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.

xiaoxin
 said on
December 26, 2009
泡粉儿们，大家圣诞快乐啊！
Xiao Hu
 said on
December 27, 2009
@Brendan,

Your 老大 impression just makes this podcast! I like doing impressions too, my impressions of 黑社会模仿得不错. I guess you could say 咱们俩可是穿一条裤子去求黑社会的帮忙 or something like that.
hfcct
 said on
January 21, 2010
omg, you are the greatest site ever. thank you. i just created the free account and am amazed by how much free, super high quality material you provide. i am immediately hooked. i will be a premium subscriber shortly. thank you so very much.

wen ti
LanZi
 said on
January 21, 2010
@hfcct

Love your comment! So nice to have you here!

Btw, if you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to leave a comment or email us.

LanZi

lan@popupchinese.com
Echo
 said on
January 21, 2010
@wen ti,

Thank you for your kind words about the site! 欢迎你！Welcome to the site!

I'm a bit curious what your Chinese name is. Is it "问题" ? :)

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com
Echo
 said on
January 21, 2010
@Xiao Hu,

Talking about 黑社会（黑帮）, I heard some people start a special 黑帮 tour in LA. Tourists can visit real 黑帮 and also need to sign a piece of paper where says the travel agency is not responsible for any security problems. Have you heard of this ?

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com
Brendan
 said on
January 21, 2010
@Echo - We always took care to point out local Mafia landmarks to relatives visiting Philadelphia from Ireland: "See that restaurant? It's known locally as The Last Supper because of all the guys who got whacked there." The LA tour is news to me -- LA never really had a mafia, as far as I know, but there are plenty of gangs there, so maybe that's what they mean.
LanZi
 said on
January 22, 2010
腊八节快乐,everyone！(la4ba1jie2 kuai4le4) Happy Laba/Congee Festival!

Today's 腊八节, the 8th day of 12th month of the Chinese Calendar. I didn't know much about the history until I looked it up in Wiki:

"Before the Qin Dynasty Laba festival was a celebration of the new harvest.After Buddhism spread to China during the first century AD, the festival was used as commemoration of Gautama Buddha's enlightenment at the age of 35. In the Qing dynasty, ceremonies for the Laba festival would have been held in the Yonghe Temple in Beijing."

But I do know the custom of today is to eat 腊八粥, a congee that has lots of beans in it. I like that.

Did you have 腊八粥, or Laba Congee today?
Gail天堂的声音
 said on
January 22, 2010
happy 腊八节 guys!
Xiao Hu
 said on
January 23, 2010
@Echo,

我也没有听到何毖哥说得对。洛杉矶才没有黑社会，但 Gang 很多 （Gang 怎么说？Gang 是不是你所说的“黑帮”？）
Xiao Hu
 said on
January 23, 2010
@Gail天堂的声音？？？,

哈哈！你的用户名很好玩！腊八节快乐！

Echo
 said on
January 24, 2010
@Xiao Hu,

对，应该差不多，“黑帮”比“黑社会”规模要小一些，你也可以说“帮派”。

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com
Echo
 said on
January 24, 2010
不知道你们喜不喜欢腊八粥（就是有很多豆子的那种粥），我特别不喜欢 :(

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com
LanZi
 said on
January 25, 2010
@Echo

我没有吃过地道的腊八粥，但是我觉得八宝粥还可以，我热爱小米粥啊黑米粥啊之类的，还有我们老家那边的甜品，绿豆粥啊红豆粥啊之类的。
Gail天堂的声音
 said on
January 25, 2010
@Xiao Hu,

哈哈，我的用户名都是拜你们所赐啊！

我觉得“黑帮”和“黑社会”很像。就像echo说的，黑帮比黑社会规模小一些。我觉得“黑帮”是黑社会的一部分。

比如说，原来在大城市里（70-80年以前），会有“青龙帮”“白虎帮”等等名字的还帮，所有这些黑帮都是“黑社会”的一种形式，我们都叫他们“黑社会”的。

@echo,

有一年我去一个小城市里吃饭，我点了10块钱的水饺，结果那个餐厅送了我一大罐腊八粥，巨好喝，不过，我不知道那是不是地道的腊八粥，喝起来其实和八宝粥一样样儿的。。。
Xiao Hu
 said on
January 25, 2010
@Echo,

所有的粥我都很喜欢吃！我很喜欢中国的粥文化。

就像Brendan说的，洛杉矶没有黑社会，我们这儿的黑帮是 Street Gang 的那种。比如说，Bloods, Crips, Asian Boyz 等，这种黑帮并不像 David 和 Brendan 所说的 Philadelphia Mob 那种的。Street Gangs 比 The Mob 规模小。