Word for the Travel Wise (05/26/06)

Considering voodoo dolls are a big enough issue to make news all over, now seems like the perfect time to flip through our Chinese dictionaries for a word that could become just as recognizable as the illegal sale of the toy.

Today’s word is a Mandarin word used in China:

xiang zi – suitcase

Although there haven’t been any known voodoo doll arrests you surely don’t want to be the first to get caught red-handed. By no means am I suggesting you smuggle the dolls in and out of China’s borders, but I know how it is when you just have to have something. If this should be your case make sure you’ve got some decent luggage. Request the kind of suitcase or xiang zi with tons of hiding space, I mean pockets.

Mandarin is the most widely spoken of the Chinese language and can be a bit difficult to learn, but there are many sites online that can help get you started. The best will probably cost a small amount of money and the links are many so for sources pointing to additional sources check out About and Mandarin Tools. Mandarin tools is good if you’d like to add pinyin tools and other Chinese text files to your computer. Zap Chinese is free and has small dictionaries of common words with audio. Mei Wah is an awesome and funny site on becoming more aware as an eater and learning Chinese by way of menus and restaurant signs. China Language online is another excellent site I recently stumbled upon providing info on Mandarin, Cantonese and Hakka. In addition to these past recommendations check out the Hong Kong Language Learning Center (HKLLC) for study abroad in Hong Kong or Beijing. Qi Journal has a section dedicated to Chinese culture and language study.

Past Mandarin words:
zhu ni hao yun, guo nian ha, mu di di, hao