Learn Chinese with Beginner Stories

In ancient China, there were four famous beauties. Xi Shi was one of them. There are several legendary stories about Xi Shi, and some idioms are also related to her. In today’s story, we are going to look at how did Xi Shi become one of the most famous femal figure in ancient China, and also learn a few of idioms that related to her.  Join other motivated learners on your Chinese learning journey...

With the development of social media, many people are willing to share what they see and hear during their daily life. Some people also like to post what do they have for meal. In today’s story, our protagonist recounted his experiences of having dinner with his college mates. We will see that his classmates have some habitual behavior before the dinner, and he didn’t quite enjoy it.  Join other m...

It's winter time, and it's relatively warm when there's no wind. The temperature drops a lot when the wind blows. The power of wind can benefit many things, but it can also damage buildings and crops etc. Since ancient times, people's feelings towards wind could be very contradictory, it is a mixture of respect and fears. So people deified the wind, and developed the image of “God of Wind” during...

In Chinese, people using the word of “Bo Le”to describe the talent scout, and the word of “swift horse”to describe people who are talented and capable of doing things. In today’s story, we are going to look through an ancient Chinese story, it is where those two words are originated. The story also shows us how important it is to have a talent scout to explore people’s strength and capablities. Jo...

Today is the “Beginning of Winter”, which is one of the 24 solar terms in China. In each of the solar term, Chinese people have some traditional customs. Of course, these customs are differed in the north and south of China. In today’s story, we are going to look at a special custom for people from north China on the day of ”Beginning of Winter”.  Join other motivated learners on your Chinese lear...

Today is the “Beginning of Winter”—one of the twenty-four solar terms in Chinese lunar calendar. In the north China, majority of the houses have turned on the heating because it is pretty cold already. In today’s story, we are going to walk into the most well-known palace in China—The Forbidden City, and take a look at how the heating system worked in the palace. People who visit the palace always...

Today is the “Beginning of Winter”, which is one of the twenty-four solar terms. It used to be an important festival for Chinese people because in the past, Chinese people believes that winter is the season of rest and recuperation, people who have been working hard all year need to have a good rest. In today’s story, we are going to look at the climate changes and the traditions during “Beginning...

Today is Halloween. For adults, the most interesting part of this festival is all kinds of costumes and theme parties. Attending these parties, having a unique makeup will make you the center of the party. However, there are also few things that we should be aware of before putting the Halloween makeup on, because improper use of makeup products can cause skin problems to us. Let’s take a look wha...

The climate of China differs greatly from that of the north to the south. For people living in the south, snow in the north is something they envy. For those who live in the north, they also admire the warm winter weather in the south. Of course, these perceptions are limited and can't match people's own experience. In today’s story,  our protagonist recounted the different experiences of living i...

Shopping is a very important activity in our life, and it also makes us feel happy when we bought something that we really like. A lot of people find it is difficult to control our enthusiasm towards shopping and ends up in buying many stuffs that we don’t really need. Everyone knows that we should be more rational towards shopping, but hard to do so. In today’s story, we are going to discuss how...

When it comes to name a child, most of the Chinese parents would take many factors into consideration, such as how the name sounds, does the name contain good meanings, does it in line with the eight characters of birth, etc. In today’s story, we are going to look at two parents who are having difficulties to come up with a name for their daughter. There is a contradiction between the last name an...

In our yesterday’s story, we knew that our protagonist lost his bank card and needs to go to the bank and get a new one. In today’s story, we are going to hear a conversation between David and a bank staff. David went to the bank and apply for a new card. Let’s take a look what does it require to get a new bank card.  Join other motivated learners on your Chinese learning journey with maayot. Rece...

Gift-giving is an important part of social interaction. In China, there is a trend in recent years that people tend to give money to others directly instead of choosing a gift for them. Now both Wechat and Alipay can directly send "red envelopes" to others, making the process easier and more simple. In today’s story, we are going to discuss why people prefer to give money to others instead of sele...

Chinese people are very hospitable, and like to invite friends for dinner. Nowadays, Chinese people have gradually accepted the idea of sharing the bill with others, but in many cases, we find that people are still willing to pay for the dinner for everyone. In today’s story, our protagonist thought that they have agreed to let him pay for the bill, but someone else was faster than him.  Join othe...

Siheyuan is also known as Courtyard Houses, which is the traditional, typical residential building in Beijing. It is a tradition to plant trees in siheyuan, but not just any kind of tree can be planted, here is a certain exquisite. In today’s story, we are going to talk about what kind of trees people tend to plant in siheyuan, and the meaning behind it.  Join other motivated learners on your Chin...

The topic of “should we follow our interest and make it as our profession” is a cliché that frequently been discussed as it is a question that almost all of us have faced. Without any doubt, with interests and passion, we surely can enjoy our work. However, the reality is not as simple as that. In today’s story, we are going to discuss why some people find it is hard to develop our career based on...

In some places of Fujian and Guangdong, there are many residential buildings with unique shapes. From the outside, they look like blockhouses. They are typical and unique residential buildings in China -- Earth Towers of the Hakkas. In today's story, we will discuss the history and architectural characteristics of this type of building. Join other motivated learners on your Chinese learning journe...

Mapo tofu is a very famous and popular dish in Sichuan cuisine. The character “po”in Chinese refers old woman or mother in law. People may wonder why this dish was named after an old woman. In today’s story, let’s take a look of the origin of “Mapo totu”. Join other motivated learners on your Chinese learning journey with maayot. Receive a daily chinese reading in Mandarin Chinese in your inbox. F...

Listening carefully to others is not a difficult thing to do, but many people tend to ignore the messages others send to us. In today’s story, our protagonists are two friends, one of them created a puzzle for the other. However, even the answer is quite obvious, the other person still didn’t get it. Let’s take a look now.  Join other motivated learners on your Chinese learning journey with maayot...

The criteria to evaluate people is a very broad topic and difficult to come up with a conclusion. In today’s story, we are going to discuss the standard of a good man. We will see why it is difficult to have a general standard to evaluate people.    Join other motivated learners on your Chinese learning journey with maayot. Receive a daily chinese reading in Mandarin Chinese in your inbox. Full te...

In Chinese, people use Mr. Dongguo to describe people who are too kind and Zhongshan Wolf to describe people who are ungrateful. Those two terms are originated from a fable story of ancient China. Today, we are going to take a look at this fable story, let’s see what happened between Mr. Dongguo and the wolf.  Join other motivated learners on your Chinese learning journey with maayot. Receive a da...

Pagoda tree is also known as Chinese scholar tree. It is a very common tree species in China, especially in northern China. To Chinese people, the pagoda tree is a plant that has both practical and cultural values. In today’s story, we are going to look at why pagoda tree has significant meaning to Chinese people. It will help us to understand why it is also called Chinese scholar tree.  Join othe...

In traditional Chinese values, it is the family concept that the man goes out to work while the woman looks after the house. But for Shanghai local people , it may be an exception. In today’s story, our protagonist shared her view of why she thinks that shanghai local men are good husband.  Join other motivated learners on your Chinese learning journey with maayot. Receive a daily chinese reading...

In China, the tiger is known as the King of the forest, while the fox is known for its crafty. What happens when these two animals meet? In today’s story, we are going to learn a Chinese idiom, which originally associated with these two animals. Let’s take a look what happened between them.  Join other motivated learners on your Chinese learning journey with maayot. Receive a daily chinese reading...

Golf has become synonymous with fashion and high-end activity. In fact, many sports activities have social attributes. In today’s story, we are going to look at n ancient Chinese sport activity-- Chui-Wan. We will see that this activity is quite similar to the golf in terms of venues, rules and equipment etc.  Join other motivated learners on your Chinese learning journey with maayot. Receive a da...