Next week it’s going to be a long, 7-day holiday in China – the National Day holiday (国庆节 Guóqìngjié), often referred to as the “Golden Week” (黄金周 Huángjīnzhōu). There are two weeks like that during the year. In China, most workers only have these Chinese festivals (and a few public holidays) as their time off. In this...

Money is a delicate topic in the western culture. Western people tend to be very careful when talking about money-related issues like their salary. Borrowing or lending money is even considered unacceptable in some western countries. However, everything is completely different in China. Money is nothing sensitive and you don’t need to feel awkward at...

Santa was coming to That’s Mandarin… but his flight was delayed! So he couldn’t make it to our Christmas Parties in Beijing and Shanghai. But that’s alright because we still had an awesome party at both schools!!! A big thank you to all of you who came to our parties! It was great spending an...

Every month at That’s Mandarin we organize a few cultural activities and events for our students and their friends. Everyone who is interested in learning about the Chinese culture or just wants to have fun is welcome to our events. This month, one of the events was the Bizarre Food Event, where we brought multiple...

Sometimes after a long and busy day, you just can’t be bothered to do any cooking or clean your room. In China, it’s very popular among foreigners to hire an “阿姨ā yí”(which means cleaner) to help with their housework. Firstly, it’s not very expensive if you would like to ask a cleaner to come clean...

[cmsmasters_row][cmsmasters_column data_width=”1/1″][cmsmasters_text] It’s quite a big and daunting task to go to a new place to live, especially if it’s far away from your hometown. And when the decision could potentially cost a lot of money, the pressure increases. So how do you make your decision? 1. Choose the city In a vast country like...

As China moves toward modernization in the recent years, it has become more tolerant towards foreign cultures. Many aspects of the western cultures have been adopted and adapted into local versions. Some of these can be seen/heard in the colloquial Chinese language, such as “脱口秀(tuōkǒuxiù)” sounds like and means “talk show” and “黑客(hēikè)” means “hacker”....

We have exciting news to share! That’s Mandarin has a brand new location right in the heart of Jing’an district, Shanghai. Let’s take a look at some of the noteworthy features of the Yuyuan Road school.   1. CONVENIENCE We give our new school 10/10 in terms of convenience, with a location literally less than...

1. 泡吧 pào bā to kill time in a bar Let’s break it down: 泡(pào): to soak 吧(bā): bar “泡吧(pào bā)” literally means “to soak yourself in a bar”. This word is often used to describe a person who likes to kill time in a bar. Examples: Young people like to kill time in bars....

1. Loser 屌丝 Diǎo sī Loser Let’s break it down: 屌 (diǎo): male genital organ 丝 (sī): silk (in this case it means “fur”) 屌丝 (diǎo sī) is the opposite of the famous phrase “高富帅(gāo fù shuài)”, which means “tall, rich, handsome”. It’s commonly used to describe a man as “short, poor, ugly”. In general,...

Students at this level are able to talk about the basic daily life functions in Chinese. Level 2 will focus on sentence structure, retelling basic stories, and some simple grammar. Students who complete this level should be able to express themselves on a range of everyday topics, such as the weather, their family, and life...

[cmsmasters_row data_width=”boxed” data_padding_left=”3″ data_padding_right=”3″ data_top_style=”default” data_bot_style=”default” data_color=”default” data_bg_position=”top center” data_bg_repeat=”no-repeat” data_bg_attachment=”scroll” data_bg_size=”cover” data_bg_parallax_ratio=”0.5″ data_padding_top=”0″ data_padding_bottom=”50″][cmsmasters_column data_width=”1/1″][cmsmasters_text animation_delay=”0″] So you’ve decided to come to China. The next step is to find out how to obtain a Chinese visa to enter and stay in the country legally. In this article, we will discuss two types of Chinese...

Dōngběi 东北 refers to the north-eastern part of China which covers 3 provinces: Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning. It used to be known as Manchuria. 东北菜 Dōngběi cài Dongbei-style food Dongbei-style food is perhaps one of the most underrated Chinese cuisines compared to Sichuan, Cantonese or even Xinjiang food. Dongbei cuisine consists of different types of...

Here are some of the most interesting/fun videos we found on the internet. We hope you enjoy them! #leisuremoment Have you ever bought any interesting Chinese products? Here are 10…#Chineseproducts #leisuremoment ABC’s React to #TFBOYS – A very popular Chinese boy band who has over 53 million followers on #Weibo, also known as ”#AuntieKiller’ #leisuremoment...

So, let’s go ahead and assume you need a snack. Not a meal, just a small snack. We’re also going to assume that you’re in Beijing, which we have previously (and rightly) called the best city ever. You have a lot of choices; and not just because the city is home to 18 million other...

Hainan Island is the smallest province of China, yet it is one of the most well-known tourist destinations in South China. Its southernmost location at 18° north latitude makes it an ideal place for a beach vacation , with over 47 million tourists yearly. The Tropical Climate Of Hainan Hainan Island’s weather ranges from 18 ...

The Shanghai Disneyland Park has finally been opened and it is the world’s sixth Disneyland Park and the first in China. It boasts a construction area of 287 acres, officially making it the largest Disneyland Park in the world. Shanghai Disneyland Park broke a few new record for owning the best or the most in...