Photo by Natalie Ng

Ready to learn how to say different cuts of meat in Chinese? So you can easily order yummy slices of meat for your next 火锅 huǒ guō hot pot? Or finally, know what kind of meat is in Chinese dumplings? Then Chinese Meat recipes will hold no secret for you!

First, let’s see how to say meat in Chinese as well as Chicken, Turkey, Pork, Lamb, Duck, Veal, and Beef in Chinese.

And no, don’t even ask, we won’t be talking about cat meat in Chinese or any other kind of strange meat (it seems like people look up rat meat in Chinese? The horror). Dog Meat is sometimes eaten in winter because it’s super caloric meat to eat, but we’ve never come across any other type, so enough with the rumors! Alright? Here we go.

Types of Meat in Chinese

Photo by Usman Yousaf

Good to know: In China, you’ll often come across dish names that simply say 肉 ròu Meat. In most restaurants (the obvious exception being Halal Uyghur restaurants ), 肉 will by default be pork. That’s because, traditionally, pork is the most consumed meat (or at least was in the past).
If you’re not sure whether it’s going to be pork or not or are trying to avoid eating pork, better check with your waiter/waitress first!

You’ll also often just see 鸡 jī chicken, 鸭 yā duck, 羊 yáng lamb, mutton, 牛 niú Beef on their own, without the 肉 thrown in, on a menu. So you might not see duck meat in Chinese, but you’ll definitely see 鸭 and a favorite, 烤鸭 yā Roast Duck!

Cuts of Meat in Chinese

Chinese Meat Skewers Photo by Chuan

Love meat skewers? You’re going to love these other street food dishes, then, we bet!

Chicken wings in Chinese and more chicken parts

Chicken Wings are a very loved Chinese food – Photo by George Zheng.

Curious to know how to say scallion in Chinese or cilantro? Check out these Chinese food lists then!
More of a hands-on learner? Then learn directly how to say meat, scallion, and more in Chinese: the Chinese Food World on Ninchanese will teach you and much more!

Just a few of the many things you can learn in the Chinese food course on Ninchanese

Now, let’s get back to our Chinese words for meats.

Parts of Pork in Chinese and Pig Meat-based Products

Pork Meat is often used in Chinese Dumplings – Photo by Alex Hu

Want to learn how to read and say all these meats in Simplified and Traditional Chinese? The Chinese Meats Vocabulary Stage in the Chinese Food World is waiting for you!

The Chinese Cooking World is made for foodies learning Chinese!

Want also to know how to order these meats and other dishes from a restaurant? The Chinese Food World is what you need. Check it out here! 

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As you progress in your exploration of Chinese cooking, you’ll certainly want to tempt your stomach with new Chinese dishes and tastes. What better way to learn more about this topic than in Chinese, the language you’re learning? Chinese Food is a perfect topic to explore deeper in Chinese: the knowledge you’re learning will prove directly useful to you.  (We’re not responsible for the extra pounds you may put on scarfing down new Chinese dishes:)

Read on to learn more about Chinese cooking, from its 8 key styles to the spices you definitely want to stock your pantry with! Once you’re done reading, guess what? You can learn all this yummy new lingo, little by little, in our new course on Ninchanese: Chinese Food. It’s right here!

When you can’t go out and have to cook at home, it’s always fun to add some exotic dishes. And let’s imagine you want to do some tasty Chinese home-cooking? What if you wish to experiment with a variety of Chinese ingredients and want to talk about them? And what happens if you need to buy spices, herbs, or other things to spice up your meal but don’t know how to express yourself? That’s what this article is about.

Or imagine another situation. You are standing in a Chinese supermarket (or just a market) and want to buy some specific ingredients. Wouldn’t it be quite a struggle when you don’t know the right words to describe these ingredients in Chinese? It could be anything from just not being a fan of a specific ingredient to being allergic to a spice.

The 4 Tastes and 8 big Kitchens

Let’s first start with a quick overview of the common big 8 Chinese culinary traditions in Chinese. If you’ve started exploring Chinese food and cooking, and by this, we mean real Chinese cuisine, not the stuff they try to pass on as Chinese food in Chinese “buffets”, you’ll quickly notice that there are different types of cooking in China. 

Chinese cooking is divided into 8 big Kitchens, or schools, which were each named after the region they were developed in (e.g. 山东菜 – Shāndōng cài – Shandong cuisine). These styles were defined by the provinces in China and what each area could provide in terms of food. These schools also relate to each region’s history and economics. All these factors came together over time and refined the taste of the people and what they prefer for Chinese food. Of course, it doesn’t mean that you cannot get other food or only get this specific taste.  

If you are into Chinese food, you may think the best are the Chinese street food, right? So in this article, we’ve made, we ranked the best Chinese street food.

Chinese cooking is also all about the Four Tastes: Salty, Sour, Sweet, and Spicy. As you’ll see, the 8 big Kitchens of cooking in China all revolve around these Four tastes.  Also, Chinese dishes tend to be named very indescriptive, so sometimes, it‘s not quite clear what the ingredients are (e.g.  蚂蚁上树 – mǎ​yǐ​shàng​shù – Ants climbing a tree ). Like so:

Map of the 8 Chinese kitchen

This actually is the most common definition of the kitchens (and I would say more traditional). Of course, these 8 styles don’t cover all of China, so you may also find different maps which cover the whole of China and do a more detailed subdivision, possibly putting what I’m pointing out as the Southern kitchen, somewhere else. All that matters is that your stomach knows there are 8 different cooking styles in China to look forward to, and understands the differences between them!

The manifold ways of preparing Chinese food

The Chinese have a lot of different ways of preparing Chinese food and it’s good to know these techniques. True, when talking about preparing Chinese food, the most common thing to say it, whether in Chinese or in English, to make food rather than cook food ( 作饭 – ). So, why would you want to learn the words for them? The answer is simple, and it’ll make your tummy happy: a lot of Chinese dish names indicate the way the dish was prepared. So by learning how to say some of the most common cooking techniques, you’ll know a little more about what to expect when ordering Chinese food. Perfect for when you’re in the mood for a nice steamed bun (包子), or some 烤鸭 (kǎo yā – roast duck)!

As we saw, these are 8 major Cooking Styles (Kitchens) in China. So, depending on the region you’re in, you might see specific techniques all around you and others only quite rarely.  Out of experience, I can say that I see 红烧 (Braised in Soy sauce), 炒 (Chǎo – stir fry), and 炸 (Zhà) very frequently. It could also be that I’m not quite yet used to recognizing the other cooking-techniques immediately.  

Bonus-tip: Look for the fire component under ( 灬 ) or left ( 火 ) of a character to understand that it may is related to a cooking-technique. If you are not yet familiar with radicals and components, it’s an excellent opportunity to start with the Radical Component World in the Ninchanese App.

You see, it can be quite helpful when looking at a Chinese menu (it’s common that they don’t include pictures) to know these cooking techniques and to use them to decrypt dishes’ names!

Spice up your meal

Alright, so let’s continue with the essentials of a meal: spices, herbs, oils, and sauces. Without these, a meal can be pretty bland, and personally, I prefer a good combination of spices and intense flavors but it can still be a struggle to name something else than just salt and pepper (maybe chili) without taking a look in the dictionary first.

The average joe just recognizes something because of experience, so in a supermarket, it mostly went like this. “I know this because I used it before or because I know it from my hometown, but I don’t know how to call it in Chinese.” And the version for the more adventurous people: That looks interesting; I’ll just buy and try it, without knowing what it exactly is or how it’s called. (Assumed not looking in the dictionary first).

Spices 香辛料 (Xiāngxīnliào)

Herbs 香草 (Xiāngcǎo)

Sauces & Oils 调料 和 油 (Tiáoliào hé yóu)

The attentive reader would have figured out some basic structures here: If it’s a powder, just add a 粉 (fěn), for an oil a 油 (yóu) or if it’s a thick (soybean) sauce a 酱 (jiàng). Also, the word to add for grains is 粒 ( lì ) (and it’s also the classifier for those tiny grain/pill/pea-sized things). Still, in the case of the peppers, it’s not necessary to mention it, since that is the base form of them and don’t confuse it with seeds. These are called 籽 ( zǐ ).

It’s quite a big list, but no worries, just learn the things you want to know and use in your daily life. In my kitchen, I usually have the basic Soy Sauce, Rice vinegar, and 5-6 different spices from the list above, which is quite enough to make things more interesting. Adding a bit of this and that can even raise instant noodles to a king’s meal in case you are down for a quick snack and too lazy to heat up the kitchen.  As you can see in this picture below

My personal experience

I once wanted to buy some ingredients to bake bread, but I neither learned the words in my regular Chinese classes nor learned them before somewhere else. What I wanted to buy was the pretty basic bread-ingredients: flour (面粉 – Miànfěn ), yeast (酵母 – jiàomǔ) and some olive-oil (橄榄油 – gǎnlǎn yóu). So I went to an employee in the supermarket and asked where I can find the oil since I couldn’t find it in the oil-section of the supermarket. The reaction was very typical: Confused look (due to perhaps, wrong pronunciation), then leading me to the shelf with the imported foreign noodle-sauces. After involving 2 more employees in that whole situation, they finally figured out what I wanted after I showed it to them in the dictionary. They eventually lead me the way to the shelf with the olive-oil (which is not that common and therefore quite pricey). Finding the yeast and flour was thank god not very complicated, only getting the right type of flour was. But that’s a topic for a future article about Chinese food. Stay tuned for that.

Final Words

There are loads more topics to cover in the Chinese food corner, especially about other regional cuisines in China, but you know have the basics covered and I’ve shared with you what you need to get around and know what to expect when you are going out for a meal or traveling China for a culinary adventure.

As a home-cook, what we’ve seen today should already enhance your ability to have a bit more knowledge when it comes to speaking about making Chinese food. Especially about improving the taste and not getting lost in the wide variety of ingredients. Of course, there are a lot more spices and herbs you can learn, but the focus in this article is more on the basics and what you actually can buy in a common (super-)market in China. If you really love Chinese food and want to make your own, then I can’t stress enough to our Chinese Food course on Ninchanese.

Image-Sources: 

Spices: Pixabay Monicore, all other pictures and tables were taken or created by myself (Product images in tables: Baidu, background images in 做饭的办法-banner: Baidu) 

The post Chinese food: Learn to Cook and Spice your Chinese meal with complete vocabulary lists! appeared first on Ninchanese.

Can you believe it’s already time for summer? How time flies! You’ll be soon on your long awaited holiday and doing all sorts of summer fun activities! Will you keep learning Chinese? Naw, no time for that, you think. Here’s a thought: what’s worse than having spent time learning so many Chinese characters to then forget them in less than 2 months? Nothing, right? You may be dreaming of sunshine, and being outside, rather than on your computer, using Ninchanese, but worry not! Ninchanese works great on your mobile devices. Summer is full of opportunities to speak and practice your Chinese, especially with this list of 10 fun things you can do right away to improve your Mandarin! So read on, and get ready to have lots of fun leveling up your Chinese this summer!

The first tip needs sand to be done! Let’s go to the beach, then! Well, only mentally for now…

Ninchanese is an incredible app for learning Chinese!

” I actually graduated from the University of Edinburgh with a MA in Chinese.
I’ve used Ninchanese daily, and it has helped me a lot!  “

 – Connor, Ninchanese User

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Write Chinese characters on the beach

You’ll probably spend your holidays on the beach. What are your plans? Swimming, tanning, building sand castles? No, forget sand castles, they are so overrated. Instead, how about drawing the Chinese characters you know in the sand? Take a picture of your beautiful creations and go Instagram them with the hashtag #myninchanesesummer! We’ll pick the best pictures of characters, and you’ll get a surprise!
The beach is the perfect place to practice your Chinese writing, now you know that. It can also be a very useful place to make new friends. Come on, have you ever played beach volley?

Make Chinese-speaking friends

Chinese learning requires practicing and daring to speak Mandarin from the beginning is a great way to set your Chinese pronunciation skills on the right track. Your holiday destination a perfect occasion to do so. Depending on where you’re going, odds are there’ll be Chinese tourists there too. Don’t miss your chance! This is a perfect time to meet new people and make Chinese-speaking friends! All you have to do is go and talk to them! I know it can be scary at first, but to practice and improve your Chinese, you need to leave your comfort zone.

The first time I went to China, I was alone and felt very nervous on the plane. Traveling alone is not an easy thing to do, especially when you’re young. It’s very scary. I knew, then, I had to make friends so they could comfort me. In the plane, my neighbors were an old Chinese couple. They looked very nice. They were the perfect target! I needed to talk to them! It all started with a 你好 and then she asked me questions in Chinese about my travel. It made me feel better. I was also very happy she could understand me. I really improved both my understanding and listening skills.

So don’t be shy, and make your holiday mission to connect with Chinese people. At least, dare to say “你好”! You’ll see they’ll be glad to hear someone speaking their mother tongue and most likely open to chatting with you. Plus, your family and friends will be very impressed to see you speaking Chinese with natives.

Another tip that will impress your friends for sure and prevent you from forgetting your Chinese over the summer, playing the DJ.

Create a Chinese playlist

Be a trendsetter, play the hottest 2016 Chinese pop songs on the beach! All your friends will be impressed by your DJ skills. Playing music in Chinese will also help you improve your listening skills. I just have the best 2016 Chinese playlist you need, that should help you.
Summer holidays are also the equivalent of Chinese learning loss, therefore, listening to someone speaking Mandarin will help you not become a total stranger towards Chinese.

If you want to stay discreet on the beach and keep your hottest songs for yourself, that’s totally fair. Listening to your fave Chinese songs on repeat is great to tune your ears to sounds in Chinese. At first, the lyrics might seem incomprehensible, but you’ll be happy to see after a few listens that you now understand each lyric a lot better! Read the lyrics to the songs online and look up all the words you don’t know in our Chinese dictionary. It’ll be a fun exploration!

Summer is the perfect occasion for outdoor activities during sunny days. But, the weather can surprise us, so here’s a list of indoor activities to keep you having fun practicing your Chinese on summer rainy days.

Sing in the rain!

OK, don’t sing literally in the rain, you might get sick from that. Sing in your shower. Come on, everyone does it. Learn to sing one of those Chinese songs you’ve listened to so much outside each day and perform while showering. This is your moment, so enjoy it! Learning Chinese can be fun and done everywhere, even in your bathroom! That way, you get a perfect combo of both having trained your listening skills with Chinese songs, and having o practiced your speaking skills! Tons of songs will use the vocabulary learned on Ninchanese, it’s a good way to review these words.

If you’d rather be entertained that entertain your neighbors with your amazing voice (I’m sure it is), here’s a great way to practice Chinese while playing!

The secret tip for gamers!

Not everyone has planned to go on vacation. Or maybe you’d like to stay home having fun and resting today. Be delighted dear gamers, I’ve got the perfect tip for you to keep practicing and learning Chinese without even knowing it –well kind of. Put your video games in Chinese! You can also play online with Chinese speakers, and use the chats to practice with them. We hear it’s particularly effective to learn swear words. to practice! Isn’t it amazing? In Ninchanese, we know that a fun learning is more efficient!

If you’re not a big fan of videos games, don’t worry, I have some other amazing tips for you! There are plenty of other fun activities you can do indoors to practice your Chinese this summer, like using your TV for example!

Watch movies. But in Chinese, please!

If you love watching movies, you’ve come to the right place. But this time, for a pleasant change, watch them in Chinese! Watching movies and shows in Chinese will help you improve your listening and comprehension skills! Here are the 10 best Chinese TV shows to watch. So, what do you say? Ready for a binge-watching kind of holiday?

Or maybe you don’t want to spend all your holidays in the dark, watching TV. If you want to be more active, here’s the solution: cook!

Cook Chinese dishes!

Channel your inner chef, and pick recipes that are in Chinese, or maybe in both Chinese and English. Challenge yourself, and cook awesome dishes to surprise your friends and family! There are so many easy recipes you can do. Plus, you’ll learn so many new words about food and cooking in Chinese along the way. Here’s a recipe to a cool and easy to make Chinese delicacy, that I like to cook myself, to get you started: the super-tasty 糯米糍 nuòmǐ cí (Sticky rice balls). You can also find cooking videos in Chinese on youtube that can help you to improve both your listening and cooking skills.

Just started The Best Chinese Food Board on @pinterest! Suggestions of good Chinese recipes? https://t.co/u7VHJHaI5W pic.twitter.com/IXEhtILzVn

— Ninchanese (@Ninchanese) 16 June 2016

Cooking in Mandarin is very useful for learning Chinese, you’ll see! And when you’re going to buy the ingredients, don’t forget to say “你好” to the sellers of the shop! Seize all the opportunities to speak Chinese with natives!

The next tip on your list is also one you can share with your family.

Teach Chinese to your family

If you’re lucky enough to have siblings that are willing to learn some Chinese, then go for it! Try teaching your family a few words and sharing with them your adventures learning Chinese. If someone else in your family is also learning Chinese, you can also play games in Chinese on the way to your holiday destination. You can play Chinese learning games about guessing characters or their meanings, or challenge them to a Ninchallenge, a duel over your knowledge of learning Chinese. You’ll have arrived before you know it!

This tip is also a good way to spend some family time bonding with your parents and siblings. You’ll remember these summer holidays forever, and your Chinese will be so much improved. Your friends can also be a good help when learning Chinese , especially on social networks when they notify you. Learn how to turn those pesky notifications into sneak Chinese learning sessions in our next tip. in the following method.

Learning Chinese with Facebook

Change the language input of your Facebook account and set it in Chinese is a great way to practice using a site completely in Chinese and learning the web and computer terms in Chinese. You’ll learn new words regarding social networks, but you’ll also review ones you’ve learned with Nincha. You’ll see, it’s an interesting experience turning a tool you’re so familiar with into something a little more challenging.
And whenever you post something on Facebook, like a picture of you during the holidays, you’ll be notified in Chinese of the likes, reactions and comments! Isn’t that super cool and super sneaky?

Whether it’s on the beach, in the countryside, in another country or at home, most of us will be spending our holidays with family and friends this summer. Don’t forget to give yourself some me-time too, it’s also a good way to enjoy holidays and rest before going back to work. So, how can you prevent summer Chinese learning loss if it’s just you and your cat?

Ninchanese your cat!

Talk to your cat in Chinese, it won’t judge you, I swear! Try to teach it a few words. For instance, order your cat to bring you a coffee but in Chinese! See? There are so many things you can do with it! Practice with your cat as if you were practicing with Nincha, except your cat won’t answer you, well, I guess so…
If your cat would rather hunt than listen to you speak, you can also try speaking to yourself or speaking in front of a mirror. If you do, watch your face, your match and your body language as you speak, and try to talk for 2, 3 minutes, just like you’d be talking to a friend. Or to your cat. If you don’t know how to say something, don’t stop to look it up. Just keep going, find a different way to express yourself or change your sentence. It’s great to see what areas in speaking you’re having trouble with and need to be worked on, and to identify words you don’t know but would like to look up.

And if you want to know if your Chinese pronunciation is good, use our voice-recognition feature to get instant feedback on your speaking skills.

Final words:

From outdoor to indoors, we hope this list of summer activities will keep your holiday fun-filled and full of Chinese! You may have noticed that all these activities have one thing in common: to have you practicing and learning Chinese as much as you can this summer. Take every opportunity to do a little Chinese, whether it’s on the beach with Chinese tourists, by drawing characters in the sand or at home by listening Chinese songs and reviewing word. And remember the key to making Chinese learning enjoyable is to find a fun way to do it! You also know you’ll have Ninchanese with you, on your mobile devices, so whenever you have a few minutes, keep improving your Chinese learning online with Ninchanese. We’ll be here all summer to guide you and take care of your Chinese language learning. You can also check Ninchanese secret tips to fully enjoy the platform!

Do you have any secret tips to keep learning Chinese during summer? Share them with us in the comments!

Pauline and

The Nincha Team

Stay in touch with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.

Try the best way to learn Chinese today.
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The post Top 10 Fun Activities to Keep Learning Chinese This Summer appeared first on Ninchanese.

In our previous article, Dragon Boat Festival Part 1, you discovered all the customs around the Dragon Boat Festival, from the food typically eaten during that day to the origins of the boat races. In this Part 2, you’ll discover the cities that are the most well-known for their Dragon Boat Festival in the world. Therefore, you won’t miss this amazing event! All you need is a map and choose the city that is the closest to your home!

First things first, let’s start with the cities in China that have the most amazing Dragon Boat Festival!

Where to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival in China

The Dragon Boat Festival is all about boat races. Some races are exceptional! Athletes compete to win the race while Chinese drums are beating. The atmosphere and show are the reasons why you must attend at least one Dragon boat race in your life!
So if you’re currently living or traveling to China, here’s a list of the best places to enjoy the Dragon Boat Festival:

Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival

• The Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival (On the weekend of June 10–12.)

• Guizhou Dragon Canoe Festival of the Miao Ethnic People (June 9th)

• Hangzhou Dragon Boat Festival (June 9th)

• Yueyang International Dragon Boat Festival (Starting on June 9th and lasts 7 days)

These 4 cities have the most amazing boat races in China according to visitors and spectators. But China is not the only country to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival in Asia. Let me show you other countries that are pretty good at it.

Ninchanese is an incredible app for learning Chinese!

” I actually graduated from the University of Edinburgh with a MA in Chinese.
I’ve used Ninchanese daily, and it has helped me a lot!  “

 – Connor, Ninchanese User

Try Ninchanese, an award-winning method to learn Chinese today:

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Attend the boat race all over Asia

The Dragon Boat Festival originates in China and became an official Chinese holiday in 2008. Influenced by China, it is now popular throughout Asia and even across the world. Countries like Canada, Japan, Korea and Singapore also make that day a day of celebration where they each have their own customs.

In Korea

Koreans masquerade during the festival.

In Japan

In Japan, the festival is dedicated to the birth of children and traditionally honored boys. On this day, people will hang up carp flags and models of Japanese Samurai to whisper to their kids a healthy and strong growth.

In Singapore

In Singapore, the Dragon Boat festival is celebrated pretty much like in China: first, they have boat races and they eat 粽子 zòngzi.

Related: Read more about 粽子 Zongzi, the dessert traditionally eaten during the Dragon Boat Festival!

But what about outside Asia? Not to fear, if you’re not in Asia, there are still plenty of places you can go to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival. North America is well-known for its important Asian community. Therefore, you’ll find many Asian celebrations there. But still, I was surprised to find not one or two, but dozens of Dragon Boat Festival celebration both in the USA and in Canada. Let me show you the most popular places to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival outside of Asia.

Go see how this festival is celebrated all over the world

The Dragon Boat Festival has also spread to the Western world and is especially popular in North America, where every opportunity to celebrate this festival is seized. If you live in North America, you’ll be happy to learn that you’re very lucky: there  are plenty of cities across the USA and Canada that celebrate this festival with boat races and music shows! Here are a few good addresses you can head to celebrate the festival.

Nanaimo, Canada

Nanaimo, near Vancouver, is probably the most popular place to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival in Canada according to spectators. Each year, the foundation Save on Foods organizes the 14th annual Nanaimo Dragon Boat Festival, from June 8th to June 10th, and all the funds raised proceed to the Nanaimo Hospital Foundation. Besides the traditional dragon boat race, many activities will take place such as the Shriners pancake breakfast, Nanaimo Farmer’s Market, a candle ceremony and Vancouver Island Brewery beer gardens. So if you live close to Vancouver and want to participate in this generous movement and have the best time of your life, don’t hesitate and head to this festival.

Ottawa, Canada

The Canadians in Ottawa also celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival, but this year celebrations will be taking place from June 23rd to June 25th. The Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival has a special aim. This festival is launched by the Tim Horton company in order to raise funds for the local charities. On the first day of the festival, there is an opening ceremony which gathers all the Asian communities and some of their prominent Chinese members. As this festival features Chinese ancient celebrations, you’ll get to enjoy the Lion Dance troupes, drums and of course, also see the typical dragon boat race! The following days, you can attend the music festival, with singers performing on different stages but also pass by the exhibitors and artisans to buy awesome creations.

Denver, USA

The Dragon Boat Festival in Denver is one of the most popular across the USA. The festival starts on July 30th and ends on July 31st. During this event, people celebrate the Pacific Asian culture, especially China through authentic cuisine, shows like the Lion dance, drums, a marketplace of unique and hard-to-find arts and of course, the dragon boat race.

Boston, USA

On the weekend of June 11-12 2016, Boston will be hosting its 37th annual Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival! It’s the second most popular Dragon Boat Festival in the USA. During the festival, Asian arts and crafts are displayed, Chinese food is served and later the dragon boat race starts.

There are many more places to go to celebrate the Dragon Boart Festival in the US and in Canada, check out which city is the closest to you thanks to this calendar.

Where else is the Dragon Boat Festival celebrated?

You’ll find Dragon Boat Festival celebrations in Spain, Dubai, Ireland, Puerto Rico, Great Britain, Germany, the Philippines and more. Most of these countries don’t celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival in June, but on various dates, that can be in April, May, September or even October. So you’d better check the dates before planning to go there. To know all about the dates, head to this page.

Final words

As you see, you don’t need to live in China to attend the Dragon Boat Festival! There are so many other great places in which you can this famous boat race. Check out the dates and don’t miss out on these festivals. Trust me, you’ll have a great experience. This is a good occasion to dive into the Chinese culture and to learn more about the Chinese customs and beliefs. Plus, this is also a good way to practice your Chinese!

If you want to know more about the customs, the type of food the Chinese eat during the Dragon Boat Festival and more, check out the first part in our series of articles on 端午节: Dragon Boat Festival Part 1.

After talking so much about the Dragon Boat Festival,we’re curious: What are your plans for the Dragon Boat Festival? Taste the 粽子and watch the dragon boat competition? And where will you be celebrating it? In all cases, we wish you guys all a Happy Dragon Festival! 端午节快乐!

Pauline and 

The Nincha Team

Stay in touch with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.

Try the best way to learn Chinese today.
Ninchanese is free to use!

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The post Dragon Boat Festival Part 2: The Best Places to See The Boat Race appeared first on Ninchanese.

Ninchanese is an incredible app for learning Chinese!

” I actually graduated from the University of Edinburgh with a MA in Chinese.
I’ve used Ninchanese daily, and it has helped me a lot!  “

 – Connor, Ninchanese User

Try Ninchanese, an award-winning method to learn Chinese today:

Start Learning Now

#1 Chinese Street Food: Dumplings

It’s funny how so many cultures have dumplings of sorts in their national cuisine. The Italians have raviolis, the Polish have pierogis, in South America, empanadas can be found everywhere, and in Asia, the dumpling is king.

In China, especially, dumplings are a must. Many many types of dumplings exist; water-boiled, pan-fried, fried,… and the three types of dumplings we’re about to mention here must be added to your eating list.

 饺子 –  Boiled Dumplings

饺子 can be stuffed with many things, and therefore many filling combinations exist. Popular ones are pork and cabbage, shrimp and corn, pork/egg and chives (韭菜), you can also find some filled with carrots, chicken and 黑木耳 Hēi mù'ěr a black comestible fungus.

Price range for 6 pieces: from 2RMB to 8RMB (人民币 rénmínbì RMB, which is the Chinese currency), depending on what they’re filled with. Cities such as Beijing or Shanghai might be more expensive.

Jiaozis are also a very easy Chinese street food delicacy to reproduce at home: once the dough is made (or is store-bought) they’re easy to fill and cook up. It’ll take you less than an hour and your family will be in for a real treat.

 馄饨 –  Soup with dumplings

What better way to warm yourself up with a hot, steamy, tasty soup filled to the brim with dumpling goodness? If this sounds like the perfect answer to the unending winter coldness, then wonton soup is for you.

A wonton — which comes from the Chinese word 馄饨 Húntún we’re talking about here, by the way — is what you call a dumpling in water. 馄饨 Húntún Soup with dumplings is basically a bouillon filled with boiled dumplings, stuffed with a variety of ingredients, just as in 饺子.

馄饨 and their English name, wonton, have very similar pronunciations so we know you’ll have no problem remembering and ordering this yummy Chinese street food soup, right?

Look for: slurping sounds and places with big bowls.

生煎包 – Pan-grilled pork bun

Nincha’s favorite street food is the  生煎包 Shēng jiān bāo Pan-grilled pork bun.

Pan-grilled buns are as small as a dumpling. You eat them piping hot, covered with chopped green onions and with a crispy grilled bottom — they are pan-fried until brown.
The striking combination of the white, the green and the brown is a sight to behold and our Nincha isn’t wrong in thinking these babies taste as good as they look.
Price Range for 4 pieces: from 3RMB to 5RMB in Shanghai. You can buy them almost everywhere in China.
To find them: look for huge, large, flat-ish pans on cooking stoves and crackling sounds.
Not into dumplings? Worry not, China’s chock-full of street food delicacies to discover and chow down. So let’s move on on to part 2 of our street food adventure: Noodles!

# 2 Chinese Street Food: Noodles

It’s unclear whether Marco Polo brought back noodles from Asia, or imported the concept of noodles into Asia from Italy. In any case, one’s thing is sure: the Chinese have a handle on noodles, especially when they’re soup-based.

兰州拉面 –  Lanzhou noodle soup

It is said that the only true place to eat 兰州拉面 noodles is in Lanzhou, smack in the middle of China. So, if you get a chance to visit the Middle Kingdom’s center, don’t miss those noodles!

Thankfully, since we can’t all be in Lanzhou, this hasn’t stopped Lanzhou noodles from being sold throughout China. You therefore should pretty much be able to taste those delicious hand-pulled noodles cooked served in a beef or mutton broth anywhere in China. The noodles must be hand-made and hand-pulled, so don’t be surprised if they’re sometimes thin and sometimes thick. It all depends on the owner’s taste. ^_^.

Depending on what extras you add in, a  兰州拉面 dish should set you back 6 RMB or a little more depending on which city you are. Still, not a bad price for a dish, which has fans saying that if you haven’t had 兰州拉面 before, you haven’t really lived.

豆腐粉丝汤 – Fried-Tofu bean noodle soup

You can find 豆腐粉丝汤 Dòufu fěnsī tāng Fried-Tofu bean noodle soup in pretty much all of Shanghai’s street food stalls.

Fried tofu is stewed in a big pot with meat and served with bean-noodles instantly cooked upon order. The soup base is quite tasty, if a little greasy (from the fried tofu).
Still make it a must-try on your list — have some at least once — and see if you like it! 豆腐粉丝汤 costs around 6RMB per bowl.

Now that you’ve learned which noodles and dumplings to sample first, you now have plenty of yummy food options to chow down on your street food eating adventure. Needless to say, now that we’ve mentioned the best snacks you can have for lunch or dinner, we can’t just leave you starting your adventure on an empty stomach.

#3 Chinese Street Food: Breakfast

So, let’s talk about yummy breakfast items. We promise, we’re leaving congee out of this. This time.

豆浆油条 –  Warm soy milk with fried dough sticks

The average price is 1RMB each. When talking to Chinese overseas, the one thing they miss the most is their 油条. So if you’re within the vicinity of a 油条 stall and you’re in the mood for breakfast, you know what your job is: get some!

煎饼 –  Chinese-style crepe

To make your 煎饼, they start by spreading a flour and egg crepe on a smooth pan. One or two eggs are cracked onto it as one side of the 煎饼 is cooking. Cilantro and chopped green onions are sprinkled on the still-runny eggs. The 煎饼 is then flipped over, and brushed with diluted fermented tofu (it’s a lot better than it sounds). You can add hot pepper sauce if you want.
A rectangular piece of crispy dough is placed in its center and then ta!da! Once the 煎饼 is folded, it’s ready to land in your mouth.慢慢吃! Enjoy!

Price range for a 煎饼: from 3.50RMB to 5RMB in Beijing. Not a bad start to your day, heh?

How are you liking the street food eating adventure so far? Your stomach must be so stuffed now, lucky you!
We’ve talked all sorts of savory foods to try: dumplings, noodles, crepes… but where’s the real sweet stuff to try, you might be wondering? Fear not, here come two sugary items that’ll satisfy your sweet tooth like no other!

# 4 Chinese Street Food: Sweet snacks!

Whoever said the Chinese didn’t like sweets, probably was denied the thrill of sugar all their childhood and vowed to get their revenge. For fear not, oh sweet one, sweet snacks exist a-plenty in China. Here are two you need to try ASAP.

奶茶 –  Milk tea

No matter if it’s winter or summer, you’ll always see people holding a bottle or a cup of 奶茶 nǎi chá milk tea  walking around.

奶茶 is said to have originated in Taiwan and spread through Asia like wildfire. It’s probably one of the favorite drinks in China of Chinese people and foreigners alike.

Milk tea starts with tea and milk, of course, but it’s now been elevated to an art form:there are a million different milk tea combinations you can make, depending on what flavor you want to add to the milk, whether you want it hot or cold, with or without milk…

There are lots of flavor to choose from and you can even add pudding and jelly in them…or tapioca pearls, something we highly recommend. When pearls are added, 奶茶 officially becomes 珍珠奶茶 zhēn zhū nǎi chánǎi chá I'm milk tea  or bubble tea. So to get the full 珍珠奶茶 bubble tea experience, we definitely suggest you add the pearls.

Bubble tea is a name you might have heard more often outside of China than 奶茶. The name was then imported back into Asia, and some now say boba tea in Asia.

糖葫芦  –  Caramel Hawthorn

Ever had a candied apple?

This is what 糖葫芦 táng hú lu Caramel Hawthorne reminds us of the most. A traditional Chinese snack,  糖葫芦 is a wonderful gift for children (and adults alike).

Originally made with hawthorn fruit, 糖葫芦 is fruit strung on a bamboo stick and coated in red sugar syrup. It’s nice and cool, crunchy and sweet and some even say it also gets rids of your tiredness. We know the sight of such candy perks us up right up, so there might be some truth to that!

Originally made with hawthorn fruit, 糖葫芦 is now made with all sorts of fruits: strawberries, grapes, bananas, cherry tomatoes (which are, in all fairness, officially considered a fruit).

They cost 2 RMB and up depending on the fruit you choose and on which city you’re located. Cheap enough to try each fruit right?

The yummy 糖葫芦 conclude our suggestions of street food to try. You have options for breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner, so if you want to take our Chinese street food guide out for a spin, you’re in for a whole scrumptious day of eating. Did all this make you hungry? Ready to go on your eating adventure?

When you do, make sure you keep in mind one thing: when eating in the street among other people, it is considered as polite to make slurping sounds as you eat, so make sure to show you’re enjoying your food and to be vocal about it!

And when you’re done eating, come back and tell us: what’s your favorite street food in China? Which one do you miss the most? Have you tried them all yet? You can also suggest us any ideas about missing meals so we can build all together an even more awesome guide 🙂

Images: Tastespotting, echineselearning, thewoksoflife, chinasichuanfood, cateringexpert, cnkick.net, ninhaochina

Pauline and the

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端午节 is an old traditional festival held to honor the life and the death of a famous poet and minister 屈原 Qūyuán  who lived during the Warring States period of ancient China ( State of Chu, in modern Hubei, China). Because this is a must-attend event, at least once in your life, we’ve decided to first, introduce to you the 4 key activities to do during a Dragon Boat Festival and second (part 2) to show you where you can go to take part in the celebrations.

Let’s start with part 1 of our series on the Dragon Boat Festival where you’ll learn about the main activities the Chinese do during this awesome event. When you’re done, make sure you head to the Dragon Boat Festival Part 2, to discover the best places to celebrate the Dragon boat festival!

What to do during the Dragon Boat Festival

#1: Race dragon-shaped boats

The Duanwu Festival is a time to race dragon-shaped boats. According to the legend, this tradition of racing in dragon-shaped boats originated in ancient times. When the local people heard that Quyuan was going to kill himself in lake Dongting, many people rushed to rescue him by boat. After that, every year on this day, people hold dragon boat races to commemorate him. Dragon Boat Racing is the main event during the Dragon Boat Festival.

#2: Eat 粽子  (rice balls)

It’s also a happy time to eat a delicious snack: 粽子  Zòngzi, a rice ball filled with various tasty fillings, such as: peanuts, red jujubes, or even eggs and meat if you like a salty flavor. This festival is therefore also called a 粽子节  Zòngzijié too.

Have some yummy 粽子!

Yummy yummy! So why it is custom to eat 粽子 particularly on this day? It is said that after the death of the greatly admired poet Quyuan (he finally killed himself by drowning in the 汨罗江 Mǐluójiāng Miluo river), the local people were so sad that they didn’t want the dragons and fishes to eat his body. They, therefore, decided to throw the food in the river to prevent from eating his body. That’s why later on it became a tradition to eat rice balls on that day.

The poet Quyuan

#3: Hang  插艾草, wormwood

Beside the dragon-boat race, there are also other traditional customs during the festival. One is to hang 插艾草Chā ài cǎo (Artemisia vulgaris(wormwood)) on the door. Because Wormwood has a special smell, it is very effective to keep worms away. It can also freshen the air and prevent diseases. You may be familiar with this plant: it is used in Absinthe. So in ancient times, this festival was also considered to be a hygienic festival.

Hang Wormwood on your door

#4: Drink 雄黄酒, a type of Chinese wine

People also drink 雄黄酒Xiónghuángjiǔ,  realgar wine(made with Chinese herbs) during this festival. According to the legend, it’s also to protect Quyuan’s body because the villagers believed that this kind of wine could make the dragons dizzy.

After talking so much about the Dragon Boat Festival, it’s now time to taste the 粽子and to watch the dragon boat competition, don’t you think? Do you know where to go to attend the race? Of course, you’ll easily find a celebration in China, but did you know many other cities around the world celebrate this event? Maybe there’s one near your home! Head to the Dragon Boat Festival Part 2, to learn all about the best places in the world to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival!

 端午节快乐！duān wǔ jié kuài lè!

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Episode 1 of A bite of China season 2

Nincha is looking forward to having even more videos of Chinese food to drool over! Don’t you?

Here’s episode 1 of A bite of China season 2 for your drooling viewing pleasure.

Ninchanese combines addictive game mechanics, cute cats and efficient Chinese learning techniques to make learning Chinese a lot of fun! The app is now in beta so sign up now for early access to the beta! Check out our trailer and stay in touch with us on Facebook, Twitter, Google + and Weibo.

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Worst video on Chinese food

Through all the videos you’ve maybe seen about China and Chinese food, here’s the worst video ever.

The post The Worst Video You’ll Ever See On Chinese Food appeared first on Ninchanese.

Ok, you’ll be mostly learning about Chinese food, but this popular CCTV documentary, aptly named “A bite of China” is a great excuse to practice your Chinese while feasting your eyes on mouth-watering specialties. Does that sound good? More (and the video!) after the jump.

Click here to see the video.

Chinese food in seven sittings

To make Chinese food more well known, CCTV documentary makers had the great idea of filming a documentary on Chinese cuisine. This seven-part documentary (and then some) highlights typical Chinese dishes and drool-causing regional specialties. Except for beautiful images and plenty of mouth-watering shots of Chinese dishes that’ll be torture to watch if you’re feeling hungry. The documentary also gives plenty of explanation on how each region came to develop its own kind of cuisine and how they prepare and created certain dishes.

If you were still thinking Chinese food was limited to fried Chinese and General Tsao chicken, then prepare to be proved wrong! Chinese cuisine is a vibrant and rich experience. There are a zillion wonderful dishes to sample and discover and we here at the Nincha Team have some many favorite dishes, it’d require a separate article to name them all. So watch the documentary and prepare to want to taste some real Chinese food.

To check out the other “A bite of China” documentary episodes in Chinese with Chinese subtitles, it’s here. And if you’d rather listen skip the Chinese all together and just learn about China’s most famous foods in English, then it’s here. And for Chinese with subtitles in English, check out this channel.

May, 13th, 2014 update: Season 3 of this documentary is currently airing! Check out the episodes here!

Arg. Now we’re hungry!

The Nincha Team

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Food Mnemonics in Chinese

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