginners - Our Nearsighted Colleague (pdf)

Tue, 12 Apr 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Our Nearsighted Colleague (dialogue)

Tue, 12 Apr 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Film Friday - Hell Freezes Over

Fri, 08 Apr 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Film Friday - Hell Freezes Over (pdf)

Fri, 08 Apr 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - A Betrayal of Family

Wed, 06 Apr 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Elementary - A Betrayal of Family (pdf)

Wed, 06 Apr 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - A Betrayal of Family (dialogue)

Wed, 06 Apr 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - A Betrayal of Family (fix)

Wed, 06 Apr 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - A Simple Transaction

Mon, 04 Apr 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Absolute Beginners - A Simple Transaction (pdf)

Mon, 04 Apr 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - A Simple Transaction (dialogue)

Mon, 04 Apr 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Scandal in Baidu and Chongqing

Fri, 01 Apr 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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!

Sinica - Scandal in Baidu and Chongqing (pdf)

Fri, 01 Apr 2011 09:00:00 -0700

KTV Wednesday - The Peasant Workers - In the Spring

Wed, 30 Mar 2011 09:00:00 -0700

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.

KTV Wednesday - The Peasant Workers - In the Spring (pdf)

Wed, 30 Mar 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Improving Staff Hygiene

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 09:00:00 -0700

It was a surprise visit from Xinhua last month that triggered us re-evaluating our roll-out-of-bed policy in favor of something a bit more corporate. Because while we don't particularly mind getting a reputation as the most disheveled podcasting crew in China, it's quite another thing when video rears its head and everyone has to see us on national television. Which was why we told our staff to make liberal use of the shower. And we really didn't expect the move to backfire so badly.

Learning Chinese? In this elementary Chinese podcast we focus on a single word that more than any other illustrates the total contempt the Chinese language holds for what other natural languages consider the sensible distinction between past, present and future. Useful whether you're just saying hello or telling someone you're a bit busy, this word is different from anything we have in English. So listen in and master it. And we hope you like the show.

Elementary - Improving Staff Hygiene (pdf)

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Improving Staff Hygiene (dialogue)

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Where did the Internet/salt go?

Fri, 25 Mar 2011 09:00:00 -0700

In less time than it took Chinese netizens to strip their supermarkets of common table salt, China ended its live-and-let-live policy with regards to the most commonly-used tools for evading the country's Internet restrictions. Recent weeks have seen an unprecedented crackdown on virtual private networks along with direct denial-of-service attacks by the government on Google itself, and infiltration efforts targeting foreign journalists.

This week on Sinica, Kaiser Kuo is joined by Gady Epstein of Forbes and Kathleen McLaughlin from Global Post for a discussion that might help you make sense of what is happening to your Internet. We are also joined by Jonathan Watts, Guardian journalist and author of When a Billion Chinese Jump. Fresh back from a trip to cover the ongoing disaster efforts in Japan, Jonathan helps bring perspective to our discussion of how China is reacting to Japan's nuclear crisis.

Want to be notified whenever a new episode of Sinica is released? For a more convenient way to listen, subscribe through RSS by creating an account on Popup Chinese and adding the Sinica show in your list of preferred podcasts. Follow our easy instructions to get Sinica delivered fresh to your mp3 player every time a new episode is released. Those seeking less commitment are of course still invited to download our standalone mp3 file directly from our site. Enjoy!

Sinica - Where did the Internet/salt go? (pdf)

Fri, 25 Mar 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The Sleeping Beauty

Tue, 22 Mar 2011 09:00:00 -0700

"The princess goes to sleep and wakes up again," Gail told us, making the fairy tale sound about as pedestrian as Echo's nightly routine. When pressed about this, our faithful podcaster paused, and then added mention of glass slippers and singing furniture, with the caveat that these were not "central to the plot" and may have been "made up by Disney".

Regardless of how well you remember the classics yourself, once you're in China you're in uncharted waters. Which is why we've taken a few liberties ourselves this lesson. So join us for an enjoyable look at what happens when you mix a traditional Western fairy tale with the process-oriented crime-solving prowess of your local Beijing police bureau. We hope our love for the boys in blue shines through in this dialogue filled with danger, intrigue, and the requisite quota of social harmony.

Intermediate - The Sleeping Beauty (pdf)

Tue, 22 Mar 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The Sleeping Beauty (dialogue)

Tue, 22 Mar 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Handling the Cops

Fri, 18 Mar 2011 09:00:00 -0700

While everyone starts with the what-a-lovely-uniform-you-have-officer, we find that cheerful nodding gets harder to stomach once you've been fined once too often for miscellaneous visa paperwork, or after friends or family have been dragged to local precincts to answer for their non-existing connections with international Zionist conspiracies that may or may not threaten the Chinese salt supply. Which is not to say that we're bitter. But there's a point where the entire security theater starts feeling old.

So while we can't honestly recommend this way of dealing with the cops, if they happen to drop by on an early Saturday morning when you're still in bed nursing a hangover, there's absolutely nothing wrong with putting that pillow over your head and going back to sleep. If they think it's important they'll come back, and probably in about 24 hours with someone louder.

Absolute Beginners - Handling the Cops (pdf)

Fri, 18 Mar 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Handling the Cops (dialogue)

Fri, 18 Mar 2011 09:00:00 -0700

KTV Wednesday - Slap - Awesome

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 09:00:00 -0700

An underground rock group combining traditional Chinese folk music with rock, Slap (耳光乐队) was founded in 1998 in Baoding, Hebei province. As the Chinese title of this song suggests (让牛逼的), the lyrics might take delight in gutteral humor. But they're also quite erudite in the way they reference Chinese myth and idioms, and that's one reason the band has become a mainstay on the music festival circuit where its shows are perhaps surprisingly considered family-friendly affairs.

On a side note, we've actually wanted to cover this song for a long time, and not because of the vulgarity. What makes 让牛逼的 special is that it's probably the most highbrow, lowbrow Chinese song we've ever heard. If you can't pick up on the layered meanings from the audio alone, be sure to view our manually annotated transcript of the lyrics. We've added commentary in the notes fields explaining the double entendres in the more difficult passages, so be sure to enable the notes field in your popups if you haven't yet.

Tip: there's currently a single copy of this song available via Baidu's MP3 search. Grab it while you have the opportunity, since the audio quality is better than you'll get in the live recording captured above.

KTV Wednesday - Slap - Awesome (pdf)

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Strange and Unusual Erhuaization

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 09:00:00 -0700

It's one of the most common misconceptions even advanced students have about Chinese: the belief that erhuaization is non-standard and that anyone who says 这儿 (zhèr) instead of 这 (zhè) is somehow speaking the "Beijing dialect". While this opinion rarely survives a run-in with the actual Beijing dialect, it's understandably persistent among people who have not traveled broadly in China. And it's hardly their fault: there are a ton of native speakers who don't know the difference either.

So while we usually put our focus on standard mandarin in our Chinese podcasts, in today's Chinese lesson we take a step back and showcase some examples of more unorthodox erhuaization. These are all commonly used variants you'll start hearing once you're aware of them. And while you might not want to use them yourselves each day, they're good to know - excellent little language bombs you can drop the next time you're at a state banquet and someone asks you how your Chinese is coming along.

Intermediate - Strange and Unusual Erhuaization (pdf)

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Strange and Unusual Erhuaization (dialogue)

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Advanced - Jay Chou

Sun, 13 Mar 2011 09:00:00 -0700

The Taiwanese superstar's performance in The Green Hornet had not been well received. But as the singer stretched out for his afternoon massage, he was finding it hard to care. Because nothing Variety did could take away the fact he was now partying with Cameron Diaz on his new private yacht. Compared to the music industry back home, Hollywood was a breeze. Although it did make him wonder what other ways he might have to cash in on his celebrity....

Note: we don't want to call this the ultimate advanced listening test, but we're pretty sure we heard Echo cackling to herself while putting it together. So you've been warned. If you're learning Chinese you should find this hard. Really hard. But it's a new office favorite and hopefully you won't mind listening to it a few times. The repetition pays off, and you never know when you need inspiration for gift ideas. Good luck!

Advanced - Jay Chou (pdf)

Sun, 13 Mar 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - The Exercise of Power

Fri, 11 Mar 2011 09:00:00 -0800

In the last week power and pageantry have engulfed Beijing as China has convened its Twin Congresses: the annual meeting of the country's two highest decision-making councils. As the Communist Party has seized the opportunity to celebrate its grip on power and lay out China's economic and political roadmap for the next five years, other changes have nearly slipped by, such as President Obama's announcement of a surprise replacement for outgoing Ambassador Jon Huntsman. Join us on this Sinica this week as we look behind the curtains of power and explore what these developments really mean.

Joining Kaiser Kuo in the studio this week is Jeremy Goldkorn, the man behind the indispensable danwei.org. We're also delighted to have Public Radio International's Mary Kay Magistad in our studio along with Jeremiah Jenne, Qing historian and Dean of China Studies at the IES program in Beijing. Rounding out our group is Josh Chin, China correspondent for the Wall Street Journal, who makes his debut appearance on Sinica this week.

Tired of clicking refresh in your browser? Why not be notified automatically whenever a new episode of 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 through iTunes using our standalone RSS feed: http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica. Those seeking less commitment are of course still invited to download directly from our site as a standalone mp3 file. Enjoy!

Sinica - The Exercise of Power (pdf)

Fri, 11 Mar 2011 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - The Sauce

Wed, 09 Mar 2011 09:00:00 -0800

If you've just stumbled up from our Chinese lessons for absolute beginners and have emerged blinking and stunned into the light of our elementary series... this is probably not the podcast for you. Mostly because it's tough, although possibly also because of the bad memories it might dredge up of your best friend's BBQ party in grade three.

That said, if you feel up for a challenge and are working to push your way towards the Intermediate level, you'll find this Chinese lesson well worth your time. In addition to a very natural and fast-paced dialogue, we've got two grammar points that are actually pretty subtle, all about minor changes you can make to sentence patterns you already know to change the emotion you're communicating. This is the sort of Chinese that will help you move from just speaking Chinese to actually communicating in it. Good luck!

Elementary - The Sauce (pdf)

Wed, 09 Mar 2011 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - The Sauce (dialogue)

Wed, 09 Mar 2011 09:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - Ordering Pizza

Mon, 07 Mar 2011 09:00:00 -0800

If you ask most foreigners for random trivia about Tianjin, they'll probably mention the foreign concessions, or Herbert Hoover fighting in the streets during the Boxer Rebellion, or the pivotal role the city played in the student protests during the May Fourth Movement. What you won't hear is anyone rave about the pizza....

So let's note that if you've stumbled into Tianjin and are looking for a nice place to have lunch, this lesson is going to be totally useless to you unless you've "gone native" and have a thing for fruit and pak-choi smothered in a loving serving of ketchup and served up on toast. We give the city full points for trying, but you should probably hold off on practicing this vocab until you're in either Beijing or Shanghai, where it will come in really useful.

Absolute Beginners - Ordering Pizza (pdf)

Mon, 07 Mar 2011 09:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - Ordering Pizza (dialogue)

Mon, 07 Mar 2011 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - Anyone Seen My Boyfriend?

Thu, 03 Mar 2011 09:00:00 -0800

You have to be kidding me, baby! I couldn't have even started to imagine that you two were an item. I mean... the matching clothing is sort of strange now that you mention it, but it isn't exactly out there for two friends to own the same Alanis Morissette hoodie. Just think about it - you only need ten people in the same room before there's a seventy percent chance two of them share the same birthday. I read that on the Internet.

Learning Chinese? Let's just be honest and admit that there are some situations in which expressing disbelief in English can be convoluted and difficult. Fortunately, these are exactly the times you need to switch to Chinese, where adding a single word to the start of any sentence is all that's required to throw reasonable doubt on even the most incontrovertible facts.

Elementary - Anyone Seen My Boyfriend? (pdf)

Thu, 03 Mar 2011 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - Anyone Seen My Boyfriend? (dialogue)

Thu, 03 Mar 2011 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - A National Crisis

Tue, 01 Mar 2011 09:00:00 -0800

Zhongnanhai's natural beauty was little comfort to Luo Heping, a mid-level cadre whose thoughts for the past month had involved only the disaster playing out before him in slow motion. For despite the ambitious projections in the latest Five Year Plan, all evidence suggested provincial statistics were over-inflated and actual production was stagnant. Which made it likely that soon... very soon... China would hit a breaking point that might threaten the very existence of the state.

Learning Chinese? If you're able to follow most conversations, but still get lost on occasion watching television and listening to the radio then our intermediate podcasts are right for you. At this difficulty level we focus on broadening vocabulary and mastering more advanced grammar structures you won't hear every day. Students looking for easier lessons are encouraged to check out our archives of beginner and elementary Chinese lessons.

Intermediate - A National Crisis (pdf)

Tue, 01 Mar 2011 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - A National Crisis (dialogue)

Tue, 01 Mar 2011 09:00:00 -0800

Sinica - Troubles and Ambitions in China

Sat, 26 Feb 2011 09:00:00 -0800

Watch your rice, folks. That's our takeaway from this week's Sinica, which ruminates on troubles old and new in the Middle Kingdom. Up for discussion in particular are Chinese activities in Rwanda, dodgy rice, ongoing worker troubles at Apple subsidiaries in China, and two new search engines owned by the People's Daily and Xinhua. Our panelists also discuss the surprise appearance of American Ambassador and Republican presidential hopeful Jon Huntsman at an ephemeral political protest in downtown Beijing.

Joining host Jeremy Goldkorn in our studios this week is Sinica regular Gady Epstein, Beijing Bureau Chief for Forbes magazine and one of the best journalists covering contemporary China. We're also privileged to have two more exceptional China watchers in our studio as well: Mary Kay Magistad of Public Radio International's The World, and China expert Kathleen McLaughlin who writes for the Global Post.

Enjoying Sinica? The easiest way to listen each week is to subscribe via RSS and download the shows automatically to your MP3 player. Do this by creating an account on Popup Chinese and customizing your feed settings to include the show. Alternately, open iTunes, select the option "Subscribe to Podcast" from the Advanced menu, and copy the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica into the box when prompted. Or download this and all of our other shows directly from Popup Chinese as a standalone mp3 file.

Sinica - Troubles and Ambitions in China (pdf)

Sat, 26 Feb 2011 09:00:00 -0800

Advanced - Weight-Loss in China

Thu, 24 Feb 2011 09:00:00 -0800

"Maybe life in college was a bit... excessive," Yue Yue recalls. And so begins our lurid expose of weight loss practices in China. If you're an advanced speaker looking for native-speed listening practice, join Gail and her friends today as they take to our studio to talk about what has and has not worked for them in the past. This is the podcast for anyone working to break into the Chinese media business or just just feeling bloated after a successful New Years!

Advanced - Weight-Loss in China (pdf)

Thu, 24 Feb 2011 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - Lead Poisoning

Tue, 22 Feb 2011 09:00:00 -0800

Remember that time your assistant plagiarized his report straight off the Internet and then stared at you uncomprehendingly when told this was unprofessional? Then there are the people who interrupt private conversations between you and your friends to ask them if you can understand Chinese (since it sounds like they're speaking to you in Chinese). Or consider the cab drivers we've had who have gotten lost while trying to find Tiananmen Square. Or pretty much the entire population of Shanghai....

After a certain amount of time in China, you'll get inured to people behaving illogically. But if you find yourself wondering whether you're going crazy in the meantime, we're here to report that your sanity is probably still intact. Chances are you're just coming into contact with the consequences of widespread environmental problems. And beyond the language mentioned in this podcast, our best advice for dealing with it is to keep your guard up and don't live on the ground floor....

Intermediate - Lead Poisoning (pdf)

Tue, 22 Feb 2011 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - Lead Poisoning (dialogue)

Tue, 22 Feb 2011 09:00:00 -0800

Sinica - Turmoil in Egypt and Groupon

Fri, 18 Feb 2011 09:00:00 -0800

Welcome back to Sinica after our New Years break. And what could headline our first podcast of the New Year but Egypt, where an unexpected political uprising has raised obvious parallels for China-watchers worldwide. Moving beyond the politics of protest, we also delve into the story of group-purchasing site Groupon, whose tongue-in-cheek Tibetan advertisement during the Super Bowl has tarnished the company's image in China and damaged its largest strategic partnership in the country.

Joining Kaiser Kuo in our studio today is Jeremy Goldkorn, the founder and lead editor of danwei.org. Our other participants include Gady Epstein, a Sinica recidivist and the Beijing Bureau Chief of Forbes Magazine, along with Will Moss who has also been on the show before and joins us to share his expertise on how not to "do a Groupon" in China.

On a side note, if you'd like your MP3 player to download Sinica automatically whenever a new show is released, subscribe to the show by creating an account on Popup Chinese. Another option is manually subscribing via iTunes. Just select 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. Enjoy!

Sinica - Turmoil in Egypt and Groupon (pdf)

Fri, 18 Feb 2011 09:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - Memories of Echo's Childhood

Wed, 16 Feb 2011 09:00:00 -0800

The consensus among Echo's peers was that grade one was the worst for everyone involved: the students, the teachers and the janitorial staff. So while a lot of people romanticize the Chinese education system, this lesson is our way of encouraging everyone to loosen up a bit. Because when you have to go....

Learning Chinese? Although we've been producing Chinese lessons for over two years now, it came as a shock when we realized we hadn't actually done a lesson on common classroom words and phrases. The language that you'll hear and use in the classroom starting from your first class. Which is the reason for this podcast. If you're starting to learn Chinese in a traditional classroom, take a listen and pick up some critical vocabulary you can use to make yourself understood to the teacher, not to mention demand periodic access to restroom facilities.

Absolute Beginners - Memories of Echo's Childhood (pdf)

Wed, 16 Feb 2011 09:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - Memories of Echo's Childhood (dialogue)

Wed, 16 Feb 2011 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - Back to Work

Sat, 12 Feb 2011 09:00:00 -0800

We hate to break the news, but your Chinese teachers have been lying to you. And not just one of them, but the entire teaching establishment from Professor Wang down. You see, remember in freshman year when your teacher told you to negate verbs in Chinese by sticking 不 in front of them in the present tense and 没 in front of them in the past tense. They may have been following orders, but they left something out. Something sinister and unpredictable and crazy....

Today is the day this conspiracy ends, as we break the silence with a lesson on one of the most bizarre verbs to grace the Chinese language. Because - yes - there is actually a verb out there you can negate with 没 in the present tense and 不 in the past tense (or vice versa). And once you know? We encourage you to be insufferably pedantic and bring this up every chance you get.

Elementary - Back to Work (pdf)

Sat, 12 Feb 2011 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - Back to Work (dialogue)

Sat, 12 Feb 2011 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - Buried in the Garden

Wed, 09 Feb 2011 14:55:56 -0800

Before we get to our Chinese lesson for today, let us admit that it differs from its predecessors in one important way. Put simply, in response to the rising cost of bread and air in Beijing, our engineering team has been forced to make minor changes to our recording format which lower expenses while increasing staff efficiency. These changes are subtle and should not be noticeable to most listeners.

With that out of the way, what can be said about this lesson that the word "masterpiece" fails to cover? In addition to a native-level dialogue filled with suspense, this podcast contains exactly the sort of advanced language point that will have native Chinese speakers scrambling over themselves in praise of your eloquence. So listen up for a podcast drenched with sex, murder and one of the only Chinese adverbs you can use to start a sentence....

Intermediate - Buried in the Garden (pdf)

Wed, 09 Feb 2011 14:55:56 -0800

Intermediate - Buried in the Garden (dialogue)

Wed, 09 Feb 2011 14:55:56 -0800

Elementary - The Northeastern Girl

Wed, 02 Feb 2011 09:00:00 -0800

We know a lot of you love Northeastern China. Harbin is a great city, and we've heard excellent things about Shenyang too. So let's balance our dialogue right up front by admitting all the benefits the area has to offer: some of the best food and most open-hearted people in China. That said, they do speak funny sometimes....

Our dialogue today is short and totally unscripted. It's not a story or scene so much as an outtake. But it's also a good launching point for talking a bit about the stereotypical northeastern accent. This is a podcast about how emphasizing particular words can change the way you're perceived, and also about a common verb complement you can use to add a sense of urgency and surprise to your sentences.

Elementary - The Northeastern Girl (pdf)

Wed, 02 Feb 2011 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - The Northeastern Girl (dialogue)

Wed, 02 Feb 2011 09:00:00 -0800

Film Friday - Family Business

Mon, 31 Jan 2011 09:00:00 -0800

At Popup Chinese, we believe rules are made to be broken. Which is why we're flaunting our regular scheduled programming and bringing you this special Monday edition of none other than Film Friday. The other reason for this shift is of course that we meant to get this out last Friday, but our DVD player refused to cooperate, being overwhelmed with the sheer difficulty of our selection....

But leaving all that as it may, we hope you enjoy this irregularly-scheduled edition of our favorite Hollywood movie guessing game. Join in as we play a challenging clip from a popular Hollywood film dubbed into Chinese. And if you can guess the movie from nothing more than it's Chinese soundtrack? Get your guesses in to echo@popupchinese.com for a chance to win a month of free premium access to Popup Chinese.

Film Friday - Family Business (pdf)

Mon, 31 Jan 2011 09:00:00 -0800

Film Friday - Family Business (dialogue)

Mon, 31 Jan 2011 09:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - Are You Sick?

Thu, 27 Jan 2011 09:00:00 -0800

We hate to be the bearers of bad news and all, but if you're coming to China for the long-term you are pretty much guaranteed to get seriously ill. And we mean ill in the call-the-doctor-to-defibrillate-my-lungs sense of the word. At least until your immune system starts taking this country seriously, life in China will be a lot like that time you tended bar at that sangria party in college, only without the wine and fruit juice.

Learning Chinese? If you're an absolute beginner to mandarin, join Echo and David for a Chinese lesson that covers some critical basics of the language. Start listening now and before ten minutes are up you'll know how to ask and answer questions in Chinese, and be an expert at shunning friends and relatives who show the slightest signs of potentially contagious infection.

Absolute Beginners - Are You Sick? (pdf)

Thu, 27 Jan 2011 09:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - Are You Sick? (dialogue)

Thu, 27 Jan 2011 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - The Inferno

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 09:00:00 -0800

In no time the interlopers had progressed to the center of the industrial plant. They moved in silence with the precision of a military crew, but as the swirling oil eddied around them, it became clear that the original plan had gone awry. Had they turned a wrong corner, or was their entire adventure an unexpected trap? Whatever the explanation, there was little time to lose....

Our intermediate Chinese lesson for today is a short listening test with ten devilishly difficult questions. If you fancy you've excellent Chinese take a listen and see how you do on our accompanying quiz. It is harder than you think!

Intermediate - The Inferno (pdf)

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - The Fourteenth Floor

Mon, 24 Jan 2011 09:00:00 -0800

Today's dialogue is somewhat inspired by real life. The short version is that our cat Squeak has taken a fancy to crawling out our apartment window onto a narrow ledge from which unaided return is basically impossible. We're not sure if this a form of escapism, a product of deep-seated unhappiness with life, or if the animal is just plain dumb. Any tips on how to stop him from trying to kill himself are of course welcome.

Learning Chinese? Our dialogue today moves quickly, and our two grammar points aren't trivial either, making this one of the more challenging lessons we've put up at the elementary level. If you're working towards intermediate status give it a listen and see how much you understand. And if you have any questions or comments please leave them below or send your feedback directly to podcasters gail@popupchinese.com or brendan@popupchinese.com. We'd love to hear from you.

Elementary - The Fourteenth Floor (pdf)

Mon, 24 Jan 2011 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - The Fourteenth Floor (dialogue)

Mon, 24 Jan 2011 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - The Fourteenth Floor (fix)

Mon, 24 Jan 2011 09:00:00 -0800

Sinica - Hu Jintao and the Washington Summit

Fri, 21 Jan 2011 09:00:00 -0800

As part of our ongoing efforts to secure the hottest scoops for you, our Sinica team originally planned to storm Hu Jintao's flight to Washington and record a live podcast with everyone's favorite Chairman during his flight across the Pacific. Sadly, this idea did not meet equal enthusiasm after a good night's sleep, leaving us to report on the ongoing US-China summit from our regular studios in downtown Beijing.

Joining Kaiser Kuo to analyze the Washington summit is Sinica regular Jeremy Goldkorn of Danwei fame, who brings his candid impressions of what both President Obama and Chairman Hu are hoping to achieve at the summit. Also in our studio is Gady Epstein, Beijing Bureau Chief for Forbes magazine and recently-outed China apologist and pro-slaver. Conspicuously absent is Bill Bishop and his chocolate cupcakes, both of which we will lure back with promises of further animal deportations if necessary. And capping off Sinica we have our regular financial news roundup courtesy of Caixin magazine.

We had a great time in the studio recording this and hope you like it. As always, if you want to save yourself the hassle of having to remember to come here and listen each Friday, just sign-up for an account on Popup Chinese and follow the instructions to add Sinica to your list of shows. Once you've setup your personal RSS feed, new episodes will download automatically as soon as they become available. iTunes holdouts can also continue to download the show as a standalone mp3 file.

Sinica - Hu Jintao and the Washington Summit (pdf)

Fri, 21 Jan 2011 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - Dinner with the Party

Thu, 20 Jan 2011 09:00:00 -0800

"There's something about your familiarity with Marxism that's uncontrollably sexy," she groaned. "The principle that the revolution is led by the vanguard is more Leninist than Marxist," we replied. It may well have been Trotsky, but who was going to drag up such internecine issues when things were going so well? "And the Three Represents," she countered, "do you think it reconciles revolutionary socialism with market-led economic development...."

We haven't done a lesson on obscure Chinese political phrases yet, mostly because they can be a bit hard to drop into conversation. But while you can live without this stuff most of the time, every now and then you'll have dinner with someone important and being familiar with Chinese political rhetoric becomes surprisingly useful. So join Brendan and Gail for a quick Chinese podcast that covers some of the more common terms getting bandied about these days, including the revolutionary contributions of current Fearless Leader Hu.

Intermediate - Dinner with the Party (pdf)

Thu, 20 Jan 2011 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - Dinner with the Party (dialogue)

Thu, 20 Jan 2011 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - Dinner with the Party (fix)

Thu, 20 Jan 2011 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - On Avoiding Intestinal Problems

Mon, 17 Jan 2011 09:00:00 -0800

It's not that we're always indecisive about dinner, or that we have something against Sichuan food. It's just that the last time Echo and Brendan conspired to take us out for hotpot they managed to produce the hottest hotpot we have ever eaten. Although most of us quite sensibly stopped trying the spicy broth after a few bites, it still took days for our functionality to return to normal, and the office was not a pleasant place that week.

So consider yourself warned. That said, if you really want to punish yourself or your significant other, we recommend dining at 孔亮. This Sichuan restaurant has been transplanted straight from hell to the south side of Guijie right across the road from Little Sheep and one restaurant east of 渔佬. Make sure you order the spicy hotpot, and good luck.

Elementary - On Avoiding Intestinal Problems (pdf)

Mon, 17 Jan 2011 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - On Avoiding Intestinal Problems (dialogue)

Mon, 17 Jan 2011 09:00:00 -0800

Sinica - Amy Chua and the Tiger Mother Furor

Fri, 14 Jan 2011 09:00:00 -0800

Judging from the explosive reaction to her recent Wall Street Journal editorial, it's clear that Amy Chua's memoir "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother" has set off a storm of controversy over the appropriateness of "Chinese parenting" in America. Or even China for that matter. Yet at the same time, the attempted assassination of Gabrielle Giffords in Arizona last week is getting equally vocal denunciations in the Chinese press, especially from critics of American democratization.

Today on Sinica, Kaiser Kuo, Jeremy Goldkorn and Gady Epstein delve into both subjects with Sinica newcomers Sheila Melvin, China journalist and author of a recent book on Western classical music in China, and Adrienne Mong, who you may know as producer for NBC News in Beijing. This is the episode where our childhood skeletons all come out of the closet, so listen in as everyone shares their horror stories about what it can mean to grow up Chinese in America, and Gady and Jeremy do their best to fit in anyway.

Care to download Sinica to your mp3 player each week automatically? Subscribe to the show by creating an account on Popup Chinese, or manually by opening iTunes, 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!

Sinica - Amy Chua and the Tiger Mother Furor (pdf)

Fri, 14 Jan 2011 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - Pirate Zombie Bank Teller

Thu, 13 Jan 2011 09:00:00 -0800

Let us skip the tale of Pirate Jack's flight from the gallows, noting only that the implausibility of his escape continues to fuel speculation that the world's most feared brigand did indeed die on the hangman's noose that day. And yet how to explain what happened years later: the discovery of the world's most fearsome pirate and scourge of the China seas employed as a common bank teller in the backwaters of the Caribbean....

Learning Chinese? We're willing to admit that our Chinese lessons are sometimes a bit unorthodox. But if you've been plugging away at Chinese for a while, we think you'll find our lack of please-sit-down-and-have-another-cup-of-tea a breath of fresh air. So join us for the greatest pirate story ever told, and write us with suggestions for what comes next at ideas@popupchinese.com.

Intermediate - Pirate Zombie Bank Teller (pdf)

Thu, 13 Jan 2011 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - Pirate Zombie Bank Teller (dialogue)

Thu, 13 Jan 2011 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - Pirate Zombie Bank Teller (fix)

Thu, 13 Jan 2011 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - The MacGyver of Chopsticks

Wed, 12 Jan 2011 09:00:00 -0800

As a confidant of ours confessed over beer one evening, "you'd think that now I'm running my own business in Beijing, people would assume I could eat." And yet, strange as it may seem, speaking mandarin is considered one of the easier skills for foreigners to master. The real parlor trick for impressing your Chinese friends and colleagues is simple tool manipulation, or the ability to put food in your mouth with sticks.

Learning Chinese? Our elementary series starts introducing basic grammar while focusing on very high-frequency and colloquial mandarin, the sort of language you'll use everyday. This is a good level for you if you've already learned the basics, but are still struggling to really internalize the language. If you're completely new to Chinese and are looking to start from scratch, we recommend checking out our lesson series for absolute beginners. You'll be back up at this level before you know it.

Elementary - The MacGyver of Chopsticks (pdf)

Wed, 12 Jan 2011 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - The MacGyver of Chopsticks (dialogue)

Wed, 12 Jan 2011 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - The MacGyver of Chopsticks (fix)

Wed, 12 Jan 2011 09:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - Memories of Changsha

Mon, 10 Jan 2011 09:00:00 -0800

This dialogue reminds us of our brief vacation in Changsha several years ago, when a few us of shared a bus with every single other inhabitant in the city. We're not sure what the occasion was, but it got so crowded the conductor basically gave up on collecting fares, while the rest of us gave up on our hopes of ever getting off the bus. The incident ended when the vehicle broke down in a traffic jam, giving us a much greater appreciation for the Beijing metro.

Learning Chinese? Our Absolute Beginner lessons are designed for people with no previous experience in the language. If you've already got some Chinese under your belt and want to move a bit faster, visit our lesson archives and explore our lessons at the elementary, intermediate and advanced levels.

Absolute Beginners - Memories of Changsha (pdf)

Mon, 10 Jan 2011 09:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - Memories of Changsha (dialogue)

Mon, 10 Jan 2011 09:00:00 -0800

Sinica - China 2010 - Year in Review

Fri, 07 Jan 2011 09:00:00 -0800

This week we take a look back at China in 2010, revisiting some of the biggest stories we covered, and discussing a few we missed. With Kaiser Kuo hosting the discussion as usual, our guests in the studio include Sinica stalwarts and regulars Jeremy Goldkorn and Gady Epstein of Danwei and Forbes fame respectively. Also contributing her insight is Li Xin, English editor at Caixin, the leading independent business journal in China.

Need another excuse to listen? This week we're pleased to add a new feature to Sinica, a short summary of the week's economic and business news courtesy of the journalists at Caixing. Topics covered this week's briefing include signs of political conflict over China's coming property tax, the 700-billion RMB expansion of China's railroad network, the specter of slow growth in China's manufacturing sector, and the burgeoning threat of inflation in China.

And before you listen, let us remind you as always: the easiest way to listen to Sinica each week is to subscribe via RSS in iTunes. You can do this by creating an account on Popup Chinese and customizing your feed settings to include the show. Alternately, open iTunes and select the option "Subscribe to Podcast" from the Advanced menu. Copy the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica into the box when prompted. Or download this and all of our other shows directly from Popup Chinese as a standalone mp3 file. And Happy New Year!

Sinica - China 2010 - Year in Review (pdf)

Fri, 07 Jan 2011 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - The Beijing Subway

Tue, 04 Jan 2011 09:00:00 -0800

We have a love-hate relationship with the Beijing metro that comes out in this podcast. If you've lived in China we're sure you'll understand. But even if you haven't experienced Chinese public transit for yourself, you have a great reason to listen to this Chinese podcast. Because remember when we told you that the Chinese verb "to be" is a lot different from its English counterpart, and that sometimes it shows up doing really strange things? Well... our Chinese lesson for today covers exactly such a case.

For those of you keeping track, this lesson is definitely at the higher end of the difficulty spectrum for our Elementary lessons. This dialogue moves quickly, but the vocabulary isn't really that difficult. So hang in there and be sure to check our online or downloadable transcripts if you have trouble. And remember that questions and comments are welcome in our discussion section below. We look forward to hearing from you!

Elementary - The Beijing Subway (pdf)

Tue, 04 Jan 2011 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - The Beijing Subway (dialogue)

Tue, 04 Jan 2011 09:00:00 -0800

Advanced - If You Are The One, Two

Mon, 03 Jan 2011 09:00:00 -0800

There are some films we see because we're bored. Others because we've been drugged and forced into the theater. And still others because they star Ge You, the lead actor in "To Live" whose turn with Donald Sutherland in "Big Shot's Funeral" put him on our radar as a very funny comedian. The presence of Shu Qi in this one didn't hurt either.

That said, and considering the sheer inanity that was the plot of the first romantic comedy, it was a miracle we sent Wang Ziqian to see this sequel. And even more of a miracle he came back positive about the film, raving that "the product placement wasn't nearly as bad as I thought!" And while we have to wonder how sincere his sentiment really is, we nonetheless sent him and Gail into the studio for an advanced podcast all about the film that - like it or hate it - is now setting box office records in China. We hope you enjoy the show.

Advanced - If You Are The One, Two (pdf)

Mon, 03 Jan 2011 09:00:00 -0800

Film Friday - Reductio Ad Absurdum

Fri, 31 Dec 2010 09:00:00 -0800

A lot of people love this director, but his failure to cast Bradley Cooper in a leading role has once again earned him scorn in Echo's eyes. "There's no reason they couldn't have put him in a minor role," she said after watching the first half of the film. Her suggestions on suitable positions: a comely street-urchin, vegetable salesperson, or sidekick of the sidekick. "He could help with the typing," she added, hunkering down to watch the film to its somewhat illogical conclusion.

This New Years, we're happy to release another edition of our semi-regular Chinese movie guessing game. Listen to our short clip from a recent Hollywood movie dubbed into mandarin. And if you can guess the film, send Echo an email at echo@popupchinese.com and be entered in a draw for a month of free premium access to Popup Chinese. And Happy New Years!

Film Friday - Reductio Ad Absurdum (pdf)

Fri, 31 Dec 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - Harry Potter #8

Wed, 29 Dec 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Our Chinese lesson for today dredges up memories of that time we bought a copy of The Matrix Reloaded from a DVD vendor on the streets of Beijing. "This is absolutely the real thing," he swore up and down, "it came straight from Shenzhen yesterday...." And so we bought it and soon found ourselves watching a handicam-rip of Johnny Mnemonic with a near-incomprehensible Chinese dub. The scene with the talking dolphin was particularly humiliating for all involved.

And while there is unlikely to be another movie as bad as Johnny Mnemonic in the near future, China is in Harry Potter mode again and expectations are high for the final film. Operating under the principle that anything goes in this country, in this podcast we talk a bit about the piracy industry in China, review some Chinese DVD-related vocabulary and share a quick language tip on coded signals you really need to back away from the merchandise.

Intermediate - Harry Potter #8 (pdf)

Wed, 29 Dec 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - Harry Potter #8 (dialogue)

Wed, 29 Dec 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - Harry Potter #8 (fix)

Wed, 29 Dec 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - A Guide to Supportive Parenting

Mon, 27 Dec 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Children need to be nurtured and loved. So be sure to talk to them and ask questions. Show genuine concern and engagement for best results: how was your day; have you been having troubles at school lately; is there anything we should talk about? While this might seem strange behavior at first, in time you will grow accustomed to this sort of conversation and may even be able to engage with your children while mentally occupied elsewhere.

While we usually avoid talking about grammar at the absolute beginner level, sometimes there is a dialogue that demands it. This podcast is one of them. It may be a bit tough if you're totally new to Chinese, but it covers a key point that you'll use all the time. So take a listen. And if you have any questions, contact us anytime either via email, or by leaving a comment in our discussion section below.

Absolute Beginners - A Guide to Supportive Parenting (pdf)

Mon, 27 Dec 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - A Guide to Supportive Parenting (dialogue)

Mon, 27 Dec 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Sinica - The Long Arm of History

Fri, 24 Dec 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Visitors to China might be forgiven for concluding that history carries more weight here. For whatever the reason, even the far-off ghosts of the Opium War, the Scramble for Concessions, and the Treaty of Versailles still haunt contemporary politics, causing many observers to see echoes of the past in the present.

Today on Sinica, Kaiser Kuo hosts a special Christmas episode of Sinica with two of Beijing's resident academic experts: David Moser, Academic Director of CET Beijing and popular essayist on all things China, and Jeremiah Jenne, Dean of Chinese Studies at the IES program in Beijing. You may also know Jeremiah as the force behind the popular history blog Jottings from the Granite Studio.

New to Popup Chinese? Sinica is our regular podcast focusing on economic and political developments in contemporary China. If you enjoy this podcast, we encourage you to subscribe through RSS to get new episodes downloaded to your mp3 player automatically. Just open iTunes, click on the "Advanced" menu and select the option "Subscribe to Podcast". When prompted copy the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica into the box. 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!

Sinica - The Long Arm of History (pdf)

Fri, 24 Dec 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - The Criminal Mastermind

Wed, 22 Dec 2010 09:00:00 -0800

The plan had been executed with military precision. It had taken a mere ten seconds from the first volley of gunfire until the point when the bank customers were under control, huddled on the floor in shock with their hands held over their heads. Another two minutes and the bank vaults were swept clean and the masked men out the door, the entire robbery finished minutes before the police were even aware of it.

Intermediate - The Criminal Mastermind (pdf)

Wed, 22 Dec 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - The Criminal Mastermind (dialogue)

Wed, 22 Dec 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - The Criminal Mastermind (fix)

Wed, 22 Dec 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - Getting Out of Bed

Mon, 20 Dec 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Consider this Chinese lesson an intervention. We know it can be rough giving orders to people in China, and it's an open question of whether anyone is even listening, but then consider it from their perspective and imagine how rough it must be to hear pretty much every single foreigner in China mangle the grammar needed to make a simple request. No wonder they want to sleep in.

So while we know this Chinese lesson won't apply to most of the old-timers here at Popup Chinese, the rest of you need to pull yourselves into shape and get up to the Intermediate level where we are all natural leaders! So join Echo and Brendan in today's podcast as they cover four key ways to tell others they need to do something, and point out the single-biggest mistake that everyone makes when they're just getting started.

Elementary - Getting Out of Bed (pdf)

Mon, 20 Dec 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - Getting Out of Bed (dialogue)

Mon, 20 Dec 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Sinica - China and India

Fri, 17 Dec 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Asia's rising colossi share a great deal besides rich cultures, great culinary traditions, billion-plus populations and a long border. But relations haven't always been smooth. Have a recent round of border talks, followed up by Premier Wen Jiabao's recent visit to New Delhi, given a new direction to Sino-Indian relations? And how has U.S. President Barack Obama's recent visit to India been perceived in New Delhi and Beijing?

On Sinica this week, Kaiser Kuo leads Stephanie Kleine-Ahlbrandt of the International Crisis Group, reporter Kathleen McLaughlin from the Bureau of National Affaris, and The Hindu's China correspondent Ananth Krishnanin into a discussion on the state of relations between India and China. Join us for an insider podcast that goes beyond the news and into the sort of underlying analysis you won't find anywhere else as Kaiser and crew talk about the state of security and trade on the subcontinent, and the implications of Chinese and Indian positioning for American policy in the region.

Care to be notified when a new episode of Sinica is released? For a more convenient way to listen, subscribe by RSS by creating an account on Popup Chinese and picking the Sinica show in your list of preferred podcasts. Then follow our instructions and get Sinica delivered fresh to you every time it is released. Those seeking less commitment are of course still invited to download this standalone mp3 directly from our site. Enjoy!

Sinica - China and India (pdf)

Fri, 17 Dec 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - Future X-Cops

Thu, 16 Dec 2010 09:00:00 -0800

When the definitive history of Hong Kong science fiction is finally compiled, we believe there will be one man whose films will soar above those of his contemporaries like a robotic policeman on a computer-generated hoverbike. We speak of course of the incomparable Andy Lau, whose masterpiece "Future X-Cops" is hands down the best Hong Kong science fiction film we have seen in the last few months, if not the last year.

While we know that some of you old-timers at Popup Chinese might be dubious about this claim, to you skeptics we have two simple requests: first, prepare for this podcast by getting some popcorn and plunking down to watch the movie trailer we've linked to above; second, keep an open mind throughout this podcast as Echo talks about how delightful Andy Lau made her last birthday and in which a few other points of interest are made for the sake of including some educational content.

Intermediate - Future X-Cops (pdf)

Thu, 16 Dec 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - Future X-Cops (dialogue)

Thu, 16 Dec 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - Future X-Cops (fix)

Thu, 16 Dec 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - The Disease Podcast

Tue, 14 Dec 2010 09:00:00 -0800

We were brainstorming for a catchy title. "Why not call it the disease podcast," Echo suggested walking in the room. And as much of a downer as her suggestion was, it made sense, and brought up an interesting question we are now exploring: just how morbid can we make our Chinese lessons? Is there a limit before we sink into absurdity.

That said, we do consider this a useful Chinese lesson. In addition to covering a ton of medical terminology that you'll probably end up using (but hopefully not having), today's podcast also covers three ways to say "from the looks of it", the last of which is virtually guaranteed to win you an international peace prize if you are caught using it within earshot of the Chinese government. So listen up and let us know what you think. We hope you like it.

Intermediate - The Disease Podcast (pdf)

Tue, 14 Dec 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - The Disease Podcast (dialogue)

Tue, 14 Dec 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - The Disease Podcast (fix)

Tue, 14 Dec 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - The Mysterious Woman

Mon, 13 Dec 2010 09:00:00 -0800

The Cold War that had been simmering between our staff for months finally came to a head as Gail put down the phone. "Our Chinese lessons aren't easy enough," she leveled an icy glare at Brendan, who slipped his copy of "Quotations from Mencius" into his knapsack in furtive response. "We need a Chinese lesson that is so dead simple," she continued, "that even someone who can't even find China on a map can learn some of the basics of the Chinese language."

And that's how all the fun ended here at Popup Chinese, at least for this lesson. This week we've followed the advice of our "student-friendly" teacher Gail, which means our popular fun-with-Tang-Dynasty-etymology and how-did-the-Manchu-say-that podcast segments are gone, replaced with a highly-repetitive beginner lesson that will teach how you to ask who people are, and learn to understand the answers. This is a very simple lesson for anyone just starting to learn mandarin and looking for an easy way to fluency. So enjoy it while you can. The etymology can wait for another few days.

Absolute Beginners - The Mysterious Woman (pdf)

Mon, 13 Dec 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - The Mysterious Woman (dialogue)

Mon, 13 Dec 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - The Mysterious Woman (fix)

Mon, 13 Dec 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Sinica - The Wikileaks Revelations, part III

Fri, 10 Dec 2010 09:00:00 -0800

As Interpol deepens its investigation into Mr. Assange's use of birth control and financial service companies feel the wrath of script-kiddies worldwide, our own crew of Internet vigilantes sifts through the remains of the Wikileaks data-dump in search of all the hot China-related news and gossip the American government does not want you to know.

This week: join Kaiser Kuo, Jeremy Goldkorn and Will Moss as Sinica considers the evidence linking the recent spate of Google attacks to the head of the CCP Propaganda Department, and takes a hard, close look at Xi Jinping's taste in American cinema. Xi Jinping is the presumed front-runner to replace Hu Jintao as Party Secretary in 2012, and his favorite Spielberg film is a genuine shocker. Also: recent developments in the Nobel Prize drama and yet another controversial Chinese alternative.

As always, if you are new to Sinica you may want to consider subscribing by RSS to get every show automatically downloaded to your computer and MP3 player. To automate this tiring process, simply sign up for an account here at Popup Chinese, and configure your show subscriptions on the invite page. That said, if you're more in the mood to listen to this podcast on the go, you're also welcome to download the show as a standalone mp3 file. Enjoy!

Sinica - The Wikileaks Revelations, part III (pdf)

Fri, 10 Dec 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - Wall Street II

Tue, 07 Dec 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Our contacts at Maggie's tell us that when Oliver Stone put the finishing touches on the script that would become Wall Street II, he was somewhat drunk and equally distracted by the local nightlife. We're not sure that Zhang Yimou has the same excuse though, which raises the possibility that China and the West have somehow become locked in a game of cultural brinkmanship just to see who will blink first.

That said, even if you've been avoiding Chinese cinemas, our focus in today's podcast should still be useful. So join us for a fast-moving dialogue that reveals our underlying despair at the state of the world, but reviews a useful measure word for talking about the number of times you have done something from start to finish. This is a simple but elegant way to add more nuance to your spoken Chinese. We hope it comes in useful.

Elementary - Wall Street II (pdf)

Tue, 07 Dec 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - Wall Street II (dialogue)

Tue, 07 Dec 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - Wall Street II (fix)

Tue, 07 Dec 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - Mountaineering

Mon, 06 Dec 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Although Captain Thrift's choice of ascents was unorthodox, there was no denying his skill nor the team's spectacular progress. Decisions that might have seemed rash to a more conservative climber paid off time and time again as his small team pulled itself up the sheer cliffs of Mount Rakaposhi in record time. And yet the frenzied pace of their assault was taking an unmistakable physical and mental toll on the team.

For who could keep up such a blistering pace? At twenty thousand feet, heavily reliant on oxygen tanks and with a near-vertical climb to the summit scheduled for the next morning, Julie and Chad were on the brink of physical collapse, wishing for nothing more than a quick meal and then plunge into the forgiving arms of sleep.

Intermediate - Mountaineering (pdf)

Mon, 06 Dec 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - Mountaineering (dialogue)

Mon, 06 Dec 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - Mountaineering (fix)

Mon, 06 Dec 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Sinica - The Wikileaks Revelations, part II

Sat, 04 Dec 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Kaiser's despair on learning that last week's Sinica episode had been lost in a freak weather accident turned quickly to plotting. "We'll simply have to make up for it somehow," he mused. Which is how today's special show came about: a better, stronger and perhaps even genetically-modified weekend version of everyone's favorite Chinese podcast. But no worries - our same off-the-cuff and no-holds-barred rules apply.

And we have a full house in the studio too. Joining Kaiser are Sinica stalwarts Jeremy Goldkorn of Danwei fame, Gady Epstein of Forbes and renowned China public relations expert Will Moss. Mary Kay Magistad of Public Radio International also joins the crew as they kick around more juicy tidbits from the Wikileaks data-dump, take delight in the US Embassy's new and unofficial moniker for Beijing air quality, and talk about some of the topics we meant to bring you last week.

And as always we would be remiss not to mention that subscribing to Sinica via RSS feed is the easiest way to catch unexpected shows like this one. To get things working, just sign-up for an account on Popup Chinese and follow the instructions to add Sinica to your list of shows. Once you've done this your computer will automatically download new episodes as they become available. For the more commitment-phobic, we're also pleased to bring you the show as a standalone mp3 file for once-off enjoyment. We hope you like it!

Sinica - The Wikileaks Revelations, part II (pdf)

Sat, 04 Dec 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Sinica - The Wikileaks Revelations

Fri, 03 Dec 2010 09:00:00 -0800

In the first of what will likely be many podcasts discussing some of the latest China-related revelations contained in the recent Wikileaks data-dump, our discussion today turns towards North Korea, and Chinese diplomatic overtures suggesting that the country's long-standing ally may be prepared to desert it, accepting a unified Korean peninsula under the control of an American-dominated South Korea.

Sorting through the issues with Kaiser this week are special guests Jeremy Goldkorn of Danwei fame, along with Gady Epstein, Beijing bureau chief for Forbes magazine. Also joining us for the first time is Mary Kay Magistad, long-time Northeast Asia correspondent for Public Radio International, and occasional journalist for National Public Radio, The Washington Post and the Christian Science Monitor.

If you have any questions or comments, please leave a comment in our discussion section below, or write Kaiser directly at sinica@popupchinese.com. And of course, if you want to be notified automatically whenever a new episode of Sinica is released, we encourage you to create an account on Popup Chinese and follow the instructions for subscribing to the Sinica podcast. You can also download this show as a standalone mp3 file. Enjoy!

Sinica - The Wikileaks Revelations (pdf)

Fri, 03 Dec 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - Unleashing the Cougar

Wed, 01 Dec 2010 09:00:00 -0800

The cougar (a.k.a. catamount, panther or mountain lion) is a large, solitary beast found throughout the Americas. Exhibiting the greatest range of any mammal in the Western Hemisphere, the cougar is fiercely independent and an unmatched predator, stalking smaller beasts for pleasure as much as for food.

In our Chinese lesson for today, Echo and Brendan take to the studio with a mission: preventing you from sounding like a confused and distracted high-schooler the next time you want to give someone a compliment. So join us as we cover a number of intermediate adjectives you can call on whenever you want to sound particularly complimentary, or are just tired of calling everything and everyone "good-looking".

Intermediate - Unleashing the Cougar (pdf)

Wed, 01 Dec 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - Unleashing the Cougar (dialogue)

Wed, 01 Dec 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - Unleashing the Cougar (fix)

Wed, 01 Dec 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - Just this one....

Mon, 29 Nov 2010 09:00:00 -0800

On entering the Chinese bazaar, Jake had been intent on purchasing a t-shirt, or perhaps a long-sleeved shirt. He had wanted something adorned with Chinese characters to commemorate his trip. Which raised the question of how exactly he had ended up in this state: arms stretched full of imitation Prada bags, Timberland jackets and pashmina shawls and his wallet considerably lighter than when he left the hotel.

Suffice it to say that learning how to say no is an important skill in China. There are a few ways of accomplishing this though, and in today's Chinese lesson we cover one of the less obvious. Instead of just coming right out with a refusal, we teach you to emphasize only the item you want. "It's this one," you'll say, "exactly this one." This is a polite way to control the conversation while making sure you're understood. And it can come in especially useful when you're shopping. Good luck!

Absolute Beginners - Just this one.... (pdf)

Mon, 29 Nov 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - Just this one.... (dialogue)

Mon, 29 Nov 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - Just this one.... (fix)

Mon, 29 Nov 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Film Friday - Talk Radio

Fri, 26 Nov 2010 09:00:00 -0800

We know that some of you have been up all night waiting for our next episode of Film Friday. And maybe there are some of you out there having trouble getting to sleep because of timezone issues. Well... there's no need to wait any longer. Join us today for another episode of our regular movie-guessing game. Guess the film and send in your answer for a chance to win a free month of premium access to Popup Chinese.

Film Friday - Talk Radio (pdf)

Fri, 26 Nov 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Film Friday - Talk Radio (dialogue)

Fri, 26 Nov 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - Schrodinger's Home

Wed, 24 Nov 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Our dialogue in this lesson is much easier than the quantum theory of superposition. It's so easy we almost made this an Absolute Beginner lesson in fact, save for that very last line. So if you're an Elementary student consider today's lesson a brief respite from our usual regime of grueling lessons designed to separate you from your sanity.

Elementary - Schrodinger's Home (pdf)

Wed, 24 Nov 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - Schrodinger's Home (dialogue)

Wed, 24 Nov 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - Schrodinger's Home (fix)

Wed, 24 Nov 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - Encino Man meets American Pie

Mon, 22 Nov 2010 09:00:00 -0800

A lot of people learning Chinese develop the mistaken impression that the language has developed in isolation from other major world languages. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. As with our dialogue for today, the Chinese language borrows freely from wherever it can find inspiration. So join Brendan and Echo for a podcast that reviews a few Chinese loanwords you already know, and explains the origins of some you may never have suspected. And - yes - also stars Brendan Fraser.

Elementary - Encino Man meets American Pie (pdf)

Mon, 22 Nov 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - Encino Man meets American Pie (dialogue)

Mon, 22 Nov 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - Encino Man meets American Pie (fix)

Mon, 22 Nov 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - Raising a Pirate Crew

Thu, 18 Nov 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Raising a pirate crew in China is harder than you think. Despite the allure of life on the high seas, many Chinese workers now forgo seafaring opportunities that fail to provide unemployment insurance and other social benefits. While many adventurers have thus drifted into more clerical work, there remains a group of the chronically underemployed that are still willing to work long hours for low pay and zero benefits. In our Intermediate Chinese lesson for today, we share tips on how to motivate these souls for a life of adventure. Also... the future aspect.

Intermediate - Raising a Pirate Crew (pdf)

Thu, 18 Nov 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - Raising a Pirate Crew (dialogue)

Thu, 18 Nov 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - Raising a Pirate Crew (fix)

Thu, 18 Nov 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - The Spanish Main

Tue, 16 Nov 2010 13:49:32 -0800

Jack tilted his face upwards to savor the warm rays of the setting sun. For the past year, the most dreaded pirate in all of the Caribbean had struggled to find his way back to this desolate place, a small island reef hidden deep in the Spanish Main. A year had passed since Jack had been forced to bury his plunder here after a pitched sea battle with the Spanish Navy that had decimated his crew and forced him to flee for safety in his fastest corsair.

And his return had been far from easy. Jack had spent months trapped in the summer doldrums, and then months more cut by frigid winter gales as coal supplies fell low and murmurs of mutiny spread through his crew. And yet here he stood at last - vindicated - with only a few feet of sand between him and the greatest cache of pirate gold that ever was and evermore will be.

Intermediate - The Spanish Main (pdf)

Tue, 16 Nov 2010 13:49:32 -0800

Intermediate - The Spanish Main (dialogue)

Tue, 16 Nov 2010 13:49:32 -0800

Advanced - Pet Ownership in China

Sun, 14 Nov 2010 13:41:25 -0800

Echo was pretty sure she was a dog person, and still insists she's going to raise a Golden Lab someday ("and the larger the better"). But her animosity to cats crumbled when Squeak showed up, and wormed his way into her affections with a prolonged licking session. Gail - on the other hand - has always been something of a cat person. So it isn't a surprise she's raising one either. Or that they settled on this topic for today's podcast.

If you're capable of listening to Chinese at native speed and have a thing for cats too, join us in this Chinese podcast for advanced listeners. In it, Echo and Gail talk about their experiences as cat owners in Beijing. And on a side topic, this editor will admit to being impressed that cats in Beijing know how to play fetch and seem to enjoy it immensely. We're not sure if this is a sign of end times, but consider yourself warned.

Advanced - Pet Ownership in China (pdf)

Sun, 14 Nov 2010 13:41:25 -0800

Sinica - The End of Chinese Internet Civility

Fri, 12 Nov 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Simmering tensions between Qihoo 360 and Tencent broke into open war last week, as Tencent disabled its chat software on computers running 360 antivirus software. This move was the most aggressive yet in a serious of escalating attacks between the two companies that resembles nothing so much as a barnyard brawl. Microsoft appears to be the only winner of the fighting to date, with MSN messenger aquiring a number of users fed up with the behavior of both companies.

Just measured in terms of size, Qihoo 360 is the underdog here, the Chinese equivalent of Norton Antivirus with a userbase of only around 300 million machines throughout China. Tencent is one of the largest Internet companies in the world, and probably the cloest thing China has to Google. Want more information? Join Sinica regulars Jeremy Goldkorn, Gady Epstein, and Will Moss as they examine the fracas from the comfort of our studio. Kaiser Kuo also joins us with an audio postcard that fills in the back story of conflict that you won't read in the news. And finally, we are also joined this week by Malcolm Moore, correspondent for Britain's Daily Telegraph, who shares his thoughts on the significance of David Cameron's ongoing visit to Beijing.

New to Popup Chinese? Sinica is a regular podcast focusing on current affairs in China. If you enjoy the show, be sure to subscribe via RSS. You can do this either by creating an account on Popup Chinese and customizing your private feed, or opening iTunes and selecting the option "Subscribe to Podcast" from the Advanced menu. When prompted, copy the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica into the box. Those looking for a bit less commitment are also welcome to download this show as a standalone mp3 file.

Sinica - The End of Chinese Internet Civility (pdf)

Fri, 12 Nov 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - What Time Is It?

Wed, 10 Nov 2010 09:00:00 -0800

There are two kinds of people for whom this lesson is overkill: those of you who have watches you check regularly, and those of you who are relatively punctual by nature. For the rest of us, it's useful to be able to find out what time it is in China. And so in this lesson we focus on learning how to ask this question in Chinese. We'll leave perfecting the look of stunned amazement you'll offer on hearing you're late up to you.

Want more? In addition to learning how to ask what time it is, this Chinese podcast also covers a few simple numbers so that you can understand the answer you get. We also touch briefly on why the past tense is not always the past tense.

Absolute Beginners - What Time Is It? (pdf)

Wed, 10 Nov 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - What Time Is It? (dialogue)

Wed, 10 Nov 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - What Time Is It? (fix)

Wed, 10 Nov 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - Feeling Thirsty?

Tue, 09 Nov 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Henry was certain the locals didn't like him. There wasn't anything specific that gave him this impression, just the lingering feeling he had been under constant and malevolent surveillance since arriving in China. At his hotel, the desk clerk was always a bit too effusive in greeting, as if calling attention to his arrival, while the hotel porter would always be fumbling around in the hallway whenever he entered or left his room. The maid service ran with military efficiency. And then there were the taxi drivers....

Even walking down streets alone, Henry would feel himself being watched. The merchants would be polite enough to his face, but he'd turn around occasionally to find several them staring at him with expressions of curious distaste. Whatever the cause of this, Henry promised himself this was the last time he would ever vacation in Sanya.

Elementary - Feeling Thirsty? (pdf)

Tue, 09 Nov 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - Feeling Thirsty? (dialogue)

Tue, 09 Nov 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Film Friday - Lethal Weapon

Sat, 06 Nov 2010 09:00:00 -0700

It's been a while, but we're pleased to release another episode of our Hollywood guessing game. This clip comes from a movie that most of you will have seen, or at least heard about. If you can identify the film from nothing more than this short Chinese excerpt, get your guess in to echo@popupchinese.com for a chance to win either a free month of premium access to Popup Chinese, or one of our few remaining and infant-sized Popup Chinese t-shirts.

Film Friday - Lethal Weapon (pdf)

Sat, 06 Nov 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Film Friday - Lethal Weapon (dialogue)

Sat, 06 Nov 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - The Li Gang Scandal

Fri, 05 Nov 2010 09:00:00 -0700

A deadly hit-and-run at Hebei University by the unapologetic son of a high-ranking official has sparked outrage across China, with early efforts to cover up the incident ultimately leading to father and son both making tearful apologies on national television. In other news, China stands accused of clamping down on the export of sensitive rare metals, while a new Chinese prize makes a surprise international debut. This week on Sinica, we discuss these developments and more from our studios in the heart of downtown Beijing.

With Kaiser Kuo still out of the country on an international speaking tour, Sinica cohost Jeremy Goldkorn takes the reins today. Joining him in the studio are Sinica regulars Gady Epstein, Beijing Bureau Chief of Forbes magazine; Will Moss, popular blogger at Imagethief and expert on public relations in China; and David Moser, an old China-hand and now academic director for the CET program in Beijing.

And a quick reminder as always.... If you'd like to be notified whenever a new Sinica podcast is released, you can subscribe automatically either by creating an account on Popup Chinese and customizing your RSS settings, or by opening iTunes, 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. Those seeking less commitment are more than welcome to download this mp3 directly from Popup Chinese as a standalone mp3 file and share it with friends. Enjoy!

Sinica - The Li Gang Scandal (pdf)

Fri, 05 Nov 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Upholding Community Standards

Wed, 03 Nov 2010 09:00:00 -0700

At Popup Chinese, we're keenly aware of our responsibility for upholding community standards. And we're animal lovers too. Which is why if you're an intermediate student learning Chinese you can't go wrong by listening to this podcast. In it, we cover some essential vocabulary for extracting things from your pets, along with a more advanced adverb that you can use to add a sense of righteousness to the entire endeavor.

Intermediate - Upholding Community Standards (pdf)

Wed, 03 Nov 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Upholding Community Standards (dialogue)

Wed, 03 Nov 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Pirate Jack

Mon, 01 Nov 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Back when we were in college, no-one thought twice about Jack's accent or the beady glint in his eye. The pre-med students kept pretty much to themselves anyway, and were considered an insular lot by the rest of us. Looking back, the only sign something was really different about Jack might have been the time he and a few resident neurologists destroyed a local pub which refused to serve them rum. So... I suppose you can say I'm a bit surprised by what Jack's made of himself.

In this Chinese lesson, we bring a taste of the high seas to Popup Chinese. So hail all scurvy knaves, because this lesson has all the mandarin ye be needing to sack and pillage your way through the South China Seas. In additional a healthy dose of high frequency pirate vocab, this lesson also introduces a Chinese grammar point that will help you express surprise and amazement at the perils of a life on the sea.

Elementary - Pirate Jack (pdf)

Mon, 01 Nov 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Pirate Jack (dialogue)

Mon, 01 Nov 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Pirate Jack (fix)

Mon, 01 Nov 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - When Media Attacks

Fri, 29 Oct 2010 09:00:00 -0700

This week on Sinica, we find out what happens when the media attacks, and China is caught in the crossfire. Specifically, recent weeks have brought us two prominent cases of bad press for China as the country gets caught in loaded battles fought by unrelated parties. In the first, an American political advertisement raises the spectre of an US economic collapse. The second is more homegrown, as two giants in the dairy industry are caught spreading lies to promote short-term sales.

With Kaiser Kuo out of the country on a speaking tour, the chairing role in Sinica today is filled by Gady Epstein, Beijing Bureau Chief for Forbes magazines. Joining him with his always candid insights into Chinese media is Jeremy Goldkorn of Danwei fame. Also joining us in the studio are Chinese public relations expert and Imagethief blogger Will Moss, and Beijing correspondent for the Guardian, Tania Branigan.

As always, a quick reminder that if you like the Sinica show, be sure to subscribe via RSS and be notified automatically whenever a new show is released. You can do this either by creating an account on Popup Chinese and customizing your RSS settings, or opening iTunes, 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. For those seeking less commitment, you can also download this mp3 directly from Popup Chinese as a standalone mp3 file. Enjoy!

Sinica - When Media Attacks (pdf)

Fri, 29 Oct 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Advanced - The Death Star

Thu, 28 Oct 2010 09:00:00 -0700

You may have noticed the lack of Chinese people on the Death Star. Or anywhere near the Death Star for that matter. While some film critics write this down to racism on the part of director George Lucas, we prefer to think of it as a compliment to the general sense of the Han people. After all, when the only alternative is launching a suicide mission against an armored battle station the size of a small moon, and said battle station is run by a megalomaniac half-robot with magic powers, it makes sense to get out while the going is good.

Our lesson today is another Chinese listening test at the advanced level. As with our previous tests, we recommend listening to our dialogue a single time and then clicking through to our quiz page to see how much you actually understood. Our questions are tricky, but we've included a manually annotated Chinese transcript and vocabulary list as always for those seeking enlightenment. Good luck!

Advanced - The Death Star (pdf)

Thu, 28 Oct 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - You Never Told Me About Your Brother

Mon, 25 Oct 2010 09:00:00 -0700

I know you've been busy studying Chinese. And perhaps we haven't always been the best of friends. But was there really a need to keep this secret? I mean... it isn't as if any of my previous invective was personal. Or maybe it was a bit personal, but I'm sure you didn't take it the wrong way. I was just going through a rough time and needed time to clear my head. But I'm feeling much better now.

In most of our elementary lessons here at Popup Chinese, we focus on the relatively high-frequency vocabulary you'll need to reach communicative fluency. We define this as the point where you'll be able to talk about most ideas relatively generally. In this lesson our focus is more on emotional nuance. What's was that again, you say? Didn't quite catch that? That's exactly what we're talking about. Enjoy!

Elementary - You Never Told Me About Your Brother (pdf)

Mon, 25 Oct 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - You Never Told Me About Your Brother (dialogue)

Mon, 25 Oct 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - You Never Told Me About Your Brother (fix)

Mon, 25 Oct 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Recent Considerations on China

Fri, 22 Oct 2010 09:00:00 -0700

As backdrop for this podcast, Sinica would like to remind our gentle listeners that the word Quisling comes from Norway, that barbarous Queen of northern Europe whose parliament has recently been condemned internationally for its involvement in a series of bizarre pagan rituals which have no place in any civilized country and are - of course - anathema to all involved in our operations. As such, we urge all Sinica listeners planning a European ski vacation to consider gracious Finland instead.

With that out of the way, we humbly invite you to join Kaiser Kuo and guests Gady Epstein, Kathleen McLaughlin and Tania Branigan on this episode of Sinica as we try to make sense of a number of hot button topics that have been in the news of late. We seem to live in interesting times, and perhaps sensitive ones as well, so let us just get straight to the podcast. If you have any questions or comments, we encourage you to send your thoughts directly to Kaiser at sinica@popupchinese.com. Judiciously-worded comments are also welcome in our comments section below.

On a final note, if you enjoy the Sinica podcast and would like to subscribe to the show via iTunes, just click on the "Advanced" menu option in iTunes and select "Subscribe to Podcast". When prompted copy the url http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica into the box. If you're more a single-use kind of person, you can also download this show as a standalone mp3 file. Enjoy!

Sinica - Recent Considerations on China (pdf)

Fri, 22 Oct 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Relationship with a Supermodel

Wed, 20 Oct 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Henry couldn't pinpoint it at all. His girlfriend was the most amazing woman he had ever known. She was beautiful and sexy and stunningly smart - much smarter than him he realized subconsciously. Yet while his feelings were clearly reciprocated by the way she looked at him, there was also something about her gaze that stirred up a feeling of deep unease. But what could be the problem?

Are you just starting to learn Chinese? In this lesson for absolute beginners to the Chinese language, join us as we share some tips for complimenting the guy or girl of your dreams. In addition to being useful for telling someone else how great you think they are, you can also use these tricks to tell them how great you are in return. Because if you're going to be dating a male or female supermodel, there's nothing wrong with a little self-promotion every now and then.

Absolute Beginners - Relationship with a Supermodel (pdf)

Wed, 20 Oct 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Relationship with a Supermodel (dialogue)

Wed, 20 Oct 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Relationship with a Supermodel (fix)

Wed, 20 Oct 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - I Wasn't Kidding

Sun, 17 Oct 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Please do not make any assumptions about my attire. I was not invited to China because of my sense of humor. Nor has my general gravitas in any way hindered my selection as model worker by the Furong district government. While it is true that I will tell the odd joke on occasion, such as that ringer about the penguin and the lame anthropod I recounted at the national textile exhibition last year, in general I am not considered a funny man. So it would be best if you take my remarks more seriously next time.

Intermediate - I Wasn't Kidding (pdf)

Sun, 17 Oct 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - I Wasn't Kidding (dialogue)

Sun, 17 Oct 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - I Wasn't Kidding (fix)

Sun, 17 Oct 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Good Cop, Good Cop

Sat, 16 Oct 2010 09:00:00 -0700

The suspect smirked, John noted, and the old cop bit down hard to suppress the bile rising in his throat. Ever since the precinct had banned his more forceful interrogation techniques, it had been getting progressively harder for him to put scum like this behind bars. Bring them in for questioning and they'd just sit sullenly waiting for their lawyers to spring them out. On most days he kept his anger in check, but there was something about this guy's grin that pushed John to the edge.

Think you're a tough guy? In this Intermediate Chinese podcast, join us as we cover all the Chinese vocabulary and mannerisms you'll need to viciously interrogate friends, partners and relatives. Career opportunities await in law enforcement, racketeering and the mob, so get listening and let us know if you have any questions or comments.

Intermediate - Good Cop, Good Cop (pdf)

Sat, 16 Oct 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Good Cop, Good Cop (dialogue)

Sat, 16 Oct 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Wire

Tue, 12 Oct 2010 09:00:00 -0700

In Baltimore, everything gets compromised over time. You can be the perfect cop or the perfect dealer, but you'll eventually get taken down. So to survive you have to watch your back. There are people who'll tell you that it's a hard world and you have to put friends and family above that, but the reality is that when the heat comes down, sometimes the only way to survive is making sure you're not the fall guy.

In this Chinese lesson for Elementary students, we dole out some practical vocabulary you'll use regardless of how you feel about the law. You'll hear this when you call customer service. You'll hear it when you do your banking over the phone. You may even hear it from your closest friends and family.

Elementary - The Wire (pdf)

Tue, 12 Oct 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Wire (dialogue)

Tue, 12 Oct 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Wire (fix)

Tue, 12 Oct 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Inside the Actors' Studio

Mon, 11 Oct 2010 09:00:00 -0700

To be fair, Zhang Yimou's script for the sequel to House of Flying Daggers was simple enough: following Xiao Mei's near fatal stabbing at the climax of the first film, the beautiful dancer is nursed back to health by a handsome Chinese doctor with whom she then falls in love. Their story of romance and traditional Chinese medicine is told in flashback form by their son, who calls home at the end of the film in a touching family reunion.

That said, it went without saying that the entire emotional payoff of the film rested on the delivery of that final telephone call. And while most directors might have sloughed it off given the grueling production schedule, Zhang Yimou wasn't considered the best director in China for nothing! Which was why the fearsome perfectionist had forced his cast to practice their delivery over and over again until even he was satisfied it marked the perfect conclusion to an otherwise perfect film.

Absolute Beginners - Inside the Actors' Studio (pdf)

Mon, 11 Oct 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Inside the Actors' Studio (dialogue)

Mon, 11 Oct 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Advanced - The Age of Prosperity

Fri, 08 Oct 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Science fiction is hardly a popular genre in China, so how bizarre it is to see the literary sensation of the year be a dystopian futurist novel. Wrapped in the angst of a detective noir and written with shades of Orwell's 1984, The Age of Prosperity chronicles the imagined future world of 2013: an age in which a proud and prosperous China has risen to glory after the economic collapse of the Western world.

Although The Age of Prosperity is not legally available on the mainland, and the book is likely unpublishable here given its willingness to speak openly about politics, unofficial pirate editions of the novel are already in wide circulation. Everyone is talking about this book, and everyone we know who has read the book attests to it being a compelling and fairly quick read. But since the themes of the book play differently to a Chinese audience than an international one, in our advanced Chinese lesson for today we wanted to sit Echo and Brendan down for an in-depth discussion of whether this book lives up to its reputation.

And now a word of warning. Our advanced lessons here on Popup Chinese are hard, and this podcast is no exception. This show features native-level Chinese and presumes you can follow along at speed. We aren't going to show you any mercy and slow things down, but to help put the discussion in context, we have added some of the key vocabulary used in this podcast to our vocabulary list for this lesson. If you're having trouble following along, you may wish to check that to see what you're missing. So enjoy the discussion. And if you've read the book please feel free to share your thoughts in the discussion section below too. We would love to hear from you.

Advanced - The Age of Prosperity (pdf)

Fri, 08 Oct 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Golden Child

Wed, 06 Oct 2010 09:00:00 -0700

It truly is the golden child in China, and its success has sparked countless imitators in the fiercely-competitive beverage market. Perhaps to some people, there really is no difference between the two. "They're the same thing," you'll hear restaurant staff tell you when you order. But you know in your heart that isn't true. So join us for a Chinese lesson that delves into knock-off culture in China. We'll teach you how to insist on getting the real thing, or at least hold out for a while.

Elementary - The Golden Child (pdf)

Wed, 06 Oct 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Golden Child (dialogue)

Wed, 06 Oct 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Golden Child (fix)

Wed, 06 Oct 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Want money?

Mon, 04 Oct 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Everyone may be hustling for a little extra cash these days, but our lesson today goes out especially to all you poor souls in Shanghai who have to run a gauntlet of professional beggars every time you step outside. Having lived it ourselves, we know this isn't a pleasant experience, and it's especially disheartening since it can desensitize you to helping people who are really down and out with nowhere to turn. With that in mind, and since this dialogue is also a bit mean-spirited, let's offset it with a practical tip on how to act charitably in China.

There are a lot of stores that will give you small change, but very few places you can really spend it. So if you're in the mood to be charitable, why not take advantage of this. Keep your small change in a separate pocket from your wallet and use this as a reserve for casual giving. You'll be surprised at how much accumulates over time, and having a separate stash for those who really need help will put you in more of a mood to give when the circumstances call for it.

Absolute Beginners - Want money? (pdf)

Mon, 04 Oct 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Want money? (dialogue)

Mon, 04 Oct 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Racism in China

Fri, 01 Oct 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Racism isn't a problem in China. That's the official story you'll read in the papers and hear on the streets, at least, and maybe there's even a kernel of truth to it. Without a legacy of colonial activities abroad, the Chinese people are in many ways immune from attacks of historic racial discrimination. As China flexes its muscles internationally though, an increasing number of commenters are calling mainland behavior not only racist, but even representative of a new type of jianghu mentality. Is there any truth to this?

Joining Kaiser to talk about racism in China is Sinica regular and once resident of apartheid South Africa Jeremy Goldkorn along with Charlie Custer, author of the popular China blog ChinaGeeks and survivor of a racial flare-up that involved some of China's top bloggers. Shannon Vant Sant, an independent journalist and filmmaker working on a project on Chinese investment activities in Africa, also sends us an audio postcast with some of her stories from the trenches.

New to Popup Chinese? The Sinica show is a regular podcast series focusing on economic and political developments in modern China. If you enjoy this show, we encourage you to send feedback directly to Kaiser at sinica@popupchinese.com. To subscribe to Sinica through RSS, click on the "Advanced" menu in iTunes and select the option "Subscribe to Podcast". When prompted copy the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica into the box. 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.

Sinica - Racism in China (pdf)

Fri, 01 Oct 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Orange Fanta

Wed, 29 Sep 2010 09:00:00 -0700

As the wounded lion collapsed in the grass several feet away, its claws still quivering, Francis Macomber reached into his satchel and pulled out his flask of Fanta. Raising its spout to his lips against the late afternoon sun, the hunter smiled as the familiar orange taste flooded his mouth. A little bit of Fanta was just the thing to buck a man's courage, he thought to himself. It boosted you up. Made you feel more sure of yourself, and even steadied your aim. Macomber never left base camp without it.

While China may not offer the same thrill of the hunt as Africa, ordering dinner in this country can be life-threatening in other ways, so it's important to be prepared. And as Hemingway recounted in his famous short story, what better way is there to prepare than with the comfort of everyone's favorite orange soda. Available almost anywhere in China, Fanta is such a special drink here that we've given it a podcast of its very own.

Elementary - Orange Fanta (pdf)

Wed, 29 Sep 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Orange Fanta (dialogue)

Wed, 29 Sep 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Orange Fanta (fix)

Wed, 29 Sep 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Broadway Musicals in Chinese

Mon, 27 Sep 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Brendan tells the tale of seeing Rent a few years ago when the Tony award-winning musical passed through Beijing. As he recounts it, the cast threw their heart into the production before a respectful but increasingly baffled Chinese audience. While the music was well-received, the problem essentially boiled down to one of translation: under orders to excise any moral degeneracy from the show, the translators had cut any reference to drug use, homosexuality and AIDS from the accompanying subtitles.

Considering the political hurdles to bringing rock opera to China, consider this latest project of ours less Chinese lesson and more labor of love and cultural education project. This isn't exactly a podcast, and nor is it a listening test, although we've added our regular popup transcript and vocabulary list. But it's a good way to start the week, and if you've seen anything by Andrew Lloyd Weber, we think you'll like it.

Intermediate - Broadway Musicals in Chinese (pdf)

Mon, 27 Sep 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Broadway Musicals in Chinese (fix)

Mon, 27 Sep 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Attack of the China Bears

Fri, 24 Sep 2010 09:00:00 -0700

As the American economy teeters on the brink of a double-dip recession, China Bear sightings have increased significantly. A loosely-knit group of economists and critics who see stormclouds looming over the Chinese economy, China Bears have a legion of grievances: real estate is in a bubble, the banking system is saddled with non-performing loans, capital investment in the country is inefficient, the economy is tilted too heavily towards export-oriented industries, and consumer wages are inadequate to pull China towards market-led solutions to its problems.

This week on Sinica, we hunt down the China Bear with expert on-the-ground opinion and fact. Which of their grievances are genuine and which risks are overblown? Joining Kaiser Kuo, Gady Epstein and Bill Bishop in our studio is Arthur Kroeber, managing director of Dragonomics and Chief Editor of the China Economic Quarterly. If you're interested in investing in China, doing business here or simply trying to understand where the real fault lines lie in the Chinese economy, this is the podcast for you.

New to Popup Chinese? Sinica is our regular podcast focusing on economic and political developments in contemporary China. If you enjoy this podcast, we encourage you to subscribe to the show through RSS. If you use iTunes, you can do this as easily as 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. 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!

Sinica - Attack of the China Bears (pdf)

Fri, 24 Sep 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Horse's Ass

Wed, 22 Sep 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Evan had mixed feelings about his new assistant. On the one hand, Sammy was proving indispensable at managing Chinese customs. Without his assistance, Drexler Exports would be shipping perhaps half as much product through Guangzhou and taking twice as long to do it. On the other hand, the new employee's efforts to ingratiate himself with his boss were increasingly irritating. Couldn't he be just a bit more laid back?

In this Chinese lesson, we focus on the difference between positive admiration and indulging in the sort of jealous rage that leads to lawsuits. Since we know you're drowning in them for your exceptional Chinese, we also touch on a few ways to deflect compliments and tell someone that they're coming on a bit strong.

Elementary - The Horse's Ass (pdf)

Wed, 22 Sep 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Horse's Ass (dialogue)

Wed, 22 Sep 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Horse's Ass (fix)

Wed, 22 Sep 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Chairman of the Board

Mon, 20 Sep 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Within months of assuming control of the company, the new chairman of Hunan Telecom replaced most of his senior executives with friends and associates whose personal loyalties to him trumped their own business sense. Yet even as institutional resistance crumbled, the new chairman's plans for aggressive expansion couldn't help but spark unease among the few independent voices left on the board.

Intermediate - Chairman of the Board (pdf)

Mon, 20 Sep 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Chairman of the Board (dialogue)

Mon, 20 Sep 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Chairman of the Board (fix)

Mon, 20 Sep 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Capital Punishment in China

Fri, 17 Sep 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Crimes which merit capital punishment in China include treason, murder, corruption, drug-traffiking and occasionally even wildlife poaching. Yet despite the broad reach of the law here, the true extent of the death penalty in China remains one of the country's most tightly-guarded state secrets. And yet China's reliance on the death penalty has waned in recent years, as the Chinese government has instituted significant legal reforms. But how significant? And how many people are still executed each year?

Joining Kaiser Kuo to discuss these questions is Gady Epstein, the Beijing bureau chief for Forbes magazine. We are also pleased to welcome Joshua Rosenzweig, the Senior Manager of Research for the the Duihua Foundation in Hong Kong. A former academic who is fluent in mandarin, Joshua has been researching human rights issues with the foundation since joining it in 2002.

On a practical note, we've been traveling and are sorry to be a bit late getting Sinica out the door this week. But it's a good opportunity for a reminder. If you enjoy the Sinica podcast, subscribe to us through RSS and be notified automatically whenever a new show is released. Just open up iTunes click on the "Advanced" menu and select the option "Subscribe to Podcast". When prompted, copy the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica into that box. You can also download this mp3 directly from our site as a standalone mp3 file. Enjoy!

Sinica - Capital Punishment in China (pdf)

Fri, 17 Sep 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Who is Bradley Cooper

Wed, 15 Sep 2010 11:45:38 -0700

Bradley Cooper's legs stretched out happily in his limousine. His lower limbs knew now that the actor's face had monopolized his public image for too long: back home it was impossible for them to even drop by Dolce or Ortolan without his smile drawing in at least one admiring fan. But in China things were different. Where else could a pair of legs get this sort of attention without even speaking the local language?

Absolute Beginners - Who is Bradley Cooper (pdf)

Wed, 15 Sep 2010 11:45:38 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Who is Bradley Cooper (dialogue)

Wed, 15 Sep 2010 11:45:38 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Losing Touch with Reality

Mon, 13 Sep 2010 00:16:25 -0700

Another lesson on Inception? As Gail reported the conversation later, the user's voice had been painfully brusque. But after a week of shielding the rest of Popup Chinese from its increasingly estranged userbase, even she was getting weary of the role of go-between. So when the call ended she turned to the rest of the office with a groan. "We just had another user calling to complain about all these Inception lessons!"

Her concerns drifted into the aether. "Don't worry about those damn philistines," David replied from deep within our new office theater, where he was testing the surround sound with a freshly-burned copy of you-know-what. Echo and Brendan, who were putting the final touches on an independent translation of the script, murmured in agreement. "Those bastards would probably prefer a week-long Adam Sandler retrospective," Brendan added. "Screw 'em."

Absolute Beginners - Losing Touch with Reality (pdf)

Mon, 13 Sep 2010 00:16:25 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Losing Touch with Reality (dialogue)

Mon, 13 Sep 2010 00:16:25 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Losing Touch with Reality (fix)

Mon, 13 Sep 2010 00:16:25 -0700

Sinica - Showdown in Shenzhen

Fri, 10 Sep 2010 09:00:00 -0700

On September 6th, Shenzhen celebrated the thirtieth anniversary of its founding as a special economic zone (SEZ). And while the city feted itself at the highest levels of power, its celebrations were marred by an unexpected development: in a speech made by Wen Jiabao a week earlier the Chinese Premier had called for further democratization in uncharacteristically blunt terms, warning of the peril of stalled political reform.

The contrast between the two events could not be clearer, but what does it mean? This week, the Sinica gang takes a look at this ideological battle in Shenzhen, as well as the more local storm brewing in Beijing over the redevelopment of the Drum and Bell tower district. Joining Kaiser Kuo we have Sinica co-host Jeremy Goldkorn, along with newcomer John Garnaut, staff journalist for the Sydney Morning Herald and one of the most perceptive journalists writing on China.

As always, if you enjoy the Sinica podcast, remember that you can subscribe to the show through RSS. To get started, just open up iTunes, click on the "Advanced" menu and select the option "Subscribe to Podcast". When prompted, copy the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica into the box. You can also download this mp3 directly from our site by grabbing it as a standalone mp3 file. Enjoy!

Sinica - Showdown in Shenzhen (pdf)

Fri, 10 Sep 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - A Foregone Conclusion

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 09:00:00 -0700

After the standing ovation had died down, a visibly teary Christopher Nolan leaned into the microphone. "I am grateful to all of you for your support, but before we leave tonight, I'd like to put a special word of thanks out to Popup Chinese for its tireless efforts promoting my film in China." As the British director gestured towards the Popup Chinese table, the cameras caught a glimpse of Brendan scowling unglamorously at a half-finished translation scrawled on his napkin. They quickly panned back to the stage.

It being Inception Week here at Popup Chinese, we are happy to bring you this Elementary Chinese lesson inspired by the film. If you've been learning Chinese for a few months and are looking for a challenge, join us for this Chinese podcast as we bring you a natural dialogue filled with a lot of film-related vocabulary. This is what people are saying in China these days. Or it is what they are saying in our office at least.

Elementary - A Foregone Conclusion (pdf)

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - A Foregone Conclusion (dialogue)

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - A Foregone Conclusion (fix)

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Driving under Inception

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 09:00:00 -0700

You may have woken up this morning wondering if yesterday was a dream. Were those folks at Popup Chinese actually crazy enough to promise a full week of Chinese lessons based around the movie Inception? Can they deliver the goods without stooping to baseless parody around day five? And will I survive with my sanity intact?

Fortunately for Chinese-speaking film-lovers worldwide, the answers to these questions are a decisive yes, no and maybe. If you're learning mandarin, enjoyed Inception as much as we did, and are hovering somewhere around the intermediate level, join us for a Chinese podcast that is more fun than driving a van off a bridge. Not only will we bring you vocabulary from the film, but Echo will also share some online Chinese gossip, revealing why Leonardo Dicaprio is bringing back collective memories of Jiang Zemin....

Intermediate - Driving under Inception (pdf)

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Driving under Inception (dialogue)

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Driving under Inception (fix)

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Advanced - The World of Inception

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Today we kick off Inception week at Popup Chinese with an advanced discussion of the film. If you're a film buff looking for some light film analysis, or are just curious how the key concepts behind the film translate into Chinese, join Brendan, Echo and David as they delve into the movie and lay out what we'll be doing for the rest of this week.

Premium subscribers please note: we haven't traditionally had speaking practice lessons at the advanced level, but have opened our telephone hotline for this lesson. If you'd like to share your thoughts on the film, please give us a call and let us know what you think. You can find your personal PIN along with our toll-free number on the text page.

Advanced - The World of Inception (pdf)

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The Apprentice

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 09:00:00 -0700

The Apprentice may be the smartest show on television. Not only is it a brilliant exercise in corporate branding, but it's an unbeatable emotional outlet for anyone who's ever had cause to deal with the real estate market. What's not to love about seeing sixteen aspiring developers backstab each other for work, with one getting canned at the end of each episode? And that's without even mentioning the unusual animal tricks which keep the show fresh week after week.

If you're an Intermediate student of the Chinese language, this lesson is for you. It focuses on two different ways to say "especially" in Chinese: 尤其 and 格外. The rules are simple: place 尤其 before the subject of a sentence or its main verb, depending on which you wish to emphasize. 格外 is conversely placed before adjectives. This is a pretty big difference, but many people miss it. Good luck!

Intermediate - The Apprentice (pdf)

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The Apprentice (dialogue)

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The Apprentice (fix)

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Deflecting Questions in Chinese

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Ever been asked a question you didn't feel like answering because of indifference to the plight of your fellow man? In this Chinese lesson for Absolute Beginners, we focus on the art of deflecting questions. As anyone who has lived or worked in China knows, this is a critical skill for maintaining your sanity here. We're sure you'll be able to use this right away.

Since we've been getting a lot of new people to the site lately, it is probably worth mentioning that our goal with the Absolute Beginner level is making each lesson accessible to people without any background in mandarin, Chinese. This lesson is a bit more difficult than most at this level though, so if you're a total beginner, we recommend clicking through to our text page to read our annotated transcript while listening to our dialogue and podcast.

Absolute Beginners - Deflecting Questions in Chinese (pdf)

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Deflecting Questions in Chinese (dialogue)

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Deflecting Questions in Chinese (fix)

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Get Off My Lawn

Thu, 26 Aug 2010 09:00:00 -0700

The once tidy house on the corner of Nathan and Barker Street had grown dilapitated over the years. Its unkempt lawn was now overgrown with weeds and strewn with debris, while the house itself seemed to have settled back into the shadows, its bright green shutters long ago darkened to the color of the slate-gray yard. Could there be any surprise that - in the eyes of the neighborhood children - this was a malevolent place guarded by a malevolent phantom?

It is no secret that our Popup Towers facility includes various traps intended to dissuade careless children from stumbling too close to our production facilities. That said, we know that not all of you are as lucky as us and some may have occasion to deal with the curious offspring of prolific neighbours from time to time. And that's where this lesson comes in. Yelling at them to get off your lawn may not make a lot of sense in a country where grass is a rare, mystical creature, but if you put some emotion into it the sentiment should carry through. Good luck!

Intermediate - Get Off My Lawn (pdf)

Thu, 26 Aug 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Get Off My Lawn (dialogue)

Thu, 26 Aug 2010 09:00:00 -0700

KTV Wednesday - 5566 - Starting Point

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Been to the mall in the last seven years? How about listened to the radio? If you can answer yes to either of those questions, we think you're more or less statistically guaranteed to have heard our song for today. Or perhaps not exactly this version... but one quite similar to it. This is the theme song to a popular Taiwanese television show. Take a listen and see what you think. It may sound strangely familiar.

If you're having trouble placing the melody, try listening to the original song on Youtube. We've embedded the official music video from the recording band above, but if you're looking for a more upbeat version, you may want to check out this Chinese stalker edition filled with photos of the cast and crew. And if you're in China and can't access Youtube, try watching this version hosted on Youku. Enjoy!

KTV Wednesday - 5566 - Starting Point (pdf)

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - It Happened One Night

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 13:30:15 -0700

As the tropical breeze tugged at her sleeve, Rachel felt torn. She was certain things were moving too quickly between her and Eric, and yet there was a connection between them she couldn't resist. But something held her back yet, a murmured warning in her heart not to fall too far too fast. And so her dilemma hung on her thoughts, reminding her of everything that still remained unsaid between the two of them.

We received an email the other day from someone who wanted more romance in our dialogues. This suggestion was received warmly by the members of our Bradley Cooper fan club and with a confused silence by the rest of the office ("We just did one last month," David remarked). But since we are unable to turn down such hopeful requests, we hit the studio to record this romantic gem. We hope you enjoy it. Or please don't send us hate mail at least.

Elementary - It Happened One Night (pdf)

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 13:30:15 -0700

Elementary - It Happened One Night (dialogue)

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 13:30:15 -0700

Advanced - The Summer Job

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 09:00:00 -0700

When the Harvard Crimson called the job market depressed, it may as well have been describing its readership. Browsing through the classifieds, Susan was shocked to see so few opportunities for summer employment. Her uncle had been urging her to take a break from academia and "get her hands dirty" at the family business, and she had avoided the thought at first, but -- and then she noticed Michael leafing through the paper a few seats away. Hadn't he been the first in her cohort to land a good position?

First things first, calm down. Our advanced Chinese listening test for today is not fork-in-eye difficult. It is fast and long but not terribly punishing, so if you've been pushing yourself through our Intermediate podcasts and have the endurance for a longer challenge, take a listen and see how much you understand. It may be more than you expect.

Advanced - The Summer Job (pdf)

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Film Friday - Hide and Seek

Sat, 21 Aug 2010 09:00:00 -0700

You may like Hollywood movies, but how many can you identify from nothing more than their Chinese soundtrack? Film Friday is a regular lesson series here at Popup Chinese. In every episode, we play a short clip from a Hollywood film that's been dubbed into mandarin. If you can guess the original from nothing more than our brief clip, send your guess in to echo@popupchinese.com for a chance to win a month of free premium access to our site. And good luck!

Film Friday - Hide and Seek (pdf)

Sat, 21 Aug 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - China's Troubled Waters

Fri, 20 Aug 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Are Chinese-American maritime relations running aground? The recent sinking of the South Korean corvette the Cheonan, most likely by China's unruly client state North Korea, has led to the U.S.S. George Washington participating in naval exercises off the Korean coast. Heightening tensions, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, appearing at an ASEAN forum in Hanoi, challenged China's long-standing claims to the Paracel and Spratly Islands -- small reefs and assorted flecks of coral that happen to sit atop rich hydrocarbon stores in the South China Seas.

This week, the Sinica gang takes a lively look at Beijing and Washington's maneuverings in China's troubled coastal waters. Appearing with Kaiser are regulars Jeremy Goldkorn, Gady Epstein, and Bill Bishop. Joining us as well is special guest Stephanie Kleine-Ahlbrandt, the North East Asia project director for the International Crisis Group. This is a podcast you do not want to miss.

On a closing note, Bill Bishop's family has just opened a bakery in Beijing and is being gracious enough to let us give away some great freebies to Sinica listeners. If you're also in Beijing, listen in for instructions on how to stake your claim to some free chocolate deliciousness. And remember, to subscribe to the Sinica show through RSS, just open up iTunes, click on the "Advanced" menu and select the option "Subscribe to Podcast". When prompted, copy the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica into the box. You can also download this mp3 directly from our site by grabbing it as a standalone mp3 file. Enjoy!

Sinica - China's Troubled Waters (pdf)

Fri, 20 Aug 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Short Stories - The Bearskin Gloves

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Our short story for today is a touching essay that combines two of the most distinguishing characteristics of contemporary Chinese literature: it is both extremely sentimental and profoundly depressing. Although the story is apolitical, it nonetheless illustrates the strong cultural influence of Russia on post-war China, through the appearance of a circus bear act that most likely took place in Shanghai.

This essay is frequently anthologized in the mainland and taught in language and literature courses at the high school level. So if you're looking for a benchmark to measure your reading skills, consider this piece designed for the average Chinese high school student. There are likely words here you won't know, but don't worry. When reading any of the short stories on our site, just hover your mouse over any word for a popup containing a contextual definition and guide to pronunciation. Enjoy!

Short Stories - The Bearskin Gloves (pdf)

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - An End to the Feeding Frenzy

Tue, 17 Aug 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Trying to dump someone? As it turns out, muttering "thank you" and "goodbye" repeatedly isn't terribly effective, which is why our Intermediate lesson for today teaches how to sever relations with more dramatic force. You may not want to practice this Chinese on your significant other, but there's no reason not to try it on distant relatives and third-tier friends.

Intermediate - An End to the Feeding Frenzy (pdf)

Tue, 17 Aug 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - An End to the Feeding Frenzy (dialogue)

Tue, 17 Aug 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Death by Skittles

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 09:00:00 -0700

If those of us at Popup Chinese had to amend the lyrics to My Favorite Things -- say as part of a secretive musical project underway here in Bejiing -- you can bet that the first thing to go would be that couplet about "crisp apple streudels" and "schnitzel with noodles". And what would we include in their stead? Only the most lethal Western confectionary ever marketed to small children without a second thought.

New to learning mandarin? This is a podcast lesson designed for Absolute Beginners to the Chinese language. In it, we'll teach you how to ask for various sorts of Diabetes-inducing treats by name. And if you're a more advanced learner? We have a host of more difficult materials set for release later this week. In the meantime, look through our lesson archive and find something at your level.

Absolute Beginners - Death by Skittles (pdf)

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Death by Skittles (dialogue)

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Death by Skittles (fix)

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - The Guo Degang Affair, and China Apologists

Fri, 13 Aug 2010 17:03:50 -0700

This week on Sinica, Jeremy Goldkorn, Gady Epstein, Will Moss and David Moser join Kaiser to talk about the Guo Degang Affair. When a fight with the media at the famous comedian's house became news, the incident sparked a week of heated public debate. This ended abruptly as authorities closed ranks, muzzled the outspoken comedian and stepped-up an old school campaign against the "three vulgarities." Looking beyond the headlines, what does this tell us about the media in China and why does it matter?

On a different front, we also talk about the insidious phenomenon of China apologism. A lively debate over this topic has emerged in the China blogosphere of late, especially regarding the controversial punditry of Shaun Rein. In an attempt to clear his name, Shaun joins us with an audio postcard and prompts a discussion of where the line should be drawn between presenting a nuanced perspective on China and defending the indefensible? When has someone simply gone too far?

Sinica - The Guo Degang Affair, and China Apologists (pdf)

Fri, 13 Aug 2010 17:03:50 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Encounter with an Old Flame

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Let no-one to the marriage of true minds admit impediments, the saying went. And to this the conventional wisdom of her class added Steven Glass, serial paramour and destroyer of every relationship he had ever touched. Ten years later, touring campus with her new husband, Maria shuddered to think she was the only one of his former flames to actually move on and marry someone else!

New to Popup Chinese? This podcast is designed for total beginners to the Chinese language. Even if you don't know any mandarin, by the end of this Chinese lesson you'll be comfortable asking strangers who they are, chit-chatting about your monolingual friends, and maybe even sharing a few intimate moments. Enjoy!

Absolute Beginners - Encounter with an Old Flame (pdf)

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Encounter with an Old Flame (dialogue)

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Encounter with an Old Flame (fix)

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Internet Addiction

Tue, 10 Aug 2010 09:00:00 -0700

We are working on a script which goes something like this: when a new iPad moves into the neighbourhood, Lionel Cormac (played by Willem Dafoe) can't help but have second thoughts. His neighbours dismiss his concerns but before long the trolls and addicts appear, and then we're knee-deep in a zombie-killing Internet fest, with Dafoe pumping shotguns and dragging electronics into the street to expose them to direct sunlight and God's wrath.

"I don't think the story really flows," Brendan commented after reading our first draft. "We go from a nice parable about how electronics fuel our need for constant contact to... well... frankly I don't know where the zombies come from." So we're re-writing the script to make it a bit less of an art film. And in the meantime, we hope you enjoy this more family-friendly and somewhat navel-gazing lesson about the perils of Internet addiction.

Elementary - Internet Addiction (pdf)

Tue, 10 Aug 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Internet Addiction (dialogue)

Tue, 10 Aug 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Internet Addiction (fix)

Tue, 10 Aug 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - China in Africa

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 09:00:00 -0700

The world is abuzz over a number of recent large-scale infrastructure-for-resources deals China has signed in Africa. While some observers see these agreements as a force for good in local economic development, others have gone so far as to call the activities part of a perfidious, neo-imperialistic resource grab. Beijing is accused of perpetuating corruption, of obstructing progress on human rights, and of propping up dictators like Omar al-Bashir of Sudan and Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe.

Where does the truth lie? How exactly are Chinese investors being received in Africa and how do their projects differ from previous Western-led efforts? Joining Kaiser to discuss these questions are Gady Epstein, Beijing Bureau Chief for Forbes magazine, our own South African correspondent Jeremy Goldkorn, and Shannon Van Sant, an American journalist whose reports about China in Africa have recently aired.

If you enjoy this podcast, we encourage you to subscribe to Sinica through RSS. If you use iTunes, you can do this by clicking on the "Advanced" menu option 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 this episode as a standalone mp3 file. Enjoy!

Sinica - China in Africa (pdf)

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Threat of Nuclear Proliferation

Thu, 05 Aug 2010 09:00:00 -0700

The increasing miniaturization of nuclear weapons poses a major challenge to powers such as China. But the situation is complicated: nuclear technology is increasingly applied to commercial problems by companies which can safely navigate the byzantine regulations surrounding the export and sale of dual-use technologies.

We don't usually cover such serious topics at the elementary level, but if you're studying Chinese a little nuclear physics isn't going to be much of a challenge. So grab your mp3 player and get ready for a podcast that looks nuclear proliferation in the eye and calls it what it is: nuclear proliferation. We don't know if this will make you feel better or worse about living in the nuclear age, but it will make you sound a lot more educated.

Elementary - The Threat of Nuclear Proliferation (pdf)

Thu, 05 Aug 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Threat of Nuclear Proliferation (dialogue)

Thu, 05 Aug 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Threat of Nuclear Proliferation (fix)

Thu, 05 Aug 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Golden Monkey Throat Lozenges, Part II

Tue, 03 Aug 2010 09:00:00 -0700

You may have heard the slanderous rumours about our brand circulated by that other Golden Monkey pharmaceutical company. Don't believe the lies! Golden Monkey Throat Lozenges offer soothing relief from a range of symptoms with minimal side effects and a great orange taste. If you are suffering from any number of ailments or body image problems, call our telephone hotline and get medical relief with next-day delivery!

The old-timers among you may remember our first part to the world-famous Golden Monkey saga. That podcast dates back almost two years now, but is as great-tasting today as it has even been. So if you're learning Chinese and like this podcast, be sure to check it out too.

Intermediate - Golden Monkey Throat Lozenges, Part II (pdf)

Tue, 03 Aug 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Golden Monkey Throat Lozenges, Part II (dialogue)

Tue, 03 Aug 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - The Lost Generation

Mon, 02 Aug 2010 09:00:00 -0700

We may be producing Chinese lessons, but we like to think of ourselves as inspired in our mission by great literature. So hats off to you Hemingway. As in your masterpiece The Sun Also Rises, our dialogue for today leaves it deliberately unclear whether an important character is simply having a bad day, or is in fact a member of the walking undead.

We encourage you to think this question through as you listen to our Chinese podcast. And let us know what you decide. We've enabled our speaking practice hotline for this lesson, so if you're a premium subscriber, give us a call at the number listed on this lesson's text page and introduce yourself. Our teachers will get back to you in a day or so with mostly encouraging and constructive feedback, unless you happen to get Xiao Zhang, who is unrepentantly surly before noon.

Absolute Beginners - The Lost Generation (pdf)

Mon, 02 Aug 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - The Lost Generation (dialogue)

Mon, 02 Aug 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Your Phone Service is Terminated

Sat, 31 Jul 2010 09:00:00 -0700

We've thrown a few difficult elementary lessons at you recently, so in this lesson we slow things down a bit. If you've just emerged from our Absolute Beginner level and are hitting the panic button at what is considered elementary Chinese hereabouts, this lesson is for you. It's dead easy, except for one line which... well... let's not spoil the fun. Just join Brendan and Echo and we hope to see you intact on the other side.

Elementary - Your Phone Service is Terminated (pdf)

Sat, 31 Jul 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Your Phone Service is Terminated (dialogue)

Sat, 31 Jul 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Your Phone Service is Terminated (fix)

Sat, 31 Jul 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Film Friday - Close Encounters of the Underwhelming Kind

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 09:00:00 -0700

We are crying on the inside that so few of you guessed last week's film correctly. It was Fritz Lang folks! And don't tell us you don't watch movies unless they're directed by Jerry Bruckheimer. If you're learning Chinese you're supposed to like foreign films. Subtitles should be second nature by now.

In any event, our mystery film this week is much more recent. But we're still going to make you guess it, because at Popup Chinese we follow the sink-or-swim approach to language learning. So if you think your Chinese is good dive into our mystery movie podcast. And if you think you know the film? Send an email to echo@popupchinese.com for a chance to win a free month of premium access to Popup Chinese.

Film Friday - Close Encounters of the Underwhelming Kind (pdf)

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Film Friday - Close Encounters of the Underwhelming Kind (dialogue)

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Harry Potter in Chinese

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 18:59:53 -0700

And as the implications of his actions sank in, the boy wizard plunged into a paroxysm of self-doubt. Harry may not have started the fight, but he had ended it decisively. Seconds earlier, the burst of flame from his wand had exploded mid-air, incinerating the cult leader where he stood while throwing the rest of his followers back against the wall with bone-crushing force. "What have I become," Harry wept as his gaze swept over the carnage, the full weight of death at last upon the boy.

It was then that Dumbledore emerged from the shadows. "It is true that blood will have blood," the old man sighed, "and we must be vigilant lest we become too much like those whose forces we oppose." The professor paused to let his words sink in. He placed a comforting hand on Harry's shoulder as if to say that this too will pass. "But splittists are an insidious threat to the sanctity of a harmonious state and it was fitting for you to treat them harshly."

Intermediate - Harry Potter in Chinese (pdf)

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 18:59:53 -0700

Intermediate - Harry Potter in Chinese (dialogue)

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 18:59:53 -0700

Intermediate - Harry Potter in Chinese (fix)

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 18:59:53 -0700

Absolute Beginners - The Insincere Apology

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 14:37:23 -0700

"I don't know if this is the most horrific lesson we've produced," Brendan said coming out of the studio, "but it has to be close." And so we feel torn. On the one hand, this lesson is pretty much ideal for anyone new to mandarin. Our dialogue and vocabulary are practical without being boring, and they teach one of the most useful things anyone new to China needs to know: the art of the insincere apology.

That said, this lesson may be a bit too intense for a getting-to-know-you session. Or perhaps the word is traumatic. It's a bit like taking a first date to Apocalypse Now, then going home to watch the ending again on DVD. In slow motion. So we're torn, but that still won't stop us from publishing it. If you're a newcomer to the Chinese language, check out this lesson and let us know what you think. And if you have any questions or comments, feel free to write Echo anytime at echo@popupchinese.com.

Absolute Beginners - The Insincere Apology (pdf)

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 14:37:23 -0700

Absolute Beginners - The Insincere Apology (dialogue)

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 14:37:23 -0700

Absolute Beginners - The Insincere Apology (fix)

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 14:37:23 -0700

Film Friday - Blood and Fear

Sat, 24 Jul 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Nevermind that this week's selection is widely considered one of the best films of its type ever made, and that most viewers emerge from the theater in stunned silence after seeing it. Because it turns out that this masterpiece of cinema is neither bloody nor terrifying enough to impress our jaded Chinese audience as represented by Echo. "I could have used more terror," she said with a yawn after our screening ended. "Wasn't this supposed to be a horror film?"

If you're a film buff, join us today as we present another Chinese movie mystery. This is a game: if you think you can identify our mystery film from nothing more than the short clip we present that's been dubbed into mandarin, send your guess in to echo@popupchinese.com for a chance to win a free month of premium access to Popup Chinese, not to mention the adulation of the masses.

Film Friday - Blood and Fear (pdf)

Sat, 24 Jul 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Film Friday - Blood and Fear (dialogue)

Sat, 24 Jul 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Death of the China Blog

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 09:00:00 -0700

The China blog is officially dead, moribund, cadaverous, extinct, buried, bereft of life, defunct and totally-and-utterly-inert. It could even be said to be resting in peace, save for the fact that Will Moss drove a silver stake through its heart before recording this podcast. "We single-handledly made the China blog obsolete," he joked in our studio after further sawing off its head. But he has a point. Because who reads blogs these days?

Does anyone even remember the China blogs of days past? Back then there were greats like Peking Duck, ImageThief, Sinosplice and Danwei, and you could even indulge in a little China-bashing at Talk Talk China. Then came Sinocism and EastSouthWestNorth, and then the mainstream media blogs from magazines like Time and journalists like Malcolm Moore, Peter Foster and Tom Lasseter. And then the explosion of blogs like the Shanghaiist, China Geeks, China Hearsay, ChinaSmack, ChinaHush and CNReviews, not to mention the more eclectic and academic writings of China Youren, Jottings from the Granite Studio, In the Footsteps of Joseph Rock and The China Beat?

Well... we're sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but all of these blogs are dead. Or that's the opinion of the curmugeons in our studio this week: Kaiser Kuo, Will Moss and Jeremy Goldkorn, veteran bloggers in China who've seen the ups and downs of social media and are prepared to tell it like it is. So join us this week on Sinica for a dissection of the Chinese blog scene. And then get the hell off our lawn. What is it with kids these days anyway?

If you enjoy this podcast, be sure to share your thoughts in the comments section below, or write us at sinica@popupchinese.com. And remember, to subscribe to the Sinica show through RSS, just open up iTunes, click on the "Advanced" menu and select the option "Subscribe to Podcast". When prompted, copy the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica into the box. You can also download this mp3 directly from our site you can also grab it as a standalone mp3 file. Enjoy!

Sinica - Death of the China Blog (pdf)

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Girlfriend of Dubious Provenance

Mon, 19 Jul 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Our office has recently been abuzz with the news that Marlin, one of our voice actors, has picked up a girlfriend of dubious provenance. Dubious here not meaning skeptical or suspicious, just highlighting the fact that no-one seems clear where exactly she's from, least of all Marlin himself. Echo's best guess was Lithuania. We'll report back with the specifics when we figure them out.

Elementary - Girlfriend of Dubious Provenance (pdf)

Mon, 19 Jul 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Girlfriend of Dubious Provenance (dialogue)

Mon, 19 Jul 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Ich Bin Ein Beijinger

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Sad as it is to admit, the rare solar eclipse that incited such mayhem on Easter Island earlier this week has thrown our own Beijing community into a tizzy. Or perhaps the culprit is the stultifying heatwave which has descended on our city, turning Popup Towers into a beseiged fortress of air conditioning, and sending the rest of the expat community scurrying to their habitual vacation spots in Shunyi and Fengtai.

Whatever the cause, along with everyone else we know in Beijing, the Sinica podcast is taking a vacation this Friday. Instead of a regular podcast discussion on the matters of the day, we're pleased to present a special recording of Kaiser reading selections from his latest book: Ich Bin Ein Beijinger. Consisting of selections from the columns Kaiser has written over the last nine years for an English language magazine here in Beijing, this book is available in most foreign language bookstores here in Beijing as well as in a special digital edition for the Kindle. Oh yeah, and here's the standalone mp3 file.

Sinica - Ich Bin Ein Beijinger (pdf)

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Advanced - Terror on the High Seas

Thu, 15 Jul 2010 13:50:47 -0700

The rumbling explosion in the lower hold and increasingly acrid smoke on deck sent the captain's assistant scurrying into her master's cabin. But after closing and barring the door behind her, the young woman turned to the captain and froze in astonishment. Expecting to see him prepared for a fight in defense of command, the girl was shocked to find the man bent calmly over his desk examining the nautical charts with a pocket glass, his sword lying sheathed by the nightstand.

Avast mateys! Our Chinese lesson for today is an advanced listening test designed for near-native speakers. If you think your mandarin is pushing towards fluency, try listening to our dialogue a single time before clicking through to our quiz and finding out how much you really understood. And if you have any questions? Either leave us a comment below, or click through to the text page to examine our word-by-word annotated transcript and find out what you missed.

Advanced - Terror on the High Seas (pdf)

Thu, 15 Jul 2010 13:50:47 -0700

Absolute Beginners - The Industrial Accident

Tue, 13 Jul 2010 09:00:00 -0700

You wouldn't believe the number of times we've heard these complaints from newcomers. "I was just passing through Yangshuo," the victim usually starts, staring forlornly at the massive cast encasing their lower torso. "Who'd have thought there would be a freak industrial accident within minutes of my arrival?" And to be fair, for travellers with limited experience in southern China, the scenario does sound seductively implausible.

Statistics do not lie though, and they tell us that you'll need this podcast sooner rather than later. Which is why we're happy to offer this safety-first lesson in Chinese that will teach you how to identify wounded limbs to would-be rescuers. Leaving aside any discussion of China's industrial safety record, we think you'll find this useful language even if you're never caught in a collapsing steel mill or exploding chemical plant. Because at the very least, learning to say what hurts and where it hurts will save you from embarrassing pantomime the next time you need to see a doctor in China.

Absolute Beginners - The Industrial Accident (pdf)

Tue, 13 Jul 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - The Industrial Accident (dialogue)

Tue, 13 Jul 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - The Industrial Accident (fix)

Tue, 13 Jul 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - A Life of Science

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Doctor Lu surveyed his workplace with a smile. Four months ago the prominent Chinese scientist had relocated to a world-famous university in southern California. And although it had taken him a few weeks to adjust to the rhythm of life in America, the professor had settled in quite well. There were still days he missed the bustle of life in Nanjing, but the United States had benefits China could still not offer, not the least of which was the new state-of-the-art bioinformatics laboratory his department chair had used to lure him across the Pacific.

All in all, between his new research center and his exceptionally talented graduate students, the worst Professor Lu could say about his new position was the complex approval process required for even the most transparently harmless biochemical research. Fortunately, given that his lab bordered the edge of campus, this extra layer of administrative scrutiny had yet to frustrate him. And as long as he continued to publish and draw the department new grant money, his life promised to be as tranquil and productive as any man of science could reasonably expect.

Intermediate - A Life of Science (pdf)

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - A Life of Science (dialogue)

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - A Life of Science (fix)

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - China's Environmental Collapse

Fri, 09 Jul 2010 09:00:00 -0700

After the collapse of international climate change talks in Copenhagen in 2009, Mark Lynas' devastating article as published in the Guardian laid the blame squarely at China's feet, accusing the Chinese government of deliberately scuttling American-led efforts to secure an international agreement on climate change. This begs the question: is China really to blame for the collapse at Copenhagen, and what plans if any does the country have for curtailing its own cascading environmental problems?

Joining hosts Kaiser Kuo and Will Moss this week are Jonathan Watts, Guardian correspondent and author of the new book When A Billion Chinese Jump, and Alex Wang, senior attorney and director of the China Environmental Law Project at the Natural Resources Defense Council in Beijing. Both experts in Chinese environmental policy, Jon and Alex join us for an in-depth discussion of Jonathan's new book on China's growing environmental crisis and the various efforts underway to solve it.

As always, let us remind you that if you enjoy this podcast, be sure to share your thoughts in the comments section below, or write us at sinica@popupchinese.com. And remember, to subscribe to the Sinica show through RSS, just open up iTunes, click on the "Advanced" menu and select the option "Subscribe to Podcast". When prompted, copy the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica into the box. If you'd like to download this mp3 directly from our site you can also grab it as a standalone mp3 file. Enjoy!

Sinica - China's Environmental Collapse (pdf)

Fri, 09 Jul 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Tremendous Inconvenience of Modern Life

Thu, 08 Jul 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Brendan stepped gingerly past Echo's sleeping body. "Sorry about the time," he glanced at his watch. It was three in the afternoon, and our recording session had been scheduled to start at noon. "I had to go to the bank to pay my power bill and take out enough cash to cover the apartment management fee," he admitted sheepishly. There was not much else to be said. Such is life with the Bank of China.

Incidentally, while this is somewhat offtopic, you more advanced speakers who forced Brendan to jump on his sword in our comment section earlier this week will be pleased to hear we recorded some more good intermediate and advanced dialogues earlier this week. So if you're ahead of the Elementary level and spinning your wheels looking for more intermediate and advanced lessons, be sure to check back early next week when they're scheduled for release.

Elementary - The Tremendous Inconvenience of Modern Life (pdf)

Thu, 08 Jul 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Tremendous Inconvenience of Modern Life (dialogue)

Thu, 08 Jul 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Short Stories - The Monkey King: chapter 1, part 2

Tue, 06 Jul 2010 09:00:00 -0700

The Monkey King is one of the four classics of Chinese literature, standing alongside Dream of the Red Chamber, the Water Margin and Three Kingdoms in the pantheon of must-read Chinese novels. If you're new to the story and don't want to miss any of it, we suggest you start with our opening paragraph of the novel as previously annotated. If you find reading about the traditional Chinese calendar system wearying you can skip ahead to where the action picks up by starting with the third paragraph in our selection today.

Continuing where our first chapter left off, the first paragraph in our selection today briefly reiterates the Chinese creation myth, which holds that the universe was brought into being through the tearing open of a heavenly void. The world is briefly described as consisting of four different continents governed by a number of divine rulers before the novel shifts its focus to a mysterious island far offshore. This island is then described in depth in a stand-alone poem. The ending of this poem is much easier than its opening: don't be discouraged.

Our story starts in earnest with the third paragraph however, where we are introduced to an enormous rock at the peak of the island mountain. As those familiar with The Dream of the Red Chamber's opening allegory will guess, this rock is of course a sentient creature. And in time it splits open to reveal an egg which is carved by the wind into the shape of a monkey. This monkey is like all other monkeys, except for its flaming eyes which shoot out fiery beams of light. The excitement this causes naturally attracts the attention of the Gods, who gather to discuss the creature in the final paragraph and conclude that it is of divine origin.

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 story in the original Chinese. And the good news is that you don't need a dictionary to do this at all. Simply hover your mouse over any word for a popup containing an exact definition of the word in its proper context. And be sure to enable the "extra notes" field in your popups for additional information including explanatory notes, suggested translations of particularly thorny sentences and much more.

Short Stories - The Monkey King: chapter 1, part 2 (pdf)

Tue, 06 Jul 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Baby Names and Severed Ears

Mon, 05 Jul 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Before you write Steve Jobs to complain about this podcast, let us say a quick word in our defense. After all, it isn't as if we said to our voice actors, "write us a dialogue about baby names, but don't forget to stuff a few severed body parts in there." The ear worked its way in more naturally. "It's really the elephant in the room when it comes to this lesson," as Brendan said coming out of the studio. "How could we avoid the subject when the dialogue paints such a gruesome picture all on its own?"

And it's true: one of the characters in today's Chinese dialogue is an ideograph of a human hand holding a severed ear. Once you know which character it is, we're fairly sure you won't forget it. In the meantime, if you think you can spot it, click through to our text page and try to pick out the culprit before Brendan and Echo identify it for you in the podcast.

Elementary - Baby Names and Severed Ears (pdf)

Mon, 05 Jul 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Baby Names and Severed Ears (dialogue)

Mon, 05 Jul 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Baby Names and Severed Ears (fix)

Mon, 05 Jul 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Newsweek Bid, Renminbi Revaluation

Fri, 02 Jul 2010 09:00:00 -0700

In a sudden move clearly intended to stave off criticism at the G20 meeting in Toronto, China loosened the yuan's 23-month-old peg to the American dollar earlier this month, allowing its currency to appreciate against the greenback. This week's Sinica Podcast looks at the domestic drivers - both in China and in the U.S. - of the fracas over China's currency move. We also look at the Southern Media Group's surprising, but unsuccessful, bid to purchase Newsweek from the Washington Post, which has been looking for a buyer for the money-losing publication for several months.

Joining Kaiser to discuss these topics are New Yorker staff writer Evan Osnos, who has written recently on the Chinese Newsweek bid, and Gady Epstein, the Beijing bureau chief for Forbes magazine and close follower of Chinese monetary policy. So join us for a lively and enlightening podcast that talks about Chinese money and what it can and can't yet buy.

As always, if you enjoy the Sinica podcast and would like to subscribe to the show through RSS, just open up iTunes, click on the "Advanced" menu and select the option "Subscribe to Podcast". When prompted, copy the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica into the box. And alternately, if you'd like to download this mp3 directly from our site you can also grab it as a standalone mp3 file. Enjoy!

Sinica - Newsweek Bid, Renminbi Revaluation (pdf)

Fri, 02 Jul 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - What if the BP Oil Spill happened in China....

Thu, 01 Jul 2010 09:00:00 -0700

As Gady Epstein reports in this special dispatch, "sometime ago, we reached the China Zone in the BP story." The China Zone is - for those of you who haven't heard of it yet - the point at which a reasonable observer will believe almost anything about a story simply because "this is China." Which raises the question of what the Deeepwater Horizon story would look like if the accident actually did happen in the Middle Kingdom?

Gady and the Sinica crew came in to record this yesterday along with our regular weekly show. This piece is a slightly edited version of a photoessay Gady wrote for Forbes magazine. For the full transcript along with some hilarious accompanying photos, be sure to check out the full piece in all of its unexpurgated glory on the Forbes website.

Sinica - What if the BP Oil Spill happened in China.... (pdf)

Thu, 01 Jul 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Overworked Kitten

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 09:00:00 -0700

This lesson is a bit different from what we normally do. Instead of a dialogue, we've got a short story to share with you. But this is not just any short story. It's actually a homework assignment written by Chris, one of our students who is studying one-on-one with Echo as part of our university program. And it is fantastic. Chris wrote this absolutely lovely tale about an overworked kitten, and when we read it we knew we had to share it with you.

On a related note, if this sounds like the sort of thing you'd be interested in doing yourself, we'd be happy to give you a free trial to experience what our university program is actually like. Just send us an email at echo@popupchinese.com and Echo will schedule a free trial class for you at your convenience.

Elementary - The Overworked Kitten (pdf)

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Overworked Kitten (dialogue)

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Overworked Kitten (fix)

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Advanced - Watercooler Gossip: Dream or Nightmare?

Mon, 28 Jun 2010 09:00:00 -0700

We're taking a new approach to our Advanced series with this lesson, so let us know what you think. Instead of a Chinese-only discussion on a more general topic, we've got an in-depth bilingual discussion about what everyone in Beijing is talking about: the new television series of Dream of the Red Chamber. If you're not up on the latest gossip surrounding this production, join us as we complain about the bad casting, director scandals, atrocius haircuts and everything else your coworkers are griping about around the watercooler.

In addition to the regular gossip though, we also talk a bit about the book itself. Even if you've never read Dream of the Red Chamber, by the end of this podcast you'll be able to talk knowledgeably not only about what actually happens in the book, but also what should have happened. We gave Brendan and Echo free rein to complain about who was supposed to end up with whom, who was supposed to die unhappily in chapter nine, and all of the other secrets revealed in one of the most critical passages in the book: the revelation of fates in the chapter five dream sequence. If you want the book in a nutshell, this is it.

Advanced - Watercooler Gossip: Dream or Nightmare? (pdf)

Mon, 28 Jun 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Film Friday - Interplanetary Crash Landing

Sat, 26 Jun 2010 13:01:05 -0700

If you've joined Popup Chinese in the last month or so, our Film Friday series is probably new to you. But it's definitely worth your time. Each show we pick a mystery clip from a Hollywood film that's been dubbed into Chinese, and challenge you to identify the original English film from nothing more than the Chinese soundtrack. Our clips highlight native-level Chinese, making this is a challenging game. Why not listen in and see how you do?

And to make it extra worth your while, every week we pick a single winner from everyone who guesses correctly and give them a month of free premium access to Popup Chinese. So if you think you can identify our mystery film for this week, get your guess into echo@popupchinese.com for a chance to win. As Brendan likes to say, you can't say fairer than that....

Film Friday - Interplanetary Crash Landing (pdf)

Sat, 26 Jun 2010 13:01:05 -0700

Film Friday - Interplanetary Crash Landing (dialogue)

Sat, 26 Jun 2010 13:01:05 -0700

Sinica - Beijing's Ambivalent Relationship with the Internet

Fri, 25 Jun 2010 16:44:56 -0700

Mere mention of Chinese Internet censorship is no longer taboo. Or that's our take-away from a recent white paper by the State Council Informatization Office that outlines exactly how and why the Chinese government plans to tighten controls over online communications in China. Is Beijing trying to stuff the Internet genie back in its proverbial bottle, or is Rebecca MacKinnon right with her metaphor of an expanded aviary: the birdcage may be tighter knit, but it is still bigger than ever before?

This week we take a closer look at what the Chinese government has said publicly about its plans for future Internet controls. Joining Kaiser in the studio are Sinica regulars Jeremy Goldkorn of Danwei fame, blogger and entrepreneur Bill Bishop, and Gady Epstein, the Beijing bureau chief for Forbes magazine. We also hope you'll chime in with your own thoughts in the comment section, or write us directly at sinica@popupchinese.com. We look forward to hearing what you think.

As always, if you enjoy this podcast and would like to subscribe to the show through RSS, just open up iTunes, click on the "Advanced" menu and select the option "Subscribe to Podcast". When prompted, copy the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica into the box. If you'd like to download this mp3 directly from our site you can also grab it as a standalone mp3 file. Enjoy!

Sinica - Beijing's Ambivalent Relationship with the Internet (pdf)

Fri, 25 Jun 2010 16:44:56 -0700

Absolute Beginners - The Passive-Aggressive Masseuse

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 09:00:00 -0700

The Chinese massage had started innocently enough, with the standard allotment of questions on age, nationality and marital status. But then almost imperceptibly it began to go downhill. First came the bruising kidney rub, and then what could only be called hyper-aggressive cupping. The masseuse was never overtly offensive, being almost professional to a fault, but she also never missed a pressure point.

On a separate note, our apologies if the last few days have been a bit light on podcasts. We've just moved into our new headquarters at Popup Towers and things have been a bit chaotic shuffling furniture back and forth. We're back on a regular production schedule now and will have some more advanced materials coming out later this week. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy this one.

Absolute Beginners - The Passive-Aggressive Masseuse (pdf)

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - The Passive-Aggressive Masseuse (dialogue)

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - The Passive-Aggressive Masseuse (fix)

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Review of Chinese Books

Fri, 18 Jun 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Looking for a little summer reading? This week Sinica sorts the wheat from the chaff with a massive review of books on China. Our discussion touches on a everything from Chinese fiction to non-fiction academic works on Chinese politics, economics and history. There's a good selection here and a combative discussion: we'll tell you what we love, and what we hate and why....

Joining Kaiser in the studio is Gady Epstein, Beijing bureau chief for Forbes magazine, Qing historian and popular blogger Jeremiah Jenne and China public relations expert Will Moss. And rounding out the in-studio discussion we have digital postcards from a number of other Sinica contributors you'll remember from previous episodes: Jonathan Watts, Beijing-based correspondent for The Guardian; Sinica regular Jeremy Goldkorn; Kathleen McLaughlin, a prolific reporter for the Bureau of National Affairs and Global Post; and David Moser, all-around renaissance man and current Academic Director for CET Beijing.

If you enjoy this podcast, be sure to share your thoughts in the comments section, or by writing us at sinica@popupchinese.com. And remember, to subscribe to the Sinica show through RSS, just open up iTunes, click on the "Advanced" menu and select the option "Subscribe to Podcast". When prompted, copy the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica into the box. If you'd like to download this mp3 directly from our site you can also grab it as a standalone mp3 file. Enjoy!

Sinica - Review of Chinese Books (pdf)

Fri, 18 Jun 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Power Bar

Thu, 17 Jun 2010 09:00:00 -0700

First of all, we should admit that this dialogue sparked a major feud at Popup Towers over the proper way to say the word "power bar" in Chinese. Religious obduracy in Ireland has nothing on the intransigence we've seen take root in our office over the past week. Echo refuses to use anything but 电插板 while Gail keeps making pointed reference to our 接线板. The rest of us being sick of the debate, officially give you permission to use whichever one you prefer.

That said, Elementary students should know that our listening test today is special in essentially defining the upper boundary of our Elementary level. The vocabulary used is relatively straightforward, but it is delivered at a fast, natural speed. So test your Chinese comprehension by listening to our dialogue once and then clicking through to our online quiz to see how much you understood. Our regular popup transcripts and vocabulary lists are available for reference if you need them.

Elementary - The Power Bar (pdf)

Thu, 17 Jun 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Power Bar (fix)

Thu, 17 Jun 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - The Internet, never heard of it....

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 09:00:00 -0700

We were surprised when 9527 came out with this, especially since she's studying to be a programmer. But given the maze of Chinese Internet businesses with strange three-character names, it's not all surprising that - sooner or later - someone had to make this mistake. Just be glad this foot-in-mouth moment happened to a native speaker and not you....

If you're a total beginner to Chinese, you'll find this lesson a bit on the hard side compared to most of our Absolute Beginner materials. So if you're new to Popup Chinese and easily intimidated, try starting with an easier lesson like this one. If you feel courageous though, remember that we have line-by-line recordings of all of the lines in this dialogue on our lesson text page, so you can listen to them one-by-one and practice until you get perfect. And for feedback on your spoken Chinese? We've enabled our Speaking Practice hotline for this lesson. Grab your PIN from the text page and give us a call for some individual Chinese learning love. We're looking forward to hearing from you.

Absolute Beginners - The Internet, never heard of it.... (pdf)

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - The Internet, never heard of it.... (dialogue)

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - The Internet, never heard of it.... (fix)

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Science Fiction in China

Fri, 11 Jun 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Science fiction serves as a kind of mirror for how a society sees itself in the future. So what future do Chinese sci-fi writers envision in the far-off yet-to-come? And what role does China play in that future? Do contemporary Chinese writers see a harmonious utopia ? Or are they more concerned with the prospects of dystopian collapse? These are the questions raised in this week's edition of Sinica, which takes a closer look at the state of sci-fi in China

Joining Kaiser this week is longtime Sinica stalwart Gady Epstein, who also happens to be the Beijing bureau chief for Forbes magazine. With them we have two genuine experts on Chinese science fiction. Our first guest is Stanley Chen (Chen Qiufan), Google employee and one of the leading new generation of Chinese science fiction writers. Joel Martinsen, one of the most informed Americans on the Chinese science fiction scene, is also in our studio to talk about what sets Chinese sci-fi apart from its Western counterpart.

If you enjoy this podcast, be sure to give us your take on things either in the comment section, or by writing us at sinica@popupchinese.com. And remember, to subscribe to the Sinica show through RSS, just open up iTunes, click on the "Advanced" menu and select "Subscribe to Podcast". When prompted, copy the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica into the box. Those of you who'd like to download this mp3 directly from our site can also grab it as a standalone mp3 file. Enjoy!

Sinica - Science Fiction in China (pdf)

Fri, 11 Jun 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Trapped in a Sea Cave

Wed, 09 Jun 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Did I ever tell you about the time I was trapped in that sea cave? In less than ten minutes we went from collecting shells in shallow tidal pools to sloughing through waist-deep water as the tide came in. It was amazing how little it took to make everything wrong.

And to be honest, there was a moment when I didn't think any of us would make it out alive. The currents had swollen so much it was getting hard to even keep my footing. But it was just then - right at that moment of despair - that I had what I know now is an epiphany. Because I suddenly realized what it really means to be human and why we're all here, and that's why I invited you out, because I think it's important to share....

Intermediate - Trapped in a Sea Cave (pdf)

Wed, 09 Jun 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Trapped in a Sea Cave (dialogue)

Wed, 09 Jun 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Trapped in a Sea Cave (fix)

Wed, 09 Jun 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - China's Harmonious Society

Mon, 07 Jun 2010 09:00:00 -0700

There's no reason not to tell people what you think. Unless they're holding a weapon or have a crazy look in their eyes like the girl we met last week who insisted on asking us for our thoughts on the territorial integrity of the motherland before promising to swim across the Taiwanese straits with a knife in her teeth to ensure it before we even opened our mouth to answer. "So you like swimming," we tried to redirect the conversation. "What other hobbies do you have?"

Some topics are too sensitive for other podcasts. But not Popup Chinese, which is why in today's lesson we stare down the rabid dog of media censorship and use it as an excuse to talk about our feelings. Our goal here is teaching you how to respond the next time someone puts you in a tough situation. And our suggestion? Tell them how you feel on pretty much every other subject under the sun until they get the point. We've tried this and can confirm that it actually works. And it doesn't take much Chinese to pull off either! Listen in and you'll be ready in no time.

Absolute Beginners - China's Harmonious Society (pdf)

Mon, 07 Jun 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - China's Harmonious Society (dialogue)

Mon, 07 Jun 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - China's Harmonious Society (fix)

Mon, 07 Jun 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Suicides, Strikes and Labor Unrest in China

Fri, 04 Jun 2010 09:00:00 -0700

A spate of suicides leaves ten dead at the Shenzhen campus of Foxconn, the giant electronics manufacturer that makes many of the world's most popular consumer electronics. A rare strike paralyzes production at Honda Motors, shutting down all of the company's manufacturing lines in the country. In response, both companies offer substantial concessions to workers, causing many to ask if this marks the end of China's reign as the low-cost "workshop to the world"?

This week on Sinica, host Kaiser Kuo welcomes Kathleen McLaughlin, a prolific reporter for the Bureau of National Affairs and Global Post who has written extensively on electronics manufacturing trends in China. We're also joined by Jonathan Watts, Beijing-based correspondent for The Guardian, who is just back from a visit to the massive Foxconn facility in Shenzhen. Also with us is Danwei founder Jeremy Goldkorn. We look at the problems afflicting labor in China: are these simply the result of poor working conditions, or is there more at work here?

Sinica - Suicides, Strikes and Labor Unrest in China (pdf)

Fri, 04 Jun 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Watership Down, Part II

Mon, 31 May 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Perhaps a rabbit made for an unorthodox pet, but considering the size of their apartment, it was a practical choice at least. Which was why Susan had relented at her son's insistence on adopting one. Fiver was the runt of the litter and had been practically apoplectic when picked out from the back of the cage, but the small beast was hastily quieted by an enthusiastic feeding of lettuce and carrots, and had fallen quite soundly asleep by the time they arrived home.

Learning Chinese but having a rough time of it? No more. In this Chinese lesson, Brendan and Echo will teach you an easy way to put sentences into the future tense, while also reviewing a lot of vocabulary you'll use when... or... perhaps we'll just let you find out for yourself.

Elementary - Watership Down, Part II (pdf)

Mon, 31 May 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Watership Down, Part II (dialogue)

Mon, 31 May 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Watership Down, Part II (fix)

Mon, 31 May 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Critical Media, Foreign and Domestic

Fri, 28 May 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Is the "Western media" biased in its reporting about China? What are the frames and narratives that inform the Anglophone media's understanding of the county, and what are the misunderstandings about the "Western media" that lead Chinese people into believing Western reporting is more biased than it is?

This week, Tania Branigan from the Guardian, Jeremy Goldkorn from Danwei and serial China entrepreneur Bill Bishop join host Kaiser Kuo in a discussion of this perennial topic. And lest you mistakenly believe that it's only the Western media writing critical stories on China, we discuss the state of investigative reporting in China, focusing on a recent piece by Tania in The Guardian about China's best-known investigative journalist, Wang Keqin.

Sinica - Critical Media, Foreign and Domestic (pdf)

Fri, 28 May 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Chef Sends His Regards

Thu, 27 May 2010 09:00:00 -0700

We were waiting for Brendan to arrive when the conversation turned to Yulao, one of our favorite restaurants in Beijing and the source of what is possibly the best lamb and beef kebabs in the whole city. Having spent an unhealthy number of evenings there, our crew was enthusiastically passing judgment on the menu when Brendan stepped into the room. "It's a great place," he said taking off his coat, "but don't look in the kitchen...."

Elementary - The Chef Sends His Regards (pdf)

Thu, 27 May 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Chef Sends His Regards (dialogue)

Thu, 27 May 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Stop Playing with My Phone

Mon, 24 May 2010 09:00:00 -0700

There are moments of frustration in learning Chinese. Like the time you were crossing customs and the border agent asked for your Nexus One and refused to give it back. Or to be fair, he said he was looking for one and a more accurate description might be "played with it for about five minutes," all to the point you would have suspected industrial espionage if three of those minutes weren't spent on Snake.

Our own bad experiences aside, our lesson today is designed for all of you who have yet to learn a single word of Chinese. The is one of the easiest lessons you'll find on Popup Chinese. In it, we introduce a very simple dialogue that will have you saying "this one" and "that one" and then asking others to give you things. Whether you're demanding electronics back from overzealous state employees, picking food off a menu or sourcing high-end commodity electronics from bazaars in Shenzhen, this is Chinese you can use right away. So dig in!

Absolute Beginners - Stop Playing with My Phone (pdf)

Mon, 24 May 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Stop Playing with My Phone (dialogue)

Mon, 24 May 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Stop Playing with My Phone (fix)

Mon, 24 May 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Mao's Legacy and Foreign Self-Censorship

Fri, 21 May 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Notice your friends holding something back? In our Sinica podcast for today, we talk about the self-censoring phenomenon that's taken root among the foreign community in China, and discuss a surprising case which demonstrates exactly the opposite: how one of the fiercest critics of Mao's legacy has emerged within the confines of China's own educational system. Why is one Chinese teacher going where most foreigners fear to tread, and what does this mean for those of us working and living in China?

After a successful speaking trip to Australia, Kaiser Kuo is back in the studio hosting Sinica this week. He is joined by Jeremy Goldkorn of Danwei fame and Sinica regular Gady Epstein, Beijing bureau chief for Forbes magazine. Joining us as a first time guest is David Moser, translator, essayist and Sinologist who is currently working as the Academic Director for CET Beijing.

Sinica - Mao's Legacy and Foreign Self-Censorship (pdf)

Fri, 21 May 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - International Schools in China

Wed, 19 May 2010 09:00:00 -0700

It was strange that the headmaster had arranged their tour for the weekend. While it hadn't struck Monica as odd previously, now that they were walking through campus, the choice of days seemed peculiar. For despite the fact it was a sunny October afternoon, the school grounds were almost deserted. Save for the occasional schoolboy slouching home in the distance, there was nothing to be seen suggesting she and her husband were touring the most renowned international school in Beijing. Or any other school for that matter. And then they entered the buttery....

If you're living the expat life in China, you're doubtless familiar with the hordes of international schools scrambling over each other to educate your brood. Since you may not be intimately familiar with what a Chinese education involves, in this podcast we strip away the mystery and show you how the education system really works in China. And in the process, we illuminate a subtle difference between two very similar words that intermediate Chinese learners mix up all the time. So listen up and we hope you enjoy the show.

Intermediate - International Schools in China (pdf)

Wed, 19 May 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - International Schools in China (dialogue)

Wed, 19 May 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - International Schools in China (fix)

Wed, 19 May 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - A Case for Spare Batteries

Mon, 17 May 2010 09:00:00 -0700

We were stranded in rural Tongzhou last weekend on routine business, when we found ourselves surrounded by a horde of undead construction workers. As they lurched towards us for the kill, Echo sprang into action. "Call Popup Towers," she cried as she lobbed her phone through the air. "Get Gail to send reinforcements, and get a move on it!" In the next breath, she readied her Glock C22 for action.

Impressed as I was with Echo's taste in sidearms, my heart sank as I looked at her cellphone. It had been a long day, and Echo's incessant texting had reduced the battery to a single bar of health. As the shuffling zombies drew nearer, I considered that there was a valuable lesson somewhere here about the perils of a life dependent on consumer electronics, and the dangers of leaving the house without a reliable supply of spare batteries.

Elementary - A Case for Spare Batteries (pdf)

Mon, 17 May 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - A Case for Spare Batteries (dialogue)

Mon, 17 May 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - A Case for Spare Batteries (fix)

Mon, 17 May 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Schoolyard Violence with Chinese Characteristics

Fri, 14 May 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Despite efforts to downplay the story in the face of the Shanghai Expo, news of a recent wave of copycat killings has spread quickly through China, driven in part by the surprising revelation that many of the killers have been middle-aged and apparently well-educated men. Online, some netizens have blamed the government, which in turn blames social contradictions. Writing for the Telegraph, Malcolm Moore summarizes these attacks as a "turning point" created by alienation engendered over the last twenty years of China's industrialization. Where does the truth lie?

With Kaiser Kuo out of the country, Jeremy Goldkorn of Danwei takes up hosting duties this week joined by Sinica regulars Gady Epstein, Beijing bureau chief for Forbes magazine, and China public relations expert Will Moss, whom you may know as author of the popular blog Imagethief. We also have Qin Liwen as a guest in the studio. She is a Chinese author and bookstore owner in Beijing who has written about these killings in the domestic media.

Sinica - Schoolyard Violence with Chinese Characteristics (pdf)

Fri, 14 May 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Getting Married in China

Thu, 13 May 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Getting married in China? We heard about your weekend trip to Hainan and thought it sounded too good to be true. So we're sure it's a done deal in her mind. All you need to do now is just sum up the courage and pop the question. And make sure you do it in mandarin: it's sweeter that way.

What's that? You don't know how to propose in Chinese? If you're planning on getting married in China, this is the perfect lesson for you then. Join Echo and Brendan in this podcast as we walk through the steps needed to sweep your sweetheart off her feet. And if you're not at the marrying stage yet don't worry. We also coerced Echo into sharing some practical tips on impressing the girl of your dreams. Put these tricks into action and with a bit of luck, you'll find yourself on the receiving end of a proposal.

Absolute Beginners - Getting Married in China (pdf)

Thu, 13 May 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Getting Married in China (dialogue)

Thu, 13 May 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Getting Married in China (fix)

Thu, 13 May 2010 09:00:00 -0700

KTV Wednesday - Li Wen - Froth

Wed, 12 May 2010 09:00:00 -0700

This week on KTV Wednesday, we are pleased to present Froth by Levi. And no, we're not talking about the clothing company based in San Francisco. Born Li Wen in 1982, Levi is one of the new generation of post-eighties singers making a name for himself in Beijing. He remains almost unheard of abroad, and is not well known outside the capital either.

The song Froth was released in 2005 on Levi's debut album. Since recording it, the singer has earned a reputation for combining fairly mainstream rock sensibilities with a highly manicured hairdo. He is also somewhat unique in writing his own material and shunning mandopop, so our office crew cuts him a lot of slack on the bangs. We suggest you do too. And if you can't see the video for technical reasons or because you're located outside of China, you can check out this version hosted on Youtube.

KTV Wednesday - Li Wen - Froth (pdf)

Wed, 12 May 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Shanghai 2010: The Crime Wave

Tue, 11 May 2010 09:00:00 -0700

The international press has yet to pick up on this story, but the hottest commodity at the Shanghai Expo is apparently not the Little Mermaid. In fact, it isn't even close. Join us in our Chinese podcast for today and learn what is really grabbing the crowd's attention at Shanghai 2010.

Our lesson today moves quickly, but consists of fairly simple sentences. If you have trouble picking them up by ear, click through to our text section and listen to them in isolation until you can tell the words apart. And then? As a special bonus, we're enabling our Speaking Practice hotline for this lesson. So all you premium subscribers out there are heartily invited to give us a call and share your own thoughts on Shanghai 2010 and its bizarre crimes of passion. We'll get back to you soon with one-on-one feedback and commiseration.

Elementary - Shanghai 2010: The Crime Wave (pdf)

Tue, 11 May 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Shanghai 2010: The Crime Wave (dialogue)

Tue, 11 May 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Shanghai 2010: The Crime Wave (fix)

Tue, 11 May 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Dimensions of China's Soft Power

Fri, 07 May 2010 09:00:00 -0700

The Beijing Olympics, the Shanghai Expo, the hundreds of Confucius Institutes and Confucius Classrooms, and Beijing's new English-language satellite news networks are all part of a grand Chinese soft power push: an effort to win the world through attraction rather than coercion. But how is China's charm offensive playing around the world? This week, Sinica looks at different facets of soft power and asks whether China is making or breaking its public image.

Joining host Kaiser Kuo this week are Jeremy Goldkorn of the blog Danwei.org; Gady Epstein, Beijing bureau chief for Forbes magazine; and Evan Osnos, Beijing-based staff writer for The New Yorker and part-time enforcer in Kuo's outlaw e-biker gang. We're also proud to have extra commentary from Adam Minter, an American writer in Shanghai who brings us stories from his first-hand encounter with the 2010 Expo.

Sinica - Dimensions of China's Soft Power (pdf)

Fri, 07 May 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Meet the Neighbors, Part II

Thu, 06 May 2010 09:00:00 -0700

The porcelain shattered on impact, scattering fragments of broken China across the entire dining room. Silence hung there for a moment, and then they were at each others throats, gouging and biting, bloody rivulets collecting on the oak flooring as the dispute passed beyond reason. And upstairs, the two children responsible for the carnage sat cowed in terror, shame and guilt.

We may be taking a bit of dramatic license with our introduction, but tensions definitely rise a notch in this sequel to our last lesson on how to be a good neighbor. Our dialogue here is also a bit easier, being wickedly fast, but also mostly review. So listen in and see how much you understand. And when you're done be sure to get your feedback to us by writing echo@popupchinese.com anytime.

Intermediate - Meet the Neighbors, Part II (pdf)

Thu, 06 May 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Meet the Neighbors, Part II (dialogue)

Thu, 06 May 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Meet the Neighbors, Part II (fix)

Thu, 06 May 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - The German Engineer

Tue, 04 May 2010 09:00:00 -0700

At Popup Chinese we're not afraid of revelling in stereotypes, which is why we have a really easy Absolute Beginner lesson today in which we'll teach you the flawless mandarin for claiming you're a German engineer. Consider this your first step towards getting a massive construction contract from the Chinese government.

We're aware that you may not actually be a German engineer. Some of you might not even be German. Regardless, the Chinese you'll learn in this lesson is basic Chinese you can use to break the ice and start a conversation with anyone. And we guarantee you'll hear these questions time and time again as well. So it's best to have an answer ready, even if that answer is factually wrong and you're really a lawyer from Ohio.

Absolute Beginners - The German Engineer (pdf)

Tue, 04 May 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - The German Engineer (dialogue)

Tue, 04 May 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - The German Engineer (fix)

Tue, 04 May 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Meet the Neighbors, Part I

Mon, 03 May 2010 00:00:00 -0700

This is the sort of lesson that makes Absolute Beginners to the Chinese language cry. If you're an Intermediate student or parent, though, we think you'll enjoy our practical approach to language learning. And that's because our dialogue today offers some very direct advice on how to solve one of the central problems married couples face: finding a safe place to park the kids when they want to spend a few days alone.

And what better solution but neighbors? If you've got to put up with living next door to them, you might as well learn to impose on occasion. In this lesson we'll show you how to compliment your new neighbors in their own language, as a prelude to asking them to take care of your brood. We're sure they'll be too polite to say no, especially when you start tossing out some of the platitudes we introduce in this lesson. So stop procrastinating and get listening: your next weekend retreat in Bali may depend upon this stuff.

Intermediate - Meet the Neighbors, Part I (pdf)

Mon, 03 May 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Meet the Neighbors, Part I (dialogue)

Mon, 03 May 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Meet the Neighbors, Part I (fix)

Mon, 03 May 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Huang Guangyu Trial, Real Estate Dilemma

Fri, 30 Apr 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Huang Guangyu, the richest man in China, went on trial last week in Beijing. The founder of home electronics chain Gome was brought up on charges of bribery, money laundering, and insider trading. The dragnet in the investigation leading up to the trial has already widened, and has implicated a number of high-ranking cadres in the Ministry of Public Security's white-collar crimes division. In this edition of Sinica, we discuss the perils of wealth, and what Huang's trial means for rule of law in China. We also examine China's dilemma over soaring property prices, and Beijing's sharp new policies to curb speculation. Do they portend the collapse of the real estate bubble?

Joining host Kaiser Kuo this week are Gady Epstein, Beijing bureau chief for Forbes magazine, and Sinica regulars Bill Bishop and Will Moss. Bill is a tech entrepreneur in Beijing who blogs regularly on politics and economic issues at Sinocism.com. Will is a public relations expert in China and the force behind the popular Imagethief.com.

Sinica - Huang Guangyu Trial, Real Estate Dilemma (pdf)

Fri, 30 Apr 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - An Embarrassing Situation

Tue, 27 Apr 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Brendan cultivates an air of eccentricity. He's constantly forgetting the names of friends and relatives, wandering around our studio looking for whatever book he happens to be holding, or putting his glasses in the kitchen blender and absentmindedly powering it up. So you may be surprised to hear that this podcast isn't based on a true story. And that Brendan usually comes to recording sessions fully clothed.

And yes, this lesson definitely falls at the easier end of the Elementary curve. It would be Absolute Beginner in fact, except for the pace of the podcast and the grammar point: a rumination on the difference between 去哪儿了 and 哪儿去了. To make it up to you more advanced speakers, we've enabled our voice recording hotline. To get feedback on your spoken mandarin, or just gossip with our crew, give us a call and share your own embarrassing story in Chinese.

Elementary - An Embarrassing Situation (pdf)

Tue, 27 Apr 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - An Embarrassing Situation (dialogue)

Tue, 27 Apr 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - An Embarrassing Situation (fix)

Tue, 27 Apr 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - A Tom Friedman Exclusive

Mon, 26 Apr 2010 16:00:00 -0700

As you're probably aware, earlier this month Hu Jintao hotfooted it to Washington to attend a nuclear security summit in Washington and discuss potential United Nations sanctions against Iran.

While the rest of the Internet was sleeping on this story, we at Sinica furiously canvassed secret diplomatic channels to get the scoop on the Chairman's agenda. And what we found shocked even us: a secret recording of New York Times columnist Tom Friedman taking a break from the press circuit to share some one-on-one advice with the Chairman. More news on this explosive story is emerging hourly at Forbes.com.

Sinica - A Tom Friedman Exclusive (pdf)

Mon, 26 Apr 2010 16:00:00 -0700

Advanced - The Narcoleptic Hangglider

Mon, 26 Apr 2010 09:00:00 -0700

We know what you're thinking: how did I ever get to such an advanced level in Chinese without learning the words for narcolepsy or hangglider? This is admittedly an oversight on your part, but it's also one no-one need ever know about. Unlike many of our other advanced podcasts, today's lesson is built around a dialogue. And this dialogue will drill these words so deeply into your inner cortex you'll forget there was ever a day you weren't comfortable talking about neural disorders and extreme sports in Chinese.

Advanced - The Narcoleptic Hangglider (pdf)

Mon, 26 Apr 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Advanced - The Narcoleptic Hangglider (dialogue)

Mon, 26 Apr 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Advanced - The Narcoleptic Hangglider (fix)

Mon, 26 Apr 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - The Eulogy and the Aftershocks

Fri, 23 Apr 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Coming 21 years after the death of former Party Secretary Hu Yaobang, Premier Wen Jiabao's surprise eulogy to his former mentor last week was the subject of much discussion among China-watchers worldwide. In today's episode of Sinica we visit this speech and ask what it really tells us about the political landscape in China. Is there compelling evidence of an ongoing rift between a "populist" faction headed by Wen Jiabao, Hu Jintao, and Li Keqiang and a competing "princeling" elite represented by Xi Jinping? We also talk about the tragic earthquake that hit Qinghai last week, and its potential for ethnic aftershocks.

Joining Kaiser Kuo this week are Gady Epstein, Beijing bureau chief for Forbes magazine and Guardian correspondent Tania Branigan, fresh back in Beijing after a reporting trip to the remote earthquake region and with a first-hand account of the rescue efforts there. We're also joined by Jeremiah Jenne, Dean of Chinese Studies at the IES program in Beijing, who helps put both events in historical perspective. You may know Jeremiah as Qing historian and author of the blog Jottings from the Granite Studio.

Sinica - The Eulogy and the Aftershocks (pdf)

Fri, 23 Apr 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Sleepless Nights in China

Thu, 22 Apr 2010 09:00:00 -0700

We received some advice from a famous Silicon Valley consultant the other day. If you want to promote sales, he said, put a picture of a beautiful, smiling girl on your front page. Eye contact is especially important. So we looked at our recent lessons and found they included tasteful photos of coffee, a nondescript office hallway, and a nice glass of water. And then we saw today's lesson and brightened. "What if she's young and beautiful," we asked, "but visibly sleep deprived and possibly manic depressive?"

Speaking of manic depressives, we would be remiss not to mention that we have one hell of a promotion right now. Sign up for a three month University Program and get a fourth month absolutely free. This offer is only good for the next eight days, so check it out soon, especially since it may not be long until only our manic depressive tutor has any space left. Cindy is more monotone on the phone, but she does assign more interesting vocabulary sometimes.

Elementary - Sleepless Nights in China (pdf)

Thu, 22 Apr 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Sleepless Nights in China (dialogue)

Thu, 22 Apr 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Sleepless Nights in China (fix)

Thu, 22 Apr 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - A Late Night in the Studio

Tue, 20 Apr 2010 09:00:00 -0700

We usually hold our Chinese recording sessions on Wednesday evenings. Most of them go pretty smoothly, and even accounting for 9527's periodic laughter flame-outs, recording times have tended downwards over the last year or so. That said, there are always exceptions to a trend and this lesson is all about one of them. We started recording this lesson at seven o'clock in the evening and didn't finish until nearly midnight. Listen up and you'll know who to blame.

Warning: there's some Chinese profanity in this lesson. This language isn't considered particularly strong by northern standards, but you'll raise eyebrows if you actively use this stuff further south. So use this language at your discretion, and don't be afraid to mutter.

Intermediate - A Late Night in the Studio (pdf)

Tue, 20 Apr 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - A Late Night in the Studio (dialogue)

Tue, 20 Apr 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Office Pleasantries

Mon, 19 Apr 2010 09:00:00 -0700

The infamously reclusive Teddy Wang, tycoon of the Orient and Time Magazine's "China Entrepreneur" five years running, had fallen into seclusion. From his estate on one of the outlying Hong Kong islands, the dashing young businessman had taken to conducting business exclusively through his timid assistant Roger, a meekrat of a man who spent his days shuffling papers for the reclusive industrial magnate. And yet despite their mutual dependence no-one had ever seen the two of them together at the same time....

Join us in today's Chinese lesson as we cover a few useful phrases and pleasantries you can use right away in business meetings. Even if you can't conduct a whole meeting in Chinese (yet), once you're done with this lesson you'll know how to give face to your Chinese guest by inviting them to come in and sit down. We've also enabled our Speaking Practice hotline for this lesson, so if you're a premium subscriber don't forget to give us a call and get one-on-one feedback on your pronunciation.

Absolute Beginners - Office Pleasantries (pdf)

Mon, 19 Apr 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Office Pleasantries (dialogue)

Mon, 19 Apr 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Office Pleasantries (fix)

Mon, 19 Apr 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Film Friday - My Last Vacation

Sat, 17 Apr 2010 13:05:28 -0700

With the Sinica podcast coming out on Friday, we've shifted Film Friday to Saturday this week. The game is still the same. We've picked a short clip from a major Hollywood film and want you to guess what film it is. But there's a catch: the entire clip has been dubbed into mandarin. So put on your earphones and get your mind moving. And if you think you can identify our mystery film, get your guesses in to echo@popupchinese.com for a chance to win a free month of premium access here at Popup Chinese.

Film Friday - My Last Vacation (pdf)

Sat, 17 Apr 2010 13:05:28 -0700

Film Friday - My Last Vacation (dialogue)

Sat, 17 Apr 2010 13:05:28 -0700

Sinica - China's Gadflies and the Mine Miracle

Fri, 16 Apr 2010 09:00:00 -0700

This week, Kaiser Kuo hosts a discussion all about China's best-known gadflies: artist-cum-activist Ai Weiwei and writer, auto racer and blogger Han Han. So join us as we talk about who both of these public figures are and why they've gained so much attention both inside China and in the foreign press. We'll look at how both are perceived domestically and abroad, talk about why they haven't been silenced the way other equally vocal critics have been, and ask if it even makes sense to speak of them in the same breath. Following this, we close with a quick discussion of the Wangjialing mine rescue you've read all about in the newspapers.

Our guests this week are Austin Ramzy, Beijing-based correspondent with Time magazine, and Will Moss, public relations expert and author of the blog Imagethief. We also have contributions from Charlie Custer, publisher of the translation blog China Geeks, and Gady Epstein, Beijing bureau chief for Forbes magazine, who remembers his first interview with Han Han back in December 2002. Finally, Sinica regular Jeremy Goldkorn, editor of Danwei.org, helps put both stories in an international perspective.

Sinica - China's Gadflies and the Mine Miracle (pdf)

Fri, 16 Apr 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The Family Secret

Tue, 13 Apr 2010 09:00:00 -0700

It had taken months of therapy for the patient to share her innermost secret. "You were right to come here," the psychiatrist said as they shared the breakthrough, "and I long suspected that your problem was related to your father." The doctor then paused, pen frozen in mid-air above a black leather notebook. "Of course," she added at last, "at least your case isn't as bad as that of my last patient...."

Are you an intermediate mandarin student? Join us in this podcast for a Chinese lesson all about the shameful secrets that can break family relationships. In addition to a fast-moving and entertaining dialogue, this lesson also teaches the difference between two conjunctions with almost identical meanings, but slightly different emotional weights. Learn to use them correctly and you'll impress the hell out of your psychiatrist, we promise.

Intermediate - The Family Secret (pdf)

Tue, 13 Apr 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The Family Secret (dialogue)

Tue, 13 Apr 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The Family Secret (fix)

Tue, 13 Apr 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Have another cup of coffee?

Sun, 11 Apr 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Symptoms of excessive caffeine intake include restlessness, insomnia, gastrointestinal discomfort, cardiac arrhythmia and random muscle twitching. Yet insufficient caffeine intake leads directly to mental and physical sluggishness, and is strongly correlated with a tendency among staff to miss project deadlines and blow sales leads.

Employers in the United States typically walk this fine line by promoting self-medication through free soda kitchens. As staff in China are rarely accustomed to this sort of perk, once you've begun hiring you will need to be more proactive about medicating your employees. But how aggressive should you be? Is the drip really necessary? Join us in this podcast as we share some more subtle techniques we use at Popup Chinese to keep staff working far longer than is reasonable without the need for constant injections.

Elementary - Have another cup of coffee? (pdf)

Sun, 11 Apr 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Have another cup of coffee? (dialogue)

Sun, 11 Apr 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Have another cup of coffee? (fix)

Sun, 11 Apr 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Iran and the Vaccination Scandal

Fri, 09 Apr 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Welcome back to the Sinica Podcast, a roundtable on current affairs in China featuring China-watchers from a wide range of backgrounds. In this week's installment host Kaiser Kuo talks about China's delicate maneuvering in the Middle East, as well as the recent health scandals to emerge around the vaccination of children in Shanxi and Jiangsu. Our guests this week include Bill Bishop, a tech entrepreneur and blogger at DigiCha.com and Sinocism.com, along with public relations expert William Moss, who writes the blog Imagethief.com.

This week: how should we interpret signs that China may be preparing for an about-turn on Iranian sanctions? Have recent Israeli visits hardened Beijing's position, or are we seeing quid pro quo linked to American pressure on currency manipulation and upcoming nuclear disarmament talks? And what is going on with the vaccination crises in Shanxi and Jiangsu? Are we seeing the first stages of another major public relations crisis, or does evidence point to this blowing over quickly?

Be sure to give us your take on things either in the comment section, or by writing us at sinica@popupchinese.com. And two extra notes. First, remember that you can download all of our Sinica podcasts through iTunes automatically by subscribing using our special RSS feed for the show. To get things working, open up iTunes, click the "Advanced" menu and select "Subscribe to Podcast". When prompted, copy the URL "http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica" into the box. Secondly, if you'd prefer to listen to this podcast elsewhere than through our onsite flash player, you can download this podcast as a standalone mp3 file.

Sinica - Iran and the Vaccination Scandal (pdf)

Fri, 09 Apr 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Advanced - The Warehouse Scene

Tue, 06 Apr 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Our lesson for today is an advanced listening test. And while it's quite difficult, if you've seen Reservoir Dogs, the setup should be familiar. Minutes after a botched and bloddy robbery, the gang regroups in an abandoned warehouse outside town. But who is responsible for the carnage, and how do their tensions play out? Find out the answers in our action-packed listening test for today. Just listen to our test recording a single time and then head over to our quiz section to test your comprehension.

Advanced - The Warehouse Scene (pdf)

Tue, 06 Apr 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - You know why I like Popup Chinese?

Mon, 05 Apr 2010 09:00:00 -0700

We love our staff and they love us too (especially the children, bless their souls). Which is why we were mystified when the Labor Relations Board approached us with outrageous allegations of unpaid overtime and that old story about us locking staff in the studio while we retreated to our executive yacht. It was lunch people... everyone is supposed to go out for lunch!

In any event, seeing that the government has formally launched an investigation into human rights abuses in the construction of our new office space, we've decided to go on a public relations offensive. And we're starting with this podcast, in which we showcase some of the best and brightest actors in the Beijing arts scene going on the record about why they love working for us. And we didn't even have to script this! Hot damn this is good stuff.

Elementary - You know why I like Popup Chinese? (pdf)

Mon, 05 Apr 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - You know why I like Popup Chinese? (dialogue)

Mon, 05 Apr 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Sinica - Google China and the Pullout

Fri, 02 Apr 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Welcome to the Sinica Podcast, a discussion on current affairs in China from the heart of downtown Beijing. Join us each week as we feature conversations on timely topics with China-watchers from a range of backgrounds: bloggers, historians, economists, political scientists, journalists, and more. This week, for our maiden voyage, we talk about the Google pullout with Jeremy Goldkorn, publisher of Danwei.org, and with Bill Bishop, a tech entrepreneur and blogger at DigiCha.com and Sinocism.com. So enjoy the podcast and be sure to give us your take on things by writing us at sinica@popupchinese.com.

This week: what exactly happened earlier this week with Google's inaccessibility? Does Yasheng Huang have the right take on their pull-out of China, or is Tania Branigan from the Guardian more on the money? What are the consequences for Google's future in Asia, and what does any of this mean to the average Chinese user? Also, on the music front, we play excerpts from the song "The Huntsman" (猎人) from Chunqiu's (春秋) first and eponymous album. Both song and album are available on iTunes.

About Our Host:

Kaiser Kuo is a Beijing-based writer, rock musician, and commentator on technology and politics. Currently working with China's leading Internet video site, Youku.com, Kaiser has formerly been director of digital strategy for Ogilvy & Mather, China bureau chief for Red Herring magazine, as well as a freelance technology reporter. A 15-year Beijing resident, he is also well known as the co-founder of China's first and most successful heavy metal band, Tang Dynasty, and as regular columnist for the That's Beijing/The Beijinger magazine since 2001. He's currently working on a book about the impact of the Internet on US-China relations.

Just as a quick addendum, for those of you new to Popup Chinese, you can find the mp3 file for this podcast available for download right here. All of our MP3 files are available for free download through RSS as well. You can stay informed of new shows (or save yourself the effort of manually downloading existing ones) by subscribing to our general RSS feed (including lessons and HSK tests, etc.) through our dedicated RSS feed for just the Sinica show, or via our free feed on iTunes.

Sinica - Google China and the Pullout (pdf)

Fri, 02 Apr 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Who Stole My Subtitles

Thu, 01 Apr 2010 09:00:00 -0700

This is not a lesson about the disappointment we felt on buying a copy of The Matrix Reloaded at our local DVD store back in 2003 only to end up watching a pirated copy of Johnny Mnemonic (the dolphin scene was especially excruciating the second time around). But it's pretty close. Because sometimes you'll find a good movie, only to find it completely unwatchable because the subtitles are all in Russian.

So our Chinese lesson for today is about living with disappointment, but only in part. It's also about learning different ways to ask simple questions, so if you're sick of ending every question with the sound "ma", you're going to love what we do today. So go ahead and make some popcorn and hit play. You'll be an elementary student in no-time, and will have some popcorn in the meanwhile. Try doing that in a physical classroom.

Absolute Beginners - Who Stole My Subtitles (pdf)

Thu, 01 Apr 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Who Stole My Subtitles (dialogue)

Thu, 01 Apr 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Who Stole My Subtitles (fix)

Thu, 01 Apr 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Chinese Earthquake

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 09:00:00 -0700

We asked for an elementary lesson filled with drama and terror. "Picture yourselves at the epicenter of a massive earthquake," David requested. "Give us something with tension and danger," Echo added, "with lots of buildings shaking and all that jazz." Our voice actors nodded gravely. Then they gave us this....

Elementary - The Chinese Earthquake (pdf)

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Chinese Earthquake (dialogue)

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Chinese Earthquake (fix)

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The Young Inventor, Part II

Mon, 29 Mar 2010 09:00:00 -0700

After your son has pumped five hundred volts of current through your chest, it may be time for a little parental intervention. Is it really necessary for him to replicate the work of Nicolas Tesla in your family basement? As our own parents repeatedly reminded us growing up: high-energy experiments belong in the classroom, not the bedroom.

If you're an intermediate student in the Chinese language, join us for this lesson in the mysteries of science. In addition to a pro-science dialogue dedicated to Nicolas Tesla, this lesson reviews common units of measurement and how to use them in Chinese sentences. This is critical vocabulary to know regardless of whether you are conducting wireless electricity, building secret underwater laboratories, or simply reanimating dead lab assistants.

Intermediate - The Young Inventor, Part II (pdf)

Mon, 29 Mar 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The Young Inventor, Part II (dialogue)

Mon, 29 Mar 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The Young Inventor, Part II (fix)

Mon, 29 Mar 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Film Friday - This Man Needs a Doctor

Sat, 27 Mar 2010 18:16:00 -0700

We'll admit to not having seen this movie all the way through. That said, if you're looking for a China connection, we've got one for you: the father of one of the actors in this film is a renowned Tibetan scholar. So listen up and see if you can guess our mystery film from nothing more than this short clip in Chinese. And if you think you know, get your guesses to echo@popupchinese.com for a chance to win a free month of premium access here on Popup Chinese.

Film Friday - This Man Needs a Doctor (pdf)

Sat, 27 Mar 2010 18:16:00 -0700

Film Friday - This Man Needs a Doctor (dialogue)

Sat, 27 Mar 2010 18:16:00 -0700

Intermediate - The Young Inventor

Thu, 25 Mar 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Our forays into the hard sciences have been mercifully brief to date, a phenomenon caused partly by fear and partly by memories of high school chemistry class. In today's Chinese lesson we delve more deeply into the natural sciences though with a Chinese lesson about key warning signs that someone you love may be considering a career in them. In addition to some life-saving tips on intervening, we also teach a number of Chinese words that are useful for describing industrial accidents.

The dialogue in this lesson is a bit on the easier side of our other Intermediate materials, but our vocabulary and sample sentences make up for this in difficulty. If you're an intermediate learner, we think you'll enjoy this podcast. So join us and be sure to let us know what you think by leaving a comment on the site or writing Echo anytime at echo@popupchinese.com.

Intermediate - The Young Inventor (pdf)

Thu, 25 Mar 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The Young Inventor (dialogue)

Thu, 25 Mar 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The Young Inventor (fix)

Thu, 25 Mar 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - The Chinese Alphabet Song

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 22:18:08 -0700

"But the Chinese language doesn't have an alphabet," the perspicacious listener might ask, "why on earth does China need an alphabet song?" Which is a good question, and one we studiously avoided asking ourselves after forcing our voice actors to record the song behind this lesson.

You see... while Chinese may not exactly have a traditional western alphabet, we wanted to give you the next best thing: a musical extravaganza guaranteed to help you remember Chinese numbers for years to come. And for your extra pleasure, we're enabling our speaking practice hotline for this lesson as well. If you're a premium subscriber, give us a call on our telephone hotline and give us your own attempt to put these numbers to music. As you'll hear, you can't do much worse than our native Chinese speakers.

Absolute Beginners - The Chinese Alphabet Song (pdf)

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 22:18:08 -0700

Absolute Beginners - The Chinese Alphabet Song (dialogue)

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 22:18:08 -0700

Absolute Beginners - The Chinese Alphabet Song (fix)

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 22:18:08 -0700

Elementary - An XBox for the Kids

Mon, 22 Mar 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Doctor Smith says young children need intellectual stimulation, and what better way to stimulate Billy's imagination that bonding with his father over a deathmatch or two. Now don't look at me that way honey. You want to surround the boy with nothing but books, denying him the trigger-finger reflexes and hand-eye coordination necessary for a good job in the twenty-first century?

Thinking of becoming a parent or already have a brood under your wing? Join us for an Elementary Chinese lesson that overcomes traditional myths about parenting with very practical suggestion on how to rear your children. In addition to advice that will let you sleep in for a change, this lesson introduces a key measure word for talking about household electronics. Use it whenever you hear the word XBox.

Elementary - An XBox for the Kids (pdf)

Mon, 22 Mar 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - An XBox for the Kids (dialogue)

Mon, 22 Mar 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - An XBox for the Kids (fix)

Mon, 22 Mar 2010 09:00:00 -0700

KTV Wednesday - Avril Lavigne - Chinese Girlfriend

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Even many of Avril Lavigne's Chinese fans don't know these recordings of her singing in mandarin even exist, which may be a good thing judging from Gail and Nicole's first reactions on hearing them. "What did she say exactly," Gail asked while straining to hear the chorus? Nicole was simply at a loss for words.

Before we're accused of teasing, let us come out and admit that we think Avril Lavigne is a genuine superstar who deserves accolades for putting out Chinese-language versions of her songs. The Canadian singer-songwriter has actually produced two of these to date (here is the other one). And while her mandarin editions never got as much traction as the originals, they're fantastic to listen to for language students. If you're an absolute beginner or elementary student, just listen in and see how much you understand. The lyrics are relatively simple, but if you have trouble just click through to our text page for an annotated version of the lyrics with mouseover popups.

And for more advanced students, we've added something to this lesson just for you: a five minute podcast featuring Echo, Gail and Nicole talking all about Avril Lavigne and why she's so popular in China. This podcast is about five minutes long and is filled with take-no-prisoners, native-level mandarin. If you're an intermediate to advanced student listen up and see how much you understand. You can test your comprehension by clicking through to the custom quiz we've added in which we review some of the more difficult words and phrases used in the podcast. Good luck!

KTV Wednesday - Avril Lavigne - Chinese Girlfriend (pdf)

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 09:00:00 -0700

KTV Wednesday - Avril Lavigne - Chinese Girlfriend (fix)

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Psychopathic Business Cards

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Our constant interest in hiring good Chinese voice actors has drawn some curious candidates to us over the years. Like the fellow who came in and handed out business cards. He had put considerable time and effort into designing them: the card stock was an elegant eggshell white set off by raised black lettering in Silian Rail. The card contained his name, contact information and current profession. "Unemployed student" it read.

That said, with business cards selling for as little as twenty renminbi per box here in China, it's hard to be critical, even if your situation is as unorthodox as that in our dialogue for today. Brett Easton Ellis may not have penned the script, but if you're planning to do business in China this is still a must-have lesson in the language and etiquette of exchanging business cards in China.

Elementary - Psychopathic Business Cards (pdf)

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Psychopathic Business Cards (dialogue)

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Psychopathic Business Cards (fix)

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - A Visit to the Shanghai Subway

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 09:00:00 -0800

A lot of Shanghai residents are genuinely baffled that other Chinese citizens consider them a curiosity. But it doesn't take much time elsewhere in the country to discover why exactly Shanghai bears the brunt of so many jokes. Not sure yourself? We think you'll understand after listening to our lesson for today, a gritty look at the wild side of the Shanghai streets. This is a lesson based on a true story: Brendan's personal experience running into a gang fight on the Shanghai metro.

Elementary - A Visit to the Shanghai Subway (pdf)

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - A Visit to the Shanghai Subway (dialogue)

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - A Visit to the Shanghai Subway (fix)

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - Mamma Mia

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 09:00:00 -0800

"Is Echo really sleeping?" Apple had to raise her voice to overpower the sound of Pierce Brosnan's distant crooning. A moment later as the chorus to Super Trouper kicked in, she tossed down her pen and turned to face the rest of us. "Honestly," she said in her best no-nonsense voice, "I'm finding it hard to concentrate with all of this Greek music...."

The constant presence in our Popup Chinese headquarters these last few weeks has been the soundtrack to Mamma Mia. After stumbling across the Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan version of the famous ABBA musical, Echo has had the music on constantly. And the musical has found its way into everything we've done, including today's lesson for Absolute Beginners. So join us as we share an effective strategy for avoiding work in China. Use this whenever you need to take the afternoon off to catch a broadway show.

Absolute Beginners - Mamma Mia (pdf)

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - Mamma Mia (dialogue)

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - Mamma Mia (fix)

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Film Friday - The Ugly Duckling

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 17:24:11 -0800

Are you still suffering from Avatar withdrawal? Atone for your sins by joining Brendan, David and Echo today for a show that's more entertainment than education. The premise behind our Film Friday series is very simple: listen up as we play a short clip from a recent Hollywood film dubbed into mandarin and write us if you think you know the source. We enter everyone who guesses correctly in a draw for a free month of premium access to Popup Chinese, so this is definitely worth your time. Good luck!

Film Friday - The Ugly Duckling (pdf)

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 17:24:11 -0800

Film Friday - The Ugly Duckling (dialogue)

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 17:24:11 -0800

Intermediate - Great Actors of the Twentieth Century

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 09:00:00 -0800

When the definitive history of twentieth century cinema is written, there will be a few actors and actresses we believe will stand out from their peers as titans of the screen and stage. Yet while the talents of such stars as Gregory Peck, Marlon Brando, Meryl Streep and others have brought them well-deserved recognition, there remain a legion of working actors and actresses who continue to shine in lesser roles. Our podcast today is a tribute to one such actor.

So join us in this podcast as we pay a humble Popup Chinese tribute to one of the most underrated thespians of our generation. You may not have noticed the delicate emotional shading he adds to otherwise straightforward roles. Once we point him out though, we think you will join us in praise. So strap on your iPod and listen in as we spill the beans on our celebrity pick, and then share a Chinese grammar point or two.

Intermediate - Great Actors of the Twentieth Century (pdf)

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - Great Actors of the Twentieth Century (dialogue)

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - Great Actors of the Twentieth Century (fix)

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - It Happened Over Lunch

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 09:00:00 -0800

There are plenty of Chinese textbooks that claim to teach basic Chinese but are in fact utterly useless in everyday situations like the one we found ourselves in about a month ago, when our new colleague Nicole arrived back from lunch slightly the worse for the wear....

Nicole had just crossed the threshold and was bending over to take off her shoes when Echo, having successfully maneuvered herself behind the coffee table, finally broke the ice. "Did you have a good lunch," she asked? "Oh lunch," Nicole faltered. "I almost forgot all about that in the excitement...."

Absolute Beginners - It Happened Over Lunch (pdf)

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - It Happened Over Lunch (dialogue)

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - It Happened Over Lunch (fix)

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - Memories of Breakfast

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 09:00:00 -0800

It was your last Western breakfast, eaten in haste before an early morning flight over the pole. You had pancakes and syrup. Yoghurt. Apples, oranges, bananas, lychee and watermelon. Toast of both the French and non-French varieties. Various cereals hot and cold with scrambled eggs, bacon, fried mushrooms and onions. And all of it topped-off by carrot juice and left-over pizza.

China may be an exciting place to live, but even its strongest proponents have to admit the country is still catching up to the rest of the world when it comes to the most important meal of the day. So join us in this Elementary podcast as we cover a very practical tip for making the memories last....

Elementary - Memories of Breakfast (pdf)

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - Memories of Breakfast (dialogue)

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - Memories of Breakfast (fix)

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - A Taste of the Whip

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 09:00:00 -0800

When Hegel wrote that history repeats itself, perhaps he was thinking of our seemingly infinite capacity to rationalize cruelty in the pursuit of power and wealth. For are not the pages of history filled with corporations which have sacrificed workplace health and safety on the altar of progress, throwing away human lives like so much chaff in an unquenchable drive for power and market share?

While we may be a small company here at Popup Chinese, we cannot help but look upon this recurring pattern of industrial tyranny and ask the obvious question: why not us? And as Brendan and Echo share in this podcast, we're willing to let Google take the high road. Our path to glory involves conscripting our staff into forced labor in the construction of a giant monument to the glory of our cause and long-term tourist revenue. Perhaps some of this language will be useful to you too.

Intermediate - A Taste of the Whip (pdf)

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - A Taste of the Whip (dialogue)

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - A Taste of the Whip (fix)

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - The Electrical Outlet

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 22:03:10 -0800

Trips to Hong Kong, Singapore and across the mainland are a mainstay of life for most foreign professionals in Asia. Couple that with the fact that many of the best jobs for mandarin-speaking expats are with smaller and mid-sized firms, and you've got a recipe for the need to work on the go. Say goodbye to life in a cubicle and hello to rushing to find a power outlet in rural Guangxi in order to make your conference call on Skype.

If you do business in Asia but are just learning to speak Chinese, join us in this lesson as we teach you how to ask for an electrical outlet for your laptop or phone. In addition to our regular Chinese podcast, we've also enabled our Speaking Practice hotline for today's lesson. If you're a premium subscriber, grab your personal ID number on our text page along with our telephone hotline number. Give us a call and practice reading the dialogue and vocabulary to us (add your own commentary, of course) and we'll get back to you in a day with personal feedback on how you sound.

Absolute Beginners - The Electrical Outlet (pdf)

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 22:03:10 -0800

Absolute Beginners - The Electrical Outlet (dialogue)

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 22:03:10 -0800

Absolute Beginners - The Electrical Outlet (fix)

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 22:03:10 -0800

Absolute Beginners - A Clean Well-Lighted Place

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0800

As Alex struggled to finish his thesis in the only Internet cafe still open in this part of Wuhan, he quietly prayed the air would clear as the evening wore on and the local chain-smoking Counterstrike guild closed shop for the night. By one o'clock, however, the omnipresent haze of smoke had settled into more-or-less permanent stormclouds over a growing mass of players who if anything were more animated than ever before.

It took another hour for the full horrific truth to hit Alex. Staggering to the service counter to stock up on caffeine, he noticed a small sign perched on the desk advertising a significant discount for overnight users. His non-stop smoking, terrorist-killing and expletive-shouting neighbors were here for the long-haul. And not only would they be playing through his morning deadline, they would be paying significantly less for the privilege too.

Absolute Beginners - A Clean Well-Lighted Place (pdf)

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - A Clean Well-Lighted Place (dialogue)

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - A Clean Well-Lighted Place (fix)

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0800

KTV Wednesday - The Little Tigers - Love

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0800

If you stayed up late to catch the Spring Festival Gala on CCTV over the Chinese New Years, you might have been surprised by the reaction the crowd gave to the surprise appearance of this band. Watching their most popular video, you might be mistaken into thinking China has never left the 1980s. In fact, what happened was just mass nostaglia for one of the most popular Taiwanese boy boys to ever exist: the Little Tigers.

Coming out of Taiwan in the late 1980s, the Little Tigers paved the way for later acts like F4 before eventually breaking up in 1995. The song we're showcasing today is the same song the band performed live on television over the New Years. A smash hit when originally released, this tune continues to be a popular KTV mainstay throughout Asia. Many of the Chinese who grew up in the 1980s and 1990s still know it by heart, just one more reason to add it to your own arsenal of KTV tunes.

KTV Wednesday - The Little Tigers - Love (pdf)

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Elementary - Meet the Parents

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Matthew's reluctance to meet her parents had concerned Stacy. "I've had bad experiences with that in the past," he would say whenever she suggested it. But now they had been together for two years there was no avoiding it, which was how Stacy had finally dragged him out to the Boston suburbs to meet her folks....

Our elementary listening test for today revolves around a bizarre mini-play that's a favorite in our office. In addition to a generous helping of multiple choice questions, we've added a new question type as well: the missing word puzzler. So listen in once and then click through to our quiz section to gauge your comprehension. If you can get over eighty percent consistently you are doing well enough to advance to our intermediate level.

Elementary - Meet the Parents (pdf)

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Film Friday - Looking for a Friend

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 09:00:00 -0800

As Chinese New Years draws near, we're proud to present another Hollywood movie game. Our clip this week is from a recent American classic. But while the Chinese dub isn't terribly difficult, our clip isn't obvious either, and it's easy to interpret it the wrong way. So take a listen and see if you can peg our mystery film. And if you can, get your guess in to echo@popupchinese.com to be entered for a chance to win a free month of premium access to Popup Chinese. Good luck!

Film Friday - Looking for a Friend (pdf)

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Film Friday - Looking for a Friend (dialogue)

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - Buying DVDs in China

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 09:00:00 -0800

"The quality of those things isn't reliable," the DVD salesperson said ruffling through his dufflebag, leaving Jacob wide-eyed in disbelief. He had purchased the movie just yesterday, and was astounded to hear the seller blame his player instead of the pitted disc. "Next time buy a quality machine," the merchant cautioned him. "If you're looking for one that actually works," he motioned vaguely behind him, "I think I've got one back home I could sell you."

Our lesson today is on the easy side of the Elementary level, but still a notch above the Absolute Beginner level. If this sounds right for you, join us as we cover some absolutely essential vocabulary for getting customer satisfaction in the Chinese film industry. In under ten minutes, we'll teach you how to return DVDs in China, get a refund when they don't work, or exchange your broken discs for ones that work.

Elementary - Buying DVDs in China (pdf)

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - Buying DVDs in China (dialogue)

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - The Secret Lives of Celebrities

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0800

It's been a while since we've released a lesson for absolute beginners, but we're back in the saddle today with a sequel of sorts to our earlier podcast on how not to be confused for a Scientologist during your weekend trip to Xi'an. So if you've ever fancied yourself more a Brad Pitt (or Angelina Jolie) take a listen as we teach you how to introduce yourself to the locals in style. Maybe you'll get a free lunch out of it.

In addition to sharing some useful language for passing yourself off as a celebrity in China, in this lesson we also introduce a dead-easy sentence pattern you can use to indulge in unsubstantiated celebrity gossip or tell others how you feel. So if you're an absolute beginner give this lesson a listen. And if your Chinese is more advanced, swing by our lessons archive and look for something a bit more suited to your level of difficulty.

Absolute Beginners - The Secret Lives of Celebrities (pdf)

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - The Secret Lives of Celebrities (dialogue)

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - The Secret Lives of Celebrities (fix)

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Film Friday - International Trade Dispute

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 09:00:00 -0800

In the spirit of better-late-than-never, we're pleased to release the latest episode of Film Friday, our Hollywood guessing game with a Chinese twist. So join us as we showcase a mystery clip from a Hollywood film. The dialogue is native-level Chinese, but we review it line by line to highlight the more difficult vocabulary. And if you think you know the film, be sure to write echo@popupchinese.com. Every week we give a lucky winner a month of free premium access to Popup Chinese. Maybe this week it will be you?

Film Friday - International Trade Dispute (pdf)

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - The Rumor Mill

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Every now and then we get a dialogue that's a bit different from the rest, and today is a case in point. We haven't really had a lesson quite like this since the time we locked our entire recording staff in the studio and headed out for Sichuan food. Sometimes different is good.

And while we're not afraid to gossip, what matters in our dialogue today is less the scandalous revelation and more the casual nature of the spoken Chinese you'll hear. This is the way people actually talk when they're gossiping or just hanging out in the office. As much as most places emphasize getting the tones right, bear in mind as you listen that communication is as much about emotion as about pitch and word choice.

Intermediate - The Rumor Mill (pdf)

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - The Rumor Mill (dialogue)

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - The Rumor Mill (fix)

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - The Sickbed Confession

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 09:00:00 -0800

In the spirit of giving you some time to recover from the Blitzkrieg that was our last Elementary dialogue, our lesson for today slows things right down. One of the parties to our dialogue barely speaks, in fact. So join him, and a close friend of his, in the hospital for a moment of unguarded intimacy....

Elementary - The Sickbed Confession (pdf)

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - The Sickbed Confession (dialogue)

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - The Sickbed Confession (fix)

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - How to Start a Business in China

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 09:00:00 -0800

As the fall semester faded, a strange energy seized the student body. When freed for lunch or recess, the boys would spring from their seats and rush to the far quarter of the playground, where they would cluster in small circles and barter excitedly. And somehow at the center of it all, Xiao Luo began to exude a quiet confidence far beyond his years....

Our intermediate lesson for today has a longer dialogue and some of the best voice acting we've done to date. It is probably also the only Chinese lesson in the world that teaches inhalant-related vocabulary, along with language you can use when disciplining your child. Not that we recommend using these in daily conversation, but you never know when you'll end up facing down an unruly mob of Chinese youth.

Intermediate - How to Start a Business in China (pdf)

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - How to Start a Business in China (dialogue)

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - How to Start a Business in China (fix)

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - Performance Anxiety

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 09:00:00 -0800

As she waited for the judges to render their verdict, Lee reviewed her performance in her head. Her decision to sing "Yesterday Once More" had been risky. The song was overplayed, but she felt her syncopated interpretation made it fresh once again. And objectively speaking, there was no doubt her performance was one of the strongest of the evening. Even now she could sense the stunned respect of the audience, while the judges sat in a thoughtful, almost reverent, silence.

Our elementary lesson for today is faster than you may be accustomed to at the Elementary level, and also much busier: instead of a two-way dialogue we have a scene between a singer and her panel of three judges. This four-way exchange is fast and furious, but is also within your reach. So give it a listen and see how you do.

Elementary - Performance Anxiety (pdf)

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - Performance Anxiety (dialogue)

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - Performance Anxiety (fix)

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Film Friday - The Hobbyist

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 09:00:00 -0800

As unlike last week, we're pretty sure you've seen our film this week. So join us for our second Film Friday of 2010 as we share a clip from a famous Hollywood film dubbed into mandarin. These Friday shows of ours are generally light on the grammar and heavy on Brendan's misdirection. If you can outsmart him and guess our mystery film regardless though, be sure to get your guess in to echo@popupchinese.com for your chance to win a month of free premium access to Popup Chinese. Good luck!

Film Friday - The Hobbyist (pdf)

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - How to Defuse a Bomb

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Perspiration stuck to Rick's forehead. In his forty years on the force, he thought he had seen the worst of human nature. But this? Barely visible beneath the dark green foliage, the red and green wires snaking through the wood chips led to a small metallic case they had found half-buried in the display floor. It was only pure accident the security team had discovered it and cleared the mall in time. Luck had been on their side. But now skill was needed as well. Crouched down beside the blinking timer, Rick crossed himself and emptied his mind of all else.

Intermediate - How to Defuse a Bomb (pdf)

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - How to Defuse a Bomb (dialogue)

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - How to Defuse a Bomb (fix)

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Film Friday - A Love Story

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 09:00:00 -0800

With the New Year well underway and everyone safely back in Beijing after their various forays abroad, we are pleased to release our first Film Friday for 2010. And this is a tricky one. Instead of a recent blockbuster, in this episode we head back to the 1980s for a classic comedy you're likely to find in the back aisles at Blockbuster. We never expected to find the mandarin dub for this film, and never imagined that Echo would already have seen it. What were the odds?

If you consider yourself a film buff, listen in and see if you can identify our mystery Hollywood film from nothing more than this small clip dubbed into mandarin. And if you think you can solve our mystery? Get your guesses in to echo@popupchinese.com for your chance to win a free month of premium access to Popup Chinese: the only Chinese learning program guaranteed to be better than a failed marriage.

Film Friday - A Love Story (pdf)

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 09:00:00 -0800

KTV Wednesday - Richie Ren - The Horizon

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 09:00:00 -0800

You may remember Richie Ren from his previous appearance on KTV Wednesday. Although best known for his upbeat covers of songs by A Niu, Richie Ren also covers darker ground, especially with "The Horizon", a piece that explores what it profit a man to gain the world, but lose his only love.

We think this is worth listening to just for the music, but if you're an elementary or intermediate student, this is also a great song for whipping your tongue into shape. Try singing it while keeping in beat. The constant rhythm will force you onto track, while the tongue-twisting repetition will make spoken Chinese seem easy by comparison. (Final Note: readers in North America may get better performance with this version hosted on Youtube.)

KTV Wednesday - Richie Ren - The Horizon (pdf)

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - Home Sweet Apache Helicopter

Mon, 11 Jan 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Although it may not look like much from the outside, the Apache helicopter is quite spacious on the inside, especially when gutted of its navigation system and emergency munitions store. And if you rip out the hind seating you've got more than enough room for a small futon, mini-fridge and propane stove. With a little creativity, the world's military warhorse can make a cozy home. And with real estate prices what they are, maybe it's time to consider investing in one yourself?

Intermediate - Home Sweet Apache Helicopter (pdf)

Mon, 11 Jan 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - Home Sweet Apache Helicopter (dialogue)

Mon, 11 Jan 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - Home Sweet Apache Helicopter (fix)

Mon, 11 Jan 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - The Chinese Courier

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Hank was a legend around the office, and for good reason. In just three hours he had cleared his entire afternoon of deliveries, and this in spite of the traffic jams that clogged the downtown core. And his secret? In today's Elementary Chinese lesson, join us as we delve into the art of the delivery. You'll learn how to get around town, tell others how to find you, and learn the secret tips and tricks that keep the courier business in China running.

Elementary - The Chinese Courier (pdf)

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - The Chinese Courier (dialogue)

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - The Chinese Courier (fix)

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - Feel My Total Indifference

Mon, 04 Jan 2010 09:00:00 -0800

So, you've woken up at some ungodly hour in the morning to start hauling yourself out of bed when a minor epiphany strikes. Why get out of bed at all? Isn't there something better you can do with your day than this car trip to Tongzhou. And whose crazy idea was this anyway? How about just sleeping in past noon? Now there's a capital idea. And maybe in a few hours you could even head downstairs and get some breakfast, or maybe watch a movie. Or maybe just stay in bed all afternoon.

At Popup Chinese we're keenly aware of the practical reality of life in China: which is why we're happy to bring you today's lesson on what to do on those days you feel totally and utterly apathetic. If you've ever felt that cheerfulness is not exactly your strong point, this is the lesson for you. So join us today for an Absolute Beginner lesson that will let you tell them what you really think. Because sleep calls.

Absolute Beginners - Feel My Total Indifference (pdf)

Mon, 04 Jan 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - Feel My Total Indifference (dialogue)

Mon, 04 Jan 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - Feel My Total Indifference (fix)

Mon, 04 Jan 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - Payday

Thu, 31 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0800

The years had built up around Stewart like the shell of a mollusk. And truth be told, he had drifted into the financial industry largely for this reason: the sedate pace and lulling security of asset management work. It had never seemed terribly risky. Or at least not until the first wave of layoffs earlier in the spring. Until then he had never even considered leaving the bank, let alone making a more aggressive career move and starting afresh in an entirely new profession.

Note: our lesson for today is an Intermediate comprehension test. Get started by listening to our short dialogue and then clicking through to the quiz section and seeing how much you understood. Some of the answers fly by quickly. If you need help though, we've manually annotated the entire dialogue on our regular text page. Consult the transcript after taking the test if you have any difficulty picking up on what is happening.

Intermediate - Payday (pdf)

Thu, 31 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - I'll have the hamburger....

Tue, 29 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Despite it being the last stop before the highway started its thirty mile winding climb out of the desert canyon, the small family diner that had once been a trade favorite on the long-haul circuit was surprisingly devoid of his fellow truckers. And the atmosphere in the joint had changed for the worse too, but John was hungry and in a hurry to meet his schedule, so simply raised his hand to summon the waitress. He would eat quickly and be back on the road in twenty minutes.

Elementary - I'll have the hamburger.... (pdf)

Tue, 29 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - I'll have the hamburger.... (dialogue)

Tue, 29 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - I'll have the hamburger.... (fix)

Tue, 29 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - Where are you from?

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0800

If you've ever been in a Chinese taxi, you've been asked this question, even if you didn't understand it at the time. In fact, being asked where one is from is such a common question we've decided to devote an entire lesson just to it. So join us in this beginner lesson and before long you'll be inventing new and exciting background stories each time you take a trip across town. Yes sir, I am a nuclear scientist from Kazakhstan.

Note: it's been a while since we've had a dedicated speaking practice lesson, so we've enabled our voice recording service for this lesson. If you're a premium subscriber click through to our text page and grab our telephone hotline and your personal PIN number. Call us up and leave us a message in Chinese when prompted: record yourself either practicing the dialogue or speaking extemporaneously using this vocabulary or telling us a story. Our teachers will get back to you in a day or two with personal feedback on how you're doing.

Absolute Beginners - Where are you from? (pdf)

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - Where are you from? (dialogue)

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - Where are you from? (fix)

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - A Serious Shortage of Trousers

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0800

As Christmas draws nigh we return to our Big Boss series with this lesson about the overriding concern of the Chinese mafia: maintaining an adequate supply of trousers. This is somewhat amazingly the real deal. So check out today's show and learn to speak mandarin just like the Godfather. And if you enjoy this lesson, be sure to check out our earlier mob shows on ordering a hit and ordering diner.

Intermediate - A Serious Shortage of Trousers (pdf)

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - A Serious Shortage of Trousers (dialogue)

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - A Serious Shortage of Trousers (fix)

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - Digital Volleyball

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Brent's palm stretched back and - in a flashing rush - the TiVo was airborn. Once the proud centerpiece of some family's home entertainment center, the digital video recorder was now living a less sedentary life, flying over the net in a graceful serve before a clumsy return brought it back, brushing across the top of the net as it came. And then the return and the counter-return and the game was on in earnest.

Hunched forward peering at the court below, the spectators gasped as yet another piece of home electronics took flight before settling into a hushed tension as the game found its stride. Digital volleyball had become popular for much the same reason as Greek tragedy. Who would win and who would lose was in many ways irrelevant to the main attraction: watching tragedy unfold in an uncertain but inevitable way. There could be only one ending to this game.

Elementary - Digital Volleyball (pdf)

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - Digital Volleyball (dialogue)

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - Digital Volleyball (fix)

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - On Avoiding the Plague

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0800

"Don't worry about me," the voice on the phone hoarsely whispered after its wave of violent coughing finally subsided. "I'll be down in an hour so we can keep working on that report."

Join us in our Absolute Beginner lesson for today as we learn a polite way of telling others to keep themselves and their infections out of your working space. There is a lot of simple but useful mandarin in this podcast. In addition to introducing a number of common adjectives you can use to express your fatigue and frustration, we also give you a simple sentence pattern you can use whenever you're feeling under the weather yourself.

Absolute Beginners - On Avoiding the Plague (pdf)

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - On Avoiding the Plague (dialogue)

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - On Avoiding the Plague (fix)

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Film Friday - A Day on the Farm

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0800

You guys can stop the wailing and gnashing of teeth. We'll be the first to admit we were a bit delayed with Film Friday this week. Echo's visa to Canada came through earlier this week and she's been on a shopping rampage ever since as we prepare to hop the pond on Monday. But it's here now, so if you've been going through Popup Chinese withdrawal hook up your iPod and reinforce your addiction to the best Chinese learning show anywhere online.

And our lesson today has the distinction of hitting a number of firsts. In addition to being the first podcast we've ever produced which revolves around farm produce, this show also has the distinction of being your last chance to win a month of free premium access to Popup Chinese in 2009. Stunning how time flies, isn't it? If you're disappointed with the progress you've made in the last year, feel that you've hit a plateau, or just want to accelerate your Chinese studies in the year to come, be sure to get your guesses in to echo@popupchinese.com. We'll pick one lucky winner and give them the gift that just keeps giving. So good luck, and we hope you like the show!

Film Friday - A Day on the Farm (pdf)

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Short Stories - The Monkey King: chapter 1, part 1

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Also known as Journey to the West, the Monkey King is one of the four classics of Chinese literature, standing alongside Dream of the Red Chamber, the Water Margin and Three Kingdoms in the pantheon of must-read Chinese novels. Originally a popular legend, the story was written down in the late Ming Dynasty. In its current form it is essentially inaccessible to all but very advanced speakers, and so as with Dream of the Red Chamber, remains largely unread among native English speakers.

As with all of our annotated Chinese short stories, we encourage premium subscribers to click through to our text page and read the original 16th century text. You will not need a dictionary to do this. Simply hover your mouse over any word for a popup containing an exact definition of the word in its proper context. Be sure to enable the "extra notes" field in your popups for additional information including explanatory notes, suggested translations and much more. We will be publishing the remainder of the first chapter in serial form over the next few months.

What should you expect in this passage? As with many works of great literature, the Monkey King begins with a creation myth. In this case we have the Chinese creation myth. Our first few paragraphs concern how the universe came into existence. They describe how a figure named Pan Gu tore open the indistinct void that preceded the creation of the heavens and set in motion a never-ending cycle of creation and destruction in which the earth and humankind itself plays a part.

In very short order our story passes from the creation of the heavens and earth to the creation of the stars and planets, and then onwards to the dawn of beasts and men. We will shortly meet the Monkey King (Sun Wukong), an allegorical figure representing mankind itself, whom our story will follow as he joins a caravan to India to retrieve sacred Buddhist texts. A chronicle of the Buddhist journey to enlightenment itself, the Monkey King is in turns playful, delightful and profound. It is filled with exciting stories, interesting characters and is often pure fun. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Short Stories - The Monkey King: chapter 1, part 1 (pdf)

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0800

KTV Wednesday - The Mud Grass Horse

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Starring the South American Alpaca and set to the tune of the Chinese Smurfs, this video about the mythical "mud grass horse" spread like wildfire across the Chinese Internet in early 2009. "But you can't put it on the site," Gail told us. "It's absolutely hilarious," she admitted, "but far too dirty." And she's right about the vulgarity: the entire point of the video is a gigantic in-joke about how efforts to build a harmonious society in China are clamping down on people's ability to swear.

We've embedded the Youtube version here as the original not-so-mysteriously disappeared from all Chinese video websites after the New York Times reported on it as a case of online dissent. There are some political references, but the song is closer to doggerel than political protest. Nonetheless, if you can't pick up on the subtext from the video alone, we encourage subscribers to check out our manually annotated transcript on the text page. We've added special commentary in the extra notes field of our popups which explain the in-jokes and homophones that Chinese natives will pick up automatically.

KTV Wednesday - The Mud Grass Horse (pdf)

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0800

KTV Wednesday - The Mud Grass Horse (fix)

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - A College Education

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Laif could hardly breathe. Through tinted pinholes he looked out at an unearthly sea of noontime traffic. The unending flow of cars rolled past in slow motion, horns honking and tempers flaring. On the sidewalks pedestrians bustled past, hurriedly looking down or to the side to ignore his outstretched arms. And topping it all was the stultifying heat, which wrapped around them all, an invisible cage that shimmered in the distance like a snake poised to strike.

He had of course heard whispers about the state of the job market. Everyone had. Rumors on campus said it had been tough for new graduates for years now. It was basic economics. The workforce exceeded the demand for labor. Salaries had been inching down for years as a result, but were especially bad this year as the economy tightened. What was anyone to do?

Intermediate - A College Education (pdf)

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - A College Education (dialogue)

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - A College Education (fix)

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - What sign are you?

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Ever wonder what a Chinese chicken sounds like, or what to do when someone tells you they are one? In today's lesson Brendan, David and Echo take to the studio and talk about Chinese horoscopes. You may not believe in the Chinese zodiac, but you'll need to know how it works if you're ever going to navigate the animal barnyard that is the dating scene in China. If only because when you meet someone special here you can be sure they're going to be thinking about it.

This podcast is part language lesson and part simple proof of an impressive disconnect between urban China and the natural world. If you don't know your own sign, we've posted more information on the Chinese zodiac in the comments section below. Feel free to write us at echo@popupchinese.com with any questions about your own star sign. We admit to being suckers for romantic gossip.

Absolute Beginners - What sign are you? (pdf)

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - What sign are you? (dialogue)

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - What sign are you? (fix)

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Film Friday - Corporate Raiders

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0800

"I really think we should do a film people have seen." Echo had been nursing her reservations for the last hour. There we were standing in the studio just about to record a special hour long Christmas show devoted to experimental 20th century French cinema. Dubbed Chinese clips of segments from Blood of a Poet and Testament of Orpheus were queued and ready to go. We had even forced Brendan into an old, matted bear costume to add a certain je ne sais quoi to the proceedings.

"Perhaps she's right," Brendan's muffled voice sounded weary. "I'm not that familiar with experimental film, and it's really hot in here." And so faced with the prospect of a staff mutiny, we backed down and switched to this Hollywood film. We're guessing you've seen it, but can you guess the movie from nothing more than its mandarin dub? If so get your guesses in to echo@popupchinese.com. A month of free premium access to Popup Chinese is up for grabs. Keep it for yourself, or give it away to someone else as a special Christmas present.

Film Friday - Corporate Raiders (pdf)

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Advanced - Besides and Let Alone....

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0800

If you're listening to our advanced podcasts our site statistics tell us you're already fluent or close to getting there. And the bad news for most of you is that at this level you've likely passed the point where native speakers will correct your mistakes or help you master the subtleties of their language. Which is why we have podcasts like this. Join us as we help you push through the last mile with a lesson that focuses on a word so advanced even Chinese speakers often get it wrong.

This word is 何况, an advanced conjunction with two different meanings. In the first case 何况 can be translated as "and also" and gets used interchangeably with 再说. Its second usage is closer to 更别说 and is better translated as "let alone" or "not to mention". Our podcast sorts out these two meanings with plenty of examples and a lot of fun, so give it a listen. We think you'll come out more fluent on the other side.

Advanced - Besides and Let Alone.... (pdf)

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - The Law of the Sea

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0800

It was the ocean Henry saw on waking, and the ocean he saw again at dusk. The water was nothing like his dreams. In the tourist brochures that had lured him south, the sea was a shimmering creature of tranquil calm splashed with patches of azure blue. It had been welcoming then, a far cry from the grey beast that spread out before him in all four directions. In all other respects the cruise has lived up to its promise to deliver "a life-changing adventure on the high seas."

Our intermediate listening test for today uses a brief mandarin-only dialogue to tell a story of adventure on the high seas. If you think your Chinese is up to snuff, listen to our short recording just once. Then check out our quiz section to test yourself on your comprehension. Are you as good as you think? If you have any questions just leave a comment below or check our manually annotated transcript of this dialogue on the text page. Good luck!

Intermediate - The Law of the Sea (pdf)

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - The Road Trip, Part II

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0800

You may have been on a vacation like this. The radiator is overheating, the air conditioner is broken, and what began as a nice weekend jaunt into the countryside has morphed into something much, much uglier. Join us in this Elementary Chinese lesson as we explore the heart of darkness you'll only see in your family after spending eight hours in a car with them totally and utterly lost.

In addition to a nice dialogue with plenty of useful vocabulary and phrases (especially for drivers), our lesson today covers the 再不... 就 construction and goes over how to use it to make vaguely threatening demands on those you love. So listen up and let us know what you think. And if you find the Chinese a bit above your level relax. Click through to the text page to consult our annotated popup version of the text for instant illumination. You'll be at the Intermediate level in no time.

Elementary - The Road Trip, Part II (pdf)

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - The Road Trip, Part II (dialogue)

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - The Road Trip, Part II (fix)

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - Pinyin Practice - Adventures with Umlaut

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Curious why the pinyin for some characters is written with an umlaut which vanishes in similar-sounding words? Is there really a difference in the way we should pronounce these sounds? The answer to these questions and more is revealed in our pinyin practice lesson for today, which will take you on a whirlwind tour through a maze of similar sounding words.

For extra feedback, we've enabled our recording hotline for this lesson to give you an opportunity to get personal feedback on your pronunciation. If you're a premium subscriber call us using the custom PIN number that you'll find on this lesson's text page. Practice reading our sample sentences for this lesson and one of our teachers will get back to you shortly with one-on-one feedback on your pronunciation. And doubtless compliments too.

Absolute Beginners - Pinyin Practice - Adventures with Umlaut (pdf)

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - Pinyin Practice - Adventures with Umlaut (fix)

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - The Road Trip

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Remember the epic road trips of your youth? Our lesson today goes out to every eight year old who has ever had to sit still in the backseat for eight hours trapped between two quarreling siblings while the family enjoyed a nice drive into the countryside.

If you're a premium subscriber, please note that we've enabled our Speaking Practice recording service for this lesson. Click through to our text page to find our toll-free telephone number. Call us and enter your dedicated PIN number when prompted. Then tell us all about the worst vacation you've ever had. Or just practice reading us the dialogue and vocabulary for this lesson. Our teachers will review your recording and give you personal feedback on your pronunciation by email in a day or two.

Elementary - The Road Trip (pdf)

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - The Road Trip (dialogue)

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - The Road Trip (fix)

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Film Friday - A Dog's Life

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0800

The stars have aligned and we've finally found another film both Brendan and Echo have seen. Only there's something strange happening here, because the movie didn't sound anything like this in the theaters. So join us for a linguistic mystery as we stumble into an alternate universe in which everything sounds almost, but not quite, like standard mandarin. We will reward you for your perseverance though. If you can peg our clip despite the added challenge, send an email to echo@popupchinese.com and we'll enter you for a chance to win a free month of premium access to Popup Chinese.

Film Friday - A Dog's Life (pdf)

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - A Sudden Case of Acrophobia

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Even deep in his pockets, Adam's fingers were shaking uncontrollably. His anxiety had already reached the point where others were noticing his chattering teeth, and was only increasing with each minute that brought them closer to the drop zone. Above the steady drone of the plane engines, Adam could hear the whispered remarks of his peers, and feel their sidewards glances. Would he lose control when the time came? Would he endanger the mission?

As an aside, many of you have written us asking how we come up with such unique dialogues. In this lesson we finally spill the beans about our creative secret. If you've ever wondered who the creative genius is behind our approach to language learning, listen in and get the inside scoop. Enjoy!

Intermediate - A Sudden Case of Acrophobia (pdf)

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - A Sudden Case of Acrophobia (dialogue)

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - A Sudden Case of Acrophobia (fix)

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Elementary - Living Together

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0800

By the time Betty arrived home, her normally sedate neighborhood was abuzz with excitement. The police cruisers camped on the street were only the most visible sign of the investigative unit that had arrived hours earlier to cordon off the block and interview the neighbors. As she headed inside, Betty caught a far-off glimpse of two junior detectives taking soil samples from her back garden.

Bursting into her home, she caught sight of the lead detective in the living room and charged over to demand an explanation. "Rumors have it you're not the only one who lives here," he replied. A casual glance around the room was enough to confirm this as fact. Jonathan had once again left his clothes strewn all over the sofa. As she simply nodded, the detective reached for his handcuffs. "I think it's time you spoke to a lawyer."

Elementary - Living Together (pdf)

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - Living Together (dialogue)

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - Living Together (fix)

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Film Friday - A Holiday Visit

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0800

As those of you in the United States gear up to celebrate Thanksgiving, we're going to confuse things by skipping ahead to the next major holiday, with a newer holiday classic that happens to be one of Echo's favorite movies, and is known casually around the office as "the Citizen Cane of films Echo has actually seen." Fellow Orson Welles fans should please direct your outrage via email to Echo at the address below.

In any event, if you've ever wondered what Echo's favorite movie is the game is now on... you've got a week to figure it out from listening to a small clip dubbed into mandarin. And we think you've got a decent chance at guessing. Our selection is at the elementary level in difficulty, so even if you're relatively new to Chinese we think you should have a healthy shot. So listen up, get your guesses in to echo@popupchinese.com and with a bit of luck you may even win a month of free premium access to Popup Chinese.

Film Friday - A Holiday Visit (pdf)

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Advanced - The Northeasterner, Part II

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0800

With apologies to our friends in Jilin, the northeastern accent is totally ridiculous at times. Ever heard it? If you haven't you're in for a treat in this special listening test for advanced speakers. Take a listen to our situational dialogue and see how much you can pick up. If you're fluent in mandarin we think you'll be able to understand more than you think, and learn some northeastern slang in the process. And if you're not fluent yet, just check out our word by word annotated transcript. It'll bring you up to speed.

Advanced - The Northeasterner, Part II (pdf)

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - Plants vs. Zombies

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0800

We don't like to play favorites when it comes to our dialogues, but there's something charming about the performance Andy turns in today as a compulsive liar with an almost desperate need to be liked. He gives his character such enthusiastic and infectious likability we think it's easy to ignore the fact that nothing he says is even remotely close to being plausible. So we find this one charming anyway, and hope you like it too.

As far as our subject matter goes, this podcast is inspired by the Pop Cap game of the same name, and is intended for anyone with a fair bit of mandarin under their belt who has ever been tasked with translating a John Carpenter film into Chinese. It is tragic that more textbooks don't teach vocabulary for describing the undead. While you may not use this at the office, it will surely be high frequency vocabulary on that fateful day the dead rise from their graves and shotgun prices go vertical. Best to prepare in advance.

Intermediate - Plants vs. Zombies (pdf)

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - Plants vs. Zombies (dialogue)

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - Plants vs. Zombies (fix)

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - Yes, I'm a Student

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

We haven't come out with a lesson for absolute beginners in a while, partially because whenever we start teaching something simple Brendan segues into a rambling discourse on character etymology and before we know it we've produced another graduate seminar about regional dialects in the Song dynasty. So today we slowed him down with an intentionally simple and very straightforward dialogue. This one teaches how to ask basic questions and tell others a bit about yourself.

In fact, those of you without a graduate degree in linguistics will be pleased to hear that we even managed to restrain Brendan from using the word "copula" in this podcast. This was accomplished somewhat by the dialogue itself, but mostly by Echo, who threatened the use of physical force unless Brendan used "actual English real people understand." So if you're totally new to mandarin and afraid of our other lessons, fire up your iPod and check out this one, which makes the basics about as easy as they can get.

Absolute Beginners - Yes, I'm a Student (pdf)

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - Yes, I'm a Student (dialogue)

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - Yes, I'm a Student (fix)

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

KTV Wednesday - Carsick Cars - Zhongnanhai

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Carsick Cars is an indie rock band based in Beijing. And not that we endorse smoking, but if you're going to write a song about the ubiquitous cigarette you can't do worse than they did with this one about Zhongnanhai. Tip to the wise: the brand name comes from the top-level government compound down near Tiananmen Square.

This video was filmed at D22, a local club in the heart of the university district here in Beijing. The band plays there pretty regularly, so you have a good chance of catching a show if you're in town. And the lyrics are pretty accessible too. If you're having trouble making out the lines "I can't live without Zhongnanhai" and "I only smoke Zhongnanhai" then click through to read the full lyrics as part of our annotated transcript.

KTV Wednesday - Carsick Cars - Zhongnanhai (pdf)

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0800

KTV Wednesday - Carsick Cars - Zhongnanhai (fix)

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - The Backstreet Boys

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0800

As Napoleon once commented, "China is a sleeping giant. Let her sleep, for when she wakes she will truly rock." We may be paraphrasing slightly, but it's impossible to under-emphasize the passion with which Chinese youth have embraced the concept of the Western boy band. Truly the Middle Kingdom is a place where everything old is new again. Join us in this podcast and see for yourself.

On a side note, we should mention that our dialogue this lesson is at the upper-end of our difficulty spectrum for the Elementary level. We were almost tempted to put it at the Intermediate level, but the vocabulary is still pretty basic and our sentences are still relatively simple. So don't worry if you find it more challenging than usual. Just add oil.

Elementary - The Backstreet Boys (pdf)

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - The Backstreet Boys (dialogue)

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - The Backstreet Boys (fix)

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Film Friday - An Unexpected Romance

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Film Friday this week is brought to you by Brendan, David and Gail, Echo having been waylaid by a nasty cold. And the topic? Our clip this week has all the mandarin you'll need to warm the heart of someone special. It's all about love. So listen up and if you think you can identify our mystery film, be sure to write echo@popupchinese.com to be entered in our weekly draw for a month of free premium access to Popup Chinese.

Film Friday - An Unexpected Romance (pdf)

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0800

KTV Wednesday - Wang Fei - Nothing Remains

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Written and composed by Wang Fei herself, Nothing Remains may just be the best song to come out of the Beijing rock scene in the first half of this decade. So if by Gods you have not yet heard it we order you to drop everything and listen. In turns plaintive and heartbreakingly lovely, Nothing Remains tells the feelings of a woman torn between two lovers. Pushing far beyond the limited emotional range of most contemporary pop, this song will make you glad you're learning mandarin:

What can we say about this that isn't better communicated by repeat listening? Since a lot of intermediate students have trouble with the proper use of 把, the obvious thing is pointing out the 把...给 structure that frames almost every single line in the song. This allows us to put the object before the verb, as with the English sentence, "I took the song and listened (to it)." If you're having trouble picking this up by ear, become a premium subscriber for full access to our manually annotated online transcripts.

KTV Wednesday - Wang Fei - Nothing Remains (pdf)

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

KTV Wednesday - Wang Fei - Nothing Remains (fix)

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - A Dangerous Chinese Lesson

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0800

There are some words which are so powerful in mandarin, simply using them properly will cause any native speaker in hearing distance to cough up blood in shock and awe. So understand why we refer to this as the most dangerous lesson we've ever produced. It contains not one but three fatal phrases you won't find in any other textbook: 爱理不理, 爱去不去 and 爱谁谁.

If you've been tricked into thinking Chinese is a tremendously logical language, you may be surprised to learn that none of these expressions have anything to do with love. Join us in this podcast and we'll make it clear what they mean though. Just remember that with great power comes great responsibility and we completely disavow responsibility for the consequences if you detonate this stuff on live national television.

Intermediate - A Dangerous Chinese Lesson (pdf)

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - A Dangerous Chinese Lesson (fix)

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Film Friday - When Things Go South

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Our mystery movie this week came close to sweeping the Oscars a few years back, and if you've seen it we're pretty sure it made a deep impression on you. But can you guess the film from nothing more than a short clip entirely in mandarin? Our selection this week is around the Elementary level, but we're betting even advanced students haven't run into some of this vocab. So listen up and be sure to write echo@popupchinese.com if you think you can identify our mystery film.

Film Friday - When Things Go South (pdf)

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Trip Home

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

From a sickly childhood, Steven passed into a sickly adolescence. Phantom aches and pains constantly wracked the poor boy, much to the bafflement of the family doctor, who pronounced "nothing at all wrong with him physically." In fact, it wasn't until his first year away at university that his constitution seemed to pick up and his body threw off its shackles of ill-health.

New to Popup Chinese? Our lessons at the Elementary level are designed for anyone who already knows the basics but is still working towards full comprehension of shorter sentences spoken at real speed. Our dialogues here are limited in length and our vocabulary is very high frequency. Exactly the stuff you need to build the bridge to greater fluency. So give us a listen. Feedback is always welcome at echo@popupchinese.com. Oh yeah, and skip the rice gruel too.

Elementary - The Trip Home (pdf)

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Trip Home (dialogue)

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Trip Home (fix)

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

KTV Wednesday - Chen Qizhen - The Meaning of Travel

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Our musical selection for KTV Wednesday today is "The Meaning of Travel" by Taiwanese singer Chen Qizhen, known to her fans as Cheer Chen. Born in Taipei on June 6, 1975, Chen is a popular if low key singer-songwriter. This selection is from her 2004 album EP:

If you click through to the text section and read our annotated lyrics for this song, you will be hit on line three - as we were - with a metaphor that is so profoundly illogical it is impossible to translate. You may be tempted at this point to abandon mandarin and pick up German. We suggest resisting the urge, because the rest of the song isn't that bad. Also note that our embedded video is streaming courtesy of Youtube. If you're in China and are having trouble getting it to load, check out this version on Youku.

KTV Wednesday - Chen Qizhen - The Meaning of Travel (fix)

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - A Murder Mystery

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

The motive wouldn't be hard to establish: they all had it. But given the sheer number of beatings, shootings and stabbings the deceased had suffered in the course of a few minutes (including at least one attempted hanging), it was going to be thorny to prove who exactly laid the telling blow, and where, and with what.

Our Chinese lesson for today is all about what happened the time we introduced our crew to a classic American board game of murder, mayhem and sleuthing. Fun and hijinks it was not. The rules took at least 10 minutes to explain to our baffled guests, and even then we don't think we properly handled many of their more philosophical objections, such as 9527's repeated insistence that we just "jail them all and forget about it."

Intermediate - A Murder Mystery (pdf)

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - A Murder Mystery (dialogue)

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - A Murder Mystery (fix)

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Film Friday - A Fashionable Blockbuster

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

If you're new to Popup Chinese, welcome to Film Friday. Every week we pick a short clip from a Hollywood movie that's been dubbed into Chinese. If you can guess our mystery film from nothing more than its mandarin dub, write to echo@popupchinese.com and let her know what you think the film is. We pick a single winner every week and give them a free month of premium access here at Popup Chinese. This week it could be you!

Note to Gang: this one is a lot harder than usual, but so many of you guessed our film last week we don't feel the least bit guilty about tossing you this intermediate to advanced clip. Good luck!

Film Friday - A Fashionable Blockbuster (pdf)

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - How about Korean Food

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

It happens to the best of us. Even if your home or office is strategically located in the heart of Sichuan street, surrounded by a hundred different Chinese restaurants with upwards of a hundred different dishes each, there will come a point when your stomach rebels and your heart starts pining for simpler fare. Or maybe you'd kill for Chinese food but the only restaurant that delivers is the Korean one down the street.

Almost miraculously, this lesson is useful in either situation. If you're totally new to mandarin, join us as we introduce the four tones, cover some basic words and phrases you can start using right away, and learn how to steer your fellow diners towards the kind of food you want to eat.

Absolute Beginners - How about Korean Food (pdf)

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - How about Korean Food (dialogue)

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - How about Korean Food (fix)

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Film Friday - Jobs and Jets

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Our films for the last few weeks have been pretty difficult. So today we're taking a step back with a simpler dialogue that even relative newcomers to Chinese have a decent shot at guessing. Our mystery clip is from a film whose director has graced Film Friday before. And his work? A strange cross between an action adventure and a family comedy. We can't agree on whether it really succeeds.

That said, if you think you can identify our mystery Hollywood film based on this short Chinese dub, write to Echo at echo@popupchinese.com and let her know. We'll pick a winner from the crowd and give them (you?) a month of free premium access to Popup Chinese. So good luck and happy guessing!

Film Friday - Jobs and Jets (pdf)

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Honest Cabbie

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Why is it that despite the enormous variety in our personal experiences, we all end up having exactly the same conversation with cab drivers? You know the drill. Where are you from? Are you used to eating Chinese food? Can you use chopsticks? Like Chinese water torture, the deadening repetition invites psychological defense mechanisms just to cope, like inventing new personal histories for each encounter.

But then, just when you're about to lose faith in humanity, you run into a cabbie who is interesting, quick on his feet, and brutally honest. Our Elementary lesson for today is about exactly this situation. Like a bracing dash of cold water, it refreshes and re-motivates. Give it a listen and see if it rings true for you too.

Elementary - The Honest Cabbie (pdf)

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Honest Cabbie (dialogue)

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Honest Cabbie (fix)

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The Legend of the oPhone

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Oh, have you heard the legend of the oPhone? It may seem naïve to raise our hopes again after the crushing disappointments that were the iFeng and Hi-Phone. Yet rumors from the interior are reaching us of a new mobile device that makes its Apple cousin seem almost diminutive by comparison. The words "hushed rapture" might best describe the attitude of our correspondents towards this device, which has a thirty hour battery, features too numerous to list and is rumored to verge on sentience itself.

Join us in this podcast as we share our thoughts on China's much vaunted shanzhai competition to the iPhone. Our vocabulary and dialogue in this lesson are both on the easy side for an Intermediate lesson, but we make up for that with a grammar point that is fiendishly difficult. It centers on the slight difference in meaning between two eerily similar sentences: 你看的是什么书 and 你看的书是什么. Both are grammatically correct, but they actually mean different things.

Intermediate - The Legend of the oPhone (pdf)

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The Legend of the oPhone (dialogue)

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The Legend of the oPhone (fix)

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The Nobel Peace Prize

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Each year, the Nobel Prize committee surveys the world and selects the best-of-the-best for prestige and public honor. And while there's always been controversy over some of the selections, there has never been quite as much controversy as this year, when the awards were surprised by "an unprecedentedly strong show by those Chinese upstarts," as one anonymous critic so ingloriously put it. From our vantage point in Beijing, we feel the criticisms are totally unfounded. Jealous bastards.

Intermediate - The Nobel Peace Prize (pdf)

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The Nobel Peace Prize (dialogue)

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The Nobel Peace Prize (fix)

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - No, you cannot build a swimming pool in our backyard....

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Today we're pleased to support all you parents out there with a lesson that will teach you how to crush the hopes and dreams of your offspring with two simple words. Whether your child's interests lie in backyard construction, the sporting life, or more prosaic things like a chance to leave their room and enjoy their sixth birthday, this is your chance to put that foot down and establish some parental authority. Enjoy!

Elementary - No, you cannot build a swimming pool in our backyard.... (pdf)

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - No, you cannot build a swimming pool in our backyard.... (dialogue)

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - No, you cannot build a swimming pool in our backyard.... (fix)

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Short Stories - The Foolish Man and the Mountain

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

It is April 1945. Although the United States is still months from bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the end of the Pacific War now seems inevitable, and the Japanese retreat across China is setting the stage for a return to full-blown civil war. In the north the Communists are extending their strategic grip across the countryside. Arrayed against them is the Kuomintang, propped up by the support of China's southern industrial base and Chiang Kaishek's largest international ally: the United States.

Coming at a critical juncture in Chinese history, Mao's ruminations in "The Foolish Man and the Mountain" reveal a belief that a Communist victory was a historic certainty, despite a short-term material deficit and clear need to shore up consensus on post-war planning within the Party. As Mao made clear, what lay ahead for China was mass mobilization and war. But the fate of the world was less certain, and this speech gives a curious sense of an alternate history that may have been. In it Mao hints at a fascinating trump card he believed the Communists held which might have proved useful in levering the United States away from the Kuomintang. But exactly what was this trump card? And what happened to it?

For answers to these questions and more, you'll have to click through to our text page and step back in time by reading this speech in its original Chinese. As with all of our short stories, we've annotated every single word in the text with a contextual definition: just mouseover any word for an instant popup containing its pronunciation and meaning. And if you have any other questions or thoughts, leave a comment in our discussion space below.

Short Stories - The Foolish Man and the Mountain (pdf)

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Short Stories - The Foolish Man and the Mountain (fix)

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Film Friday - Adventures in the Maintenance Tunnel

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

For weeks our screenwriter had been haunted by dreams of gutters, drainage culverts and sewage pipes. His subconscious telling him something, but what? And then it clicked. Trapped in an intractable position, what his heroes needed more than anything was a maintenance tunnel. Everything needs maintenance, he thought, so why shouldn't there be a tunnel there? Toss in an extra janitor and no-one will ever think twice about it.

All film buffs are invited to listen in to our movie-guessing show and see if you can identify our mystery Hollywood film from nothing more than a short clip dubbed into Chinese. Think you know the film? Write Echo at echo@popupchinese.com with your guess to be entered in a draw for a month of free premium access to Popup Chinese. Happy Mid-Autumn Festival too!

Film Friday - Adventures in the Maintenance Tunnel (pdf)

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Where does it hurt?

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

This lesson takes place in a doctor's office, and while we hope you won't have too many encounters with the Chinese medical system, it is one of the many places the words and phrases we teach in this podcast will come in useful. So if you're new to learning the Chinese language, put on your earphones and get listening. By the time this podcast is over, you'll know enough mandarin to ask how others are doing and be expert at pointing and complaining whenever someone else returns the courtesy.

Absolute Beginners - Where does it hurt? (pdf)

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Where does it hurt? (dialogue)

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Where does it hurt? (fix)

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The Airlock

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

There was a deep silence after the sirens stopped blaring, and then chaos broke out. As the crew scuttled to the cargo bay, each couldn't help but wonder what had brought them to this point. Stranded light years from human settlement with nothing but their wits and a thin hull separating them from the vacuum outside. And then a comforting thought. At least they had the captain: he would know what to do.

Think your Chinese is good? Join us in this Intermediate listening test as we push it to the limits. Listen to our short dialogue and then click through to our quiz page to test your comprehension. Who are the people in this scene? What exact problem do they have and how are they planning to solve it? If you can catch the answers by listening congratulations! If you have trouble, click through to our text section to consult our manually annotated transcript. Good luck!

Intermediate - The Airlock (pdf)

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Shark Tank

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Notice that shark over there? That's right, our Elementary Chinese lesson for today is all about man-eating beasts of the deep. It is unapologetically inspired by Jaws III, and particularly that scene where the Great Whites start ramming the underwater observation tunnels at Seaworld to the shock and horror of the soon-to-be-eaten tourist hordes.

Despite the fact that its dialogue was written by an eight year old, our podcast for today offers more than weeks of unrelenting nightmares for the discriminating Chinese student. In it we showcase all the mandarin you'll ever need to bluff your way through the Orient as a marine biologist. In addition, we also teach a valuable Machiavellian lesson on how to bend others to your will and coerce colleagues into risking life and limb through the steady application of negative rhetorical questions. Enjoy!

Elementary - The Shark Tank (pdf)

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Shark Tank (dialogue)

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Shark Tank (fix)

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

KTV Wednesday - Pu Shu - Radio in My Head

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Last Saturday, I experienced a sort of freedom I wasn't used to finding in China. I'd caught a late night flight back to Beijing from Shenzhen, and it was early morning by the time our plane touched down in the capital. Outside the airport past sleeping carousels and a deserted lobby, the night was empty save for a straggle of cabs huddled near the terminal doors. I hailed one and we pulled out for the hazy glow of the downtown core.

My driver looked maybe twenty-one. He was poor, from out of town, and without much in the way of prospects. But as we drove down the empty highway this song came on and he turned up the radio. And soon we were coasting through the night with the winds whistling outside and the speakers surging with adrenaline. The world reduced itself to a certain kind of motion through time and music. There was a sort of freedom and escape there. And it came from this:

If you like this song, be sure to check out the other songs we've covered by Pu Shu: Upset Only Fool, and Those Flowers. As always, there's some great music in China if you know where to look, or know how to let it find you. As usual, we've linked to the Youtube version of this song. If you're in China you can find a local copy on Youku here.

--dave

KTV Wednesday - Pu Shu - Radio in My Head (pdf)

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

KTV Wednesday - Pu Shu - Radio in My Head (fix)

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - You found what in the fridge?

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Johns Hopkins University recently published a study that followed ten thousand subjects over a ten year period, and closely monitored the eating habits of its participants. Among the results? The experiment showed conclusively that those who dispose of leftover Chinese take-out within the week have longer lifespans, whiter teeth and fuller hair. The remainder suffered from chronic headaches, extreme sensitivity to sunlight and a predisposition to Kenny G's "Going Home".

Even in the absence of rigorous scientific proof, at Popup Chinese we believe the anecdotal evidence is compelling enough. When you have a hankering for kung-pao chicken at four in the morning avoid the leftovers and order in fresh. Your body will thank you.

Absolute Beginners - You found what in the fridge? (pdf)

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - You found what in the fridge? (dialogue)

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - You found what in the fridge? (fix)

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - I am not a Spy

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Attention new recruits. After 84% of last year's class were caught crossing Customs and an additional 10% were found out while checking into their hotels, the Agency Directorate has ordered the commencement of emergency classes on basic spy decorum. Join us in this Elementary Chinese podcast as we cover the four elementary rules you need to know for how not to get caught.

Elementary - I am not a Spy (pdf)

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - I am not a Spy (dialogue)

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - I am not a Spy (fix)

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Film Friday - Does Not Compute

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

You thought you could beat the lie detector, so focused on your breathing, sweaty palms pressed tight against the table. You stared straight ahead as the interrogator fired his questions off like clockwork. And then you started twitching. Once, twice, and the needles began to tick. What were you thinking trying to fool this accursed machine? You saw Steven Seagal do it in a movie once. But you're not Monsieur Seagal, and this is no film. Join us for Film Friday today as hosts Echo, David, and Brendan introduce a clip from a Hollywood movie dubbed into Chinese. And if you can guess the original film? Write Echo at echo@popupchinese.com and be entered into a draw for a free month of premium access to Popup Chinese. Important Disclosure: Steven Seagal is not in this movie.

Film Friday - Does Not Compute (pdf)

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Film Friday - Does Not Compute (fix)

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The Gay Vampire, Part II

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Our general standard for measuring podcast excellence is whether listening causes Gail to spit milk out her nose. By that standard we have a winner today. Which is good, because there's no easy way to describe what's in store for you otherwise. This lesson is a sequel to our previous podcast about a Gay Chinese Vampire. It continues our trend of producing the sorts of cutting-edge lessons you won't find in any traditional textbook.

Since this podcast builds on the vocabulary we introduced in part one, if you haven't already checked out our preceding podcast you may want to take a listen to get up to speed. Otherwise, tune in as we charge headfirst into another messy romance replete with underwear models, strained friendships, and lots and lots of blood.

Intermediate - The Gay Vampire, Part II (pdf)

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The Gay Vampire, Part II (dialogue)

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The Gay Vampire, Part II (fix)

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The Gay Vampire

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

As recovering narcoleptics, we know a thing or two about shunning daylight, sleeping in coffins and going straight for the jugular. Sadly, in many parts of the world people continue to harbor prejudices against the undead. And yet blood donations are at an all-time high. It's a crazy world, we know.

Join us today as we strike out against this pervasive and insidious form of social discrimination. Bloody Mary has a more literal meaning here than you may be used to, but regardless of your taste in drinks we're sure you'll enjoy learning all the Chinese you'll ever need to know should you find yourself invited to an underground party in the French Concession, and have the opportunity to chat up that cute, pulseless waitress from the local cafe who's always sleeping on the job.

Intermediate - The Gay Vampire (pdf)

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The Gay Vampire (dialogue)

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The Gay Vampire (fix)

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Advanced - How to Speak Shanghainese

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

You may have been surprised on arrival in Shanghai to learn that no-one actually speaks mandarin there. Sure, the locals may call their language Chinese, but it's a bit of a national in-joke at this point. After a few thousand years of frustrated attempts to get directions out of the Pudong New District, no-one else in the country believes them anymore. Which is why it's a good idea to pick up a little Shanghainese if you're planning to be in town. And that's where this podcast comes in.

Most of our advanced shows are entirely in standard mandarin. In this one we use the standard dialect to teach some of the basics of the Shanghai dialect. Join us and in addition to showing the difference between standard mandarin and Shanghai-accented mandarin very clearly, we'll teach you some of the basic phrases you'll need know to lubricate your way through the Pearl of the Orient in the language she prefers to speak.

Advanced - How to Speak Shanghainese (pdf)

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

KTV Wednesday - Sun Yanzi - My Happiness

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

We've covered Stephanie Sun before. Like a lot of other Chinese singers (even really great ones like Wang Fei), her albums tend to be collections of standalone songs that hit-and-miss on their own merits rather than collections which work well together. Our selection for today is pretty good though, and we hope you like it:

Note: our embedded video is being served off Youtube. If you're in China and have trouble viewing the embedded video, you can find a more local copy here on Youku.com.

KTV Wednesday - Sun Yanzi - My Happiness (pdf)

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

KTV Wednesday - Sun Yanzi - My Happiness (fix)

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - I'm Hungry, You Fools!

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Our biological clock is a natural wonder. It tells us when to sleep, when to wake, and of course when to eat. So when the alarms start sounding and the hunger pangs strike, there's only one prudent course of action: start complaining as loudly as possible in the hope that someone will appear with food. It worked when you were a kid, right?

If you are totally new to learning Chinese you are in the right place. Join us in this podcast and we'll teach you all the mandarin you'll ever need to know in order to make uncompromising demands on those around you. In this lesson we will teach you six easy adjectives and two simple verbs that will help you amaze others with your fluency, and might also get you fed in the process.

Absolute Beginners - I'm Hungry, You Fools! (pdf)

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - I'm Hungry, You Fools! (dialogue)

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - I'm Hungry, You Fools! (fix)

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Film Friday - The Missing Shirt

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

"You think this is a memorable scene," David asked? There was a lingering skepticism in his voice, but no-one else in the studio had seen the film, or even entertained the thought of seeing it for that matter. Brendan stared numbly downwards, feeling it best not to point out that things were hinging on the same person whose home VHS collection centered on Ghostbusters II. And so there was silence for a moment before Anthony steeled himself for the hard sell. "I think so," he said. "It's definitely the only scene I remembered...."

In this episode of Film Friday we present a film that might be easy or might be difficult. To be honest, we have absolutely no clue. What we do know is that there are enough clues scattered throughout our podcast that you might be able to put things together. And if you do, be sure to write Echo at echo@popupchinese.com. If you guess our mystery film correctly we'll enter you to win a free month of premium access to Popup Chinese or a sleek black t-shirt from our dwindling stockpiles. Good luck!

Film Friday - The Missing Shirt (pdf)

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - McDonalds Delivery Hotline

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

At Popup Chinese we don't shy away from teaching the sort of mandarin you'll need to properly express feelings of lethargy and gluttony at four in the morning. So join us in this lesson as we review four intermediate constructions you can use to create sentences like, "I would rather order in McDonalds than move off this couch."

On a related note, since we're sure some of you will think we're joking, we should stress that everything you'll hear in this podcast is completely true. Even down to the telephone number. Yes folks, as Yeats put it, "surely the Second Coming is at hand." We can't speak for the outer fringes of the Empire, but in Beijing it's not only possible to have a Big Mac delivered to you at four in the morning, it's considered a sign of social progress. We may never see daylight again.

Intermediate - McDonalds Delivery Hotline (pdf)

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - McDonalds Delivery Hotline (fix)

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

KTV Wednesday - Khalil Fong - Red Bean

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Our selection this week is a cover of the famous Wang Fei song of the same name. If you've spent any time in China we're sure you've heard the original version. But you may not have run into this cover yet, as recorded by Khalil Fong, an up-and-coming Chinese-American singer who is beginning to make waves in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

"No-one knows what Wang Fei was really writing about," Echo tried to explain to us. "It's about loneliness and pain, and wanting to be with someone who doesn't want you." There was silence as the room digested this. "I don't know what the bit about red bean stew is about, although red beans are symbols for missing someone in China," she added, "so it's suggestive even if it doesn't make sense literally."

As with all of our songs on KTV Wednesday, if you have any trouble understanding the lyrics just click through to our text page. There, you can consult our manually edited word-by-word popups and consult our line-by-line translations of the original Chinese. And if you enjoy this song, be sure to check out the other songs we have from Wang Fei as part of our KTV Wednesday series. A version of the song is also available on Youtube.

KTV Wednesday - Khalil Fong - Red Bean (pdf)

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

KTV Wednesday - Khalil Fong - Red Bean (fix)

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - My Brother is Good Looking

Mon, 31 Aug 2009 09:00:00 -0700

While you were cracking the spine on that Kangxi dictionary in grad school, your younger brother was hitting the gym. Twice a day even. So does it matter that he can't tell the difference between the first and fourth tone? Or straighten his arms? With his brawn and your brain the two of you are an unstoppable force for good. And you're getting filthy rich in the process too.

That said, despite the fact that David spent a curious amount of time hunting down the photo accompanying this lesson, we're really not sure what to make of it. And we actually had a debate in house over whether it is inappropriately homophobic or homoerotic, which is something you'll have to decide. Brendan summarized our own feelings with his comment that, "I don't know what this dialogue is save strange...." So consider this a little gift from Popup Chinese: the best place online for learning Chinese and getting weirded out in the process.

Elementary - My Brother is Good Looking (pdf)

Mon, 31 Aug 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - My Brother is Good Looking (dialogue)

Mon, 31 Aug 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - My Brother is Good Looking (fix)

Mon, 31 Aug 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Pinyin Practice - Xi

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Our pinyin practice lesson for today focuses on one of the more challenging sounds in the Chinese language. And the reason English speakers have difficulty with it is fairly simple: there is no good English equivalent. Not that we could think of, at least.

In an effort to help you hunt down this sound and overpower it though, in this podcast we review this sound in all of its strange tonal glory. We first go over the sound in all four tones, and then practice putting it into words and then sample sentences. If you made improving your pronunciation a part of your New Years resolutions way back in January, we think this will come in useful. Just speak along with Echo and disregard the crazy looks your coworkers give you: they're just jealous you're speaking Chinese.

On a closing note, we've enabled our recording hotline for this lesson, so if you're a premium subscriber you're invited to call us using the custom PIN number that you'll find on this lesson's text page. Practice recording our words and sample sentences back for us and we'll have one of our teachers listen to it and get back to you with one-on-one feedback about your pronunciation.

Absolute Beginners - Pinyin Practice - Xi (pdf)

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Pinyin Practice - Xi (fix)

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Upsell

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Developed over 5000 years of history, the traditional Chinese approach to sales involves deploying armies of salespeople to flank the merchandise, and opening a single cashier three floors away to ring up sales. Stamped receipts issued by this critical employee can hypothetically be exchanged for the actual product, although we've never heard of anyone successfully completing the transaction.

Perhaps times are changing though. Along with efforts to lure the few remaining foreign factories into central Hunan, the Chinese Government has recently begun a program to encourage the import of advanced western sales techniques. Key among these is the classic upsell, whose sudden emergence this summer has turned it into the latest marketing craze to hit the streets of Beijing. Join us in this podcast and we'll introduce it to you.

Elementary - The Upsell (pdf)

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Upsell (dialogue)

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Upsell (fix)

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Film Friday - Counterstrike

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Brendan has been indulging in French New Wave cinema lately, stirring up outrage around our office with outlandish claims that Truffaut could trounce Cocteau in hand-to-hand combat. We try not to let these aesthetic differences boil over into this podcast though, which revolves around fighting of an entirely different nature. This film clip here is fairly difficult to guess, so listen carefully. But if you think you know our mystery film get your guesses in to echo@popupchinese.com for a chance to win a free month of premium access to Popup Chinese.

Film Friday - Counterstrike (pdf)

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Advanced - Saturday Morning Cartoons

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 09:00:00 -0700

In this podcast Echo, Liu and 9527 hit our studio for a show about Saturday morning cartoons in China. And if you think they're going to chat about Superfriends or Rocket Robin Hood you're sadly mistaken. Not only is there no English in today's show, there are no non-Asian shows either. So even if you're an advanced student you may want to click through to our vocabulary section to familiarize yourself with the subject matter before listening.

Why cartoons? The catalyst for this has been some good news for Liu, who just picked up a job doing voice acting for the new animated edition of The Monkey King set for release later this year. Congratulations Liu. We fully expect everyone in mainland China to know you as "that guy from Popup Chinese" in a couple of years, but don't let that go to your head....

Advanced - Saturday Morning Cartoons (pdf)

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Advanced - Saturday Morning Cartoons (fix)

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - The Worst Joke in China

Mon, 17 Aug 2009 09:00:00 -0700

One of the advantages we've found to operating out of Beijing is our ability to engage in the sort of scientific research frowned upon in much of the civilized world. Far from the oversight of university ethics committees, we carve our own way through pressing moral dilemmas, such as whether to unleash the results of our research into what is unquestionably the worst joke in all China.

When we tested this on our crew in Beijing, the results were pretty bad. "That's the worst joke I've ever heard," Echo groaned before losing consciousness. Apple was knocked to the floor and later hospitalized with minor intestinal discomfort. So consider yourself warned. This podcast is dangerous. On the other hand, if you're starting to learn mandarin it is exactly the sort of risk you need to run if you want to get fluent. And how bad can a joke be anyway?

Absolute Beginners - The Worst Joke in China (pdf)

Mon, 17 Aug 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - The Worst Joke in China (dialogue)

Mon, 17 Aug 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - The Worst Joke in China (fix)

Mon, 17 Aug 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Film Friday - Situation Normal

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Remember the time your former boss accidentally shredded years of customer records? Join us in today's episode and learn the perfect word to describe what happens when you get the short end of the stick. We have a harder film clip than usual, but there are enough hints strewn around we think you can figure things out. So good luck and get your guesses in to echo@popupchinese.com if you think you can identify our mystery film.

Film Friday - Situation Normal (pdf)

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Your Dog Looks a Little....

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Growing weary of Lassie bounding into your bedroom at the very break of dawn, his innocent eyes beaming with the delight of another day? Join us in this podcast as we reveal an age-old Chinese technique for breaking your pets of their infectious enthusiasm for life. In addition to covering some unexpected vocabulary, in this addictive podcast we also highlight three common sentence patterns you'll hear all the time.

Intermediate - Your Dog Looks a Little.... (pdf)

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Your Dog Looks a Little.... (dialogue)

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Your Dog Looks a Little.... (fix)

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Film Friday - University Days

Fri, 07 Aug 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Sadly, our clip for today has nothing to do with James Thurber's hilarious short story of the same name. It also has nothing to do with Brad Pitt, even though you might hear his name in the dialogue. It does take us back in time though, and shares a close connection with China by way of Disney's recent Kungfu Panda. So take a listen and write to echo@popupchinese.com if you can identify our mystery film for this week. A great prize awaits our winner.

Film Friday - University Days (pdf)

Fri, 07 Aug 2009 09:00:00 -0700

KTV Wednesday - Zhang Xuan - Baby

Wed, 05 Aug 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Zhang Xuan is an upcoming singer from Taiwan who got her start playing in bars and other live music venues in Taipei. "Baby" is probably her most famous song, and we hope you'll like it as much as we do. A simple love song set to acoustic guitar, the lyrics have a childlike sense of wonder and endearment. That's the feeling we get from the constantly doubled lyrics, at least. They're sweet.

On a closing note, it's worth mentioning that Zhang released her newest album "City" earlier this year. None of the songs on it are yet as recognizable as this one, but we think it is going to be her breakout album, so you might want to check it out the next time you're in a music shop.

KTV Wednesday - Zhang Xuan - Baby (pdf)

Wed, 05 Aug 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Hostile ATM

Tue, 04 Aug 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Before you came to China, you may have thought the point of telephone banking was to save everyone a bit of time and money. Banks could avoid paying for a full teller while you could conduct your business a bit more efficiently, right? Now you know the truth. In China automated banking is less a service and more an attempt to figure out how badly you really want your money.

Since this is a podcast about robots, we asked Brendan and Echo to liven things up a bit with some exciting banking stories. But they failed. Miserably. So if you're looking for exciting yarns of financial adventure you'll have to go elsewhere. But if you want to learn some useful vocabulary that will serve you well the next time you're engaged in repetitive number crunching or feel like ripping someone's head off, this is exactly the podcast you need.

Elementary - The Hostile ATM (pdf)

Tue, 04 Aug 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Hostile ATM (dialogue)

Tue, 04 Aug 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Hostile ATM (fix)

Tue, 04 Aug 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Film Friday - Looking for Work

Fri, 31 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Your internship at Greater Henan Sewage not exactly what you had in mind when you signed up for a summer in China? If you think you've got it rough there, try volunteering for the job in this week's clip. Or better yet, try to figure out what job this actually is. Identifying our mystery film should be a real challenge even for those of you with excellent Chinese, so we have an excellent prize for the winner. Be sure to get your guess in to echo@popupchinese.com for a chance to win.

Film Friday - Looking for Work (pdf)

Fri, 31 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Carlsberg Man

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Ever wanted to be that guy? You know the one we're talking about. The world is his oyster. And when he goes to the bar he gets served in seconds. No waiting around while the wait staff check the ice levels again. Just exceptional service. And the tips? "Not for you, sir," they say with a nod of the head. "We're just happy to be of service."

Join us in this lesson and we'll teach you the magic word that will jump you to the head of the queue while the rest of your foreign brethren stare glumly at the bar. And for extra good measure, we'll also teach you three important grammar points you'll need to know to pass for native. The most important is the difference between 刚, 刚刚, and 刚才. Only one can be used in a standalone sentence, but which one and why?

Elementary - The Carlsberg Man (pdf)

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Carlsberg Man (dialogue)

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Carlsberg Man (fix)

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Happy Father's Day....

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Blithely ignoring the fact it's nowhere near Father's Day, let us address a more pressing question several of you have asked via email: yes, one of our male voice actors goes by the English name Bunny. We did a double-take the first time we heard it too: such is life in China, and you'll just have to get used to it.

Moving on to more practical matters, we think you'll find this lesson fiendishly difficult, since it's probably the most difficult lesson we've released at this level to date. We still think it's worth getting through for a simple reason though: it will teach you how to answer a question with another question, a tremendously useful stonewalling tactic for when you're dealing with the Entry/Exit bureau and have a visa that expired several months ago.

Absolute Beginners - Happy Father's Day.... (pdf)

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Happy Father's Day.... (dialogue)

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Film Friday - On the Road

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0700

We screened this film for our crew earlier in the week and were surprised how well it stood up. The only touchy point came when our hero whipped out his Motorola, at which point the Chinese Commentariat couldn't keep from remarking on the sheer size of his mobile behometh. So cherish what you've got, because time flies. And if you know this movie get your guesses in to echo@popupchinese.com too.

Film Friday - On the Road (pdf)

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0700

KTV Wednesday - Lao Lang - The Dust of Love

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Lao Lang is one of our favorite Chinese singers, so we're delighted to have finally found a copy of this song clear enough to share with everyone. Dating back to the turn of the decade and the incipient folk rock scene in the Beijing university circuit, this song captures the romantic sentimentality of the period.

In our opinion this song is as good as Pu Shu's fantastic Those Flowers. Whereas Pu Shu has always flirted with more commercial pop hooks, Lao Lang veers more strongly towards poetry. And one of the particularly tricky things about this song (beyond its preference for 书面语) is the way it dances around tense with the sort of ambiguity only Chinese can manage. The first and second verses are told as a story of a long-ago romance between students forced apart as they moved out into the wider world. The third verse brings us into the present with nostalgia and regret.

KTV Wednesday - Lao Lang - The Dust of Love (pdf)

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The Music Teacher

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0700

We believe our voice actors for this lesson must have had horrible memories of music lessons as a child. Nonetheless, the more musically inclined among you may wish to join us as we cover some useful vocabulary for impressing friends and intimidating rivals at KTV showdowns. In addition to the sexy new lingo, we also pay a brief visit to our old friend 了, whose occasional lack of clarity should be par for the course at this point.

Intermediate - The Music Teacher (pdf)

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The Music Teacher (dialogue)

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The Music Teacher (fix)

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Film Friday - Love and Marriage

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Everything is coming up flowers and chocolate in our episode of Film Friday this week. That's right - after an onslaught of action and science fiction films - we've finally settled on a romantic comedy. But which one? Our clip this week is more difficult than last week's, but we think Intermediate students have a good chance. So listen up, and if you think you know which film our clip is from get your guess in to echo@popupchinese.com for a chance to win a free month of Premium access at Popup Chinese.

Film Friday - Love and Marriage (pdf)

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - An Unexpected Interruption

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0700

If you had known what was going on behind that door, you would never have opened it. We trust you there, but also caught the whole encounter on tape and feel that sharing it really is for the greater good. In addition to helping teach the Chinese word for hello, your awkward performance last week offers a perfect chance to teach the English speaking world a few simple euphemisms for dating that everyone needs to know to avoid having their own foot-in-mouth situations. Thanks for understanding....

Absolute Beginners - An Unexpected Interruption (pdf)

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - An Unexpected Interruption (dialogue)

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - An Unexpected Interruption (fix)

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The Police Hotline

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0700

One of our ulterior motives with this entire podcasting business is getting famous and good-looking Chinese celebrities into our recording studios (yes, we take requests). Which is how we're able to bring you this recording starring one of the more recognizable celebrities you're likely to encounter in China. Although she may not be Cecilia Cheung, if you've been in China for a while we're pretty sure you'll recognize her....

In this listening test your challenge is to listen to our recording once and then click through to our quiz section to gauge your comprehension of the story you've heard and the language it uses. If you run into any problems, we've prepared our regular annotated version of the text with mouseover popups.

Intermediate - The Police Hotline (pdf)

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Film Friday - The Film that Time Forgot

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

In this week's episode of Film Friday, we explore the unplumbed depths of Anthony's childhood video collection and uncover a "masterpiece of 20th century cinema" as he persists in calling it despite all evidence to the contrary. There are a lot of clues lurking in the Chinese dub to this film, so give it a listen. And if you think you can identify our mystery movie from this short clip, get your guesses into echo@popupchinese.com for a chance to win premium swag from all of us here in Beijing. Good luck!

Film Friday - The Film that Time Forgot (pdf)

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - The Chinese Diet

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0700

We've heard there's a crumbling yellow list posted on the wall of the State Department's China Room warning its newly recruited analysts of signs they may have gone native and should seek professional help. Number six on that list is apparently ordering a second bowl of rice with dinner.

Depending on how long you've been in China, you're probably either shaking your head in disbelief at the mere possibility, or nodding your head in solemn agreement, because sometimes one bowl of rice just isn't enough. Which is why we're pleased to present you with information on the latest Chinese diet craze. In addition to helping keep the pounds off, this minor adjustment to your dining habits will keep you employable by the US government. Listen in for the details.

Absolute Beginners - The Chinese Diet (pdf)

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - The Chinese Diet (dialogue)

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Drive Safe

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0700

You never know who's been in that taxi before, and China is a place where it pays to play it safe. So join us in this podcast as we review a couple of standard precautions you should take before getting into any foreign vehicle. Because you never know when you're going to get hit by a bus. When you're just sitting there. Not moving. At a traffic light.

Absolute Beginners - Drive Safe (pdf)

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Drive Safe (dialogue)

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Drive Safe (fix)

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Global Warming

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0700

As you step out your front door in the morning to go to work, the same as you would on any other day, something seems off. Could it be the fruit vendor floating down the alley? Or the cat drifting past the front gate of your apartment? Listen in to this Intermediate podcast for a short briefer on what mother nature has in store for Shanghai. Suffice it to say that things will continue to be hot and wet.

Intermediate - Global Warming (pdf)

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Global Warming (dialogue)

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Global Warming (fix)

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Film Friday - A Surprisingly Topical Film

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Our film clip for this week is surprisingly topical, and probably a bit more difficult than you may be used to. It also has a number of revealing clues though, and once you identify it we think you'll know why we picked it. So take a listen and if you think you know our mystery film get your guess in to echo@popupchinese.com for a chance to win free week of premium access to Popup Chinese.

Film Friday - A Surprisingly Topical Film (pdf)

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0700

KTV Wednesday - Zhao Chuan - I am a Little Bird

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0700

One of the secrets of KTV in China is that you don't have to be good at singing. You just have to be loud. So it helps to have a small repertoire of fallback songs you can belt out whenever the occasion calls for it. And for those of you just starting, we recommend this one. Mumble your way through the first couple of versus before striding into laowai stardom with the chorus.

There are plenty of versions and covers of this song floating around. If you're not in China, you may get better performance from this version hosted on Youtube.

KTV Wednesday - Zhao Chuan - I am a Little Bird (pdf)

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Life in Hebei

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Those of us living in Beijing occasionally hear tales of the strange lands and barbarous customs that exist beyond the third ring road. Visitors to our studios bring whispers and rumors of yet wilder places that stretch off in the lands beyond the fourth. And beyond them? Few have seen the savage mystery of Greater Hebei and returned to tell the tale. We know of only one, and his name is Frank Fradella.

Absolute Beginners - Life in Hebei (pdf)

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Life in Hebei (dialogue)

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Life in Hebei (fix)

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Filthy Kitten

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Beijing has a lot of stray cats. Which translates into a lot of stray kittens. They are small, cute and usually covered with mud. And should you run into one while out on a date, you're likely to witness something along the lines of what happens in our lesson for today. So listen up and be prepared for the next time savage cuteness intrudes on your love life.

Elementary - The Filthy Kitten (pdf)

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Filthy Kitten (dialogue)

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Filthy Kitten (fix)

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Lifehacker in China

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Did you know the average person spends two to three years of their life sitting on the toilet? It goes without saying that most of this time is not spent productively, which is why we're pleased to share this listening test with you today. In it we offer up a life-saving secret that will help free up some of your time for more important things like studying Chinese.

Office visitors please note: in response to the growing popularity of this technique among staff, we have implemented draconian controls on office washroom usage. You are encouraged to bring your own toiletries.

Intermediate - Lifehacker in China (pdf)

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Lifehacker in China (fix)

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Parking the Car

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0700

In this podcast we'll teach you a respectful form of address you can use to refer cab drivers, serving staff and martial arts instructors. We'll also teach you left from right, and share some tips on how to make the best use of your newest language partner (the cab driver). And as icing on the cake, Brendan and Anthony share some of their taxi stories from the wilds of Zhengzhou and Harbin, known collectively in these parts as "the interior".

Absolute Beginners - Parking the Car (pdf)

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Parking the Car (dialogue)

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Parking the Car (fix)

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Break-Up, part II

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 09:00:00 -0700

In today's lesson we return with another outburst of marital dischord, and a dialogue that falls somewhere around the upper boundary of our Elementary series. The mandarin here will come at you fast and furious as our voice actors tear into each other at full speed and sometimes even yell over each other - just like a real argument.

If you find yourself despairing of the speed, take a deep breath though. With the exception of a single idiom, our vocabulary is relatively basic. And in addition to all the screaming and melodrama you can handle in a Monday podcast, this podcast covers a very useful way and relatively basic way to express the Future Tense. This is the powerful 会... 的 construct, which you'll be using all the time.

Elementary - The Break-Up, part II (pdf)

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Break-Up, part II (dialogue)

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Break-Up, part II (fix)

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Film Friday - The Interrogation

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Our selection for this week has inspired an awful lot of terrible cinema, which might explain Echo's reluctance to watch it. But the rest of us consider it an outstanding example of its genre, and we're pretty sure you'll come down on our side. So give a listen and join Brendan and Echo for our weekly film guessing game. And for some extra fun we're joined in the studio by Anthony, who will be spending the summer with us up in Beijing. Good luck!

Film Friday - The Interrogation (pdf)

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Advanced - Vintage Science Fiction

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0700

We sent our troops into the studio with a simple request for vintage science fiction, but it wasn't until we conscripted the duck they began to get the picture. So listen up if you're a fan of imaginative and futuristic stories. In addition to covering critical everyday vocabulary like "photon cannon", our podcast contains some revelations about Echo's film preferences that may shock and amaze....

Advanced - Vintage Science Fiction (pdf)

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Advanced - Vintage Science Fiction (dialogue)

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Advanced - Vintage Science Fiction (fix)

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - No More Toilet Paper

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 09:00:00 -0700

More tragic words have never been spoken. Two hours ago you were enjoying the best spicy chicken this side of Chongqing. Now your lunch is having the last laugh. You make eye contact with the man squatting next to you, and notice that his eyes, too, are filled with quiet despair. Listen to our podcast today and learn the magic words we hope you will never have to hear.

Absolute Beginners - No More Toilet Paper (pdf)

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - No More Toilet Paper (dialogue)

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - No More Toilet Paper (fix)

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Film Friday - Hope and Despair

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Our film this week is such a classic that Brendan, Echo and and David have all seen it. Which means no more pithy commentary from the gallery. And we have some educational substance to our podcast today too, as our clip inadvertently highlights three completely different words for expressing hope. So listen in, try to guess our mystery film, and get your guesses to echo@popupchinese.com for a chance to win a free month of premium access and a sexy Popup Chinese t-shirt. Good luck!

Film Friday - Hope and Despair (pdf)

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The Orphanage

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 09:00:00 -0700

You'd have thought we'd have stopped with the child labor jokes after that kerfuffle at the UNESCO conference in Hangzhou. Remember the one? It was the time our ragtag band of Artful Dodgers picked the crowd clean while providing an occasionally accurate interpretation service to the assembled delegates.

We've since gone generally legit with our use of underaged staffers, but as our pack of 8 year old programmers can attest, there remain many benefits to hiring young. In addition to asking fewer questions about labor rights, children eat less, learn faster and are more easily indoctrinated into online personality cults. Nothing is ever perfect though. Which is why this podcast offers practical advice on what you'll need to say in Chinese when things just don't work out.

Intermediate - The Orphanage (pdf)

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The Orphanage (dialogue)

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The Orphanage (fix)

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Missing Keys

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 09:00:00 -0700

We've all been in this sordid situation. Your date was a wild success and you've come back home for a nightcap. But just as you step to the door you reach into your pocket and find something wrong: it has been picked clean. But by whom? Was it your surly waiter? The child selling roses who snaked after you down the street, pulling at your arm? The shifty group of ragged layabouts who operated that makeshift coat-check outside the restaurant?

Whoever the culprit, it seems you will now be spending the rest of your evening walking around looking for an open locksmith. So fire up your iPod and tune in to this podcast for all the language you'll need to get things fixed. Or at least all the language you'll need to complain about your lost keys to anyone who will listen, locksmith included.

Absolute Beginners - Missing Keys (pdf)

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Missing Keys (dialogue)

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Missing Keys (fix)

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Film Friday - Fighting the Man

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0700

This week Film Friday charts unfamiliar territory with a classic film suffering from a not-so-classic Chinese translation. That's the only explanation we can offer for the bit about the fishing pond, anyway. So get ready for a challenge. And if you do recognize our film from its Chinese dub be sure to get your guess in to echo@popupchinese.com for a chance to win a sleek black Popup Chinese t-shirt, the hottest unisex garment this side of Dyykan-Kyshtak.

Film Friday - Fighting the Man (pdf)

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Unsuccessful Branding

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 09:00:00 -0700

On occasion, our shameless sense of self-promotion here at Popup Chinese rubs up against unforgiving reality. This is a podcast about one of these occasions. More importantly, it is also a lesson on how to talk about clothing. The words we'll cover are critical to know whether you're buying clothes, selling clothes, or telling the naked kid running around outside to go and put some on for a change.

Elementary - Unsuccessful Branding (pdf)

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Unsuccessful Branding (dialogue)

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Unsuccessful Branding (fix)

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Locked in the Studio

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Whenever someone visits our office and asks how we get such natural dialogues we just smile. The truth is that podcasting in China is a ruthless business and the use of force is occasionally necessary. And so we bring you this podcast in the spirit of sharing some advanced podcasting tips. Listen in for a great Chinese lesson, along with practical suggestions on coaxing productivity from a recalcitrant recording crew when you're seriously behind schedule and need the next six months of material finished by sundown.

Intermediate - Locked in the Studio (pdf)

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Locked in the Studio (dialogue)

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Locked in the Studio (fix)

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Film Friday - Tales from Old Henan

Fri, 29 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

In this episode of Film Friday we're joined by a special guest fresh from the hinterlands of Zhengzhou. In addition to giving us the lowdown on the Henan squat, Anthony helps us introduce a film we're pretty sure you've seen. And there's more reason than ever to write echo@popupchinese.com with your guess. In addition to the international accolades that come from winning Film Friday, our prize this week includes a sleek, black and very, very sexy Popup Chinese t-shirt, mailed right to your doorstep.

Film Friday - Tales from Old Henan (pdf)

Fri, 29 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Death by Appliance

Wed, 27 May 2009 09:00:00 -0700

In this podcast we hear a tragic tale of a homicidal non-cooling appliance. This lesson also marks another experiment with our recording format: rather than focus on the dialogue here we focus on the theme: heating and air conditioning. As such, we review the core nouns, adjectives and verbs related to this central theme. If you learn well by practicing grouped words together, this is the podcast for you. Take a listen and let us know if we should produce more of these.

Elementary - Death by Appliance (pdf)

Wed, 27 May 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Death by Appliance (dialogue)

Wed, 27 May 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Death by Appliance (fix)

Wed, 27 May 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - How to Swear in Chinese

Mon, 25 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Ever smashed your finger in a car door and found yourself at a loss for words? In this podcast we'll teach you how to swear in Chinese using a relatively low-level Chinese swear word. If you haven't run into it before, the word we'll introduce is basically the equivalent of damn in English. If you or your conversation partners are offended easily you may want to skip this one for one of our more family friendly podcasts.

Swearing is a sensitive topic, but it's critical to know how socially appropriate various expressions really are, and understand when escalating is considered crude. Many second language learners have real problems expressing their anger in socially appropriate ways, and jump to extremely offensive language in response to slight provocation. If you are one of them, this podcast is for you. And since proper escalation is key, we also cover some alternate ways to sound more forceful without crossing the line to explicit obscenity.

Intermediate - How to Swear in Chinese (pdf)

Mon, 25 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - How to Swear in Chinese (dialogue)

Mon, 25 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - How to Swear in Chinese (fix)

Mon, 25 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Film Friday - Mind Games

Fri, 22 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

In today's episode of Film Friday we showcase yet another Hollywood blockbuster as it ended up dubbed in Chinese. Those of you who've been asking for harder clips will like this one. The language is more difficult all-around, while Echo and Brendan clam up almost completely on the clue front. So good luck with our guessing game and be sure to write Echo at echo@popupchinese.com if you think you know which film this is.

Film Friday - Mind Games (pdf)

Fri, 22 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

KTV Wednesday - Andy Lau - Loving You Forever

Wed, 20 May 2009 20:00:00 -0700

Known on the mainland as Liu Dehua, Andy Lau is one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Hong Kong media circuit. And while a renegade faction in our office considers him more horseman of the apocalypse, said faction has yet to see him in the spectacular "Cat and Mouse" which also stars Cecilia Cheung and is probably the closest Hong Kong has ever come to replicating Citizen Kane.

All that said, seeing as this is a KTV lesson we're obliged to move on from film to music, which brings us to our selection for today: Love You Forever. If you haven't heard this song yet, we can only conclude you're a total KTV Newbie, since the proper way to do this seems to involve screaming the chorus at the top of your lungs, which is something you'll tend to notice when your KTV partner does it sitting on the sofa next to you while you're eating peanuts.

On a closing note, because Youtube continues to experience on-again-off-again blocking in China we're linking to a copy on Youku.com. If you're outside China you'll probably have better download speeds with this version.

Short Stories - Autumn in the Ancient Capital

Wed, 20 May 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Our selection for today is "Autumn in the Ancient Capital" (故都的秋) a short piece of non-fiction written by Yu Dafu (郁达夫, 1895-1945) that describes the author's love for autumn in Beijing. This story is often taught in creative writing classes, and what's notable about it is the way it describes Beijing in intimate detail. Part of the story's seduction might be due to its wonderful use of adjectives, particularly as verb complements. Internalize this and watch the quality of your own writing spike upwards.

As for the subject matter? A quick office poll confirms that late autumn is our preferred time of year around here. There's something special about a quiet walk through the hutongs on those near-winter days when your breath almost hangs in the air and Beijing becomes like a city out of time.

Short Stories - Autumn in the Ancient Capital (pdf)

Wed, 20 May 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Short Stories - Autumn in the Ancient Capital (fix)

Wed, 20 May 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Pinyin Practice: zi

Mon, 18 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Our podcast for today is our second show in a new series we're launching to teach proper Chinese pronunciation. Our focus today is on a common problem a lot of learners have when they're new to mandarin: differentiating the sound "zi" from its aspirated rival "ci". Today we're going to clear this up once and for all.

And attention listeners: management is fully aware that Brendan's pronunciation of the letter zed in this podcast does not conform to international Canadian phonetic standards. We apologize for this oversight, and wish to assure you we have already commenced mandatory remedial training. Even if the continued references to "zee" (zed) may confuse, we hope you still find this a useful podcast for mastering proper pronunciation in Chinese.

Absolute Beginners - Pinyin Practice: zi (pdf)

Mon, 18 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Pinyin Practice: zi (fix)

Mon, 18 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Advanced - The Band's Perspective

Sat, 16 May 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Today we bring you yet another overlooked perspective on a great historical event. We don't want to say too much more because this is a listening test and part of the goal here is for you to figure out what is going on yourself. So give this podcast a listen and then click through to our online quiz to test your listening comprehension. It may not be as easy as you think.

Advanced - The Band's Perspective (pdf)

Sat, 16 May 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - A New Home

Thu, 14 May 2009 09:00:00 -0700

In this age of Global Warming, our imperiled avian friends from the deep south are crying out for succor. And no-where is their plight getting a warmer reception than with our very own Tiansen.

If you're an old hand at Popup Chinese, you might consider this dialogue simpler than our usual intermediate fare. But it really isn't. What you should be listening for are the departures we take from technically correct pronunciation and grammar. You may not have internalized or even noticed these tricks to date, but if you start using them you'll come across as much more fluent than your peers. Because part of sounding like a native speaker is knowing exactly when and how to bend the rules....

Intermediate - A New Home (pdf)

Thu, 14 May 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - A New Home (dialogue)

Thu, 14 May 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - A New Home (fix)

Thu, 14 May 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The Advertising Age

Tue, 12 May 2009 09:00:00 -0700

While the usual suspects spend billions on branding campaigns in China, it's often smaller companies with more forceful sales messages that capture our hard-earned yuan. In our lesson for today Popup Chinese is proud to present a short advert for no-name cola that mascarades as instructional dialogue. And for extra inundate-the-listener goodness, we're pleased to introduce our latest jingle too. We hope you like them both.

Intermediate - The Advertising Age (pdf)

Tue, 12 May 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The Advertising Age (dialogue)

Tue, 12 May 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Mother's Day

Mon, 11 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Assuming your mother doesn't speak mandarin, our podcast is not going to help you cope with the fallout of having forgotten to call her yesterday. But maybe you also forgot to say something nice to your mother-in-law and your significant other is busy doing damage control. So bear with us here. In this podcast we teach you the easiest way to tell someone you simply forgot. And since that's pretty easy, we also cover the basics of using Chinese prepositions.

Elementary - Mother's Day (pdf)

Mon, 11 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Mother's Day (dialogue)

Mon, 11 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Mother's Day (fix)

Mon, 11 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Film Friday - Radio Communications

Fri, 08 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

After a couple of you commented that our previous graphic for Film Friday looked unintelligible, we've swapped it out for our sexy new graphic. And with it we have a sexy new film as well. The language here is a bit more technical than usual, but if you understand it we think you've got an excellent shot at guessing the film. Get your answers in to echo@popupchinese.com as usual for a chance to win big.

On a side note, if you're in Beijing this Sunday afternoon and are looking for some conversational practice, we'll be hosting a free practice session at the Three Trees cafe on Nanluoguxiang from 1:00pm to 3:00pm starting this Sunday. You are cordially invited to drop by. For questions or to get more specific directions, email Echo or call us at 13581709309.

Film Friday - Radio Communications (pdf)

Fri, 08 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

KTV Wednesday - Jay Chow - Seven Mile Fragrance

Wed, 06 May 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Jay Chow is famous for a singing style that falls halfway between mumbling and muttering. Unlike many performers, he's also distinguished by writing his own vocals and music. And he's an excellent musician as well. This is the second song of his we've showcased, and while the lyrics in our previous song were actually fairly well enunciated, in this one Jay's full vocal talents are on display. We suspect you'll need the annotated lyrics to figure it out.

And we quite like this song too. All of us except for Gail, who finds it somewhat strange. "What's up with Taiwanese singers," she suddenly asked while preparing this lesson for publication. "I mean... why do they use such strange metaphors? Is it supposed to be romantic to tell someone their cheeks are like tomatoes?" Some people overanalyze music. You be the judge.

KTV Wednesday - Jay Chow - Seven Mile Fragrance (pdf)

Wed, 06 May 2009 09:00:00 -0700

KTV Wednesday - Jay Chow - Seven Mile Fragrance (fix)

Wed, 06 May 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Safari

Tue, 05 May 2009 10:00:00 -0700

Harold's obsession with the veldt had become all-consuming. For weeks it had even crept into his dreams, the images so real they would linger after he woke, tinting his waking life with their savage beauty. He could see it now: the wild African grasses, the giraffes, zebras, hippopotami and then the lion, the most majestic game of all. And soon it would all be his. Soon he would be on safari.

Intermediate - Safari (pdf)

Tue, 05 May 2009 10:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Safari (dialogue)

Tue, 05 May 2009 10:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Watership Down

Mon, 04 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

When Hazel returned hours later, he found Fiver, Bigwig and the rest of his lagomorphic comrades shivering in the dew-drenched gulley at meadow's edge. "I've never seen anything quite like it," he finally offered, suddenly aware of exactly how much time had passed since he left to scout out the new warren. "I don't think they're dangerous," he added with a small belch, "although they're not much like the folks back home...."

In our podcast for today Popup Chinese offers yet another take on a Western literary classic. In this case we Sinocize Richard Adams' Watership Down. Listen in if you're curious what life is like for Chinese rabbits, or just want to learn how to use simple adjectives in conversation.

Absolute Beginners - Watership Down (pdf)

Mon, 04 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Watership Down (dialogue)

Mon, 04 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Watership Down (fix)

Mon, 04 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Film Friday - Time to Head Home

Fri, 01 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

A smart man knows which way the wind is blowing. In today's podcast, we cover an idiom that will blow the socks off your Chinese conversation partners guaranteed. And we'll also spill the beans about who exactly is the villain in our weekly Film Friday sessions. It's not who you think! So join us for our weekly film-guessing game, and if you think you know which movie this is, write us at echo@popupchinese.com for a chance to win a free month of premium access to Popup Chinese.

Film Friday - Time to Head Home (pdf)

Fri, 01 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Elementary - A Visit to the Dry Cleaners

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 18:00:00 -0700

Dating a fashion designer, or just want your shirt starched? Consider yourself in luck: our lesson for today takes place in a dry cleaning store and goes over all the vocab you'll need to start scintillating conversations about pants with anyone who will listen. Designed for early elementary students, this podcast will teach you how to get your dry cleaning done in mandarin, and share a critical trick you can use to avoid being given someone else's clothing.

Elementary - A Visit to the Dry Cleaners (pdf)

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 18:00:00 -0700

Elementary - A Visit to the Dry Cleaners (dialogue)

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 18:00:00 -0700

Elementary - A Visit to the Dry Cleaners (fix)

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 18:00:00 -0700

Advanced - The Art World

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Later this evening we'll be publishing an Elementary podcast that will help some of us figure out how to get our clothes back from the dry cleaners. In the meantime, more advanced students are encouraged to check out our latest advanced listening test. In this short dialogue, learn what happens when art meets commerce, Beijing-style. Listen once, and then test your comprehension by clicking through to our quiz section. The entire dialogue is annotated on our text page in case you need help deciphering it.

Advanced - The Art World (pdf)

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 09:00:00 -0700

KTV Wednesday - Spring and Autumn Band - Between the Mountains and the Sea

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Our selection for today is, if we can be forgiven for gushing, totally awesome. The Spring and Autumn Band was started by veteran rocker and native-American Kaiser Kuo who plays guitar on this piece and earlier founded China's first heavy metal group: Tang Dynasty. "Between the Mountains and the Sea" stretches away from conventional metal and achieves a feeling of almost unworldly loss. We hope you like it as much as we do.

Those in China should know that Kaiser and the band are still regularly on tour. If you're in Beijing you may also be familiar with Kaiser's regular column "Ich Bin Ein Beijiner" which appears monthly on the last page of the city magazine That's Beijing. It rocks in a different way.

* Note: We've embedded this version from Chinese video site Tudou as it has the best sound quality. All of you outside China might want to check out this live version available on Youtube.

KTV Wednesday - Spring and Autumn Band - Between the Mountains and the Sea (pdf)

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The Future Tense

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 09:00:00 -0700

After the Great Internet collapse of 2020, a weary world will turn back to the technology of a simpler age: pneumatic tubes. Large tubes and small tubes will snake across the continents and even unto the depths of the oceans. Information will travel across our world at the speed of compressed air, soaring even to the heavens themselves through a special pneumatic tube China will build to connect earth with its first geosynchronous space colony.

Not exactly what you expected of the Future? In this podcast we review five of the most common ways to put your sentences and thoughts in the future tense. Because you can't change the future unless you know how to express it properly. Or maybe you can, but you should still know this stuff by now.

Intermediate - The Future Tense (pdf)

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Advanced - Buying a House in Beijing

Sun, 26 Apr 2009 09:00:00 -0700

It's been a while since we've forced our podcasters into the studio for a Chinese-only recording. That drought ends today as our resident Beijing-expert Baifan returns to share news of his decision to purchase a home, a revelation that sparks an in-depth discussion about real estate with Echo and Apple. If you're an advanced student looking for listening practice, join us for a revealing look at the local housing market. Our executive summary: location is key and the best time to purchase may be late this year or early next.

Advanced - Buying a House in Beijing (pdf)

Sun, 26 Apr 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Advanced - Buying a House in Beijing (fix)

Sun, 26 Apr 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Film Friday - Back to School

Fri, 24 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Your collective success with the space dog film made a deep impression on us, which is why you're getting today's relic. We were amazed to find this on Youku in the first place, and then doubly surprised to discover the Chinese soundtrack. One additional hint: the section of the dialogue we've bleeped out contains the actual name of the film. So good luck, and if you recognize our mystery movie get your guesses in to echo@popupchinese.com for a chance to win big.

Film Friday - Back to School (pdf)

Fri, 24 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0700

KTV Wednesday - Fan Fan - Your Earliest Dream

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 23:00:00 -0700

Among all mainland Chinese singers, Fan Fan has what is possibly the strangest nickname for a celebrity, being widely referred to as 第二眼美女 or "second-sight beauty". And while the 美女 there might make that sound pretty flattering, it's actually a savage backhand compliment, suggesting that Fan Fan will grow on you over time as you listen to her music. Sexism and double standards are clearly alive and well in China.

Our selection for this week is a cover of a Japanese song. The popularity of this version has far eclipsed the original in the mainland however. The music breaks the verse-chorus structure that dominates mandopop, although the lyrics are fairly conventional. We hope you like it.

KTV Wednesday - Fan Fan - Your Earliest Dream (pdf)

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 23:00:00 -0700

KTV Wednesday - Fan Fan - Your Earliest Dream (fix)

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 23:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Pinyin Practice: ri

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Our podcast for today is the first show in a new series we're launching to teach proper Chinese pronunciation. In these podcasts we will review sounds that many non-native speakers have trouble with, and share some hard-learned tips and tricks on how to make yourself sound more like a native speaker. And our target for this first show is one of the most commonly mispronounced words in the Chinese language.

We've intentionally designed this podcast to be short and tightly focused with maximum word and phrase repetition. If you're new to Chinese, we'd encourage you to be an active participant in the recording, and speak along with Echo and Brendan (you will learn faster!). And, as always, we'd love to have your thoughts and feedback on the new show. If you've got ideas on the new show, why not let Echo know what you think by sending her an email at echo@popupchinese.com?

Absolute Beginners - Pinyin Practice: ri (pdf)

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Technical Assistance

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 09:00:00 -0700

We've seen things you people wouldn't believe. An infestation of QQ chat programs so thick and furious they set a motherboard on fire, download managers that corrupt all they touch like the grim reapers of the software world. We have seen virii blossom across networks like flowers of death. And if ye still be so foolhardy as to bring your Windows laptop to China knowing this we will just suggest a simple rule: never let anyone else touch it. The taskbar you save may be your own.

Elementary - Technical Assistance (pdf)

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Technical Assistance (dialogue)

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Technical Assistance (fix)

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Film Friday - The Accident

Sat, 18 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Several of you did it, and we feel both proud and slightly discomfited at your success identifying our clip from Space Buddies last week. That was a hardball - a mandarin dub of a film about puppies in space. And so while congratulations are definitely in order, you'll understand why we went with a more conventional selection this week. If you've seen the film this clip is from, we're betting you enjoyed it. Because everyone loves a heartwarming family comedy....

Film Friday - The Accident (pdf)

Sat, 18 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - A Strange Telephone Call

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 09:00:00 -0700

As far as Chinese learning podcasts go, our lesson for today is special even by our admittedly awesome standards for insanely creative and non-boring content. Just be warned that if you ever used China Telecom's PHS service, listening to this might be enough to induce traumatic flashbacks. What's that you say? You don't remember that striking advance in mobile technology? Count yourself lucky.

Absolute Beginners - A Strange Telephone Call (pdf)

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - A Strange Telephone Call (dialogue)

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - A Strange Telephone Call (fix)

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The Bank Heist

Mon, 13 Apr 2009 09:00:00 -0700

In today's podcast we teach you everything you need to know to make a sizable withdrawal from a Chinese bank.

Intermediate - The Bank Heist (pdf)

Mon, 13 Apr 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The Bank Heist (dialogue)

Mon, 13 Apr 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - The Bank Heist (fix)

Mon, 13 Apr 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Film Friday - A High-Flying Adventure

Fri, 10 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0700

None of us had heard of this film until last night. After just a few minutes though, we were positive it was the perfect selection for this week's Hollywood guessing game. So listen in and see if you can guess our surprise film from nothing more than its Chinese soundtrack. And if you can, get your guesses in to echo@popupchinese.com for a chance to win a free month-long premium subscription to Popup Chinese, where we make learning mandarin fun and easy.

Film Friday - A High-Flying Adventure (pdf)

Fri, 10 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Apple's New Laptop

Thu, 09 Apr 2009 09:00:00 -0700

"How do you say, 'the Woz' in Chinese?" Brendan asked. Inspiration had struck and he was sitting in the corner scribbling away furiously at an idea for a dialogue. "I don't think that's Elementary," Dave chimed in, but I'd guess it would be Wo-ze or something. Check the dictionary."

And so it began. In this Elementary lesson we'll teach you how to say Apple computer in Chinese, and review a number of adjectives that are useful for describing laptop computers like the Mac Air. Then Brendan spends some valuable on-air time prostrating himself before the mighty Gods of Cupertino. Because revolutionizing the user interface is worth a podcast, right?

Elementary - Apple's New Laptop (pdf)

Thu, 09 Apr 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Apple's New Laptop (dialogue)

Thu, 09 Apr 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Apple's New Laptop (fix)

Thu, 09 Apr 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - They Called Me Mad, the Fools!

Tue, 07 Apr 2009 09:00:00 -0700

At Popup Chinese we are strong supporters of science. Which is why our Intermediate podcast for today teaches a turn of phrase we think you'll find particularly useful the next time you're writing an academic grant proposal, updating colleagues on your post-doc, or reanimating Tom Hanks in your secret basement lab.

Intermediate - They Called Me Mad, the Fools! (pdf)

Tue, 07 Apr 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - They Called Me Mad, the Fools! (dialogue)

Tue, 07 Apr 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - They Called Me Mad, the Fools! (fix)

Tue, 07 Apr 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Missing Plunger

Mon, 06 Apr 2009 09:00:00 -0700

There are some words you'll never learn in a traditional classroom, and plunger is one of them. Which is where Popup Chinese comes in. Because when the day comes you have a genuine sewage emergency, the last thing you're going to want to do is bring your dictionary into the fray. So join us in this podcast as we plumb the depths of toilet humor with a podcast that is quite literally the filthiest thing we've ever recorded.

Elementary - The Missing Plunger (pdf)

Mon, 06 Apr 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Missing Plunger (dialogue)

Mon, 06 Apr 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Missing Plunger (fix)

Mon, 06 Apr 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Happy Birthday

Fri, 03 Apr 2009 09:00:00 -0700

In this podcast we'll teach you how to say happy birthday. That said, this isn't a lesson so much as an excuse to crow about the birthday of our very own superstar podcaster Echo. Later this evening those of us here in Beijing will stagger out and celebrate in true Chinese style with unholy amounts of cake, KTV, liquor and Xinjiang food, not necessarily in that order. We'll also be force-feeding Apple cake as well, since it was her birthday recently too. Happy Birthday!

Absolute Beginners - Happy Birthday (pdf)

Fri, 03 Apr 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Buried Under Work

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 09:00:00 -0700

With less than 24 hours before the deadline, Susan drifted in a bubble of lightheaded fatigue as she continued pecking away at her two-hundred page manuscript. She had been working sixteen hour days for the last week and was starting to despair of ever finishing this project, let alone finishing it on time. And her condition must have been obvious, because when she looked up Bryan had materialized over her looking seriously concerned.

In today's podcast, listen to a conversation between Susan and Bryan and learn how to form simple questions in Chinese using adjectives. Are you busy? Are you tired? Then answer these questions. The sentence patterns and vocabulary we teach are core building blocks for mandarin fluency, so listen up, practice our dialogue as it plays along, and you'll be speaking better Chinese in about five minutes.

Absolute Beginners - Buried Under Work (pdf)

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Buried Under Work (dialogue)

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Buried Under Work (fix)

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - A Terrible Hunger

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Revenge is a dish best served cold, and without any incriminating evidence linking you to the crime. That's why the heads of major criminal syndicates have to be a bit circumspect in making certain requests, and it's why we return to our mob series today with an update on the dealings of the Beijing demi-monde. In this episode, join us as our mob boss is seized with a terrible hunger which can be sated only through violence.

Our dialogue today is on the easier side for an Intermediate lesson, but don't be deceived. We have some non-obvious and non-trivial grammar tucked away here that you really need to know. So listen in and soon you'll be adept at turning adjectives into verbs, and at asking for people's heads on plates. But only figuratively, of course.

Intermediate - A Terrible Hunger (pdf)

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - A Terrible Hunger (dialogue)

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - A Terrible Hunger (fix)

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Ordering Under Pressure

Mon, 30 Mar 2009 09:00:00 -0700

If you've ever been through the gauntlet of ordering dinner in China, you'll know that picking your way through a menu (while avoiding the tripe) can be a challenge at the best of times. What you may not have been expecting is the added pressure of having nearly half the serving staff hover over your shoulder while you decide.

This podcast goes out to all those Chinese learners among us who prefer the sullen and unresponsive service of the average American diner. You can use the words and phrases we'll teach today whenever you want the waitress to leave you alone for a few minutes while you figure out what you want to eat. This is very useful stuff. And when you're done listening, you've got a great excuse to head out for dinner and put it all into practice. Bon appétit!

Absolute Beginners - Ordering Under Pressure (pdf)

Mon, 30 Mar 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Ordering Under Pressure (dialogue)

Mon, 30 Mar 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Ordering Under Pressure (fix)

Mon, 30 Mar 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Chinese Love in a Time of War

Sat, 28 Mar 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Apple's college romances were something of a secret when she started working with us here at Popup Chinese. Like many who've been through the ups and downs of perilous love affairs, she'd just sigh philosophically when asked. "They didn't work out," was all we would get. And then she'd be back at her work after a moment of wistful introspection.

Suffice it to say, we were all in the dark about her turbulent wartime record until earlier this week when we stumbled across this recording, left accidentally on an office computer. Although fragmentary and incomplete, this recording hints at some of the veiled emotional pain we've seen flash across her face on occasion. The end of some relationships, it seems, is more painful than those of others.

Intermediate - Chinese Love in a Time of War (pdf)

Sat, 28 Mar 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Chinese Love in a Time of War (dialogue)

Sat, 28 Mar 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Chinese Love in a Time of War (fix)

Sat, 28 Mar 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Wandering Eye

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Thailand was warm, hospitable and overrun with brazen hussies. It was the perfect destination for her deadbeat lout of a spouse, thought Mary Lincoln, as the two of them rolled slowly towards Wat Mahathat wrapped in the sort of stifling heat that can only be experienced in a low-end tourist bus on a hot summer day. Sitting by her right shoulder, her husband was eagerly snapping photographs of the passing scenery.

Over the last four days the prospect of a divorce had assumed a looming certainty in her mind. For it had been a terrible vacation. First there was the airport attendant, then the cleaning staff at the hotel. Then the tour guide, the lawyer they had met over brunch, and finally the woman who ran the juice-press outside their hotel. All told, Mark was like a man out of control. Things were severalfold worse than they had been on their last disastrous trip to Canada, Mary decided. She had had enough.

Elementary - The Wandering Eye (pdf)

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Wandering Eye (dialogue)

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Wandering Eye (fix)

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 09:00:00 -0700

KTV Wednesday - Wang Fei - Passenger

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Does your knowledge of Swedish music start and end with ABBA? If so you're probably not aware of Sweden's growing reputation as an international music powerhouse. That's our conclusion, at least, after finding out that our selection for this week is the second Swedish cover to achieve widespread popularity in the mainland. The song is "Passenger", a cover by Wang Fei of an original composition by Sophie Zelmani.

Using the metaphor of life as a journey, Passenger voices doubt about the ability of women to find fulfillment in relationships dominated by men. It's unclear if the song is angry, wistful or simply honest in its gradually blossoming disappointment. A lot depends on how you read the strange inversion of the lyrics in the final two choruses. Consult our transcript, as it can be hard to pick up the small but meaningful change Wang Fei makes without reference to a written text.

KTV Wednesday - Wang Fei - Passenger (pdf)

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - A Parasitic Relationship

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Life in China is tough for recent university graduates, especially those seeking work in major cities like Shanghai. While living expenses keep rising and housing prices are off-the-charts compared to local wages, pressure from China's rural labor force has kept compensation low, especially for women. It isn't uncommon for recent graduates to find themselves earning just over 2000 RMB a month in positions that fail to provide social insurance or other forms of support like subsidized housing.

Consequently, it isn't surprising that so many single children with working parents have simply shunned the job market. And while not needing to work makes life easier in the short run, it puts a huge strain on their relationships and long-term independence. In our listening test for today we look at the toll this sort of thing takes on a previously healthy relationship. So listen up, take our quiz to measure your listening comprehension and then consult our annotated transcript in case you missed any details. We think you'll learn something now.

Intermediate - A Parasitic Relationship (pdf)

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Film Friday - A Film for Champions

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 18:00:00 -0700

Our selection for this week is an institution of a film, especially if you're from anywhere near the area Brendan grew up. Sadly, despite its critical and popular acclaim, not even this surprising gem can survive the onslaught of Star Wars anecdotes that begins shortly into the second half of this podcast, which includes Echo confusing Jedi muppets with Chinese breakfast foods among other things. If you stay on topic and recognize our mystery film, though, get your guess in to echo@popupchinese.com for a chance to win a free premium subscription to the best Chinese learning site: Popup Chinese.

Film Friday - A Film for Champions (pdf)

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 18:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Break-Up

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Today we delve into the messy end of a typical Chinese break-up. Despite the fact that it sounds a lot like one of Echo's Korean soap operas, this podcast has been inspired by real-life events. We have stories involving Hong Kong art smugglers, knifed fruit and death threats. We're sure you've got stories too: when you come to Beijing look us up and we'll swap them over a beer or two.

All that said, we were a bit torn about how to classify today's lesson. The Chinese in this podcast is more difficult than in our typical Elementary lesson, but also easier than our average Intermediate. We finally settled on Elementary as the vocabulary covers family relationships, pets and children. This is relatively basic stuff, but don't worry if you find it a bit challenging given the emotions involved, and the fact that plates are probably being flung through the air during the dialogue.

Elementary - The Break-Up (pdf)

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Break-Up (dialogue)

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Elementary - The Break-Up (fix)

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0700

KTV Wednesday - Li Shengjie - Absolute Foolish Heart

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Gail hummed merrily to herself as she put the finishing touches on our annotated transcript for KTV Wednesday. "I love this song," she burbled as the the final chords faded to silence. Her statement met no reaction however. Huddled in the deepest recesses of our recording studio, David and Brendan lay comatose, their limbs misshaped by panic and faces glazed with pain. The effort at flight had failed and more natural defenses had taken over. They would wake soon with headaches to rule the world.

So listen to this one at your own peril, and don't say you haven't been warned.

Elementary - Diet-Popup

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 09:00:00 -0700

The medical establishment is slowly coming around to an incontrovertible fact: Popup Chinese subscribers are better looking, smarter, thinner and generally cooler people than the rest of the population. That's what our recent t-shirt promotion suggested at least, and while correlation isn't exactly causation, it's close enough that we can all feel good about ourselves.

Which is why in this podcast we engage in some experimental and entirely unapologetic brand promotion. "I don't get it," Gail said after listening to this podcast, mere seconds before pulling out her credit card and ordering a subscription. If you also like what you hear and are looking to mix-up your own workout routine, we'd encourage you to take out one as well. Cutting the fat and keeping the Popup is healthy advice. Just ask your doctor.

Elementary - Diet-Popup (pdf)

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Diet-Popup (dialogue)

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - Diet-Popup (fix)

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Killing the Mole

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Interested in a career with the Triads? Join us today as we teach the core vocabulary you'll need to launch your career with the Chinese mob. Whether you're rooting out moles, sending people to sleep with the fishes, smuggling opium or managing a gang of surly enforcers from Guangzhou, Popup Chinese is committed to helping you communicate ambiguous hit orders in fluent mandarin without awkward pauses, malapropisms or other linguistic gaffes.

Intermediate - Killing the Mole (pdf)

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Killing the Mole (dialogue)

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Intermediate - Killing the Mole (fix)

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Film Friday - Empire of Smurf

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Join us this week for a special edition of Film Friday starring our friend and special guest star Frank Fradella. We had a great time in the studio recording this and think you'll enjoy it too. And in addition to great podcasters, our movie this week is also top-notch: a cross between the Smurfs and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. So listen up, and if you think you can identify the movie get your guess in to echo@popupchinese.com for a chance to win a free month of premium access to Popup Chinese.

Film Friday - Empire of Smurf (pdf)

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Taking a Photo

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 09:00:00 -0700

It is our fate at Popup Chinese to be surrounded by beautiful and talented men and women. So it isn't any surprise that our camera gets whipped out on occasion and we all indulge in The Deuce. You want in the picture too? Join us today as we learn the basics of telling left from right and counting to three. Because you're a beautiful person and we're glad to have you around.

Absolute Beginners - Taking a Photo (pdf)

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Taking a Photo (dialogue)

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Absolute Beginners - Taking a Photo (fix)

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Advanced - An Unexpected Surprise

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Our advanced listening test for today is entirely spontaneous: something we caught on tape almost accidentally when Apple and Kang were fooling around in the studio. While the vocabulary itself is not terribly demanding, the recording is fast-paced and somewhat unforgiving. There's a lot here: if you can keep up try paying attention to the way emotions are expressed, especially exasperation.

There are a few things worth noting grammatically, such as the repeated, instinctive reliance on 然后 when stringing together complex sentences. Also the phrasing for expressing insistence in the first sentence. As with our other listening tests, we recommend listening to the recording once through before taking our quiz. Once you know what you've missed you can listen again while reading our annotated transcript for instant enlightenment.

Advanced - An Unexpected Surprise (pdf)

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - A Date with Sichuan

Mon, 09 Mar 2009 09:00:00 -0700

"How hot do you like it," he had asked, which was how they ended up in the latest Sichuan restaurant to open in downtown Paris. The setting was a coy pairing of Continental elegance and Oriental exoticism. And it would have made for a perfect date except for some unspoken fear that flitted in the air around them, like the shadow from a bird of prey circling far above.

When the waiter appeared with the menu, her date had simply passed it to her and turned his attention to the nearby Seine, the last rays of the setting sun disappearing over the Île de la Cité, and the few couples winding their ways home through the cobbled streets. Had something in their relationship changed? Was he disinterested, or simply distracted? Deborah was on the verge of broaching the question when their server reappeared and her date snapped to attention. It was time to order.

Elementary - A Date with Sichuan (pdf)

Mon, 09 Mar 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - A Date with Sichuan (dialogue)

Mon, 09 Mar 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Elementary - A Date with Sichuan (fix)

Mon, 09 Mar 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Film Friday - On Deception and Strategems

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0800

His Youku mug spurned by the masses, Brendan showed up at our studios last night with this clip brimming with chengyu, historical allusions and entirely inappropriate airport terminology. Listen up and we think you'll be enlightened. We suspect Imron will get this from the first character, but for the rest of you, if you think you can identify our mystery film get your guesses in to echo@popupchinese.com for a chance to win a month of free premium access to Popup Chinese. No more mugs though.

Film Friday - On Deception and Strategems (pdf)

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - Thanks But No Thanks

Thu, 05 Mar 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Our title isn't meant to be cruel, but running the poverty gauntlet gets old fast, which might be why some of the harshest comments we've heard about the homeless have come from Chinese friends and students. Nonetheless, while we recommend ignoring the professional beggars, it's a good habit to keep some change in your pocket and dispense with it liberally when you meet someone in real need. It's also important to keep the pickpockets at bay, so in this podcast we teach you how.

Absolute Beginners - Thanks But No Thanks (pdf)

Thu, 05 Mar 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - Thanks But No Thanks (dialogue)

Thu, 05 Mar 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - Thanks But No Thanks (fix)

Thu, 05 Mar 2009 09:00:00 -0800

KTV Wednesday - Joanna Wang - Now

Wed, 04 Mar 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Joanna Wang is a up-and-coming Taiwanese-American artist whose first album has garnered rave reviews and provoked innumerable comparisons to Norah Jones. Our selection is the Chinese language version of a song that was released on her debut album in both English and Chinese.

Did we mention that the song is also controversial? If you dropped by our office last week, you'd have witnessed a raging debate over whether Joanna even counts as Chinese and is deserving of a place in our KTV pantheon. "It's not Chinese music," Echo insisted, before storming off to watch Korean soap operas. And while she has a point - there's very little that is traditionally Chinese about the music or singing style - if Chinese jazz is a novelty, we expect to hear a lot more of it in the future. So you be the judge.

* Youtube refuses to embed this video so we're linking to Youku. If you're in the United States you may find it faster to load the Youtube version .

Intermediate - Porn for Panda

Tue, 03 Mar 2009 09:00:00 -0800

The creak of the door stirred Tuan Tuan from the depths of his slumber. It was eleven o'clock, and Yuan Yuan, who had been sleeping peacefully in the thicket beside him, growled quietly at the disruption. On this they could agree: what fools they had for keepers! The great beast briefly entertained the thought of shifting to express his displeasure at the intrusion, but natural lethargy and his ongoing digestive battle with the the previous evening's bamboo won out. He remained prone.

Nonetheless, the giant panda did keep a groggy eye on the two figures who had emerged into his dwelling, huffing and puffing in their white gowns as they wheeled in what appeared to be a giant black box. Disappointment settled in his heart at seeing this most unimaginative of gifts, until it occurred to him that perhaps this too would be filled with bamboo. There was always room for more bamboo.

Intermediate - Porn for Panda (pdf)

Tue, 03 Mar 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - Porn for Panda (dialogue)

Tue, 03 Mar 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - Porn for Panda (fix)

Tue, 03 Mar 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - Ski Accident

Mon, 02 Mar 2009 09:01:00 -0800

Look on the bright side of being bedridden: you'll have a lot more time to study Chinese. The doctors say the scars will probably heal too. In a few years you probably won't even notice them yourself. The important thing is really keeping this sort of thing in perspective.

Elementary - Ski Accident (pdf)

Mon, 02 Mar 2009 09:01:00 -0800

Elementary - Ski Accident (dialogue)

Mon, 02 Mar 2009 09:01:00 -0800

Elementary - Ski Accident (fix)

Mon, 02 Mar 2009 09:01:00 -0800

Film Friday - Looks Like Inner Mongolia

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

One of the nice things about the Chinese film industry is that it makes you a lot more tolerant of films that plummeted off track abroad after being panned by critics. Our selection for today is one of these: hardly the sort of film you write home about, but still an entertaining two hours with some gorgeous cinematography. Or that's David's opinion at least. Neither Echo nor Brendan have seen this one, which might be why they spend a lot of time talking about anything but the film: China's environmental problems, how to get your online video fix and much more.

As always, we're offering a free month of premium access to Popup Chinese to one lucky listener. If you can guess our mystery film from the short clip presented here, get your guesses in to echo@popupchinese.com. Good luck.

Film Friday - Looks Like Inner Mongolia (pdf)

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - My Life as a Writer

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

The Lusitania story was my thing. I pitched it to Warner Brothers with a star-crossed lovers theme back in the day when Internet access was still dial-up. They signed on for financing but the project sank when Brad and Julia bailed. Which is really too bad because it would have been a smash at the box office. There was even a subplot about a secret treasure - that's why the Germans sunk the boat, didn't you know?

Anyway, I moved to Britain after the dot-com bust and started writing this book. Mostly for my kids, but maybe other people will like it. I don't usually share details about my work with strangers, but the plot is brilliant - the sort of thing that'll get kids excited about reading again. Why don't you take a look at the first few chapters? Then we can grab coffee and go over the whole thing later.

Note: Today we are pleased to bring you an intermediate listening exercise. Listen to the podcast and then test your listening comprehension with our quick quiz. If you have any questions, ask them below or check out annotated transcript on the text tab.

Intermediate - My Life as a Writer (pdf)

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - My Life as a Writer (fix)

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

KTV Wednesday - Wang Rong - Father, Mother

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Our selection for KTV Wednesday today is "Father, Mother" by a girl named Wang Fei. What's that you say? We've already done Wang Fei? Not this one. Facing the prospect of being completely overshadowed by her superstar namesake, this Wang Fei adopted the stage name Wang Rong, a homophonic play on the name of a famous female protagonist from a classic Wushu novel. In case we missed the connection, she even sings about it.

In person Wang Rong is smart and funny. She's also one of the mainland's more anonymous music stars in the sense that while everyone has heard her music, only a small minority could probably link it to her name. That is changing.

Absolute Beginners - Looking for Apple

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 17:00:00 -0800

Trapped on the roof and under fire from the encroaching Triads, our intrepid hero whips out his Hello Moto and speed dials our leading lady, who guns her Porche faster down the Second Ring Road in answer. "I'll be down in a minute," he says cooly before stepping off the parapet and plunging a few stories in a matter of seconds.

We will be the first to admit that life in Beijing is much like the movies. Except in real life our leading lady is Apple, and she's a bit more difficult to contact than you'd expect. In this podcast, culled from our real-life experience, we'll teach you the basics of telephone etiquette. Or the basics of repeatedly asking for someone until either you or they hang up in frustration.

Absolute Beginners - Looking for Apple (pdf)

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 17:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - Looking for Apple (dialogue)

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 17:00:00 -0800

Film Friday - A Long and Boring Film

Sat, 21 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

At Popup Chinese we call films as we see them. And in this podcast that means a split down gender lines. You can side with Echo and consider this a stirring tale of individualism. Or you can side with the rest of us. Whichever way you lean, if you recognize the film from our mystery clip be sure to get your guess in to echo@popupchinese.com for a chance to win a free month of premium access to Popup Chinese.

Film Friday - A Long and Boring Film (pdf)

Sat, 21 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - Point and Eat

Thu, 19 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

We have good news for gourmands. When it comes to ordering food in China, you're on a level playing field with the most famous Sinologists. Want to know how John Fairbank and John DeFrancis ordered beef noodles back in the day, or how Victor Mair gets his chicken and peanuts to this very day?

The secret is that no matter how high-class the restaurant, China is a country where you can still get away with pointing at the menu and grunting. Chinese menus actually encourage this. And while grunting may be frowned upon in some finer establishments, we can replace those with a few choice words and you'll be good to go, charming serving staff throughout the Orient and blending in with the locals. Listen up and learn how.

Absolute Beginners - Point and Eat (pdf)

Thu, 19 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - Point and Eat (dialogue)

Thu, 19 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - Point and Eat (fix)

Thu, 19 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

KTV Wednesday - Andy Lau - Infernal Affairs

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Our selection for today is the title song from the 2002 Hong Kong gangster film "Infernal Affairs". This is the movie that rejuvenated the Hong Kong film scene and ended up inspiring "The Departed" with an absolutely brilliantly structured double-mole plot. In addition to a great looking cast, the film also has an inspired English translation. The original Chinese title literally translates as "the never-ending road". That is a Buddhist reference to hell and the overall theme of this song as well.

If you've been around Popup Chinese for a while you'll know we're huge fans of Andy Lau and Tony Leung. Which gives us another reason to like this song. In addition to starring in the film both of these great actors are contributing lead vocals here. So grab your headphone and listen up.

Intermediate - Unconventional Child Rearing

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 09:00:00 -0800

You've read the usual books on parenting. You may have even purchased a DVD or two filled with helpful tips. Now it is time to listen to our podcast. In our intermediate lesson for today, Popup Chinese gives you the lowdown on an unconventional but surprisingly effective way of managing a particularly rambunctious child. And we also teach a bunch of Chinese in the process. What more could you want?

Intermediate - Unconventional Child Rearing (pdf)

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - Unconventional Child Rearing (dialogue)

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - Unconventional Child Rearing (fix)

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Advanced - Remarkable Leadership

Mon, 16 Feb 2009 01:44:09 -0800

As the Western world lurches to the brink of financial Armageddon, people worldwide are searching for leaders who can chart a course through the wreckage. Who will define the next generation of Asian leadership? In this podcast we are proud to present our own candidate for the role, along with a healthy dose of advanced but useful contemporary vocabulary.

Advanced - Remarkable Leadership (pdf)

Mon, 16 Feb 2009 01:44:09 -0800

Advanced - Remarkable Leadership (dialogue)

Mon, 16 Feb 2009 01:44:09 -0800

Advanced - Remarkable Leadership (fix)

Mon, 16 Feb 2009 01:44:09 -0800

Film Friday - The Unsettling Hobo

Fri, 13 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Our selection for this week has a great script and a lead actor playing somewhat against type. It's harder than our selection for last week as well: the dialogue moves faster and there are fewer environmental clues. But it's a fair challenge. So listen in and if you think you know our mystery film fire off an email to us at echo@popupchinese.com.

Incidentally, while the bit in this podcast about us treating our podcasters like homeless vagrants is not true, we are looking for extra voice talent.... So get in touch if you are or if you know a suitable candidate. The catch is that they've got to already be in Beijing.

Film Friday - The Unsettling Hobo (pdf)

Fri, 13 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

KTV Wednesday - Jolin - Sun Never Sets

Wed, 11 Feb 2009 09:00:00 -0800

"Sunshine in the Rain" by Swedish group Bodies without Organs began propagating through Chinese BBS communities in 2006. After conquering northern China Internet cafe by Internet cafe, the song broke mainstream with this Chinese-language cover by Taiwanese megastar Jolin. And while the cover is now an Asian blockbuster, very few westerners have ever heard of the original.

As part of our research for today's lesson we conducted a casual survey of Popup Chinese listeners, to whom we submitted the two videos along with a request for feedback. None of our respondents had ever heard of the Swedish band, and responses ranged from "everyone will hate it," to "really addictive." Interestingly though, when asked which video was better, our poll came overwhelmingly down on the side of Jolin. And we have to agree. Enjoy.

KTV Wednesday - Jolin - Sun Never Sets (pdf)

Wed, 11 Feb 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - Corporate Intrigue

Tue, 10 Feb 2009 09:00:00 -0800

As she left the board meeting, Lili Wang furrowed her brow and cursed under her breath at Zhang Ping. He had advanced in the company at a meteoric pace since starting as an intern in her department, commandeering project after project to carve out a niche of his own and secure praise and promotion outside the normal career channels. And now even as he was ingratiating himself with her supervisors he was skipping meetings or arriving late, blowing off her assignments or altering them according to his own whim. Her patience had run its course.

And so with a ruthlessness that surprised even herself, Lili ordered her secretary to arrange for a meeting that afternoon. It would be their last. His last attempt to circumvent her with the budget office had made him a marked man. She would not tolerate his presence any longer.

Elementary - Corporate Intrigue (pdf)

Tue, 10 Feb 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - Corporate Intrigue (dialogue)

Tue, 10 Feb 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - Corporate Intrigue (fix)

Tue, 10 Feb 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - Pet Sitting

Mon, 09 Feb 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Outside her plane window, the Inner Mongolian grasslands stretched unending to the horizon. The stewardess rolled by with a drink, but Xiao Wei waved it off and continued to gaze at the northern Chinese landscape. Her company had sent her to investigate a drought-resistant agricultural experiment in one of the more parched areas of the country, mere miles from the Gobi desert. Now she was on her way back to Beijing.

The full trip had taken only a week, but Wei hadn't expected the travel to be so physically demanding. Nor had she imagined how she would miss Xiao Wang, her new puppy and destroyer of worlds. It had only been two months since she carried him out of the pound, but he had already become a big part of her life. And as much as she complained about his chaotic energy, she couldn't wait to get home and take him for a walk.

Intermediate - Pet Sitting (pdf)

Mon, 09 Feb 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - Pet Sitting (dialogue)

Mon, 09 Feb 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - Pet Sitting (fix)

Mon, 09 Feb 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Film Friday - An Exciting Vacation

Fri, 06 Feb 2009 09:00:00 -0800

A number of you guessed our film from last week (it was The Shawshank Redemption), so this week we're changing pace with a film that targets a totally different demographic. We think you'll find the difficulty at the early intermediate level, but that doesn't mean the film itself will be easy to guess. If you think you've got it though, be sure to get your guess in to echo@popupchinese.com for your chance to win a free month of premium access here at Popup Chinese.

Film Friday - An Exciting Vacation (pdf)

Fri, 06 Feb 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - Where is the Washroom

Fri, 06 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

You can stop holding it in now, because in this lesson we're going to teach you the magical phrase "where is the washroom". Combine this with general agitation and hopping from foot to foot for best effect. And when when it works you can get started learning directions the hard way.

For those of you who are new to Popup Chinese, we encourage you to approach our lessons as bite-sized units you can learn at the pace of one a day: listen to our podcast first and see if you can understand our simple dialogue. When you're done, fire up The Fix to test your memory and speaking skills. Pay special attention to the tones. And in a day or two, review the materials with our customizable PDFs and transcripts. And let us know if you have any questions - we're always here to answer them.

Absolute Beginners - Where is the Washroom (pdf)

Fri, 06 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - Where is the Washroom (dialogue)

Fri, 06 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - Where is the Washroom (fix)

Fri, 06 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

KTV Wednesday - Stefanie Sun - The Encounter

Wed, 04 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

We've had a lot of singers here on KTV Wednesday who hail from mainland China and Taiwan. Stefanie Sun is our first megastar from the tiny island of Singapore. And if you don't know her, you should: she is among the most popular female singers in Asia and has produced a least ten albums to date. Even if you've never heard of her, you've probably heard many of her songs without knowing it:

Stefanie has produced so many hits it is hard to pick a single one. In the end we chose this for a completely shallow reason: in addition to Stefanie Sun this video stars a younger Takeshi Kaneshiro. Between the two of them here is enough eye candy to keep the most discriminating language student happy for days.

Intermediate - Chocolate Cake

Tue, 03 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Apple lifted the cake from its white cardboard box and placed it carefully in her fridge with a smile. It had taken her half the afternoon to get it - crossing Beijing twice in peak traffic, the last time cradling the box gingerly upright as she pushed her way through the churning crowds. But the rich chocolate smell filling the room made it all worthwhile. When her boyfriend came home that evening they would celebrate in style.

Closing the fridge door, Apple decided to freshen up and take a nap before her boyfriend arrived home. She had barely taken two steps towards the washroom when a familiar chime caught her ears, causing her heart to skip a beat - could he have taken the afternoon off to come home early? Her heart in her throat, Apple bounced over to the door and opened it to find 9527 kicking the snow off her boots....

Intermediate - Chocolate Cake (pdf)

Tue, 03 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - Chocolate Cake (dialogue)

Tue, 03 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Intermediate - Chocolate Cake (fix)

Tue, 03 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - The Numbers

Mon, 02 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Trust us on this: nothing will kill that prospective career in Chinese finance faster than an inability to count to ten. Gesticulation just isn't what it used to be, and given that mandarin is a language where the numbers for four and ten are almost as easy to mix up as the Beijing Olympic Mascots, we think you've got a recipe for disaster on your hands if you don't have a solid grasp of the fundamentals.

So in this lesson we cover the absolute basics of numbers: how to pronounce them, what tones to use and how to string single digits together to make bigger numbers that sound more impressive. This isn't groundbreaking stuff unless you don't already know it, in which case it is groundbreaking stuff. So listen in and let's put this counting thing behind us.

Absolute Beginners - The Numbers (pdf)

Mon, 02 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - The Numbers (dialogue)

Mon, 02 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Absolute Beginners - The Numbers (fix)

Mon, 02 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Film Friday - Hammer Time

Fri, 30 Jan 2009 09:00:00 -0800

In the event you're new to this Chinese New Years madness, we want to assure you our studios have not plunged into a state of war, because towards the end of this podcast, you can hear Beijing going up in smoke outside our studio. Nothing to worry about - just children celebrating the holidays by lobbing fireworks at passing cars (and each other). Our sound insulation is reasonably good, but even it has limits when faced with the explosive awesomeness of the Year of the Bull.

Moving on, our film for today is to China as Bon Jovi is to Hong Kong: something the locals continue to enjoy long after the world has moved on. This is an intermediate-level recording, but our prize makes it worth puzzling over: one lucky winner will get a month of free premium access to Popup Chinese. So listen up and get your guesses in to echo@popupchinese.com. You can't win if you don't play.

Film Friday - Hammer Time (pdf)

Fri, 30 Jan 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Short Stories - Mao Zedong - Serve the People

Thu, 29 Jan 2009 09:00:00 -0800

"Though death befalls all men alike, it may be weightier than Mount Tai or lighter than a feather." -- Sima Qian

A soldier in the People's Liberation Army, Zhang Side served as Mao Zedong's bodyguard and survived the Long March only to die making charcoal on September 5, 1944. Our selection for today is the report Mao delivered to commemorate his life three days later. As with his eulogy of Norman Bethune, Mao spent little time on the substance of the man and passed quickly to the significance of his life's work. The result was a political call to action as much as a call to grief.

The principle of Serve the People, enshrined as a Communist principle for the first time here, would later become one of the core ideological pillars of the Chinese Communist Party. It was championed by Zhou Enlai and Mao Zedong and remains a prominent political slogan today.

Short Stories - Mao Zedong - Serve the People (pdf)

Thu, 29 Jan 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Short Stories - Mao Zedong - Serve the People (fix)

Thu, 29 Jan 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Elementary - Do You Speak Chinese