Blog Purpose, “China Experts” and 牛逼

First and foremost, the content within this blog is going to be exclusive.  Why is it going to be exclusive? I’m pretty much 牛逼 (fucking awesome) when it comes the Mandarin Chinese language.  I have studied Chinese for nearly a decade and have spent a considerable amount of time in the country exploring, attending school, and adventuring about.  I have been employed to teach Chinese, I have passed the level 5–out of 6 levels–of the official Chinese Proficiency Test, and I am very passionate about China studies.

That being said, when I sat down to think about the purpose of this blog, I pretty much came up with two important goals: to provide a detailed account of modern Chinese life and to help others learn Mandarin Chinese.  Part of what sparked my interest in starting my own blog was all of the erroneous reports on China given by the community of “China experts.”  Many of these “experts” oftentimes have only written negatively about the country, yet they have no real experience with China.  By this I mean they cannot speak Chinese, never been to China, don’t have any Chinese acquaintances, or a combination of the three.  How they acquired the title of China expert is beyond me.

In addition to these fake China experts, Chinese people have an awfully difficult time explaining themselves how their own culture or their own language works.  Most often, even if they do have an understanding of the difference between China and the West, their English isn’t quite at the level for them to be able to express themselves well enough.  This means that all of the interesting dissimilarities will largely be absent.

Now, then, where do those that are interested in China go to find information that is reliable and informative?  In writing this blog, I offer an option of an account on Chinese lifestyle.  I will cover all topics from the education system to sanitary issues, from popular apps to delicious food.  Hear is the plan: I will include as many Chinese vocabulary words, sources, multimedia, personal thoughts, etc. in each post.  I will also have various recurring topics that I will post, such as “Chinese Language Study Material” or “Must-have Apps in China.”

Let’s get this started.  In the first paragraph, I used the word “牛逼”.  Let’s break this down:

牛 niú cow

逼 bī vagina; to force (sb to do sth); to compel

This word, translated directly into English, means “cows vagina”; however, it’s meaning is colloquially for “fucking awesome.”  It’s used to express extreme admiration.  It is also seen written as 牛B, NB, NB, and 牛X.

For images associated with the word “牛逼” on the most common Chinese search engine, click the link below:

http://image.baidu.com/i?tn=baiduimage&ct=201326592&lm=-1&cl=2&nc=1&ie=utf-8&word=%E7%89%9B%E9%80%BC