Chinese Culture Discussion Thread

[Endless Soul]

Originally Posted by Tom Bombadil

I don't know why it sounds horrible. Anyway, it is pretty common. It leans toward kids food, though adults eats it as well.

Edit: another pretty common summer dish is 凉拌黄瓜。 Sliced cucumber with soy sauce, vinegar, salt, sesame oil, and smashed garlic if you like garlic. Mix well and season for 15-20 mins. Simple and taste great.

Yep, Mrs ES makes that too. Also pretty good.

Endless "Simple foods" Soul

[Ridwan]

I never understand the appeal of salty watermelon.

[aohige]

Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf

For those who are interested, the Wikipedia entries for the various stages of Chinese are listed below:

Old Chinese

Middle Chinese

Standard (Modern) Chinese


Hilariously, it takes a Canadian-Indian comedian to hammer home the ignorance of asking someone "to speak Chinese".

YouTube

https://youtu.be/jL8hV-zjJ_4

Sorry; dynamic content not loaded. Reload?

Yo.
I have a similar story to the later half of the video, and like wise, I'm not making this shit up.

In Japanese "nigai" means bitter. And yeah, it sounds a lot like the "stalling mandarin word" he's talking about.
So I was at a Chick Fill'A, a huge chicken chain here in America, with a friend of mine who is also bilingual. (translator in video game industry)
I got coffee with my chicken sandwich, but totally forgot to add any cream or sweetners , and took a gulp.

I exclamated "uwa, NIGA!"

.......

*cue in awkward silence*

Like the second I said it I realized what just transpired.


I can imagine Chinese-Americans having the same type of problems since they have a similar sounding frequently used word in their vocabulary too.

[Sumeragi]

Originally Posted by Ridwan

I never understand the appeal of salty watermelon.

Salt makes watermelon taste sweeter by creating a salty sweet contrast that allows the sweetness of the melon to stand out. Watermelon often has a subtle sweetness to it because so much of it is water, unlike a strawberry or other fruit where the flavor seems to be very concentrated and intense, so giving the sweetness a bit of salt to stand up against makes it seem much bolder. Salt also makes you salivate, which will make the watermelon seem even juicier than it is on its own. The trick to success is to only add a small pinch of salt and to evenly scatter it over the whole piece of melon. If you add too much salt, you’ll drown out the melon’s sweetness and you’ll have to start over with a fresh piece.

[Tom Bombadil]

Here is a video where the word "那个" is in use. It's formally pronouced as "nage", though when stuttering, commonly pronounced as "neige".

The youtube comments already picked up the similarity with the taboo English word. Luckily, there are enough people who understand Chinese to explain.

The words are at 3:45.

[Chaos2Frozen]

I guess it's fortunate I never ponder about stuff in Chinese

[Ridwan]

Originally Posted by Sumeragi

Salt makes watermelon taste sweeter by creating a salty sweet contrast that allows the sweetness of the melon to stand out. Watermelon often has a subtle sweetness to it because so much of it is water, unlike a strawberry or other fruit where the flavor seems to be very concentrated and intense, so giving the sweetness a bit of salt to stand up against makes it seem much bolder. Salt also makes you salivate, which will make the watermelon seem even juicier than it is on its own. The trick to success is to only add a small pinch of salt and to evenly scatter it over the whole piece of melon. If you add too much salt, you’ll drown out the melon’s sweetness and you’ll have to start over with a fresh piece.

Thanks, now I know what happened when I tried it the last time.

[DonQuigleone]

To ask if something is a "Chinese thing" is like asking if something is a "European thing". Worse even, China has almost double the population of Europe.

[LeoXiao]

Originally Posted by DonQuigleone

To ask if something is a "Chinese thing" is like asking if something is a "European thing". Worse even, China has almost double the population of Europe.

I'd say it's more like asking if something is a "Slavic thing" (everything east of Germany and Italy). Almost all of the Chinese languages are in the same subgroup, after all.

[RichardFromMarple]

I had a Chinese girlfriend a few years ago.

She was from the North East & as most Chinese restaurants in the UK are Cantonese she sometimes found the food their not to her liking.

The first time she when to a Chinese restaurant outside of Manchester's Chinatown was almost a culture shock, no Hanzi menus & chopsticks only on request.

For personal reasons she didn't eat pork, which kind of limited her choices.

She also thought most western food was "too dry" & bad for her skin, but could cope with Indian food.

It helped as she lived near the Rusholme Curry Mile so we would often eat there. The only trouble she had was after trying a very hot Sri Lankan dish.

While I was seeing her I got into the Taiwanese Game "Guess" which she would stream. I didn't really understand what was going on but it was nice to see her laugh ever 15 seconds at it.

[Chaos2Frozen]

Taiwanese Celebrity Game Shows are hilarious Though quite a number of activities were 'borrowed' from their Japanese counterpart.

[MeoTwister5]

I read salty watermelon as salty women. Holy shet.

[aohige]

Originally Posted by MeoTwister5

I read salty watermelon as salty women. Holy shet.

Some do sport salty melons.

[Sumeragi]

[Chaos2Frozen]

^ Propaganda brain-washing !

[Ridwan]

Now I wonder what Sumeragi will be fascistic about next.

Originally Posted by aohige

Some do sport salty melons.

Some are also savory.

[Terrestrial Dream]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/c...sis-looms.html

Population shouldn't be a problem for China for quite sometimes, no? And can most Chinese even afford to have more than one child?

[Sumeragi]

Originally Posted by Ridwan

Now I wonder what Sumeragi will be fascistic about next.

GRILL YOUR PB & J.

[Tom Bombadil]

Sitting here sipping my tea, and suddenly it occurred to me that most Chinese still brew tea in old ways with tea leaves, but in the US it is always with tea bags. I wonder how it is done in other nations. Coffee or tea? Bags or just leaves? Sugar or not?

Originally Posted by Terrestrial Dream

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/c...sis-looms.html

Population shouldn't be a problem for China for quite sometimes, no? And can most Chinese even afford to have more than one child?

One child policy has quite of its downside. The social safety net, retirement support etc. are still quite lacking in China, so most elders still relies on their children for their old age. So one working age couple supporting four elders and one child is an enormous burden. Moreover, one child policy creates quite vulnerability in such a family system, for example if something is to happen to one of the working couple, the blow is so hard that it can destroy families. Besides, the one child policy is limited to Han Chinese only. There is a growing discontent to such inequality. There are many other short coming of this policy. In my opinion, it is time for it to go, and the economy conditions and pressure of urban life will bring down birth rate on their own.

[Chaos2Frozen]

Milk tea please