China

the mandarin language guānhuà (官话/官話), or "official speech"

2011-08-02T00:17:00.000-07:00

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Chinese ; http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%8F%BE%E4%BB%A3%E6%A8%99%E6%BA%96%E6%BC%A2%E8%AA%9E

The Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) and the Qing Dynasty (1644–1912) began to use the term guānhuà (官话/官話), or "official speech", to refer to the speech used at the courts. The term "Mandarin" is borrowed directly from Portuguese. The word mandarim was first used to name the Chinese bureaucratic officials (i.e., the mandarins), because the Portuguese, under the misapprehension that the Sanskrit word (mantri or mentri) that was used throughout Asia to denote "an official" had some connection with the Portuguese word mandar (to order somebody to do something), and having observed that these officials all "issued orders", chose to call them mandarins. The use of the word mandarin by the Portuguese for the Chinese officials.

From this, the Portuguese immediately started calling the special language that these officials spoke amongst themselves (i.e., "Guanhua") "the language of the mandarins", "the mandarin language" or, simply, "Mandarin". The fact that Guanhua was, to a certain extent, an artificial language, based upon a set of conventions (that is, the various Mandarin dialects for grammar and meaning, and the specific dialect of the Imperial Court's locale for its pronunciation), is precisely what makes it such an appropriate term for Modern Standard Chinese (also the various Mandarin dialects for grammar and meaning, and their dialect of Beijing for its pronunciation).

Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Chinese, also known as Mandarin or Putonghua.

视频：虎年春晚--开场歌舞《虎跃龙腾报春来》_新浪视频_新浪网

2010-02-15T00:36:00.000-08:00

视频：虎年春晚--开场歌舞《虎跃龙腾报春来》_新浪视频_新浪网

Written Chinese 汉字

2009-11-27T05:22:00.000-08:00

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Written_Chinese, http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/汉字

Written Chinese (Chinese: 中文; pīnyīn: zhōngwén) comprises the written symbols used to represent spoken Chinese and the rules about how they are arranged and punctuated. These symbols are commonly known as Chinese characters (traditional/simplified Chinese: 漢字/汉字; pinyin: hànzì). Chinese characters do not constitute an alphabet or a compact syllabary. Rather, the writing system is roughly logosyllabic; that is, each character generally represents either a complete one-syllable word (see logogram) or a single-syllable part of a word. The characters themselves are often composed of parts that may represent physical objects, abstract notions,^[1] or pronunciation.^[2]

Written Chinese is considered to be one of the world's oldest active, continuously used writing systems (cf."History of the Alphabet" citation below). Many current Chinese characters have been traced back to the 商 Shāng Dynasty about 1500 BCE, and the process of creating characters probably began some centuries earlier.^[3] Chinese characters were standardized under the 秦 Qín dynasty (221–206 BCE).^[4] Over the millennia, these characters have evolved into well-developed styles of Chinese calligraphy.^[5]

Despite historical changes in pronunciation, Chinese speakers in disparate dialect groups can communicate in writing.^[6] Some of the characters have also been adopted as part of the writing systems in other East Asian languages, such as Japanese and Korean.^[7]^[8] Literacy requires the memorization of a great many characters: Educated Chinese know about 4,000,^[9]^[10] while educated Japanese know about half that many.^[8] The large number of Chinese characters has in part led to the adoption of Western alphabets as an auxiliary means of representing Chinese.^[11]

漢字，亦稱中文字、中国字、國字，是漢字文化圈廣泛使用的一種文字，屬於表意文字的詞素音節文字^[1]，漢字為上古時代的華夏族人所發明創製並作改進，目前确切歷史可追溯至約公元前1300年商朝的甲骨文。再到秦朝的小篆，發展至漢朝才被取名為「漢字」，至唐代楷化為今日所用的手寫字體標準——楷書。汉字是迄今为止连续使用时间最长的主要文字，也是上古时期各大文字体系中唯一传承至今的文字，期間東亞諸國都有一定程度地自行創製漢字.

漢字是維繫中國南北長期處於統一狀態的關鍵元素之一.

現代漢字，在中文體系大致分成繁體中文與簡體中文兩個體系。前者主要用於香港、澳門以及台灣地區，而後者主要用於中國大陸以及新加坡、馬來西亞等東南亞國家，一般來講，繁簡兩個體系的使用者都能在短期內適應並能看懂另一體系的文字，並無太大的溝通障礙。日本和韩国則是另行各自製定了官方的漢字使用規範，而漢字在越南和朝鲜已不再具有官方規範地位。

書體

當前漢字書體有篆書・隷書・草書・行書・楷書五種。

甲骨文	金文	大篆	小篆	隷書	楷書（繁）	楷書（簡）

汉字的基本字体：篆、隶、楷、行、草。本图還包括了書法和印刷的美術字体，前者如歐體、顏體，後者如宋體、黑體。

繁簡體漢字的比較

主条目：汉字简化争论

繁体字：由中國自古承襲演變的文字，又稱正體字，優點是單一字內含意深遠，缺點則是筆畫較多，書寫速度较慢。
簡體字：相對於傳統漢字，是簡化程度比較大的，廢除且合併了很多字，也簡併了很多的部件，優點是書寫容易、快速，缺點是有时难以精密用字，辨識困難，例如：「头发黑」，一般理解成「頭髮黑」，另一種則為「頭發黑」。

雖有前述差異，然常用漢字的個體差異據統計，不到25%。此外，在日本與韓國也有各自簡化的作為。在臺灣，官方用字或正式文書必須使用正體字；在手寫的非正式文書中，有些人會使用行书、草書或民間的俗寫（例：「台」（臺）、「门」（門）、「与」（與））；但是，幾乎不會使用大陸簡化字中較難辨識字意的合併字（例：「里」（裡）、「后」（後）、「余」（餘）、「制」（製）、「面」（麵，亦作麪）、「谷」（穀）、「复」（復）、「复」（複），皆不簡化）、「台」（臺、檯、颱）。

筆畫

漢字的筆畫離不開「點」、「橫」、「豎」、「撇」、「捺」、「折」這六种基本筆畫，另外還有「提」。以書法為例，對各種筆畫都有多種不同寫法，尤其以折的變化最多。

漢字拉丁化

西方人和華人本身都提出了很多漢字拉丁化方案，比如：

威妥瑪拼音（1867年）
郵政式拼音（1906年）
國語羅馬字（1928年）
拉丁化新文字（1931年）
漢語拼音方案（1958年）
粵語拼音（1993年）
通用拼音（1998年）

漢語拼音方案是使用最廣且被聯合國接受的汉字拉丁化方案。

Languages of China

2009-11-27T05:09:00.000-08:00

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_China,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Written_Chinese,

China's many different ethnic groups speak many different languages, collectively called Zhōngguó Yǔwén (中国语文), literally "speech and writing of China" which mainly span six linguistic families. Most of them are dissimilar morphologically andphonetically and are mutually unintelligible. Zhongguo Yuwen includes the many different Han Chinese language variants (commonly simply called Chinese) as well as non-Han minority languages such as Mongolian, Tibetan, Uyghur and Zhuang.

Putonghua or Standard Mandarin is the official national spoken language. a standardised form of theMandarin group of dialects spoken in northern and southwestern China, which serves as a lingua franca among the different groups within mainland China.

Written

The following languages traditionally had written forms that do not involve Chinese characters (hanzi):

The Dai - Dai language
The Hui - Chinese language - Xiaoerjing
The Kazakhs - Kazakh language - Arabic alphabet
The Koreans - Korean language - Hangul
The Kyrgyz - Kyrgyz language - Arabic alphabet
The Manchus - Manchu language - Manchu alphabet
The Mongolians - Mongolian language - Mongolian alphabet
The Naxi - Dongba script/Geba script
The Sui - Sui language - Sui script
The Tibetans - Tibetan language - Tibetan script
The Uyghurs - Uyghur language - Arabic alphabet
The Xibe - Xibe language - Manchu alphabet
The Yi - Yi language - Yi syllabary
The Zhuang - Zhuang language - Sawgoek

Some formerly have used Chinese characters

The Jurchens (Manchu ancestors) - Jurchen language - Jurchen script
The Koreans - Korean language - Hanja
The Khitans (Mongol ancestors) - Khitan language - Khitan script
The Tanguts (Sino-tibetan people) - Tangut language - Tangut script
The Zhuang - Zhuang language - Sawndip

Spoken

The spoken languages of nationalities that are a part of the People's Republic of China belong to at least seven families:

The Sino-Tibetan family: 28 nationalities (including the Han, Tibetans, Miao (Hmong), and Yao)
The Altaic family: 17
- Turkic languages: Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Salars, etc.
- Mongolic languages: Mongols, Dongxiang, and related groups
- Tungusic languages: Manchus (formerly), Hezhe, etc.
- Korean languages: Koreans
The Austroasiatic family: 4 (the De'ang, Blang, Gin (Vietnamese), and Wa)
The Kradai family: several languages spoken by the Zhuang, the Buyei, the Dai people, the Dong people, and the Hlai (Li people).
The Indo-European family: 2 (the Russians and Tajiks). There is also a heavily Persian-influenced Äynu language spoken by theÄynu people in southwestern Xinjinag who are officially considered Uyghurs.
The Austronesian family: 1 official nationality (the Gaoshan, who speak many languages), 1 unofficial (the Utsuls, who speak theTsat language but are considered Hui.)

Prelude: My Motherland CCTV-International

2009-10-10T00:39:00.001-07:00

Prelude: My Motherland CCTV-International

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Chinese name 中國人姓名

2009-10-10T00:15:00.000-07:00

Personal names in Chinese culture follow a number of conventions different from those of personal names in Western cultures. Most noticeably, a Chinese name is written with the family name first and the given name next, therefore "John-Paul Smith" as a Chinese name would be "Smith John-Paul". For instance, the basketball player Yao Ming should be addressed as "Mr. Yao", not "Mr. Ming".

Some Chinese people who emigrate to, or do business with, Western countries sometimes adopt a Westernized name by simply reversing the "surname–given-name" order to "given-name–surname" ("Ming Yao", to follow the previous example), or with a Western first name together with their surname, which is then written in the usual Western order with the surname last ("Fred Yao"). Some Chinese people sometimes take a combined name. There are 3 variations: Western name, surname, and Chinese given name, in that order ("Fred Yao Ming"); Western name, Chinese given name, and surname ("Fred Ming Yao"); or surname, Chinese given name, followed by Western name ("Yao Ming Fred"). The Western name, surname, and then given name practice is most common in Hong Kong, for example Donald Tsang Yam-kuen; the surname, Chinese given name, and Western name is most common in Singapore, for example Lee Kuan Yew, Harry.

Traditional naming schemes often followed a pattern of using generation names as part of a two-character given name. This is by no means the norm, however. An alternative tradition, stemming from a Han Dynasty law that forbade two-character given names, is to have a single character given name. Some contemporary given names do not follow either tradition, and may in some cases extend to three or more characters.

When generation names are used as part of a two-character given name, it is highly inappropriate and confusing to refer to someone by the first part of their given name only which will generally be their generation name. Instead, the entire given name should be used. This should be the case regardless of whether the surname is used. For instance, referring toSingaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong as Hsien or Hsien Lee would be confusing as this could just as easily refer to his brother. However, this does commonly occur in Western societies where the first part of the given name is frequently mistakenly used as the first name when the given name is not hyphenated or adjoined.

中國人的姓名是以漢字表示，漢族人是用汉字进行取名。少數民族的姓名則音譯為漢字表示，也有些為自己另取漢名。名字与中文姓氏一起构成了中国人的姓名。另外，中国人除了有名字以外，以前的人还经常有字。在中国传统禮儀上，通常僅長輩可喚人之「名」，平輩或晚輩稱字不稱名.

http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/中國人姓名

现代少林寺

2009-09-29T06:04:00.000-07:00

台湾建筑师刘培森获选，与北京清华大学合作。

始建于魏晋时期的天津北少林寺，大约有1500年历史，是天津最早的佛教寺院，也是河南少林寺祖庭住持释永信认定，历史记载最明确的少林寺分院，但是该遗址在对日抗战当中被炸毁，在释永信大力推动重建之下，由两岸设计师携手复建寺院。

重建后的北少林寺占地扩大到310亩，建筑面积为1万多平方米，月前已经进入施工阶段，预计整个工程需时8至10年。

刘培森表示，21世纪的"现代少林"要有"千年建筑"的宏观，北少林寺将保留唐宋时期的建筑风格，但他亦会把高科技放到北少林寺，如照明将使用LED灯，屋顶则有太阳能板可以供给电力，并有可以承接雨水的装置，用来淋花及冲厕，并将设置无线网络，在寺内可以上网。

来源

http://cling.omy.sg/index.php?articleID=458&option=com_article&cid=1&task=detail&type=

Hakka

2009-09-09T01:15:00.000-07:00

Hakka history, based largely on genealogical evidence and other historical records, as well as linguistic evidence, support and substantiate Hakka claims to northern Chinese origins. In the People's Republic of China the Hakka are officially included in the category of Han Chinese.

The Hakka have had a long history of conflict and competition with other Chinese groups over scarce land and resources. In Fujian and Taiwan they suffered from hostile relations with Min, and in Guangdong they fought with Yue speakers. Hakka-Yue conflicts were particularly violent throughout the middle of the nineteenth century, in the aftermath of the Taiping Rebellion, and during the Hakka-Bendi Wars (1854-1867).

Today most Hakka and non-Hakka scholars agree that the ancestors of those who later became known as "Hakka" were Chinese who came from southern Shanxi, Henan, and Anhui in north-central China.

From the "cradle of Chinese civilization," these proto-Hakka gradually moved southward in five successive waves of migration. Historians do not agree, however, on the exact time and sequence of the earliest migrations.

Most historians place the first migration during the fourth century at the fall of the Western Jin dynasty, when Hakka ancestors reached as far south as Hubei, south Henan, and central Jiangxi.

The next period is less debated. By the late ninth and early tenth centuries, with the disorder created during the late Tang dynasty, the ancestors of the present-day Hakka moved farther south into Jiangxi, Fujian, and Guangdong.

The third wave, which stretched from the beginning of the twelfth century to the middle of the seventeenth, was caused by the exodus of the Southern Song dynasty and their supporters in a southward flight from the Mongol invasion. This dislodged people from Jiangxi and southwestern Fujian and forced them further into the northern and eastern quarters of Guangdong. By the end of the Yuan dynasty (A.D. 1368), northern and eastern Guangdong were exclusively Hakka.

The fourth wave, which lasted from the mid-seventeenth century to the mid-nineteenth century, began with the Manchu conquest, and during the Qing dynasty, migration expanded into the central and coastal areas of Guangdong, Sichuan, Guangxi, Hunan, Taiwan, and southern Guizhou.

By the time of the fifth wave, beginning at the middle of the nineteenth century, conflicts between the Hakka and the Yue increased. Triggered by population pressure, the Hakka-Bendi (Yue) Wars, and the large Hakka involvement in the Taiping Rebellion, the fifth wave of migration sent Hakka emigrants to seek better lives farther afield—to the southern part of Guangdong, to Hainan Island, and overseas to Southeast Asia (especially Malaya and Borneo).

The establishment of the People's Republic of China and China's announcement of the intent to reclaim Hong Kong in 1997 have created what might be called the sixth wave of migration, which has continued the flow of Hakka overseas, especially to the United States, Australia, and Canada.

source: http://www.everyculture.com/Russia-Eurasia-China/Hakka-History-and-Cultural-Relations.html

China Mobile 中国移动通信

2008-11-06T22:24:00.000-08:00

China Mobile or CMCC, is the largest mobile phone operator in China. It is the world's largest mobile phone operator ranked by number of subscribers, with 415 million customer.

By turnover it is second to Vodafone, which owns 3.3% of China Mobile.

read more in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_Mobile.

大唐国际发電股份 Datang International Power Generation Company

2008-11-06T22:16:00.000-08:00

Datang International Power or Datang Power, is one of the five largest state-owned power producers in Mainland China, its position in Northern China.

Power Plants under management: see http://www.dtpower.com/en/operation/index.jsp.

China Construction Bank中国建设银行

2008-10-17T05:51:00.000-07:00

China Construction Bank, it is ranked as the nation's second largest.^[1] and the 4th largest in the world by market capitalization.

read more in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_Construction_Bank

People's Bank of China中国人民银行

2008-10-17T05:47:00.000-07:00

People's Bank of China is the central bank of the People's Republic of China.

Agricultural Bank of China中国农业银行

2008-10-17T05:44:00.000-07:00

The Agricultural Bank of China the second largest bank in China in terms of total assets.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China中国工商银行

2008-10-17T05:40:00.000-07:00

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China is the largest of China's "Big Four" state-owned commercial banks.

It is the largest bank in the world in terms of market value and one of the world's top ten banks by assets.

read more in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_and_Commercial_Bank_of_China

Bank of China中国银行

2008-10-17T05:30:00.000-07:00

Bank of China Limited (BOC )is one of the big four state-owned commercial banks of the People's Republic of China.

It is the second largest lender in China, and the 5th largest bank in the world by market capitalization value. The no.1 lender to non-institutions, and the no.1 foreign exchange lender.

read more in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_of_China

Jiangxi Copper 江西銅業

2008-10-17T05:24:00.000-07:00

Jiangxi Copper is the largest copper producer in Mainland China. Its operations include copper mining, milling, smelting and refining to produce copper-related products, including pyrite concentrates, sulphuric acid and electrolytic gold and silver.

its headquarter is located at Guixi, Jiangxi, China.

read more at http://www.jxcc.com/english/overview.html

Li_&_Fung利豐有限公司

2008-10-17T05:16:00.000-07:00

Li & Fung (Trading) Limited is a global trading group managing the supply chain for garments, fashion accessories, furnishings, gifts, handicrafts, home products, promotional merchandise, toys, sporting goods and travel goods.

read more from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li_&_Fung

Aluminum Corporation of China Limited

2008-10-17T05:12:00.000-07:00

Aluminum Corporation of China Limited is the only producer of alumina and the largest producer of primary aluminum in the People's Republic of China.

read more from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminum_Corporation_of_China

Shenzhou Vll

2008-09-27T03:17:00.000-07:00

Shenzhou Vll has been successfully orbiting 343 kilometres above the earth every 90 minutes since it blasted off from the Jiuquan launch centre in northwest Gansu province on Thursday night.

China sent its first man into space in 2003. Two more went up in 2005 and the trio now orbiting are on the country's third manned mission.

Zhang Bainan, the chief designer of the Shenzhou series of spacecraft, announced that beginning with the Shenzhou Vlll, China will start mass-producing space capsules so that it is able to establish a shuttle program to the space station it expects to develop.

read more on http://www.canada.com/topics/news/world/story.html?id=5da21f3d-cb4c-43a3-9967-d02eef0939b1

Macau Through My Eyes

2008-09-09T21:20:00.001-07:00

Macau Through My Eyes
Originally uploaded by FoNgEtZ

Beijing 2008 Olympics Opening Ceremony A Slides Presentation

2008-08-15T00:38:00.000-07:00

from Japan Broadcast http://www.metacafe.com/watch/yt-7KE36Ft87oA/beijing_olympic_opening_ceremony_2008/

preparation toward The opening ceremony in Beijing National stadium

2008-08-15T00:21:00.000-07:00

2008 - Olympics Opening Ceremony in Beijing - The most amazing home videos are here

actual opening ceremony : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsDY1Ha83M8

北京歡迎你MV

2008-07-23T03:45:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v17-NopqFN0

with the actual opening slides presentation: http://www.metacafe.com/watch/yt-7KE36Ft87oA/beijing_olympic_opening_ceremony_2008/

北京欢迎你

2008-07-23T03:32:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clACkpB-Z30&feature=related

《奥运北京》(内地版)

2008-07-23T03:26:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJYEVfiLkbQ&feature=related

Earthquake in China

2008-05-20T09:11:00.000-07:00

May 13, 2008 (Xinhua) -- Rescuers search for survivors at the Juyuan High School in Juyuan Town, Dujiangyan City, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Rescuers work against the rainy weather to search quake survivors on Tuesday.

May 12th, south west China was hit by a magnitude 7.9 earthquake. This is the 2nd major natural disaster in China this year,following the ice storm. Just one month before this disaster, China was also facing a hard time with the west about Tibet human right, the major rail road accident in Shandong, diseases in Anhui and so on. While we bearing this hardship through out the year, however, our country get united somuch that we really proud of beinga Chinese. I deeply believe, our nation will over come all the difficulties, and rise on the world as a strong new China! You have all my bless!

source: http://picasaweb.google.com/shuming.zhang/EarthquakeInChina

road sign

2007-11-21T03:36:00.000-08:00

extracted from

http://picasaweb.google.com/petertflau/NewAlbum13102007218AM/photo#5120617703336710706

Dumpling Production

2007-11-21T03:30:00.000-08:00

extracted from

http://picasaweb.google.com/petertflau/NewAlbum13102007218AM/photo#5120618961762128770

Shanghai Eating House

2007-11-21T03:28:00.000-08:00

extracted from:

http://picasaweb.google.com/petertflau/NewAlbum13102007218AM/photo#5120618729833894722

Thousandhandguanyin Dance

2007-11-11T21:07:00.000-08:00

Thousandhandguanyin Dance - For more funny videos, click here

all the dancers are deaf. They are members of the China Disabled People's Performing Art Troupe

If you want to read about them go to
http://taoism.net/guanyin/home.htm

china monuments

2007-10-07T20:41:00.000-07:00

one of china monuments.

china universities

2007-10-07T20:35:00.000-07:00

one of the china universities.