Tip #1: Before your trip, learn Chinese.
Just kidding. Unless you’re a
superb linguist with an affinity for exotic languages, you don’t stand a
chance. You’ll be lucky if you master the pronunciation of a few basic phrases
such as nee hao – hello; zow sha how – good morning, and pee jaw – beer. And
even then, you probably won’t get the intonation right and the locals will
either laugh out loud or stare at you blankly. The famous example has to do
with the various meanings of the word ma, which can mean – according to the tone
– mother, horse, insult, and possibly a few other meanings.
As we were strolling the paths of
the Panda Sanctuary, Pete and I happened to muse aloud how long it would take a
foreigner like us to learn basic Chinese; enough to get along on a daily basis.
A young French chap nearby who overheard us smiled and said knowingly, based on
his own personal experience, “Two years.”
 |
| Panda Sanctuary, Chengdu. No connection with reading and writing Chinese. |
But even more than the spoken
language, it’s the written language that mystifies me. As we drove by a
Sheraton hotel in the center of Beijing, I looked at its name in Chinese
characters:
How is it, I wondered, that three simple syllables in English – shé,
rah, ton -- each in itself without any meaning -- get transformed into a row of
nine complex drawings?
Or consider my own name,
consisting of two super-simple syllables: ni – na. On our visit to the lovely
park of the Big Wild Goose Pagoda in Xi’an, we were given a fascinating talk
and demonstration of the development of Chinese script by a charming artist and
teacher, whose name I’m sorry to say I didn’t write down. He then kindly wrote
our names for us, with brush and ink, on rice paper. My name, if you please, is:
Just imagine if I managed to adopt
this as my signature! I think my checks would be safe from attempted forgery.
But seriously: With a good
teacher, you can definitely learn to identify a few helpful words. Such as the
signs for Gents and Ladies that appear on toilets. In the big cities the
relevant doors have a standard drawing of a male and female figure, and/or
carry the English words Male and Female. But out in the country they often only
carry the Chinese characters. Hint: the Ladies toilets is on the right. Why?
Because the woman is always right, quoth our guide :-)
 |
| At the Big Wild Goose Pagoda visitors' center; the artist at work |
 |
| At the Big Wild Goose Pagoda visitors' center; the sign for "woman" |
Hello Everyone,
ReplyDeleteChinese is a difficult language for most foreigners. But with some efforts foreign people still can master some useful and daily life sentences to be used in their trips to Beijing China. Learning some Chinese is a good way of understanding more of its culture. Thanks...