dà gū niang zuò huā jiào – tóu yī huí
大姑娘坐花轿 – 头一回
A girl sitting in a bridal sedan chair – the very first time (Traditionally, a bride was carried in a special sedan chair to the groom’s home, which was a first-time experience for every girl.)

diē sĭ niáng jià rén – gè rén gù gè rén
爹死娘嫁人 – 各人顾各人
After Dad’s death, Mom gets married again. – Everyone is for him/herself.

fēi jī shàng liáo tiān – kōng tán
飞机上聊天 – 空谈
Talk in the plane; talk in the air – empty or idle talk

dă kāi tiān chuāng – shuō liàng huà
打开天窗 – 说亮话
Open the skylight and say blunt words. – speak frankly; let’s call a spade a spade

jiàn zài xián shàng – bù dé bù fā
箭在弦上 – 不得不发
The arrow on the bowstring has to be shot. or When the arrow is on the string, it must go. – At some point, the situation will have developed to the point that one will have to take action.

chóu rén xiāng jiàn – fèn wài yăn hóng
仇人相见 – 分外眼红
When enemies face each other, their eyes blaze with hatred.

huáng lián shù xià tán qín – kǔ zhōng zuò lè
黄连树下弹琴 – 苦中作乐
Play the lute by a bitter herbal tree – enjoy life in adversity; seek joy in hardship; try to enjoy oneself despite one’s suffering

băi jiā xìng bú niàn dì yī ge zì – kāi kŏu jiù shì qián
百家姓不念第一个字 – 开口就是钱
Skip over the first family name when reading Book of (China’s) Family Names. The first four family names listed in this book are Zhao (赵), Qian (钱), Sun (孙) and Li (李), respectively. – “Qian” (钱) came first. Figuratively, it means “to talk about money all the time”. (The Chinese character “钱” can not only be taken as a surname, but refer to “money”.)

抱怨加班
A：你想象不到谁被选中加班做贝克项目了。我！我已经加了20小时班了。
B：哇！怎么这么长啊？我以为他们要给你派名助手呢！
A：应该是。可是到目前为止还没有人来呢，只剩我一人在做这事。这是我一天来头一次休息。
B：他们对你有点太过分了。你为什么不请几天假呢？你可以到什么地方度一个长周末。

They plan to spend 20,000 yuan (3,165 U.S. dollars) on the trip, an “acceptable” expense for the couple who both work at public institutions in Taiyuan, capital of the northern province of Shanxi.

“The island has great sea views, and it’s more convenient to go there this year because my city has a new direct flight,” said the 26-year-old Yang.

She and her husband are just one of the many Chinese who have chosen to travel abroad during the traditional family-reunion-type lunar new year, which falls in mid-January.

The Spring Festival is the most important holiday period in China, and the tradition is to return home to have dinner with the whole family on New Year’s Eve, the last day of the Chinese lunar calendar.

However,many families now choose to step out of the country to pursue new holiday experiences.

The trend reflects a change in people’s attitudes toward the homecoming tradition, and they now focus more on the holiday experience, said Li Jianxin, an assistant professor of tourism management at Beijing International Studies University.

“The traditional way of spending the holiday comes the same every year. This Spring Festival my family decided to vacation in the Maldives to enjoy the sea breeze and swimming,” said Wang Chen, a businessman in Shanxi who has an annual income of 100,000 yuan.

The increasing enthusiasm for outbound trips during the Spring Festival is part of a surging market of China’s outbound tourism.

About 57.39 million citizens went on outbound tours in 2010, up 20.4 percent year-on-year, bringing a total of 48 billion U.S. dollars to their destinations, according to a report from the China Tourism Academy (CTA).

Meanwhile, this year’s sales of outbound tours for the Spring Festival is drawing to an end.

“The trips to hot destinations such as the United States and Europe for Spring Festival have almost been booked completely,” according to Li Meng, a manager from the China International Travel Service Limited, headquartered in Beijing.

“People even choose to vacation in distant islands like the Seychelles and Mauritius for exoticism. It’s really a great change,” Li Meng said.

She recalled that China’s outbound tourism started in the 1990s when the major destinations were Hong Kong, Macao, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.

“Choices were limited and ordinary people couldn’t afford the trips,” Li said.

With the booming economy and increasing living standards, traveling gradually changes from a luxury to a necessity for ordinary Chinese people, she added.

China has already become the largest source of tourists in Asia and about 140 countries and regions have become the tourism destinations for Chinese citizens, said the CTA report.

Rising personal incomes and consumer confidence contribute to the surge, Professor Li Jianxin said.

According to a McKinsey report on Chinese consumers released in November, 58 percent of respondents said they expected their incomes to rise next year, compared with 39 percent in 2010.

Facing the increasing number of Chinese outbound tourists, many popular tourism destinations, like Japan and the Republic of Korea, have simplified the visa application process for China’s tourists.

The European Travel Commission on Dec. 1 also launched a Chinese language version of its tourism website to attract more tourists from China to the crisis-hit continent.

With the boom of the country’s outbound tourism, more destinations have enhanced their traveling environment to offer better services for Chinese tourists, which is beneficial for both China and those countries, said Li Jianxin.

The late DPRK leader passed away from a great mental and physical strain at 08:30 on Dec.17 (2330 GMT Friday), on a train during a field guidance tour, the DPRK’s official KCNA news agency reported Monday.

China on Monday sent a message of condolences to the DPRK over the death of Kim.

“We are shocked to learn that general secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK), chairman of the DPRK National Defense Commission and supreme commander of the Korean People’s Army (KPA) comrade Kim Jong Il passed away and we hereby express our deep condolences on his demise and send sincere regards to the DPRK people,” said the condolence message.

The condolence message is sent by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, the State Council and the Central Military Commission to the DPRK’s WPK Central Committee and its Central Military Commission, DPRK National Defense Commission, Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly and the DPRK Cabinet.

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi met with Pak Myong Ho, charge d’affaires of DPRK Embassy in Beijing on Monday evening.

Yang said comrade Kim Jong Il was a great party and state leader of the DPRK. He said that the Chinese government and people were deeply saddened by the demise of “close friend” Kim Jong Il, who would be remembered forever by the Chinese people.

Earlier on Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu also expressed “deep condolences” on the death of Kim.

The survey indicates that China has seen a boom in the number of people choosing to study overseas since 2008. In 2008, 2009 and 2010, the numbers of people taking courses overseas were 178,900, 229,300 and 284,700, respectively. The average annual increase rate was 24 percent.

The number of intermediary agencies arranging overseas study has grown accordingly, according to the survey. By Oct. 26 this year, China has altogether 416 such officially acknowledged intermediary agencies.

The survey also shows that the market value is estimated to reach 60 billion yuan (around 9.5 billion U.S. dollars) in 2011.

The most favored overseas destinations for Chinese students are the United States, Australia, the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, New Zealand and Singapore, the survey shows.

kŏng fū zǐ chuān xī zhuāng – bù tŭ bù yáng
孔夫子穿西装 – 不土不洋
Confucius in Western-style clothes – neither fish nor flesh

jí xìng zi pèng dào màn xìng zi – nǐ jí tā bù jí
急性子碰到慢性子 – 你急他不急
An impetuous person comes across a slowcoach. – One is impatient to do something but the other not.

huŏ shāo méi mao – gù yăn qián
火烧眉毛 – 顾眼前
The fire is singeing the eyebrows. – concentrate on immediate matters.

hăi dǐ lāo yuè – bái fèi jìn
海底捞月 – 白费劲
Try to fish out the moon from the bottom of the sea – strive for the impossible or illusory; efforts in vain

guān cai shàng huà lăo hǔ – xià sǐ rén
棺材上画老虎 – 吓死人
Paint a tiger on a coffin – (literally) frighten the dead; (as a pun) frighten somebody to death

guān cai lǐ shēn shŏu – sǐ yào qián
棺材里伸手 – 死要钱
Reach out a hand for money even in one’s coffin – be greedy unto death; be a money-grubber

fēng chuī dēng long – yáo băi bù dìng
风吹灯笼 – 摇摆不定
The wind blows a lantern. – (literally) swing to and fro; (figuratively) blow hot and cold; vacillate; waver

fēi jī shàng diăn dēng – gāo míng
飞机上点灯 – 高明
Light a lamp in the airplane – 高 means “high” while 明 refers to “bright”. When the two Chinese characters put together, the word “高明” means “brilliant, wise”. This allegory is always used to imply it’s brilliant to do something.

Introduction:

In the dynasties of Ming and Qing , “Four Books and Five Classics” became the most important textbooks for scholars of the time. Then the Confucian thought of “Four Books and Five Classics” became the guideline of behavior. Further more, as the most important ancient corpus of China, it still has great influence on the current generation.

A diamond necklace is displayed at a news conference in Beijing, Dec. 06, 2011. Zbird, an online store of diamond accessories released its new products Tuesday.(Xinhua/Zhang Chuanqi)

BONN, Germany, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) — China would provide further support in accordance with its own capacity in light of the Afghan needs, said Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi on Monday.

Noting that the relations between China and Afghanistan had been forging ahead with renewed efforts, Yang said, China would attach special importance in terms of tapping up the resources, infrastructure, energy and training program in support of Afghanistan.

Yang made the remarks while meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai during the International Afghanistan Conference held here on Monday.

This meeting is of great significance, Yang said, reaffirming Chinese stance for appealing to the international community in actively supporting the peaceful reconstruction in Afghanistan and self-administration.

He said China would continue to firmly support Afghanistan’s own efforts in maintaining independence, the integrity of sovereignty and territory, and enhancing peace, stability and development.

Karzai expressed his gratitude for Chinese support for Afghanistan’s presiding over this conference in Bonn, western German city, as well as the long-term help to Afghanistan, adding that Afghanistan would unswervingly embrace the one-China policy.

He also voiced hopes to enhance the cooperation with China and welcomed more Chinese company to invest in Afghanistan, as Afghanistan expected further supports from China during its future peace reconstruction process.

Related:

China to further support UN missions: FM

BONN, Germany, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) — China will further support the missions of the United Nations and strengthen its cooperation with the UN, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said here on Monday.

“China is willing to further support the missions of the United Nations and the work of its Secretary-General and strengthen its cooperation with the UN to promote world peace, security and development,” the minister said during his meeting with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on the sidelines of an international conference on Afghanistan held in Bonn, Germany.  Full story

Afghan reconstruction should be “Afghan-led and Afghan-owned”: Chinese FM

BONN, Germany, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) — The peace process in Afghanistan has to be an “Afghan-led and Afghan-owned” one, said Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi in addressing the International Afghanistan Conference held here on Monday.

Recognizing the achievements of Afghan people in the past decade, Yang noted that the country still faces a number of challenges and thereby called on the international community to continue to meet its responsibilities and honor its commitments to Afghanistan.  Full story

The arrival of spring festival implies that the spring is coming, everything wakes up to life, trees and grass turn green again, and another new round of sowing and harvest begins. People have passed the long winter when the earth is covered with snow and ice, trees and grass get withered, they have long expected the arrival of spring when it gets warm and flowers blossom. It is quite natural that people will celebrate this special festival with singing and dancing, when the new spring comes. For hundreds of thousands of years, the spring festival celebration activities get extremely rich and colorful. Every year, on lunar calendar the period from December 23 to 30 are called days for welcoming the spring, also called dust cleaning days, on these days people clean their houses and have bath, which is a traditional custom for Chinese with a long history.

After spring cleaning and about ten days prior to the lunar New Year, each and every home prepares food and relevant stuff for spring festival, it is really a special time when people are busy purchasing. The items on the special purchase list include chicken, duck, fish, meat, tea, wine, oil, soya paste, baked nuts from south and north, sweets, fruits, and baked sunflower seeds, etc. Furthermore, people would prepare some gifts for visiting relatives and friends for the spring festival season. Parents would buy or make new clothes for the children to get ready for the new year.

Before Spring Festival, people would stick red paper with yellow blessing characters on the gate of the house, mainly in the form of spring couplets with red paper. Inside the house, bright colored pictures implying prosperity and good luck would be hung up on the wall, clever and deft girls make beautiful paper cuttings for window decoration. In front of the gate, red lanterns would be set up, and happiness paper, wealth god, door god would also be stuck on the gates. The happiness character can be stuck upside down, expecting passers-by may utter it is arranged upside down (same in pronunciation as coming), indicating that happiness and good fortune arrives. All of the above activities are to accumulate enough joyful atmosphere for the festival.

Another term for Spring Festival is passing the year. In the past, there is a legend which goes that, a fierce and evil monster called Nian (meaning year) would come to the human world and dash around to bring about bad luck and destructions. When it comes, all of the plants would wither and die; after it leaves, everything revives and flowers blossom everywhere on the earth. But, how can human beings drive away this horrible monster? Fireworks. People let off firecrackers to frighten off the vicious beast, so the custom of setting off fireworks comes into being. As a matter of fact, this custom is actually a way to escalate the joyous airs.

Spring Festival is a happy and harmonious festival, also an occasion for relatives to reunion. The children who are working or traveling away from home would have to return back home in this special time. The eve of the Spring Festival, i.e. the evening of lunar December 30 of the old year, is called Chuxi (meaning to eliminate the last evening of the old year), or reunion night. At this very turning point for old and new transference, sitting out the New Year’s Eve is one of the most important activities for spring festival customs. In this evening, all the members of the family would sit together to see off the old year and usher in the new year. People would sit around the table to eat delicious dishes and drink wine in the happiness of family reunion. People in the north have the custom of eating Jiaozi (a kind of dumpling). The first step of making Jiaozi is dough kneading, huomian in Chinese. The pronunciation Huo is the same as harmonious, while the pronunciation of Jiaozi is the same as connecting and midnight. Therefore, by eating Jiaozi, people celebrate the alternation of the old and new year at midnight, and expect the whole family be harmonious and successful in the next year. In the south, people would eat Niangao, a kind of Chinese New Year’s Cake made of glutinous rice. The sweet and sticky Niangao betokens that the life would be sweet and happy, and people would make higher and higher achievements in the next year. When the first crow of rooster comes, or the new year bell rings, firecrackers would be sounded one after another on streets – the new year arrives. Every one would dress up in their best clothes, greeting each other for new year wishes. Children would pay a formal respectful visit to their seniors saying wishes to them, while the seniors would often give some gifts or money to the young children. If the family members live separately, they would eat together today symbolizing reunion. From the second or third day of January, people begin to visit their relatives and friends to present gifts or wishes, expecting every one would be happy, fortunate, healthy, and successful in the new year. Ceremonies of worshiping ancestors would also be held.

The happy atmosphere is not only restricted inside homes, but also flows out to each street and alley. In some places, the local people would organize celebration activities, such as lion dancing, dragon dancing, folk music performing, flower market visiting, temple fair roaming, etc. In these days, colored lanterns are hung out everywhere, streets are packed with people, the view of which is extremely bustling. These rare-to-see celebrations would last to the Lantern Festival on lunar January 15, when the Spring Festival is formally over.

Spring Festival is the most important festival of Han Chinese, but a score of ethnic minorities also have the tradition to celebrate it, such as Manchurian, Mongolian, Yao, Zhuang, Bai, Gaoshan, Hezhe, Hani, Dawoer, Dong, Li, etc., only that they have their own special features, in which people can find interesting activities.