Is it an idiom?

Idioms are usually four-character phrases that tell a special meaning. Because most idioms either come from folk stories or legend stories, people are familiar them. These days, however, a lot of seemingly weird “idioms” spring up from the Internet.

When we first heard phrases like喜大普奔, we can’t even guess its meaning it until we see the explanations. For example, 不明觉厉 (bù mǐng juě lì) is made up by the first characters of four Chinese idioms, which is 喜闻乐见 (xǐ wěn lè jiàn), 大快人心 (dà kuài rén xīn), 普天同庆(pǔ tiān tǒng qìng), 奔走相告(bēn zǒu xiāng gào). So, the meaning of this weird idiom喜大普奔 is actually a combination of the four idioms: the news is so exhilarating that everyone is celebrating and spreading it to the rest of the world. We can use this popular “idiom” in the following example: “告诉你一个喜大普奔的消息吧, 期末考试取消了！”, which means “Here is news for celebration: The final examination is canceled!”

So much so, this is not a word that you Chinese tutor will choose to teach you in class, because this is an Internet word, which many people think that it should only be used for fun instead of in formal occasions. To those of you who are reading this post, maybe you may regard this as a way to have fun. Maybe we can also understand a thing from this language phenomenon that: language is always changing as culture changes and that we should keep up with times.

Chinese Mother In-law - Zhang Mu Niang

Study HSK : 丈母娘” means mother-in-law in Chinese.  In China, it is a very popular word and many boys are afraid of their 丈母娘 zhàng mǔ niáng.

In China, mothers-in-law play a very important role in their daughter’s marriage. That should dates back to the old times of China, when arranged or mercenary marriage and any other acts of interference with the freedom of marriage are very common. Young people should listen to the ideas and “suggestions” of their parents when they are choosing their husbands or wives. For example, many girls like boys who are tall, rich, and good-looking while mothers may think that the boys who have well-financed family support are better. In their view, good appearance may not be so important when they become old. So 丈母娘(zhàng mǔ niáng) prefers to introduce the man who is plain but has a successful career to her daughter.

Nowadays, even though it is illegal to interfere with other people’s marriage by any means and people advocate the freedom of marriage and Chinese also encourage free choice of partners, but the 丈母娘(zhàng mǔ niáng) still has the ability to give her daughter advice or directly express her dissatisfaction towards the candidate for son-in-law, which makes many boys fail to marry the girl they love only because the potential 丈母娘(zhàng mǔ niáng) do not like them.

Another way to address mother-in-law is “岳母”, which is not as commonly used as Zhang Mu Niang when we learn conversational Chinese. Because of their 岳母， many boys have a lot of pressure and have to do everything to entertain them, including buying them expensive gifts, maybe as a way to show that they are not only good-looking, but also wealthy. Many foreigners like to marry Chinese girls, but the zhang mu niang may be an obstacle to them.

Traditional Chinese Dress – Qipao

Chinese dressing style is quite different from those in the west because of China’s unique cultures. As Chinese movies march towards the world stage, an increasing number of Chinese movies and movie stars are known by people abroad, such as In The Mood For Love and its chief actress Madame Zhang Manyu. In this movie, Madam Zhang always wears the 旗(qí) 袍(páo), or cheongsam. 旗(qí) 袍(páo) is one of the most distinctive costumes for Chinese women.

The cheongsam is a body-hugging one-piece Chinese dress for women; the male version is the长(chánɡ) 衫(shān). It is known in skype Chinese lessons as the Qipao, and is also known in English as a mandarin gown. In ancient time, the collar of the costume was made high and tight fitting to keep warm. And this feature is often incorporated into cheongsam styles. Now, it is not only to keep warm but also for beauty. Usually, the collar of cheongsam takes a semicircle shape, and the right and left sides of it are symmetrical. The collar of the 旗(qí) 袍(páo) is made meticulously, especially the buttonhole loop on the collar, which serves as the finishing touch.

There are two big slits at either side of the hem of a cheongsam for moving conveniently while displaying the woman's slender legs. The cheongsam is far more modest that a short skirt even though it reveals beautiful glimpses of leg far up the thigh. Like a Chinese temperament, the cheongsam is elegant and gentle. The modernized version is noted for accentuating the figures of women, and as such remains popular as a dress for high society. As Western fashions changed, the basic cheongsam design changed too, introducing high-necked sleeveless dresses, bell-like sleeves, and the black lace adorning the hem. By the 1940s, cheongsam came in a wide variety of fabrics with an equal variety of accessories.

Hot Chinese – Nv Hanzi

“What does Nv Hanzi mean? Is it a man or a woman?” you may wonder. In this article, we will go on with our hot Chinese words where we can lean with Chinese tutor online. For most beginners, this word女汉子may be confusing. Actually, it refers to a woman.

According to pinyin pronunciation chart, the pinyin for 女汉子 is nǚ hàn zi, with 女meaning woman, 汉子 meaning a very strong man.

So why do people combine a man with a woman in this word. Well, we should go back to the origin of it. 女汉子（nǚ hàn zi）first appeared in china as a result of a picture of a girl in the website of Julia Vins form Russia who has an adorable face but a muscular body. Since then people gradually use 女汉子（nǚ hàn zi）to describe the girls who are very strong in mind and independent in everyday life. 

In the point of a Chinese people, 女汉子(nǚ hàn zi) has the characteristics as below：Bold and unconstrained - When the summer is coming, they might even wear nothing roaming in the house; Not so wild about using makeup - They prefer to hang out rather than go shopping, which is the older generation's  stereotype of women; Have many male friends - It is a part of this phenomena that many 女汉子（nǚ hàn zi）can get along well with boys rather than girls; Speak rudely and directly - Many 女汉子（nǚ hàn zi） do not care so much about other people's perception of their words and deeds. They just speak whatever they are thinking about.

女汉子（nǚ hàn zi）style has been an extraordinary character of many girls in China since women and men have equal education and equal rights nowadays. Women prefer to do things independently and do not really like to ask men for help if they can solve the matter by themselves.

Meaning of Kou Bei in Chinese

When Chinese people buy things, or looking for restaurants, they often want to find one that has a good “口碑kǒu bēi". What does “口碑（kǒu bēi）" mean in Chiese?

Literally, it can be translated as “the mouth milestone” 碑 means the milestone or stele. But the word口碑 actually has nothing to to with the stele. It means “the opinions or the public praise of people to a thing”. So if a restaurant has a good “口碑kǒu bēi", probably the restaurant receives a very good saying from people who have been there. Maybe the environment or service there is fairly good.

Many people choose to come to China to do business. And when they come, they should not just find restaurants that have five stars, but find restaurants that hve a good “口碑kǒu bēi", because some restaurants are small and shabby. Shabby though it looks, the place is packed day and night because of its unique fish dishes. You have to book the place three days in advance. How could it do so well? It all depends on their clients. The clients will spread the word, either via an excited 'let me tell you about this place' mobile message or during idle chit chat.

And also, if we are managing a business company, we should try our best to give the best service to the customers. Because only in this way can we earn a good “口碑kǒu bēi" for it. Now do you know the meaning this word in Chinese? 

Popular Chinese Word - Jing Bao

One of the best ways to lean basic Chinese is to learn the popular Chinese words that come every now and then. Today, we will get to know another word劲爆（jìng bào）.

We should know that 劲(jìng）is a polyphone. Most of the time, it is pronounced jin4, but here it should be pronounced jing4. It means strength, energy and enthusiasm, and that 爆(bào） means to explode or burst. Thus, 劲爆（jìn bào）means powerful, explosive or shocking. The word first came from the ads of a fast food giant known as KFC. It’s gives people the impression of freshness, joy and energy. It proves that the ads were a success. In English, an equivalent would be high-octane.

劲爆的Dance

We use this term to refer to things we think are intense, dynamic, and powerful. 劲（jìng） in Chinese can be used as an adverb of degree, meaning 'very'. 爆(bào） means 'explosive or burst' as you already know. Putting them together, 劲爆（jìng bào）means 'very explosive,' which we can apply to the news, music beats, highlight reels from sports, action movies, or lively performances.Now, let’s see what words can be described by 劲爆.

                                  劲爆的Price

劲爆的比赛 An extremely stimulating match

劲爆的舞蹈 Hot Dance

劲爆的音乐 Rocking Music

In addition, 劲爆（jìng bào）can also refer to something sensational like shocking news about celebrities.” For example: The 劲爆 photos of the beautiful girl shocked everyone. Or The劲爆performance made people shout and scream.

Can you give another example using the word 劲爆？

Greeting in Business Chinese

Many people who want to come to China choose to grab some Chinese before they come. Still, some common ways of greeting in Chinese may still confuse them. For example, one day a foreign friend of mine asked me about the meaning of “xìng huì” (幸会). He often heard it when he accompanied his boss to some business parties.

The greeting “xìng huì” (幸会) is a very common way of greeting that are commonly used in China. For a foreigner who plans to come to China to do business, it is very important to learn some of these useful greeting phrases which we can get from our skype Chinese.

The phrase “xìng huì” (幸会) means, 'it is my great honor to meet you.' The first character, “xìng” (幸), means “lucky.” The second character, “huì” (会), can mean "to meet." The whole phrase simply means “Nice to meet you” or “I’m glad to meet you.” In daily communication, the greeting “xìng huì” (幸会) is usually said to elders, bosses or people of high socioeconomic status. Sometimes people repeat “xìng huì” (幸会) to show more respect to the people thay are speaking to. Thus came “xìng huì! xìng huì!” 

It's an important aspect in developing a good relationship with your Chinese partners. You don't want them to think you're rude as soon as you say hello. Contrarily, using greetings correctly when you conduct business with Chinese professionals can make a very good first impression. A native Chinese teacher can teach you all you want to know and help you obtain great success in doing business with the Chinese. So, you are advised to learn more about the different way of greeting in business Chinese.