What do you think of China

From Cherish:

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//Edit: How do you say "I'm fine, thank you." When someone asks me Nihao ma?

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Ain't you a Chinese? Or rather, don't you have some Chinese blood in you? U look like a Chinese + some other Asian/non-Caucasian race, but you're telling us you dunno? What......in the mug.....have the government of NMI been teaching you? Crap?

Anyway, when someone asks you "Nihao ma"(how are you), you would reply with the following three choices(choose one) :

1) Wei sen mo ni zhe yang nan kan? (why are you so ugly?)
2) Wo hao, xie xie! (I'm fine, thank you!)
3) Wo bu hao. (Not good.)

Good day,
BBP Xeon.

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Originally Posted by Xeon

From Cherish:

Anyway, when someone asks you "Nihao ma"(how are you), you would reply with the following three choices(choose one) :

1) Wei sen mo ni zhe yang nan kan? (why are you so ugly?)
2) Wo hao, xie xie! (I'm fine, thank you!)
3) Wo bu hao. (Not good.)

Good day,
BBP Xeon.

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I do not think the choice 1 is correct. It's impolite.
Usually, we reply with the following:
1) Shi de, wo hen hao, ni ne? (Yes, I'm fine. (/*Thank you.*/) And you?)
2) Hai xing. (It's ok.)
3) Kong pa bu shi hen hao. (I'm afraid not so good.)
:D

From Erwin:

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Usually, we reply with the following:
1) Shi de, wo hen hao, ni ne? (Yes, I'm fine. (/*Thank you.*/) And you?)
2) Hai xing. (It's ok.)
3) Kong pa bu shi hen hao. (I'm afraid not so good.)

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By the way, Erwin.....do mainland Chinese really greet each other like this? I hate to say this, but it's overly polite and corny to me, especially 1) and 3).
It's the equivalent of the following English greetings in the following scenario :

-Good morning, how are you?

1) Good morning, I am fine. Thank you very much.
2) I'm afraid not, but thank you very much for asking.

Because from what I know, people usually greet others with less-corny and more informal stuff like :

-Good morning, how are you?

1) Nice. You?
2) Fine! You?
3) I'm ok, I guess.

I dunno......maybe it's different style and different culture and different countries. Those three you suggested are very classic in writing, but when put to real-world speech, maybe they won't work out.
Maybe I'm used to the informal greeting/talking styles in Singapore, that's why.

In Singapore, our greetings/farewells are all in Singlish, mostly. :D:D

-Eh! Hao mah? (Hey, how you?)

Our reply would usually be.....

1) Ok lah! (Ok lah)
2) Hao lah! (Fine lah)
3) Hai ke yi lah (Still can lah)
4) Bu hao lah, ni leh? (Not good lah, you leh?)

Good day,
Big-Daddy Xeon.

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Originally Posted by Xeon

From Erwin:
By the way, Erwin.....do mainland Chinese really greet each other like this? I hate to say this, but it's overly polite and corny to me, especially 1) and 3).

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eh~ Yes. Actually, it's just the informal stuff.
For example, we seldom say "Good morning. or Good afternoon." or something like that as the western do. Instead, we usually greet each other by saying "Ni Hao."/*Hello*/.

And if we meet a long-time-no-see friend, we usually say "Hi, zui jin hao ma?" /*Hi, how are you going in recent days.*/
As a reply, we usually say "Hai xing, ni zen me yang a?" /*OK, how about you. Hai xing. (It's ok.) == Hai ke yi lah (Still can lah)
*/

And we do not think it's overly polite. In fact, we do greet each other like that.

However, Xeon, there are still many differences in style or culture between us. For example. Suppose you and me are classmates, and I haven't seen for the whole afternoon, then maybe I will ask "Where are you going this afternoon. Or What are you doing this afternoon." I know in western country, this may be taken as impoliteness. But in China, it's OK. That's the differenct.

P.S. Don't ask gentlemen "What's your wages?" && Don't ask ladies "What's your age?" in western countries. Am I right? :D

From E-Chen:

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However, Xeon, there are still many differences in style or culture between us. For example. Suppose you and me are classmates, and I haven't seen for the whole afternoon, then maybe I will ask "Where are you going this afternoon. Or What are you doing this afternoon." I know in western country, this may be taken as impoliteness. But in China, it's OK. That's the differenct.

P.S. Don't ask gentlemen "What's your wages?" && Don't ask ladies "What's your age?" in western countries. Am I right?

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Very interesting, Erwin! By the way, it's funny.......because......in case you dunno yet......I'm not from a Western country!
I'm from the Northern Marianna Island, and I'm the guy-friend of Cherish. In fact, we're gonna get married next week......congratulate us! :D:D

Anyway, seriously....I'm from Singapore, not US or Europe. Regarding whether it's ok to ask a guy his wage or whether it's ok to ask a girl her age, it doesn't really matter now, trust me. I'll advise you on these two critical issues which can cost your life.

For the wage issue, it's not really an issue; you just gotta be sensitive. If a guy is a blue-collared worker and has 4 kids to bring up and he's living in a torn-down, 2 room home, you'll be insulting his ego and pride if you ask him this kinda question. But....if you ask a CEO or an executive how high is wage is, he'll be flattered.

For the women and age issue, it's not really an issue too. For girls aged 25 and below, it's fine to ask. They'll be flattered. For girls age 25 and up, try not to, unless you wanna get Whack-In-the-Sac. In either case, it's better to ask them when you know them better, or else you'll be scaring them. :)
The most extreme case is when you ask a 45-year old lady what her age is. She'll make sure you can't produce any offspring after that, which is sad, because from what I know, the mainland Chinese, especially, are very particular on family name and descendants. :)

Good day,
Xeon.

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Originally Posted by Xeon

From E-Chen:

I'm from the Northern Marianna Island, and I'm the guy-friend of Cherish. In fact, we're gonna get married next week......congratulate us! :D:D

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Oh,yeah. You're gonna get married? Congratulations, for you and your graceful young lady. :)

And thanks for your advice. :D

From Erwin:

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Oh,yeah. You're gonna get married? Congratulations, for you and your graceful young lady.

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Why, thank you! Our wedding is 3 weeks from now, and I'll try my best to invite you(wedding is in NMI, so I'll pay for your tickets, since the air-route from China to NMI isn't so faraway).
Do send your blessings to me 2 years from now, cos' that's when Xeon Junior will be born! I'm gonna be a dad soon!!! :wave::wave::wave:

http://forums.codeguru.com/

See you!
Xeon. ;)

I visited Hong Kong and China about 15 years ago.

Hated China - loved Hong Kong...!

From John E:

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I visited Hong Kong and China about 15 years ago. Hated China - loved Hong Kong...!

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Whoa, you seem to have taken on my guts and even surpassed me, John! How frank you're! Ain't you scared that Erwin is gonna throw flaming paper and urine bomb-bags into your home while you're watching 8 pm TV with your wife and kids? Ain't you scared that someone will stalk your family day and night? Ain't you scared that you might get mugged and attacked while you're on your way home?
http://www.norse-myths.com/A-Mai-1.gif

Good day,
Xeon.

ErwinChen seems a decent enough sort to me. He knows it's impolite to ask a guy his wages - or to ask a lady how old she is.

Such people don't normally know how to make fire bombs.... :D

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Originally Posted by John E

Such people don't normally know how to make fire bombs....

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Xeon did not mention "Fire" when talking of bombs... :D :D :D

From S. Buddha:

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Xeon did not mention "Fire" when talking of bombs...

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Yes, yes, John! U must be old indeed. I was talking about flaming paper and urine bomb bags.
Anyway, those terrorist and extremist clerics are constantly teaching young, misled people to make bombs to blast up places.

Everyone.......today, eXtremist Xeon, aka "Big Daddy", is gonna teach everyone here how to make two types of bombs to scare the crap outta civilians.
Bush and Blair......are you listening?(oops....I forgot Bush is on his 5-week vacation on his ranch......argh ha ha ha ha HOOO!!!!!! :D:D:D)

Pyrotechnic bomb:
This is the kinda bomb that contains materials used in the A-bombs in Japan 50 years ago. To make an exact copy, it's simple.
1) Squash and crush some white A4 papers into a ball. As thick as possible.
2) Wear anti-flammable gloves and pour kerosene over the ball.
3) Lit it with fire and throw at target.
4) Eat cheese cake and laugh.

The Herbal Bomb:
Increasingly, more and more terrorists are using this kinda bomb to cause destruction. It's free and easy to make.
1) Drink lots of water(2 cups every 30 mins) and do not go to the toilet for 10 hours.
2) At the end of the 10 hours cycle, get a large plastic bag(thin and fragile) and urinate into it.
3) Get a rubber band and tie it.
4) Go out into the streets, set sight on target.
5) Run as fast as you can and throw with full force at target.
6) Jump up and down, like what Tom Cruise did on Oprah's show.
7) Eat potato chips and down fruit juice.(beer ain't good for health)

http://www.norse-myths.com/A-Choi-2.gif

Good day,
Xeon. :wave:

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Originally Posted by John E

I visited Hong Kong and China about 15 years ago.

Hated China - loved Hong Kong...!

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OK, John. I won't throw flaming paper or something like that into your house if you just had said "I hate your country". Because I don't have the right to demand everyone like China.

But I think you should use "the mainland" instead of "China" because Hong Kong is a part of China. I protested it! // :angry

From Erwin to John:

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But I think you should use "the mainland" instead of "China" because Hong Kong is a part of China. I protested it! // :angry

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See John? EC is angry now. :D

On the other hand, Erwin.....does it really matter? I mean, com'on. I'm sure John wouldn't even give a care if you tell me that you hate America, or if you tell him that California/Alaska/N. Carolina is part of Canada or Brazil. :)

There's also been lots of cases everywhere whereby mainland Chinese get very raged-up simply because foreigners say wrong(but very minor) things.
Like for example, that James LeBron Nike ad is banned in China just because it shows LeBron defeating dragons and kung-fu masters at a basketball game. Sigh.

Over there, hundreds of Chinese tourists staged protest/strike on some Singapore airline and refuse to get down the plane just because there was a slight flight delay. Sigh. In the end, the staff had to pay US$63 to each person.
And another lot of hundreds of Chinese tourists staged a mass protest at some hotel at Malaysia just because there were pig paintings in the hotel rooms???!!!! Oh my mugging God. :)

http://www.norse-myths.com/A-Benimaru-1.gif

Cool down, Erwin! :)
Xeon.

Anyway.... Hong Kong wasn't part of China when I visited it...! :p