China Speed

China Speed Off To Xinjiang!

China Speed will be backpacking in Kashgar, and will likely not post for the next ten days.  After I get back I hope to have a great deal of material for the blog though.

Chinese Language Study Resources

I appreciate all of the positive feedback on the Chinese legal words cheatsheet.  I can't promise I will get to the pinyin right away, but in the meantime I'd like to point out a couple of resources for those who are learning Chinese. 

There is a fantastic computer dictionary out there called Wenlin.  It has a bigger database than most dictionaries and it has a scroll-over feature.  This means you can paste a chinese language document into it and it will look up words as you go.  It can become a crutch, but it is very helpful when reading complex legal documents.  I have no business relationship with Wenlin, but I'd like one...Wenlin, if you're out there, let's talk.

A good friend of mine devised a system for learning the characters that is the best I have heard.  He studied linguistics at Yale and then studied International Affairs at Peking University.  He also studied Chinese at the Monterrey Institute of International Studies.  His system for learning characters can be found right...about...here.

The Ties That Bind

As I leave Qingdao, and the fast friends I met in a short time, I am once again overcome by the feeling that America and China’s differences are only superficial in nature.  If it weren’t for a few quirks in political history, an American president who died before his time, a Communist leader who won an improbable war, we would have been allies long ago.  It is easy to forget that after the regrettable tragedies of WWII we supported China becoming a member of the United Nations; we hoped China would be the economic and political leader of asia, not Japan.

Chinese and American cultural differences are only superficial.  We both believe that our own cultures are important for the world, though China relies on its five thousand years of history while America believes in modernity as its own gift to mankind.  China and America both believe that friendship, family, and economy will trump cultural differences.  We are both informal cultures, we will roll up our sleeves to find solutions rather than use cultural formalism to excuse our distinctions.  After fifty years of polemics on both sides of the ocean, it is easy for us to forget.  But after only a few years, we have already closed many gaps that appeared during the last half century.  I can only hope that politics, nationalism, and the fight for natural resources will not triumph over cultural similarities.

The Fifty Big Legal Words

While preparing for a Chinese legal exam, I translated the fifty most common legal words into Chinese.  For anyone studying Chinese and has an interest in law, it might be a good start. 

Download fifty_most_common_legal_words.pdf

Now for the inner lawyer in me to shine through, I must offer a waiver.  I translated the words from a Chinese legal dictionary and then double checked them with another general dictionary.  An accomplished Chinese attorney then made corrections.  However, I would wholeheartedly not recommend using this list to draft the contract for your billion dollar joint venture or your Chinese marriage license. 

Let me know if this sort of document is helpful.  I also have a more comprehensive list in the works.