INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3497, 1, '2012-11-19 05:22:41', '2012-11-19 05:22:41', 'While not many Chinese are vegetarian, there is a rich buddhist tradition in China and many people chose not to eat meat for religious reasons. As a result there are plenty of vegetarian options available. LTL offers vegetarian homestay options, [button color=red url=http://ltl-chinois.fr/contact-us/ target=blank]Contact us[/button] to reserve your place.\r\n\r\n[hr style=double-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n<p align="center">One of our vegetarian students wrote this review of vegetarian restaurants in Beijing. We will keep adding restaurant reviews and tips. If you found any good restaurants you would like to recommend, please email us on info@livethelanguage.cn</p>\r\n<p align="center"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><strong>Marie’s Veggie Guide to Beijing</strong></span></p>\r\nVegetarian Restaurants to Try:\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>1)  Vegan Hut</strong></span>\r\n\r\n<strong><img class="size-full wp-image-3480 alignleft" title="China-Beach-010-300x225" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/China-Beach-010-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />Location:</strong>  Go to the Guomao subway station and go out exit D (this is on the southwest side of the street).  Walk west to the next street, turn south, and go across one more street.  It is in the shopping/restaurant complex that’s right there on the east side of the street, up an escalator to the second floor.  There is a sign out front.  When you go upstairs, look for the picture of Bill Clinton.[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=5 margin_bottom=5]\r\n\r\n<img class="size-full wp-image-3485 alignleft" title="China-Beach-192-300x225" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/China-Beach-192-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />\r\n\r\n<strong>Food:</strong>  This place had a large assortment of things to try.  Mainly, the food is vegan/vegetarian versions of Chinese dishes.  There are also smoothies, soups, and desserts to try.  I liked the dumplings and the fish dish that I had.  The hotpot tasted good, but something in it made my mouth tingle in a not-so-good way.  I think I might have been allergic to something in it.   In general, the food is heavy on the fake meat.  I happen to like fake meat products, so I was okay with that.[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=5 margin_bottom=5]\r\n\r\n<img class="size-full wp-image-3478 alignleft" title="China-Beach-008-300x225" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/China-Beach-008-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />\r\n\r\n<strong>Other: </strong> The place has vegan propaganda books to peruse and seems to be one of those places promoting a vegan lifestyle. It’s a friendly, comfortable place, with a nice, quiet atmosphere.  Prices were probably 20-30 <strong>元 </strong>per dish.\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=5 margin_bottom=5]\r\n\r\n<strong style="font-size: large;">2)  Fu Hui Ci Yuan Vegetarian Restauran</strong><span style="font-size: large;">t</span>\r\n\r\n<strong><a href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/China-Beach-144-300x225.jpg"><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3481" title="China-Beach-144-300x225" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/China-Beach-144-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /></a>Location:</strong>  It took me forever to find it because the directions I had were terrible, but it’s actually easy to find.  Walk north to the end of the Wangfujing pedestrian mall, cross the street, and walk about one more block.  On the west side of the street, look for a sign that points the way to the vegetarian restaurant (picture below).  You will turn left and go a short ways down an alley.[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=5 margin_bottom=5]\r\n\r\n<strong><a href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/China-Beach-145-300x225.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-3482 alignright" title="China-Beach-145-300x225" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/China-Beach-145-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /></a></strong>\r\n\r\n<strong>Food: </strong> Mostly fake meat dishes that are intended to imitate meat focused Chinese food.  It probably wasn’t as good as Vegan Hut, but not bad either.  There is alcohol on the menu.  Pictured below is an entire mock fish in chili oil.\r\n\r\n<strong>Other:</strong>  Lots of Buddhist and other books/items are sold here.  The place was mostly empty, except for some other foreigners that I assume came off of Wangfujing just like I did.  Very quiet.  I think prices were around 30<strong>元</strong>per dish.\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>3)  Veggie Table</strong></span>\r\n\r\n<strong>Location:</strong>  Go to the intersection of Yonghugong St. and the WuDaoYing Hutong (near the Lama Temple). It’s not too far down the alley.\r\n\r\n<strong>Food:</strong>  This place wins for best-tasting food.  If you are looking for high quality food without a lot of meat substitute, this is the place to go.  There was kale salad, pizza made with squash, and many other delicious things that I could not stop eating.  The day I went, I hadn’t eaten much and I was so glad I had enough room to fill up here.  There is wine and beer available as well.\r\n\r\n<strong>Other:</strong>  This is a pricier place (probably you will pay at least 60<strong>元 </strong>for a decent meal) but it is worth it.  It is adorable inside, with some tables that have couches to sit on.\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<strong><span style="font-size: large;">4)  Xu Xiang Zhai Vegetarian Restaurant</span></strong>\r\n\r\n<strong><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3486" title="China-Beach-217-300x225" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/China-Beach-217-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /></strong><strong></strong><strong>Location:</strong>  I was wandering around by the Lama Temple on my last day in Beijing and thought about going back to Veggie Table, but instead just stumbled on this place.  All you have to do to find it is go south a few blocks from the intersection of Yonghugong  Street and WuDaoYing Hutong, look for the gate shown in the picture (I couldn’t find a name for this hutong), and go down the alley a short ways.  It is big and not easy to miss.\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=5 margin_bottom=5]\r\n\r\n<strong><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3488" title="China-Beach-220-300x225" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/China-Beach-220-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />Food: </strong>Go there when you are hungry and get the buffet. For 88<strong>元</strong> you can get an all-you-can-eat buffet, which is nothing short of amazing.  There is a salad bar, dessert bar, and variety of soups and breads.  The highlight is a ridiculous variety of dishes made with every kind of mock-fish, chicken, and other meat that you will not be able to taste them all before you burst.  Dishes are labled as to whether or not they have eggs and dairy (most do not).  I had vegan dessert (several, actually) and sampled all the fish dishes that I wanted to try.  It was spectacular.[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=5 margin_bottom=5]\r\n\r\n<img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3487" title="China-Beach-218-300x225" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/China-Beach-218-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />\r\n\r\n<strong>Other:</strong>  Vegetarians and vegans should not miss this place.\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Things I found helpful:</strong></span>  I found a bunch of vegetarian restaurants online (like at happycow.net) and tried to venture out and find them.  This had mixed success.  Some of them had been closed, and some were so difficult to find that I never found them.  Other people may have more success than I did. If you go this route, be sure you have plenty of time to get lost.', 'Vegetarian food in Beijing', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '2153-revision-10', '', '', '2012-11-19 05:22:41', '2012-11-19 05:22:41', '', 2153, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/2153-revision-10/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3496, 1, '2012-11-19 05:19:12', '2012-11-19 05:19:12', 'While not many Chinese are vegetarian, there is a rich buddhist tradition in China and many people chose not to eat meat for religious reasons. As a result there are plenty of vegetarian options available. LTL offers vegetarian homestay options, [button color=red url=http://ltl-chinois.fr/contact-us/ target=blank]Contact us[/button] to reserve your place.\r\n\r\n[hr style=double-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n<p align="center">One of our vegetarian students wrote this review of vegetarian restaurants in Beijing. We will keep adding restaurant reviews and tips. If you found any good restaurants you would like to recommend, please email us on info@livethelanguage.cn</p>\r\n<p align="center"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><strong>Marie’s Veggie Guide to Beijing</strong></span></p>\r\nVegetarian Restaurants to Try:\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>1)  Vegan Hut</strong></span>\r\n\r\n<strong><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3480" title="China-Beach-010-300x225" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/China-Beach-010-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />Location:</strong>  Go to the Guomao subway station and go out exit D (this is on the southwest side of the street).  Walk west to the next street, turn south, and go across one more street.  It is in the shopping/restaurant complex that’s right there on the east side of the street, up an escalator to the second floor.  There is a sign out front.  When you go upstairs, look for the picture of Bill Clinton.[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=5 margin_bottom=5]\r\n\r\n<img class="size-full wp-image-3485 alignleft" title="China-Beach-192-300x225" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/China-Beach-192-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />\r\n\r\n<strong>Food:</strong>  This place had a large assortment of things to try.  Mainly, the food is vegan/vegetarian versions of Chinese dishes.  There are also smoothies, soups, and desserts to try.  I liked the dumplings and the fish dish that I had.  The hotpot tasted good, but something in it made my mouth tingle in a not-so-good way.  I think I might have been allergic to something in it.   In general, the food is heavy on the fake meat.  I happen to like fake meat products, so I was okay with that.[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=5 margin_bottom=5]\r\n\r\n<img class="size-full wp-image-3478 alignleft" title="China-Beach-008-300x225" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/China-Beach-008-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />\r\n\r\n<strong>Other: </strong> The place has vegan propaganda books to peruse and seems to be one of those places promoting a vegan lifestyle. It’s a friendly, comfortable place, with a nice, quiet atmosphere.  Prices were probably 20-30 <strong>元 </strong>per dish.\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=5 margin_bottom=5]\r\n\r\n<strong style="font-size: large;">2)  Fu Hui Ci Yuan Vegetarian Restauran</strong><span style="font-size: large;">t</span>\r\n\r\n<strong><a href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/China-Beach-144-300x225.jpg"><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3481" title="China-Beach-144-300x225" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/China-Beach-144-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /></a>Location:</strong>  It took me forever to find it because the directions I had were terrible, but it’s actually easy to find.  Walk north to the end of the Wangfujing pedestrian mall, cross the street, and walk about one more block.  On the west side of the street, look for a sign that points the way to the vegetarian restaurant (picture below).  You will turn left and go a short ways down an alley.[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=5 margin_bottom=5]\r\n\r\n<strong><a href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/China-Beach-145-300x225.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3482" title="China-Beach-145-300x225" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/China-Beach-145-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /></a></strong>\r\n\r\n<strong>Food: </strong> Mostly fake meat dishes that are intended to imitate meat focused Chinese food.  It probably wasn’t as good as Vegan Hut, but not bad either.  There is alcohol on the menu.  Pictured below is an entire mock fish in chili oil.[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=5 margin_bottom=5][hr style=dotted-line margin_top=5 margin_bottom=5]\r\n\r\n<strong>Other:</strong>  Lots of Buddhist and other books/items are sold here.  The place was mostly empty, except for some other foreigners that I assume came off of Wangfujing just like I did.  Very quiet.  I think prices were around 30<strong>元</strong>per dish.\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>3)  Veggie Table</strong></span>\r\n\r\n<strong>Location:</strong>  Go to the intersection of Yonghugong St. and the WuDaoYing Hutong (near the Lama Temple). It’s not too far down the alley.\r\n\r\n<strong>Food:</strong>  This place wins for best-tasting food.  If you are looking for high quality food without a lot of meat substitute, this is the place to go.  There was kale salad, pizza made with squash, and many other delicious things that I could not stop eating.  The day I went, I hadn’t eaten much and I was so glad I had enough room to fill up here.  There is wine and beer available as well.\r\n\r\n<strong>Other:</strong>  This is a pricier place (probably you will pay at least 60<strong>元 </strong>for a decent meal) but it is worth it.  It is adorable inside, with some tables that have couches to sit on.\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<strong><span style="font-size: large;">4)  Xu Xiang Zhai Vegetarian Restaurant</span></strong>\r\n\r\n<strong><img class="alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-3486" title="China-Beach-217-300x225" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/China-Beach-217-300x225-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" /></strong><strong><img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-3487" title="China-Beach-218-300x225" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/China-Beach-218-300x225-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" /></strong><strong>Location:</strong>  I was wandering around by the Lama Temple on my last day in Beijing and thought about going back to Veggie Table, but instead just stumbled on this place.  All you have to do to find it is go south a few blocks from the intersection of Yonghugong  Street and WuDaoYing Hutong, look for the gate shown in the picture (I couldn’t find a name for this hutong), and go down the alley a short ways.  It is big and not easy to miss.\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=5 margin_bottom=5]\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<strong>Food: </strong>Go there when you are hungry and get the buffet. For 88<strong>元</strong> you can get an all-you-can-eat buffet, which is nothing short of amazing.  There is a salad bar, dessert bar, and variety of soups and breads.  The highlight is a ridiculous variety of dishes made with every kind of mock-fish, chicken, and other meat that you will not be able to taste them all before you burst.  Dishes are labled as to whether or not they have eggs and dairy (most do not).  I had vegan dessert (several, actually) and sampled all the fish dishes that I wanted to try.  It was spectacular.[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=5 margin_bottom=5]\r\n\r\n<img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-3488 alignleft" title="China-Beach-220-300x225" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/China-Beach-220-300x225-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" />\r\n\r\n<strong>Other:</strong>  Vegetarians and vegans should not miss this place.\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Things I found helpful:</strong></span>  I found a bunch of vegetarian restaurants online (like at happycow.net) and tried to venture out and find them.  This had mixed success.  Some of them had been closed, and some were so difficult to find that I never found them.  Other people may have more success than I did. If you go this route, be sure you have plenty of time to get lost.', 'Vegetarian food in Beijing', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '2153-revision-9', '', '', '2012-11-19 05:19:12', '2012-11-19 05:19:12', '', 2153, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/2153-revision-9/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (4221, 2, '2013-01-03 00:00:24', '2013-01-03 00:00:24', 'Interns sharing food in Beijing at LTL Mandarin School.', 'Interns in Beijing', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', 'lunch', '', '', '2013-01-03 00:00:24', '2013-01-03 00:00:24', '', 4205, 'http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/lunch.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0) ; 
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INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (4214, 2, '2013-01-03 01:46:13', '2013-01-03 01:46:13', '', 'Internship in China', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '4211-autosave', '', '', '2013-01-03 01:46:13', '2013-01-03 01:46:13', '', 4211, 'http://ltl-chinois.fr/4211-autosave/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3504, 1, '2011-04-07 06:28:52', '2011-04-07 06:28:52', 'After living in the expat community for some time I decided to move outside my comfort zone and move in with Chinese roommates. Even though we had met a few times before, I was still nervous that there would be a culture clash when I moved in. To my (delighted) surprise, they were not only nice enough to help me transport my things but also open enough to involve me in their Qing Ming Jie rituals soon after I settled in.\r\n\r\nQing Ming Jie (清明节) is also known as Tomb Sweeping Day because it is traditionally when people honor their deceased ancestors. You do this by bringing offerings to their graves, or if you are not in their hometown you burn an offering for them. The first thing that my new roommates taught me was how to fold 金元宝 jīn yuán bǎo, little “treasures” made from gold paper.\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-3505" title="dsc030742" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/dsc030742.jpg" alt="" width="461" height="346" />\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]<p>These would later be used as an offering along with fake yuan notes, paper gold bars and yellow sheets of tissue paper. After cooking a fantastic dinner of braised tofu and stir-fried seaweed we packed up the offerings in a bag and went outside. They explained to me that we had to find a 十字路口 shízìlù kǒu (crossroads) so that the spirits of their relatives would be able to find the offering from any direction. We walked a block from the apartment and found an area covered in little piles of ash where others had been before us.</p>[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n<a href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/dsc030952.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-3507" title="dsc030952" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/dsc030952.jpg" alt="" width="346" height="461" /></a>[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]<p>They first used a rock to each draw a circle in the dust, then placed a piece of paper in the circle on which they had written their relative’s name and address in their hometown. Then, they placed the yellow tissue paper in the circle and set it on fire. Carefully watching the circle of fire they added the paper money, followed by the paper gold bars and lastly the 金元宝.\r\n\r\nIt was a very solemn and very peaceful ritual, and I think it not only brought me closer to my new roommates but also to the lesser-known traditions of China. Additionally, it cemented my belief that living with Chinese people is the best way to truly experience the local culture. I can’t wait to see what I’ll learn next!</p>[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]<a href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/dsc030922.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-3506" title="dsc030922" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/dsc030922.jpg" alt="" width="461" height="346" /></a>\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]This story was contributed by LTL staff member Natalie Litofsky.', 'New friends and old traditions', '', 'publish', 'open', 'open', '', 'new-friends-and-old-traditions', '', '', '2012-12-11 04:29:48', '2012-12-11 04:29:48', '', 0, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/?p=3504', 0, 'post', '', 0) ; 
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INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3507, 1, '2012-11-19 06:26:44', '2012-11-19 06:26:44', '', 'dsc030952', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', 'dsc030952', '', '', '2012-11-19 06:26:44', '2012-11-19 06:26:44', '', 3504, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/dsc030952.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3508, 1, '2012-11-19 06:27:52', '2012-11-19 06:27:52', 'After living in the expat community for some time I decided to move outside my comfort zone and move in with Chinese roommates. Even though we had met a few times before, I was still nervous that there would be a culture clash when I moved in. To my (delighted) surprise, they were not only nice enough to help me transport my things but also open enough to involve me in their Qing Ming Jie rituals soon after I settled in.\n<p style="text-align: center;">Qing Ming Jie (清明节) is also known as Tomb Sweeping Day because it is traditionally when people honor their deceased ancestors. You do this by bringing offerings to their graves, or if you are not in their hometown you burn an offering for them. The first thing that my new roommates taught me was how to fold 金元宝 jīn yuán bǎo, little “treasures” made from gold paper.<img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-3505" title="dsc030742" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/dsc030742.jpg" alt="" width="461" height="346" /></p>\nThese would later be used as an offering along with fake yuan notes, paper gold bars and yellow sheets of tissue paper. After cooking a fantastic dinner of braised tofu and stir-fried seaweed we packed up the offerings in a bag and went outside. They explained to me that we had to find a 十字路口 shízìlù kǒu (crossroads) so that the spirits of their relatives would be able to find the offering from any direction. We walked a block from the apartment and found an area covered in little piles of ash where others had been before us.\n<a href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/dsc030952.jpg"><img src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/dsc030952.jpg" alt="" title="dsc030952" width="346" height="461" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-3507" /></a>', 'New friends and old traditions', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3504-revision', '', '', '2012-11-19 06:27:52', '2012-11-19 06:27:52', '', 3504, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3504-revision/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3509, 1, '2012-11-19 06:33:37', '2012-11-19 06:33:37', 'After living in the expat community for some time I decided to move outside my comfort zone and move in with Chinese roommates. Even though we had met a few times before, I was still nervous that there would be a culture clash when I moved in. To my (delighted) surprise, they were not only nice enough to help me transport my things but also open enough to involve me in their Qing Ming Jie rituals soon after I settled in.\n\nQing Ming Jie (清明节) is also known as Tomb Sweeping Day because it is traditionally when people honor their deceased ancestors. You do this by bringing offerings to their graves, or if you are not in their hometown you burn an offering for them. The first thing that my new roommates taught me was how to fold 金元宝 jīn yuán bǎo, little “treasures” made from gold paper.\n\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\n\n<img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-3505" title="dsc030742" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/dsc030742.jpg" alt="" width="461" height="346" />\n\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]<p>These would later be used as an offering along with fake yuan notes, paper gold bars and yellow sheets of tissue paper. After cooking a fantastic dinner of braised tofu and stir-fried seaweed we packed up the offerings in a bag and went outside. They explained to me that we had to find a 十字路口 shízìlù kǒu (crossroads) so that the spirits of their relatives would be able to find the offering from any direction. We walked a block from the apartment and found an area covered in little piles of ash where others had been before us.</p>[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\n<a href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/dsc030952.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-3507" title="dsc030952" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/dsc030952.jpg" alt="" width="346" height="461" /></a>[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]They first used a rock to each draw a circle in the dust, then placed a piece of paper in the circle on which they had written their relative’s name and address in their hometown. Then, they placed the yellow tissue paper in the circle and set it on fire. Carefully watching the circle of fire they added the paper money, followed by the paper gold bars and lastly the 金元宝.\n\nIt was a very solemn and very peaceful ritual, and I think it not only brought me closer to my new roommates but also to the lesser-known traditions of China. Additionally, it cemented my belief that living with Chinese people is the best way to truly experience the local culture. I can’t wait to see what I’ll learn next![hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]<a href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/dsc030922.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-3506" title="dsc030922" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/dsc030922.jpg" alt="" width="461" height="346" /></a>\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]This story was contributed by LTL staff member Natalie Litofsky.', 'New friends and old traditions', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3504-autosave', '', '', '2012-11-19 06:33:37', '2012-11-19 06:33:37', '', 3504, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3504-autosave/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3510, 1, '2012-11-19 06:28:52', '2012-11-19 06:28:52', 'After living in the expat community for some time I decided to move outside my comfort zone and move in with Chinese roommates. Even though we had met a few times before, I was still nervous that there would be a culture clash when I moved in. To my (delighted) surprise, they were not only nice enough to help me transport my things but also open enough to involve me in their Qing Ming Jie rituals soon after I settled in.\r\n<p style="text-align: center;">Qing Ming Jie (清明节) is also known as Tomb Sweeping Day because it is traditionally when people honor their deceased ancestors. You do this by bringing offerings to their graves, or if you are not in their hometown you burn an offering for them. The first thing that my new roommates taught me was how to fold 金元宝 jīn yuán bǎo, little “treasures” made from gold paper.<img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-3505" title="dsc030742" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/dsc030742.jpg" alt="" width="461" height="346" /></p>\r\nThese would later be used as an offering along with fake yuan notes, paper gold bars and yellow sheets of tissue paper. After cooking a fantastic dinner of braised tofu and stir-fried seaweed we packed up the offerings in a bag and went outside. They explained to me that we had to find a 十字路口 shízìlù kǒu (crossroads) so that the spirits of their relatives would be able to find the offering from any direction. We walked a block from the apartment and found an area covered in little piles of ash where others had been before us.\r\n<a href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/dsc030952.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-3507" title="dsc030952" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/dsc030952.jpg" alt="" width="346" height="461" /></a>They first used a rock to each draw a circle in the dust, then placed a piece of paper in the circle on which they had written their relative’s name and address in their hometown. Then, they placed the yellow tissue paper in the circle and set it on fire. Carefully watching the circle of fire they added the paper money, followed by the paper gold bars and lastly the 金元宝.\r\n\r\nIt was a very solemn and very peaceful ritual, and I think it not only brought me closer to my new roommates but also to the lesser-known traditions of China. Additionally, it cemented my belief that living with Chinese people is the best way to truly experience the local culture. I can’t wait to see what I’ll learn next!<a href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/dsc030922.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-3506" title="dsc030922" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/dsc030922.jpg" alt="" width="461" height="346" /></a>\r\nThis story was contributed by LTL staff member Natalie Litofsky.', 'New friends and old traditions', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3504-revision-2', '', '', '2012-11-19 06:28:52', '2012-11-19 06:28:52', '', 3504, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3504-revision-2/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3511, 1, '2012-11-19 06:31:32', '2012-11-19 06:31:32', 'After living in the expat community for some time I decided to move outside my comfort zone and move in with Chinese roommates. Even though we had met a few times before, I was still nervous that there would be a culture clash when I moved in. To my (delighted) surprise, they were not only nice enough to help me transport my things but also open enough to involve me in their Qing Ming Jie rituals soon after I settled in.\r\n\r\nQing Ming Jie (清明节) is also known as Tomb Sweeping Day because it is traditionally when people honor their deceased ancestors. You do this by bringing offerings to their graves, or if you are not in their hometown you burn an offering for them. The first thing that my new roommates taught me was how to fold 金元宝 jīn yuán bǎo, little “treasures” made from gold paper.\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-3505" title="dsc030742" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/dsc030742.jpg" alt="" width="461" height="346" />\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]These would later be used as an offering along with fake yuan notes, paper gold bars and yellow sheets of tissue paper. After cooking a fantastic dinner of braised tofu and stir-fried seaweed we packed up the offerings in a bag and went outside. They explained to me that we had to find a 十字路口 shízìlù kǒu (crossroads) so that the spirits of their relatives would be able to find the offering from any direction. We walked a block from the apartment and found an area covered in little piles of ash where others had been before us.[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n<a href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/dsc030952.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-3507" title="dsc030952" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/dsc030952.jpg" alt="" width="346" height="461" /></a>[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]They first used a rock to each draw a circle in the dust, then placed a piece of paper in the circle on which they had written their relative’s name and address in their hometown. Then, they placed the yellow tissue paper in the circle and set it on fire. Carefully watching the circle of fire they added the paper money, followed by the paper gold bars and lastly the 金元宝.\r\n\r\nIt was a very solemn and very peaceful ritual, and I think it not only brought me closer to my new roommates but also to the lesser-known traditions of China. Additionally, it cemented my belief that living with Chinese people is the best way to truly experience the local culture. I can’t wait to see what I’ll learn next![hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]<a href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/dsc030922.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-3506" title="dsc030922" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/dsc030922.jpg" alt="" width="461" height="346" /></a>\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]This story was contributed by LTL staff member Natalie Litofsky.', 'New friends and old traditions', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3504-revision-3', '', '', '2012-11-19 06:31:32', '2012-11-19 06:31:32', '', 3504, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3504-revision-3/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3512, 1, '2011-05-06 06:44:20', '2011-05-06 06:44:20', 'I went to my first Chinese wedding reception today. My day started out as I woke up to visitors standing right outside my door weighing themselves on the scale that was sitting next to the water dispenser. It was two nieces of my Xīnglóng (兴隆) Māmā（妈妈). I dazzled them with my poor Chinese and my white face and we as a result had to take many pictures. We were able to see the arrival of the bride and the fireworks involved from the porch off Duan’s bedroom. The bride was carried on the back of the husband all the way from the car down the street to an apartment. I asked 兴隆 妈妈 whether she knew them and how old they were; little did I know I was later going to their wedding reception.\r\n\r\nWhen we arrived at the wedding, the girls I met earlier in the morning waved their hands furiously to get us to come and sit by them. Although I thought I was not appropriately dressed for attending a wedding reception, according to western standards, I noticed that besides the wedding party not many people were dressed up. Apparently we were to sit by the girls and as I walked through the large hotel dining hall everyone’s eyes were on me. It was like there wasn’t even a wedding taking place at that very moment.\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-3516" title="img_29112" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/img_29112.jpg" alt="" width="563" height="422" />\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\nDuan Laoshi and I sat down at a table with 10 other middle aged to older men who were all very welcoming. One of the little girls motioned that she wanted to pour me soda when Duan Laoshi said, “You drink, báijiǔ (白酒)!” then he conceded because he saw the girl so preciously holding out a new glass for me. At one point, the mother and father of the new husband came and gave their good wishes. She realized she had overlooked me in her address to the table and said, “Oh lǎowài (老外), you also drink well and eat well.” The table was of course filled with men who Mr. Duan knew if they weren’t his family already I thought they had some connection one way or another. Every time I was introduced to someone I had to take a sip of 白酒. When you don’t need to gānbēi (干杯), you call it “yīkǒu” (一口)… one mouthful.\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-3513" title="img_29122" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/img_29122.jpg" alt="" width="563" height="422" />\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]<p>The wedding reception itself (the performance part of it) only lasted a few minutes but we were a little late so I don’t know how long they really last. Of what I understood it was much like a western wedding, pledging to be a good husband and likewise a good wife to one another. Then they lit a bunch of candles on a candelabra shaped as a heart. It was all very tacky but I couldn’t help but get a little caught up in the adorableness of it. (Might be because I am a woman and prone to bouts of sentimentalism or the fact I had a bit of 白酒.)</p>\r\n\r\nBy the end of the wedding reception, and I mean THE END (we were the last table to leave), I had drank plenty and ate plenty, just as the mother of the groom had requested and was ready for a nap.\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n[This story was contributed by <a title="LTL Two City Combo" href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/traveling-to-china/two-city-combo/">LTL Chengde Immersion</a> student Hanna.]\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<strong>Vocabulary explained:</strong>\r\n\r\nXīnglóng (兴隆): An area of Chengde, located in Hebei Province.\r\n\r\nMāmā（妈妈): Mother\r\n\r\nbáijiǔ (白酒): Chinese liquor known for its unique flavor and potency.\r\n\r\nlǎowài (老外): Foreigner\r\n\r\ngānbēi (干杯): Cheers! It can also mean to empty your glass.', 'A laowai at a Xinglong wedding', '', 'publish', 'open', 'open', '', 'a-laowai-at-a-xinglong-wedding', '', '\nhttp://new.livethelanguage.cn/traveling-to-china/two-city-combo/', '2012-12-11 04:29:35', '2012-12-11 04:29:35', '', 0, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/?p=3512', 0, 'post', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3513, 1, '2012-11-19 06:39:31', '2012-11-19 06:39:31', '', 'Chinese dinner', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', 'img_29122', '', '', '2012-11-19 06:39:31', '2012-11-19 06:39:31', '', 3512, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/img_29122.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3514, 1, '2012-11-19 06:43:56', '2012-11-19 06:43:56', 'I went to my first Chinese wedding reception today. My day started out as I woke up to visitors standing right outside my door weighing themselves on the scale that was sitting next to the water dispenser. It was two nieces of my Xīnglóng (兴隆) Māmā（妈妈). I dazzled them with my poor Chinese and my white face and we as a result had to take many pictures. We were able to see the arrival of the bride and the fireworks involved from the porch off Duan’s bedroom. The bride was carried on the back of the husband all the way from the car down the street to an apartment. I asked 兴隆 妈妈 whether she knew them and how old they were; little did I know I was later going to their wedding reception.\n\nWhen we arrived at the wedding, the girls I met earlier in the morning waved their hands furiously to get us to come and sit by them. Although I thought I was not appropriately dressed for attending a wedding reception, according to western standards, I noticed that besides the wedding party not many people were dressed up.  Apparently we were to sit by the girls and as I walked through the large hotel dining hall everyone’s eyes were on me. It was like there wasn’t even a wedding taking place at that very moment.\n<img src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/img_29122.jpg" alt="" title="img_29122" width="563" height="422" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-3513" />', 'A laowai at a Xinglong wedding', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3512-revision', '', '', '2012-11-19 06:43:56', '2012-11-19 06:43:56', '', 3512, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3512-revision/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3515, 1, '2012-11-19 06:50:35', '2012-11-19 06:50:35', 'I went to my first Chinese wedding reception today. My day started out as I woke up to visitors standing right outside my door weighing themselves on the scale that was sitting next to the water dispenser. It was two nieces of my Xīnglóng (兴隆) Māmā（妈妈). I dazzled them with my poor Chinese and my white face and we as a result had to take many pictures. We were able to see the arrival of the bride and the fireworks involved from the porch off Duan’s bedroom. The bride was carried on the back of the husband all the way from the car down the street to an apartment. I asked 兴隆 妈妈 whether she knew them and how old they were; little did I know I was later going to their wedding reception.\n\nWhen we arrived at the wedding, the girls I met earlier in the morning waved their hands furiously to get us to come and sit by them. Although I thought I was not appropriately dressed for attending a wedding reception, according to western standards, I noticed that besides the wedding party not many people were dressed up. Apparently we were to sit by the girls and as I walked through the large hotel dining hall everyone’s eyes were on me. It was like there wasn’t even a wedding taking place at that very moment.\n\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\n\n<img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-3516" title="img_29112" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/img_29112.jpg" alt="" width="563" height="422" />\n\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\n\nDuan Laoshi and I sat down at a table with 10 other middle aged to older men who were all very welcoming. One of the little girls motioned that she wanted to pour me soda when Duan Laoshi said, “You drink, báijiǔ (白酒)!” then he conceded because he saw the girl so preciously holding out a new glass for me. At one point, the mother and father of the new husband came and gave their good wishes. She realized she had overlooked me in her address to the table and said, “Oh lǎowài (老外), you also drink well and eat well.” The table was of course filled with men who Mr. Duan knew if they weren’t his family already I thought they had some connection one way or another. Every time I was introduced to someone I had to take a sip of 白酒. When you don’t need to gānbēi (干杯), you call it “yīkǒu” (一口)… one mouthful.\n\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\n\n<img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-3513" title="img_29122" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/img_29122.jpg" alt="" width="563" height="422" />\n\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]The wedding reception itself (the performance part of it) only lasted a few minutes but we were a little late so I don’t know how long they really last. Of what I understood it was much like a western wedding, pledging to be a good husband and likewise a good wife to one another. Then they lit a bunch of candles on a candelabra shaped as a heart. It was all very tacky but I couldn’t help but get a little caught up in the adorableness of it. (Might be because I am a woman and prone to bouts of sentimentalism or the fact I had a bit of 白酒.)\n\nBy the end of the wedding reception, and I mean THE END (we were the last table to leave), I had drank plenty and ate plenty, just as the mother of the groom had requested and was ready for a nap.\n\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\n\n[This story was contributed by <a title="LTL Two City Combo" href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/traveling-to-china/two-city-combo/">LTL Chengde Immersion</a> student Hanna.]\n\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\n\n<strong>Vocabulary explained:</strong>\n\nXīnglóng (兴隆): An area of Chengde, located in Hebei Province.\n\nMāmā（妈妈): Mother\n\nbáijiǔ (白酒): Chinese liquor known for its unique flavor and potency.\n\nlǎowài (老外): Foreigner\n\ngānbēi (干杯): Cheers! It can also mean to empty your glass.', 'A laowai at a Xinglong wedding', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3512-autosave', '', '', '2012-11-19 06:50:35', '2012-11-19 06:50:35', '', 3512, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3512-autosave/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3516, 1, '2012-11-19 06:47:59', '2012-11-19 06:47:59', '', 'img_29112', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', 'img_29112', '', '', '2012-11-19 06:47:59', '2012-11-19 06:47:59', '', 3512, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/img_29112.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3517, 1, '2012-11-19 06:44:20', '2012-11-19 06:44:20', 'I went to my first Chinese wedding reception today. My day started out as I woke up to visitors standing right outside my door weighing themselves on the scale that was sitting next to the water dispenser. It was two nieces of my Xīnglóng (兴隆) Māmā（妈妈). I dazzled them with my poor Chinese and my white face and we as a result had to take many pictures. We were able to see the arrival of the bride and the fireworks involved from the porch off Duan’s bedroom. The bride was carried on the back of the husband all the way from the car down the street to an apartment. I asked 兴隆 妈妈 whether she knew them and how old they were; little did I know I was later going to their wedding reception.\r\n\r\n<img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-3513" title="img_29122" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/img_29122.jpg" alt="" width="563" height="422" />\r\n\r\nWhen we arrived at the wedding, the girls I met earlier in the morning waved their hands furiously to get us to come and sit by them. Although I thought I was not appropriately dressed for attending a wedding reception, according to western standards, I noticed that besides the wedding party not many people were dressed up. Apparently we were to sit by the girls and as I walked through the large hotel dining hall everyone’s eyes were on me. It was like there wasn’t even a wedding taking place at that very moment.', 'A laowai at a Xinglong wedding', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3512-revision-2', '', '', '2012-11-19 06:44:20', '2012-11-19 06:44:20', '', 3512, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3512-revision-2/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3518, 1, '2012-11-19 06:49:28', '2012-11-19 06:49:28', 'I went to my first Chinese wedding reception today. My day started out as I woke up to visitors standing right outside my door weighing themselves on the scale that was sitting next to the water dispenser. It was two nieces of my Xīnglóng (兴隆) Māmā（妈妈). I dazzled them with my poor Chinese and my white face and we as a result had to take many pictures. We were able to see the arrival of the bride and the fireworks involved from the porch off Duan’s bedroom. The bride was carried on the back of the husband all the way from the car down the street to an apartment. I asked 兴隆 妈妈 whether she knew them and how old they were; little did I know I was later going to their wedding reception.\r\n\r\nWhen we arrived at the wedding, the girls I met earlier in the morning waved their hands furiously to get us to come and sit by them. Although I thought I was not appropriately dressed for attending a wedding reception, according to western standards, I noticed that besides the wedding party not many people were dressed up. Apparently we were to sit by the girls and as I walked through the large hotel dining hall everyone’s eyes were on me. It was like there wasn’t even a wedding taking place at that very moment.\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-3516" title="img_29112" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/img_29112.jpg" alt="" width="563" height="422" />\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\nDuan Laoshi and I sat down at a table with 10 other middle aged to older men who were all very welcoming. One of the little girls motioned that she wanted to pour me soda when Duan Laoshi said, “You drink, báijiǔ (白酒)!” then he conceded because he saw the girl so preciously holding out a new glass for me. At one point, the mother and father of the new husband came and gave their good wishes. She realized she had overlooked me in her address to the table and said, “Oh lǎowài (老外), you also drink well and eat well.” The table was of course filled with men who Mr. Duan knew if they weren’t his family already I thought they had some connection one way or another. Every time I was introduced to someone I had to take a sip of 白酒. When you don’t need to gānbēi (干杯), you call it “yīkǒu” (一口)… one mouthful.\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-3513" title="img_29122" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/img_29122.jpg" alt="" width="563" height="422" />\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]The wedding reception itself (the performance part of it) only lasted a few minutes but we were a little late so I don’t know how long they really last. Of what I understood it was much like a western wedding, pledging to be a good husband and likewise a good wife to one another. Then they lit a bunch of candles on a candelabra shaped as a heart. It was all very tacky but I couldn’t help but get a little caught up in the adorableness of it. (Might be because I am a woman and prone to bouts of sentimentalism or the fact I had a bit of 白酒.)\r\n\r\nBy the end of the wedding reception, and I mean THE END (we were the last table to leave), I had drank plenty and ate plenty, just as the mother of the groom had requested and was ready for a nap.\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n[This story was contributed by <a title="LTL Two City Combo" href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/traveling-to-china/two-city-combo/">LTL Chengde Immersion</a> student Hanna.]\r\n\r\nVocabulary explained:\r\n\r\nXīnglóng (兴隆): An area of Chengde, located in Hebei Province.\r\n\r\nMāmā（妈妈): Mother\r\n\r\nbáijiǔ (白酒): Chinese liquor known for its unique flavor and potency.\r\n\r\nlǎowài (老外): Foreigner\r\n\r\ngānbēi (干杯): Cheers! It can also mean to empty your glass.', 'A laowai at a Xinglong wedding', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3512-revision-3', '', '', '2012-11-19 06:49:28', '2012-11-19 06:49:28', '', 3512, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3512-revision-3/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3519, 1, '2011-07-21 06:55:58', '2011-07-21 06:55:58', 'Live the Language is arranging a weekend camping and hiking trip next weekend on the Great Wall!\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n[toggle title="Read a review of the Great Wall Trip"]\r\n\r\n<img class="alignright" title="IMG_0022SMALL" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/IMG_0022SMALL-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />I really enjoyed the great wall trip.  It was one of the highlights of my trip to Beijing.  My favorite parts were exploring the wild wall the first day and eating the amazing dinner that night.\r\n\r\nI really appreciated staying in a place far from tourists, and loved that after we started hiking up the mountain, we didn’t see any other tourists.  I had so much fun exploring the great wall, and was glad that we were able to take a different route down.   I wish I had had even more time to explore the wall.  One suggestion: start out a little earlier in the day, ask the hotel people to pack a lunch, and then carry it up the mountain and eat on the great wall.   Picnics are fun.\r\n\r\nAs for the food, I just loved the dinner we had (and the breakfast was simple but tasty).  I really liked that we were eating vegetables grown very close by.  I also liked how vegetable-heavy the meal was.  The lunch on the first day was good, but didn’t stand out to me.  I did really enjoy getting to gut a fish, and watching the man butcher the rabbit was a unique and interesting experience.  He, along with everyone we met on the trip, was friendly and accommodating.\r\n\r\nWhile I didn’t enjoy the great wall the second day quite as much as I did the first day (mostly because of the tourists), I’m still very glad we went.  It was nice to see what the wall was like when it was whole.  And, I went into the wild, non-tourist sections again so I got to explore the wild wall some more.  Ellen was absolutely right to have us get up early to beat the crowds.  When I was coming down, I noticed how many people were around.  I do wish I could have had an hour or two more there since two hours felt a little rushed.  Also, we passed a pick your own fruit orchard.  I would have enjoyed stopping there briefly, but I don’t feel strongly about this.\r\n\r\nEllen was a fantastic trip leader.  She hiked up the mountain even though it was an arduous trip, and she was very patient when we wanted more time to explore.  She asked us our preferences and was flexible when we suggested a change of plans.  The trip was very well planned and ran smoothly.  I would recommend this trip to anyone.  I had a wonderful time and am so glad I got to experience the great wall in this way!\r\n\r\n[This review was contributed by LTL student Eleanor.]\r\n\r\n[/toggle][hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<strong>Date:</strong> July 30th-31st\r\n\r\n<strong>Includes:</strong> transport, meals, accommodation, guide and all entrance tickets\r\n\r\n<span style="font-size: large;">Schedule</span>\r\n\r\n<span style="font-size: medium;"><em><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3520" title="great wall" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/n61300728_36090519_7028-224x300.jpg" alt="" width="224" height="300" />Saturday, July 30th</em></span>\r\n\r\n8:30AM- Receive a bag lunch and depart the LtL school by car.\r\n\r\n10AM- Arrive at Gubeikou, where we will meet our guide and begin hiking. We will spend 5-6 hours (including lunch) hiking to Jinshanling.\r\n\r\n5PM- At Jinshanling we will have dinner of traditional local Chinese food in a farm house.\r\n\r\nWe will spend the evening camping next to the Great Wall. Tents and sleeping bags will be provided and there will be washing facilities nearby. In the event of bad weather, we will stay at a nearby guest house (with air conditioning).\r\n\r\n<span style="font-size: medium;"><em>Sunday, July 31st</em></span>\r\n\r\n7:30AM- Breakfast and preparing for the day.\r\n\r\n8:30AM- Hike to Simatai area of the Great Wall.\r\n\r\n12:30PM- Return to Beijing by car.\r\n\r\n<strong>Notes:</strong>\r\n<ol>\r\n	<li>Please wear appropriate shoes and clothing</li>\r\n	<li>Please bring a rain coat in case of bad weather</li>\r\n	<li>Please also bring your fully charged mobile phone</li>\r\n</ol>\r\n<strong> Cost:</strong> 1,000 RMB/person\r\n\r\nFor more information or to reserve a space, please [button color=red url=http://ltl-chinois.fr/contact-us/ target=self]Contact us[/button]', 'Great Wall Hiking Weekend', '', 'publish', 'open', 'open', '', 'great-wall-hiking-weekend', '', '', '2012-12-11 04:26:06', '2012-12-11 04:26:06', '', 0, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/?p=3519', 0, 'post', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3520, 1, '2012-11-19 06:54:13', '2012-11-19 06:54:13', '', 'great wall', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', 'n61300728_36090519_7028-224x300', '', '', '2012-11-19 06:54:13', '2012-11-19 06:54:13', '', 3519, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/n61300728_36090519_7028-224x300.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3521, 1, '2012-11-19 06:55:39', '2012-11-19 06:55:39', 'Live the Language is arranging a weekend camping and hiking trip next weekend on the Great Wall!\n\n<strong>Date:</strong> July 30th-31st\n\n<strong>Includes:</strong> transport, meals, accommodation, guide and all entrance tickets\n\n<span style="font-size: large;">Schedule</span>\n\n<span style="font-size: medium;"><em><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3520" title="great wall" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/n61300728_36090519_7028-224x300.jpg" alt="" width="224" height="300" />Saturday, July 30th</em></span>\n\n8:30AM- Receive a bag lunch and depart the LtL school by car.\n\n10AM- Arrive at Gubeikou, where we will meet our guide and begin hiking. We will spend 5-6 hours (including lunch) hiking to Jinshanling.\n\n5PM- At Jinshanling we will have dinner of traditional local Chinese food in a farm house.\n\nWe will spend the evening camping next to the Great Wall. Tents and sleeping bags will be provided and there will be washing facilities nearby. In the event of bad weather, we will stay at a nearby guest house (with air conditioning).\n\n<span style="font-size: medium;"><em>Sunday, July 31st</em></span>\n\n7:30AM- Breakfast and preparing for the day.\n\n8:30AM- Hike to Simatai area of the Great Wall.\n\n12:30PM- Return to Beijing by car.\n\n<strong>Notes:</strong>\n<ol>\n	<li>Please wear appropriate shoes and clothing</li>\n	<li>Please bring a rain coat in case of bad weather</li>\n	<li>Please also bring your fully charged mobile phone</li>\n</ol>\n<strong> Cost:</strong> 1,000 RMB/person\n\nFor more information or to reserve a space, please', 'Great Wall Hiking Weekend', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3519-revision', '', '', '2012-11-19 06:55:39', '2012-11-19 06:55:39', '', 3519, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3519-revision/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3522, 1, '2012-11-19 06:55:58', '2012-11-19 06:55:58', 'Live the Language is arranging a weekend camping and hiking trip next weekend on the Great Wall!\r\n\r\n<strong>Date:</strong> July 30th-31st\r\n\r\n<strong>Includes:</strong> transport, meals, accommodation, guide and all entrance tickets\r\n\r\n<span style="font-size: large;">Schedule</span>\r\n\r\n<span style="font-size: medium;"><em><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3520" title="great wall" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/n61300728_36090519_7028-224x300.jpg" alt="" width="224" height="300" />Saturday, July 30th</em></span>\r\n\r\n8:30AM- Receive a bag lunch and depart the LtL school by car.\r\n\r\n10AM- Arrive at Gubeikou, where we will meet our guide and begin hiking. We will spend 5-6 hours (including lunch) hiking to Jinshanling.\r\n\r\n5PM- At Jinshanling we will have dinner of traditional local Chinese food in a farm house.\r\n\r\nWe will spend the evening camping next to the Great Wall. Tents and sleeping bags will be provided and there will be washing facilities nearby. In the event of bad weather, we will stay at a nearby guest house (with air conditioning).\r\n\r\n<span style="font-size: medium;"><em>Sunday, July 31st</em></span>\r\n\r\n7:30AM- Breakfast and preparing for the day.\r\n\r\n8:30AM- Hike to Simatai area of the Great Wall.\r\n\r\n12:30PM- Return to Beijing by car.\r\n\r\n<strong>Notes:</strong>\r\n<ol>\r\n	<li>Please wear appropriate shoes and clothing</li>\r\n	<li>Please bring a rain coat in case of bad weather</li>\r\n	<li>Please also bring your fully charged mobile phone</li>\r\n</ol>\r\n<strong> Cost:</strong> 1,000 RMB/person\r\n\r\nFor more information or to reserve a space, please\r\n\r\n[button color=red url=http://ltl-chinois.fr/contact-us/ target=self]Contact us[/button]', 'Great Wall Hiking Weekend', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3519-revision-2', '', '', '2012-11-19 06:55:58', '2012-11-19 06:55:58', '', 3519, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3519-revision-2/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3523, 1, '2012-11-19 07:00:19', '2012-11-19 07:00:19', 'Live the Language is arranging a weekend camping and hiking trip next weekend on the Great Wall!\n\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\n\n[toggle title="Read a review of the Great Wall Trip"]\n\n<img class="alignright" title="IMG_0022SMALL" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/IMG_0022SMALL-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />I really enjoyed the great wall trip.  It was one of the highlights of my trip to Beijing.  My favorite parts were exploring the wild wall the first day and eating the amazing dinner that night.\n\nI really appreciated staying in a place far from tourists, and loved that after we started hiking up the mountain, we didn’t see any other tourists.  I had so much fun exploring the great wall, and was glad that we were able to take a different route down.   I wish I had had even more time to explore the wall.  One suggestion: start out a little earlier in the day, ask the hotel people to pack a lunch, and then carry it up the mountain and eat on the great wall.   Picnics are fun.\n\nAs for the food, I just loved the dinner we had (and the breakfast was simple but tasty).  I really liked that we were eating vegetables grown very close by.  I also liked how vegetable-heavy the meal was.  The lunch on the first day was good, but didn’t stand out to me.  I did really enjoy getting to gut a fish, and watching the man butcher the rabbit was a unique and interesting experience.  He, along with everyone we met on the trip, was friendly and accommodating.\n\nWhile I didn’t enjoy the great wall the second day quite as much as I did the first day (mostly because of the tourists), I’m still very glad we went.  It was nice to see what the wall was like when it was whole.  And, I went into the wild, non-tourist sections again so I got to explore the wild wall some more.  Ellen was absolutely right to have us get up early to beat the crowds.  When I was coming down, I noticed how many people were around.  I do wish I could have had an hour or two more there since two hours felt a little rushed.  Also, we passed a pick your own fruit orchard.  I would have enjoyed stopping there briefly, but I don’t feel strongly about this.\n\nEllen was a fantastic trip leader.  She hiked up the mountain even though it was an arduous trip, and she was very patient when we wanted more time to explore.  She asked us our preferences and was flexible when we suggested a change of plans.  The trip was very well planned and ran smoothly.  I would recommend this trip to anyone.  I had a wonderful time and am so glad I got to experience the great wall in this way!\n\n[This review was contributed by LTL student Eleanor.]\n\n[/toggle][hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\n\n<strong>Date:</strong> July 30th-31st\n\n<strong>Includes:</strong> transport, meals, accommodation, guide and all entrance tickets\n\n<span style="font-size: large;">Schedule</span>\n\n<span style="font-size: medium;"><em><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3520" title="great wall" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/n61300728_36090519_7028-224x300.jpg" alt="" width="224" height="300" />Saturday, July 30th</em></span>\n\n8:30AM- Receive a bag lunch and depart the LtL school by car.\n\n10AM- Arrive at Gubeikou, where we will meet our guide and begin hiking. We will spend 5-6 hours (including lunch) hiking to Jinshanling.\n\n5PM- At Jinshanling we will have dinner of traditional local Chinese food in a farm house.\n\nWe will spend the evening camping next to the Great Wall. Tents and sleeping bags will be provided and there will be washing facilities nearby. In the event of bad weather, we will stay at a nearby guest house (with air conditioning).\n\n<span style="font-size: medium;"><em>Sunday, July 31st</em></span>\n\n7:30AM- Breakfast and preparing for the day.\n\n8:30AM- Hike to Simatai area of the Great Wall.\n\n12:30PM- Return to Beijing by car.\n\n<strong>Notes:</strong>\n<ol>\n	<li>Please wear appropriate shoes and clothing</li>\n	<li>Please bring a rain coat in case of bad weather</li>\n	<li>Please also bring your fully charged mobile phone</li>\n</ol>\n<strong> Cost:</strong> 1,000 RMB/person\n\nFor more information or to reserve a space, please [button color=red url=http://ltl-chinois.fr/contact-us/ target=self]Contact us[/button]', 'Great Wall Hiking Weekend', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3519-autosave', '', '', '2012-11-19 07:00:19', '2012-11-19 07:00:19', '', 3519, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3519-autosave/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3524, 1, '2012-11-19 06:56:53', '2012-11-19 06:56:53', 'Live the Language is arranging a weekend camping and hiking trip next weekend on the Great Wall!\r\n\r\n<strong>Date:</strong> July 30th-31st\r\n\r\n<strong>Includes:</strong> transport, meals, accommodation, guide and all entrance tickets\r\n\r\n<span style="font-size: large;">Schedule</span>\r\n\r\n<span style="font-size: medium;"><em><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3520" title="great wall" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/n61300728_36090519_7028-224x300.jpg" alt="" width="224" height="300" />Saturday, July 30th</em></span>\r\n\r\n8:30AM- Receive a bag lunch and depart the LtL school by car.\r\n\r\n10AM- Arrive at Gubeikou, where we will meet our guide and begin hiking. We will spend 5-6 hours (including lunch) hiking to Jinshanling.\r\n\r\n5PM- At Jinshanling we will have dinner of traditional local Chinese food in a farm house.\r\n\r\nWe will spend the evening camping next to the Great Wall. Tents and sleeping bags will be provided and there will be washing facilities nearby. In the event of bad weather, we will stay at a nearby guest house (with air conditioning).\r\n\r\n<span style="font-size: medium;"><em>Sunday, July 31st</em></span>\r\n\r\n7:30AM- Breakfast and preparing for the day.\r\n\r\n8:30AM- Hike to Simatai area of the Great Wall.\r\n\r\n12:30PM- Return to Beijing by car.\r\n\r\n<strong>Notes:</strong>\r\n<ol>\r\n	<li>Please wear appropriate shoes and clothing</li>\r\n	<li>Please bring a rain coat in case of bad weather</li>\r\n	<li>Please also bring your fully charged mobile phone</li>\r\n</ol>\r\n<strong> Cost:</strong> 1,000 RMB/person\r\n\r\nFor more information or to reserve a space, please [button color=red url=http://ltl-chinois.fr/contact-us/ target=self]Contact us[/button]', 'Great Wall Hiking Weekend', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3519-revision-3', '', '', '2012-11-19 06:56:53', '2012-11-19 06:56:53', '', 3519, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3519-revision-3/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3525, 1, '2011-10-20 07:04:35', '2011-10-20 07:04:35', '<strong>Beijing Guo An vs. Henan Jian Ye</strong>\r\n\r\nA football game in Beijing starts with what all good things in Beijing start with: 羊肉串儿 (yáng ròu chuàn ér – lamb skewers) and 燕京 (yàn jīng) beer on gongtibeilu next to the Beijing Guo An Home Stadium: 工人体育场 (gōng rén tǐ yù chǎng – the Workers Stadium).\r\n\r\n<img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-3526" title="logo" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/logo-277x300.png" alt="" width="277" height="300" />\r\n\r\nThe waitress must have been the only person not wearing a green Guo An shirt and there was certainly no one who dared to wear anything blue (that would be Henan Jian Ye’s colour). As a foreigner wearing a green shirt with the Guo An logo, I was given a free pack of cigarettes and plenty of affection. Having tickets for stand Number 5, where season ticket holders and hard core fans assemble did seem to give me plenty of street credit too. Arriving in the stadium early is important, as every ticket does have a seat assigned to it, although actually trying to take this is considered very bad style.\r\n\r\nOnce inside, the atmosphere is quite heated and everyone seems to be  老北京 (lǎo běi jīng – an old Beijinger). As the stadium fills, signs with how to swear at the Henanese are held up: 骗子 (piàn zǐ – liars/cheaters) comes up a lot, but the overriding theme of the night is : 偷井盖儿的贼 (tōu jǐng gài ér de zéi  – stealing manhole covers thieves). I am told there have been some recent reports in Beijing about gangs from Henan stealing manhole covers and selling them as scrap metal – a not very popular activity with the local Beijing population that should not go unpunished.\r\n\r\nBefore the game the national anthem is played, probably the only two minutes of the evening where a person from Henan would have felt comfortable in the stadium. Despite the manhole cover issue they are still Chinese after all. The game starts on time at 19:30 and Guo An quickly scores the first goal, after which for the first and only time I actually heard a cheer I would be used to from Europe: 国安必胜 (guó ān bì shèng  – Guo An must win).\r\n\r\nThen it’s straight back to swearing at the Henanese：抓贼抓贼，偷井盖儿的贼 (zhuā zéi zhuā zéi ，tōu jǐng gài ér de zéi  – catch the thief, catch the thief, the manhole cover stealing thief). After about 10 minutes three people wearing black shirts were identified as probably being from Henan and suddenly found 30,000 people pointing and screaming at them – they left the stadium in a rather hurried manner.\r\n\r\nBy halftime Beijing is still up 1:0 and the mood is good. In general the fans seem to be slightly less concerned with the game though and more preoccupied with having their own fun. People coming up with imaginative ways of shouting abuse at the Henanese (there don’t seem to actually be in the stadium) seem to get as much appreciation as the goalkeeper for making a good save.\r\n\r\nBeijing wins the game 3:0 and remains second after Guangzhou in the league. With some 40,000 people leaving the stadium, one can hear the best songs and swearwords of the evening being sung throughout the Sanlitun area. Despite all the swearing and abuse, it was interesting to see that Beijing football fans appear much less physically aggressive than in most other countries. There were no fights and even the most hardcore supporters seemed to actually be mainly university students or recent graduates, working as doctors and lawyers during the daytime and letting off a bit of steam on a Saturday evening.\r\n\r\nWhile walking home I start to think it may not have only been about the Henanese and lost manhole covers after all, but just as much about a few other issues that one is not allowed to scream about as loudly in China.\r\n\r\n[This story was contributed by LTL Director Andreas Laimboeck]', 'Football and the Art of Insult', '', 'publish', 'open', 'open', '', 'football-and-the-art-of-insult', '', '', '2012-12-11 04:25:58', '2012-12-11 04:25:58', '', 0, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/?p=3525', 0, 'post', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3526, 1, '2012-11-19 07:03:05', '2012-11-19 07:03:05', '', 'logo', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', 'logo', '', '', '2012-11-19 07:03:05', '2012-11-19 07:03:05', '', 3525, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/logo.png', 0, 'attachment', 'image/png', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3527, 1, '2012-11-19 07:04:17', '2012-11-19 07:04:17', '<strong>Beijing Guo An vs. Henan Jian Ye</strong>\n\n<a href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/logo.png"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-3526" title="logo" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/logo-277x300.png" alt="" width="277" height="300" /></a>A football game in Beijing starts with what all good things in Beijing start with: 羊肉串儿 (yáng ròu chuàn ér – lamb skewers) and 燕京 (yàn jīng) beer on gongtibeilu next to the Beijing Guo An Home Stadium: 工人体育场 (gōng rén tǐ yù chǎng – the Workers Stadium).\n\nThe waitress must have been the only person not wearing a green Guo An shirt and there was certainly no one who dared to wear anything blue (that would be Henan Jian Ye’s colour). As a foreigner wearing a green shirt with the Guo An logo, I was given a free pack of cigarettes and plenty of affection. Having tickets for stand Number 5, where season ticket holders and hard core fans assemble did seem to give me plenty of street credit too. Arriving in the stadium early is important, as every ticket does have a seat assigned to it, although actually trying to take this is considered very bad style.\n\nOnce inside, the atmosphere is quite heated and everyone seems to be  老北京 (lǎo běi jīng – an old Beijinger). As the stadium fills, signs with how to swear at the Henanese are held up: 骗子 (piàn zǐ – liars/cheaters) comes up a lot, but the overriding theme of the night is : 偷井盖儿的贼 (tōu jǐng gài ér de zéi  – stealing manhole covers thieves). I am told there have been some recent reports in Beijing about gangs from Henan stealing manhole covers and selling them as scrap metal – a not very popular activity with the local Beijing population that should not go unpunished.\n\nBefore the game the national anthem is played, probably the only two minutes of the evening where a person from Henan would have felt comfortable in the stadium. Despite the manhole cover issue they are still Chinese after all. The game starts on time at 19:30 and Guo An quickly scores the first goal, after which for the first and only time I actually heard a cheer I would be used to from Europe: 国安必胜 (guó ān bì shèng  – Guo An must win).\n\nThen it’s straight back to swearing at the Henanese：抓贼抓贼，偷井盖儿的贼 (zhuā zéi zhuā zéi ，tōu jǐng gài ér de zéi  – catch the thief, catch the thief, the manhole cover stealing thief). After about 10 minutes three people wearing black shirts were identified as probably being from Henan and suddenly found 30,000 people pointing and screaming at them – they left the stadium in a rather hurried manner.\n\nBy halftime Beijing is still up 1:0 and the mood is good. In general the fans seem to be slightly less concerned with the game though and more preoccupied with having their own fun. People coming up with imaginative ways of shouting abuse at the Henanese (there don’t seem to actually be in the stadium) seem to get as much appreciation as the goalkeeper for making a good save.\n\nBeijing wins the game 3:0 and remains second after Guangzhou in the league. With some 40,000 people leaving the stadium, one can hear the best songs and swearwords of the evening being sung throughout the Sanlitun area. Despite all the swearing and abuse, it was interesting to see that Beijing football fans appear much less physically aggressive than in most other countries. There were no fights and even the most hardcore supporters seemed to actually be mainly university students or recent graduates, working as doctors and lawyers during the daytime and letting off a bit of steam on a Saturday evening.\n\nWhile walking home I start to think it may not have only been about the Henanese and lost manhole covers after all, but just as much about a few other issues that one is not allowed to scream about as loudly in China.\n\n[This story was contributed by LTL Director Andreas Laimboeck]', 'Football and the Art of Insult', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3525-revision', '', '', '2012-11-19 07:04:17', '2012-11-19 07:04:17', '', 3525, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3525-revision/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3531, 1, '2012-11-19 07:08:04', '2012-11-19 07:08:04', '<strong>Beijing Guo An vs. Henan Jian Ye</strong>\n\nA football game in Beijing starts with what all good things in Beijing start with: 羊肉串儿 (yáng ròu chuàn ér – lamb skewers) and 燕京 (yàn jīng) beer on gongtibeilu next to the Beijing Guo An Home Stadium: 工人体育场 (gōng rén tǐ yù chǎng – the Workers Stadium).\n\n<img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-3526" title="logo" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/logo-277x300.png" alt="" width="277" height="300" />\n\nThe waitress must have been the only person not wearing a green Guo An shirt and there was certainly no one who dared to wear anything blue (that would be Henan Jian Ye’s colour). As a foreigner wearing a green shirt with the Guo An logo, I was given a free pack of cigarettes and plenty of affection. Having tickets for stand Number 5, where season ticket holders and hard core fans assemble did seem to give me plenty of street credit too. Arriving in the stadium early is important, as every ticket does have a seat assigned to it, although actually trying to take this is considered very bad style.\n\nOnce inside, the atmosphere is quite heated and everyone seems to be  老北京 (lǎo běi jīng – an old Beijinger). As the stadium fills, signs with how to swear at the Henanese are held up: 骗子 (piàn zǐ – liars/cheaters) comes up a lot, but the overriding theme of the night is : 偷井盖儿的贼 (tōu jǐng gài ér de zéi  – stealing manhole covers thieves). I am told there have been some recent reports in Beijing about gangs from Henan stealing manhole covers and selling them as scrap metal – a not very popular activity with the local Beijing population that should not go unpunished.\n\nBefore the game the national anthem is played, probably the only two minutes of the evening where a person from Henan would have felt comfortable in the stadium. Despite the manhole cover issue they are still Chinese after all. The game starts on time at 19:30 and Guo An quickly scores the first goal, after which for the first and only time I actually heard a cheer I would be used to from Europe: 国安必胜 (guó ān bì shèng  – Guo An must win).\n\nThen it’s straight back to swearing at the Henanese：抓贼抓贼，偷井盖儿的贼 (zhuā zéi zhuā zéi ，tōu jǐng gài ér de zéi  – catch the thief, catch the thief, the manhole cover stealing thief). After about 10 minutes three people wearing black shirts were identified as probably being from Henan and suddenly found 30,000 people pointing and screaming at them – they left the stadium in a rather hurried manner.\n\nBy halftime Beijing is still up 1:0 and the mood is good. In general the fans seem to be slightly less concerned with the game though and more preoccupied with having their own fun. People coming up with imaginative ways of shouting abuse at the Henanese (there don’t seem to actually be in the stadium) seem to get as much appreciation as the goalkeeper for making a good save.\n\nBeijing wins the game 3:0 and remains second after Guangzhou in the league. With some 40,000 people leaving the stadium, one can hear the best songs and swearwords of the evening being sung throughout the Sanlitun area. Despite all the swearing and abuse, it was interesting to see that Beijing football fans appear much less physically aggressive than in most other countries. There were no fights and even the most hardcore supporters seemed to actually be mainly university students or recent graduates, working as doctors and lawyers during the daytime and letting off a bit of steam on a Saturday evening.\n\nWhile walking home I start to think it may not have only been about the Henanese and lost manhole covers after all, but just as much about a few other issues that one is not allowed to scream about as loudly in China.\n\n[This story was contributed by LTL Director Andreas Laimboeck]', 'Football and the Art of Insult', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3525-autosave', '', '', '2012-11-19 07:08:04', '2012-11-19 07:08:04', '', 3525, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3525-autosave/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3528, 1, '2012-11-19 07:04:35', '2012-11-19 07:04:35', '<strong>Beijing Guo An vs. Henan Jian Ye</strong>\r\n\r\n<a href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/logo.png"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-3526" title="logo" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/logo-277x300.png" alt="" width="277" height="300" /></a>A football game in Beijing starts with what all good things in Beijing start with: 羊肉串儿 (yáng ròu chuàn ér – lamb skewers) and 燕京 (yàn jīng) beer on gongtibeilu next to the Beijing Guo An Home Stadium: 工人体育场 (gōng rén tǐ yù chǎng – the Workers Stadium).\r\n\r\nThe waitress must have been the only person not wearing a green Guo An shirt and there was certainly no one who dared to wear anything blue (that would be Henan Jian Ye’s colour). As a foreigner wearing a green shirt with the Guo An logo, I was given a free pack of cigarettes and plenty of affection. Having tickets for stand Number 5, where season ticket holders and hard core fans assemble did seem to give me plenty of street credit too. Arriving in the stadium early is important, as every ticket does have a seat assigned to it, although actually trying to take this is considered very bad style.\r\n\r\nOnce inside, the atmosphere is quite heated and everyone seems to be  老北京 (lǎo běi jīng – an old Beijinger). As the stadium fills, signs with how to swear at the Henanese are held up: 骗子 (piàn zǐ – liars/cheaters) comes up a lot, but the overriding theme of the night is : 偷井盖儿的贼 (tōu jǐng gài ér de zéi  – stealing manhole covers thieves). I am told there have been some recent reports in Beijing about gangs from Henan stealing manhole covers and selling them as scrap metal – a not very popular activity with the local Beijing population that should not go unpunished.\r\n\r\nBefore the game the national anthem is played, probably the only two minutes of the evening where a person from Henan would have felt comfortable in the stadium. Despite the manhole cover issue they are still Chinese after all. The game starts on time at 19:30 and Guo An quickly scores the first goal, after which for the first and only time I actually heard a cheer I would be used to from Europe: 国安必胜 (guó ān bì shèng  – Guo An must win).\r\n\r\nThen it’s straight back to swearing at the Henanese：抓贼抓贼，偷井盖儿的贼 (zhuā zéi zhuā zéi ，tōu jǐng gài ér de zéi  – catch the thief, catch the thief, the manhole cover stealing thief). After about 10 minutes three people wearing black shirts were identified as probably being from Henan and suddenly found 30,000 people pointing and screaming at them – they left the stadium in a rather hurried manner.\r\n\r\nBy halftime Beijing is still up 1:0 and the mood is good. In general the fans seem to be slightly less concerned with the game though and more preoccupied with having their own fun. People coming up with imaginative ways of shouting abuse at the Henanese (there don’t seem to actually be in the stadium) seem to get as much appreciation as the goalkeeper for making a good save.\r\n\r\nBeijing wins the game 3:0 and remains second after Guangzhou in the league. With some 40,000 people leaving the stadium, one can hear the best songs and swearwords of the evening being sung throughout the Sanlitun area. Despite all the swearing and abuse, it was interesting to see that Beijing football fans appear much less physically aggressive than in most other countries. There were no fights and even the most hardcore supporters seemed to actually be mainly university students or recent graduates, working as doctors and lawyers during the daytime and letting off a bit of steam on a Saturday evening.\r\n\r\nWhile walking home I start to think it may not have only been about the Henanese and lost manhole covers after all, but just as much about a few other issues that one is not allowed to scream about as loudly in China.\r\n\r\n[This story was contributed by LTL Director Andreas Laimboeck]', 'Football and the Art of Insult', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3525-revision-2', '', '', '2012-11-19 07:04:35', '2012-11-19 07:04:35', '', 3525, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3525-revision-2/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3530, 1, '2012-11-19 07:06:01', '2012-11-19 07:06:01', '<strong>Beijing Guo An vs. Henan Jian Ye</strong>\r\n\r\n<a href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/logo.png"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-3526" title="logo" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/logo-277x300.png" alt="" width="277" height="300" /></a>A football game in Beijing starts with what all good things in Beijing start with: 羊肉串儿 (yáng ròu chuàn ér – lamb skewers) and 燕京 (yàn jīng) beer on gongtibeilu next to the Beijing Guo An Home Stadium: 工人体育场 (gōng rén tǐ yù chǎng – the Workers Stadium).\r\n\r\nThe waitress must have been the only person not wearing a green Guo An shirt and there was certainly no one who dared to wear anything blue (that would be Henan Jian Ye’s colour). As a foreigner wearing a green shirt with the Guo An logo, I was given a free pack of cigarettes and plenty of affection. Having tickets for stand Number 5, where season ticket holders and hard core fans assemble did seem to give me plenty of street credit too. Arriving in the stadium early is important, as every ticket does have a seat assigned to it, although actually trying to take this is considered very bad style.\r\n\r\nOnce inside, the atmosphere is quite heated and everyone seems to be  老北京 (lǎo běi jīng – an old Beijinger). As the stadium fills, signs with how to swear at the Henanese are held up: 骗子 (piàn zǐ – liars/cheaters) comes up a lot, but the overriding theme of the night is : 偷井盖儿的贼 (tōu jǐng gài ér de zéi  – stealing manhole covers thieves). I am told there have been some recent reports in Beijing about gangs from Henan stealing manhole covers and selling them as scrap metal – a not very popular activity with the local Beijing population that should not go unpunished.\r\n\r\nBefore the game the national anthem is played, probably the only two minutes of the evening where a person from Henan would have felt comfortable in the stadium. Despite the manhole cover issue they are still Chinese after all. The game starts on time at 19:30 and Guo An quickly scores the first goal, after which for the first and only time I actually heard a cheer I would be used to from Europe: 国安必胜 (guó ān bì shèng  – Guo An must win).\r\n\r\nThen it’s straight back to swearing at the Henanese：抓贼抓贼，偷井盖儿的贼 (zhuā zéi zhuā zéi ，tōu jǐng gài ér de zéi  – catch the thief, catch the thief, the manhole cover stealing thief). After about 10 minutes three people wearing black shirts were identified as probably being from Henan and suddenly found 30,000 people pointing and screaming at them – they left the stadium in a rather hurried manner.\r\n\r\nBy halftime Beijing is still up 1:0 and the mood is good. In general the fans seem to be slightly less concerned with the game though and more preoccupied with having their own fun. People coming up with imaginative ways of shouting abuse at the Henanese (there don’t seem to actually be in the stadium) seem to get as much appreciation as the goalkeeper for making a good save.\r\n\r\nBeijing wins the game 3:0 and remains second after Guangzhou in the league. With some 40,000 people leaving the stadium, one can hear the best songs and swearwords of the evening being sung throughout the Sanlitun area. Despite all the swearing and abuse, it was interesting to see that Beijing football fans appear much less physically aggressive than in most other countries. There were no fights and even the most hardcore supporters seemed to actually be mainly university students or recent graduates, working as doctors and lawyers during the daytime and letting off a bit of steam on a Saturday evening.\r\n\r\nWhile walking home I start to think it may not have only been about the Henanese and lost manhole covers after all, but just as much about a few other issues that one is not allowed to scream about as loudly in China.\r\n\r\n[This story was contributed by LTL Director Andreas Laimboeck]', 'Football and the Art of Insult', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3525-revision-4', '', '', '2012-11-19 07:06:01', '2012-11-19 07:06:01', '', 3525, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3525-revision-4/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3529, 1, '2012-11-19 07:05:17', '2012-11-19 07:05:17', '<strong><a href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/logo.png"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3526" title="logo" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/logo.png" alt="" width="554" height="600" /></a>Beijing Guo An vs. Henan Jian Ye</strong>\r\n\r\n<a href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/logo.png"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-3526" title="logo" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/logo-277x300.png" alt="" width="277" height="300" /></a>A football game in Beijing starts with what all good things in Beijing start with: 羊肉串儿 (yáng ròu chuàn ér – lamb skewers) and 燕京 (yàn jīng) beer on gongtibeilu next to the Beijing Guo An Home Stadium: 工人体育场 (gōng rén tǐ yù chǎng – the Workers Stadium).\r\n\r\nThe waitress must have been the only person not wearing a green Guo An shirt and there was certainly no one who dared to wear anything blue (that would be Henan Jian Ye’s colour). As a foreigner wearing a green shirt with the Guo An logo, I was given a free pack of cigarettes and plenty of affection. Having tickets for stand Number 5, where season ticket holders and hard core fans assemble did seem to give me plenty of street credit too. Arriving in the stadium early is important, as every ticket does have a seat assigned to it, although actually trying to take this is considered very bad style.\r\n\r\nOnce inside, the atmosphere is quite heated and everyone seems to be  老北京 (lǎo běi jīng – an old Beijinger). As the stadium fills, signs with how to swear at the Henanese are held up: 骗子 (piàn zǐ – liars/cheaters) comes up a lot, but the overriding theme of the night is : 偷井盖儿的贼 (tōu jǐng gài ér de zéi  – stealing manhole covers thieves). I am told there have been some recent reports in Beijing about gangs from Henan stealing manhole covers and selling them as scrap metal – a not very popular activity with the local Beijing population that should not go unpunished.\r\n\r\nBefore the game the national anthem is played, probably the only two minutes of the evening where a person from Henan would have felt comfortable in the stadium. Despite the manhole cover issue they are still Chinese after all. The game starts on time at 19:30 and Guo An quickly scores the first goal, after which for the first and only time I actually heard a cheer I would be used to from Europe: 国安必胜 (guó ān bì shèng  – Guo An must win).\r\n\r\nThen it’s straight back to swearing at the Henanese：抓贼抓贼，偷井盖儿的贼 (zhuā zéi zhuā zéi ，tōu jǐng gài ér de zéi  – catch the thief, catch the thief, the manhole cover stealing thief). After about 10 minutes three people wearing black shirts were identified as probably being from Henan and suddenly found 30,000 people pointing and screaming at them – they left the stadium in a rather hurried manner.\r\n\r\nBy halftime Beijing is still up 1:0 and the mood is good. In general the fans seem to be slightly less concerned with the game though and more preoccupied with having their own fun. People coming up with imaginative ways of shouting abuse at the Henanese (there don’t seem to actually be in the stadium) seem to get as much appreciation as the goalkeeper for making a good save.\r\n\r\nBeijing wins the game 3:0 and remains second after Guangzhou in the league. With some 40,000 people leaving the stadium, one can hear the best songs and swearwords of the evening being sung throughout the Sanlitun area. Despite all the swearing and abuse, it was interesting to see that Beijing football fans appear much less physically aggressive than in most other countries. There were no fights and even the most hardcore supporters seemed to actually be mainly university students or recent graduates, working as doctors and lawyers during the daytime and letting off a bit of steam on a Saturday evening.\r\n\r\nWhile walking home I start to think it may not have only been about the Henanese and lost manhole covers after all, but just as much about a few other issues that one is not allowed to scream about as loudly in China.\r\n\r\n[This story was contributed by LTL Director Andreas Laimboeck]', 'Football and the Art of Insult', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3525-revision-3', '', '', '2012-11-19 07:05:17', '2012-11-19 07:05:17', '', 3525, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3525-revision-3/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3532, 1, '2011-10-31 07:16:15', '2011-10-31 07:16:15', '<div>\r\n\r\nIn the United States, we see grandmothers and grandfathers on the buses, in the grocery stores, at family picnics, in nursing homes, in our offices and volunteering in museums. Some live highly social, sometimes professional, lives; some wile away lonely days in seclusion. Never, however, have I seen people with silver-tinged hair congregate in public spaces in such numbers as I regularly observe in China.\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n<img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3534" title="night-dance-01-300x225" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/night-dance-01-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /><p>In my past few weeks in Beijing, wherever I have found a large space, I have found elderly people engaged in public activities. From my bedroom window I can look down into the courtyard of my residential community. Sometimes, I see grandparents accompanying children to the pond or on a walk over the little footbridge; frequently, however, they are gathered without children on the benches, engaged in conversation. In Wangfujing, a crowded, popular tourist spot, I find a corner, upon whose benches (and around and hovered above which) are huddled some twenty men with wizened fingers and sharp eyes, engaged in an animated chess game. And anywhere there is a park, amongst the sleepy weeping willow trees whose leaves just brush the lotus flowers floating quietly on the pond waters, I am met with the scene of at least one aged person engaged in some sort of exercise–perhaps tai chi, their slow movements reflecting the peacefulness of the ambience, or perhaps playing the pipa, its ancient notes inviting the ears of passersby old and young.</p>\r\n\r\nAnd then there are the simple machines scattered about the city in the most random of places, their bright blues, greens, and reds appearing in public parks, residential communities, on dusty curbs near subway stations and in front of auto body shops.  And these metal monstrosities, some of them shiny and some of them peeling and old, are well-used, as people with balding and greying heads swing from, stretch upon, and resist against them in these public places. However, the spectacles that put me most in awe are the mass choruses, the mass dancing groups, and the mass performance groups.\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\nThe Olympic Park is best-known for its Nest, its TV tower, its Cube, and perhaps even the spectacular Sen Ling Park at its northernmost part.  During the day, if no particular event is taking place, upon the vast spaces between its few monuments will tread map-scrutinizing, camera-wielding tourists of various languages and creeds, vendors hawking their wares at unbelievably loud volumes in strongly dialect-accented Mandarin, and a few locals enjoying the free outdoor space. Overall, the park’s atmosphere somewhat reflects its visitors: rather mellow and overall generally quiet (except for those vendors…).\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3535" title="night-dance-02-300x225" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/night-dance-02-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />Perhaps its best-kept secret, however, is what happens at night. Sometime after dinner, when all the tourists have gone home and the vendors have ceased their screaming, is when the Olympic Village truly comes alive. And the sight is incredible. At night, the main plaza walkway is lit from above by the palm-tree-shaped lamps and from around by the various screens presenting the park’s various features.  Surrounding the visitor is a cacophony of song, of color, of energy, and of movement. And the source of all this joyous ruckus, by my estimation, is at the very least 80% over retirement age (which in China, by the way, is nowhere near my American definition of “elderly”).\r\n\r\nFirst, there are the groups of Yang Ge dancers. To the side sit a small-in-number-but-not-small-in-sound music group, one man beating some kind of congo and three men wielding their crashing cymbals, brightly colored cloths streaming from each of the instruments. Dancing in two long columns, first facing each other, then turning away, then forming a third and fourth column, are 25-ish women and men dressed in neon-bright colors, their equally bright cloths streaming through the air as they move their arms in wide arcs, side to side, now over the head, now below the waist, their slippered feet keeping time to the banging of the drum and the clashing of the cymbals and the swinging of the cloths. The scene is one of color, of passion,  and of energy, and it is just surprising to see the wrinkles upon the faces of these beautiful figures.\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3533" title="night-dance-03-300x225" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/night-dance-03-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />Next, I am drawn by the Western techno beat blasting from a crowd up ahead, and so I meander over to watch as a grandmother stands before perhaps 100 or more people, mostly (but not all) women, moving and grinding in unison. “Boom, boom, boom, I want you in my room, we’ll spend the night together, now until forever…;” the beat is rousing, exciting, and the dancers throw their arms, rotate their hips, turn left, turn right, look up, look right, turn around, bend the knees. I am in awe of how synchronized their movements are, how everyone seems to know every move without seeing their leader, and how these old folks are not afraid to swing them hips!  My grandma would find this nightscape a bit scandalous! And yet, as I continue down the plaza, I discover there are no fewer than four such humungous groups, exercising en masse in the brisk night air.\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\nThen, last but not least, I stop at the sound of many voices joined together in harmony. Huddled in a circle three people deep is a crowd of dignified ladies and gentlemen, their mouths open wide, engaged in a rousing song, whose topic  I so want to know!  What could they possibly be singing about with such energy, such perfect pitch, such volume, and such, well, such volume!!?? In the middle of the circle stands a very petite woman, gesturing broadly as many a conductor does, pointing to first the men and then the women, smiling at each person, her own motions eliciting louder and louder and more and more enthusiastic participation from the venerable singers surrounding her. I could have stood there and listened to their beautiful sounds forever.\r\n\r\n[This story was contributed by LTL student Sarah Pinho]\r\n\r\n</div>', 'Beijing’s Old and Active', '', 'publish', 'open', 'open', '', 'beijings-old-and-active', '', '', '2012-12-11 04:25:48', '2012-12-11 04:25:48', '', 0, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/?p=3532', 0, 'post', '', 0) ; 
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INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3534, 1, '2012-11-19 07:14:06', '2012-11-19 07:14:06', '', 'night-dance-01-300x225', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', 'night-dance-01-300x225', '', '', '2012-11-19 07:14:06', '2012-11-19 07:14:06', '', 3532, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/night-dance-01-300x225.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3535, 1, '2012-11-19 07:14:08', '2012-11-19 07:14:08', '', 'night-dance-02-300x225', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', 'night-dance-02-300x225', '', '', '2012-11-19 07:14:08', '2012-11-19 07:14:08', '', 3532, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/night-dance-02-300x225.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3536, 1, '2012-11-19 07:16:00', '2012-11-19 07:16:00', '', 'SAMSUNG', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', 'samsung', '', '', '2012-11-19 07:16:00', '2012-11-19 07:16:00', '', 3532, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/public-training_fb.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3537, 1, '2012-11-19 07:15:25', '2012-11-19 07:15:25', '<div>\n\nIn the United States, we see grandmothers and grandfathers on the buses, in the grocery stores, at family picnics, in nursing homes, in our offices and volunteering in museums. Some live highly social, sometimes professional, lives; some wile away lonely days in seclusion. Never, however, have I seen people with silver-tinged hair congregate in public spaces in such numbers as I regularly observe in China.\n\n<img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3534" title="night-dance-01-300x225" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/night-dance-01-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />In my past few weeks in Beijing, wherever I have found a large space, I have found elderly people engaged in public activities. From my bedroom window I can look down into the courtyard of my residential community. Sometimes, I see grandparents accompanying children to the pond or on a walk over the little footbridge; frequently, however, they are gathered without children on the benches, engaged in conversation. In Wangfujing, a crowded, popular tourist spot, I find a corner, upon whose benches (and around and hovered above which) are huddled some twenty men with wizened fingers and sharp eyes, engaged in an animated chess game. And anywhere there is a park, amongst the sleepy weeping willow trees whose leaves just brush the lotus flowers floating quietly on the pond waters, I am met with the scene of at least one aged person engaged in some sort of exercise–perhaps tai chi, their slow movements reflecting the peacefulness of the ambience, or perhaps playing the pipa, its ancient notes inviting the ears of passersby old and young.\n\nAnd then there are the simple machines scattered about the city in the most random of places, their bright blues, greens, and reds appearing in public parks, residential communities, on dusty curbs near subway stations and in front of auto body shops.  And these metal monstrosities, some of them shiny and some of them peeling and old, are well-used, as people with balding and greying heads swing from, stretch upon, and resist against them in these public places. However, the spectacles that put me most in awe are the mass choruses, the mass dancing groups, and the mass performance groups.\n\n</div>\n<div>\n\nThe Olympic Park is best-known for its Nest, its TV tower, its Cube, and perhaps even the spectacular Sen Ling Park at its northernmost part.  During the day, if no particular event is taking place, upon the vast spaces between its few monuments will tread map-scrutinizing, camera-wielding tourists of various languages and creeds, vendors hawking their wares at unbelievably loud volumes in strongly dialect-accented Mandarin, and a few locals enjoying the free outdoor space. Overall, the park’s atmosphere somewhat reflects its visitors: rather mellow and overall generally quiet (except for those vendors…).\n\n<img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3535" title="night-dance-02-300x225" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/night-dance-02-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />Perhaps its best-kept secret, however, is what happens at night. Sometime after dinner, when all the tourists have gone home and the vendors have ceased their screaming, is when the Olympic Village truly comes alive. And the sight is incredible. At night, the main plaza walkway is lit from above by the palm-tree-shaped lamps and from around by the various screens presenting the park’s various features.  Surrounding the visitor is a cacophony of song, of color, of energy, and of movement. And the source of all this joyous ruckus, by my estimation, is at the very least 80% over retirement age (which in China, by the way, is nowhere near my American definition of “elderly”).\n\nFirst, there are the groups of Yang Ge dancers. To the side sit a small-in-number-but-not-small-in-sound music group, one man beating some kind of congo and three men wielding their crashing cymbals, brightly colored cloths streaming from each of the instruments. Dancing in two long columns, first facing each other, then turning away, then forming a third and fourth column, are 25-ish women and men dressed in neon-bright colors, their equally bright cloths streaming through the air as they move their arms in wide arcs, side to side, now over the head, now below the waist, their slippered feet keeping time to the banging of the drum and the clashing of the cymbals and the swinging of the cloths. The scene is one of color, of passion,  and of energy, and it is just surprising to see the wrinkles upon the faces of these beautiful figures.\n\n<img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3533" title="night-dance-03-300x225" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/night-dance-03-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />Next, I am drawn by the Western techno beat blasting from a crowd up ahead, and so I meander over to watch as a grandmother stands before perhaps 100 or more people, mostly (but not all) women, moving and grinding in unison. “Boom, boom, boom, I want you in my room, we’ll spend the night together, now until forever…;” the beat is rousing, exciting, and the dancers throw their arms, rotate their hips, turn left, turn right, look up, look right, turn around, bend the knees. I am in awe of how synchronized their movements are, how everyone seems to know every move without seeing their leader, and how these old folks are not afraid to swing them hips!  My grandma would find this nightscape a bit scandalous! And yet, as I continue down the plaza, I discover there are no fewer than four such humungous groups, exercising en masse in the brisk night air.\n\nThen, last but not least, I stop at the sound of many voices joined together in harmony. Huddled in a circle three people deep is a crowd of dignified ladies and gentlemen, their mouths open wide, engaged in a rousing song, whose topic  I so want to know!  What could they possibly be singing about with such energy, such perfect pitch, such volume, and such, well, such volume!!?? In the middle of the circle stands a very petite woman, gesturing broadly as many a conductor does, pointing to first the men and then the women, smiling at each person, her own motions eliciting louder and louder and more and more enthusiastic participation from the venerable singers surrounding her. I could have stood there and listened to their beautiful sounds forever.\n\n[This story was contributed by LTL student Sarah Pinho]\n\n</div>', 'Beijing’s Old and Active', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3532-revision', '', '', '2012-11-19 07:15:25', '2012-11-19 07:15:25', '', 3532, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3532-revision/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3538, 1, '2012-11-19 07:17:20', '2012-11-19 07:17:20', '<div>\n\nIn the United States, we see grandmothers and grandfathers on the buses, in the grocery stores, at family picnics, in nursing homes, in our offices and volunteering in museums. Some live highly social, sometimes professional, lives; some wile away lonely days in seclusion. Never, however, have I seen people with silver-tinged hair congregate in public spaces in such numbers as I regularly observe in China.\n\n<img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3534" title="night-dance-01-300x225" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/night-dance-01-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />In my past few weeks in Beijing, wherever I have found a large space, I have found elderly people engaged in public activities. From my bedroom window I can look down into the courtyard of my residential community. Sometimes, I see grandparents accompanying children to the pond or on a walk over the little footbridge; frequently, however, they are gathered without children on the benches, engaged in conversation. In Wangfujing, a crowded, popular tourist spot, I find a corner, upon whose benches (and around and hovered above which) are huddled some twenty men with wizened fingers and sharp eyes, engaged in an animated chess game. And anywhere there is a park, amongst the sleepy weeping willow trees whose leaves just brush the lotus flowers floating quietly on the pond waters, I am met with the scene of at least one aged person engaged in some sort of exercise–perhaps tai chi, their slow movements reflecting the peacefulness of the ambience, or perhaps playing the pipa, its ancient notes inviting the ears of passersby old and young.\n\nAnd then there are the simple machines scattered about the city in the most random of places, their bright blues, greens, and reds appearing in public parks, residential communities, on dusty curbs near subway stations and in front of auto body shops.  And these metal monstrosities, some of them shiny and some of them peeling and old, are well-used, as people with balding and greying heads swing from, stretch upon, and resist against them in these public places. However, the spectacles that put me most in awe are the mass choruses, the mass dancing groups, and the mass performance groups.\n\n</div>\n<div>\n\nThe Olympic Park is best-known for its Nest, its TV tower, its Cube, and perhaps even the spectacular Sen Ling Park at its northernmost part.  During the day, if no particular event is taking place, upon the vast spaces between its few monuments will tread map-scrutinizing, camera-wielding tourists of various languages and creeds, vendors hawking their wares at unbelievably loud volumes in strongly dialect-accented Mandarin, and a few locals enjoying the free outdoor space. Overall, the park’s atmosphere somewhat reflects its visitors: rather mellow and overall generally quiet (except for those vendors…).\n\n<img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3535" title="night-dance-02-300x225" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/night-dance-02-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />Perhaps its best-kept secret, however, is what happens at night. Sometime after dinner, when all the tourists have gone home and the vendors have ceased their screaming, is when the Olympic Village truly comes alive. And the sight is incredible. At night, the main plaza walkway is lit from above by the palm-tree-shaped lamps and from around by the various screens presenting the park’s various features.  Surrounding the visitor is a cacophony of song, of color, of energy, and of movement. And the source of all this joyous ruckus, by my estimation, is at the very least 80% over retirement age (which in China, by the way, is nowhere near my American definition of “elderly”).\n\nFirst, there are the groups of Yang Ge dancers. To the side sit a small-in-number-but-not-small-in-sound music group, one man beating some kind of congo and three men wielding their crashing cymbals, brightly colored cloths streaming from each of the instruments. Dancing in two long columns, first facing each other, then turning away, then forming a third and fourth column, are 25-ish women and men dressed in neon-bright colors, their equally bright cloths streaming through the air as they move their arms in wide arcs, side to side, now over the head, now below the waist, their slippered feet keeping time to the banging of the drum and the clashing of the cymbals and the swinging of the cloths. The scene is one of color, of passion,  and of energy, and it is just surprising to see the wrinkles upon the faces of these beautiful figures.\n\n<img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3533" title="night-dance-03-300x225" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/night-dance-03-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />Next, I am drawn by the Western techno beat blasting from a crowd up ahead, and so I meander over to watch as a grandmother stands before perhaps 100 or more people, mostly (but not all) women, moving and grinding in unison. “Boom, boom, boom, I want you in my room, we’ll spend the night together, now until forever…;” the beat is rousing, exciting, and the dancers throw their arms, rotate their hips, turn left, turn right, look up, look right, turn around, bend the knees. I am in awe of how synchronized their movements are, how everyone seems to know every move without seeing their leader, and how these old folks are not afraid to swing them hips!  My grandma would find this nightscape a bit scandalous! And yet, as I continue down the plaza, I discover there are no fewer than four such humungous groups, exercising en masse in the brisk night air.\n\nThen, last but not least, I stop at the sound of many voices joined together in harmony. Huddled in a circle three people deep is a crowd of dignified ladies and gentlemen, their mouths open wide, engaged in a rousing song, whose topic  I so want to know!  What could they possibly be singing about with such energy, such perfect pitch, such volume, and such, well, such volume!!?? In the middle of the circle stands a very petite woman, gesturing broadly as many a conductor does, pointing to first the men and then the women, smiling at each person, her own motions eliciting louder and louder and more and more enthusiastic participation from the venerable singers surrounding her. I could have stood there and listened to their beautiful sounds forever.\n\n[This story was contributed by LTL student Sarah Pinho]\n\n</div>', 'Beijing’s Old and Active', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3532-autosave', '', '', '2012-11-19 07:17:20', '2012-11-19 07:17:20', '', 3532, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3532-autosave/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3539, 1, '2012-11-19 07:16:15', '2012-11-19 07:16:15', '<div>\r\n\r\nIn the United States, we see grandmothers and grandfathers on the buses, in the grocery stores, at family picnics, in nursing homes, in our offices and volunteering in museums. Some live highly social, sometimes professional, lives; some wile away lonely days in seclusion. Never, however, have I seen people with silver-tinged hair congregate in public spaces in such numbers as I regularly observe in China.\r\n\r\n<img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3534" title="night-dance-01-300x225" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/night-dance-01-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />In my past few weeks in Beijing, wherever I have found a large space, I have found elderly people engaged in public activities. From my bedroom window I can look down into the courtyard of my residential community. Sometimes, I see grandparents accompanying children to the pond or on a walk over the little footbridge; frequently, however, they are gathered without children on the benches, engaged in conversation. In Wangfujing, a crowded, popular tourist spot, I find a corner, upon whose benches (and around and hovered above which) are huddled some twenty men with wizened fingers and sharp eyes, engaged in an animated chess game. And anywhere there is a park, amongst the sleepy weeping willow trees whose leaves just brush the lotus flowers floating quietly on the pond waters, I am met with the scene of at least one aged person engaged in some sort of exercise–perhaps tai chi, their slow movements reflecting the peacefulness of the ambience, or perhaps playing the pipa, its ancient notes inviting the ears of passersby old and young.\r\n\r\nAnd then there are the simple machines scattered about the city in the most random of places, their bright blues, greens, and reds appearing in public parks, residential communities, on dusty curbs near subway stations and in front of auto body shops.  And these metal monstrosities, some of them shiny and some of them peeling and old, are well-used, as people with balding and greying heads swing from, stretch upon, and resist against them in these public places. However, the spectacles that put me most in awe are the mass choruses, the mass dancing groups, and the mass performance groups.\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\nThe Olympic Park is best-known for its Nest, its TV tower, its Cube, and perhaps even the spectacular Sen Ling Park at its northernmost part.  During the day, if no particular event is taking place, upon the vast spaces between its few monuments will tread map-scrutinizing, camera-wielding tourists of various languages and creeds, vendors hawking their wares at unbelievably loud volumes in strongly dialect-accented Mandarin, and a few locals enjoying the free outdoor space. Overall, the park’s atmosphere somewhat reflects its visitors: rather mellow and overall generally quiet (except for those vendors…).\r\n\r\n<img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3535" title="night-dance-02-300x225" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/night-dance-02-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />Perhaps its best-kept secret, however, is what happens at night. Sometime after dinner, when all the tourists have gone home and the vendors have ceased their screaming, is when the Olympic Village truly comes alive. And the sight is incredible. At night, the main plaza walkway is lit from above by the palm-tree-shaped lamps and from around by the various screens presenting the park’s various features.  Surrounding the visitor is a cacophony of song, of color, of energy, and of movement. And the source of all this joyous ruckus, by my estimation, is at the very least 80% over retirement age (which in China, by the way, is nowhere near my American definition of “elderly”).\r\n\r\nFirst, there are the groups of Yang Ge dancers. To the side sit a small-in-number-but-not-small-in-sound music group, one man beating some kind of congo and three men wielding their crashing cymbals, brightly colored cloths streaming from each of the instruments. Dancing in two long columns, first facing each other, then turning away, then forming a third and fourth column, are 25-ish women and men dressed in neon-bright colors, their equally bright cloths streaming through the air as they move their arms in wide arcs, side to side, now over the head, now below the waist, their slippered feet keeping time to the banging of the drum and the clashing of the cymbals and the swinging of the cloths. The scene is one of color, of passion,  and of energy, and it is just surprising to see the wrinkles upon the faces of these beautiful figures.\r\n\r\n<img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3533" title="night-dance-03-300x225" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/night-dance-03-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />Next, I am drawn by the Western techno beat blasting from a crowd up ahead, and so I meander over to watch as a grandmother stands before perhaps 100 or more people, mostly (but not all) women, moving and grinding in unison. “Boom, boom, boom, I want you in my room, we’ll spend the night together, now until forever…;” the beat is rousing, exciting, and the dancers throw their arms, rotate their hips, turn left, turn right, look up, look right, turn around, bend the knees. I am in awe of how synchronized their movements are, how everyone seems to know every move without seeing their leader, and how these old folks are not afraid to swing them hips!  My grandma would find this nightscape a bit scandalous! And yet, as I continue down the plaza, I discover there are no fewer than four such humungous groups, exercising en masse in the brisk night air.\r\n\r\nThen, last but not least, I stop at the sound of many voices joined together in harmony. Huddled in a circle three people deep is a crowd of dignified ladies and gentlemen, their mouths open wide, engaged in a rousing song, whose topic  I so want to know!  What could they possibly be singing about with such energy, such perfect pitch, such volume, and such, well, such volume!!?? In the middle of the circle stands a very petite woman, gesturing broadly as many a conductor does, pointing to first the men and then the women, smiling at each person, her own motions eliciting louder and louder and more and more enthusiastic participation from the venerable singers surrounding her. I could have stood there and listened to their beautiful sounds forever.\r\n\r\n[This story was contributed by LTL student Sarah Pinho]\r\n\r\n</div>', 'Beijing’s Old and Active', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3532-revision-2', '', '', '2012-11-19 07:16:15', '2012-11-19 07:16:15', '', 3532, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3532-revision-2/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3540, 1, '2012-11-19 07:20:15', '2012-11-19 07:20:15', '<div>\r\n\r\nIn the United States, we see grandmothers and grandfathers on the buses, in the grocery stores, at family picnics, in nursing homes, in our offices and volunteering in museums. Some live highly social, sometimes professional, lives; some wile away lonely days in seclusion. Never, however, have I seen people with silver-tinged hair congregate in public spaces in such numbers as I regularly observe in China.\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n<img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3534" title="night-dance-01-300x225" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/night-dance-01-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />In my past few weeks in Beijing, wherever I have found a large space, I have found elderly people engaged in public activities. From my bedroom window I can look down into the courtyard of my residential community. Sometimes, I see grandparents accompanying children to the pond or on a walk over the little footbridge; frequently, however, they are gathered without children on the benches, engaged in conversation. In Wangfujing, a crowded, popular tourist spot, I find a corner, upon whose benches (and around and hovered above which) are huddled some twenty men with wizened fingers and sharp eyes, engaged in an animated chess game. And anywhere there is a park, amongst the sleepy weeping willow trees whose leaves just brush the lotus flowers floating quietly on the pond waters, I am met with the scene of at least one aged person engaged in some sort of exercise–perhaps tai chi, their slow movements reflecting the peacefulness of the ambience, or perhaps playing the pipa, its ancient notes inviting the ears of passersby old and young.\r\n\r\nAnd then there are the simple machines scattered about the city in the most random of places, their bright blues, greens, and reds appearing in public parks, residential communities, on dusty curbs near subway stations and in front of auto body shops.  And these metal monstrosities, some of them shiny and some of them peeling and old, are well-used, as people with balding and greying heads swing from, stretch upon, and resist against them in these public places. However, the spectacles that put me most in awe are the mass choruses, the mass dancing groups, and the mass performance groups.\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\nThe Olympic Park is best-known for its Nest, its TV tower, its Cube, and perhaps even the spectacular Sen Ling Park at its northernmost part.  During the day, if no particular event is taking place, upon the vast spaces between its few monuments will tread map-scrutinizing, camera-wielding tourists of various languages and creeds, vendors hawking their wares at unbelievably loud volumes in strongly dialect-accented Mandarin, and a few locals enjoying the free outdoor space. Overall, the park’s atmosphere somewhat reflects its visitors: rather mellow and overall generally quiet (except for those vendors…).\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3535" title="night-dance-02-300x225" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/night-dance-02-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />Perhaps its best-kept secret, however, is what happens at night. Sometime after dinner, when all the tourists have gone home and the vendors have ceased their screaming, is when the Olympic Village truly comes alive. And the sight is incredible. At night, the main plaza walkway is lit from above by the palm-tree-shaped lamps and from around by the various screens presenting the park’s various features.  Surrounding the visitor is a cacophony of song, of color, of energy, and of movement. And the source of all this joyous ruckus, by my estimation, is at the very least 80% over retirement age (which in China, by the way, is nowhere near my American definition of “elderly”).\r\n\r\nFirst, there are the groups of Yang Ge dancers. To the side sit a small-in-number-but-not-small-in-sound music group, one man beating some kind of congo and three men wielding their crashing cymbals, brightly colored cloths streaming from each of the instruments. Dancing in two long columns, first facing each other, then turning away, then forming a third and fourth column, are 25-ish women and men dressed in neon-bright colors, their equally bright cloths streaming through the air as they move their arms in wide arcs, side to side, now over the head, now below the waist, their slippered feet keeping time to the banging of the drum and the clashing of the cymbals and the swinging of the cloths. The scene is one of color, of passion,  and of energy, and it is just surprising to see the wrinkles upon the faces of these beautiful figures.\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3533" title="night-dance-03-300x225" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/night-dance-03-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />Next, I am drawn by the Western techno beat blasting from a crowd up ahead, and so I meander over to watch as a grandmother stands before perhaps 100 or more people, mostly (but not all) women, moving and grinding in unison. “Boom, boom, boom, I want you in my room, we’ll spend the night together, now until forever…;” the beat is rousing, exciting, and the dancers throw their arms, rotate their hips, turn left, turn right, look up, look right, turn around, bend the knees. I am in awe of how synchronized their movements are, how everyone seems to know every move without seeing their leader, and how these old folks are not afraid to swing them hips!  My grandma would find this nightscape a bit scandalous! And yet, as I continue down the plaza, I discover there are no fewer than four such humungous groups, exercising en masse in the brisk night air.\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\nThen, last but not least, I stop at the sound of many voices joined together in harmony. Huddled in a circle three people deep is a crowd of dignified ladies and gentlemen, their mouths open wide, engaged in a rousing song, whose topic  I so want to know!  What could they possibly be singing about with such energy, such perfect pitch, such volume, and such, well, such volume!!?? In the middle of the circle stands a very petite woman, gesturing broadly as many a conductor does, pointing to first the men and then the women, smiling at each person, her own motions eliciting louder and louder and more and more enthusiastic participation from the venerable singers surrounding her. I could have stood there and listened to their beautiful sounds forever.\r\n\r\n[This story was contributed by LTL student Sarah Pinho]\r\n\r\n</div>', 'Beijing’s Old and Active', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3532-revision-3', '', '', '2012-11-19 07:20:15', '2012-11-19 07:20:15', '', 3532, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3532-revision-3/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3541, 1, '2011-11-28 07:27:06', '2011-11-28 07:27:06', 'I came to China not knowing what to expect. I had studied Chinese in the classroom a little, but on arriving at my new homestay family in Beijing, my first thought was, “What have I let myself in for?” My host family didn’t speak English, the weather was hot, and the sights and smells were totally unfamiliar.\r\n\r\n<img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3542" title="calligraphy-park" alt="" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/calligraphy-park.jpeg" width="375" height="500" />Fortunately, within the week these problems had righted themselves. My host family were fantastic, not just for my Chinese but in looking after me. The smell turned out to be the smell of dinner, and having tasted it I pretty quickly began to love the smell, following the delicious aromas to the kitchen to enquire what they came from and practice my Chinese. Meeting Chinese people and making friends turned out to be a side-effect of practising my Chinese. Once I realised I could just start conversations with anyone, no matter how basic, I discovered that what I thought was a dissaproving glare (seen in old Chinese people wherever you go) turned out to be curiosity, a smile and a greeting makes the most stern looking Chinese person beam radiantly and start talking excitedly. I went on holiday three times with my host family, to the Buddhist holy mountains of WuTaiShan (for which I temporarily converted to Buddhism as a conversation piece), to Xi’an (where I was unwittingly lured into giving an Elvis impression to over a hundred old Chinese pensioners), to Sichuan (where in two weeks I, probably forever, ruined my digestion).\r\n\r\nThe biggest lesson I have learnt in China is to just go for it. No-one in China is standing still, everything is always moving, always shifting, and if you want something, just do it! Want to practice Tai Chi? Just find some old ladies in a park and ask if you can join in. Want to find an obscure item? Just ask anyone, from the taxi drivers to the security guards outside the building. Want to try/learn about Chinese tea ceremony? Just go to a tea shop and ask questions. Chinese people are invariably helpful and generous, and speaking Chinese is a sure ticket into any Chinese person’s heart.\r\n\r\n[This story was contributed by <a title="Two city Combo" href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/traveling-to-china/two-city-combo/">LTL Two City Combo</a> student Gibson]', 'The Chinese Immersion Experience', '', 'publish', 'open', 'open', '', 'the-chinese-immersion-experience', '', '\nhttp://new.livethelanguage.cn/traveling-to-china/two-city-combo/', '2013-07-04 22:22:35', '2013-07-04 22:22:35', '', 0, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/?p=3541', 0, 'post', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3542, 1, '2012-11-19 07:26:33', '2012-11-19 07:26:33', '', 'calligraphy-park', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', 'calligraphy-park', '', '', '2012-11-19 07:26:33', '2012-11-19 07:26:33', '', 3541, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/calligraphy-park.jpeg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3543, 1, '2012-11-19 07:26:51', '2012-11-19 07:26:51', 'I came to China not knowing what to expect. I had studied Chinese in the classroom a little, but on arriving at my new homestay family in Beijing, my first thought was, “What have I let myself in for?” My host family didn’t speak English, the weather was hot, and the sights and smells were totally unfamiliar.\n\n<img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3542" title="calligraphy-park" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/calligraphy-park.jpeg" alt="" width="375" height="500" />Fortunately, within the week these problems had righted themselves. My host family were fantastic, not just for my Chinese but in looking after me. The smell turned out to be the smell of dinner, and having tasted it I pretty quickly began to love the smell, following the delicious aromas to the kitchen to enquire what they came from and practice my Chinese. Meeting Chinese people and making friends turned out to be a side-effect of practising my Chinese. Once I realised I could just start conversations with anyone, no matter how basic, I discovered that what I thought was a dissaproving glare (seen in old Chinese people wherever you go) turned out to be curiosity, a smile and a greeting makes the most stern looking Chinese person beam radiantly and start talking excitedly. I went on holiday three times with my host family, to the Buddhist holy mountains of WuTaiShan (for which I temporarily converted to Buddhism as a conversation piece), to Xi’an (where I was unwittingly lured into giving an Elvis impression to over a hundred old Chinese pensioners), to Sichuan (where in two weeks I, probably forever, ruined my digestion).\n\nThe biggest lesson I have learnt in China is to just go for it. No-one in China is standing still, everything is always moving, always shifting, and if you want something, just do it! Want to practice Tai Chi? Just find some old ladies in a park and ask if you can join in. Want to find an obscure item? Just ask anyone, from the taxi drivers to the security guards outside the building. Want to try/learn about Chinese tea ceremony? Just go to a tea shop and ask questions. Chinese people are invariably helpful and generous, and speaking Chinese is a sure ticket into any Chinese person’s heart.\n\n[This story was contributed by LTL Immersion student Gibson]', 'The Chinese Immersion Experience', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3541-revision', '', '', '2012-11-19 07:26:51', '2012-11-19 07:26:51', '', 3541, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3541-revision/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3544, 2, '2013-07-04 22:23:45', '2013-07-04 22:23:45', 'I came to China not knowing what to expect. I had studied Chinese in the classroom a little, but on arriving at my new homestay family in Beijing, my first thought was, “What have I let myself in for?” My host family didn’t speak English, the weather was hot, and the sights and smells were totally unfamiliar.\n\n<img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3542" title="calligraphy-park" alt="" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/calligraphy-park.jpeg" width="375" height="500" />Fortunately, within the week these problems had righted themselves. My host family were fantastic, not just for my Chinese but in looking after me. The smell turned out to be the smell of dinner, and having tasted it I pretty quickly began to love the smell, following the delicious aromas to the kitchen to enquire what they came from and practice my Chinese. Meeting Chinese people and making friends turned out to be a side-effect of practising my Chinese. Once I realised I could just start conversations with anyone, no matter how basic, I discovered that what I thought was a dissaproving glare (seen in old Chinese people wherever you go) turned out to be curiosity, a smile and a greeting makes the most stern looking Chinese person beam radiantly and start talking excitedly. I went on holiday three times with my host family, to the Buddhist holy mountains of WuTaiShan (for which I temporarily converted to Buddhism as a conversation piece), to Xi’an (where I was unwittingly lured into giving an Elvis impression to over a hundred old Chinese pensioners), to Sichuan (where in two weeks I, probably forever, ruined my digestion).\n\nThe biggest lesson I have learnt in China is to just go for it. No-one in China is standing still, everything is always moving, always shifting, and if you want something, just do it! Want to practice Tai Chi? Just find some old ladies in a park and ask if you can join in. Want to find an obscure item? Just ask anyone, from the taxi drivers to the security guards outside the building. Want to try/learn about Chinese tea ceremony? Just go to a tea shop and ask questions. Chinese people are invariably helpful and generous, and speaking Chinese is a sure ticket into any Chinese person’s heart.\n\n[This story was contributed by <a title="Two city Combo" href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/traveling-to-china/two-city-combo/">LTL Two City Combo</a> student Gibson]', 'The Chinese Immersion Experience', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3541-autosave', '', '', '2013-07-04 22:23:45', '2013-07-04 22:23:45', '', 3541, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3541-autosave/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3545, 1, '2012-11-19 07:27:06', '2012-11-19 07:27:06', 'I came to China not knowing what to expect. I had studied Chinese in the classroom a little, but on arriving at my new homestay family in Beijing, my first thought was, “What have I let myself in for?” My host family didn’t speak English, the weather was hot, and the sights and smells were totally unfamiliar.\r\n\r\n<img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3542" title="calligraphy-park" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/calligraphy-park.jpeg" alt="" width="375" height="500" />Fortunately, within the week these problems had righted themselves. My host family were fantastic, not just for my Chinese but in looking after me. The smell turned out to be the smell of dinner, and having tasted it I pretty quickly began to love the smell, following the delicious aromas to the kitchen to enquire what they came from and practice my Chinese. Meeting Chinese people and making friends turned out to be a side-effect of practising my Chinese. Once I realised I could just start conversations with anyone, no matter how basic, I discovered that what I thought was a dissaproving glare (seen in old Chinese people wherever you go) turned out to be curiosity, a smile and a greeting makes the most stern looking Chinese person beam radiantly and start talking excitedly. I went on holiday three times with my host family, to the Buddhist holy mountains of WuTaiShan (for which I temporarily converted to Buddhism as a conversation piece), to Xi’an (where I was unwittingly lured into giving an Elvis impression to over a hundred old Chinese pensioners), to Sichuan (where in two weeks I, probably forever, ruined my digestion).\r\n\r\nThe biggest lesson I have learnt in China is to just go for it. No-one in China is standing still, everything is always moving, always shifting, and if you want something, just do it! Want to practice Tai Chi? Just find some old ladies in a park and ask if you can join in. Want to find an obscure item? Just ask anyone, from the taxi drivers to the security guards outside the building. Want to try/learn about Chinese tea ceremony? Just go to a tea shop and ask questions. Chinese people are invariably helpful and generous, and speaking Chinese is a sure ticket into any Chinese person’s heart.\r\n\r\n[This story was contributed by LTL Immersion student Gibson]', 'The Chinese Immersion Experience', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3541-revision-2', '', '', '2012-11-19 07:27:06', '2012-11-19 07:27:06', '', 3541, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3541-revision-2/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3546, 1, '2011-12-08 07:49:28', '2011-12-08 07:49:28', '<img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3547" title="christmas-blog-300x212" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/christmas-blog-300x212.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="212" />Bringing your family home silk scarves and paper fans as gifts is all well and good, but what do you get for your friends in Beijing? This year, give them a gift that will stay with them always: Chinese classes!\r\n\r\nThis holiday season, LtL is offering <strong>vouchers in 20, 30, 50 and 100 hour blocks</strong>, which can be purchased for Group, 1-on-1 or Culture Classes.\r\n\r\nUnlike a bottle of wine (which will likely disappear in one day) or a phone (which will likely break in one month), Chinese skills will continue to delight your friends long after the holiday season is over. With regular use and a bit of practice, the gift of Mandarin lessons could keep on giving for the rest of their lives!\r\n\r\nWhile you’re at it, why not pick up a little something for yourself as well? Local students may take 1-on-1 classes between December 18-January 2nd at a <strong>30% discount</strong>. Lessons must be newly booked and hours used during the 2-week holiday period. Take advantage of the quiet time while other expats are away and show off your new Chinese skills in the new year.\r\n\r\nVouchers and Holiday Classes can be purchased by contacting your personal student advisor or [button color=red url=http://ltl-chinois.fr/contact-us/ target=self]Contact us[/button]\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n圣诞快乐！', 'LTL Holiday Specials', '', 'publish', 'open', 'open', '', 'ltl-holiday-specials', '', '', '2012-12-11 04:25:21', '2012-12-11 04:25:21', '', 0, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/?p=3546', 0, 'post', '', 0) ; 
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INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3548, 1, '2012-11-19 07:37:12', '2012-11-19 07:37:12', 'Bringing your family home silk scarves and paper fans as gifts is all well and good, but what do you get for your friends in Beijing? This year, give them a gift that will stay with them always: Chinese classes!\n\nThis holiday season, LtL is offering <strong>vouchers in 20, 30, 50 and 100 hour blocks</strong>, which can be purchased for Group, 1-on-1 or Culture Classes.\n\nUnlike a bottle of wine (which will likely disappear in one day) or a phone (which will likely break in one month), Chinese skills will continue to delight your friends long after the holiday season is over. With regular use and a bit of practice, the gift of Mandarin lessons could keep on giving for the rest of their lives!\n\nWhile you’re at it, why not pick up a little something for yourself as well? Local students may take 1-on-1 classes between December 18-January 2nd at a <strong>30% discount</strong>. Lessons must be newly booked and hours used during the 2-week holiday period. Take advantage of the quiet time while other expats are away and show off your new Chinese skills in the new year.\n\nVouchers and Holiday Classes can be purchased by contacting your personal student advisor or [button color=red url=http://ltl-chinois.fr/contact-us/ target=self]Contact us[/button]\n\n&nbsp;\n\n圣诞快乐！', 'LTL Holiday Specials', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3546-revision', '', '', '2012-11-19 07:37:12', '2012-11-19 07:37:12', '', 3546, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3546-revision/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3549, 1, '2011-12-21 07:57:39', '2011-12-21 07:57:39', 'December usually signals a mass exodus of expats from Beijing as they head home; however, if you’re planning to stay in Beijing over the holiday season there is still plenty to see and do!\r\n\r\nLocals generally don’t take vacations until 春节 Chūn Jié (Spring Festival, or Chinese New Year), which falls at the end of January in 2012. This means that all the shops, restaurants, clubs and tourist sites will remain open throughout December. If you’re looking for winter activities to keep you entertained, here are a few fun options around town:[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<span style="font-size: large;"><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3551" title="DSC04295-300x225" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/DSC04295-300x2251.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />Ice Skating</span>\r\n\r\nOnce the weather gets cold enough (generally the beginning of January), the lake at 前海 Qiánhǎi freezes and you can go skating, ice sledding, or even scoot your favorite chair around on the ice (yes, we’ve seen it done). Whether you go with friends or go to meet new friends, you’re sure to enjoy the festival atmosphere. After you’re done skating, explore the historic area’s shops and cafes. Entrance and skate rental will cost around 30-40 RMB, depending on the day of the week.[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<span style="font-size: large;">Hotpot</span>\r\n\r\nThese steamy restaurants are particularly satisfying in the winter months. Hotpot is also a great way to bring together a group of friends for a warm and filling meal on a cold December night. A local standout is <a href="http://www.haidilao.com/">海底捞 Hǎidǐlāo</a>, known not only for its delicious food but also for the free snacks and services (including manicures!) that they provide while you wait amongst the throngs of Chinese diners for a table. The best thing about Haidilao? There’s a location right near our main campus in the Huashang Building!\r\n\r\nAddress: 延静西里2号 (Yán jìng xīlǐ #2) The building is on the North side of 朝阳路 Chāoyáng lù, by the 红庙路口东 Hóng miào lùkǒu dōng bus stop.[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<span style="font-size: large;">Shopping</span>\r\n\r\nIf you have any weekdays free, this is a great chance to avoid the weekend crowds and bargain your way into some great gifts to send home (or keep for yourself). The area around Xidan (Subway Line 1) is full of markets and shopping centers with everything from the standard clothes and electronics to the more bizarre ornate decorative telephones. It’s still possible to go shopping on the weekend, but it’s definitely a full-contact sport. Fuel your day of shopping with a sampling of the wide variety of street food available, especially on the South side of the 西单明珠 Xidān Míngzhū.\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3550" style="font-size: large;" title="4247930944_ec9c180a1d_m" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/4247930944_ec9c180a1d_m.jpeg" alt="" width="240" height="180" />\r\n\r\n<span style="font-size: large;">Sightseeing</span>\r\n\r\nWe’re sure you’ve been to the Forbidden City with every friend or relative that passed through Beijing, but there are advantages to going back in the colder months. For starters, there are far fewer tourists this time of year; this means that you’ll have the chance to explore without the crowds. Also, many of the historic sites in and around Beijing take on a completely different look in winter weather. If there’s a snowy day, try heading up to the Summer Palace. It may be named for a warmer season, but it’s beautiful when covered in snow!\r\n\r\n圣诞快乐 Shèngdàn kuàilè (Merry Christmas) from everyone at LtL!', 'Winter fun in Beijing', '', 'publish', 'open', 'open', '', 'winter-fun-in-beijing', '', '', '2012-12-11 04:25:29', '2012-12-11 04:25:29', '', 0, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/?p=3549', 0, 'post', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3550, 1, '2012-11-19 07:55:05', '2012-11-19 07:55:05', '', '4247930944_ec9c180a1d_m', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '4247930944_ec9c180a1d_m', '', '', '2012-11-19 07:55:05', '2012-11-19 07:55:05', '', 3549, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/4247930944_ec9c180a1d_m.jpeg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3551, 1, '2012-11-19 07:55:08', '2012-11-19 07:55:08', '', 'DSC04295-300x225', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', 'dsc04295-300x225', '', '', '2012-11-19 07:55:08', '2012-11-19 07:55:08', '', 3549, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/DSC04295-300x2251.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3552, 1, '2012-11-19 07:57:19', '2012-11-19 07:57:19', 'December usually signals a mass exodus of expats from Beijing as they head home; however, if you’re planning to stay in Beijing over the holiday season there is still plenty to see and do!\n\nLocals generally don’t take vacations until 春节 Chūn Jié (Spring Festival, or Chinese New Year), which falls at the end of January in 2012. This means that all the shops, restaurants, clubs and tourist sites will remain open throughout December. If you’re looking for winter activities to keep you entertained, here are a few fun options around town:[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\n\n<span style="font-size: large;"><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3551" title="DSC04295-300x225" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/DSC04295-300x2251.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />Ice Skating</span>\n\nOnce the weather gets cold enough (generally the beginning of January), the lake at 前海 Qiánhǎi freezes and you can go skating, ice sledding, or even scoot your favorite chair around on the ice (yes, we’ve seen it done). Whether you go with friends or go to meet new friends, you’re sure to enjoy the festival atmosphere. After you’re done skating, explore the historic area’s shops and cafes. Entrance and skate rental will cost around 30-40 RMB, depending on the day of the week.[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\n\n<span style="font-size: large;">Hotpot</span>\n\nThese steamy restaurants are particularly satisfying in the winter months. Hotpot is also a great way to bring together a group of friends for a warm and filling meal on a cold December night. A local standout is <a href="http://www.haidilao.com/">海底捞 Hǎidǐlāo</a>, known not only for its delicious food but also for the free snacks and services (including manicures!) that they provide while you wait amongst the throngs of Chinese diners for a table. The best thing about Haidilao? There’s a location right near our main campus in the Huashang Building!\n\nAddress: 延静西里2号 (Yán jìng xīlǐ #2) The building is on the North side of 朝阳路 Chāoyáng lù, by the 红庙路口东 Hóng miào lùkǒu dōng bus stop.[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\n\n<span style="font-size: large;">Shopping</span>\n\nIf you have any weekdays free, this is a great chance to avoid the weekend crowds and bargain your way into some great gifts to send home (or keep for yourself). The area around Xidan (Subway Line 1) is full of markets and shopping centers with everything from the standard clothes and electronics to the more bizarre ornate decorative telephones. It’s still possible to go shopping on the weekend, but it’s definitely a full-contact sport. Fuel your day of shopping with a sampling of the wide variety of street food available, especially on the South side of the 西单明珠 Xidān Míngzhū.\n\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\n\n<img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3550" style="font-size: large;" title="4247930944_ec9c180a1d_m" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/4247930944_ec9c180a1d_m.jpeg" alt="" width="240" height="180" />\n\n<span style="font-size: large;">Sightseeing</span>\n\nWe’re sure you’ve been to the Forbidden City with every friend or relative that passed through Beijing, but there are advantages to going back in the colder months. For starters, there are far fewer tourists this time of year; this means that you’ll have the chance to explore without the crowds. Also, many of the historic sites in and around Beijing take on a completely different look in winter weather. If there’s a snowy day, try heading up to the Summer Palace. It may be named for a warmer season, but it’s beautiful when covered in snow!\n\n圣诞快乐 Shèngdàn kuàilè (Merry Christmas) from everyone at LtL!', 'Winter fun in Beijing', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3549-revision', '', '', '2012-11-19 07:57:19', '2012-11-19 07:57:19', '', 3549, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3549-revision/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3553, 1, '2012-11-19 08:01:15', '2012-11-19 08:01:15', 'December usually signals a mass exodus of expats from Beijing as they head home; however, if you’re planning to stay in Beijing over the holiday season there is still plenty to see and do!\n\nLocals generally don’t take vacations until 春节 Chūn Jié (Spring Festival, or Chinese New Year), which falls at the end of January in 2012. This means that all the shops, restaurants, clubs and tourist sites will remain open throughout December. If you’re looking for winter activities to keep you entertained, here are a few fun options around town:[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\n\n<span style="font-size: large;"><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3551" title="DSC04295-300x225" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/DSC04295-300x2251.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />Ice Skating</span>\n\nOnce the weather gets cold enough (generally the beginning of January), the lake at 前海 Qiánhǎi freezes and you can go skating, ice sledding, or even scoot your favorite chair around on the ice (yes, we’ve seen it done). Whether you go with friends or go to meet new friends, you’re sure to enjoy the festival atmosphere. After you’re done skating, explore the historic area’s shops and cafes. Entrance and skate rental will cost around 30-40 RMB, depending on the day of the week.[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\n\n<span style="font-size: large;">Hotpot</span>\n\nThese steamy restaurants are particularly satisfying in the winter months. Hotpot is also a great way to bring together a group of friends for a warm and filling meal on a cold December night. A local standout is <a href="http://www.haidilao.com/">海底捞 Hǎidǐlāo</a>, known not only for its delicious food but also for the free snacks and services (including manicures!) that they provide while you wait amongst the throngs of Chinese diners for a table. The best thing about Haidilao? There’s a location right near our main campus in the Huashang Building!\n\nAddress: 延静西里2号 (Yán jìng xīlǐ #2) The building is on the North side of 朝阳路 Chāoyáng lù, by the 红庙路口东 Hóng miào lùkǒu dōng bus stop.[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\n\n<span style="font-size: large;">Shopping</span>\n\nIf you have any weekdays free, this is a great chance to avoid the weekend crowds and bargain your way into some great gifts to send home (or keep for yourself). The area around Xidan (Subway Line 1) is full of markets and shopping centers with everything from the standard clothes and electronics to the more bizarre ornate decorative telephones. It’s still possible to go shopping on the weekend, but it’s definitely a full-contact sport. Fuel your day of shopping with a sampling of the wide variety of street food available, especially on the South side of the 西单明珠 Xidān Míngzhū.\n\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\n\n<img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3550" style="font-size: large;" title="4247930944_ec9c180a1d_m" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/4247930944_ec9c180a1d_m.jpeg" alt="" width="240" height="180" />\n\n<span style="font-size: large;">Sightseeing</span>\n\nWe’re sure you’ve been to the Forbidden City with every friend or relative that passed through Beijing, but there are advantages to going back in the colder months. For starters, there are far fewer tourists this time of year; this means that you’ll have the chance to explore without the crowds. Also, many of the historic sites in and around Beijing take on a completely different look in winter weather. If there’s a snowy day, try heading up to the Summer Palace. It may be named for a warmer season, but it’s beautiful when covered in snow!\n\n圣诞快乐 Shèngdàn kuàilè (Merry Christmas) from everyone at LtL!', 'Winter fun in Beijing', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3549-autosave', '', '', '2012-11-19 08:01:15', '2012-11-19 08:01:15', '', 3549, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3549-autosave/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3554, 1, '2012-11-19 07:57:39', '2012-11-19 07:57:39', 'December usually signals a mass exodus of expats from Beijing as they head home; however, if you’re planning to stay in Beijing over the holiday season there is still plenty to see and do!\r\n\r\nLocals generally don’t take vacations until 春节 Chūn Jié (Spring Festival, or Chinese New Year), which falls at the end of January in 2012. This means that all the shops, restaurants, clubs and tourist sites will remain open throughout December. If you’re looking for winter activities to keep you entertained, here are a few fun options around town:[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<span style="font-size: large;"><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3551" title="DSC04295-300x225" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/DSC04295-300x2251.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />Ice Skating</span>\r\n\r\nOnce the weather gets cold enough (generally the beginning of January), the lake at 前海 Qiánhǎi freezes and you can go skating, ice sledding, or even scoot your favorite chair around on the ice (yes, we’ve seen it done). Whether you go with friends or go to meet new friends, you’re sure to enjoy the festival atmosphere. After you’re done skating, explore the historic area’s shops and cafes. Entrance and skate rental will cost around 30-40 RMB, depending on the day of the week.[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<span style="font-size: large;">Hotpot</span>\r\n\r\nThese steamy restaurants are particularly satisfying in the winter months. Hotpot is also a great way to bring together a group of friends for a warm and filling meal on a cold December night. A local standout is <a href="http://www.haidilao.com/">海底捞 Hǎidǐlāo</a>, known not only for its delicious food but also for the free snacks and services (including manicures!) that they provide while you wait amongst the throngs of Chinese diners for a table. The best thing about Haidilao? There’s a location right near our main campus in the Huashang Building!\r\n\r\nAddress: 延静西里2号 (Yán jìng xīlǐ #2) The building is on the North side of 朝阳路 Chāoyáng lù, by the 红庙路口东 Hóng miào lùkǒu dōng bus stop.[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<span style="font-size: large;">Shopping</span>\r\n\r\nIf you have any weekdays free, this is a great chance to avoid the weekend crowds and bargain your way into some great gifts to send home (or keep for yourself). The area around Xidan (Subway Line 1) is full of markets and shopping centers with everything from the standard clothes and electronics to the more bizarre ornate decorative telephones. It’s still possible to go shopping on the weekend, but it’s definitely a full-contact sport. Fuel your day of shopping with a sampling of the wide variety of street food available, especially on the South side of the 西单明珠 Xidān Míngzhū.\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3550" style="font-size: large;" title="4247930944_ec9c180a1d_m" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/4247930944_ec9c180a1d_m.jpeg" alt="" width="240" height="180" />\r\n\r\n<span style="font-size: large;">Sightseeing</span>\r\n\r\nWe’re sure you’ve been to the Forbidden City with every friend or relative that passed through Beijing, but there are advantages to going back in the colder months. For starters, there are far fewer tourists this time of year; this means that you’ll have the chance to explore without the crowds. Also, many of the historic sites in and around Beijing take on a completely different look in winter weather. If there’s a snowy day, try heading up to the Summer Palace. It may be named for a warmer season, but it’s beautiful when covered in snow!\r\n\r\n圣诞快乐 Shèngdàn kuàilè (Merry Christmas) from everyone at LtL!', 'Winter fun in Beijing', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3549-revision-2', '', '', '2012-11-19 07:57:39', '2012-11-19 07:57:39', '', 3549, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3549-revision-2/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3555, 1, '2012-11-19 07:59:42', '2012-11-19 07:59:42', 'December usually signals a mass exodus of expats from Beijing as they head home; however, if you’re planning to stay in Beijing over the holiday season there is still plenty to see and do!\r\n\r\nLocals generally don’t take vacations until 春节 Chūn Jié (Spring Festival, or Chinese New Year), which falls at the end of January in 2012. This means that all the shops, restaurants, clubs and tourist sites will remain open throughout December. If you’re looking for winter activities to keep you entertained, here are a few fun options around town:[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<span style="font-size: large;"><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3551" title="DSC04295-300x225" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/DSC04295-300x2251.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />Ice Skating</span>\r\n\r\nOnce the weather gets cold enough (generally the beginning of January), the lake at 前海 Qiánhǎi freezes and you can go skating, ice sledding, or even scoot your favorite chair around on the ice (yes, we’ve seen it done). Whether you go with friends or go to meet new friends, you’re sure to enjoy the festival atmosphere. After you’re done skating, explore the historic area’s shops and cafes. Entrance and skate rental will cost around 30-40 RMB, depending on the day of the week.[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<span style="font-size: large;">Hotpot</span>\r\n\r\nThese steamy restaurants are particularly satisfying in the winter months. Hotpot is also a great way to bring together a group of friends for a warm and filling meal on a cold December night. A local standout is <a href="http://www.haidilao.com/">海底捞 Hǎidǐlāo</a>, known not only for its delicious food but also for the free snacks and services (including manicures!) that they provide while you wait amongst the throngs of Chinese diners for a table. The best thing about Haidilao? There’s a location right near our main campus in the Huashang Building!\r\n\r\nAddress: 延静西里2号 (Yán jìng xīlǐ #2) The building is on the North side of 朝阳路 Chāoyáng lù, by the 红庙路口东 Hóng miào lùkǒu dōng bus stop.[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<span style="font-size: large;">Shopping</span>\r\n\r\nIf you have any weekdays free, this is a great chance to avoid the weekend crowds and bargain your way into some great gifts to send home (or keep for yourself). The area around Xidan (Subway Line 1) is full of markets and shopping centers with everything from the standard clothes and electronics to the more bizarre ornate decorative telephones. It’s still possible to go shopping on the weekend, but it’s definitely a full-contact sport. Fuel your day of shopping with a sampling of the wide variety of street food available, especially on the South side of the 西单明珠 Xidān Míngzhū.\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3550" style="font-size: large;" title="4247930944_ec9c180a1d_m" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/4247930944_ec9c180a1d_m.jpeg" alt="" width="240" height="180" />\r\n\r\n<span style="font-size: large;">Sightseeing</span>\r\n\r\nWe’re sure you’ve been to the Forbidden City with every friend or relative that passed through Beijing, but there are advantages to going back in the colder months. For starters, there are far fewer tourists this time of year; this means that you’ll have the chance to explore without the crowds. Also, many of the historic sites in and around Beijing take on a completely different look in winter weather. If there’s a snowy day, try heading up to the Summer Palace. It may be named for a warmer season, but it’s beautiful when covered in snow!\r\n\r\n圣诞快乐 Shèngdàn kuàilè (Merry Christmas) from everyone at LtL!', 'Winter fun in Beijing', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3549-revision-3', '', '', '2012-11-19 07:59:42', '2012-11-19 07:59:42', '', 3549, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3549-revision-3/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3556, 1, '2012-01-21 08:09:15', '2012-01-21 08:09:15', '<img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3557" title="SAM_1796-225x300" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/SAM_1796-225x300.jpg" alt="" width="225" height="300" />On Sunday the 15<sup>th</sup> of January the LtL Chinese teaching crew decided to hit the slopes before a short break for Chinese New Year. We left early for a whole day of skiing at Nanshan (南山); the closest ski resort to Beijing (a short hour and fifteen minute drive from the city centre). On board we played numerous games of ‘Killer’ (杀人游戏), which I am slowly learning is a staple of Chinese get-togethers. I found myself deliberating over every word and sentence I used in fear of being ‘off-ed’ by the very enthusiastic yet unforgiving jury. A great game for practicing being precise with words in Chinese![hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\nAfter getting kitted up and preparing ourselves against the cold our instructor (教练) helped us stretch and taught us the essentials , most importantly how to stop, before unleashing us upon the other skiers. Some of us took to it better than others (check <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.269499016448892.68001.142237312508397&amp;type=3">Facebook</a> for some pictures of everyone in the snow!) and by the end of the day some of our teachers were going down the middle slopes. We all skied for 4 hours straight and I think it is safe to say that everyone was feeling it afterwards. Our apologies to all students who had classes on Monday morning if your teacher moved a little slowly!\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3558" title="SAM_1808-300x225" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/SAM_1808-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />On our way back to the city centre we once again played 杀人游戏 with the same intensity as before skiing even after 4 hours of trudging up hills and falling down them. We all had dinner (traditional Chinese all you can eat pizza buffet) and customarily ended up in KTV where the teachers astounded us with their singing (in both Chinese and English might I add) and where Mike entertained everyone with his repertoire of Chinese songs. All in all, a great day out- everyone had fun and fortunately for our students we didn’t lose any teachers to skiing accidents!\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<strong>Useful Vocabulary</strong>:\r\n\r\nSnow: 雪 (Xuě)\r\n\r\nSkiing: 滑雪 (Huáxuě)\r\n\r\nFrostbite: 冻伤 (Dòngshāng)\r\n\r\n‘Killer’ (Game): 杀人游戏 (Shārén yóuxì)\r\n\r\nSports instructor/trainer: 教练 (Jiàoliàn)\r\n\r\nPizza: 披萨 (Pī sà)\r\n\r\nChinese song: 中文歌 (Zhōngwén gē)\r\n\r\n[This story was contributed by Daniel Greeves]', 'Skiing in China', '', 'publish', 'open', 'open', '', 'skiing-in-china', '', '', '2012-12-11 04:25:10', '2012-12-11 04:25:10', '', 0, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/?p=3556', 0, 'post', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3557, 1, '2012-11-19 08:06:42', '2012-11-19 08:06:42', '', 'SAM_1796-225x300', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', 'sam_1796-225x300', '', '', '2012-11-19 08:06:42', '2012-11-19 08:06:42', '', 3556, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/SAM_1796-225x300.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3558, 1, '2012-11-19 08:06:45', '2012-11-19 08:06:45', '', 'English Teaching', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', 'sam_1808-300x225', '', '', '2012-11-19 08:06:45', '2012-11-19 08:06:45', '', 3556, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/SAM_1808-300x225.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3559, 1, '2012-11-19 08:08:57', '2012-11-19 08:08:57', '<img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3557" title="SAM_1796-225x300" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/SAM_1796-225x300.jpg" alt="" width="225" height="300" />On Sunday the 15<sup>th</sup> of January the LtL Chinese teaching crew decided to hit the slopes before a short break for Chinese New Year. We left early for a whole day of skiing at Nanshan (南山); the closest ski resort to Beijing (a short hour and fifteen minute drive from the city centre). On board we played numerous games of ‘Killer’ (杀人游戏), which I am slowly learning is a staple of Chinese get-togethers. I found myself deliberating over every word and sentence I used in fear of being ‘off-ed’ by the very enthusiastic yet unforgiving jury. A great game for practicing being precise with words in Chinese!\n\nAfter getting kitted up and preparing ourselves against the cold our instructor (教练) helped us stretch and taught us the essentials , most importantly how to stop, before unleashing us upon the other skiers. Some of us took to it better than others (check <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.269499016448892.68001.142237312508397&amp;type=3">Facebook</a> for some pictures of everyone in the snow!) and by the end of the day some of our teachers were going down the middle slopes. We all skied for 4 hours straight and I think it is safe to say that everyone was feeling it afterwards. Our apologies to all students who had classes on Monday morning if your teacher moved a little slowly!\n\n&nbsp;\n\n<img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3558" title="SAM_1808-300x225" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/SAM_1808-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />On our way back to the city centre we once again played 杀人游戏 with the same intensity as before skiing even after 4 hours of trudging up hills and falling down them. We all had dinner (traditional Chinese all you can eat pizza buffet) and customarily ended up in KTV where the teachers astounded us with their singing (in both Chinese and English might I add) and where Mike entertained everyone with his repertoire of Chinese songs. All in all, a great day out- everyone had fun and fortunately for our students we didn’t lose any teachers to skiing accidents!\n&nbsp;\n\n<strong>Useful Vocabulary</strong>:\n\nSnow: 雪 (Xuě)\n\nSkiing: 滑雪 (Huáxuě)\n\nFrostbite: 冻伤 (Dòngshāng)\n\n‘Killer’ (Game): 杀人游戏 (Shārén yóuxì)\n\nSports instructor/trainer: 教练 (Jiàoliàn)\n\nPizza: 披萨 (Pī sà)\n\nChinese song: 中文歌 (Zhōngwén gē)\n\n[This story was contributed by <a href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/">LtL</a> staff member Daniel Greeves]', 'Skiing in China', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3556-revision', '', '', '2012-11-19 08:08:57', '2012-11-19 08:08:57', '', 3556, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3556-revision/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3562, 1, '2012-11-19 08:11:22', '2012-11-19 08:11:22', '<img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3557" title="SAM_1796-225x300" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/SAM_1796-225x300.jpg" alt="" width="225" height="300" />On Sunday the 15<sup>th</sup> of January the LtL Chinese teaching crew decided to hit the slopes before a short break for Chinese New Year. We left early for a whole day of skiing at Nanshan (南山); the closest ski resort to Beijing (a short hour and fifteen minute drive from the city centre). On board we played numerous games of ‘Killer’ (杀人游戏), which I am slowly learning is a staple of Chinese get-togethers. I found myself deliberating over every word and sentence I used in fear of being ‘off-ed’ by the very enthusiastic yet unforgiving jury. A great game for practicing being precise with words in Chinese![hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\nAfter getting kitted up and preparing ourselves against the cold our instructor (教练) helped us stretch and taught us the essentials , most importantly how to stop, before unleashing us upon the other skiers. Some of us took to it better than others (check <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.269499016448892.68001.142237312508397&amp;type=3">Facebook</a> for some pictures of everyone in the snow!) and by the end of the day some of our teachers were going down the middle slopes. We all skied for 4 hours straight and I think it is safe to say that everyone was feeling it afterwards. Our apologies to all students who had classes on Monday morning if your teacher moved a little slowly!\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3558" title="SAM_1808-300x225" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/SAM_1808-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />On our way back to the city centre we once again played 杀人游戏 with the same intensity as before skiing even after 4 hours of trudging up hills and falling down them. We all had dinner (traditional Chinese all you can eat pizza buffet) and customarily ended up in KTV where the teachers astounded us with their singing (in both Chinese and English might I add) and where Mike entertained everyone with his repertoire of Chinese songs. All in all, a great day out- everyone had fun and fortunately for our students we didn’t lose any teachers to skiing accidents!\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<strong>Useful Vocabulary</strong>:\r\n\r\nSnow: 雪 (Xuě)\r\n\r\nSkiing: 滑雪 (Huáxuě)\r\n\r\nFrostbite: 冻伤 (Dòngshāng)\r\n\r\n‘Killer’ (Game): 杀人游戏 (Shārén yóuxì)\r\n\r\nSports instructor/trainer: 教练 (Jiàoliàn)\r\n\r\nPizza: 披萨 (Pī sà)\r\n\r\nChinese song: 中文歌 (Zhōngwén gē)\r\n\r\n[This story was contributed by Daniel Greeves]', 'Skiing in China', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3556-revision-3', '', '', '2012-11-19 08:11:22', '2012-11-19 08:11:22', '', 3556, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3556-revision-3/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3560, 1, '2012-11-19 08:11:20', '2012-11-19 08:11:20', '<img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3557" title="SAM_1796-225x300" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/SAM_1796-225x300.jpg" alt="" width="225" height="300" />On Sunday the 15<sup>th</sup> of January the LtL Chinese teaching crew decided to hit the slopes before a short break for Chinese New Year. We left early for a whole day of skiing at Nanshan (南山); the closest ski resort to Beijing (a short hour and fifteen minute drive from the city centre). On board we played numerous games of ‘Killer’ (杀人游戏), which I am slowly learning is a staple of Chinese get-togethers. I found myself deliberating over every word and sentence I used in fear of being ‘off-ed’ by the very enthusiastic yet unforgiving jury. A great game for practicing being precise with words in Chinese![hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\n\nAfter getting kitted up and preparing ourselves against the cold our instructor (教练) helped us stretch and taught us the essentials , most importantly how to stop, before unleashing us upon the other skiers. Some of us took to it better than others (check <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.269499016448892.68001.142237312508397&amp;type=3">Facebook</a> for some pictures of everyone in the snow!) and by the end of the day some of our teachers were going down the middle slopes. We all skied for 4 hours straight and I think it is safe to say that everyone was feeling it afterwards. Our apologies to all students who had classes on Monday morning if your teacher moved a little slowly!\n\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\n\n<img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3558" title="SAM_1808-300x225" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/SAM_1808-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />On our way back to the city centre we once again played 杀人游戏 with the same intensity as before skiing even after 4 hours of trudging up hills and falling down them. We all had dinner (traditional Chinese all you can eat pizza buffet) and customarily ended up in KTV where the teachers astounded us with their singing (in both Chinese and English might I add) and where Mike entertained everyone with his repertoire of Chinese songs. All in all, a great day out- everyone had fun and fortunately for our students we didn’t lose any teachers to skiing accidents!\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\n\n<strong>Useful Vocabulary</strong>:\n\nSnow: 雪 (Xuě)\n\nSkiing: 滑雪 (Huáxuě)\n\nFrostbite: 冻伤 (Dòngshāng)\n\n‘Killer’ (Game): 杀人游戏 (Shārén yóuxì)\n\nSports instructor/trainer: 教练 (Jiàoliàn)\n\nPizza: 披萨 (Pī sà)\n\nChinese song: 中文歌 (Zhōngwén gē)\n\n[This story was contributed by LTL staff member Daniel Greeves]', 'Skiing in China', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3556-autosave', '', '', '2012-11-19 08:11:20', '2012-11-19 08:11:20', '', 3556, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3556-autosave/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3561, 1, '2012-11-19 08:09:15', '2012-11-19 08:09:15', '<img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3557" title="SAM_1796-225x300" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/SAM_1796-225x300.jpg" alt="" width="225" height="300" />On Sunday the 15<sup>th</sup> of January the LtL Chinese teaching crew decided to hit the slopes before a short break for Chinese New Year. We left early for a whole day of skiing at Nanshan (南山); the closest ski resort to Beijing (a short hour and fifteen minute drive from the city centre). On board we played numerous games of ‘Killer’ (杀人游戏), which I am slowly learning is a staple of Chinese get-togethers. I found myself deliberating over every word and sentence I used in fear of being ‘off-ed’ by the very enthusiastic yet unforgiving jury. A great game for practicing being precise with words in Chinese![hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\nAfter getting kitted up and preparing ourselves against the cold our instructor (教练) helped us stretch and taught us the essentials , most importantly how to stop, before unleashing us upon the other skiers. Some of us took to it better than others (check <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.269499016448892.68001.142237312508397&amp;type=3">Facebook</a> for some pictures of everyone in the snow!) and by the end of the day some of our teachers were going down the middle slopes. We all skied for 4 hours straight and I think it is safe to say that everyone was feeling it afterwards. Our apologies to all students who had classes on Monday morning if your teacher moved a little slowly!\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3558" title="SAM_1808-300x225" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/SAM_1808-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />On our way back to the city centre we once again played 杀人游戏 with the same intensity as before skiing even after 4 hours of trudging up hills and falling down them. We all had dinner (traditional Chinese all you can eat pizza buffet) and customarily ended up in KTV where the teachers astounded us with their singing (in both Chinese and English might I add) and where Mike entertained everyone with his repertoire of Chinese songs. All in all, a great day out- everyone had fun and fortunately for our students we didn’t lose any teachers to skiing accidents!\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<strong>Useful Vocabulary</strong>:\r\n\r\nSnow: 雪 (Xuě)\r\n\r\nSkiing: 滑雪 (Huáxuě)\r\n\r\nFrostbite: 冻伤 (Dòngshāng)\r\n\r\n‘Killer’ (Game): 杀人游戏 (Shārén yóuxì)\r\n\r\nSports instructor/trainer: 教练 (Jiàoliàn)\r\n\r\nPizza: 披萨 (Pī sà)\r\n\r\nChinese song: 中文歌 (Zhōngwén gē)\r\n\r\n[This story was contributed by <a href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/">LtL</a> staff member Daniel Greeves]', 'Skiing in China', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3556-revision-2', '', '', '2012-11-19 08:09:15', '2012-11-19 08:09:15', '', 3556, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3556-revision-2/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3563, 1, '2012-02-10 08:16:28', '2012-02-10 08:16:28', 'LTL is proud to announce our involvement in this year’s 觉 JUE Festival, taking place March 9-25 in Beijing and Shanghai. We will be hosting a Beginners Mahjong Tournament on Sunday, March 18th to showcase this fascinating Chinese art form.\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Introducing JUE | Music + Art</strong></span>\r\n\r\n<a href="http://www.juefestival.com/" target="_blank">JUE | Music + Art</a> is an annual citywide arts and music festival in both Shanghai and Beijing, presented by Split Works. Now in its fourth year, JUE is all about celebrating the best of the local creative communities in these two great cities, and inviting artists from around the world to showcase their talent in China. JUE events are held at a variety of locations throughout Beijing and Shanghai over a three-week period. Performance art, film, spoken word, street art, workshops, photography exhibitions, live music, madness… all of these things and more fall under the creative umbrella that is JUE.\r\n\r\nThis year, headlining musical acts for JUE include Death Cab for Cutie and Summer Lei (雷光夏). With over 50 individual events in Beijing alone over the two-week period comprising the festival, JUE | Music + Art events range from acclaimed international and up-and-coming local musical performances, cutting-edge art exhibits, film screenings, children’s workshops, green initiatives and much more. It all begins March 9. We’ll see you there!\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]<img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-3564" title="jue-header" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/jue-header.jpeg" alt="" width="620" height="449" />', '觉 JUE Festival', '', 'publish', 'open', 'open', '', 'jue-festival', '', '', '2012-12-11 04:25:05', '2012-12-11 04:25:05', '', 0, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/?p=3563', 0, 'post', '', 0) ; 
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INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3565, 1, '2012-11-19 08:14:45', '2012-11-19 08:14:45', 'LTL is proud to announce our involvement in this year’s 觉 JUE Festival, taking place March 9-25 in Beijing and Shanghai. We will be hosting a Beginners Mahjong Tournament on Sunday, March 18th to showcase this fascinating Chinese art form.\n\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\n\n&nbsp;\n\n<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Introducing JUE | Music + Art</strong></span>\n\n<a href="http://www.juefestival.com/" target="_blank">JUE | Music + Art</a> is an annual citywide arts and music festival in both Shanghai and Beijing, presented by Split Works. Now in its fourth year, JUE is all about celebrating the best of the local creative communities in these two great cities, and inviting artists from around the world to showcase their talent in China. JUE events are held at a variety of locations throughout Beijing and Shanghai over a three-week period. Performance art, film, spoken word, street art, workshops, photography exhibitions, live music, madness… all of these things and more fall under the creative umbrella that is JUE.\n\nThis year, headlining musical acts for JUE include Death Cab for Cutie and Summer Lei (雷光夏). With over 50 individual events in Beijing alone over the two-week period comprising the festival, JUE | Music + Art events range from acclaimed international and up-and-coming local musical performances, cutting-edge art exhibits, film screenings, children’s workshops, green initiatives and much more. It all begins March 9. We’ll see you there!', '觉 JUE Festival', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3563-revision', '', '', '2012-11-19 08:14:45', '2012-11-19 08:14:45', '', 3563, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3563-revision/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3566, 1, '2012-11-19 08:16:28', '2012-11-19 08:16:28', 'LTL is proud to announce our involvement in this year’s 觉 JUE Festival, taking place March 9-25 in Beijing and Shanghai. We will be hosting a Beginners Mahjong Tournament on Sunday, March 18th to showcase this fascinating Chinese art form.\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Introducing JUE | Music + Art</strong></span>\r\n\r\n<a href="http://www.juefestival.com/" target="_blank">JUE | Music + Art</a> is an annual citywide arts and music festival in both Shanghai and Beijing, presented by Split Works. Now in its fourth year, JUE is all about celebrating the best of the local creative communities in these two great cities, and inviting artists from around the world to showcase their talent in China. JUE events are held at a variety of locations throughout Beijing and Shanghai over a three-week period. Performance art, film, spoken word, street art, workshops, photography exhibitions, live music, madness… all of these things and more fall under the creative umbrella that is JUE.\r\n\r\nThis year, headlining musical acts for JUE include Death Cab for Cutie and Summer Lei (雷光夏). With over 50 individual events in Beijing alone over the two-week period comprising the festival, JUE | Music + Art events range from acclaimed international and up-and-coming local musical performances, cutting-edge art exhibits, film screenings, children’s workshops, green initiatives and much more. It all begins March 9. We’ll see you there!\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]<img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-3564" title="jue-header" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/jue-header.jpeg" alt="" width="620" height="449" />', '觉 JUE Festival', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3563-revision-2', '', '', '2012-11-19 08:16:28', '2012-11-19 08:16:28', '', 3563, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3563-revision-2/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3567, 1, '2012-11-19 08:18:02', '2012-11-19 08:18:02', 'LTL is proud to announce our involvement in this year’s 觉 JUE Festival, taking place March 9-25 in Beijing and Shanghai. We will be hosting a Beginners Mahjong Tournament on Sunday, March 18th to showcase this fascinating Chinese art form.\n\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\n\n<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Introducing JUE | Music + Art</strong></span>\n\n<a href="http://www.juefestival.com/" target="_blank">JUE | Music + Art</a> is an annual citywide arts and music festival in both Shanghai and Beijing, presented by Split Works. Now in its fourth year, JUE is all about celebrating the best of the local creative communities in these two great cities, and inviting artists from around the world to showcase their talent in China. JUE events are held at a variety of locations throughout Beijing and Shanghai over a three-week period. Performance art, film, spoken word, street art, workshops, photography exhibitions, live music, madness… all of these things and more fall under the creative umbrella that is JUE.\n\nThis year, headlining musical acts for JUE include Death Cab for Cutie and Summer Lei (雷光夏). With over 50 individual events in Beijing alone over the two-week period comprising the festival, JUE | Music + Art events range from acclaimed international and up-and-coming local musical performances, cutting-edge art exhibits, film screenings, children’s workshops, green initiatives and much more. It all begins March 9. We’ll see you there!\n\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]<img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-3564" title="jue-header" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/jue-header.jpeg" alt="" width="620" height="449" />', '觉 JUE Festival', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3563-autosave', '', '', '2012-11-19 08:18:02', '2012-11-19 08:18:02', '', 3563, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3563-autosave/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3568, 1, '2012-02-10 08:23:12', '2012-02-10 08:23:12', '<img class="size-full wp-image-3569 alignright" title="IMG_0119-small-300x225" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/IMG_0119-small-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />\r\n\r\nDuring Chinese New Year and the week after I decided to head down to Sichuan and see some more of China. As part of my trip I planned to scale Mount Emei (峨眉山), one of the four sacred Buddhist mountains of China. It is traditionally regarded as the place of enlightenment of the bodhisattva Samantabhadra. As such I was expecting a nice stroll through beautiful scenery. I never expected the path to enlightenment to have so many steps and so much snow![hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<img class="size-full wp-image-3570 alignleft" title="IMG_0192-small-225x300" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/IMG_0192-small-225x300.jpg" alt="" width="225" height="300" />I was on a tight time schedule because naturally I wanted to see the pandas the day after climbing 峨眉山, so I decided to start climbing from a third of the way up the mountain. There are buses that take you to different starting points on the mountain- most tourists decide to get the bus straight to the peak. I scorned at this idea at the time but learned too late that this was probably the most sensible option. In order to make it up the trail in a day I started walking before sunrise. At the beginning the going was easy – a light fog, cool weather and steps of a reasonable incline. After an hour of steps I was beginning to regret my decisions and started doubting whether my body and mind was up for another 9 hours of climbing. I stopped for some noodles and while I was waiting for the noodles I struck up a conversation with some Chinese pilgrims. They were happy to see a ‘foreigner’ visiting and were impressed by the progress I had made thus far. I guess I walked faster since when climbing they would kneel, place their forehead on the ground, stand back up and continue walking after every 3 steps. By comparison I had nothing to complain about!\r\n\r\nAs I started walking again I was joined by a group of 7 young Chinese people living and working around Sichuan who had decided to check out 峨眉山 during their winter break. They gave me renewed courage to continue with their constant “加油’s”! Learning about what everyone did gave a welcome distraction to the climbing. After another hour of climbing the temperature had dropped well below 0C and it started snowing. Within the hour all the evergreens bowed under the weight of the snow and ice and arched over the pathways. Within 2 hours we were walking ankle deep in snow. We climbed for a total of 10 hours, with a few breaks for food along the way. Once we reached the top we were greeted by hordes of Chinese tourists playing in the snow (many Sichuanese having never seen snow before) and we decided to stay a night on the peak so we could see the sunrise in the morning.[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<img class="size-full wp-image-3571 alignright" title="IMG_0197-small-300x225" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/IMG_0197-small-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />It was at this point I regretted not having walked faster so I could have got the bus back down at the end of the day. The outside temperature was about -15C and the inside temperature about -5C owing to the fact that places South of the Yellow River don’t have central heating. We shared a big room of 4 beds and all just lay in bed complaining about how cold it was. One of my favourite sentences in Chinese came in very useful: “我快要冻死了!” By the morning all the water in the room had frozen solid and I discovered a new ‘hate’: frozen socks! (I thought putting on wet socks was bad….) We awoke for the sunrise and all got the bus back down to town together and watched as the snow dissipated the lower down the mountain we got. In all, it was one of the most challenging holidays I have had in a while but one of the most rewarding! I missed the pandas but I made some new QQ friends, reignited my faith in the beauty of China and am 1 sacred Buddhist Mountain down with 3 more to go!\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<strong>Related Vocabulary</strong>\r\n\r\n爬山 páshān – Climb a mountain\r\n\r\n寺庙 sìmiào – Temple\r\n\r\n山顶 shāndǐng – Mountain peak\r\n\r\n“加油!” jiāyóu! – “Come on!”\r\n\r\n峨眉山 Éméishān – Mount Emei\r\n\r\n“我快要冻死了!” Wǒ kuàiyào dòng sǐle! – “I’m freezing to death!”\r\n\r\n[This story was contributed by Daniel Greeves]', 'Enlightenment through immersion', '', 'publish', 'open', 'open', '', 'enlightenment-through-immersion', '', '', '2012-12-11 04:24:52', '2012-12-11 04:24:52', '', 0, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/?p=3568', 0, 'post', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3569, 1, '2012-11-19 08:20:15', '2012-11-19 08:20:15', '', 'IMG_0119-small-300x225', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', 'img_0119-small-300x225', '', '', '2012-11-19 08:20:15', '2012-11-19 08:20:15', '', 3568, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/IMG_0119-small-300x225.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3570, 1, '2012-11-19 08:20:18', '2012-11-19 08:20:18', '', 'IMG_0192-small-225x300', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', 'img_0192-small-225x300', '', '', '2012-11-19 08:20:18', '2012-11-19 08:20:18', '', 3568, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/IMG_0192-small-225x300.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3571, 1, '2012-11-19 08:20:19', '2012-11-19 08:20:19', '', 'IMG_0197-small-300x225', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', 'img_0197-small-300x225', '', '', '2012-11-19 08:20:19', '2012-11-19 08:20:19', '', 3568, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/IMG_0197-small-300x225.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3572, 1, '2012-11-19 08:23:07', '2012-11-19 08:23:07', '<img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3569" title="IMG_0119-small-300x225" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/IMG_0119-small-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />During Chinese New Year and the week after I decided to head down to Sichuan and see some more of China. As part of my trip I planned to scale Mount Emei (峨眉山), one of the four sacred Buddhist mountains of China. It is traditionally regarded as the place of enlightenment of the bodhisattva Samantabhadra. As such I was expecting a nice stroll through beautiful scenery. I never expected the path to enlightenment to have so many steps and so much snow![hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\n\n&nbsp;\n\n<img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3570" title="IMG_0192-small-225x300" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/IMG_0192-small-225x300.jpg" alt="" width="225" height="300" />I was on a tight time schedule because naturally I wanted to see the pandas the day after climbing 峨眉山, so I decided to start climbing from a third of the way up the mountain. There are buses that take you to different starting points on the mountain- most tourists decide to get the bus straight to the peak. I scorned at this idea at the time but learned too late that this was probably the most sensible option. In order to make it up the trail in a day I started walking before sunrise. At the beginning the going was easy – a light fog, cool weather and steps of a reasonable incline. After an hour of steps I was beginning to regret my decisions and started doubting whether my body and mind was up for another 9 hours of climbing. I stopped for some noodles and while I was waiting for the noodles I struck up a conversation with some Chinese pilgrims. They were happy to see a ‘foreigner’ visiting and were impressed by the progress I had made thus far. I guess I walked faster since when climbing they would kneel, place their forehead on the ground, stand back up and continue walking after every 3 steps. By comparison I had nothing to complain about!\n\nAs I started walking again I was joined by a group of 7 young Chinese people living and working around Sichuan who had decided to check out 峨眉山 during their winter break. They gave me renewed courage to continue with their constant “加油’s”! Learning about what everyone did gave a welcome distraction to the climbing. After another hour of climbing the temperature had dropped well below 0C and it started snowing. Within the hour all the evergreens bowed under the weight of the snow and ice and arched over the pathways. Within 2 hours we were walking ankle deep in snow. We climbed for a total of 10 hours, with a few breaks for food along the way. Once we reached the top we were greeted by hordes of Chinese tourists playing in the snow (many Sichuanese having never seen snow before) and we decided to stay a night on the peak so we could see the sunrise in the morning.[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\n\n<img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3571" title="IMG_0197-small-300x225" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/IMG_0197-small-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />It was at this point I regretted not having walked faster so I could have got the bus back down at the end of the day. The outside temperature was about -15C and the inside temperature about -5C owing to the fact that places South of the Yellow River don’t have central heating. We shared a big room of 4 beds and all just lay in bed complaining about how cold it was. One of my favourite sentences in Chinese came in very useful: “我快要冻死了!” By the morning all the water in the room had frozen solid and I discovered a new ‘hate’: frozen socks! (I thought putting on wet socks was bad….) We awoke for the sunrise and all got the bus back down to town together and watched as the snow dissipated the lower down the mountain we got. In all, it was one of the most challenging holidays I have had in a while but one of the most rewarding! I missed the pandas but I made some new QQ friends, reignited my faith in the beauty of China and am 1 sacred Buddhist Mountain down with 3 more to go!\n\n<strong>Related Vocabulary</strong>\n\n爬山 páshān – Climb a mountain\n\n寺庙 sìmiào – Temple\n\n山顶 shāndǐng – Mountain peak\n\n“加油!” jiāyóu! – “Come on!”\n\n峨眉山 Éméishān – Mount Emei\n\n“我快要冻死了!” Wǒ kuàiyào dòng sǐle! – “I’m freezing to death!”\n\n[This story was contributed by Daniel Greeves]', 'Enlightenment through immersion', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3568-revision', '', '', '2012-11-19 08:23:07', '2012-11-19 08:23:07', '', 3568, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3568-revision/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3573, 1, '2012-11-19 08:23:12', '2012-11-19 08:23:12', '<img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3569" title="IMG_0119-small-300x225" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/IMG_0119-small-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />During Chinese New Year and the week after I decided to head down to Sichuan and see some more of China. As part of my trip I planned to scale Mount Emei (峨眉山), one of the four sacred Buddhist mountains of China. It is traditionally regarded as the place of enlightenment of the bodhisattva Samantabhadra. As such I was expecting a nice stroll through beautiful scenery. I never expected the path to enlightenment to have so many steps and so much snow![hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3570" title="IMG_0192-small-225x300" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/IMG_0192-small-225x300.jpg" alt="" width="225" height="300" />I was on a tight time schedule because naturally I wanted to see the pandas the day after climbing 峨眉山, so I decided to start climbing from a third of the way up the mountain. There are buses that take you to different starting points on the mountain- most tourists decide to get the bus straight to the peak. I scorned at this idea at the time but learned too late that this was probably the most sensible option. In order to make it up the trail in a day I started walking before sunrise. At the beginning the going was easy – a light fog, cool weather and steps of a reasonable incline. After an hour of steps I was beginning to regret my decisions and started doubting whether my body and mind was up for another 9 hours of climbing. I stopped for some noodles and while I was waiting for the noodles I struck up a conversation with some Chinese pilgrims. They were happy to see a ‘foreigner’ visiting and were impressed by the progress I had made thus far. I guess I walked faster since when climbing they would kneel, place their forehead on the ground, stand back up and continue walking after every 3 steps. By comparison I had nothing to complain about!\r\n\r\nAs I started walking again I was joined by a group of 7 young Chinese people living and working around Sichuan who had decided to check out 峨眉山 during their winter break. They gave me renewed courage to continue with their constant “加油’s”! Learning about what everyone did gave a welcome distraction to the climbing. After another hour of climbing the temperature had dropped well below 0C and it started snowing. Within the hour all the evergreens bowed under the weight of the snow and ice and arched over the pathways. Within 2 hours we were walking ankle deep in snow. We climbed for a total of 10 hours, with a few breaks for food along the way. Once we reached the top we were greeted by hordes of Chinese tourists playing in the snow (many Sichuanese having never seen snow before) and we decided to stay a night on the peak so we could see the sunrise in the morning.[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3571" title="IMG_0197-small-300x225" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/IMG_0197-small-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />It was at this point I regretted not having walked faster so I could have got the bus back down at the end of the day. The outside temperature was about -15C and the inside temperature about -5C owing to the fact that places South of the Yellow River don’t have central heating. We shared a big room of 4 beds and all just lay in bed complaining about how cold it was. One of my favourite sentences in Chinese came in very useful: “我快要冻死了!” By the morning all the water in the room had frozen solid and I discovered a new ‘hate’: frozen socks! (I thought putting on wet socks was bad….) We awoke for the sunrise and all got the bus back down to town together and watched as the snow dissipated the lower down the mountain we got. In all, it was one of the most challenging holidays I have had in a while but one of the most rewarding! I missed the pandas but I made some new QQ friends, reignited my faith in the beauty of China and am 1 sacred Buddhist Mountain down with 3 more to go!\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<strong>Related Vocabulary</strong>\r\n\r\n爬山 páshān – Climb a mountain\r\n\r\n寺庙 sìmiào – Temple\r\n\r\n山顶 shāndǐng – Mountain peak\r\n\r\n“加油!” jiāyóu! – “Come on!”\r\n\r\n峨眉山 Éméishān – Mount Emei\r\n\r\n“我快要冻死了!” Wǒ kuàiyào dòng sǐle! – “I’m freezing to death!”\r\n\r\n[This story was contributed by Daniel Greeves]', 'Enlightenment through immersion', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3568-revision-2', '', '', '2012-11-19 08:23:12', '2012-11-19 08:23:12', '', 3568, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3568-revision-2/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3574, 1, '2012-11-19 08:24:11', '2012-11-19 08:24:11', 'During Chinese New Year and the week after I decided to head down to Sichuan and see some more of China. As part of my trip I planned to scale Mount Emei (峨眉山), one of the four sacred Buddhist mountains of China.\r\n\r\n<img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3569" title="IMG_0119-small-300x225" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/IMG_0119-small-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />\r\n\r\nIt is traditionally regarded as the place of enlightenment of the bodhisattva Samantabhadra. As such I was expecting a nice stroll through beautiful scenery. I never expected the path to enlightenment to have so many steps and so much snow![hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3570" title="IMG_0192-small-225x300" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/IMG_0192-small-225x300.jpg" alt="" width="225" height="300" />I was on a tight time schedule because naturally I wanted to see the pandas the day after climbing 峨眉山, so I decided to start climbing from a third of the way up the mountain. There are buses that take you to different starting points on the mountain- most tourists decide to get the bus straight to the peak. I scorned at this idea at the time but learned too late that this was probably the most sensible option. In order to make it up the trail in a day I started walking before sunrise. At the beginning the going was easy – a light fog, cool weather and steps of a reasonable incline. After an hour of steps I was beginning to regret my decisions and started doubting whether my body and mind was up for another 9 hours of climbing. I stopped for some noodles and while I was waiting for the noodles I struck up a conversation with some Chinese pilgrims. They were happy to see a ‘foreigner’ visiting and were impressed by the progress I had made thus far. I guess I walked faster since when climbing they would kneel, place their forehead on the ground, stand back up and continue walking after every 3 steps. By comparison I had nothing to complain about!\r\n\r\nAs I started walking again I was joined by a group of 7 young Chinese people living and working around Sichuan who had decided to check out 峨眉山 during their winter break. They gave me renewed courage to continue with their constant “加油’s”! Learning about what everyone did gave a welcome distraction to the climbing. After another hour of climbing the temperature had dropped well below 0C and it started snowing. Within the hour all the evergreens bowed under the weight of the snow and ice and arched over the pathways. Within 2 hours we were walking ankle deep in snow. We climbed for a total of 10 hours, with a few breaks for food along the way. Once we reached the top we were greeted by hordes of Chinese tourists playing in the snow (many Sichuanese having never seen snow before) and we decided to stay a night on the peak so we could see the sunrise in the morning.[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3571" title="IMG_0197-small-300x225" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/IMG_0197-small-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />It was at this point I regretted not having walked faster so I could have got the bus back down at the end of the day. The outside temperature was about -15C and the inside temperature about -5C owing to the fact that places South of the Yellow River don’t have central heating. We shared a big room of 4 beds and all just lay in bed complaining about how cold it was. One of my favourite sentences in Chinese came in very useful: “我快要冻死了!” By the morning all the water in the room had frozen solid and I discovered a new ‘hate’: frozen socks! (I thought putting on wet socks was bad….) We awoke for the sunrise and all got the bus back down to town together and watched as the snow dissipated the lower down the mountain we got. In all, it was one of the most challenging holidays I have had in a while but one of the most rewarding! I missed the pandas but I made some new QQ friends, reignited my faith in the beauty of China and am 1 sacred Buddhist Mountain down with 3 more to go!\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<strong>Related Vocabulary</strong>\r\n\r\n爬山 páshān – Climb a mountain\r\n\r\n寺庙 sìmiào – Temple\r\n\r\n山顶 shāndǐng – Mountain peak\r\n\r\n“加油!” jiāyóu! – “Come on!”\r\n\r\n峨眉山 Éméishān – Mount Emei\r\n\r\n“我快要冻死了!” Wǒ kuàiyào dòng sǐle! – “I’m freezing to death!”\r\n\r\n[This story was contributed by Daniel Greeves]', 'Enlightenment through immersion', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3568-revision-3', '', '', '2012-11-19 08:24:11', '2012-11-19 08:24:11', '', 3568, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3568-revision-3/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3575, 1, '2012-11-19 08:25:03', '2012-11-19 08:25:03', 'During Chinese New Year and the week after I decided to head down to Sichuan and see some more of China. As part of my trip I planned to scale Mount Emei (峨眉山), one of the four sacred Buddhist mountains of China.\r\n\r\n<img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3569" title="IMG_0119-small-300x225" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/IMG_0119-small-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />\r\n\r\nIt is traditionally regarded as the place of enlightenment of the bodhisattva Samantabhadra. As such I was expecting a nice stroll through beautiful scenery. I never expected the path to enlightenment to have so many steps and so much snow![hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3570" title="IMG_0192-small-225x300" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/IMG_0192-small-225x300.jpg" alt="" width="225" height="300" />I was on a tight time schedule because naturally I wanted to see the pandas the day after climbing 峨眉山, so I decided to start climbing from a third of the way up the mountain. There are buses that take you to different starting points on the mountain- most tourists decide to get the bus straight to the peak. I scorned at this idea at the time but learned too late that this was probably the most sensible option. In order to make it up the trail in a day I started walking before sunrise. At the beginning the going was easy – a light fog, cool weather and steps of a reasonable incline. After an hour of steps I was beginning to regret my decisions and started doubting whether my body and mind was up for another 9 hours of climbing. I stopped for some noodles and while I was waiting for the noodles I struck up a conversation with some Chinese pilgrims. They were happy to see a ‘foreigner’ visiting and were impressed by the progress I had made thus far. I guess I walked faster since when climbing they would kneel, place their forehead on the ground, stand back up and continue walking after every 3 steps. By comparison I had nothing to complain about!\r\n\r\nAs I started walking again I was joined by a group of 7 young Chinese people living and working around Sichuan who had decided to check out 峨眉山 during their winter break. They gave me renewed courage to continue with their constant “加油’s”! Learning about what everyone did gave a welcome distraction to the climbing. After another hour of climbing the temperature had dropped well below 0C and it started snowing. Within the hour all the evergreens bowed under the weight of the snow and ice and arched over the pathways. Within 2 hours we were walking ankle deep in snow. We climbed for a total of 10 hours, with a few breaks for food along the way. Once we reached the top we were greeted by hordes of Chinese tourists playing in the snow (many Sichuanese having never seen snow before) and we decided to stay a night on the peak so we could see the sunrise in the morning.[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3571" title="IMG_0197-small-300x225" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/IMG_0197-small-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />It was at this point I regretted not having walked faster so I could have got the bus back down at the end of the day. The outside temperature was about -15C and the inside temperature about -5C owing to the fact that places South of the Yellow River don’t have central heating. We shared a big room of 4 beds and all just lay in bed complaining about how cold it was. One of my favourite sentences in Chinese came in very useful: “我快要冻死了!” By the morning all the water in the room had frozen solid and I discovered a new ‘hate’: frozen socks! (I thought putting on wet socks was bad….) We awoke for the sunrise and all got the bus back down to town together and watched as the snow dissipated the lower down the mountain we got. In all, it was one of the most challenging holidays I have had in a while but one of the most rewarding! I missed the pandas but I made some new QQ friends, reignited my faith in the beauty of China and am 1 sacred Buddhist Mountain down with 3 more to go!\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<strong>Related Vocabulary</strong>\r\n\r\n爬山 páshān – Climb a mountain\r\n\r\n寺庙 sìmiào – Temple\r\n\r\n山顶 shāndǐng – Mountain peak\r\n\r\n“加油!” jiāyóu! – “Come on!”\r\n\r\n峨眉山 Éméishān – Mount Emei\r\n\r\n“我快要冻死了!” Wǒ kuàiyào dòng sǐle! – “I’m freezing to death!”\r\n\r\n[This story was contributed by Daniel Greeves]', 'Enlightenment through immersion', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3568-revision-4', '', '', '2012-11-19 08:25:03', '2012-11-19 08:25:03', '', 3568, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3568-revision-4/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3576, 1, '2012-03-21 08:29:31', '2012-03-21 08:29:31', '<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>北京国安 – 上海申花</strong></span>\r\n\r\n<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Beijing Guo An vs Shanghai Shen Hua</strong></span>\r\n\r\n<img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3577" title="fans-small-150x150" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/fans-small-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" />Friday night started out like any other by meeting up with fellow classmates and friends to grab and quick bite and celebrate the start of the weekend. But this Friday was not like any other I’ve experienced in Beijing because this Friday I was heading to my very first Chinese football match.\r\n\r\nAfter a quick bite to eat and a couple of the usual Qing Daos we were ready to cheer on Guo An. However we were soon informed that beer was not allowed in the stadium so cans were quickly bought at  a near by convenience store and tucked away in places I hoped would not be searched. That said, with a cold beer smuggled away I knew it was going to be a good night.\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\nAfter living in the UK for 3 years I thought I had seen it all in terms of football fans: the cheers, the jerseys and general rowdiness. However, upon arriving early to the Workers Stadium I quickly realised that Chinese football is in a league of its own. As we walked towards the Stadium the group was quickly approached by local street sellers displaying their best Beijing Guo An merchandise. But if you couldn’t tell from the merchandise that you were in Guo An territory then the thousands of enthusiastic fans dressed head to toe in green quickly gave away the fan favourite.\r\n\r\nAfter successfully passing the security checks and the looming glare of the riot police I soon realised that assigned seating was a myth in the Workers Stadium. Luckily we sent ahead fellow Guo An fans to secure enough seats in our general section. As the players warmed up I could feel the anticipation of the crowd rising and as soon as the game began the crowd erupted in cheers.\r\n\r\nTo say that Guo An fans are supportive of their team is an understatement, the stadium looked as thought there had been an explosion of green paint and somehow everyone seemed to know all the cheers. Whether they were cheering on their champions or using such colourful insults that even I couldn’t help but blushing. Clearly these fans were serious. Although the first half of the game was relatively uneventful in terms of the actual football, this didn’t stop the fans from yelling at everyone from the Shanghai players to the referee to their own players!\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3578" title="SAM_0044-Optimized-150x150" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/SAM_0044-Optimized-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" />After an admittedly slow first half, I was then further taken by surprise when the ‘half time show’ took to the pitch. A few dozen elderly Chinese then ‘ran’ to pitch and displayed their best dance and kite skills.  At least there was no possibility of a Janet Jackson Superbowl scandal with the performers smartly dressed in matching track suits.\r\n\r\nFinally the second half began and the game began to pick up momentum. Soon Guo An scored and the stadium (including myself) erupted into cheers as 50,000 fans jumped up and down and threw streamers and confetti into the air. Then soon after Guo An scored again which demanded a similar response from the excitable crowd. However, Shanghai responded with a goal of their own, given the colourful language earlier I was surprised by the silence of the crowd as the 30 Shanghai fans celebrated in their own protected section. When they then scored again I began to feel as anxious as my fellow Guo An fans.\r\n\r\nHowever, Guo An’s talent pulled through in the end and scored a third and final goal with only minutes left in the game. The crowd of course erupted with cheers and as the final seconds of the match passed scarves were raised over heads and the streaming confetti thrown in the air as the players addressed the fans.\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\nIn the end I not only experienced a good match but also learnt several new phrases that would impress any Chinese taxi driver and saw a less serious side to usual hustle and bustle of Beijing.\r\n\r\n[This story was contributed by LTL student <strong>Anastasia Lau</strong> from <strong>Bermuda</strong>. (Homestay, Small Group Classes and Survival Kit Standard)]\r\n<strong></strong>\r\n\r\nIf you want to join LIGAF to watch a match together, please email Andreas at <a href="mailto:andreas@livethelanguage.cn">andreas@livethelanguage.cn</a> and we will get a ticket for you.', 'LTL International Football Fan Club', '', 'publish', 'open', 'open', '', 'ltl-international-football-fan-club', '', '', '2012-12-11 04:24:42', '2012-12-11 04:24:42', '', 0, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/?p=3576', 0, 'post', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3917, 1, '2012-11-22 09:15:35', '2012-11-22 09:15:35', '[column size=third position=first ]\r\n[button color=gold url=http://ltl-chinois.fr/testimonials/ target=self]Testimonials[/button][/column]\r\n[column size=third position=last ][button color=blue target=self]Accreditations[/button][/column]\r\n[column size=third position=last ][button color=gold url=http://ltl-chinois.fr/ltl-mandarin-school-in-the-press/ target=self]LTL in the Media[/button][/column]\r\n[hr style=dashed-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=10]\r\n<strong><span style="font-size: x-large;">University Accreditations</span></strong>\r\n[hr style=double-line margin_top=10 margin_bottom=15]\r\nAs one of Beijing’s top accademic instituitions LTL class credits are recognised by universities around the world. For this our courses were certified as university credit equivalents by\r\n\r\n<span style="font-size: medium;"><strong>USA[royalslider id="23"]</strong></span>\r\n\r\n<a href="http://www.msu.edu/"><img class="alignleft" title="michigan state university" src="http://www.dev2.livethelanguage.cn/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/michigan-state-university1-300x70.jpg" alt="" width="140" height="31" /></a>\r\n\r\n<strong>MSU, Michigan State University</strong>\r\n\r\nUnited States of America, Michigan State\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=5 margin_bottom=5]\r\n\r\n<span style="font-size: medium;"><strong>European Union</strong></span>\r\n\r\n<a href="http://www.myfham.de/" target="_blank"><img class="alignleft" title="fham" src="http://www.dev2.livethelanguage.cn/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/fham-150x68.jpg" alt="" width="129" height="58" /></a>\r\n\r\n<strong>FHAM, Fachhochschule fuer Angewandtes Management Erding</strong>\r\n\r\nUniversity of Applied Management Erding, Germany\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nFor information on how to receive credits at your university for your LTL course, please [button color=red url=http://ltl-chinois.fr/contact-us/ target=self]Contact Us[/button]\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=10 margin_bottom=10]\r\n<strong><span style="font-size: x-large;">Government Accreditations</span></strong>\r\n[hr style=double-line margin_top=10 margin_bottom=15]\r\nLTL is accredited by the following accreditation bodies\r\n\r\n<a href="http://www.dev2.livethelanguage.cn/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Chinese-Button.jpg" rel="gallery" target="_blank"><img class="alignleft" title="Chinese Button" src="http://www.dev2.livethelanguage.cn/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Chinese-Button.jpg" alt="" width="53" height="53" /></a><strong>Ministry of Commerce</strong>\r\n\r\nas an accredited “Provider of Cultural Exchange Programs”\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=5 margin_bottom=5]\r\n\r\n<a href="http://www.dev2.livethelanguage.cn/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/german-button.jpg" rel="gallery" target="_blank"><img class="alignleft" title="german button" src="http://www.dev2.livethelanguage.cn/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/german-button.jpg" alt="" width="53" height="53" /></a><strong>Ministry of Science of six different German States</strong>\r\n\r\nas an accredited provider of “Educational Holiday Trips” (Bildungsurlaub)\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=5 margin_bottom=5]\r\n\r\n<a href="http://www.dev2.livethelanguage.cn/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/swedish-button.jpg" rel="gallery" target="_blank"><img class="alignleft" title="swedish button" src="http://www.dev2.livethelanguage.cn/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/swedish-button.jpg" alt="" width="54" height="54" /></a><strong>Swedish National Agency for Higher Education</strong> <strong>(Högskoleverket/CSN)</strong>\r\n\r\nas an accredited “Education Provider”\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nIf you are German or Swedish your government does provide scholarships for studying with an accredited institution like LTL. [button color=red url=http://ltl-chinois.fr/contact-us/ target=self]Contact Us[/button] for details.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;', 'Accreditations', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '1938-revision-v1', '', '', '2012-11-22 09:15:35', '2012-11-22 09:15:35', '', 1938, 'http://ltl-chinois.fr/1938-revision-5/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3579, 1, '2012-11-19 08:28:59', '2012-11-19 08:28:59', '<strong>北京国安 – 上海申花</strong>\n\n<strong>Beijing Guo An vs Shanghai Shen Hua</strong>\n\n&nbsp;\n\n<img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3577" title="fans-small-150x150" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/fans-small-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" />Friday night started out like any other by meeting up with fellow classmates and friends to grab and quick bite and celebrate the start of the weekend. But this Friday was not like any other I’ve experienced in Beijing because this Friday I was heading to my very first Chinese football match.\n\nAfter a quick bite to eat and a couple of the usual Qing Daos we were ready to cheer on Guo An. However we were soon informed that beer was not allowed in the stadium so cans were quickly bought at  a near by convenience store and tucked away in places I hoped would not be searched. That said, with a cold beer smuggled away I knew it was going to be a good night.\n\nAfter living in the UK for 3 years I thought I had seen it all in terms of football fans: the cheers, the jerseys and general rowdiness. However, upon arriving early to the Workers Stadium I quickly realised that Chinese football is in a league of its own. As we walked towards the Stadium the group was quickly approached by local street sellers displaying their best Beijing Guo An merchandise. But if you couldn’t tell from the merchandise that you were in Guo An territory then the thousands of enthusiastic fans dressed head to toe in green quickly gave away the fan favourite.\n\nAfter successfully passing the security checks and the looming glare of the riot police I soon realised that assigned seating was a myth in the Workers Stadium. Luckily we sent ahead fellow Guo An fans to secure enough seats in our general section. As the players warmed up I could feel the anticipation of the crowd rising and as soon as the game began the crowd erupted in cheers.\n\nTo say that Guo An fans are supportive of their team is an understatement, the stadium looked as thought there had been an explosion of green paint and somehow everyone seemed to know all the cheers. Whether they were cheering on their champions or using such colourful insults that even I couldn’t help but blushing. Clearly these fans were serious. Although the first half of the game was relatively uneventful in terms of the actual football, this didn’t stop the fans from yelling at everyone from the Shanghai players to the referee to their own players!\n\nAfter an admittedly slow first half, I was then further taken by surprise when the ‘half time show’ took to the pitch. A few dozen elderly Chinese then ‘ran’ to pitch and displayed their best dance and kite skills.  At least there was no possibility of a Janet Jackson Superbowl scandal with the performers smartly dressed in matching track suits.\n\nFinally the second half began and the game began to pick up momentum. Soon Guo An scored and the stadium (including myself) erupted into cheers as 50,000 fans jumped up and down and threw streamers and confetti into the air. Then soon after Guo An scored again which demanded a similar response from the excitable crowd. However, Shanghai responded with a goal of their own, given the colourful language earlier I was surprised by the silence of the crowd as the 30 Shanghai fans celebrated in their own protected section. When they then scored again I began to feel as anxious as my fellow Guo An fans.\n\nHowever, Guo An’s talent pulled through in the end and scored a third and final goal with only minutes left in the game. The crowd of course erupted with cheers and as the final seconds of the match passed scarves were raised over heads and the streaming confetti thrown in the air as the players addressed the fans.\n\nIn the end I not only experienced a good match but also learnt several new phrases that would impress any Chinese taxi driver and saw a less serious side to usual hustle and bustle of Beijing.\n\n[This story was contributed by LTL student <strong>Anastasia Lau</strong> from <strong>Bermuda</strong>. (Homestay, Small Group Classes and Survival Kit Standard)]\n<strong></strong>\n\nIf you want to join <a href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/guoanfanclub/">LIGAF</a> to watch a match together, please email Andreas at <a href="mailto:andreas@livethelanguage.cn">andreas@livethelanguage.cn</a> and we will get a ticket for you.', 'LTL International Football Fan Club', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3576-revision', '', '', '2012-11-19 08:28:59', '2012-11-19 08:28:59', '', 3576, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3576-revision/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3577, 1, '2012-11-19 08:28:34', '2012-11-19 08:28:34', '', 'fans-small-150x150', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', 'fans-small-150x150', '', '', '2012-11-19 08:28:34', '2012-11-19 08:28:34', '', 3576, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/fans-small-150x150.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3578, 1, '2012-11-19 08:28:37', '2012-11-19 08:28:37', '', 'SAM_0044-Optimized-150x150', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', 'sam_0044-optimized-150x150', '', '', '2012-11-19 08:28:37', '2012-11-19 08:28:37', '', 3576, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/SAM_0044-Optimized-150x150.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3580, 1, '2012-11-30 06:26:03', '2012-11-30 06:26:03', '<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>北京国安 – 上海申花</strong></span>\n\n<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Beijing Guo An vs Shanghai Shen Hua</strong></span>\n\n<img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3577" title="fans-small-150x150" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/fans-small-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" />Friday night started out like any other by meeting up with fellow classmates and friends to grab and quick bite and celebrate the start of the weekend. But this Friday was not like any other I’ve experienced in Beijing because this Friday I was heading to my very first Chinese football match.\n\nAfter a quick bite to eat and a couple of the usual Qing Daos we were ready to cheer on Guo An. However we were soon informed that beer was not allowed in the stadium so cans were quickly bought at  a near by convenience store and tucked away in places I hoped would not be searched. That said, with a cold beer smuggled away I knew it was going to be a good night.\n\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\n\nAfter living in the UK for 3 years I thought I had seen it all in terms of football fans: the cheers, the jerseys and general rowdiness. However, upon arriving early to the Workers Stadium I quickly realised that Chinese football is in a league of its own. As we walked towards the Stadium the group was quickly approached by local street sellers displaying their best Beijing Guo An merchandise. But if you couldn’t tell from the merchandise that you were in Guo An territory then the thousands of enthusiastic fans dressed head to toe in green quickly gave away the fan favourite.\n\nAfter successfully passing the security checks and the looming glare of the riot police I soon realised that assigned seating was a myth in the Workers Stadium. Luckily we sent ahead fellow Guo An fans to secure enough seats in our general section. As the players warmed up I could feel the anticipation of the crowd rising and as soon as the game began the crowd erupted in cheers.\n\nTo say that Guo An fans are supportive of their team is an understatement, the stadium looked as thought there had been an explosion of green paint and somehow everyone seemed to know all the cheers. Whether they were cheering on their champions or using such colourful insults that even I couldn’t help but blushing. Clearly these fans were serious. Although the first half of the game was relatively uneventful in terms of the actual football, this didn’t stop the fans from yelling at everyone from the Shanghai players to the referee to their own players!\n\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\n\n<img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3578" title="SAM_0044-Optimized-150x150" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/SAM_0044-Optimized-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" />After an admittedly slow first half, I was then further taken by surprise when the ‘half time show’ took to the pitch. A few dozen elderly Chinese then ‘ran’ to pitch and displayed their best dance and kite skills.  At least there was no possibility of a Janet Jackson Superbowl scandal with the performers smartly dressed in matching track suits.\n\nFinally the second half began and the game began to pick up momentum. Soon Guo An scored and the stadium (including myself) erupted into cheers as 50,000 fans jumped up and down and threw streamers and confetti into the air. Then soon after Guo An scored again which demanded a similar response from the excitable crowd. However, Shanghai responded with a goal of their own, given the colourful language earlier I was surprised by the silence of the crowd as the 30 Shanghai fans celebrated in their own protected section. When they then scored again I began to feel as anxious as my fellow Guo An fans.\n\nHowever, Guo An’s talent pulled through in the end and scored a third and final goal with only minutes left in the game. The crowd of course erupted with cheers and as the final seconds of the match passed scarves were raised over heads and the streaming confetti thrown in the air as the players addressed the fans.\n\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\n\nIn the end I not only experienced a good match but also learnt several new phrases that would impress any Chinese taxi driver and saw a less serious side to usual hustle and bustle of Beijing.\n\n[This story was contributed by LTL student <strong>Anastasia Lau</strong> from <strong>Bermuda</strong>. (Homestay, Small Group Classes and Survival Kit Standard)]\n<strong></strong>\n\nIf you want to join <a href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/guoanfanclub/">LIGAF</a> to watch a match together, please email Andreas at <a href="mailto:andreas@livethelanguage.cn">andreas@livethelanguage.cn</a> and we will get a ticket for you.', 'LTL International Football Fan Club', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3576-autosave', '', '', '2012-11-30 06:26:03', '2012-11-30 06:26:03', '', 3576, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3576-autosave/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3581, 1, '2012-11-19 08:29:31', '2012-11-19 08:29:31', '<strong>北京国安 – 上海申花</strong>\r\n\r\n<strong>Beijing Guo An vs Shanghai Shen Hua</strong>\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3577" title="fans-small-150x150" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/fans-small-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" />Friday night started out like any other by meeting up with fellow classmates and friends to grab and quick bite and celebrate the start of the weekend. But this Friday was not like any other I’ve experienced in Beijing because this Friday I was heading to my very first Chinese football match.\r\n\r\nAfter a quick bite to eat and a couple of the usual Qing Daos we were ready to cheer on Guo An. However we were soon informed that beer was not allowed in the stadium so cans were quickly bought at  a near by convenience store and tucked away in places I hoped would not be searched. That said, with a cold beer smuggled away I knew it was going to be a good night.\r\n\r\nAfter living in the UK for 3 years I thought I had seen it all in terms of football fans: the cheers, the jerseys and general rowdiness. However, upon arriving early to the Workers Stadium I quickly realised that Chinese football is in a league of its own. As we walked towards the Stadium the group was quickly approached by local street sellers displaying their best Beijing Guo An merchandise. But if you couldn’t tell from the merchandise that you were in Guo An territory then the thousands of enthusiastic fans dressed head to toe in green quickly gave away the fan favourite.\r\n\r\nAfter successfully passing the security checks and the looming glare of the riot police I soon realised that assigned seating was a myth in the Workers Stadium. Luckily we sent ahead fellow Guo An fans to secure enough seats in our general section. As the players warmed up I could feel the anticipation of the crowd rising and as soon as the game began the crowd erupted in cheers.\r\n\r\nTo say that Guo An fans are supportive of their team is an understatement, the stadium looked as thought there had been an explosion of green paint and somehow everyone seemed to know all the cheers. Whether they were cheering on their champions or using such colourful insults that even I couldn’t help but blushing. Clearly these fans were serious. Although the first half of the game was relatively uneventful in terms of the actual football, this didn’t stop the fans from yelling at everyone from the Shanghai players to the referee to their own players!\r\n\r\n<img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3578" title="SAM_0044-Optimized-150x150" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/SAM_0044-Optimized-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" />After an admittedly slow first half, I was then further taken by surprise when the ‘half time show’ took to the pitch. A few dozen elderly Chinese then ‘ran’ to pitch and displayed their best dance and kite skills.  At least there was no possibility of a Janet Jackson Superbowl scandal with the performers smartly dressed in matching track suits.\r\n\r\nFinally the second half began and the game began to pick up momentum. Soon Guo An scored and the stadium (including myself) erupted into cheers as 50,000 fans jumped up and down and threw streamers and confetti into the air. Then soon after Guo An scored again which demanded a similar response from the excitable crowd. However, Shanghai responded with a goal of their own, given the colourful language earlier I was surprised by the silence of the crowd as the 30 Shanghai fans celebrated in their own protected section. When they then scored again I began to feel as anxious as my fellow Guo An fans.\r\n\r\nHowever, Guo An’s talent pulled through in the end and scored a third and final goal with only minutes left in the game. The crowd of course erupted with cheers and as the final seconds of the match passed scarves were raised over heads and the streaming confetti thrown in the air as the players addressed the fans.\r\n\r\nIn the end I not only experienced a good match but also learnt several new phrases that would impress any Chinese taxi driver and saw a less serious side to usual hustle and bustle of Beijing.\r\n\r\n[This story was contributed by LTL student <strong>Anastasia Lau</strong> from <strong>Bermuda</strong>. (Homestay, Small Group Classes and Survival Kit Standard)]\r\n<strong></strong>\r\n\r\nIf you want to join <a href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/guoanfanclub/">LIGAF</a> to watch a match together, please email Andreas at <a href="mailto:andreas@livethelanguage.cn">andreas@livethelanguage.cn</a> and we will get a ticket for you.', 'LTL International Football Fan Club', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3576-revision-2', '', '', '2012-11-19 08:29:31', '2012-11-19 08:29:31', '', 3576, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3576-revision-2/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3582, 1, '2012-11-19 08:31:30', '2012-11-19 08:31:30', '<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>北京国安 – 上海申花</strong></span>\r\n\r\n<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Beijing Guo An vs Shanghai Shen Hua</strong></span>\r\n\r\n<img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3577" title="fans-small-150x150" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/fans-small-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" />Friday night started out like any other by meeting up with fellow classmates and friends to grab and quick bite and celebrate the start of the weekend. But this Friday was not like any other I’ve experienced in Beijing because this Friday I was heading to my very first Chinese football match.\r\n\r\nAfter a quick bite to eat and a couple of the usual Qing Daos we were ready to cheer on Guo An. However we were soon informed that beer was not allowed in the stadium so cans were quickly bought at  a near by convenience store and tucked away in places I hoped would not be searched. That said, with a cold beer smuggled away I knew it was going to be a good night.\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\nAfter living in the UK for 3 years I thought I had seen it all in terms of football fans: the cheers, the jerseys and general rowdiness. However, upon arriving early to the Workers Stadium I quickly realised that Chinese football is in a league of its own. As we walked towards the Stadium the group was quickly approached by local street sellers displaying their best Beijing Guo An merchandise. But if you couldn’t tell from the merchandise that you were in Guo An territory then the thousands of enthusiastic fans dressed head to toe in green quickly gave away the fan favourite.\r\n\r\nAfter successfully passing the security checks and the looming glare of the riot police I soon realised that assigned seating was a myth in the Workers Stadium. Luckily we sent ahead fellow Guo An fans to secure enough seats in our general section. As the players warmed up I could feel the anticipation of the crowd rising and as soon as the game began the crowd erupted in cheers.\r\n\r\nTo say that Guo An fans are supportive of their team is an understatement, the stadium looked as thought there had been an explosion of green paint and somehow everyone seemed to know all the cheers. Whether they were cheering on their champions or using such colourful insults that even I couldn’t help but blushing. Clearly these fans were serious. Although the first half of the game was relatively uneventful in terms of the actual football, this didn’t stop the fans from yelling at everyone from the Shanghai players to the referee to their own players!\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3578" title="SAM_0044-Optimized-150x150" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/SAM_0044-Optimized-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" />After an admittedly slow first half, I was then further taken by surprise when the ‘half time show’ took to the pitch. A few dozen elderly Chinese then ‘ran’ to pitch and displayed their best dance and kite skills.  At least there was no possibility of a Janet Jackson Superbowl scandal with the performers smartly dressed in matching track suits.\r\n\r\nFinally the second half began and the game began to pick up momentum. Soon Guo An scored and the stadium (including myself) erupted into cheers as 50,000 fans jumped up and down and threw streamers and confetti into the air. Then soon after Guo An scored again which demanded a similar response from the excitable crowd. However, Shanghai responded with a goal of their own, given the colourful language earlier I was surprised by the silence of the crowd as the 30 Shanghai fans celebrated in their own protected section. When they then scored again I began to feel as anxious as my fellow Guo An fans.\r\n\r\nHowever, Guo An’s talent pulled through in the end and scored a third and final goal with only minutes left in the game. The crowd of course erupted with cheers and as the final seconds of the match passed scarves were raised over heads and the streaming confetti thrown in the air as the players addressed the fans.\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\nIn the end I not only experienced a good match but also learnt several new phrases that would impress any Chinese taxi driver and saw a less serious side to usual hustle and bustle of Beijing.\r\n\r\n[This story was contributed by LTL student <strong>Anastasia Lau</strong> from <strong>Bermuda</strong>. (Homestay, Small Group Classes and Survival Kit Standard)]\r\n<strong></strong>\r\n\r\nIf you want to join <a href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/guoanfanclub/">LIGAF</a> to watch a match together, please email Andreas at <a href="mailto:andreas@livethelanguage.cn">andreas@livethelanguage.cn</a> and we will get a ticket for you.', 'LTL International Football Fan Club', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3576-revision-3', '', '', '2012-11-19 08:31:30', '2012-11-19 08:31:30', '', 3576, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3576-revision-3/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3583, 1, '2012-11-19 08:32:02', '2012-11-19 08:32:02', '<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>北京国安 – 上海申花</strong></span>\r\n\r\n<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Beijing Guo An vs Shanghai Shen Hua</strong></span>\r\n\r\n<img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3577" title="fans-small-150x150" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/fans-small-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" />Friday night started out like any other by meeting up with fellow classmates and friends to grab and quick bite and celebrate the start of the weekend. But this Friday was not like any other I’ve experienced in Beijing because this Friday I was heading to my very first Chinese football match.\r\n\r\nAfter a quick bite to eat and a couple of the usual Qing Daos we were ready to cheer on Guo An. However we were soon informed that beer was not allowed in the stadium so cans were quickly bought at  a near by convenience store and tucked away in places I hoped would not be searched. That said, with a cold beer smuggled away I knew it was going to be a good night.\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\nAfter living in the UK for 3 years I thought I had seen it all in terms of football fans: the cheers, the jerseys and general rowdiness. However, upon arriving early to the Workers Stadium I quickly realised that Chinese football is in a league of its own. As we walked towards the Stadium the group was quickly approached by local street sellers displaying their best Beijing Guo An merchandise. But if you couldn’t tell from the merchandise that you were in Guo An territory then the thousands of enthusiastic fans dressed head to toe in green quickly gave away the fan favourite.\r\n\r\nAfter successfully passing the security checks and the looming glare of the riot police I soon realised that assigned seating was a myth in the Workers Stadium. Luckily we sent ahead fellow Guo An fans to secure enough seats in our general section. As the players warmed up I could feel the anticipation of the crowd rising and as soon as the game began the crowd erupted in cheers.\r\n\r\nTo say that Guo An fans are supportive of their team is an understatement, the stadium looked as thought there had been an explosion of green paint and somehow everyone seemed to know all the cheers. Whether they were cheering on their champions or using such colourful insults that even I couldn’t help but blushing. Clearly these fans were serious. Although the first half of the game was relatively uneventful in terms of the actual football, this didn’t stop the fans from yelling at everyone from the Shanghai players to the referee to their own players!\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3578" title="SAM_0044-Optimized-150x150" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/SAM_0044-Optimized-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" />After an admittedly slow first half, I was then further taken by surprise when the ‘half time show’ took to the pitch. A few dozen elderly Chinese then ‘ran’ to pitch and displayed their best dance and kite skills.  At least there was no possibility of a Janet Jackson Superbowl scandal with the performers smartly dressed in matching track suits.\r\n\r\nFinally the second half began and the game began to pick up momentum. Soon Guo An scored and the stadium (including myself) erupted into cheers as 50,000 fans jumped up and down and threw streamers and confetti into the air. Then soon after Guo An scored again which demanded a similar response from the excitable crowd. However, Shanghai responded with a goal of their own, given the colourful language earlier I was surprised by the silence of the crowd as the 30 Shanghai fans celebrated in their own protected section. When they then scored again I began to feel as anxious as my fellow Guo An fans.\r\n\r\nHowever, Guo An’s talent pulled through in the end and scored a third and final goal with only minutes left in the game. The crowd of course erupted with cheers and as the final seconds of the match passed scarves were raised over heads and the streaming confetti thrown in the air as the players addressed the fans.\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\nIn the end I not only experienced a good match but also learnt several new phrases that would impress any Chinese taxi driver and saw a less serious side to usual hustle and bustle of Beijing.\r\n\r\n[This story was contributed by LTL student <strong>Anastasia Lau</strong> from <strong>Bermuda</strong>. (Homestay, Small Group Classes and Survival Kit Standard)]\r\n<strong></strong>\r\n\r\nIf you want to join <a href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/guoanfanclub/">LIGAF</a> to watch a match together, please email Andreas at <a href="mailto:andreas@livethelanguage.cn">andreas@livethelanguage.cn</a> and we will get a ticket for you.', 'LTL International Football Fan Club', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3576-revision-4', '', '', '2012-11-19 08:32:02', '2012-11-19 08:32:02', '', 3576, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3576-revision-4/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3584, 1, '2012-04-06 09:06:08', '2012-04-06 09:06:08', 'In China it has long been a Spring tradition to 踏青 tàqīng, meaning to get outside and enjoy nature. While a city like Beijing may not seem at first glance to be filled with nature, there are actually plenty of fun and interesting ways to 踏青.\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<span style="font-size: large;"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3585" title="Taoranting Park" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/culturalchina33e74a769042d862a646-300x225.jpg" alt="Taoranting Park" width="300" height="225" />Taoranting Park</span>\r\n\r\n陶然亭公园 Táorántíng Gōngyuán is named for the main pavilion in the park, which was built during the Qing Dynasty. There are dozens of beautiful pavilions and gardens to explore, which is one of the reasons artists and writers have loved to gather here for hundreds of years. To get there, take the Subway Line 4 to Taoranting Station.[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<span style="font-size: large;">Cycle the city</span>\r\n\r\nBeijing is a very bicycle-friendly city, with designated bike lanes on most major roads and a general friendliness towards riders within smaller neighborhoods. A great area to explore on a bike is 鼓楼 Gǔlóu (Drum Tower) because there is an interesting balance of courtyard homes alongside small shops and cafes.[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<span style="font-size: large;"><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3586" title="Happy Valley" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/image0022-300x224.jpg" alt="Happy Valley" width="300" height="224" />Happy Valley</span>\r\n\r\n北京欢乐谷 Běijīng huānlè gǔ (Happy Valley Beijing) is an amusement park located along the Southeast 4<sup>th</sup> Ring Road. Impossible to miss as you approach, Happy Valley is comprised of several themed areas with the highlight being the lost city of Atlantis. It is part water park, so be sure to bring a swimsuit or change of clothes. To get there from LTL, you can get on the #30 bus at 八王坟北 and get off at 厚俸桥.', 'Time to 踏青', '', 'publish', 'open', 'open', '', 'time-to', '', '', '2012-12-11 04:24:31', '2012-12-11 04:24:31', '', 0, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/?p=3584', 0, 'post', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3585, 1, '2012-11-19 09:04:51', '2012-11-19 09:04:51', '', 'culturalchina33e74a769042d862a646-300x225', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', 'culturalchina33e74a769042d862a646-300x225', '', '', '2012-11-19 09:04:51', '2012-11-19 09:04:51', '', 3584, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/culturalchina33e74a769042d862a646-300x225.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3586, 1, '2012-11-19 09:04:54', '2012-11-19 09:04:54', '', 'image0022-300x224', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', 'image0022-300x224', '', '', '2012-11-19 09:04:54', '2012-11-19 09:04:54', '', 3584, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/image0022-300x224.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3587, 1, '2012-11-19 08:42:42', '2012-11-19 08:42:42', 'In China it has long been a Spring tradition to 踏青 tàqīng, meaning to get outside and enjoy nature. While a city like Beijing may not seem at first glance to be filled with nature, there are actually plenty of fun and interesting ways to 踏青.\n\n<span style="font-size: large;">Taoranting Park</span>\n\n陶然亭公园 Táorántíng Gōngyuán is named for the main pavilion in the park, which was built during the Qing Dynasty. There are dozens of beautiful pavilions and gardens to explore, which is one of the reasons artists and writers have loved to gather here for hundreds of years. To get there, take the Subway Line 4 to Taoranting Station.\n\n<span style="font-size: large;">Cycle the city</span>\n\nBeijing is a very bicycle-friendly city, with designated bike lanes on most major roads and a general friendliness towards riders within smaller neighborhoods. A great area to explore on a bike is 鼓楼 Gǔlóu (Drum Tower) because there is an interesting balance of courtyard homes alongside small shops and cafes.\n\n<span style="font-size: large;">Happy Valley</span>\n\n北京欢乐谷 Běijīng huānlè gǔ (Happy Valley Beijing) is an amusement park located along the Southeast 4<sup>th</sup> Ring Road. Impossible to miss as you approach, Happy Valley is comprised of several themed areas with the highlight being the lost city of Atlantis. It is part water park, so be sure to bring a swimsuit or change of clothes. To get there from LTL, you can get on the #30 bus at 八王坟北 and get off at 厚俸桥.', 'Time to 踏青', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3584-revision', '', '', '2012-11-19 08:42:42', '2012-11-19 08:42:42', '', 3584, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3584-revision/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3588, 1, '2012-11-19 09:08:13', '2012-11-19 09:08:13', 'In China it has long been a Spring tradition to 踏青 tàqīng, meaning to get outside and enjoy nature. While a city like Beijing may not seem at first glance to be filled with nature, there are actually plenty of fun and interesting ways to 踏青.\n\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\n\n<span style="font-size: large;"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3585" title="Taoranting Park" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/culturalchina33e74a769042d862a646-300x225.jpg" alt="Taoranting Park" width="300" height="225" />Taoranting Park</span>\n\n陶然亭公园 Táorántíng Gōngyuán is named for the main pavilion in the park, which was built during the Qing Dynasty. There are dozens of beautiful pavilions and gardens to explore, which is one of the reasons artists and writers have loved to gather here for hundreds of years. To get there, take the Subway Line 4 to Taoranting Station.[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\n\n<span style="font-size: large;">Cycle the city</span>\n\nBeijing is a very bicycle-friendly city, with designated bike lanes on most major roads and a general friendliness towards riders within smaller neighborhoods. A great area to explore on a bike is 鼓楼 Gǔlóu (Drum Tower) because there is an interesting balance of courtyard homes alongside small shops and cafes.\n\n<span style="font-size: large;"><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3586" title="Happy Valley" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/image0022-300x224.jpg" alt="Happy Valley" width="300" height="224" />Happy Valley</span>\n\n北京欢乐谷 Běijīng huānlè gǔ (Happy Valley Beijing) is an amusement park located along the Southeast 4<sup>th</sup> Ring Road. Impossible to miss as you approach, Happy Valley is comprised of several themed areas with the highlight being the lost city of Atlantis. It is part water park, so be sure to bring a swimsuit or change of clothes. To get there from LTL, you can get on the #30 bus at 八王坟北 and get off at 厚俸桥.', 'Time to 踏青', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3584-autosave', '', '', '2012-11-19 09:08:13', '2012-11-19 09:08:13', '', 3584, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3584-autosave/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3589, 1, '2012-11-19 09:06:08', '2012-11-19 09:06:08', 'In China it has long been a Spring tradition to 踏青 tàqīng, meaning to get outside and enjoy nature. While a city like Beijing may not seem at first glance to be filled with nature, there are actually plenty of fun and interesting ways to 踏青.\r\n\r\n<span style="font-size: large;"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3585" title="culturalchina33e74a769042d862a646-300x225" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/culturalchina33e74a769042d862a646-300x225.jpg" alt="Taoranting Park" width="300" height="225" />Taoranting Park</span>\r\n\r\n陶然亭公园 Táorántíng Gōngyuán is named for the main pavilion in the park, which was built during the Qing Dynasty. There are dozens of beautiful pavilions and gardens to explore, which is one of the reasons artists and writers have loved to gather here for hundreds of years. To get there, take the Subway Line 4 to Taoranting Station.\r\n\r\n<span style="font-size: large;">Cycle the city</span>\r\n\r\nBeijing is a very bicycle-friendly city, with designated bike lanes on most major roads and a general friendliness towards riders within smaller neighborhoods. A great area to explore on a bike is 鼓楼 Gǔlóu (Drum Tower) because there is an interesting balance of courtyard homes alongside small shops and cafes.\r\n\r\n<span style="font-size: large;"><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3586" title="image0022-300x224" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/image0022-300x224.jpg" alt="Happy Valley" width="300" height="224" />Happy Valley</span>\r\n\r\n北京欢乐谷 Běijīng huānlè gǔ (Happy Valley Beijing) is an amusement park located along the Southeast 4<sup>th</sup> Ring Road. Impossible to miss as you approach, Happy Valley is comprised of several themed areas with the highlight being the lost city of Atlantis. It is part water park, so be sure to bring a swimsuit or change of clothes. To get there from LTL, you can get on the #30 bus at 八王坟北 and get off at 厚俸桥.', 'Time to 踏青', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3584-revision-2', '', '', '2012-11-19 09:06:08', '2012-11-19 09:06:08', '', 3584, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3584-revision-2/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3590, 1, '2012-04-11 09:11:51', '2012-04-11 09:11:51', 'I’ve always had a friendly argument with one of my friends (whose Chinese is wonderful) about the importance of tones.\r\n\r\nI have always believed that if you speak quickly enough, the context of the situation will fill in the blanks of any words whose tones have been uttered completely wrongly. To some extent this is true.\r\n\r\nI mean come on. The difference between the second and third tones is so slight, it’s impossible not to make the leap in understanding, surely? Well now, thanks to my teacher at Live the Language and my precocious little know-all at home, the truth of the matter is coming through, and it’s not particularly helpful.\r\n\r\n<img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3591" title="the four tones" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/4tones-300x180.gif" alt="" width="300" height="180" />Tones do matter. Yet another burden to lug up the mountain of learning Chinese. To Chinese people, words spoken with different tones are completely different words.\r\n\r\nThey simply do not hear how similar the words are, and this is by no means a shortcoming. The same problem occurs in English – for example the words ‘beat’ and ‘bit’ are impossible to confuse to a native speaker, but my Chinese friends claim they sound identical. It’s all to do with what you have in your own language as a basis on which to start learning another.\r\n\r\nBut bilingual people, clever devils that they are, have the marvellous gift of not only being able to hear the difference between wrongly pronounced words, they can also understand why speakers of second languages struggle.\r\n\r\nThey get it.\r\n\r\nMy little boy is very helpful. He has to be, or my neighbours and friends simply wouldn’t understand me half the time. So he is always chiming in with the right pronunciation when hisbabysitter smiles blankly at something I have just said.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n‘Oh, I see!’ her face lights up when he explains that although I said I had just bought a new enemy spy, in fact I had acquired a new rug from IKEA. And to a bemused shopkeeper of whom I have just enquired the whereabouts of cat poop, he will explain that we need food for our pet. Those pesky second and third tones again.\r\n\r\nI do still recognise more characters than he does, though I am sure this will not last long.\r\n\r\nI don’t dwell on the fact that the ones he has learned to write in a few months are better than those I have been practising for years.\r\n\r\nSo when it comes to homework, I can help him. Sometimes this involves looking for certain characters in a text and writing down their pinyin. Because I invariably get the tone wrong, when I have spotted the right character I also have to tell him what it means in English so that he can say it correctly before he writes down the pinyin. Very, very occasionally I get it right by mere chance. ‘Mummy! That’s the right tone!’ he will exclaim in disbelief. ‘That was lucky!’\r\n\r\nI will never get them off pat like a native speaker, but I now realise it is important to try.\r\n\r\nAnd it includes, somehow, nailing that second and third.\r\n\r\n[This story was contributed by <a href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/" target="_blank">L</a>TL student Debbie Mason from the UK (Individual one-on-one classes)]', 'Learning Mandarin with a Bilingual Child', '', 'publish', 'open', 'open', '', 'learning-mandarin-with-a-bilingual-child', '', '', '2012-12-11 04:24:22', '2012-12-11 04:24:22', '', 0, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/?p=3590', 0, 'post', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3914, 1, '2012-11-20 02:15:52', '2012-11-20 02:15:52', 'Going abroad is the one thing many of us think about as being the best way to learn a new language.\r\n\r\nIf the opportunity arises, is it worth grabbing?\r\n\r\nI have talked about courses before, be self-study with Pimsleur or taught like Turkish course in Skopje.\r\n\r\nWhat about these “intensive courses” though? Just how much can you learn on one?\r\n\r\n<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Living the language</strong></span>\r\n\r\nLearning a language in-country can take many guises. You can move to a country indefinitely for work, love or study without a definite plan to return to your native land. Other options are exchanges (particularly for school/university students). The other option open is short to medium stays, learning the language as an independent learner or on a course. You could choose to do this in combination with a paid or unpaid work placement. Or you might choose to seek out language tuition in the country.\r\n\r\nAll of these options have pros and cons attached, including a number of factors ranging from cost and efficiency to personal experience and preference. I have done the language exchanges offered by my school, like Tim Doner from New York, who went to France on such an exchange this year. In this video he talks about his experience:\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/QdNRq2kuVMk?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" width="640" height="360"></iframe>\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n<div>\r\n\r\nI have been on short courses abroad to brush up on my language skills and full year-long courses, working towards a diploma, like my Advanced Diploma in Czech Studies from Charles University in Prague.\r\n\r\nIf you are thinking about going on a course of study abroad with a language school or university, this new challenge is FOR YOU.\r\n\r\n<strong><span style="font-size: medium;">The set-up</span></strong>\r\n\r\nI am currently taking mandarin language lessons over Skype with LTL (Live The Language) in Beijing. The goal is to bring my very limited Chinese to a decent basic level in preparation for a one month stay in China at the start of 2013.\r\n\r\n<strong><span style="font-size: medium;">The China Program</span></strong>\r\n\r\nI will be taking part in the “<a title="Two city Combo" href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/traveling-to-china/two-city-combo/">Two City Combo</a>” offered by LTL and spending two weeks in Beijing and then two further weeks in Chegde. I will live with local families in a bid to make the most of my language learning experience and really Live the Language. Whilst I am in both cities I will have twenty hours of tuition a week.\r\n\r\n<span style="font-size: medium;"><strong>What do you expect to know after a month in China?</strong></span>\r\n\r\nI aim to get my Chinese to a solid A1 level before I go over. 80 hours of tuition in China should be sufficient to get to the next level. I hope to be able to speak it at a good A2 level by the end of my stay. Any more than that would be a bonus. The key is to get a solid grounding in the language to build on it after the stay.\r\n\r\n<strong><span style="font-size: medium;">Why Chinese? Why now?</span></strong>\r\n\r\nMandarin and I have had a rocky relationship with lots of starts and stops for a number of reasons. Without a doubt it is an important language in terms of numbers of people who speak it. It contains a the rich history and culture heritage. I would also like to support my daughter in her studies of the language, as she constantly expresses an interest in learning it too.\r\n\r\n<strong><span style="font-size: medium;">Recording my journey</span></strong>\r\n\r\nMy Chinese was very basic before starting the Skype lessons, so it makes little sense to record a video saying nothing, right? I will make a video in Chinese after I have studied for three months and then again at six months. When I arrive in China I will be assessed officially for the course. I will record this assessment too and then later show my progress at the end of the course.\r\n\r\n<strong><span style="font-size: medium;">Join me on my journey</span></strong>\r\n\r\nShare your stories with me on here and on my <a href="http://www.facebook.com/RichardSimcott">Facebook</a> page and let me know how I am getting on! <img src="http://ltlcdn1.ltl.netdna-cdn.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif" alt=":)" />\r\n\r\nRead the <a href="http://speakingfluently.com/2012/07/14/live-the-language-studying-in-country/">original post</a>\r\n\r\n</div>', 'Polyglot Richard Simcott studies with LTL', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3621-revision-5', '', '', '2012-11-20 02:15:52', '2012-11-20 02:15:52', '', 3621, 'http://ltl-chinois.fr/3621-revision-5/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3591, 1, '2012-11-19 09:10:26', '2012-11-19 09:10:26', '', '4tones-300x180', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '4tones-300x180', '', '', '2012-11-19 09:10:26', '2012-11-19 09:10:26', '', 3590, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/4tones-300x180.gif', 0, 'attachment', 'image/gif', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3592, 1, '2012-11-19 09:10:28', '2012-11-19 09:10:28', '', 'chinese', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', 'chinese', '', '', '2012-11-19 09:10:28', '2012-11-19 09:10:28', '', 3590, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/chinese.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3593, 1, '2012-11-19 09:11:17', '2012-11-19 09:11:17', 'I’ve always had a friendly argument with one of my friends (whose Chinese is wonderful) about the importance of tones.\n\nI have always believed that if you speak quickly enough, the context of the situation will fill in the blanks of any words whose tones have been uttered completely wrongly. To some extent this is true.\n\nI mean come on. The difference between the second and third tones is so slight, it’s impossible not to make the leap in understanding, surely? Well now, thanks to my teacher at Live the Language and my precocious little know-all at home, the truth of the matter is coming through, and it’s not particularly helpful.\n\n<a href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/4tones-300x180.gif"><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3591" title="4tones-300x180" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/4tones-300x180.gif" alt="" width="300" height="180" /></a>Tones do matter. Yet another burden to lug up the mountain of learning Chinese. To Chinese people, words spoken with different tones are completely different words.\n\nThey simply do not hear how similar the words are, and this is by no means a shortcoming. The same problem occurs in English – for example the words ‘beat’ and ‘bit’ are impossible to confuse to a native speaker, but my Chinese friends claim they sound identical. It’s all to do with what you have in your own language as a basis on which to start learning another.\n\nBut bilingual people, clever devils that they are, have the marvellous gift of not only being able to hear the difference between wrongly pronounced words, they can also understand why speakers of second languages struggle.\n\nThey get it.\n\nMy little boy is very helpful. He has to be, or my neighbours and friends simply wouldn’t understand me half the time. So he is always chiming in with the right pronunciation when his<img class="alignleft" title="chinese" src="http://ltlcdn1.ltl.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/chinese.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="300" />babysitter smiles blankly at something I have just said.\n\n‘Oh, I see!’ her face lights up when he explains that although I said I had just bought a new enemy spy, in fact I had acquired a new rug from IKEA. And to a bemused shopkeeper of whom I have just enquired the whereabouts of cat poop, he will explain that we need food for our pet. Those pesky second and third tones again.\n\nI do still recognise more characters than he does, though I am sure this will not last long.\n\nI don’t dwell on the fact that the ones he has learned to write in a few months are better than those I have been practising for years.\n\nSo when it comes to homework, I can help him. Sometimes this involves looking for certain characters in a text and writing down their pinyin. Because I invariably get the tone wrong, when I have spotted the right character I also have to tell him what it means in English so that he can say it correctly before he writes down the pinyin. Very, very occasionally I get it right by mere chance. ‘Mummy! That’s the right tone!’ he will exclaim in disbelief. ‘That was lucky!’\n\nI will never get them off pat like a native speaker, but I now realise it is important to try.\n\nAnd it includes, somehow, nailing that second and third.\n\n[This story was contributed by <a href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/" target="_blank">L</a>TL student Debbie Mason from the UK (Individual one-on-one classes)]', 'Learning Mandarin with a Bilingual Child', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3590-revision', '', '', '2012-11-19 09:11:17', '2012-11-19 09:11:17', '', 3590, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3590-revision/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3594, 1, '2012-11-19 09:11:51', '2012-11-19 09:11:51', 'I’ve always had a friendly argument with one of my friends (whose Chinese is wonderful) about the importance of tones.\r\n\r\nI have always believed that if you speak quickly enough, the context of the situation will fill in the blanks of any words whose tones have been uttered completely wrongly. To some extent this is true.\r\n\r\nI mean come on. The difference between the second and third tones is so slight, it’s impossible not to make the leap in understanding, surely? Well now, thanks to my teacher at Live the Language and my precocious little know-all at home, the truth of the matter is coming through, and it’s not particularly helpful.\r\n\r\n<img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3591" title="the four tones" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/4tones-300x180.gif" alt="" width="300" height="180" />Tones do matter. Yet another burden to lug up the mountain of learning Chinese. To Chinese people, words spoken with different tones are completely different words.\r\n\r\nThey simply do not hear how similar the words are, and this is by no means a shortcoming. The same problem occurs in English – for example the words ‘beat’ and ‘bit’ are impossible to confuse to a native speaker, but my Chinese friends claim they sound identical. It’s all to do with what you have in your own language as a basis on which to start learning another.\r\n\r\nBut bilingual people, clever devils that they are, have the marvellous gift of not only being able to hear the difference between wrongly pronounced words, they can also understand why speakers of second languages struggle.\r\n\r\nThey get it.\r\n\r\nMy little boy is very helpful. He has to be, or my neighbours and friends simply wouldn’t understand me half the time. So he is always chiming in with the right pronunciation when his<img class="alignleft" title="chinese" src="http://ltlcdn1.ltl.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/chinese.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="300" />babysitter smiles blankly at something I have just said.\r\n\r\n‘Oh, I see!’ her face lights up when he explains that although I said I had just bought a new enemy spy, in fact I had acquired a new rug from IKEA. And to a bemused shopkeeper of whom I have just enquired the whereabouts of cat poop, he will explain that we need food for our pet. Those pesky second and third tones again.\r\n\r\nI do still recognise more characters than he does, though I am sure this will not last long.\r\n\r\nI don’t dwell on the fact that the ones he has learned to write in a few months are better than those I have been practising for years.\r\n\r\nSo when it comes to homework, I can help him. Sometimes this involves looking for certain characters in a text and writing down their pinyin. Because I invariably get the tone wrong, when I have spotted the right character I also have to tell him what it means in English so that he can say it correctly before he writes down the pinyin. Very, very occasionally I get it right by mere chance. ‘Mummy! That’s the right tone!’ he will exclaim in disbelief. ‘That was lucky!’\r\n\r\nI will never get them off pat like a native speaker, but I now realise it is important to try.\r\n\r\nAnd it includes, somehow, nailing that second and third.\r\n\r\n[This story was contributed by <a href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/" target="_blank">L</a>TL student Debbie Mason from the UK (Individual one-on-one classes)]', 'Learning Mandarin with a Bilingual Child', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3590-revision-2', '', '', '2012-11-19 09:11:51', '2012-11-19 09:11:51', '', 3590, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3590-revision-2/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3595, 1, '2012-11-19 09:12:38', '2012-11-19 09:12:38', 'I’ve always had a friendly argument with one of my friends (whose Chinese is wonderful) about the importance of tones.\r\n\r\nI have always believed that if you speak quickly enough, the context of the situation will fill in the blanks of any words whose tones have been uttered completely wrongly. To some extent this is true.\r\n\r\nI mean come on. The difference between the second and third tones is so slight, it’s impossible not to make the leap in understanding, surely? Well now, thanks to my teacher at Live the Language and my precocious little know-all at home, the truth of the matter is coming through, and it’s not particularly helpful.\r\n\r\n<img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3591" title="the four tones" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/4tones-300x180.gif" alt="" width="300" height="180" />Tones do matter. Yet another burden to lug up the mountain of learning Chinese. To Chinese people, words spoken with different tones are completely different words.\r\n\r\nThey simply do not hear how similar the words are, and this is by no means a shortcoming. The same problem occurs in English – for example the words ‘beat’ and ‘bit’ are impossible to confuse to a native speaker, but my Chinese friends claim they sound identical. It’s all to do with what you have in your own language as a basis on which to start learning another.\r\n\r\nBut bilingual people, clever devils that they are, have the marvellous gift of not only being able to hear the difference between wrongly pronounced words, they can also understand why speakers of second languages struggle.\r\n\r\nThey get it.\r\n\r\nMy little boy is very helpful. He has to be, or my neighbours and friends simply wouldn’t understand me half the time. So he is always chiming in with the right pronunciation when hisbabysitter smiles blankly at something I have just said.\r\n\r\n<img class="alignleft" title="chinese" src="http://ltlcdn1.ltl.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/chinese.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="300" />\r\n\r\n‘Oh, I see!’ her face lights up when he explains that although I said I had just bought a new enemy spy, in fact I had acquired a new rug from IKEA. And to a bemused shopkeeper of whom I have just enquired the whereabouts of cat poop, he will explain that we need food for our pet. Those pesky second and third tones again.\r\n\r\nI do still recognise more characters than he does, though I am sure this will not last long.\r\n\r\nI don’t dwell on the fact that the ones he has learned to write in a few months are better than those I have been practising for years.\r\n\r\nSo when it comes to homework, I can help him. Sometimes this involves looking for certain characters in a text and writing down their pinyin. Because I invariably get the tone wrong, when I have spotted the right character I also have to tell him what it means in English so that he can say it correctly before he writes down the pinyin. Very, very occasionally I get it right by mere chance. ‘Mummy! That’s the right tone!’ he will exclaim in disbelief. ‘That was lucky!’\r\n\r\nI will never get them off pat like a native speaker, but I now realise it is important to try.\r\n\r\nAnd it includes, somehow, nailing that second and third.\r\n\r\n[This story was contributed by <a href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/" target="_blank">L</a>TL student Debbie Mason from the UK (Individual one-on-one classes)]', 'Learning Mandarin with a Bilingual Child', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3590-revision-3', '', '', '2012-11-19 09:12:38', '2012-11-19 09:12:38', '', 3590, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3590-revision-3/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3596, 1, '2012-05-07 09:14:30', '2012-05-07 09:14:30', '<em>Once a month we ask all our students to fill out a feedback form regarding their classes, so we know where we are already good and where we still need to improve. One LTL student sent us an email this month as well</em>\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\nDear LTL team,\r\n\r\nI am so happy with my learning experience that I would like to further express my deep satisfaction with my teacher this past semester, as I feel that I need to say a few words in addition to those on my evaluation form.\r\n\r\n<img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3597" title="kyle" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/kyle.jpg" alt="" width="114" height="126" />After our first trial class, I had a strong feeling that my teacher would be a great fit for me – so strong in fact that I signed up for an entire semester with LTL, and it has turned out to be one of the best decisions I’ve made in a long time.\r\n\r\nI have had professional Mandarin language teachers in ISB, college and a couple of private tutors since I’ve lived in Beijing, but none of them have been as good or as successful as my teacher. She is patient, very professional, and easy and fun to learn from. She makes lessons relevant to my life and genuinely cares about my progress. Her style suits me very well, and although it was difficult in the beginning, learning Chinese purely through Chinese has paid off.\r\n\r\nWhile we meet one another for three hours every day for intense one-on-one classes, I am always happy to see her and learn the language. My teacher’s positive attitude and friendly demeanor complement her excellent teaching ability. While some days after class I leave with the feeling that Mandarin is leaking out my ears, I have never once felt lost, drowning, or left behind. My teacher has ensured that I always understand the subject matter as well as how, and why it is used.\r\n\r\nWhen I first started back in November, I spoke very little Mandarin and was able to write “你好” at best. Under my teacher, I am now breaking into the intermediate level and have the ability to write texts, e-mails and even simple essays in Mandarin, all in under 6 months. It’s a feeling like no other, and while I know I have a way to go until I reach my goal of fluency, I have absolute confidence in my teacher’s abilities to help me get there. She is the reason I have eagerly signed up for another semester.\r\n\r\nMy life and confidence in Beijing has dramatically improved and I cannot thank my teacher and LTL enough for that. My teacher is a very special educator and I am incredibly lucky to have met her and benefited from her teaching. I am as satisfied as can be and wouldn’t trade the experience for anything. I look forward to the next semester and beyond, continuing my Chinese language journey with her and LTL.\r\n\r\nAll the best,\r\n\r\n<strong>Kyle</strong>', 'Student Feedback Email', '', 'publish', 'open', 'open', '', 'student-feedback-email', '', '', '2012-12-11 04:24:05', '2012-12-11 04:24:05', '', 0, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/?p=3596', 0, 'post', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3597, 1, '2012-11-19 09:14:10', '2012-11-19 09:14:10', '', 'kyle', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', 'kyle', '', '', '2012-11-19 09:14:10', '2012-11-19 09:14:10', '', 3596, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/kyle.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3598, 1, '2012-11-19 09:13:40', '2012-11-19 09:13:40', '', 'Student Feedback Email', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3596-revision', '', '', '2012-11-19 09:13:40', '2012-11-19 09:13:40', '', 3596, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3596-revision/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3599, 1, '2012-11-19 09:14:30', '2012-11-19 09:14:30', '<em>Once a month we ask all our students to fill out a feedback form regarding their classes, so we know where we are already good and where we still need to improve. One LTL student sent us an email this month as well</em>\r\n\r\nDear LTL team,\r\n\r\nI am so happy with my learning experience that I would like to further express my deep satisfaction with my teacher this past semester, as I feel that I need to say a few words in addition to those on my evaluation form.\r\n\r\n<img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3597" title="kyle" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/kyle.jpg" alt="" width="114" height="126" />After our first trial class, I had a strong feeling that my teacher would be a great fit for me – so strong in fact that I signed up for an entire semester with LTL, and it has turned out to be one of the best decisions I’ve made in a long time.\r\n\r\nI have had professional Mandarin language teachers in ISB, college and a couple of private tutors since I’ve lived in Beijing, but none of them have been as good or as successful as my teacher. She is patient, very professional, and easy and fun to learn from. She makes lessons relevant to my life and genuinely cares about my progress. Her style suits me very well, and although it was difficult in the beginning, learning Chinese purely through Chinese has paid off.\r\n\r\nWhile we meet one another for three hours every day for intense one-on-one classes, I am always happy to see her and learn the language. My teacher’s positive attitude and friendly demeanor complement her excellent teaching ability. While some days after class I leave with the feeling that Mandarin is leaking out my ears, I have never once felt lost, drowning, or left behind. My teacher has ensured that I always understand the subject matter as well as how, and why it is used.\r\n\r\nWhen I first started back in November, I spoke very little Mandarin and was able to write “你好” at best. Under my teacher, I am now breaking into the intermediate level and have the ability to write texts, e-mails and even simple essays in Mandarin, all in under 6 months. It’s a feeling like no other, and while I know I have a way to go until I reach my goal of fluency, I have absolute confidence in my teacher’s abilities to help me get there. She is the reason I have eagerly signed up for another semester.\r\n\r\nMy life and confidence in Beijing has dramatically improved and I cannot thank my teacher and LTL enough for that. My teacher is a very special educator and I am incredibly lucky to have met her and benefited from her teaching. I am as satisfied as can be and wouldn’t trade the experience for anything. I look forward to the next semester and beyond, continuing my Chinese language journey with her and LTL.\r\n\r\nAll the best,\r\n\r\n<strong>Kyle</strong>', 'Student Feedback Email', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3596-revision-2', '', '', '2012-11-19 09:14:30', '2012-11-19 09:14:30', '', 3596, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3596-revision-2/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3600, 1, '2012-05-24 09:18:45', '2012-05-24 09:18:45', 'When I sent my child to a Chinese school, I didn’t realise how steep the learning curve would be.\r\n\r\nAnd I didn’t mean for him.\r\n\r\nIt’s calmed down now, but for the first two months we parents were subjected to reams and reams of daily text messages detailing what the children had done at school, what we had to buy for them, what after school clubs there were available, and yes, what the dreaded homework was for that day.\r\n\r\n<img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3601" title="hsk" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/hsk1.jpg" alt="" width="362" height="510" />With the school text books came yet more Chinese that I, as an adult learner of a second language, had never come across. My teacher at Live the Language does not have the time to explain primary school lingo. Her unenviable task is to try and get me through the HSK.\r\n\r\nSomehow my teacher got me to understand, “The financial dependence of his family bolstered his immune system so that his internal defences were able to overcome the illness.” But it was now left to me to get over the challenge of how to say “join the dots.”\r\n\r\nThis is the register of primary school Chinese, that had I not had a dwarf in the house, I would never have faced.\r\n\r\nEvery language is made up of different so-called registers, whereby a different set of unwritten usage rules is used depending on context. The language in a court of law, say, would be carried out in a totally different register from that in a prison cell.\r\n\r\n<img class="size-full wp-image-3602 alignright" title="carrot1" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/carrot1.png" alt="" width="120" height="180" />Knowing how to bargain fluently at Yashow Market is not going to earn you respect if you are trying to discuss the necessity of irrigation trenches in arid regions. Nor vice versa, come to that, but it would be handy to know how to do both and apply them where relevant.\r\n\r\nAnd this was the problem. Where I had learned the character for “irrigation trench,” I hadn’t learned those for “draw a circle around the odd numbers,” or “draw a smiley face on the animals that can jump.”\r\n\r\nIn fact it should help my woeful attempts in the long run, as I am always being told that one of my many major problems is trying to make things far too complicated.\r\n\r\nI am slowly learning that it is not necessary to say, “In order to maintain consistency, select blue and complete the sphere to its perimeter with the selected utensil” when in fact I could just say “Color the circle blue.”\r\n\r\nSo while I plough my way through the mud that is adult Chinese, and try and navigate through the subtleties of when you can say “after all,” and when you have to instead say, “at the end of the day,” I thank my teacher at LTL for patiently supplying endless examples of when to use the right phrases.\r\n\r\nI also thank my son’s teachers for the opportunity to learn how to say, “Match the number on the basket with the little rabbit that has munched that many carrots.”\r\n\r\nDebbie Mason has lived in Beijing for more than ten years. She thought her Chinese was okay until she realized she could not understand her son and his Chinese playmates. In a bid to try and keep up with her 7-year-old, Debbie is taking Chinese classes at LTL.', 'Lost in Translation: Learning Chinese Phrases', '', 'publish', 'open', 'open', '', 'lost-in-translation-learning-chinese-phrases', '', '', '2012-12-11 04:23:52', '2012-12-11 04:23:52', '', 0, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/?p=3600', 0, 'post', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3601, 1, '2012-11-19 09:16:52', '2012-11-19 09:16:52', '', 'hsk', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', 'hsk1', '', '', '2012-11-19 09:16:52', '2012-11-19 09:16:52', '', 3600, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/hsk1.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3602, 1, '2012-11-19 09:16:55', '2012-11-19 09:16:55', '', 'carrot1', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', 'carrot1', '', '', '2012-11-19 09:16:55', '2012-11-19 09:16:55', '', 3600, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/carrot1.png', 0, 'attachment', 'image/png', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3603, 1, '2012-11-19 09:18:15', '2012-11-19 09:18:15', 'When I sent my child to a Chinese school, I didn’t realise how steep the learning curve would be.\n\nAnd I didn’t mean for him.\n\nIt’s calmed down now, but for the first two months we parents were subjected to reams and reams of daily text messages detailing what the children had done at school, what we had to buy for them, what after school clubs there were available, and yes, what the dreaded homework was for that day.\n\n<img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3601" title="hsk" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/hsk1.jpg" alt="" width="362" height="510" />With the school text books came yet more Chinese that I, as an adult learner of a second language, had never come across. My teacher at Live the Language does not have the time to explain primary school lingo. Her unenviable task is to try and get me through the HSK.\n\nSomehow my teacher got me to understand, “The financial dependence of his family bolstered his immune system so that his internal defences were able to overcome the illness.” But it was now left to me to get over the challenge of how to say “join the dots.”\n\nThis is the register of primary school Chinese, that had I not had a dwarf in the house, I would never have faced.\n\nEvery language is made up of different so-called registers, whereby a different set of unwritten usage rules is used depending on context. The language in a court of law, say, would be carried out in a totally different register from that in a prison cell.\n\nKnowing how to bargain fluently at Yashow Market is not going to earn you respect if you are trying to discuss the necessity of irrigation trenches in arid regions. Nor vice versa, come to that, but it would be handy to know how to do both and apply them where relevant.\n\nAnd this was the problem. Where I had learned the character for “irrigation trench,” I hadn’t learned those for “draw a circle around the odd numbers,” or “draw a smiley face on the animals that can jump.”\n\nIn fact it should help my woeful attempts in the long run, as I am always being told that one of my many major problems is trying to make things far too complicated.\n\nI am slowly learning that it is not necessary to say, “In order to maintain consistency, select blue and complete the sphere to its perimeter with the selected utensil” when in fact I could just say “Color the circle blue.”\n\nSo while I plough my way through the mud that is adult Chinese, and try and navigate through the subtleties of when you can say “after all,” and when you have to instead say, “at the end of the day,” I thank my teacher at LTL for patiently supplying endless examples of when to use the right phrases.\n\nI also thank my son’s teachers for the opportunity to learn how to say, “Match the number on the basket with the little rabbit that has munched that many carrots.”\n\nDebbie Mason has lived in Beijing for more than ten years. She thought her Chinese was okay until she realized she could not understand her son and his Chinese playmates. In a bid to try and keep up with her 7-year-old, Debbie is taking Chinese classes at LTL.', 'Lost in Translation: Learning Chinese Phrases', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3600-revision', '', '', '2012-11-19 09:18:15', '2012-11-19 09:18:15', '', 3600, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3600-revision/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3604, 1, '2012-11-19 09:19:49', '2012-11-19 09:19:49', 'When I sent my child to a Chinese school, I didn’t realise how steep the learning curve would be.\n\nAnd I didn’t mean for him.\n\nIt’s calmed down now, but for the first two months we parents were subjected to reams and reams of daily text messages detailing what the children had done at school, what we had to buy for them, what after school clubs there were available, and yes, what the dreaded homework was for that day.\n\n<img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3601" title="hsk" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/hsk1.jpg" alt="" width="362" height="510" />With the school text books came yet more Chinese that I, as an adult learner of a second language, had never come across. My teacher at Live the Language does not have the time to explain primary school lingo. Her unenviable task is to try and get me through the HSK.\n\nSomehow my teacher got me to understand, “The financial dependence of his family bolstered his immune system so that his internal defences were able to overcome the illness.” But it was now left to me to get over the challenge of how to say “join the dots.”\n\nThis is the register of primary school Chinese, that had I not had a dwarf in the house, I would never have faced.\n\nEvery language is made up of different so-called registers, whereby a different set of unwritten usage rules is used depending on context. The language in a court of law, say, would be carried out in a totally different register from that in a prison cell.\n\n<img class="size-full wp-image-3602 alignright" title="carrot1" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/carrot1.png" alt="" width="120" height="180" />Knowing how to bargain fluently at Yashow Market is not going to earn you respect if you are trying to discuss the necessity of irrigation trenches in arid regions. Nor vice versa, come to that, but it would be handy to know how to do both and apply them where relevant.\n\nAnd this was the problem. Where I had learned the character for “irrigation trench,” I hadn’t learned those for “draw a circle around the odd numbers,” or “draw a smiley face on the animals that can jump.”\n\nIn fact it should help my woeful attempts in the long run, as I am always being told that one of my many major problems is trying to make things far too complicated.\n\nI am slowly learning that it is not necessary to say, “In order to maintain consistency, select blue and complete the sphere to its perimeter with the selected utensil” when in fact I could just say “Color the circle blue.”\n\nSo while I plough my way through the mud that is adult Chinese, and try and navigate through the subtleties of when you can say “after all,” and when you have to instead say, “at the end of the day,” I thank my teacher at LTL for patiently supplying endless examples of when to use the right phrases.\n\nI also thank my son’s teachers for the opportunity to learn how to say, “Match the number on the basket with the little rabbit that has munched that many carrots.”\n\nDebbie Mason has lived in Beijing for more than ten years. She thought her Chinese was okay until she realized she could not understand her son and his Chinese playmates. In a bid to try and keep up with her 7-year-old, Debbie is taking Chinese classes at LTL.', 'Lost in Translation: Learning Chinese Phrases', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3600-autosave', '', '', '2012-11-19 09:19:49', '2012-11-19 09:19:49', '', 3600, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3600-autosave/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3605, 1, '2012-05-25 09:21:37', '2012-05-25 09:21:37', '<img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3606" title="A little kindness" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/DSC00342-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />Today, I was carrying a lot of stuff for our BBQ tomorrow and just about managed to squeeze into the train on my way to work. While standing among the crowd thinking about what I might have forgotten to bring, I suddenly notice the Chinese lady next to me starting to type very quickly, almost anxiously on her iPhone. Not thinking too much about it, I slowly start to think again about class scheduling time tables and BBQ ingredients, when suddenly, the lady shows me her phone and points at it. A bit confused, I first move back a bit, but then take a look. Not being able to speak English and assuming that I dont speak Chinese, she had via some electronic dictionary written on her phone: “Your bag is opening!”. I turn around and indeed my laptop is just about to fall out of my backpack. I quickly close it, the train is arriving at my stop and I just about manage to say “谢谢” Xièxiè (thank you) before drifting with the crowds towards the exit.\r\nThank you again for your help Ms. Unkown, you saved my computer and made my day today.', 'A Little Kindness', '', 'publish', 'open', 'open', '', 'a-little-kindness', '', '', '2012-12-11 04:23:41', '2012-12-11 04:23:41', '', 0, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/?p=3605', 0, 'post', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3606, 1, '2012-11-19 09:21:16', '2012-11-19 09:21:16', '', 'A little kindness', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', 'dsc00342-300x225', '', '', '2012-11-19 09:21:16', '2012-11-19 09:21:16', '', 3605, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/DSC00342-300x225.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3607, 1, '2012-11-19 09:20:52', '2012-11-19 09:20:52', '', 'A Little Kindness', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3605-revision', '', '', '2012-11-19 09:20:52', '2012-11-19 09:20:52', '', 3605, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3605-revision/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3608, 1, '2012-11-19 09:22:42', '2012-11-19 09:22:42', '<img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3606" title="A little kindness" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/DSC00342-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />Today, I was carrying a lot of stuff for our BBQ tomorrow and just about managed to squeeze into the train on my way to work. While standing among the crowd thinking about what I might have forgotten to bring, I suddenly notice the Chinese lady next to me starting to type very quickly, almost anxiously on her iPhone. Not thinking too much about it, I slowly start to think again about class scheduling time tables and BBQ ingredients, when suddenly, the lady shows me her phone and points at it. A bit confused, I first move back a bit, but then take a look. Not being able to speak English and assuming that I dont speak Chinese, she had via some electronic dictionary written on her phone: “Your bag is opening!”. I turn around and indeed my laptop is just about to fall out of my backpack. I quickly close it, the train is arriving at my stop and I just about manage to say “谢谢” Xièxiè (thank you) before drifting with the crowds towards the exit.\nThank you again for your help Ms. Unkown, you saved my computer and made my day today.', 'A Little Kindness', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3605-autosave', '', '', '2012-11-19 09:22:42', '2012-11-19 09:22:42', '', 3605, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3605-autosave/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3609, 1, '2012-05-28 09:29:14', '2012-05-28 09:29:14', '<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>How far did Benny get to learn fluent Mandarin in Three Months?  </strong></span>\r\n\r\n<a href="http://www.fluentin3months.com/" target="_blank"><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3611" title="Benny Lewis with his teacher" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Benny-with-his-teacher.jpg" alt="benny lewis fluent in Chinese in 3 months" width="300" height="225" />Benny Lewis (“Fluent in 3 Months”)</a> came by <a href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/" target="_blank">LTL Mandarin School</a> last weekend for two hours of Chinese class and we spent about an hour chatting in Chinese afterwards  (well not the whole time – I was cutting vegetables for a BBQ also).\r\n\r\nHe is leaving the mainland tomorrow and it seemed there are quite a few people around on the internet who are interested to know how far he actually could progress. He didn’t sit any exam or something like this but based on what we saw, our school teacher and I wrote a quick review of his language skills:[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Tones</strong></span>\r\n\r\nVery good. Sometimes using the wrong tone on a word, but I would say that happens to any non native speaker. He has got the concept right, uses them consistently and clearly.[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Pronunciation</strong></span>\r\n\r\nAlso very good, though for someone with mother tongue English who studied intensively for three months this is in our experience to be expected.[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Grammar</strong></span>\r\n\r\nMakes some mistakes, for example\r\n\r\n得:  　我说汉语说不好 instead of 我说汉语说得不好\r\n\r\n比：　今天比昨天很热　instead of 今天比昨天热很多\r\n\r\n有点儿／一点儿：　这个一点儿贵 instead of 这个有点儿贵\r\n\r\nOverall knowledge of sentence structures definitely good enough for pretty much any day to day conversations and social occasions, however I do not think for business or advanced level conversations.\r\n\r\nHe knew the rather subtle difference between 咱们 and 我们 which I don’t think most learner after 3 months would know, especially when studying in Taiwan, as 咱们 is mainly a northern expression.[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Chinese Characters</strong></span>\r\n\r\nHe focuses only on character recognition without writing by hand at all, which does make sense up to a point if you want to quickly progress. Overall his character recognition is a lot lower than his spoken ability though – this was obviously not a focus of his studies. Also, he studied in Taiwan, as a result being more familiar with traditional than simplified characters, which is obviously not that helpful on the mainland.\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<span style="font-size: large;"><strong><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3610" title="Benny after class on the LTL school balcony in Beijing" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Benny-after-class-on-the-LTL-school-balcony-in-Beijing.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />Listening</strong></span>\r\n\r\nVery good. He obviously spent a lot of time listening to people talk in mandarin and that has improved his listening ability beyond what he knows in vocabulary, being able to get the meaning of sentences in most cases even if he does not know all the words/sentence structures used.[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Studying Approach</strong></span>\r\n\r\nVery motivated and not afraid to speak which is what in my experience gets people ahead in mandarin, with impressive determination. We spoke for an hour in Chinese and he did not try to switch to English a single time, which many people after three months of studying would still do, especially when speaking to another “European”. He obviously feels comfortable to communicate in the language and is able to do so. I think from the <a href="http://www.fluentin3months.com/" target="_blank">way he uses the language in every situation possible</a>and forces himself not to use English a lot of other learners could benefit – you can clearly see the results with him or other people who studied that way.[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Spoken</strong></span>\r\n\r\nSpeaks at good B1 (European Framework) level, but a lot of work left to get to fluency, which I think shouldn’t really surprise anyone who is involved in studying/teaching Chinese. If you look at his progress for someone who was in a full immersion program for three months and partly worked in English while studying (blog writing in his case) it is overall very impressive though. I would say it if he hadn’t been blogging in English while studying and had a few more grammar lessons with a good teacher he might have made it to spoken B2 level. To further progress he would need to start to focus more on Chinese characters though.[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<span style="font-size: medium;"><strong>HSK/European Framework of Language Definition</strong></span>\r\n\r\nFor the European Language Framework I would say he definitely reached B1 level. For the HSK, HSK 3 is supposed to be B1, though most people think HSK 3 is a lot easier than B1 (a lot of discussion about this – will not get into details here). In any case, I would say he would pass HSK 3 for the spoken part without problems, though he would struggle with the characters. HSK 4 he might pass on a good day for the spoken part, definitely not for writing/reading though.\r\n\r\n<strong>Andreas Laimboeck</strong>, Director<a href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/"> LTL Mandarin School</a>\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\nWant to try a full immersion course in China? Study Chinese fully immersed in <a title="Traveling to China" href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/traveling-to-china/">Beijing</a>, live with a Chinese only speaking <a href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/traveling-to-china/chinese-homestay/">homestay family</a> or study in the old imperial summer capital <a title="Two city Combo" href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/traveling-to-china/two-city-combo/">Chengde and bannish English from your life.</a>', 'Benny Lewis (Fluent in 3 Months)', '', 'publish', 'open', 'open', '', 'benny-lewis-fluent-in-3-months', '', 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/traveling-to-china/\nhttp://new.livethelanguage.cn/traveling-to-china/chinese-homestay/\nhttp://new.livethelanguage.cn/traveling-to-china/two-city-combo/', '2012-12-11 04:28:43', '2012-12-11 04:28:43', '', 0, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/?p=3609', 0, 'post', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3610, 1, '2012-11-19 09:27:01', '2012-11-19 09:27:01', '', 'Benny after class on the LTL school balcony in Beijing', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', 'benny-after-class-on-the-ltl-school-balcony-in-beijing', '', '', '2012-11-19 09:27:01', '2012-11-19 09:27:01', '', 3609, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Benny-after-class-on-the-LTL-school-balcony-in-Beijing.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3611, 1, '2012-11-19 09:27:04', '2012-11-19 09:27:04', '', 'Benny Lewis with his teacher', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', 'benny-with-his-teacher', '', '', '2012-11-19 09:27:04', '2012-11-19 09:27:04', '', 3609, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Benny-with-his-teacher.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3612, 1, '2012-11-19 09:28:52', '2012-11-19 09:28:52', '<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>How far did Benny get to learn fluent Mandarin in Three Months?  </strong></span>\n\n<a href="http://www.fluentin3months.com/" target="_blank"><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3611" title="Benny Lewis with his teacher" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Benny-with-his-teacher.jpg" alt="benny lewis fluent in Chinese in 3 months" width="300" height="225" />Benny Lewis (“Fluent in 3 Months”)</a> came by <a href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/" target="_blank">LTL Mandarin School</a> last weekend for two hours of Chinese class and we spent about an hour chatting in Chinese afterwards  (well not the whole time – I was cutting vegetables for a BBQ also).\n\nHe is leaving the mainland tomorrow and it seemed there are quite a few people around on the internet who are interested to know how far he actually could progress. He didn’t sit any exam or something like this but based on what we saw, our school teacher and I wrote a quick review of his language skills:[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\n\n<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Tones</strong></span>\n\nVery good. Sometimes using the wrong tone on a word, but I would say that happens to any non native speaker. He has got the concept right, uses them consistently and clearly.[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\n\n<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Pronunciation</strong></span>\n\nAlso very good, though for someone with mother tongue English who studied intensively for three months this is in our experience to be expected.[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\n\n<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Grammar</strong></span>\n\nMakes some mistakes, for example\n\n得:  　我说汉语说不好 instead of 我说汉语说得不好\n\n比：　今天比昨天很热　instead of 今天比昨天热很多\n\n有点儿／一点儿：　这个一点儿贵 instead of 这个有点儿贵\n\nOverall knowledge of sentence structures definitely good enough for pretty much any day to day conversations and social occasions, however I do not think for business or advanced level conversations.\n\nHe knew the rather subtle difference between 咱们 and 我们 which I don’t think most learner after 3 months would know, especially when studying in Taiwan, as 咱们 is mainly a northern expression.[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\n\n<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Chinese Characters</strong></span>\n\nHe focuses only on character recognition without writing by hand at all, which does make sense up to a point if you want to quickly progress. Overall his character recognition is a lot lower than his spoken ability though – this was obviously not a focus of his studies. Also, he studied in Taiwan, as a result being more familiar with traditional than simplified characters, which is obviously not that helpful on the mainland.\n\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\n\n<span style="font-size: large;"><strong><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3610" title="Benny after class on the LTL school balcony in Beijing" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Benny-after-class-on-the-LTL-school-balcony-in-Beijing.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />Listening</strong></span>\n\nVery good. He obviously spent a lot of time listening to people talk in mandarin and that has improved his listening ability beyond what he knows in vocabulary, being able to get the meaning of sentences in most cases even if he does not know all the words/sentence structures used.[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\n\n<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Studying Approach</strong></span>\n\nVery motivated and not afraid to speak which is what in my experience gets people ahead in mandarin, with impressive determination. We spoke for an hour in Chinese and he did not try to switch to English a single time, which many people after three months of studying would still do, especially when speaking to another “European”. He obviously feels comfortable to communicate in the language and is able to do so. I think from the <a href="http://www.fluentin3months.com/" target="_blank">way he uses the language in every situation possible</a>and forces himself not to use English a lot of other learners could benefit – you can clearly see the results with him or other people who studied that way.\n\n<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Spoken</strong></span>\n\nSpeaks at good B1 (European Framework) level, but a lot of work left to get to fluency, which I think shouldn’t really surprise anyone who is involved in studying/teaching Chinese. If you look at his progress for someone who was in a full immersion program for three months and partly worked in English while studying (blog writing in his case) it is overall very impressive though. I would say it if he hadn’t been blogging in English while studying and had a few more grammar lessons with a good teacher he might have made it to spoken B2 level. To further progress he would need to start to focus more on Chinese characters though.\n\n<strong>HSK/European Framework of Language Definition</strong>\n\nFor the European Language Framework I would say he definitely reached B1 level. For the HSK, HSK 3 is supposed to be B1, though most people think HSK 3 is a lot easier than B1 (a lot of discussion about this – will not get into details here). In any case, I would say he would pass HSK 3 for the spoken part without problems, though he would struggle with the characters. HSK 4 he might pass on a good day for the spoken part, definitely not for writing/reading though.\n\n&nbsp;\n\n<strong>Andreas Laimboeck</strong>, Director<a href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/"> LTL Mandarin School</a>\n\n&nbsp;\n\nWant to try a full immersion course in China? Study Chinese fully immersed in <a title="Traveling to China" href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/traveling-to-china/">Beijing</a>, live with a Chinese only speaking <a href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/traveling-to-china/chinese-homestay/">homestay family</a> or study in the old imperial summer capital <a title="Two city Combo" href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/traveling-to-china/two-city-combo/">Chengde and bannish English from your life.</a>', 'Benny Lewis (Fluent in 3 Months)', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3609-revision', '', '', '2012-11-19 09:28:52', '2012-11-19 09:28:52', '', 3609, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3609-revision/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3613, 1, '2012-11-19 09:30:06', '2012-11-19 09:30:06', '', 'DSC00381', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', 'dsc00381', '', '', '2012-11-19 09:30:06', '2012-11-19 09:30:06', '', 3609, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/DSC00381.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3614, 1, '2012-11-19 09:29:14', '2012-11-19 09:29:14', '<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>How far did Benny get to learn fluent Mandarin in Three Months?  </strong></span>\r\n\r\n<a href="http://www.fluentin3months.com/" target="_blank"><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3611" title="Benny Lewis with his teacher" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Benny-with-his-teacher.jpg" alt="benny lewis fluent in Chinese in 3 months" width="300" height="225" />Benny Lewis (“Fluent in 3 Months”)</a> came by <a href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/" target="_blank">LTL Mandarin School</a> last weekend for two hours of Chinese class and we spent about an hour chatting in Chinese afterwards  (well not the whole time – I was cutting vegetables for a BBQ also).\r\n\r\nHe is leaving the mainland tomorrow and it seemed there are quite a few people around on the internet who are interested to know how far he actually could progress. He didn’t sit any exam or something like this but based on what we saw, our school teacher and I wrote a quick review of his language skills:[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Tones</strong></span>\r\n\r\nVery good. Sometimes using the wrong tone on a word, but I would say that happens to any non native speaker. He has got the concept right, uses them consistently and clearly.[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Pronunciation</strong></span>\r\n\r\nAlso very good, though for someone with mother tongue English who studied intensively for three months this is in our experience to be expected.[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Grammar</strong></span>\r\n\r\nMakes some mistakes, for example\r\n\r\n得:  　我说汉语说不好 instead of 我说汉语说得不好\r\n\r\n比：　今天比昨天很热　instead of 今天比昨天热很多\r\n\r\n有点儿／一点儿：　这个一点儿贵 instead of 这个有点儿贵\r\n\r\nOverall knowledge of sentence structures definitely good enough for pretty much any day to day conversations and social occasions, however I do not think for business or advanced level conversations.\r\n\r\nHe knew the rather subtle difference between 咱们 and 我们 which I don’t think most learner after 3 months would know, especially when studying in Taiwan, as 咱们 is mainly a northern expression.[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Chinese Characters</strong></span>\r\n\r\nHe focuses only on character recognition without writing by hand at all, which does make sense up to a point if you want to quickly progress. Overall his character recognition is a lot lower than his spoken ability though – this was obviously not a focus of his studies. Also, he studied in Taiwan, as a result being more familiar with traditional than simplified characters, which is obviously not that helpful on the mainland.\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<span style="font-size: large;"><strong><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3610" title="Benny after class on the LTL school balcony in Beijing" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Benny-after-class-on-the-LTL-school-balcony-in-Beijing.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />Listening</strong></span>\r\n\r\nVery good. He obviously spent a lot of time listening to people talk in mandarin and that has improved his listening ability beyond what he knows in vocabulary, being able to get the meaning of sentences in most cases even if he does not know all the words/sentence structures used.[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Studying Approach</strong></span>\r\n\r\nVery motivated and not afraid to speak which is what in my experience gets people ahead in mandarin, with impressive determination. We spoke for an hour in Chinese and he did not try to switch to English a single time, which many people after three months of studying would still do, especially when speaking to another “European”. He obviously feels comfortable to communicate in the language and is able to do so. I think from the <a href="http://www.fluentin3months.com/" target="_blank">way he uses the language in every situation possible</a>and forces himself not to use English a lot of other learners could benefit – you can clearly see the results with him or other people who studied that way.[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Spoken</strong></span>\r\n\r\nSpeaks at good B1 (European Framework) level, but a lot of work left to get to fluency, which I think shouldn’t really surprise anyone who is involved in studying/teaching Chinese. If you look at his progress for someone who was in a full immersion program for three months and partly worked in English while studying (blog writing in his case) it is overall very impressive though. I would say it if he hadn’t been blogging in English while studying and had a few more grammar lessons with a good teacher he might have made it to spoken B2 level. To further progress he would need to start to focus more on Chinese characters though.[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<span style="font-size: medium;"><strong>HSK/European Framework of Language Definition</strong></span>\r\n\r\nFor the European Language Framework I would say he definitely reached B1 level. For the HSK, HSK 3 is supposed to be B1, though most people think HSK 3 is a lot easier than B1 (a lot of discussion about this – will not get into details here). In any case, I would say he would pass HSK 3 for the spoken part without problems, though he would struggle with the characters. HSK 4 he might pass on a good day for the spoken part, definitely not for writing/reading though.\r\n\r\n<strong>Andreas Laimboeck</strong>, Director<a href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/"> LTL Mandarin School</a>\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\nWant to try a full immersion course in China? Study Chinese fully immersed in <a title="Traveling to China" href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/traveling-to-china/">Beijing</a>, live with a Chinese only speaking <a href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/traveling-to-china/chinese-homestay/">homestay family</a> or study in the old imperial summer capital <a title="Two city Combo" href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/traveling-to-china/two-city-combo/">Chengde and bannish English from your life.</a>', 'Benny Lewis (Fluent in 3 Months)', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3609-revision-2', '', '', '2012-11-19 09:29:14', '2012-11-19 09:29:14', '', 3609, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3609-revision-2/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3615, 1, '2012-11-19 09:31:44', '2012-11-19 09:31:44', '<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>How far did Benny get to learn fluent Mandarin in Three Months?  </strong></span>\n\n<a href="http://www.fluentin3months.com/" target="_blank"><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3611" title="Benny Lewis with his teacher" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Benny-with-his-teacher.jpg" alt="benny lewis fluent in Chinese in 3 months" width="300" height="225" />Benny Lewis (“Fluent in 3 Months”)</a> came by <a href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/" target="_blank">LTL Mandarin School</a> last weekend for two hours of Chinese class and we spent about an hour chatting in Chinese afterwards  (well not the whole time – I was cutting vegetables for a BBQ also).\n\nHe is leaving the mainland tomorrow and it seemed there are quite a few people around on the internet who are interested to know how far he actually could progress. He didn’t sit any exam or something like this but based on what we saw, our school teacher and I wrote a quick review of his language skills:[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\n\n<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Tones</strong></span>\n\nVery good. Sometimes using the wrong tone on a word, but I would say that happens to any non native speaker. He has got the concept right, uses them consistently and clearly.[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\n\n<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Pronunciation</strong></span>\n\nAlso very good, though for someone with mother tongue English who studied intensively for three months this is in our experience to be expected.[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\n\n<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Grammar</strong></span>\n\nMakes some mistakes, for example\n\n得:  　我说汉语说不好 instead of 我说汉语说得不好\n\n比：　今天比昨天很热　instead of 今天比昨天热很多\n\n有点儿／一点儿：　这个一点儿贵 instead of 这个有点儿贵\n\nOverall knowledge of sentence structures definitely good enough for pretty much any day to day conversations and social occasions, however I do not think for business or advanced level conversations.\n\nHe knew the rather subtle difference between 咱们 and 我们 which I don’t think most learner after 3 months would know, especially when studying in Taiwan, as 咱们 is mainly a northern expression.[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\n\n<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Chinese Characters</strong></span>\n\nHe focuses only on character recognition without writing by hand at all, which does make sense up to a point if you want to quickly progress. Overall his character recognition is a lot lower than his spoken ability though – this was obviously not a focus of his studies. Also, he studied in Taiwan, as a result being more familiar with traditional than simplified characters, which is obviously not that helpful on the mainland.\n\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\n\n<span style="font-size: large;"><strong><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3610" title="Benny after class on the LTL school balcony in Beijing" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Benny-after-class-on-the-LTL-school-balcony-in-Beijing.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />Listening</strong></span>\n\nVery good. He obviously spent a lot of time listening to people talk in mandarin and that has improved his listening ability beyond what he knows in vocabulary, being able to get the meaning of sentences in most cases even if he does not know all the words/sentence structures used.[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\n\n<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Studying Approach</strong></span>\n\nVery motivated and not afraid to speak which is what in my experience gets people ahead in mandarin, with impressive determination. We spoke for an hour in Chinese and he did not try to switch to English a single time, which many people after three months of studying would still do, especially when speaking to another “European”. He obviously feels comfortable to communicate in the language and is able to do so. I think from the <a href="http://www.fluentin3months.com/" target="_blank">way he uses the language in every situation possible</a>and forces himself not to use English a lot of other learners could benefit – you can clearly see the results with him or other people who studied that way.[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\n\n<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Spoken</strong></span>\n\nSpeaks at good B1 (European Framework) level, but a lot of work left to get to fluency, which I think shouldn’t really surprise anyone who is involved in studying/teaching Chinese. If you look at his progress for someone who was in a full immersion program for three months and partly worked in English while studying (blog writing in his case) it is overall very impressive though. I would say it if he hadn’t been blogging in English while studying and had a few more grammar lessons with a good teacher he might have made it to spoken B2 level. To further progress he would need to start to focus more on Chinese characters though.[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\n\n<span style="font-size: medium;"><strong>HSK/European Framework of Language Definition</strong></span>\n\nFor the European Language Framework I would say he definitely reached B1 level. For the HSK, HSK 3 is supposed to be B1, though most people think HSK 3 is a lot easier than B1 (a lot of discussion about this – will not get into details here). In any case, I would say he would pass HSK 3 for the spoken part without problems, though he would struggle with the characters. HSK 4 he might pass on a good day for the spoken part, definitely not for writing/reading though.\n\n<strong>Andreas Laimboeck</strong>, Director<a href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/"> LTL Mandarin School</a>\n\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\n\nWant to try a full immersion course in China? Study Chinese fully immersed in <a title="Traveling to China" href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/traveling-to-china/">Beijing</a>, live with a Chinese only speaking <a href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/traveling-to-china/chinese-homestay/">homestay family</a> or study in the old imperial summer capital <a title="Two city Combo" href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/traveling-to-china/two-city-combo/">Chengde and bannish English from your life.</a>', 'Benny Lewis (Fluent in 3 Months)', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3609-autosave', '', '', '2012-11-19 09:31:44', '2012-11-19 09:31:44', '', 3609, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3609-autosave/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3616, 1, '2012-06-15 09:40:18', '2012-06-15 09:40:18', '<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Chinese Lesson – Live The Language Part 1. by Joy McKenzie</strong></span>\r\n\r\n<img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-3618" title="Tianjin Expat Magazine reports about LTL" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/DSC00423-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />When I first arrived in China, learning the language seemed like an impossible task. Forgive me, but everything sounded like, ‘ching chong’, ‘ping pong’, ting tong’ and as for the characters, they just looked frightening and meant as much to me as looking at the lines on the palms of my hands………….yes, exactly ‘absolutely nothing!’ Pretty soon after my arrival I found that virtually every man, woman and child wanted to be my friend! They were all offering to help me with my Chinese, this was essentially to improve their English – which incidentally is nearly always better than our Chinese.\r\n\r\nWithin my first month not only did I have a full address book of Chinese friends, but I found that I had picked up some key words and phrases, just by hearing them repeatably said by the locals, namely, nǐ  hǎo (hello), zài jiàn (goodbye), xiè  xiè (thanks), méi  wèn  tí (no problem), méi  guān  xi (it doesn’t matter) and hǎo de (OK). I also picked up a host of other phrases from taxi drivers, the most popular being, nǐ  qù  nǎ er lǐ? (where are you going?), màn  zǒu (mind how you go) and bù kè qi (you’re welcome). Although I still had to carry little bits of paper with me to show taxi drivers my destination, which was either hand written or typed in Chinese by one of my Chinese colleagues, I found that I could now have a simple conversation or at least have some answers ready for questions which would come up time and time again such as, ’měi  guó rén?’ (American?) - for some unbeknown reason most taxi drivers thought that I was an American! I think that is because I’m black and if I wasn’t African, they assumed that I was American. I don’t think that many of them realise that there are black people in Britain!! My set answer to this question was, bù  shì , wǒ  shì  yīng  guó  rén (no, I’m English). Other  questions included, Q. nǐ lái  zhōng  guō  duō  cháng  shí  jiān  le (How long have you been in China?) A. liǎng  nián  bàn (two and a half years) and Q. nǐ  zuò  shén  me gōng  zuò (What work do you do?) A. wǒ  shì  yīng  wén  lǎo  shī (I am an English teacher). One very important question that I learnt was, duō  shǎo  qián? (How much is it?), as well as, yī èr  sān  sì  wǔ  liù  qī  bā  jiǔ  shí, (numbers one to ten).\r\n\r\nHaving mastered the numbers one to ten and then eleven and twelve, I found that that stood me in good stead for the next three months – there was a natural progression learning the time, days of the week and the months of the year, as they are all denoted using numbers, yī  diǎn  (1, o, clock), liǎng  diǎn  (2, o, clock), sān  diǎn (3, o,clock) etc, xīng  qī  yī  (Monday), xīng qī  èr  (Tuesday), xīng  qī  sān (Wednesday) etc and yī  yuè  (January), èr  yuè  (February), sān  yuè  (March) etc. One thing that confused me was the number two, as there’s two ways of saying this number with ‘èr ‘or ‘liǎng ‘. èr is used when counting and liǎng is used for everything else, which is not counting e.g. telling the time or for saying two of something,etc.\r\n\r\nBy twelve months, I was on my third teacher and as the saying goes, ‘third time lucky’ and was I lucky, because I bumped into a representative of ‘Live The Language’ at a networking event which I was attending. I was immediately attracted to the name, <a href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/">‘Live The Language’</a> and instantly wanted to find out more – so I enrolled for their three hour free trail. One of their teachers came to my home and discussed my goals, tested me and together we developed a tailored structure for my lessons to suit my learning style. We then started again, from the beginning (reviewing pinyin) and filling in all the gaps in my knowledge, covering topic by topic thoroughly, as outlined in my customised lesson structure.\r\n\r\n<img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-3617" title="Chuan" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Chuan-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />I am convinced that the best way to learn Chinese is to totally immerse oneself in the language as much as possible. Those of us lao wei (foreigners), already living here have a natural advantage, in that we can hear and practice the language 24/7, if we choose to. Apart from living in the country, the things which I found helpful were placing sticky notes all over my apartment, (labelling house-hold goods in Chinese characters, pinyin and English). Asking a Chinese friend (a different one) every day to come around to my apartment to practice conversation face-to-face. Carrying an A7 police-sized pocket note book around in my handbag, so whenever I hear a new word, I can write it down either using pinyin or phonetically and then I can ask my Chinese teacher later. A voice recorder (one on a smart phone is handy), for your Chinese teacher to record any words that you find difficult to pronounce – this way, you can play back the recording and listen to the words not only the ones which you had difficulty in pronouncing, but also the ones you forgot how to say.\r\n\r\n‘Sogo’ is also a good programme to download on to your computer, as you can practise writing in pinyin and it will translate it into Chinese characters for you! A good way to impress your Chinese friends and of course to learn the characters too. A really radical idea (for those of you who love your privacy and space, like myself), but are really determined to learn the language is to get a Chinese flatmate, (I mean some one who only speaks Chinese and not a word of English). This way, you’ll be forced to communicate in Chinese and there’s no way you can revert to English, because you simply won’t be understood. I’m seriously thinking about this option, as I feel it will accelerate my Chinese ten-fold! Finally, you could always get a Chinese boyfriend or girlfriend, so I’m told, but I haven’t explored that option yet!! To compliment all of these options are a host of dictionaries which you can choose from, from the good old-fashioned printed hard copy to those which you can find on-line, as well as apps for your phone. There are a lot out there, so there’s no excuse not to learn Chinese, if you really want to! What you need to do is to simply, ‘<a title="Testimonials" href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/testimonials/">live the language’</a>!', 'Tianjin Expat Magazine reports about LTL', '', 'publish', 'open', 'open', '', 'tianjin-expat-magazine-reports-about-ltl', '', '', '2012-12-11 04:23:24', '2012-12-11 04:23:24', '', 0, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/?p=3616', 0, 'post', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3619, 1, '2012-11-19 09:36:14', '2012-11-19 09:36:14', '<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Chinese Lesson – Live The Language Part 1. by Joy McKenzie</strong></span>\n\nWhen I first arrived in China, learning the language seemed like an impossible task. Forgive me, but everything sounded like, ‘ching chong’, ‘ping pong’, ting tong’ and as for the characters, they just looked frightening and meant as much to me as looking at the lines on the palms of my hands………….yes, exactly ‘absolutely nothing!’ Pretty soon after my arrival I found that virtually every man, woman and child wanted to be my friend! They were all offering to help me with my Chinese, this was essentially to improve their English – which incidentally is nearly always better than our Chinese.\n\nWithin my first month not only did I have a full address book of Chinese friends, but I found that I had picked up some key words and phrases, just by hearing them repeatably said by the locals, namely, nǐ  hǎo (hello), zài jiàn (goodbye), xiè  xiè (thanks), méi  wèn  tí (no problem), méi  guān  xi (it doesn’t matter) and hǎo de (OK). I also picked up a host of other phrases from taxi drivers, the most popular being, nǐ  qù  nǎ er lǐ? (where are you going?), màn  zǒu (mind how you go) and bù kè qi (you’re welcome). Although I still had to carry little bits of paper with me to show taxi drivers my destination, which was either hand written or typed in Chinese by one of my Chinese colleagues, I found that I could now have a simple conversation or at least have some answers ready for questions which would come up time and time again such as, ’měi  guó rén?’ (American?) - for some unbeknown reason most taxi drivers thought that I was an American! I think that is because I’m black and if I wasn’t African, they assumed that I was American. I don’t think that many of them realise that there are black people in Britain!! My set answer to this question was, bù  shì , wǒ  shì  yīng  guó  rén (no, I’m English). Other  questions included, Q. nǐ lái  zhōng  guō  duō  cháng  shí  jiān  le (How long have you been in China?) A. liǎng  nián  bàn (two and a half years) and Q. nǐ  zuò  shén  me gōng  zuò (What work do you do?) A. wǒ  shì  yīng  wén  lǎo  shī (I am an English teacher). One very important question that I learnt was, duō  shǎo  qián? (How much is it?), as well as, yī èr  sān  sì  wǔ  liù  qī  bā  jiǔ  shí, (numbers one to ten).\n\nHaving mastered the numbers one to ten and then eleven and twelve, I found that that stood me in good stead for the next three months – there was a natural progression learning the time, days of the week and the months of the year, as they are all denoted using numbers, yī  diǎn  (1, o, clock), liǎng  diǎn  (2, o, clock), sān  diǎn (3, o,clock) etc, xīng  qī  yī  (Monday), xīng qī  èr  (Tuesday), xīng  qī  sān (Wednesday) etc and yī  yuè  (January), èr  yuè  (February), sān  yuè  (March) etc. One thing that confused me was the number two, as there’s two ways of saying this number with ‘èr ‘or ‘liǎng ‘. èr is used when counting and liǎng is used for everything else, which is not counting e.g. telling the time or for saying two of something,etc.\n\nBy twelve months, I was on my third teacher and as the saying goes, ‘third time lucky’ and was I lucky, because I bumped into a representative of ‘Live The Language’ at a networking event which I was attending. I was immediately attracted to the name, <a href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/">‘Live The Language’</a> and instantly wanted to find out more – so I enrolled for their three hour free trail. One of their teachers came to my home and discussed my goals, tested me and together we developed a tailored structure for my lessons to suit my learning style. We then started again, from the beginning (reviewing pinyin) and filling in all the gaps in my knowledge, covering topic by topic thoroughly, as outlined in my customised lesson structure.\n\n<img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-3617" title="Chuan" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Chuan-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />I am convinced that the best way to learn Chinese is to totally immerse oneself in the language as much as possible. Those of us lao wei (foreigners), already living here have a natural advantage, in that we can hear and practice the language 24/7, if we choose to. Apart from living in the country, the things which I found helpful were placing sticky notes all over my apartment, (labelling house-hold goods in Chinese characters, pinyin and English). Asking a Chinese friend (a different one) every day to come around to my apartment to practice conversation face-to-face. Carrying an A7 police-sized pocket note book around in my handbag, so whenever I hear a new word, I can write it down either using pinyin or phonetically and then I can ask my Chinese teacher later. A voice recorder (one on a smart phone is handy), for your Chinese teacher to record any words that you find difficult to pronounce – this way, you can play back the recording and listen to the words not only the ones which you had difficulty in pronouncing, but also the ones you forgot how to say.\n\n‘Sogo’ is also a good programme to download on to your computer, as you can practise writing in pinyin and it will translate it into Chinese characters for you! A good way to impress your Chinese friends and of course to learn the characters too. A really radical idea (for those of you who love your privacy and space, like myself), but are really determined to learn the language is to get a Chinese flatmate, (I mean some one who only speaks Chinese and not a word of English). This way, you’ll be forced to communicate in Chinese and there’s no way you can revert to English, because you simply won’t be understood. I’m seriously thinking about this option, as I feel it will accelerate my Chinese ten-fold! Finally, you could always get a Chinese boyfriend or girlfriend, so I’m told, but I haven’t explored that option yet!! To compliment all of these options are a host of dictionaries which you can choose from, from the good old-fashioned printed hard copy to those which you can find on-line, as well as apps for your phone. There are a lot out there, so there’s no excuse not to learn Chinese, if you really want to! What you need to do is to simply, ‘<a title="Testimonials" href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/testimonials/">live the language’</a>!', 'Tianjin Expat Magazine reports about LTL', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3616-revision', '', '', '2012-11-19 09:36:14', '2012-11-19 09:36:14', '', 3616, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3616-revision/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3617, 1, '2012-11-19 09:35:38', '2012-11-19 09:35:38', '', 'Chuan', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', 'chuan', '', '', '2012-11-19 09:35:38', '2012-11-19 09:35:38', '', 3616, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Chuan.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3618, 1, '2012-11-19 09:35:43', '2012-11-19 09:35:43', '', 'Tianjin Expat Magazine reports about LTL', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', 'dsc00423', '', '', '2012-11-19 09:35:43', '2012-11-19 09:35:43', '', 3616, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/DSC00423.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3620, 1, '2012-11-19 09:41:23', '2012-11-19 09:41:23', '<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Chinese Lesson – Live The Language Part 1. by Joy McKenzie</strong></span>\n\n<img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-3618" title="Tianjin Expat Magazine reports about LTL" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/DSC00423-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />When I first arrived in China, learning the language seemed like an impossible task. Forgive me, but everything sounded like, ‘ching chong’, ‘ping pong’, ting tong’ and as for the characters, they just looked frightening and meant as much to me as looking at the lines on the palms of my hands………….yes, exactly ‘absolutely nothing!’ Pretty soon after my arrival I found that virtually every man, woman and child wanted to be my friend! They were all offering to help me with my Chinese, this was essentially to improve their English – which incidentally is nearly always better than our Chinese.\n\nWithin my first month not only did I have a full address book of Chinese friends, but I found that I had picked up some key words and phrases, just by hearing them repeatably said by the locals, namely, nǐ  hǎo (hello), zài jiàn (goodbye), xiè  xiè (thanks), méi  wèn  tí (no problem), méi  guān  xi (it doesn’t matter) and hǎo de (OK). I also picked up a host of other phrases from taxi drivers, the most popular being, nǐ  qù  nǎ er lǐ? (where are you going?), màn  zǒu (mind how you go) and bù kè qi (you’re welcome). Although I still had to carry little bits of paper with me to show taxi drivers my destination, which was either hand written or typed in Chinese by one of my Chinese colleagues, I found that I could now have a simple conversation or at least have some answers ready for questions which would come up time and time again such as, ’měi  guó rén?’ (American?) - for some unbeknown reason most taxi drivers thought that I was an American! I think that is because I’m black and if I wasn’t African, they assumed that I was American. I don’t think that many of them realise that there are black people in Britain!! My set answer to this question was, bù  shì , wǒ  shì  yīng  guó  rén (no, I’m English). Other  questions included, Q. nǐ lái  zhōng  guō  duō  cháng  shí  jiān  le (How long have you been in China?) A. liǎng  nián  bàn (two and a half years) and Q. nǐ  zuò  shén  me gōng  zuò (What work do you do?) A. wǒ  shì  yīng  wén  lǎo  shī (I am an English teacher). One very important question that I learnt was, duō  shǎo  qián? (How much is it?), as well as, yī èr  sān  sì  wǔ  liù  qī  bā  jiǔ  shí, (numbers one to ten).\n\nHaving mastered the numbers one to ten and then eleven and twelve, I found that that stood me in good stead for the next three months – there was a natural progression learning the time, days of the week and the months of the year, as they are all denoted using numbers, yī  diǎn  (1, o, clock), liǎng  diǎn  (2, o, clock), sān  diǎn (3, o,clock) etc, xīng  qī  yī  (Monday), xīng qī  èr  (Tuesday), xīng  qī  sān (Wednesday) etc and yī  yuè  (January), èr  yuè  (February), sān  yuè  (March) etc. One thing that confused me was the number two, as there’s two ways of saying this number with ‘èr ‘or ‘liǎng ‘. èr is used when counting and liǎng is used for everything else, which is not counting e.g. telling the time or for saying two of something,etc.\n\nBy twelve months, I was on my third teacher and as the saying goes, ‘third time lucky’ and was I lucky, because I bumped into a representative of ‘Live The Language’ at a networking event which I was attending. I was immediately attracted to the name, <a href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/">‘Live The Language’</a> and instantly wanted to find out more – so I enrolled for their three hour free trail. One of their teachers came to my home and discussed my goals, tested me and together we developed a tailored structure for my lessons to suit my learning style. We then started again, from the beginning (reviewing pinyin) and filling in all the gaps in my knowledge, covering topic by topic thoroughly, as outlined in my customised lesson structure.\n\n<img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-3617" title="Chuan" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Chuan-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />I am convinced that the best way to learn Chinese is to totally immerse oneself in the language as much as possible. Those of us lao wei (foreigners), already living here have a natural advantage, in that we can hear and practice the language 24/7, if we choose to. Apart from living in the country, the things which I found helpful were placing sticky notes all over my apartment, (labelling house-hold goods in Chinese characters, pinyin and English). Asking a Chinese friend (a different one) every day to come around to my apartment to practice conversation face-to-face. Carrying an A7 police-sized pocket note book around in my handbag, so whenever I hear a new word, I can write it down either using pinyin or phonetically and then I can ask my Chinese teacher later. A voice recorder (one on a smart phone is handy), for your Chinese teacher to record any words that you find difficult to pronounce – this way, you can play back the recording and listen to the words not only the ones which you had difficulty in pronouncing, but also the ones you forgot how to say.\n\n‘Sogo’ is also a good programme to download on to your computer, as you can practise writing in pinyin and it will translate it into Chinese characters for you! A good way to impress your Chinese friends and of course to learn the characters too. A really radical idea (for those of you who love your privacy and space, like myself), but are really determined to learn the language is to get a Chinese flatmate, (I mean some one who only speaks Chinese and not a word of English). This way, you’ll be forced to communicate in Chinese and there’s no way you can revert to English, because you simply won’t be understood. I’m seriously thinking about this option, as I feel it will accelerate my Chinese ten-fold! Finally, you could always get a Chinese boyfriend or girlfriend, so I’m told, but I haven’t explored that option yet!! To compliment all of these options are a host of dictionaries which you can choose from, from the good old-fashioned printed hard copy to those which you can find on-line, as well as apps for your phone. There are a lot out there, so there’s no excuse not to learn Chinese, if you really want to! What you need to do is to simply, ‘<a title="Testimonials" href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/testimonials/">live the language’</a>!', 'Tianjin Expat Magazine reports about LTL', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3616-autosave', '', '', '2012-11-19 09:41:23', '2012-11-19 09:41:23', '', 3616, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3616-autosave/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3621, 1, '2012-07-16 09:46:34', '2012-07-16 09:46:34', 'Going abroad is the one thing many of us think about as being the best way to learn a new language.\r\n\r\nIf the opportunity arises, is it worth grabbing?\r\n\r\nI have talked about courses before, be self-study with Pimsleur or taught like Turkish course in Skopje.\r\n\r\nWhat about these “intensive courses” though? Just how much can you learn on one?\r\n\r\n<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Living the language</strong></span>\r\n\r\nLearning a language in-country can take many guises. You can move to a country indefinitely for work, love or study without a definite plan to return to your native land. Other options are exchanges (particularly for school/university students). The other option open is short to medium stays, learning the language as an independent learner or on a course. You could choose to do this in combination with a paid or unpaid work placement. Or you might choose to seek out language tuition in the country.\r\n\r\nAll of these options have pros and cons attached, including a number of factors ranging from cost and efficiency to personal experience and preference. I have done the language exchanges offered by my school, like Tim Doner from New York, who went to France on such an exchange this year. In this video he talks about his experience:\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n<div>\r\n\r\nI have been on short courses abroad to brush up on my language skills and full year-long courses, working towards a diploma, like my Advanced Diploma in Czech Studies from Charles University in Prague.\r\n\r\nIf you are thinking about going on a course of study abroad with a language school or university, this new challenge is FOR YOU.\r\n\r\n<strong><span style="font-size: medium;">The set-up</span></strong>\r\n\r\nI am currently taking mandarin language lessons over Skype with LTL (Live The Language) in Beijing. The goal is to bring my very limited Chinese to a decent basic level in preparation for a one month stay in China at the start of 2013.\r\n\r\n<strong><span style="font-size: medium;">The China Program</span></strong>\r\n\r\nI will be taking part in the “<a title="Two city Combo" href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/traveling-to-china/two-city-combo/">Two City Combo</a>” offered by LTL and spending two weeks in Beijing and then two further weeks in Chegde. I will live with local families in a bid to make the most of my language learning experience and really Live the Language. Whilst I am in both cities I will have twenty hours of tuition a week.\r\n\r\n<span style="font-size: medium;"><strong>What do you expect to know after a month in China?</strong></span>\r\n\r\nI aim to get my Chinese to a solid A1 level before I go over. 80 hours of tuition in China should be sufficient to get to the next level. I hope to be able to speak it at a good A2 level by the end of my stay. Any more than that would be a bonus. The key is to get a solid grounding in the language to build on it after the stay.\r\n\r\n<strong><span style="font-size: medium;">Why Chinese? Why now?</span></strong>\r\n\r\nMandarin and I have had a rocky relationship with lots of starts and stops for a number of reasons. Without a doubt it is an important language in terms of numbers of people who speak it. It contains a the rich history and culture heritage. I would also like to support my daughter in her studies of the language, as she constantly expresses an interest in learning it too.\r\n\r\n<strong><span style="font-size: medium;">Recording my journey</span></strong>\r\n\r\nMy Chinese was very basic before starting the Skype lessons, so it makes little sense to record a video saying nothing, right? I will make a video in Chinese after I have studied for three months and then again at six months. When I arrive in China I will be assessed officially for the course. I will record this assessment too and then later show my progress at the end of the course.\r\n\r\n<strong><span style="font-size: medium;">Join me on my journey</span></strong>\r\n\r\nShare your stories with me on here and on my <a href="http://www.facebook.com/RichardSimcott">Facebook</a> page and let me know how I am getting on!\r\n\r\nRead the <a href="http://speakingfluently.com/2012/07/14/live-the-language-studying-in-country/">original post</a>\r\n\r\n</div>', 'Polyglot Richard Simcott studies with LTL', '', 'publish', 'open', 'open', '', 'polyglot-richard-simcott-studies-with-ltl', '', 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/traveling-to-china/two-city-combo/\nhttp://speakingfluently.com/2012/07/14/live-the-language-studying-in-country/', '2013-08-14 04:54:10', '2013-08-14 04:54:10', '', 0, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/?p=3621', 0, 'post', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3915, 1, '2012-11-30 06:26:19', '2012-11-30 06:26:19', 'I’ve always had a friendly argument with one of my friends (whose Chinese is wonderful) about the importance of tones.\n\nI have always believed that if you speak quickly enough, the context of the situation will fill in the blanks of any words whose tones have been uttered completely wrongly. To some extent this is true.\n\nI mean come on. The difference between the second and third tones is so slight, it’s impossible not to make the leap in understanding, surely? Well now, thanks to my teacher at Live the Language and my precocious little know-all at home, the truth of the matter is coming through, and it’s not particularly helpful.\n\n<img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3591" title="the four tones" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/4tones-300x180.gif" alt="" width="300" height="180" />Tones do matter. Yet another burden to lug up the mountain of learning Chinese. To Chinese people, words spoken with different tones are completely different words.\n\nThey simply do not hear how similar the words are, and this is by no means a shortcoming. The same problem occurs in English – for example the words ‘beat’ and ‘bit’ are impossible to confuse to a native speaker, but my Chinese friends claim they sound identical. It’s all to do with what you have in your own language as a basis on which to start learning another.\n\nBut bilingual people, clever devils that they are, have the marvellous gift of not only being able to hear the difference between wrongly pronounced words, they can also understand why speakers of second languages struggle.\n\nThey get it.\n\nMy little boy is very helpful. He has to be, or my neighbours and friends simply wouldn’t understand me half the time. So he is always chiming in with the right pronunciation when hisbabysitter smiles blankly at something I have just said.\n\n&nbsp;\n\n‘Oh, I see!’ her face lights up when he explains that although I said I had just bought a new enemy spy, in fact I had acquired a new rug from IKEA. And to a bemused shopkeeper of whom I have just enquired the whereabouts of cat poop, he will explain that we need food for our pet. Those pesky second and third tones again.\n\nI do still recognise more characters than he does, though I am sure this will not last long.\n\nI don’t dwell on the fact that the ones he has learned to write in a few months are better than those I have been practising for years.\n\nSo when it comes to homework, I can help him. Sometimes this involves looking for certain characters in a text and writing down their pinyin. Because I invariably get the tone wrong, when I have spotted the right character I also have to tell him what it means in English so that he can say it correctly before he writes down the pinyin. Very, very occasionally I get it right by mere chance. ‘Mummy! That’s the right tone!’ he will exclaim in disbelief. ‘That was lucky!’\n\nI will never get them off pat like a native speaker, but I now realise it is important to try.\n\nAnd it includes, somehow, nailing that second and third.\n\n[This story was contributed by <a href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/" target="_blank">L</a>TL student Debbie Mason from the UK (Individual one-on-one classes)]', 'Learning Mandarin with a Bilingual Child', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3590-autosave', '', '', '2012-11-30 06:26:19', '2012-11-30 06:26:19', '', 3590, 'http://ltl-chinois.fr/3590-autosave/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3622, 1, '2012-11-19 09:45:39', '2012-11-19 09:45:39', 'Live The Language – Studying in-country\nJuly 14, 2012\nRichard Simcott\n\nGoing abroad is the one thing many of us think about as being the best way to learn a new language.\n\nIf the opportunity arises, is it worth grabbing?\n\nI have talked about courses before, be self-study with Pimsleur or taught like Turkish course in Skopje.\n\nWhat about these “intensive courses” though? Just how much can you learn on one?\n\n<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Living the language</strong></span>\n\nLearning a language in-country can take many guises. You can move to a country indefinitely for work, love or study without a definite plan to return to your native land. Other options are exchanges (particularly for school/university students). The other option open is short to medium stays, learning the language as an independent learner or on a course. You could choose to do this in combination with a paid or unpaid work placement. Or you might choose to seek out language tuition in the country.\n\nAll of these options have pros and cons attached, including a number of factors ranging from cost and efficiency to personal experience and preference. I have done the language exchanges offered by my school, like Tim Doner from New York, who went to France on such an exchange this year. In this video he talks about his experience:\n\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\n\n<iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/QdNRq2kuVMk?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" width="640" height="360"></iframe>\n\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\n<div>\n\nI have been on short courses abroad to brush up on my language skills and full year-long courses, working towards a diploma, like my Advanced Diploma in Czech Studies from Charles University in Prague.\n\nIf you are thinking about going on a course of study abroad with a language school or university, this new challenge is FOR YOU.\n\nThe set-up\n\nI am currently taking mandarin language lessons over Skype with LTL (Live The Language) in Beijing. The goal is to bring my very limited Chinese to a decent basic level in preparation for a one month stay in China at the start of 2013.\n\nThe\n\nI will be taking part in the “<a title="Two city Combo" href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/traveling-to-china/two-city-combo/">Two City Combo</a>” offered by LTL and spending two weeks in Beijing and then two further weeks in Chegde. I will live with local families in a bid to make the most of my language learning experience and really Live the Language. Whilst I am in both cities I will have twenty hours of tuition a week.\n\n<span style="font-size: medium;"><strong>What do you expect to know after a month in China?</strong></span>\n\nI aim to get my Chinese to a solid A1 level before I go over. 80 hours of tuition in China should be sufficient to get to the next level. I hope to be able to speak it at a good A2 level by the end of my stay. Any more than that would be a bonus. The key is to get a solid grounding in the language to build on it after the stay.\n\n<strong><span style="font-size: medium;">Why Chinese? Why now?</span></strong>\n\nMandarin and I have had a rocky relationship with lots of starts and stops for a number of reasons. Without a doubt it is an important language in terms of numbers of people who speak it. It contains a the rich history and culture heritage. I would also like to support my daughter in her studies of the language, as she constantly expresses an interest in learning it too.\n\n<strong><span style="font-size: medium;">Recording my journey</span></strong>\n\nMy Chinese was very basic before starting the Skype lessons, so it makes little sense to record a video saying nothing, right? I will make a video in Chinese after I have studied for three months and then again at six months. When I arrive in China I will be assessed officially for the course. I will record this assessment too and then later show my progress at the end of the course.\n\n<strong><span style="font-size: medium;">Join me on my journey</span></strong>\n\nShare your stories with me on here and on my <a href="http://www.facebook.com/RichardSimcott">Facebook</a> page and let me know how I am getting on! <img src="http://ltlcdn1.ltl.netdna-cdn.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif" alt=":)" />\n\nRead the <a href="http://speakingfluently.com/2012/07/14/live-the-language-studying-in-country/">original post</a>\n\n</div>', 'Polyglot Richard Simcott studies with LTL', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3621-revision', '', '', '2012-11-19 09:45:39', '2012-11-19 09:45:39', '', 3621, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3621-revision/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3623, 2, '2013-08-14 04:55:17', '2013-08-14 04:55:17', 'Going abroad is the one thing many of us think about as being the best way to learn a new language.\n\nIf the opportunity arises, is it worth grabbing?\n\nI have talked about courses before, be self-study with Pimsleur or taught like Turkish course in Skopje.\n\nWhat about these “intensive courses” though? Just how much can you learn on one?\n\n<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Living the language</strong></span>\n\nLearning a language in-country can take many guises. You can move to a country indefinitely for work, love or study without a definite plan to return to your native land. Other options are exchanges (particularly for school/university students). The other option open is short to medium stays, learning the language as an independent learner or on a course. You could choose to do this in combination with a paid or unpaid work placement. Or you might choose to seek out language tuition in the country.\n\nAll of these options have pros and cons attached, including a number of factors ranging from cost and efficiency to personal experience and preference. I have done the language exchanges offered by my school, like Tim Doner from New York, who went to France on such an exchange this year. In this video he talks about his experience:\n\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\n<div>\n\nI have been on short courses abroad to brush up on my language skills and full year-long courses, working towards a diploma, like my Advanced Diploma in Czech Studies from Charles University in Prague.\n\nIf you are thinking about going on a course of study abroad with a language school or university, this new challenge is FOR YOU.\n\n<strong><span style="font-size: medium;">The set-up</span></strong>\n\nI am currently taking mandarin language lessons over Skype with LTL (Live The Language) in Beijing. The goal is to bring my very limited Chinese to a decent basic level in preparation for a one month stay in China at the start of 2013.\n\n<strong><span style="font-size: medium;">The China Program</span></strong>\n\nI will be taking part in the “<a title="Two city Combo" href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/traveling-to-china/two-city-combo/">Two City Combo</a>” offered by LTL and spending two weeks in Beijing and then two further weeks in Chegde. I will live with local families in a bid to make the most of my language learning experience and really Live the Language. Whilst I am in both cities I will have twenty hours of tuition a week.\n\n<span style="font-size: medium;"><strong>What do you expect to know after a month in China?</strong></span>\n\nI aim to get my Chinese to a solid A1 level before I go over. 80 hours of tuition in China should be sufficient to get to the next level. I hope to be able to speak it at a good A2 level by the end of my stay. Any more than that would be a bonus. The key is to get a solid grounding in the language to build on it after the stay.\n\n<strong><span style="font-size: medium;">Why Chinese? Why now?</span></strong>\n\nMandarin and I have had a rocky relationship with lots of starts and stops for a number of reasons. Without a doubt it is an important language in terms of numbers of people who speak it. It contains a the rich history and culture heritage. I would also like to support my daughter in her studies of the language, as she constantly expresses an interest in learning it too.\n\n<strong><span style="font-size: medium;">Recording my journey</span></strong>\n\nMy Chinese was very basic before starting the Skype lessons, so it makes little sense to record a video saying nothing, right? I will make a video in Chinese after I have studied for three months and then again at six months. When I arrive in China I will be assessed officially for the course. I will record this assessment too and then later show my progress at the end of the course.\n\n<strong><span style="font-size: medium;">Join me on my journey</span></strong>\n\nShare your stories with me on here and on my <a href="http://www.facebook.com/RichardSimcott">Facebook</a> page and let me know how I am getting on!\n\nRead the <a href="http://speakingfluently.com/2012/07/14/live-the-language-studying-in-country/">original post</a>\n\n</div>', 'Polyglot Richard Simcott studies with LTL', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3621-autosave', '', '', '2013-08-14 04:55:17', '2013-08-14 04:55:17', '', 3621, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3621-autosave/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (5516, 2, '2013-08-14 23:34:15', '2013-08-14 23:34:15', 'When looking for a language program, we had an extensive list of requirements for every member of our family. LTL put together a perfect program for all of us.  My sons took six hours of 2-on-1 classes per day and lived in homestays with Chinese families in both Beijing and Chengde.  With flexible class schedules, I was able to take language and cultural classes at the same time as my sons therefore I saw them at the LTL campus every weekday.  LTL found us accommodation nearby our sons’ homestays with requested amenities, like high speed Internetfor connecting to our work at home.  LTL was there to answer all our questions and support all four of us throughout our stay.  Our teachers were outstanding.  We all made wonderful new friends and immersed ourselves in Chinese culture and daily life.  I would recommend LTL to any family looking for a fun &amp; educational adventure in China.  We traveled for our third month in China.  Everyone we met commented on our sons’ excellent Chinese language skills.  Our sons have been studying Chinese for 5 years, but at LTL their language skills grew exponentially. <i>-</i> Carolyn (mother of Colin and Liam), <i>New Zealand</i>\r\n\r\n[caption id="attachment_5520" align="alignright" width="300"]<a href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Carolyn-Family-31.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-5520" alt="Family Tai Qi in the LTL school complex." src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Carolyn-Family-31-300x225.jpg" width="300" height="225" /></a> Family Tai Qi in the LTL school complex.[/caption]\r\n\r\nMoving to China for a few months was probably the most daunting single experience of my life. I am pleased to say that LTL made this experience both educational and memorable, without any of my worries for the experience being realized. The highlight was my homestay family, who I feel truly welcomed me into their home and culture. <i>- Liam (14 years old), New Zealand\r\n</i>\r\n\r\nI did two months of classes with LTL in Beijing and Chengde. My Chinese greatly improved.  I learned more practical Chinese with LTL whereas with other courses I learned just a little of everything.  The classes were fun, and it is something that I would do again!  <i>- Colin (12 years old), <i>New Zealand</i>\r\n</i>\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nFind out more about our <a title="Learn Chinese in Chengde" href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/learn-chinese-chengde/">chinese classes in Chengde</a>\r\n\r\n&nbsp;', 'Learning Chinese as a family', '', 'publish', 'open', 'open', '', 'learning-chinese-as-a-family', '', '', '2014-02-10 11:59:20', '2014-02-10 11:59:20', '', 0, 'http://ltl-chinois.fr/?p=5516', 0, 'post', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (5511, 2, '2013-07-29 05:37:38', '2013-07-29 05:37:38', 'LTL Mandarin School runs all year, including Christmass and Chinese New Year. While the school is closed on Chinese holidays, all classes are moved to other days before or after the holiday, meaning that the curriculum continues normally throughout the year and it is possible to study throughout the whole year without loosing any classes.\r\n\r\nFor 2013 the school is closed on the following days:\r\n\r\n[caption id="attachment_4524" align="alignright" width="300"]<a href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/contact-us/school-closing-dates/calendar-year-of-the-snake-2013-new-year/" rel="attachment wp-att-4524"><img class="size-medium wp-image-4524" alt="Calendar-Year-Of-The-Snake-2013-New-Year" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Calendar-Year-Of-The-Snake-2013-New-Year-300x205.jpg" width="300" height="205" /></a> 2013 is the year of the snake.[/caption]\r\n\r\n[list type=bullets-blue ]\r\n<ul>\r\n	<li><span style="font-size: medium;">January 1st, 2013 – International New Year</span></li>\r\n	<li><span style="font-size: medium;">February 11th – 13th 2013 – Chinese New Year</span></li>\r\n	<li><span style="font-size: medium;">April 4th 2013 – Qing Ming Jie</span></li>\r\n	<li><span style="font-size: medium;">May 1st 2013 – Labour Day</span></li>\r\n	<li><span style="font-size: medium;">June 12th 2013 – Dragon Boat Festival</span></li>\r\n	<li><span style="font-size: medium;">September 19th 2013 – Mid-Autumn Festival</span></li>\r\n	<li><span style="font-size: medium;">October 1st – 3rd – National Holiday</span></li>\r\n</ul>\r\n[/list]\r\n\r\nClasses that fall on a holiday will be made up for either on either the weekend before or after the holiday or on the holiday itself so<strong> always all classes you paid for are offered</strong>. You will <strong>never</strong> lose classes due to a holiday. Please ask your teacher for the exact schedule.\r\n\r\nFor the following dates in 2013, classes will be <strong>moved from a working day to a weekend</strong>:\r\n\r\n[list type=bullets-gray ]\r\n<ul>\r\n	<li>Thursday, February 14th and Friday February 15th are moved to Saturday February 16th and Sunday February 17th</li>\r\n	<li>Friday, October 4th and Monday October 7th are moved to Saturday September 28th and Sunday 29th</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n[/list]\r\n\r\n[caption id="attachment_5233" align="alignright" width="200"]<a href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/ma.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-5233" alt="Chinese Year of the horse" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/ma.jpg" width="200" height="200" /></a> 2014 is the year of the horse.[/caption]\r\n\r\nFor 2014 LTL is closed on the following days:\r\n\r\n[list type=bullets-blue ]\r\n<ul>\r\n	<li>January 1st, 2014 – International New Year</li>\r\n	<li>January 30th – February 3rd – Chinese New Year</li>\r\n	<li>April 7th 2014 – Qing Ming Jie</li>\r\n	<li>May 1st 2014 – Labour Day</li>\r\n	<li>June 2th 2014 – Dragon Boat Festival</li>\r\n	<li>September 8th 2014 – Mid-Autumn Festival</li>\r\n	<li>October 1st – 3rd – National Holiday</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n[/list]\r\n\r\nFor the following dates in 2014, classes will be <strong>moved from a working day to a weekend</strong>:\r\n\r\n[list type=bullets-gray ]\r\n<ul>\r\n	<li>January 30th and February 5th are moved to January 26th (Saturday) and February 8th (Saturday)</li>\r\n	<li>Monday, October 6th and Tuesday October 7th are moved to Sunday September 28th and October 11th</li>\r\n</ul>\r\nPlease make sure you adjust your arrival times accordingly! If there are any questions, we are more than happy to explain, just drop us an email. [button color=red url=http://ltl-chinois.fr/contact-us/ target=self]Contact us[/button][hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<span style="font-size: large;">Why it works this way</span>\r\n\r\nBecause Chinese holidays follow a lunar calendar, the dates can change from year to year. In an attempt to create consecutive days of holiday time for people to travel to their hometowns, workers in China are often required to substitute a weekend day for a mid-week working day. In this way, you still get the same number of working days and holidays, but the holidays are blocked together.\r\n\r\n<em>It’s important to note that this day-swapping is applied differently by various companies and government offices. in China. For interns, please make sure you check with your company how they adjust their working times.</em>\r\n\r\nAt LTL, we believe the work day substitution makes sense when it creates a weeklong holiday, which is the case for Chinese New Year and National Holiday. However, it doesn’t make sense to schedule classes the Saturday and Sunday before Qingming Festival in order to create what would only be a 3-day holiday from Monday-Wednesday.\r\n\r\nSo, for Chinese New Year and National Day, LTL will follow the official Chinese government system for swapping working days for weekend days. For all other holidays, we will only move the classes from the holiday, to either the week before, after, or just teach on the actual holiday.\r\n\r\nYou can find the official explanation in Chinese <a href="http://www.gov.cn/zwgk/2012-12/10/content_2286598.htm" target="_blank">here</a>.', 'School Closing Dates', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3305-revision-v1', '', '', '2013-07-29 05:37:38', '2013-07-29 05:37:38', '', 3305, 'http://ltl-chinois.fr/3305-revision-6/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3624, 1, '2012-11-19 09:46:34', '2012-11-19 09:46:34', 'Live The Language – Studying in-country\r\nJuly 14, 2012\r\nRichard Simcott\r\n\r\nGoing abroad is the one thing many of us think about as being the best way to learn a new language.\r\n\r\nIf the opportunity arises, is it worth grabbing?\r\n\r\nI have talked about courses before, be self-study with Pimsleur or taught like Turkish course in Skopje.\r\n\r\nWhat about these “intensive courses” though? Just how much can you learn on one?\r\n\r\n<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Living the language</strong></span>\r\n\r\nLearning a language in-country can take many guises. You can move to a country indefinitely for work, love or study without a definite plan to return to your native land. Other options are exchanges (particularly for school/university students). The other option open is short to medium stays, learning the language as an independent learner or on a course. You could choose to do this in combination with a paid or unpaid work placement. Or you might choose to seek out language tuition in the country.\r\n\r\nAll of these options have pros and cons attached, including a number of factors ranging from cost and efficiency to personal experience and preference. I have done the language exchanges offered by my school, like Tim Doner from New York, who went to France on such an exchange this year. In this video he talks about his experience:\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/QdNRq2kuVMk?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" width="640" height="360"></iframe>\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n<div>\r\n\r\nI have been on short courses abroad to brush up on my language skills and full year-long courses, working towards a diploma, like my Advanced Diploma in Czech Studies from Charles University in Prague.\r\n\r\nIf you are thinking about going on a course of study abroad with a language school or university, this new challenge is FOR YOU.\r\n\r\n<strong><span style="font-size: medium;">The set-up</span></strong>\r\n\r\nI am currently taking mandarin language lessons over Skype with LTL (Live The Language) in Beijing. The goal is to bring my very limited Chinese to a decent basic level in preparation for a one month stay in China at the start of 2013.\r\n\r\n<strong><span style="font-size: medium;">The China Program</span></strong>\r\n\r\nI will be taking part in the “<a title="Two city Combo" href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/traveling-to-china/two-city-combo/">Two City Combo</a>” offered by LTL and spending two weeks in Beijing and then two further weeks in Chegde. I will live with local families in a bid to make the most of my language learning experience and really Live the Language. Whilst I am in both cities I will have twenty hours of tuition a week.\r\n\r\n<span style="font-size: medium;"><strong>What do you expect to know after a month in China?</strong></span>\r\n\r\nI aim to get my Chinese to a solid A1 level before I go over. 80 hours of tuition in China should be sufficient to get to the next level. I hope to be able to speak it at a good A2 level by the end of my stay. Any more than that would be a bonus. The key is to get a solid grounding in the language to build on it after the stay.\r\n\r\n<strong><span style="font-size: medium;">Why Chinese? Why now?</span></strong>\r\n\r\nMandarin and I have had a rocky relationship with lots of starts and stops for a number of reasons. Without a doubt it is an important language in terms of numbers of people who speak it. It contains a the rich history and culture heritage. I would also like to support my daughter in her studies of the language, as she constantly expresses an interest in learning it too.\r\n\r\n<strong><span style="font-size: medium;">Recording my journey</span></strong>\r\n\r\nMy Chinese was very basic before starting the Skype lessons, so it makes little sense to record a video saying nothing, right? I will make a video in Chinese after I have studied for three months and then again at six months. When I arrive in China I will be assessed officially for the course. I will record this assessment too and then later show my progress at the end of the course.\r\n\r\n<strong><span style="font-size: medium;">Join me on my journey</span></strong>\r\n\r\nShare your stories with me on here and on my <a href="http://www.facebook.com/RichardSimcott">Facebook</a> page and let me know how I am getting on! <img src="http://ltlcdn1.ltl.netdna-cdn.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif" alt=":)" />\r\n\r\nRead the <a href="http://speakingfluently.com/2012/07/14/live-the-language-studying-in-country/">original post</a>\r\n\r\n</div>', 'Polyglot Richard Simcott studies with LTL', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3621-revision-2', '', '', '2012-11-19 09:46:34', '2012-11-19 09:46:34', '', 3621, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3621-revision-2/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3625, 1, '2012-07-26 09:54:59', '2012-07-26 09:54:59', 'Speaking a language like a native isn’t solely to do with whether you get the right tone, the right grammar, the right sentence structure and so on.\r\n\r\nI have discovered that the older my child gets, the more he changes not only his speech, but his personality, depending on which language he is speaking.\r\n\r\nNot long after we moved to this apartment, we had a small children’s gathering in my courtyard, a public one which is great because there are dozens of steep, uneven stairways, broken bikes and other hidden dangers to play around to one’s heart’s content.\r\n\r\nMost of the children who came were my son’s Chinese classmates.\r\n\r\nThey were all playing quite nicely and we mothers were enjoying a couple of Yanjings and some hairy beans with half an eye on which child was throwing stones at which bikes, when suddenly I heard this whining whingeing banshee that screamed in pitch until I’m sure a few windows started cracking.\r\n\r\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\r\n\r\n<a href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/100214_two_faces_in_circle.jpg"><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-3626" title="Fifth personality" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/100214_two_faces_in_circle-300x300.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="300" /></a>The voice was demanding something from another child, and the Beijing <em>hua</em> issuing forth was relentless, painful, excruciating.\r\n\r\nSwinging round to try and stem this eardrum blasting, I realised with horror that the voice belonged to none other than my very own child.\r\n\r\nIn English I immediately demanded an explanation for this tirade.\r\n\r\nHe immediately switched to sweet, pure English and explained in a very soft tone that one of his friends had thrown his Ben 10 doll down one of the stairwells and into a pile of rotting cat food.\r\n\r\nChinese playground hollering transformed into English parent-child communication. A case of adapting to circumstances.\r\n\r\nMe, on the other hand, no matter what situation I find myself in, I just stick with the English phrasing, the English politeness, the English reserve and the English inability to be understood. I will never be able to switch character according to language, no matter how much it would help everyone else’s comprehension.\r\n\r\nFor the rest of the afternoon I listened, and realised he has a completely different personality in Chinese. By the way it’s not pretty, either.\r\n\r\nPetulant, ordering, overreacting to everything, getting moody. Astonishing. He does not behave like that with his western playmates – and if he did, I’m sure he would have none left.\r\n\r\nBut it’s not just him – it seems to be the way Chinese children have to play—perhaps because there are so many of them in the class, at the park, in the playground, on the bus, in the toy shop – they simply have to whinge to get what they want.\r\n\r\nAnd at the end of it all, when it’s time to go home and everyone has moaned and shrieked and squabbled for three hours, everyone agrees they had a wonderful time. All that had gone before was clearly just normal behaviour.\r\n\r\nIt’s all fascinating to observe, and will continue to be so until we leave in August.\r\n\r\nI just hope when we do, we take the right personality with us.', 'Fifth Personality', '', 'publish', 'open', 'open', '', 'fifth-personality', '', '', '2012-12-11 04:18:13', '2012-12-11 04:18:13', '', 0, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/?p=3625', 0, 'post', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3626, 1, '2012-11-19 09:52:38', '2012-11-19 09:52:38', '', 'Fifth personality', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '100214_two_faces_in_circle', '', '', '2012-11-19 09:52:38', '2012-11-19 09:52:38', '', 3625, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/100214_two_faces_in_circle.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3627, 1, '2012-11-19 09:54:42', '2012-11-19 09:54:42', 'Speaking a language like a native isn’t solely to do with whether you get the right tone, the right grammar, the right sentence structure and so on.\n\nI have discovered that the older my child gets, the more he changes not only his speech, but his personality, depending on which language he is speaking.\n\nNot long after we moved to this apartment, we had a small children’s gathering in my courtyard, a public one which is great because there are dozens of steep, uneven stairways, broken bikes and other hidden dangers to play around to one’s heart’s content.\n\nMost of the children who came were my son’s Chinese classmates.\n\nThey were all playing quite nicely and we mothers were enjoying a couple of Yanjings and some hairy beans with half an eye on which child was throwing stones at which bikes, when suddenly I heard this whining whingeing banshee that screamed in pitch until I’m sure a few windows started cracking.\n\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\n\n<a href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/100214_two_faces_in_circle.jpg"><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-3626" title="Fifth personality" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/100214_two_faces_in_circle-300x300.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="300" /></a>The voice was demanding something from another child, and the Beijing <em>hua</em> issuing forth was relentless, painful, excruciating.\n\nSwinging round to try and stem this eardrum blasting, I realised with horror that the voice belonged to none other than my very own child.\n\nIn English I immediately demanded an explanation for this tirade.\n\nHe immediately switched to sweet, pure English and explained in a very soft tone that one of his friends had thrown his Ben 10 doll down one of the stairwells and into a pile of rotting cat food.\n\nChinese playground hollering transformed into English parent-child communication. A case of adapting to circumstances.\n\nMe, on the other hand, no matter what situation I find myself in, I just stick with the English phrasing, the English politeness, the English reserve and the English inability to be understood. I will never be able to switch character according to language, no matter how much it would help everyone else’s comprehension.\n\nFor the rest of the afternoon I listened, and realised he has a completely different personality in Chinese. By the way it’s not pretty, either.\n\nPetulant, ordering, overreacting to everything, getting moody. Astonishing. He does not behave like that with his western playmates – and if he did, I’m sure he would have none left.\n\nBut it’s not just him – it seems to be the way Chinese children have to play—perhaps because there are so many of them in the class, at the park, in the playground, on the bus, in the toy shop – they simply have to whinge to get what they want.\n\nAnd at the end of it all, when it’s time to go home and everyone has moaned and shrieked and squabbled for three hours, everyone agrees they had a wonderful time. All that had gone before was clearly just normal behaviour.\n\nIt’s all fascinating to observe, and will continue to be so until we leave in August.\n\nI just hope when we do, we take the right personality with us.', '', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3625-revision', '', '', '2012-11-19 09:54:42', '2012-11-19 09:54:42', '', 3625, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3625-revision/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3628, 1, '2012-11-19 09:56:04', '2012-11-19 09:56:04', 'Speaking a language like a native isn’t solely to do with whether you get the right tone, the right grammar, the right sentence structure and so on.\n\nI have discovered that the older my child gets, the more he changes not only his speech, but his personality, depending on which language he is speaking.\n\nNot long after we moved to this apartment, we had a small children’s gathering in my courtyard, a public one which is great because there are dozens of steep, uneven stairways, broken bikes and other hidden dangers to play around to one’s heart’s content.\n\nMost of the children who came were my son’s Chinese classmates.\n\nThey were all playing quite nicely and we mothers were enjoying a couple of Yanjings and some hairy beans with half an eye on which child was throwing stones at which bikes, when suddenly I heard this whining whingeing banshee that screamed in pitch until I’m sure a few windows started cracking.\n\n[hr style=dotted-line margin_top=20 margin_bottom=20]\n\n<a href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/100214_two_faces_in_circle.jpg"><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-3626" title="Fifth personality" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/100214_two_faces_in_circle-300x300.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="300" /></a>The voice was demanding something from another child, and the Beijing <em>hua</em> issuing forth was relentless, painful, excruciating.\n\nSwinging round to try and stem this eardrum blasting, I realised with horror that the voice belonged to none other than my very own child.\n\nIn English I immediately demanded an explanation for this tirade.\n\nHe immediately switched to sweet, pure English and explained in a very soft tone that one of his friends had thrown his Ben 10 doll down one of the stairwells and into a pile of rotting cat food.\n\nChinese playground hollering transformed into English parent-child communication. A case of adapting to circumstances.\n\nMe, on the other hand, no matter what situation I find myself in, I just stick with the English phrasing, the English politeness, the English reserve and the English inability to be understood. I will never be able to switch character according to language, no matter how much it would help everyone else’s comprehension.\n\nFor the rest of the afternoon I listened, and realised he has a completely different personality in Chinese. By the way it’s not pretty, either.\n\nPetulant, ordering, overreacting to everything, getting moody. Astonishing. He does not behave like that with his western playmates – and if he did, I’m sure he would have none left.\n\nBut it’s not just him – it seems to be the way Chinese children have to play—perhaps because there are so many of them in the class, at the park, in the playground, on the bus, in the toy shop – they simply have to whinge to get what they want.\n\nAnd at the end of it all, when it’s time to go home and everyone has moaned and shrieked and squabbled for three hours, everyone agrees they had a wonderful time. All that had gone before was clearly just normal behaviour.\n\nIt’s all fascinating to observe, and will continue to be so until we leave in August.\n\nI just hope when we do, we take the right personality with us.', 'Fifth Personality', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '3625-autosave', '', '', '2012-11-19 09:56:04', '2012-11-19 09:56:04', '', 3625, 'http://new.livethelanguage.cn/3625-autosave/', 0, 'revision', '', 0) ; 
