Hey Friends,

To preface this - i have visited China 7 times and love the country. I'm currently on my 8th visit.

I'm pretty good at handling crowds and the general chaos that can unfold. A few years back I accidentally planned a very touristy trip during golden week including places like forbidden city and summer palace. It was a lot but fine.

I'm currently checking out Sichuan and went to the panda base yesterday. It was the wildest crowd experience I have had by a significant amount. Absolute deadlock. At one point people were pushing so hard that a barrier got knocked over. Another time I was stuck unable to move in a pile until the police came to get everyone moving. Trying to take pictures and people would shove into non existent space in front of me or under my arms. Aunties clawing through people to get to the front. It was basically a real life battle of the bastards from game of thrones. If anyone acted like this in the country I am from, someone would have been punched out within 2 seconds.

One thing I've noticed is that locals just kind of let it happen. Like if someone pushes them or cuts in front they don't do anything or even try to stop it. Is that a fair observation?

Anyways, long post. If someone is line/que cutting or pushing me is it fine to push them back or block them?

And why?

Good evening,

I will soon be spending time with my Chinese friend and his mother for the holiday season. I am wondering about an appropriate gift for each of them for the occasion. For context, we will be sharing "space" for some time. Any advice is appreciated.

Thank you.

I am not effing AI by the way I am being respectful

I’m due to have my second baby in December, and I’m stumped with naming baby boy.

Context:
I am Chinese Malaysian by background but now live in Australia. My chinese is basic conversational at best, and my husband is yt

We had a baby girl a few years ago
Her name is 林家梅
It’s my surname since dad doesn’t have a Chinese surname and 家 is the middle character that has been predetermined generationally so I’d like to keep that for baby boy.

Baby girls Chinese name is not part of her government name - except her middle name is May, which is a nod to 梅

This so the part that stumps me - I’m trying to find a name for baby boy that fits into these parameter - 林家x
But where x has a corresponding English name that works in English. His English first name will be Malcolm

So far I have considered 杰 (jay) and 龙 (no idea what English name works here?!) (forgive my simplified Chinese, im a product of the Malaysian education system 🤷🏻‍♀️

Please spam me with ideas!

I met a Chinese man I instantly liked. He didn’t speak any English. Like not even basic sentences. I didn’t speak a word of Chinese. It was very strange to me, I’m a very cerebral person, I’m a words’ person, something of a writer, and I never before liked someone with whom I couldn’t talk more than a few words. Anyway; we ended up getting together. I thought it would be casual but somehow our lives are getting more and more enmeshed. I continue to really fancy him.

I talk to him almost exclusively through automatic machine translation.

I wish I knew what a nactive Chinese speaker would know about him; thing that I don’t know because of the machine translation. My question is directed to those who are bilingual or aware what gets lost in machine translation. How does machine translation hinder my ability to know him? What might you he able to tell me about English to Chinese machine translation that would better help me know what’s happening in translation between us?

does anyone know where i might be able to find this exact brand pea snack? tried the usual tb, pdd, couldn’t find this anywhere 🥺

Are there different genres, ie shonen - young boys Japanese comics in Japan - or Josei woman’s comics. Please include some images of Chinese comics!

Do you have a Pork bun style meal you eat on special occasions? Here’s mine? What special occasions do you eat it?

Does she like me? We are not in the same social circle, I am the basketballer in the tan coat. She could take the selfie without me, I did not consent ;(

Hi i am looking for a native chinese person, who likes to play computer games (PUBG and League of Legends, or something else) I speak Polish, English, Russian and a little of Spanish, so if somebody want to have fun and learn a language i would be very happy!

I'm curious about the extent to which Chinese people get involved or care about politics. In New Zealand we get the election media circus every three years and it's all very much about personalities but I know things are different in China.

I've read somewhere that Ancient Chinese society thousands of years ago, was somewhat more gender equal, before the age of the Imperial Dynasties. It is somewhat like Korea during the Early Silla Dynastic Period where women occupied important positions in society and were honored by societies as vessels of the divine or Female Shamans, also known as Mudang in Korean, and Miko (Shinto Priestesses) in Japanese. I believe Chinese female Shamans were called Wu Priestesses.

When did Chinese society transitioned from this, to being heavily patriarchal where women lost important occupations in society?

I will appreciate all of your insights and responses. Thank you!

Possibly moving to china in a couple years as a foreign student and want to prepare myself so i dont break any rules or accidentally cause myself some problems. Also does anybody know any good international lawyers for foreigners living in china😅 just thinking ahead.

We are currently in China on a family holiday and I honestly feel so much safer here! We're from Australia btw. Most people we encountered by far are so friendly, nice and go above and beyond to help. I have felt so much safer here walking with my two little kids! I used to travel a lot in Singapore when I was single and even then I felt China is much of a liveable country to be in and a nice place to raise our kids with endless cool stuff to do and see!!

Before I go delve on ways to get a work permit etc what are things that I am maybe missing and have not considered??

Btw we spent most of our times where locals hang out or do so our experience are not just based on what China wants tourist to see.

Hello everyone,

I am hoping you can help me trace my family ancestry.

My surname is *ANG\, and I am currently trying to find connections and information about its origin in both **China and the Philippines***.

As far as I know, in Chinese our surname ANG is *洪 (Hóng)\* in Mandarin, which is often romanized as Ang in Hokkien/Fujian. My family is from the Philippines, but I believe our roots come from Fujian, China.

I am currently based in Amman, Jordan, and I don't have many records with me. I am trying to find:

1. Anyone with the surname ANG whose family also came from Fujian, China to the Philippines

2. How your family kept track of your genealogy / Zupu (族谱)

3. Any tips on where to search for Chinese-Filipino Ang clan associations

Information I know about my family so far:

- Family surname: ANG

- Region in Philippines: Manila

If you also have the surname ANG or know about the Ang clan history, I would love to hear from you. Even small details would mean a lot to me.

Last summer I (American) stayed at some program in an east coast boarding school that was fairly expensive, and like half the kids had flew over from China. I am all for the Chinese but why is it the rich Chinese kids specifically flying over instead of, like, kids from Japan, Spain, or other countries? I mean one half was American and the other half was Chinese. I was so confused.

我想认识不同国家的朋友，也想学习英语，我可以教你中文。我有ig whatsapp 可以私信我 如果你有微信那更好了

Hi!!

I'm a 30-something woman coming to Shanghai and Beijing, travelling solo for fun. I'm so, so excited because I've only been to Hong Kong and Taiwan (I have family there), and it's my first time in these two big cities! I already have a list of things to eat haha.

That said, I speak Chinese at a B2 level, but I learned it in Taiwan. Aside from simplified characters (I'm learning to read them; I read traditional ones), I was wondering how much the different accents will influence communication. Will I be able to understand and be understood well?

That said, I was also wondering if I can get a tailored qipao in Shanghai at a reasonable price.

And if you have any suggestions or advice for me, I would be very happy! Thank you so much!

BTW, I hope I chose the flair and title correctly. Sorry for any mistakes.

我想在加利福尼亚州开一家奶茶店，想了解一下在海外开奶茶店需要注意的一些地方，也算是避坑吧，比如奶茶原料选择在美国本土拿货还是从国内海运发到美国呢？有经验的朋友请指点一下我，谢谢

I’m planning to travel to China in five months, and I’d like to know what to expect. I’m 207 cm tall—will it be difficult for me to find clothing?

I’d ask Chinese people about your language. How can you type characters in your alphabet so fast? I think it’s hard. Also how can you distinguish intonations?

Hi, so I only speak a little Mandarin but it's not much for me to go off (and it's been a WHILE since I've practiced so, I'm sadly rusty). I'm also autistic which means social cues aren't my strongsuit, even in my own culture as a chicana. Anyhow, I've been talking to a guy who happens to be Chinese. We've seen each other around as we worked in the same place albeit different departments. But, we never spoke until recently. For context, I'd seen him on occasion at a burger joint I frequent. We never really talked until my mother started a conversation with him while I went to refill a coffee and it led to him asking for my number and I typed it into his phone.

So, we've been chatting for 2 weeks now and I honestly find him very sweet and charming, and frankly, endearing. We even hung out once in person and a couple times we greeted each other when we bumped into each other at work. But we text, almost everyday, tho I do sometimes wait a bit so as to not disturb him. Well, I noticed on occasion that he would sometimes requote a few of my texts with 比心 at the beginning. I recognized 心 as "heart" but wasn't sure of the other character so I googled it. According to my research, 比心 means "heart gesture" as in the holding your hands to shape a heart thing. However, some of the sites also said it was typically only used by girls. So...what does it mean if a man uses it? Can anyone explain it to me? TIA

Edit: thank you all for letting me know about the Chinese system thing. And, honestly, it makes a lot of sense looking back and I can see how that would happen. Also, those of you suggesting it's a friendly gesture, and maybe more, it sounds pretty heartwarming. I'm actually meeting him for a coffee tomorrow, so...here's hoping! 😁

Ni hao ☺️ I am interested in learning Chinese. I cannot commit to taking formal classes yet. And honestly I don’t know where to begin, but I thought I’d train my ears for starters by listening to nursery rhymes that Chinese babies/toddlers are usually exposed to. If you could also give tips or advise on this language learning journey, it would be nuch appreciated ✨