2013 Top 10 Popular Chinese Words

1. 中国梦 zhōng guó mèng

Chinese dream（to become prosperous and strong）

2. 光盘 guāng pán

empty your plate, (eat all your food, waste nothing)

3. 倒逼 dào bī

take action to make your boss improve

4. 逆袭 nì xí

to win at the last moment through hardship and struggle

5. 女汉子 nǚ hàn zi

tough-girl, tom-boy

6. 土豪 tǔ háo

nouveux riche, Beverley hill billies, 

7. 点赞 diǎn zàn

to “like” or “agree” on something.

8. 微XX wēi XX

mini..., tiny...

9. 大V dà V

People on social media who have a large following and whose opinions are seen by some as influential              

10. 奇葩 qí pā

strange, weird or odd person

Do You Know These Popular Chinese Buzzwords?

女汉子 nǚ hàn zi    
manly woman/Fe-male

Some women are in the habit of acting or speaking in a manly manner, like removing a beer bottle cap with their teeth or frequently using four-letter words, but it doesn't mean they are homosexual.

二维码 èr wéi mǎ    
QR Code

A QR Code is a matrix code invented by Japanese corporation Denso-Wave in 1994. The QR is derived from "Quick Response." Camera mobile phone users with code-reading software can scan the image of the QR Code and be relinked to a Website that this code represents.

自然萌 zì rán méng    
naturally cute

An expression used by young people online to describe someone who looks adorable in the way they carry themselves - whether in how they walk or talk. "萌" is transliteration from the Japanese word "moe," which literally means "budding" in English.

天然呆 tiān rán dāi   
natural airhead

This is used to describe a person who appears to be an airhead but is in fact sharp and witty and good company. The expression is borrowed from Japanese, used often by people who are fanatical about ACG (animation, comic and games).

恨天高 hèn tiān gāo    
sky-high shoes

This terms alludes to women's shoes with 15 centimeter-plus heels as favored by icons such as Lady Gaga and Chinese singer Jolin Tsai.

北京咳 běi jīng ké    
Beijing cough

The term "Beijing cough" has been in use since as early as the 1990s among foreigners, many of whom experienced respiratory problems in Beijing's dry and polluted air. But it has become more common as more health problems attributable to the capital's pollution are reported.

"Eat" (吃chī) in Chinese Culture

中国吃的文化

zhōng guó chī de wén huà

"Eat" (吃chī) in Chinese Culture

岗位 = 饭碗
gǎng wèi = fàn wǎn
Job

谋生/受雇 = 糊口/混饭
mòu shēng/shòu gù = hú kǒu/hùn fàn
Be employed

混得好 = 吃得开
hùn de hǎo = chī de kāi
Well done

受欢迎 = 吃香
shòu huān yíng = chī xiāng
Be welcome

受单独照顾 = 吃小灶
shòu dān dú zhào gù = chī xiǎo zhào
Separate care

不干活，花积蓄 = 吃老本儿
bú gàn huó, huā jī xù = chī lǎo běnr
No job and cost savings

活干太多了觉得累 = 吃不消
huó gàn tài duō le jué de lèi = chī bù xiāo
It's too much to take

受委屈或有经济损失 = 吃亏
shòu5 wěi qū huò yǒu jīng jì sǔn shī = chī kuī 
Suffer losses

没事找事 = 吃饱了撑的
méi shì zhǎo shì = chī bǎo lē chēng de 
Ask for trouble

犹豫不决 = 吃不准
yóu yù bù jué = chī bù zhǔn
In hesitation

The 3 Plans of 2014 Chinese National Holidays

Do you know there are 3 plans of 2014 Chinese National Holidays? Let's start to talk about them now. 

Three of the holidays are simple, Qingming, Duanwu and Mid-Autumn Festivals are straight up Monday off work. Three day weekends with no make up work days on the weekends. Brilliant.

Now it gets a little interesting. For Chinese New Year we’ll potentially be working the extra Sunday before and the Saturday after the holiday. So before a full 7 days of holiday we’ll have a 1 day weekend, 4 days of work, 7 days off, then after another 3 day work week with a 1 day weekend! Lets look at that another way:

5 days work (normal work week)

1 day off (Saturday)

4 days work

7 days off

3 days work

1 day off (Sunday)

5 days work (normal work week)

Confused? Me too!

Moving on, May Day (Labor Day), is a little disappointing with a work day on the Sunday following the 3 day holiday (Thursday to Saturday), which gives us a 6 day workweek after a long (but too short) weekend holiday.

Now for the good stuff. For next year’s National Day, on October 1, there are three “proposed” plans that offer 3 days, 5 days and 7 days off:

The 7 day plan is the only one that shows working weekends, with a similar set up as the Chinese New Year plan. For this proposal they haven’t counted the weekend as holiday, but added 2 more days holiday from the following week, making 7 days off total. But of course you make up for it by working weekends before and after. So it looks a bit like this:

5 days work (normal work week)

1 day off (Saturday)

3 days work

7 days off

4 days work

1 day off (Sunday)

5 days work (normal work week)

The 3 and the 5 day plans don’t count the weekend as the holiday, so you don’t have to make up any “extra” days on the weekend. The 3 day holiday is only for Wednesday-Friday, then a normal weekend. But the 5 day holiday is Wednesday-Sunday. Isn’t that the same thing? …Yup.

Hoped that helps clear everything up!

Check out the image below to help make more sense of it or check out from: http://politics.people.com.cn/n/2013/1127/c1001-23664133.html

Some Popular Chinese Buzzwords

1. 潮人 cháo rén

Trendsetter

e.g. 他是个潮人，每天出门都要精心打扮一番。
tā shì gè cháo rén ，měi tiān chū mén dōu yào jīng xīn dǎ bàn yī fān 。 

He is a trendsetter, he will dress up before going out everyday.

2. 剩女 shèng nǚ

Single Woman










e.g. 大城市里，剩女越来越多了。
dà chéng shì lǐ ，shèng nǚ yuè lái yuè duō le 。

There are more and more single women in some big morden cities.

3. 土豪 tǔ háo

Someone who is very wealthy but uncultured.

 










e.g. 那个土豪买了七个金色的iPhone 5s.

nà gè tǔ háo mǎi le qī gè jīn sè de iPhone 5s.

That rich, trashy guy bought seven gold iPhone 5s.