Bubr  +  16065 Tue, 16 Dec 03 04:41 PM Glad and at the same time slightly disappointed to hear about the smoothening of Chinese specifics (I mean this: > the Chinese etiquette is much more close to the west one than before ) But can you explain this word 'chinchin'? We have something very close to it in Russian. Does the phrase 'to make something chinchin' mean 'to make something refined, smooth and pleasant to everyone'? Where is this word from? I thought it was a kind of Russian slang but now I see it sounds very CHINese! Bubr Joined on Mon, Nov 10 2003 Full Member 437

	Deepblue  +  16115 Wed, 17 Dec 03 03:01 AM Xinjiang is the biggest province in western China. As I know, it is a very good place for tourist for there are so many sites to visit there. I haven't been there till now, but I'm very keen for a visit there. :) Deepblue Joined on Mon, Dec 1 2003 Shanghai, China Full Member 197 If you think you can, you can!

	Deepblue  +  16117 Wed, 17 Dec 03 06:11 AM Oh, ok. "chinchin" is the word that I found in the English dictionary. It's a noun and the meaning of it is some actions or expressions which indicate one's kindness and appreciation. However, these actions or expressions do not mean anything in fact. For example, a Chinese asked you:"Have you eaten?", it doesn't mean that he want to treat you a meal, and it is just a specil way of saying hello in Chinese. What do you think about it? Deepblue Nouns

	Bubr  +  16147 Wed, 17 Dec 03 11:18 AM Wow! You have just outrun me! The meaning of greeting in Chinese - that's what I intended to ask next! That's really funny. I know that ancient Egyptians asked each other 'How do you perspire?' Because a healthy man was thought to perspire well, and bad perspiration was a sign of the man being sick. By the way, one of the Russian greetings literally means a wish of health. What do other Chinese greetings literally mean? Bubr

	Woodward  +  16165 Wed, 17 Dec 03 12:55 PM Bubr - that was interesting (and a little funny) about the 'How do you perspire' greeting. Hi Deepblue - What can you tell us about the different languages in China. Is it true that written Chinese is the same in Mandarin and Cantonese but when it is spoken, it is totally different? Woodward Joined on Tue, Jun 24 2003 A New Zealander in Chile Senior Member 2,747 Don't let schooling interfere with your education. www.grammar.cl - www.vocabulary.cl

	Deepblue  +  16248 Thu, 18 Dec 03 02:11 AM Hehe~~~~~~ Do not try to think about the potential meaning of Chinese greeting in most cases. The expressions like "have you eaten?" are just a very little part of Chinese, which origined from some northern language custom. They are paid so much attention just because they are totally different from the western style and the west think them hard to understand. Thus, if talk with a Chinese, do not try to find the potential meaning all the time. Deepblue

	Deepblue  +  16250 Thu, 18 Dec 03 02:28 AM Yes, Woodward. In major part of China, the written Chinese is the same except for some special wordings and slangs. However, as far as spoken Chinese is concerned, it is greatly different, even each separate village has its own pronunciation. In China, it's called "Fang Yan", a special system of pronouncing. In some districts of minority folks in China, people are really using "different" languages against Mandarin. It is the right of the minority folks in China, to use their own languages in daily life. Under such situation, sometimes, the northern people do not understand the southern and vice versa. Deepblue Pronunciation

	robertson  +  16272 Thu, 18 Dec 03 10:45 AM Hi, If you wanna learn another language of China, check out this website. http://www.geocities.com/uighurlanguage/ Bye robertson