China 2011-2012

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

Oh, boy.

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

???

[The Queen]

He's abandoning me for New Years. Looks like I'll be kissing the dogs at midnight this year.

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

I"m bringing the cameras and not a lot of sense. But you can pencil me in at the Shaolin Temple over the New Year.

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

And I ask again: ???

[cranefly]

Is there an iron crotch connection?
Sounds crazy and gutsy.

[Drunk Monk]

Every region has its dialect. Around Shaolin, they speak Dengfenghua - Dengfeng is the nearby city, hua here means 'language'.

cesuo nali

Seh-so-ah nah-lee

Literally 'stink place where?'

Where's the toilet?

Practice squatting. Dengfeng has a lot more sit-down toilets now, but you can't say you've really been to China without using a squatter.

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

Yes, I can.

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

As Sal pointed out, DM should come with us.

I vote yes.

I think that's my gauntlet at your feet.

[Drunk Monk]

bu yao

boo yeow

Literally 'no want'

Tourist hawkers will get one look at you and start slinging their wares. They will say "yao, bu yao?" (want [or] no want). Say bu yao firmly.


I wish I could go but I'm not going to pay for a trip to China at this stage in my career. I'll pay for Florida, but not China. It's like paying to work my ass off. I can do that here. Hopefully, someone will pay me to go again someday soon. Once you get paid to go somewhere, it spoils you.

[Drunk Monk]

Well, after tg's fine link (<!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://brotherhoodofdoom.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2441">viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2441</a><!-- l -->) that's a hard act to follow.

You got your numbers nailed down, yes? You can't use your fingers because the Chinese have a totally different system of expressing numbers with your fingers. You'll need your numbers to haggle. Buying anything involves some haggling - it's like a national sport. If you let Sal haggle for you, he'll grab some kickback.

qing

ching, like the super cool last name.

please

When with people you've been introduced to already, say 'qing' constantly. When you go through a door, or sit down, or eat, or drink, or whatever, say 'qing' and gesture for your company to go first.

If you haven't been introduced, it's okay to elbow the crap out of others to get in front. With China's huge population, there's no such thing as lining up nicely, especially to see some tourist site. Little old Chinese ladies will elbow the crap out of your flanks to get in front of you. Then they'll smile these shit-eating toothless grins back at you. It sucks because there's nothing you can do back and they totally know it.

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

The Chinese Government in their wisdom have seen fit to give me a Visa into their country.

I don't know my Chinese numbers, so I'll just continue to shake my head while haggling. Like I have water in my ear.

As for little old ladies, just remember, I'm a photographer. Things get ugly when I want anyone gets between me and what I am shooting. I'll see your shit eating grins and raise you big fat round eye.

[Drunk Monk]

yi, er, san, si, wu, liu, qi, ba, jiao, shi.
yee, err, san, s...well, four is hard because it's phonetically the same sound as the word for death, which is why you won't find a #4 bus line in Dengfeng, woo, leo, chi, baaa, gee-ow, s-her

There's this whole system for bigger numbers like ten, hundreds, thousands, ie 21 is er shi yi but no one uses it.

That reminds me - never point at someone with your index finger. It's very insulting because it's viewed like shooting someone - brings back bad Red guard memories. If you point to yourself, use your thumb.

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

Is qi for seven the same as qi as in got qi?

[Drunk Monk]

氣 = (4th tone) air, gas, steam, vapor; spirit

七 = (1st tone) 7 (it's really just the number seven turned upside down)

There are 4 tones in Mandarin plus a neutral.

There are about 90 completely different characters associated with the pinyin term 'qi'