When:      Saturday December 10th from 11a.m. to 4p.m.

Where:     1 Wangjiang Rd., Greenwich Village 2-31-03, Wuhou Dist. 610041
中国四川成都武侯区望江路1号格林威治2栋3103别墅，邮编:610041

More Directions: I live at Greenwich Village by the Jiu Yan Qiao Bridge / Bar Street and across the river from the Waterfront. If you tell the taxi Jiu Yan Qiao zai Wang Jian Lu they should know where to take you. There are two banks on either side of the main entrance. After walking through the gate, it’s the first building on the left- Building 2, Floor 31, House 3. Please feel free to call me if you need help.

If you can’t make it Saturday, but still want to come by, you are welcome anytime. I am home most days by 5:30 PM. Just call and we can make
arrangements to meet.

Furniture

We still have a beautiful and rare alter table, magazine buckets, and money boxes. In addition, we are selling a low coffee table for Reed’s
former Ayi (the proceeds will go to her Ayi). It’s old Beijing (about 100yrs old) and like they did then, no metal nails were used, just wooden pegs. It’s
30cm tall, 40cm deep, and 80cm wide. All original with no repairs priced at 2,000rmb.

Gifts for the Season

Don’t forget about family and friends back home! In addition to furniture we small gifts available.

• Babushka hot water bottles to keep the kids warm at night

• New Panda Chopsticks

• Christmas Decorations made by Hearts and Hands

• Handmade jewelry using natural stones, freshwater pearls, glass, metals, including sterling silver and gold, and other interesting finds.

Looking forward to seeing you this Saturday!

Lindsey Stolte

Tel: +18628132032

E-mail: chengdudongxishop@hotmail.com

Website: www.thedongxishop.com

The Blue Marlin venues often come with a pool table, TVs that provide coverage of most major sporting events, and a resident band plays nightly. The amply stocked bar serves Carlsberg, Tiger, San Miguel and Erdinger on draught, a wide range of spirits, and a reasonable selection of wines. Drinking at the Blue Marlin becomes particularly attractive between the hours of 4 and 7 p.m., when prices are halved on all drinks. After work drinkers, keen to take advantage of the happy hour, will be particularly enticed by the Long Island Iced Tea at only 24RMB and the regular draught beers that come in at 14RMB.

Website:

Adresses:
Shanghai
Blue Marlin Green City :
No. 689 Lan Tian Rd.
Green City Jinqiao Pudong Shanghai (Opposite of Decathlon)
Tel : 021-50309676

Nanjing
1) Blue Marlin 1912 :
No. 8 Chang Jiang Hou Jie, 1912, Xuanwu District, Nanjing
Tel: 025-84537376
2) Blue Marlin Jiangning :
No.200 Li Yuan Road (M), Jiangning District, Nanjing
Tel : 025-52074027

Suzhou
1) Blue Marlin SND :
No. 98 Shi Shan Road, SGV Plaza, SND, Suzhou
Tel : 0512-68087316
2) Blue Marlin SIP :
No. 168 Xing Hai Street, SIP, Suzhou
Tel : 0512-62889676
3) Xuzhou
Blue Marlin Xiao Nan Hu :
Block 26 Xiao Nan Hu Plaza, Xuzhou
Tel : 0516-83886722

The Shēngxiào 生肖, better known in English as the Chinese Zodiac, is a scheme that relates each year to an animal and its reputed attributes, according to a 12-year cycle. It is followed in several East Asian countries such as Korea and Japan.

The 12 animal’s appearance came from a legend that says that Buddha invited all animals to spend the New Year with him. Only twelve animals came and Buddha promised to give each year one of their names in order of their arrival which was the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig.

If you don’t know what Chinese Zodiac animal you are, check this chart.

The Chinese zodiac exists since the Han Dynasty (2000 years ago). The Chinese zodiac has spread to all neighboring countries of China.

The Chinese New Year is celebrated at the end of January or early February. The Chinese calendar is not used to predict the future, but rather to get information on the character of a person, these talents…

• Rat – 鼠 (Yang, 1st Trine, Fixed Element Water): Forthright, tenacious, intense, meticulous, charismatic, sensitive, hardworking, industrious, charming, eloquent, sociable, artistic, shrewd. Can be manipulative, vindictive, self-destructive, mendacious, venal, obstinate, critical, over-ambitious, ruthless,intolerant, scheming.
• Ox – 牛 (Water buffalo in Vietnam) (Yin, 2nd Trine, Fixed Element Water): Dependable, ambitious, calm, methodical, born leader, patient, hardworking, conventional, steady, modest, logical, resolute, tenacious. Can be stubborn, narrow-minded, materialistic, rigid, demanding.
• Tiger – 虎 (Yang, 3rd Trine, Fixed Element Wood): Unpredictable, rebellious, colorful, powerful, passionate, daring, impulsive, vigorous, stimulating, sincere, affectionate, humanitarian, generous. Can be restless, reckless, impatient, quick-tempered, obstinate, selfish, aggressive, moody.
• Rabbit – 兔 (Cat in Vietnam) (Yin, 4th Trine, Fixed Element Wood): Gracious, good friend, kind, sensitive, soft-spoken, amiable, elegant, reserved, cautious, artistic, thorough, tender, self-assured, shy, astute, compassionate, lucky, flexible. Can be moody, detached, superficial, self-indulgent, opportunistic, stubborn.
• Dragon – 龍 (Yang, 1st Trine, Fixed Element Wood): Magnanimous, stately, vigorous, strong, self-assured, proud, noble, direct, dignified, eccentric, intellectual, fiery, passionate, decisive, pioneering, artistic, generous, loyal. Can be tactless, arrogant, imperious, tyrannical, demanding, intolerant, dogmatic, violent, impetuous, brash.
• Snake – 蛇 (Yin, 2nd Trine, Fixed Element Fire): Deep thinker, wise, mystic, graceful, soft-spoken, sensual, creative, prudent, shrewd, elegant, cautious, responsible, calm, strong, constant, purposeful. Can be loner, bad communicator, possessive, hedonistic, self-doubting, distrustful, mendacious, suffocating, cold.
• Horse – 馬 (Yang, 3rd Trine, Fixed Element Fire): Cheerful, popular, quick-witted, changeable, earthy, perceptive, talkative, agile—mentally and physically, magnetic, intelligent, astute, flexible, open-minded. Can be fickle, arrogant, childish, anxious, rude, gullible, stubborn.
• Sheep, Goat, or Ram – 羊 (Yin, 4th Trine, Fixed Element Fire): Righteous, sincere, sympathetic, mild-mannered, shy, artistic, creative, gentle, compassionate, understanding, mothering, peaceful, generous, seeks security. Can be moody, indecisive, over-passive, worrier, pessimistic, over-sensitive, complainer, weak-willed.
• Monkey – 猴 (Yang, 1st Trine, Fixed Element Metal): Inventor, motivator, improviser, quick-witted, inquisitive, flexible, innovative, problem solver, self-assured, sociable,
  artistic, polite, dignified, competitive, objective, factual, intellectual. Can be egotistical, vain, arrogant, selfish, reckless, snobbish, deceptive, manipulative, cunning, jealous, suspicious.
• Rooster – 雞 (Yin, 2nd Trine, Fixed Element Metal): Acute, neat, meticulous, organized, self-assured, decisive, conservative, critical, perfectionist, alert, zealous, practical, scientific, responsible. Can be over zealous and critical, puritanical, egotistical, abrasive, proud, opinionated, given to empty bravado.
• Dog – 狗 (Yang, 3rd Trine, Fixed Element Metal): Honest, intelligent, straightforward, loyal, sense of justice and fair play, attractive, amicable, unpretentious, sociable, open-minded, idealistic, moralistic, practical, affectionate, sensitive, easy going. Can be cynical, lazy, cold, judgmental, pessimistic, worrier,stubborn, quarrelsome.
• Pig – 猪 (Boar in Japan and Elephant in Northern Thailand) (Yin, 4th Trine, Fixed Element Water): Honest, gallan, sturdy, sociable, peace-loving, patient, loyal, hard-working, trusting, sincere, calm, understanding, thoughtful, scrupulous, passionate, intelligent. Can be naïve, over-reliant, self-indulgent, gullible, fatalistic, materialistic.

Greetings & Goodbyes

Courtesy

Useful Phrases

Numbers

The app is made to help you navigate through a city by listing its key locations and allowing you to get there comfortably. You just choose a location and show its name and address, along with an instructional phrase to a local taxi driver.

The app also features dialogue options for communicating with locals in their language: All phrases are written in Chinese and can be pronounced via Text-To-Speech Synthesis. Some phrases also feature likely answer options that the dialogue partners may choose as a reply. An English-Chinese dictionary containing more than 12,000 words can be used to fill gaps in some phrases.

http://www.yocoy.com/yocoy/en/taxi-book_index.php

The Taxi-Book app is a joint development by Taxi-Book and Yocoy who have combined their respective expertises in key areas to bring users this handy tool. This installment features Tianjin which is a metropolis in North China and one of the five national central cities. It is governed as a direct-controlled municipality (one of four), and is under direct administration of the central
government. More Chinese cities are soon to follow.

• Locations: More than 410 locations divided into 10 categories are featured.

• Locations come with detailed information like English and Chinese name, address, phone number, and GPS coordinates.

• View locations on Maps and find nearby places easily (requires online connectivity). You can also add your own locations, enter and save their data if you have discovered a new place that is not covered in the app.

• Once you’ve chosen a location, press the Taxi-Card button to bring up a simple yet effective page that allows you to tell a taxi driver clearly where you want to go. Show the page to the driver and shake the phone to make it pronounce the phrase with your desired destination.

• Taxi-Card: Choose between different color styles to customize the page to your liking.

• Dialogues: Special dialogues for use in a taxi situation like “Turn on the meter, please” or “How long will the ride take approximately?”

• Basic Phrases: For everyday situations to say things like “Hello”, “Thank you”, tell others your name or ask where the restrooms are.

• Favourites: Pick your favourite locations out of all the locations and add them to your favourites list for quick and easy access.

Major Features

OCR – Point your iPhone’s camera at a printed Chinese word to instantly look up its meaning. You don’t even need to take a picture, it works on the live camera video feed. Also includes experimental support for OCR from still images (a full page at a time)

Great Dictionaries – Eight of the world’s best Chinese dictionaries to embed in our software, including the ABC Chinese-English Comprehensive Dictionary edited by John DeFrancis (with almost 200,000 entries), the brand-new ABC English-Chinese Dictionary also edited by John DeFrancis, the Chinese-Chinese Xiandai Hanyu Guifan Cidian, the 280,000-entry 21st Century English-Chinese Dictionary, and the Tuttle Learner’s Chinese-English Dictionary. (several free dictionaries like CC-CEDICT and HanDeDict are also available as free downloads)

Fullscreen Handwriting Recognizer – Fullscreen Chinese handwriting recognizer, letting you use the entire width of the iPhone’s screen to draw characters and clear / backspace / finish entering characters using multitouch (two-finger tap). It’s extremely accurate, tolerant of stroke order mistakes, and supports cursive writing, helpful for more advanced users.

Flashcard System – Create a card from any dictionary entry with a single button tap, import premade word lists, automatically optimize which cards come up the most often based on how well you remember them, and test vocabulary in a variety of ways including multiple-choice tests and tone drills.
Powerful Search – Look up words by Chinese characters, Pinyin (with or without tones), or a combination of characters and Pinyin, with support for wildcards and for full-text search to find words appearing anywhere in a dictionary definition.

Cross-referencing – Tap on any Chinese character / word in any dictionary entry to look up its definition; you can also magnify / look up those words, or bring up additional information (from the Unihan character database) on individual characters.

Audio Pronunciation – Instantly hear a native-speaker audio recording of each Chinese headword; recordings are available for over 34,000 words.

Stroke Order Diagrams – View beautiful, smooth animations of how to draw each character; over 20,000 characters are covered.

Document Reader – Open a Chinese-language text file (uploaded from your computer or downloaded via a built-in web browser) and look up unknown words simply by tapping on them. You can also look up characters on web pages and in Word documents via the pasteboard, and can bring in text from other iPhone apps through the pasteboard as well.

Go to itunes.com/apps/PlecoChineseDictionary to instantly download the free basic version of Pleco for iPhone / iPod Touch / iPad.

Bale will headline “Nanjing Heroes,” a WWII drama about the “Rape of Nanking”, from award-winning Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou. The film has a $90 million budget, which will make it the most expensive movie in Chinese history, where the most successful domestically produced film, “Aftershock,” raked in a worldwide box office gross of $90 mil.

Bale will play an American Catholic Priest who shelters a group of prostitutes and female students in his church during the Massacre of Nanking, a 1937 invasion in which Japanese soldiers stormed China’s then-capital and murdered and raped thousands of Chinese citizens.

Based on Yan Geling’s novel “The 13 Women of Nanjing,” the film will begin shooting in China in January, with roughly 40 percent of the dialogue spoken in English and the rest in Mandarin.

Taxi-Book is your handy guide to key locations in Suzhou and a way to communicate with locals.

The app is made to help you navigate through a city by listing its key locations and allowing you to get there comfortably. You just choose a location and show its name and address, along with an instructional phrase to a local taxi driver.

Link to the iTunes Store: http://itunes.apple.com/en/app/suzhou/id427780746?mt=8
(Or easier: Type “Suzhou” in the iTunes Store)
The app also features dialogue options for communicating with locals in their language: All phrases are written in Chinese and can be pronounced via Text-To-Speech Synthesis. Some phrases also feature likely answer options that the dialogue partners may choose as a reply. An English-Chinese dictionary containing more than 12,000 words can be used to fill gaps in some phrases.

The Taxi-Book app is a joint development by Taxi-Book and Yocoy who have combined their respective expertises in key areas to bring users this handy tool. This installment features Chongqing, a major city in southwestern mainland China with a population of 31 million. More Chinese cities are soon to follow.

• Locations: More than 330 locations divided into 10 categories are featured.

• Locations come with detailed information like English and Chinese name, address, phone number, and GPS coordinates.

• View locations on Maps and find nearby places easily (requires online connectivity). You can also add your own locations, enter and save their data if you have discovered a new place that is not covered in the app.

• Once you’ve chosen a location, press the Taxi-Card button to bring up a simple yet effective page that allows you to tell a taxi driver clearly where you want to go. Show the page to the driver and shake the phone to make it pronounce the phrase with your desired destination.

• Taxi-Card: Choose between different color styles to customize the page to your liking.

• Dialogues: Special dialogues for use in a taxi situation like “Turn on the meter, please” or “How long will the ride take approximately?”

• Basic Phrases: For everyday situations to say things like “Hello”, “Thank you”, tell others your name or ask where the restrooms are.

• Favourites: Pick your favourite locations out of all the locations and add them to your favourites list for quick and easy access.

http://www.yocoy.com/yocoy/en/taxi-book_index.php

Maxxelli -blog: When was the Jiuzhai Valley National Park created and why?
Kieran: Established in 1984 to strengthen the works of conservation of Giant Panda habitats in the Jiuzhai Valley Nature Reserve.

Maxxelli blog: What kind of visitors do you receive?
Kieran: Vistors are nature lovers from all over China and the world. These range from young hikers from home and abroad, adventure travellers and older Chinese people who have been dreaming of coming here all their lives.

Maxxelli-blog:What can we do there?
Kieran: Many things:
• Nature holidays
• Site seeing
• Hiking and camping
• Learning about Tibetan culture
• Weekend getaways

Maxxelli-blog: When can we go there and how much does that cost?
Kieran: Jiuzhai Valley National Park is open 365 days a year and each season offers something different. Opening hours and entrance prices for the park differ according to the season. During the summer the park is a celebration of everything blue and green. The autumn colours have inspired many Chinese poets and during the winter, the park’s driest season the mountains can be a barron brown colour or a “winter fairyland” when covered in snow. Because of the destruction that fire could cause the region (most villagers still live in wooden homes) some trails and parts of the park are closed during the winter.

Official Park Opening hours:

May 1 – November 15 – 7:00am to 6:30pm
November 16 – April 30 – 7:00am to 6:00pm

Peak Season – April 1 – November 15
Off peak – November 16 – March 31

Ticket Price:

Full price adult
Peak – 220 RMB
Off-Peak – 80 RMB

Student* / OAP*
Peak – 170 RMB
Off Peak – 70 RMB

One Day Bus ticket:
Peak – 90 RMB
Off Peak – 80 RMB
Children under 1.3m travel on park busses free of charge

Student* / OAP*
Peak – 90 RMB
Off Peak – 80 RMB

Second day ticket:
From November 16th to April 30th the cost of a second days ticket is 20 RMB. The park staff will take your picture on entry to the park on your first day to validate your ticket for the second day
* Must have valid international identification.

Jiuzhai Valley National Park for Maxxelli-blog –

Contact

*Name en – Jiuzhai Valley National Park
*Name ch – 九寨沟
*Address en – Jiuzhai Valley National Park, Aba Prefecture, Sichuan, China.
*Adress ch – 中国 四川 阿坝藏族羌族自治州九寨沟管理局
*Phone number –  0873-7739753
*Website - http://www.jiuzhai.com/language/english/index.html

Flights: Want to know when will be the cheapest time to fly in China to your favorite destination? Check the best flights deals: – From – Beijing Baotou Chengdu Chongqing Changsha Changchun Dali Dalian Fuzhou Guangzhou Guilin Guiyang Hangzhou Harbin Hefei Haikou Hohhot Jiuzhai Huanglong Huangshan Jinan Jilin Jingdezhen Jinzhou Jiujiang Jingzhou Kunming Lhasa Lanzhou Lijiang Macau Nanjing Nanchang Ningbo Nanning Panzhihua Qingdao Quanzhou Qiqihar Shanghai Shenzhen Shenyang Sanya Shijiazhuang Suzhou Shangri-La Shantou Tianjin Taiyuan Wuhan Urumqi Wenzhou Wuxi Xian Xiamen Xuzhou Xining Xishuangbanna Xiangfan Xichang Yantai Yinchuan Yanji Zhengzhou Zhuhai Zhangjiajie – To – Beijing Baotou Chengdu Chongqing Changsha Changchun Dali Dalian Fuzhou Guangzhou Guilin Guiyang Hangzhou Harbin Hefei Haikou Hohhot Jiuzhai Huanglong Huangshan Jinan Jilin Jingdezhen Jinzhou Jiujiang Jingzhou Kunming Lhasa Lanzhou Lijiang Macau Nanjing Nanchang Ningbo Nanning Panzhihua Qingdao Quanzhou Qiqihar Shanghai Shenzhen Shenyang Sanya Shijiazhuang Suzhou Shangri-La Shantou Tianjin Taiyuan Wuhan Urumqi Wenzhou Wuxi Xian Xiamen Xuzhou Xining Xishuangbanna Xiangfan Xichang Yantai Yinchuan Yanji Zhengzhou Zhuhai Zhangjiajie Find for me ! See Also: International Flights

Trains: Check here all info about train schedule and price all over China! – From – Beijing Baotou Chengdu Chongqing Changsha Changchun Dali Dalian Fuzhou Guangzhou Guilin Guiyang Hangzhou Harbin Hefei Haikou Hohhot Jiuzhai Huanglong Huangshan Jinan Jilin Jingdezhen Jinzhou Jiujiang Jingzhou Kunming Lhasa Lanzhou Lijiang Macau Nanjing Nanchang Ningbo Nanning Panzhihua Qingdao Quanzhou Qiqihar Shanghai Shenzhen Shenyang Sanya Shijiazhuang Suzhou Shantou Tianjin Taiyuan Wuhan Wuchang Wuhan Urumqi Wenzhou Wuxi Xian Xiamen Xuzhou Xining Xishuangbanna Xiangfan Xichang Yantai Yinchuan Yanji Zhengzhou Zhuhai Zhangjiajie – To – Beijing Baotou Chengdu Chongqing Changsha Changchun Dali Dalian Fuzhou Guangzhou Guilin Guiyang Hangzhou Harbin Hefei Haikou Hohhot Jiuzhai Huanglong Huangshan Jinan Jilin Jingdezhen Jinzhou Jiujiang Jingzhou Kunming Lhasa Lanzhou Lijiang Macau Nanjing Nanchang Ningbo Nanning Panzhihua Qingdao Quanzhou Qiqihar Shanghai Shenzhen Shenyang Sanya Shijiazhuang Suzhou Shantou Tianjin Taiyuan Wuhan Wuchang Wuhan Urumqi Wenzhou Wuxi Xian Xiamen Xuzhou Xining Xishuangbanna Xiangfan Xichang Yantai Yinchuan Yanji Zhengzhou Zhuhai Zhangjiajie Find for me ! See Also: How to understand your train ticket, the seat options and travel classes in Chinese trains

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