Popup Chinese

Longtime listeners to Popup Chinese know that we're big fans of the Chinese dairy industry. As such, in addition to forcing our staff to consume unhealthy amounts of milk and yoghurt on a daily basis, we also promote the industry by coming up with new and interesting uses for traditional dairy products. This podcast has been inspired by one of our more recent inventions, a product which brings respite from the summer heat and moisturizes while it cools. Want to learn Chinese? This Chinese podcast is designed for students at the elementary level. That means that while we're past the basics, our dialogues and lesson materials are still relatively short and easy to understand. So if you've been studying Chinese for at least six months but less than two years, check this out and see how you do. And if it isn't right, just signup for a free account and visit our Chinese lesson archive to find something more at your level.

We stood in the hallway watching 9527 ease her hairpin into our lock. "It's Fujianese design," she said biting her lip in concentration before simultaneously twisting the pin and jerking the lever sideways. There was the brief sound of metal scraping reluctantly against metal and a brief shudder that ran up the door frame before the lock gave way and the door popped open. We're still not sure if 9527 was talking about her hairpin or our home security, but changed the locks shortly afterwards and no longer consider it accidental that most of the locksmiths in Beijing come from down south. But regardless of where and how 9527 learned that particular skill, let us share this Chinese podcast with you that reveals how deep an impression she has made on her fellow voice actors, most of whom have no idea that she actually has a Chinese name and is not really on the lam.

Spent the summer in withdrawal craving more Hollywood films with Chinese soundtracks? Then join us for the latest episode of our Chinese movie guessing game. This week we feature a short clip from a Hollywood film we're sure you've seen. So listen up, and if you think you know our mystery film then write echo@popupchinese.com with your guess for a chance to win a month of free premium access to Popup Chinese.

The world was blue and Stephen floated in it. He could not be sure if he was truly awake or asleep, and it was even possible he was underwater. But why would he be underwater? There seemed to be a dim light somewhere above him which tapered off into darkness below, but it was hard to be certain in this world of translucent color. His sense of direction was lost. And the last thing he could remember was.... And then his vision cleared and reality came rushing back: the months of eavesdropping, the sting operation, and the betrayal that rendered his plan a suicide trap. And now this bleak warehouse, the ache in his left ribs and the look of terror in his partner's face, all the while their captor scrutinized him for consciousness, waiting to finish this grim mission.

As Susan prepared for her board presentation, the junior saleswoman at Cantor Williams reflected on the irony of her position. Despite the fact that her company specialized in selling downsizing packages to the Fortune 500, she had been saddled on this sales call with a partner who seemed at his most efficient when checking email or making lunch arrangements. Why had Connor been assigned to shadow her, and what possible benefit did the company gain from over-staffing? Susan had complained about the situation to her manager, but he had simply told her "this is how it works." From their very first day with the firm sales associates were paired together in a process designed to promote solidarity, but which in fact pitted the groups against each other in a winner-take-all competition to climb the corporate ladder and make partner. Susan grimaced at the thought of Connor riding her coattails to the top, yet had to admit the extra pressure was effective at pushing her to the limits of her own ability to perform under pressure.

This week on Sinica: China makes an about-face on Libya, we discuss a recent controversy in Beijing's arts community over independent filmmaker Zhao Liang, and get an on-the-ground update on the state of China's South-North Water Diversion Project: a little-publicized infrastructure effort that already dwarfs the Three Gorges Dam in both its human and environmental impact. And we're lucky to have an incredible line-up of guests. Joining Kaiser Kuo in our studio this week is Ed Wong from the New York Times, whose recent profile of independent filmmaker Zhao Liang sets the stage for our discussion today. Kathleen McLaughlin from the Global Post is also here, fresh back in Beijing from a trip to Shaanxi to investigate the state of China's plans to redirect southern water to the country's parched north. We are also lucky to be joined by Sinica-stalwart Will Moss of Imagethief fame. This week's recommendations from the host and guests of the Sinica podcast: Kathleen recommends animal rights charity Animal Asia. Ed recommends his favorite Zhao Liang films Crime and Punishment (Zuì Yǔ Fá) and Petition (Shàng Fǎng) as well as Jia Zhangke's documentary Still Life (Sǎn Xiá Hǎo Rén). Will recommends Guardian Asia environment correspondent and former Sinica guest Jonathan Watts' book on environmental impact, policy, and realities in China When A Billion Chinese Jump. Kaiser "recommends" with caveats Sir Edmund Trelawney Backhouse's China memoir Décadence Mandchoue and recommends sincerely Hugh Trevor-Roper's biography of Edmund Backhouse, The Hermit of Peking. Finally, for an interesting take on "filming a filmmaker," check out visual journalist Jonah Kessel's account of filming Zhao Liang for Ed's New York Times profile here. Enjoy Sinica? Get on-the-ground commentary on all things China fresh in your MP3 player each week by signing up for a Popup Chinese account and subscribing to the Sinica show. Alternately, you can also download this show as a standalone MP3 file, or signup manually through iTunes by selecting "Subscribe to Podcast" from the Advanced file menu, and providing the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica when prompted. Enjoy the show, and let us know if you run into any problems.

There you'll be, ready to collapse into bed after an exhausting day doing whatever and just when you're about to drift off you'll see the first one get brave enough to buzz down from that hole in the ceiling, or out from behind the power sockets, and sooner than you know there's a group and holy $%#! if the one taking the lead is not the most massive insect you've ever seen airborne and even the dog is unnerved by it and you have a sinking feeling that maybe coming to China was a bad idea, and if the job paid a lot more than staying in Denver now at least you know why. Hate mosquitoes? As you can tell, our Chinese lesson today is all about the repellent bloodsuckers, perhaps in part because August just happens to be the worst time of the year for them in Beijing thanks to all this humidity. That said, in the spirit of keeping our prejudices educational we also talk a bit about the past tense, and how to describe things that have already happened. If you're learning Chinese this is really useful stuff, so be sure to check out our podcast and let us know what you think.

Any chance you remember that scene from Goldfinger where James Bond is trussed up on the cutting board, and he turns to the villain who then says something about expecting Bond to die in the slowest and most painful way possible? Well... if Goldfinger were a Chinese film we could replace his laser with a glass of iced water and show our villain laughing maniacally from the certain knowledge that Bond's mere proximity to the glass would usher in a fate at least as bad as and quite possibly much worse than death. What we really mean to say is this: Echo and Brendan are in our studio today, and they both spend a non-trivial amount of time ignoring our dialogue in order to argue about the relative merits of Chinese medical superstitions involving food temperature. That may or may not be your thing, but if you're learning Chinese we think you'll find this lesson useful if only because it features an incredibly common sentence pattern you can use whenever you want to say "whenever". This is the 一/就 pattern and it's one of the most useful sentence structures to know in Chinese. So listen up and be sure to let us know what you think of the show in the discussion section below.

While some Chinese media have flown into high dudgeon over allegations of sun-exposed hamburger buns at McDonalds, powder-based soy milk at KFC, and pork broth made from concentrate at Ajisen, a more grassroots protest gained notice across China when public anxiety in Dalian over safety issues at a local petrochemical plant resulted in what seems to have been spontaneous demonstrations and an apparent capitulation by the new mayor of the coastal city to public demands that authorities move the plant. This week on Sinica, we're going to talk about both what happened in Dalian this week, as well as an upsurge in truly bizarre scandals getting coverage on CCTV. Kaiser Kuo is joined in our studio by Josh Chin from the Wall Street Journal. We're also privileged to have Christina Larson on hand. Christina is a contributing editor to Foreign Policy and often writes on Chinese environmental issues. She is also just back from Dalian and brings her personal perspective on what is happening on-the-ground there. Enjoy Sinica? If you want to subscribe via RSS and download the latest shows automatically to your MP3 player, create an account on Popup Chinese and customize your feed settings to include the show. Alternately, open iTunes, select the option "Subscribe to Podcast" from the Advanced menu, and give your computer the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica when prompted. We also welcome you downloading and sharing this show as a standalone mp3 file.

For months after purchasing his condominium, Henry Martin found himself experiencing episodes of almost religious transcendence, as if another universe had brushed up against his reality and somehow distorted it. He felt that time had somehow dissolved and his apartment strangely belonged to another family whose presence could be felt but never seen or otherwise known. The entire episode lasted for weeks, and gave him a profound sense of dislocation, and an unsettling suspicion there was more to life than his five senses could feel or perceive. Learning Chinese? Our intermediate lesson series at Popup Chinese is designed for students with at least two years of experience at the university level. At this level we accelerate towards native-level fluency with Chinese lessons that feature native-level dialogues around thirty seconds in length. So if you already speak some Chinese and are looking for a way to get even better, listen up and see how you do.

Richard Thorpe eyed the customs officer with suspicion. Although his mission came down from the highest levels of government, he was certain that it would cause a scene regardless if homeland security found an intoxicated and possibly drugged cat in his backpack. As he reached for his passport, the former merchant banker decided to play his trump card. Learning Chinese? Our lesson for today is a relatively short discussion of the strange behavior of measure words. We all know the basic rules for using measure words: put them in front of countable nouns and try not to mix them up too much. But as we learn today, that's not quite all there is. In fact, there are two situations in which Chinese speakers will commonly drop measure words, even if it's grammatically correct to include them. Listen to our podcast for the juicy details.

Last week must have felt good for embattled Chinese patriots. Not only did the United States lose its coveted triple-A rating from Standard and Poor's, but months after unrest in the Middle East sparked renewed speculation about political disenfranchisement throughout Asia, riots in London suggest the West may have bigger problems closer to home. And China looks to be sitting quite pretty. Or is it? This week on Sinica, Kaiser Kuo hosts a discussion of these issues and much more with Jeremy Goldkorn, Chinese media expert and founder of danwei.com. The two are joined in our studios by David Wolf, President of Wolf Group Asia and author of the popular China tech and economics blog Silicon Hutong. Also sharing her expertise is none other than Tania Branigan of the Guardian, who brings her usual erudition to our discussions of recent developments in China's western provinces. Enjoy Sinica? While you can always download this and other episodes directly from our site, it's much easier to simply create a free account at Popup Chinese. Once you've signed up, you'll have the option of adding Sinica to your list of scheduled shows, and can click a single button to setup your iPod or iPhone to download new episodes automatically as soon as they're released. For those looking to setup iTunes manually, you can subscribe to the show by selecting the "Subscribe to Podcast" option from the Advanced file menu, and providing the url "http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica" when prompted.

Of the twelve beauties of Jinling, only six remained. The first deaths had seemed accidental if strangely prophetic. Yet the discovery of the latest victim hanging from a tree in the Grand View Garden had changed everything. And while the murders were grim, who or what malevolent force could be behind them? And what connection - if any - could the killings have to the mysterious family heirloom which had disappeared?

"Beijing has one of the best music scenes in the world," one of our guests intoned, triggering a brawl that quickly split along Beijing-Shanghai lines. And while we'll admit a case can be made for Shanghai too, there no question China has come a long way since the days attending a mainstream rock show meant seeing either Xu Wei or Cui Jian. These days China has an established concert circuit and you can't hit a local club without running into up-and-coming bands like Bigger Sky, Snapline, or Omnipotent Youth Hotel. Something strange is afoot, and we're going to talk about it. Joining host Jeremy Goldkorn this week is of course Kaiser Kuo, who non-Sinica listeners may know for his time with the China metal bands Tang Dynasty and Spring and Autumn. Kaiser is joined in our studio by Archie Hamilton, founder of Asian concert promoter Split-Works and Splatter. Michael Pettis, bearish China economist to the rest of the world, is also here in the guise of his alter ego as owner of the D22 club and founder of the Chinese music label Maybe Mars. Want more Sinica? Like the idea of this on-demand music service that Kaiser keeps talking about but is only available in China? Why not get the best of both worlds by signing up for a free account at Popup Chinese and subscribing to the Sinica show? Follow our instructions and new episodes of Sinica will download to your MP3 player as soon as they're released. Of course, if you're looking for a bit less commitment you're still invited to download the Sinica show directly from our site as a standalone mp3 file. Enjoy!

Mildred's relationship with her cat had taken a significant turn for the worse in the past few months, degenerating to the point it had started treating her with open resentment. In recent days the creature would sit on its perch by the window surveying her with a sullen contempt, an attitude that settled into begrudging acquiescence only when she ventured to change its litter or feed it a snack. It was hard to say when exactly the shift had occurred, but it probably dated to the cessation of her academic leave and the reversal of her and her husband's schedule. Even since March she had been working routinely from her downtown office while Philip spent most of his time at home handling domestic matters and working on his home business. But even if that was the cause of the change, what exactly had triggered it. Feelings of betrayal, or loneliness?