What Do We Know About China? A Primer…

What is China’s capital city? Hong Kong Beijing Shanghai Taiwan

What is China’s official language? Does everyone speak this type of Chinese? Mandarin Cantonese English Mongolian

Major varieties of Chinese include: Pŭtōnghuà (Mandarin) Yuè (Cantonese) Mĭn Nán (Southern Min) Jìnyŭ Hakka Xiāng (Hunanese) Gàn Mín Bĕi (Northern Min) Mín Dōng (Eastern Min) Mín Zhōng (Central Min) Dungan Pŭ-Xián Huīzhōu

Mandarin Chinese Is a complex language Consists of five thousand characters-called hanzi Hanzi began over 3000 years ago Today use PINYIN to teach reading to young children

Why is Chinese difficult to learn? Mandarin Chinese is a TONAL language The four tones :  First-high and stay  Second-rising tone  Third-falls and rises  Fourth - falls

A word’s meaning depends on the tone used to pronounce word Ma – mother (First-high and stay ) Ma – Linen Cloth (Second-rising tone) Ma- horse (Third-falls and rises) Ma- Swear (Fourth – falls)

China’s most greatly populated city is … Shanghai Beijing Hong Kong Chungking

Chinese Names If a Chinese woman’s name is Zhang Xiaomei, is Zhang  Husband’s last name  Her own name  Her own last name  JIANG Ji- li  CHEH-Ying – Ji – li’s mother  JIANG Xi-reng – Ji – li’s father

Facts about Family Names Family Name + Generational Name + Personal Name There are only a few hundred family names in China Change in family name order is needed to meet the western world, so the Chinese CAPITALIZE their family name  Ex. COLBY Diane

More about names…  Personal names are very important  Ugly nicknames like “dog face” and girl’s nicknames for boys are used to keep away evil spirits from taking children

How many minority nationalities are there in China? A. One B. Two C. Ten D. Fifty-five

The largest ethnic group is the Han Chinese What is China’s population? A. One billion B. 1.3 billion C. 1.6 billion

A friend in China asks you, “Have you eaten yet.?” What does this mean? A. You are invited to dinner B. Hello C. I am a curious person D. You need to watch your weight, you need a diet!

You’ve received a red envelope from a person while visiting China. What is inside this envelope? A.Penalty B.A love letter C.Cash D.Candy

True or False-Fortune cookies were invented in China. David Jung, living in Los Angeles and founder of the Hong Kong Noodle Company invented the fortune cookie in He handed the cookies to the poor in Los Angeles. They contained inspirational messages of hope for the poor OR A Japanese immigrant named Makoto Hagiwara invented the fortune cookie in San Francisco in He used the cookie and its message to thank those people who had been kind to him following a negative experience he had with the San Francisco mayor.

Approximately When was the first Chinese empire formed? 2100 BC 210 BC 21 BC 210 AD

Who is China’s current President? What do we know about his life? President Xi Jinping Jinping-takes-helm-of- China-amid-reform- calls/tabid/313/articleID/ /Default.aspx

China does not allow its people human rights… What are human rights? Who wrote the Universal Declaration of Human Rights? What is it? If this document exists, why doesn’t everyone have human rights? What is the solution? human-rights.html human-rights.html

Twenty of these human rights are… Right to privacy Right to have a family To own property Free Speech Safety from violenceviolence Equality of both males and females; women's rights Equalitymalesfemaleswomen's rights Fair trialtrial To be innocent until proven guilty To be a citizen of a countrycountry To be recognized as a person To vote To think freely To believe and practice the religion a person wantsreligion To peacefully protest (speak against) a government or grouppeacefullyprotest Health care (medical care)medical Education Not be forced into marriagemarriage The right to work The right to express oneself