Have you ever been to a cat café? Apparently, they’re everywhere in China now. As a Chinese learner, don’t you think a cat café is the purrfect opportunity to go pet cats, drink coffee AND practice your Chinese at the same time? To give you a feeling of what a cat café is like in China, Angel from Mandarin HQ did what she does best: go interview the cat café owners and those who go to cat cafés, in Mandarin Chinese of course, to give you a taste of what real Chinese sounds like! Alright, let’s dive in!

Over to you, Angel! Tell us about cat cafes

Meow Bar… Mimi Pet… Cup Cats… Meow’s Coffee… Cappucimeow… Cafés with names like these are popping up in cities across China, and I’m pawsitive it’s not a coincidence!

The question is: “Why is this trend catching on so fast?” To find out, I sat down for a chat with the owners of Mimi Pet and Meow Bar…

Press “play” to practice your Chinese listening skills and learn what the fuss is all about!

Can’t see the video above? Click here

Download the interview to practice your listening skills in Mandarin! Here’s the sound (in mp3) and here’s a transcript of the interview in pdf. Just click to download.

THIS WAS A GUEST POST BY ANGEL HUANG

Angel is the founder of Mandarin HQ – a blog aimed at helping learners bridge the gap
between textbook Chinese and real spoken Chinese through authentic interview videos
and tutorials. You can grab a free copy of her guide: 7 Keys to Improving Your Chinese
Listening Skills Fast.

Thanks Angel!

The Nincha Team

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The Mid-Autumn Festival falls on the 15th of the 8th lunar month each year, which happens to be today, September 15th this year. It’s, therefore, finally time to eat yummy 月饼 mooncakes! If you’ve been following us on Facebook or Twitter lately, you know your Chinese teachers here at Ninchanese, especially Master Yocha and Nincha, have been drooling in anticipation over the idea of eating these yummy treats on this day. Why? Because 中秋月饼 mooncakes are customarily eaten on that day to celebrate the festival!

Happy mooncake eating!

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Just make sure you don’t overdo it, like Nincha did below:

Poor Nincha!

Happy 中秋节!

The Nincha Team

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Cat surprise #1: pandas!

熊猫

xióng māo

panda

literally: a cat like bear

Did you know pandas were just huge cats posing as pandas? Technically, pandas are a kind of bear. But since they sort of look like cats and behave like cats , the Chinese call pandas 熊猫, literally a cat like bear.

And yup, if you want to say you have panda eyes because your makeup ran:

Cat surprise #2: Hide-and-Seek

躲猫猫

duǒ māo māo

to play hide and seek

literally: to hide the cat

Why did the Chinese call the game “hide-and-seek” 躲猫猫  duǒ māo māo, which literally means “to hide the cat”?Why choose to hide the cat rather than to hide a rabbit, or a dog? It’s simple to understand if you have a cat in your home. Cats like to play hide-and-seek. If you run in front of a cat, scare it or touch it lightly, it will run away and hide from you. But later on, it’ ll come to find you. Just like playing hide-and-seek right? So that’s why this game is called 躲猫猫 duǒ māo māo in China. 躲猫猫 is mostly used when you talk about playing hide and seek with kids. The formal way to say hide-and-seek is 捉迷藏 zhuō mí cáng, but it’s not as fun.

Cat surprise #3: Elvis Presley

猫王

māowáng

Elvis Presley’s name in Chinese

literally: the King of Cats

Bet you didn’t see that one coming! Elvis Presley’s Chinese name is 猫王 māowáng, literally the King of Cats. As far as names goes, that one rules! Elvis Presley basically earned this nickname because he dances like a cat and evokes a cat to some and he has lots of fans in China.

Here’s an article where you’ll find another Elvis Presley cat and more cats impersonnating famous people.

Cat surprise #4: Totoro

龙猫

lóng māo

Totoro

literally: Dragon Cat

You all know that lovable grey ball of fur with a huge grin in Miyazaki Hayao’s animated film “My Neighbor Totoro” as Totoro, but can you guess what the Chinese call him?

龙猫 lóng māo.

Yup, Totoro’s name in Chinese is Dragon Cat. We get the cat part, with the fur and the whiskers and what not, but the dragon part? Or is his name supposed to be Chinchilla, which are also called 龙猫 in Chinese? He does kind of look like a giant Chinchilla… If you have a clue why Totoro is named like that in China, we want to know!

Cat surprise #5: Owls

猫头鹰

māotóuyīng

Owl

 literally: an eagle with a cat head

Let’s see one last funny word with cat in it: 猫头鹰 māotóuyīng, which is the word Owl in Chinese. 猫头鹰 litterally means “an eagle with a cat head”

Wondering why Chinese people call an owl 猫头鹰, an eagle with a cat head? Just check out these crafty pictures and we’re sure you’ll figure it out.

It’s an owl? It’s a cat? It’s a meowl!

Half cat, half owl, gotta love these Meowls! They look so surprisingly natural; maybe the Chinese are onto something here? Check out Weibo user Zhumaokele for more Meowl pictures and awesome photo ops involving cats and strange oufits.

What do you think of these 5 Chinese words? It’s surprising to find cats in them, right?  Cats play an important role in Chinese “animal culture”. The Chinese not only like to use cat in a metaphorical way to express human feelings but they’ve also liked to create many words with the character for cat in it. Funny, isn’t it?

Did we miss any? Let us know in the comments!

Yanjie and 

The Nincha Team

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What scary things do you have planned for Halloween?

万圣节快乐! Happy Halloween!

The Nincha Team

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First a TV, now this (these are researchers at a giant panda research center in China)? Everyone wants to cheer up the 大熊猫!

We’re sticking by our lovely Nincha cats though.

And besides, what’s a panda, after all in Chinese? A cat!

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The post Human Panda? We’re all going a little Panda appeared first on Ninchanese.

(=^ェ^=) Let me push this button!

Definitely one of the cutest and funniest cat videos. I got an eye on you Nincha!

The post Funny Cat Videos: Let Me Push This Button! appeared first on Ninchanese.