Post
The Cornfield and the Graveyard

Two generations pay their respects – by Carl Setzer

 

“42, 43, 44, 45. I think this is the spot.”

Grandpa stopped and searched for his cigarettes, trying to ignore the pain in his hands and legs.

READ ON...

Post
Chinese Tuesdays: Ladlebeetle

 

Ladybird/bug/beetle in Chinese is 瓢虫 (piáo ​chóng)​, and 瓢 (piáo) means ladle made from a gourd – the type used to scoop up water or small amounts of grain. I’m sure that the use of 瓢 in 瓢虫 is down to the similarity in shape between the tool and the shell of the ladybird, but it’s funny that the English translation, ladle, sounds like a mispronunciation of lady.

READ ON...

Post
Translation: True punk

A "zero mark essay" from this year's gaokao

 

In the Analects blog my newest post is about essays in China's university entrance exam that flop, getting no points. Some of these essays fail because they are too rebellious. In the post I quote a student from Shanghai, who in response to the essay prompt the "more important things in life", replied "to be a true punk". For the Anthill I've translated the whole thing.

READ ON...

Post
Chinese Tuesdays: 吃喝嫖赌

 

吃喝嫖赌抽坑蒙拐骗偷 (chīhēpiáodǔchōukēngmēngguǎipiàntōu) – Eat, drink, whore, gamble, smoke, defraud, deceive, kidnap, cheat, steal. This phrase is used to talk about someone who has bad habits or who is rebellious. Or someone actually guilty of all of the above. It is often shortened to 吃喝嫖赌 (chīhēpiáodǔ), simply to mean "to live a life of dissipation".

READ ON...

Post
The bandit train

Strangers on a train, with bad intentions – by Michael Taylor

 

A few years ago I decided to visit my friend Tom who was teaching English in Xichang, Sichuan province. I knew nothing about the place, except for my friend’s description of it as a lot more lawless and wild than Beijing. So I packed my bag with a few clothes and my passport, and headed down to Beijing West station to buy a ticket and get on the next train.

READ ON...