Archive for March 11th, 2009

Learn Chinese Podcast – Happy China 444

Wednesday, March 11th, 2009

快快乐乐学汉语

Let’s learn Chinese with fun.

轻轻松松过周末

And have a weekend of relaxation.

《快乐中国》周末版节目

Welcome to this weekend edition

of Happy China!

又和您如约相见啦

Good to see you again.

快乐的韩佳 大牛

We, the happy Han Jia and Daniel,

在美丽的牟尼沟向您问好

are saying hello to you at the

beautiful Muni Valley.

希望我们今天的节目能给您带去快乐

We hope you’ll enjoy today’s program.

大牛 你可小心点儿啊

Daniel, be careful.

我看你这样子有点悬

The way you’re taking pictures is

a bit dangerous.

哎呀 你放心吧

Hey, don’t worry.

我的技术好着呢

I’m quite good at it.

哎 你看 我说什么来着

My goodness! Look.

What did I say?

哎呀

Oh!

其实我只是想多拍一些照片

Actually I only want to take

more pictures

拿回去给朋友们看一看

to take back and show them to

my friends.

让他们也体验一下这里奇特的景观

I want them to have a feel of the

stunning scenery here.

嗨 那看什么照片啊

Oh, no need for those photos.

看看我们的出行指南 然后大家

Would it be better to take a look

at today’s

亲自到这里来玩一玩不更好嘛

Travel Guide and ask them to come

and have fun?

位于松潘县城西

The Muni Scenic Area lies

36公里处的牟尼沟景区

36 kilometers west of Songpan County.

面积160平方公里

It covers a total area of 160

square kilometers

最高海拔4070米

at an altitude of 4,070 meters

above sea level.

由扎嘎瀑布和二道海两部分组成

It is comprised of Zhaga Waterfall

and Erdaohai Lake.

景区内空气清新 阳光充沛

It is a place of fresh air and

bright sunshine.

沟内瀑布 草场 海子 山泉

Cascades, pastures, ponds,

springs and

溶洞星罗棋布

karst caves are scattered all

over the valley.

自然风光迷人 民族风情浓郁

It’s a place of scenic beauty and

salient ethnic features.

而从牟尼沟东行18公里

18 kilometers east of Muni Valley

就到了险峻壮丽 绵延18.5公里的丹云峡

is the steep and spectacular

18.5-kilometer-long Danyun Gorge.

这里拥有丰富的树种 灌木和花草

There are a good variety of species of

trees, bushes, flowers and plants here.

是植物爱好者的天堂

It is a paradise for plant lovers.

丹云峡几乎每天都有云雾从林中升起

There are misty clouds hovering over

the forest in the gorge almost every day,

缭绕山间时隐时现

making the cliffs disappear intermittently.

走进这里便宛如走进了神话世界

Walking through the gorge is

like traveling a fairyland.

在黄龙还有很多藏族村寨

There are also many Tibetan villages

in the Huanglong area.

如果有机会 您可以到这里来做客

If you have a chance, you’d better

come and be a guest here.

尝尝美味的糌粑

Have a taste of the delicious

tsampa porridge

喝几碗浓郁的酥油茶

and drink bowls of buttered tea

亲身体验一下藏族同胞的热情好客

to experience Tibetan hospitality

勤劳纯朴

and their industriousness.

大家注意了啊

Attention, everyone.

欢迎我们的英雄回来喽

Welcome our hero back home!

我可是用了九牛二虎之力

I did all I could

才赢得了这次大赛的冠军哪

to have won the champion of this

grand contest.

终于凯旋归来啊

Now I am finally “kai xuan gui lai”.

哎 又得意忘形了吧

Hey, you are being smug again.

前两天不是刚跟你说过嘛

Didn’t I tell you a few days ago that

“凯旋”啊已经有归来的意思啦

“kai xuan” already means a

victorious return.

再加个“归来”岂不画蛇添足

If you add “gui lai” (comeback), it would be

“hua she tian zu” (drawing a snake with feet).

明白了 明白了

I see. I am clear.

来 先把它放下来

Come on. Put it down first.

怕我累着啊

Are you afraid that I am tired?

不是

No.

我是说先看快乐成语

I mean to take a look at today’s

Happy Set Phrase.

从前有个叫张三的人

Long, long ago, there is a man

called Zhang San.

常常向人炫耀自己如何如何有本领

He often tries to show off how

skilled he is.

一次 他的朋友送来一壶酒

Once, his friends bring a pot

of wine for him.

来 来 我这里有一壶酒

“Come one. I have got a pot of

wine here.

大家把它分了喝了吧

Let’s share it together.”

酒壶这么小

“It’s such a small pot.

一人分一点 谁也喝得不痛快

If each of us just drinks a little bit,

no one would feel gratified.”

是啊 那怎么办呢

“Yes, indeed. What should we

do about it?”

我看这样吧

“I suggest we solve this

咱们做一个小游戏

by doing a little game.

每人在这地上画一条蛇

Each of us draws a snake on

the ground.

谁先画完 这壶酒就是谁的

Whoever completes the picture

first has this pot of wine.”

大家纷纷找了树枝在地上画蛇

Thus everyone picks a branch

and starts drawing.

张三三下两下就画完了

With a few strokes, Zhang San

completes the picture.

他左右看了一看

He takes a look at his friends

看来还有时间 我再修饰一下

and finds there is still time.

“I’d give it a few more touches.”

于是他给蛇又画了四只脚

Thus he draws four feet under the snake.

我画完了 这壶酒归我了

“I am done. This pot of wine

belongs to me.”

你搞错了 这壶酒就是我的

“You are wrong.

The pot of wine is mine.

我早就画完了 你看这里

I have completed my picture much

earlier. Look here.”

大家围过来聚在一起看

All of them come over and look

at his picture.

这是什么东西 不像蛇 也不像龙

“What is this? It doesn’t look like

a snake or a dragon.”

是个怪物吧

“Is it a monster?”

这就是蛇啊

“It is a snake.

我只不过又给它画了四只脚

Only I added four feet to it.”

蛇就是蛇 干吗给它画脚呢

“You are supposed to draw a snake.

But why did you add feet to it?

真是多此一举

It’s superfluous.”

“Oh!”

观众朋友们

Audience friends,

接下来就是我们的快乐读信时间了

it’s the happy time now to read

letters from our audience.

最近我们栏目组收到了

Our program team has recently received

很多观众朋友们的来信和祝福

many letters and greetings from

our audience.

两盒巧克力呢

Where are those two boxes

of chocolates?

哎 大牛 你看到两盒巧克力了吗

Eh, Daniel, did you see those two

boxes of chocolates?

什么巧克力呀

What chocolates?

现在是读信时间啊

Now it’s the letter reading time.

现在观众朋友们的来信特别多

Now we have many letters from

our audience.

你赶快读一读吧

You’d better read them.

好吧 好吧 先读信

OK. Let’s read letters first.

我这儿有封从德国发来的电子邮件

Here are some emails from Germany.

是张湘女士写来的

They were written by Ms. Zhang Xiang.

她说收到我们《快乐中国》寄去的邮包之后

She said when she received a parcel

from us for Happy China,

全家人都非常开心

her whole family were very happy.

张女士当时正在炒菜

Ms. Zhang was cooking

一听说《快乐中国》的礼物到了

when she learned of the arrival of

the Happy China gift parcel.

她马上丢下锅铲去拆包裹

She put down her slice and opened

the parcel immediately

细细翻看里面的每一件礼物

She carefully examined every gift in it.

孩子们更是喜欢得不得了

And her kids were also very elated

张女士 您和您家人的快乐

Ms. Zhang, you and your

family’s pleasure

就是我大牛最大的快乐

is my greatest pleasure.

希望今后您会更踊跃地参与我们的答题活动

I hope you’d participate more actively

in our quizzes.

嗯 大牛说得没错

Yes, Daniel is right.

观众朋友们的快乐就是我们《快乐中国》

The pleasure of our audience is the

greatest pleasure of everyone

所有工作人员的最大快乐

here at the Happy China team.

韩佳 我这里有一封从遥远非洲国家

Han Jia, here’s a letter from the

distant African country

尼日利亚寄来的信

of Nigeria.

写信的人就是我们的

The letter was written by our old friend

老朋友 Victor Moody

Victor Moody

哦 是他呀 说什么了

Oh, it’s him! What did he say?

首先呢

First,

他祝我们《快乐中国》新年快乐

he wished Happy China a Happy

New Year.

接下来他还说

Then he said:

我热爱中国文化和中国人民

“I love Chinese culture and the

Chinese people.

非常感谢《快乐中国—学汉语》节目

Many thanks for the Happy China

Chinese teaching program.

我从节目中感受到了中国人民的爱和友谊

From this program I can feel the love

and friendship of the Chinese people.

我希望这种爱和友谊通过《快乐中国》节目

I wish this love and friendship,

through the program, Happy China,

传递给世界其他国家的人民

can be extended to the peoples

of other countries.”

韩佳 这封信真是让人倍受鼓舞啊

Han Jia, this letter is indeed very

inspiring for us.

是啊

Yes, indeed.

那些朴实而又热情洋溢的信

Those sincere and enthusiastic letters

总是让我们感到既自豪又感动

always make us deeply moved

and proud as well.

很多观众朋友们不仅关注我们的节目

Many audience friends not only closely

keep track of our program,

而且还像亲人一样关心我们的健康

but also, like our loved ones,

show concern for our health.

意大利的周浩朋友在来信中说

Zhou Hao from Italy said in his letter:

现在天气很冷了

“It’s getting cold.

大家工作一定很辛苦吧

You must have been working

extra hard.

祝大家身体健康 工作顺利

I wish you health and success

in your work.”

哎 说到观众朋友们对我们的关心

Eh, talking about our audience’s

solicitude for us,

我这里还有实物证明呢

I have got some material proof for that.

哦 原来巧克力在你这儿哪

Oh, actually the chocolates are

in your hands.

观众朋友们

Ladies and gentlemen,

这两盒巧克力是我们的热心观众

these two boxes of chocolates

were sent by

张培培从法国巴黎给我们寄来的

Zhang Peipei, a keen viewer in

Paris of France.

那借此机会我和大牛

Daniel and I would like to take

this opportunity

要代表栏目组的全体工作人员

to express our sincere thanks to you

向您表示衷心的感谢

on behalf of everyone here at the team.

好 接下来 又到了

Well, next it’s time again

我们今天成语猜猜看的内容了

for the day’s Phrase Look & Guess.

瞧瞧这大牛

Look at Daniel.

还沉浸在圣诞节的喜悦中呢

He is still immersed in the lingering

happiness of Christmas.

哎 韩佳

Eh, Han Jia,

你知道这张贺卡是谁寄来的吗

do you know who sent me this card?

谁呀

Who did it?

是来自法国巴黎的张培培

Zhang Peipei in Paris of France.

我这里还有好几张贺卡呢

I’ve also got several greeting

cards with me.

你看 这张是芬兰的Jim和Kai寄来的

Look. This one was sent by Jim

and Kai of Finland.

这张是美国的Erin和Gene寄来的

This one is from Erin and Gene

of the United States.

那这张是Somsak

And this one was sent by Somsak.

哎 这位朋友是哪儿的来着

Oh, where is he from?

泰国的

Thailand.

哦 对对对 是泰国的朋友寄来的

Oh, yes. That’s right.

It was sent by this Thai friend.

看来关心我们的朋友真不少啊

It seems there are indeed so many friends

who have shown their loving care for us.

是啊 其实我们也为观众朋友们准备了

Actually, we have also prepared

一份小小的礼物

a small gift for our audience.

我们精心制作的新春贺卡送给大家

We’ve carefully made a Spring

Festival Card for you all.

嗯 非常可爱的一只小狗

Yes. It features a lovely puppy.

祝朋友们狗年兴旺

We wish you prosperity in the

Year of the Dog!

在这里我们要代表栏目组的全体工作人员

For everyone here at the Happy

China team,

向你们表示感谢

we’d like to express our thanks

to you all.

也要祝《快乐中国》的所有观众朋友们

We also wish all our audience members

of Happy China

在新的一年里好运不断

continued good luck in the New Year.

快乐学汉语 轻松又好记

Learn Chinese with fun.

It’s much easier to remember.

下周看什么

What’s up next week?

看预告啊

Let’s watch the Viewer Guide.

1月23号到1月28号

From January 23 through 28th,

快乐的韩佳 大牛将在九寨天堂

the happy Han Jia and Daniel will be taking

you to the Jiuzhai Paradise

与您体味学汉语的乐趣

to experience the pleasure

in learning Chinese.

“天籁”就是指自然界的声音

“tian lai” means the sounds of

nature, such as

比如风声 鸟声 流水声

the sounds of winds, birds and

flowing water.

平手 “平”读二声 “手”读三声

“ping shou” 2nd tone, 3rd tone,

意思就是不分高低 不分胜负

means a tie.

平手

“ping shou”.

中国中央电视台国际频道

On CCTV International,

周一到周六每天十分钟

the 10-minute Happy China

《快乐中国》与您准时相约

meets you on time every day

快乐的十分钟

Mondays through Saturdays.

一眨眼工夫就过去了

The program has come to an end

in the wink of an eye.

不知道您的周末是不是和我们一样

We are not sure if you also have had

a very enjoyable weekend

也过得快乐呢

as we have had.

在这里

Here once again,

我们要再次祝您周末愉快

we wish you a pleasant weekend.

如果您有什么建议或者是想法的话

If you have any suggestions

or any comments,

请用以下方式跟我们联系

please let us know using the

method here.

今天的节目就到这里了

That’s it for today’s program.

我是快乐的韩佳

I am the happy Han Jia.

我是快乐的大牛

And I am the happy Daniel.

我们下周同一时间不见不散

See you next week at the same time.

Be there or be square!

(Source: cctv.com)

Beijing Olympic – 42 teams arrive in Qingdao Olympic sailing center

Wednesday, March 11th, 2009
42 teams arrive in Qingdao Olympic sailing center
Members of Russian delegation arrive at Liuting International Airport in Qingdao, the co-host city for sailing events of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in east China’s Shandong Province, July 28, 2008. Delegations of 42 countries and regions to the event of Beijing Olympic Games arrived at Qingdao by 5pm Monday. (Photo credit: Xinhua)
42 teams arrive in Qingdao Olympic sailing center
Members of Australian delegation take pictures at Liuting International Airport after arriving at Qingdao, the co-host city for sailing events of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in east China’s Shandong Province, July 28, 2008. Delegations of 42 countries and regions to the event of Beijing Olympic Games arrived at Qingdao by 15pm Monday. (Photo credit: Xinhua)

QINGDAO, east China, July 28 (Xinhua) — The arrival of Olympic sailing teams reached its peak as sailors from 42 countries and regions had checked in at Qingdao Olympic sailing center as of Monday, just ten days before the opening of the Beijing Olympics.

Forty-three sailors and thirty officials from ten countries and regions, including Britain, China, Dominica, Uruguay, Hong Kong, Slovenia, arrived at Olympic co-host city Qingdao of east China’s Shandong Province Monday, according to sailing committee (Qingdao) of BOCOG.

Kotenkov, team leader of Russian sailing team, said when he landed at Qingdao international airport Monday afternoon that the Russian sailors to participate in the eleven Olympic sailing events were all young people. “We expect for two medals this time,” he said.

Australian sailor of tornado class Darren Bondock had been to China for five times and been training for three years for the sailing events. “I have no concrete object for the competitions but to win,” he said with confidence.

According to Qingdao Olympic Sailing Committee, at least 295 sailors and officials from forty-two countries and regions had arrived at Qingdao as of 5:00 p.m. Monday.

“The number of arrived teams was increased greatly from Sunday and it would have another climax just before the opening of the events”, said Feng Xiao, sailing venue manager of the Arrival and Departure Center of Qingdao Olympic Sailing Committee.

“But the number does not include those who were not received by our staffs at the airport,” noted Wu Fan, airport manager of the Arrival and Departure Center.

According to BOCOG, a total of four hundred sailors from sixty-two countries and regions had registered for the events, among which names of thirty eight sailors from fourteen countries and regions were not confirmed.

(Source: en.beijing2008.cn)

Cri – Lesson 259

Wednesday, March 11th, 2009

从容不迫

“从容不迫”这则成语的意思是形容镇定自若,不慌不忙。

这则成语来源于《庄子*秋水》:庄子与惠子游于濠梁之上。庄子曰:“倏鱼出游从容,是鱼之乐也。”
庄子,名周,宋国蒙(今河南商丘县东北)人,是战国时的哲学家。

有一天,庄子和当时宋国的另一名哲学家惠子一同在濠水(在今安徽凤阳境内)岸边观鱼。

庄子说:“你看这条鱼在水中游得多么从容自在啊!它是多么地快乐!”

惠子说:“你又不是鱼,怎么知道它们现在很快乐呢?”

庄子说:“你又不是我,怎么能断定我不知道它们现在很快乐呢?”

惠子说:“我不是你,当然不知道你是喜是忧。但你总不是鱼,你不知道鱼的快乐则是肯定无疑的。”

庄子说:“我们从头说起:你刚才问我怎么知道鱼是快乐的,这说明你知道我了解鱼的快乐才会问我的。我现在告诉你,我是从自己的感受中体会的。我与你在濠水 边同游观鱼,悠闲自在,自得其乐。这鱼呢?其实是在水中游戏,从容不迫地观望着我俩,它们当然也和我们一样,感到十分快乐。”

As cool as a cucumber

The Chinese reads: Cong Rong Bu Po, which literally means something like “ever calm, no hurry”. We use it to describe people who don’t get flustered, and remain cool-headed. There is an interesting story behind the idiom.

In the Warring States Period, between 475-221 BC, two philosophers, Zhuang Zi and Hui Zi, were strolling along the Haoshui River, in today’s Anhui Province. They stopped and looked at a fish swimming in the river.

Zhuang Zi said, “Look, that fish is swimming along so leisurely. It’s enjoying itself.”

Huizi said: “You are not the fish. How do you know it’s enjoying itself?”

Zhuang Zi replied, “You are not me. How can you be so sure that I don’t know it’s enjoying itself?”

Hui Zi said, “I’m not you, so of course I don’t know whether you are happy or not. But you are certainly not the fish. It’s certain that you don’t know if it’s happy.”

Zhuang Zi paused. “Let’s start from the beginning,” he said patiently. “You asked me just now how I knew the fish was having a good time. This means you know that I know whether the fish is happy, otherwise you would not have asked me this question. Let me explain. I figured out the fish was happy because I myself was having a good time. I am enjoying the peace and quiet of this beautiful Haoshui River with you. We walk, talk, and look at the fish so leisurely, without a care in the world. We are having a good time. The fish plays in the water and looks at us like we look at him, calm and relaxed. Of course the fish feels the same way as we do, very happy.”

From Zhuang Zi’s description of the fish, we get the idiom Cong Rong Bu Po – relaxed, as cool as a cucumber. We use it to describe someone who takes his or her time to do something, and who doesn’t get in a panic.

(Source:english.cri.cn)