西(xī) The sun sets in the west. After a day of work, people return home. And the birds, too, return to their nests. Therefore, the character “西” originally depicted a bird’s nest. Many metals are produced in the western part of China and the Chinese people believe that the west possesses “metallic characteristic”. Therefore, the […]
南(nán) The original form of the character “南” (south) resembles a musical instrument. Some people argue that this instrument was extremely popular in southern China and was thus need to represent “south”. Others argue that this character came to be used to denote “south” because the ancient Chinese people faced south when they listened to […]
北(běi) The original form of the character “北” resembles two people with their backs to each other. The original meaning of it was “back” (背bèi). In the past, losing a battle was known as “败北(bài běi) ”. This is because, when soldiers fled after suffering a defeat, they had their backs to the enemy. When […]
There are three main types of clothing in China in the latest dozens of years: western-style clothes, traditional Chinese garments and National clothes. All of these exist together. Over the past two years in China, some of the younger generation has promoted wearing Han clothes. These clothes are billowy, with wide sleeves and loose fitting […]
The people of Xi’an like to participate in several activities involved in recreating the past, like holding contests to find women who resemble Yang Guifei, the beautiful imperial concubine of the Tang Dynasty. Some people say that the people of Xi’an are closest to the spirit of ancient China. They need only dress in ancient […]
Xi’an’s Forest of Stone Tablets Museum, located on Shuyuanmen Avenue, and has been called China’s largest stele archive. It contains more than 11,000 cultural articrafts such as steles, engravings and sculptures from the Han and Tang Dynasties. It also boats a notable collection of ancient Chinese calligraphy. There are nearly 100 bookstores in the area […]
Sima Qian (145BC-90 BC) was born in Longmen, near present-day Hancheng in Shaanxi Province. His father was a historian in the court of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. Sima Qian inherited his father’s position and carried out his father’s unfulfilled ambition to record all known history up to that time. In 99 BC, Sima […]
The ancient Chinese people believed that the entire world was composed of five basic elements: metal, wood, water, fire and earth. All materials are composed of “气(qì)”. The original form of the character was like “三”; it resembles an airflow or a steam of gas. “Qi” is shapeless, invisible and intangible. However, Chinese has a […]
A magazine ran a column on the special characteristics of different cities, and Nanjing earned a peculiar superlative as the most mournful city in China. They believed that Nanjing had suffered a painful story, and had an air of suffering about it. However, the people of Nanjing don’t think so. A famous writer said, “total […]
According to the people of Nanjing, their special characteristics are really special. Their favorite market place is the Confucius Temple; their signature dish of salted duck; their favorite TV program is “Extraordinary Weekend”. The Confucius Temple is located on the busiest street in the entire southern part of Nanjing city. The Temple is over a […]
I really had a wonderful experience at the school. The teachers are very very friendly. In my class, we practice speaking, listening, reading, and writing. We play games and other fun activities. We have trips around town. The staff at Keats is phenomenal. My teacher is one of the best teachers I have ever had in my educational experience. She comes in with a smile every day.
I decided to learn Chinese in Kunming because I like smaller cities and I like the climate here. We had four hours a day study here and my dear teacher taught me very much and never lost her patience with me. It was a really wonderful experience to be here and I recommend Keats school and the teachers here to everyone who likes to learn Chinese in China.
I come to Kunming because I think the environment in Kunming is better and I heard that Keats School is better. I like the small group Chinese class because my classmates study hard and our teachers are very good. I like the teaching method of Keats because I like the activities at Keats. I think Yunnan is a particularly beautiful Chinese province.
Since last semester, we started studying Chinese at Keats. It was the best choice we can ever make. It is a really good school. The classes are a lot of fun, you learn a lot, but very interactive, so you talk a lot which means it is not just books and writing. Kunming is a really pleasant city to live in, especially if you compare it to other cities in the east. If you like to travel, if you like to study Chinese in a fun way, Keats has the best Chinese language program for you.
Listening and speaking in the classroom every day has improved my communication skills. After three weeks, my new words and sentences became more and more natural and fluent. Now I am used to thinking in Chinese, and I understand better what other people say, to be able to have real conversations with other people.
The best part of the school is the patience the instructors had and the time to focus on the fundamentals like pronunciation. I think it is very easy to skip over those and go to vocabulary. But by learning the pronunciation, I feel like it helped me gain a better understanding of the language.
I am a graduate student working on my doctorate degree at Columbia University. We were able to really focus on speaking especially interview-style speaking and we are able to really up my Chinese reading and writing skills, so when I go back to Columbia, I can take formal Chinese classes. It has been a really good experience and I really love my teacher.
I have to say it’s tons of fun. I have been here for 2 weeks. Not knowing what it was gonna be like, I was more than surprised at how great it is. The teachers are great, they are understanding. They do a Chinese language program that suits just you. The location is perfect for learning Chinese in China.