Hanbridge Mandarin Chinese Online Learning

Chinese people calculate a person’s age according to the lunar calendar (yīn lì in Chinese;阴历) without zeros, meaning that a newborn’s age is one. Traditionally, Chinese people do not celebrate a birthday every year; rather, birthday celebrations in the form of elaborate banquets are reserved for the elderly and infants. The very old and very young receive special consideration, because in Chinese culture, the elderly are held in very high esteem, and it’s a family’s responsibility to preserve the bloodline with succeeding generations. Following are some of the top Chinese birthday traditions and tips. “ The most important birthdays: A child’s first birthday is very important, and can be celebrated on either the lunar calendar or the Western calendar (阳历 yáng lì). Usually, the parents will put on a big banquet for family and friends. Long noodles (长寿面 in Chinese, cháng shòu miàn in pinyin)are always served up, as they represent long life, as well as red dyed eggs, w...

It is difficult to place a number on the total number of Chinese characters. But according to some researchers, the number could be as many as 100,000. A number this large makes it seems completely impossible to learn all of the characters. Before you get all carried away, why don't you just take a moment to relax…because I have good news for you: The number of characters used in the majority of daily life situations is no more than a few thousand. In fact, the 1,000 most frequently used characters cover up to 92% of the written materials in Chinese. The 2,000 most frequently used cover 98% and if you learn the 3,000 most frequently used characters; you will be able to read 99% (that’s just about everything by the way) of Chinese written materials. A little perspective offers some pretty good hope, eh? Learning three thousand characters, or even 1,000 for that matter, will take some time.  However, with dedication and perseverance, you can make it! Before you dive in, there is one ...