miscellaneous

After yesterday’s list of must-read China books, here are some tips for beginner Mandarin learners. I originally put this FAQ together for my old Chinese tutor’s blog, and it got me thinking about the motley methods I’ve used since beginning to learn the language in 2008 – including which ones weren’t worth it. Sorry to bore those of you with good Chinese, narrative posts will resume next week, and do post your own thoughts below.

To celebrate our 100 posts centenary on the Anthill, I've put together exactly 100 words (inspired by the mini fiction on this site) of clichés about China – the kind of clichés we're trying to belie at the Anthill, with stories of everyday experience rather than the "big picture".

Who can add to the list?

Hanging out with Weibo's most famous cretin

B Ge (B哥), or "Brother B", has 103636 followers on Weibo, China's Twitter. He posts silly videos of him goofing around, such as pretending to down a bottle of cooking oil on the Beijing subway, or blowing up a condom into a balloon in the supermarket. Today he posted his newest video – featuring, to my everlasting and unerasable embarrassment, yours truly.

We don't generally post news on the Anthill, as it's designed for narrative writing and there are too many China news aggregators anyway. But this is breaking news I discovered myself and have to share: the municipal authorities for the Gulou area of central Beijing have, as of midnight last night, made riding fixed gear bicycles in the area against the law.

Reflections on how China has changed in two years

As with dog years, so is it with China years – one here is equivalent to several most places else. They just fit more in. When it comes to pace of change, no-one else holds a candle really.

I’ve been out of China for two years. For a dog, that’s ten human years, and you could argue the rate for China is about the same. It’s like leaving London shortly after the millenium and coming back for the Olympics. Recognisable, but look closer and you notice all the new things.