Photos from Taipei, Taiwan

[MarkShot]

I've actually spent very little time on my active Chinese study, since I have been so busy getting the new apartment ready to move in.  On the other hand, I am getting a lot of passive Chinese study.  About 80% Cantonese and 20% Mandarin.

[MarkShot]

Also, I intend to learn just enough basic Taiwanese as to make a good impressions on people.

The people here beside really warming to you if you speak Chinese (and even though they don't know Cantonese, they are very impressed to see you carry on a running conversation in it) ... tend to believe you are very intelligent if you speak one or more dialect of Chinese.  They equate language talent, which I have, with intelligence.  Personally, I don't.  I equate it with being able to paint or play music.  It's a special ability or gift, but not an indication of general problem solving intelligence.

[MarkShot]

But when it comes to learning Chinese characters, I sure wish I had a photographic memory.

[son_of_montfort]

出

Sorry, that's the character for "leaving" when combined with the square box, it means EXIT.

The character for tall, high, extreme is ...

高

Well that sucks, I thought I had figured it out!  :(

[LongBlade]

出

Sorry, that's the character for "leaving" when combined with the square box, it means EXIT.

The character for tall, high, extreme is ...

高

Well that sucks, I thought I had figured it out!  :(

It's just practice. And it's easier if you live there and see it all the time.

[MarkShot]

SoM,

But you do have the basic idea.  Chinese characters are created by brush strokes.  All but the most basic characters have what are call radicals.  The are effectively what might normally be whole simple characters that can stand on their own.  A character may 2-5 radicals.  Generally, the radicals contribute something to the meaning.  So, characters with similar radicals will tend to have related meanings.  (we are talking in a very broad sense; not like parts of speech in English)

Also, the radical may be included as phonetic component and not contribute meaning, but suggest something about the pronunciation.  But this is very dicey, since the characters have a very long history.  We are talking thousands of years.  (pronunciation changes over time)  However, my wife tell you that classical Chinese poetry reads better in Cantonese than it does Mandarin as the Cantonese dialect is closer in pronunciation to ancient Chinese.  (She got her undergrad degree in Chinese literature from NTU here.  But in some way it is closer to a Masters, since they don't have liberal arts education here.  You spend 4 years studying your major more or less exclusively.  When it comes to basic science, she is totally ignorant.)

Some words like for "white" or "water" or "rice" can be a single character.  However, most words are 2-3 characters long.  Linguistic analysis has shown Chinese to be an information dense language.  Meaning that for the same amount of data (think like computer bits), Chinese conveys quite a bit more information than English.

Lastly, I should that Chinese is a syntax oriented language.  Everything depends on word placement.  There are no conjugations, masculine/feminine, tense construction, possessive, subject/object changes etc ...  It's all the sequence of words.  I can explain this more later as I am quite busy right now.  Well, just a little, but we'll do it using English.

Only one word for "I", "me", "mine" ...

I give book you.  (subject)

You give book I.  (object)

I book.  (possessive)

I now come.  (present tense)

I tomorrow come.  (future tense)

{Like many syntactic languages tense is implicit if the time frame is already known.}

I hope that helps with some basic understanding of Chinese.

[MarkShot]

Aside from the economy and an overheated real estate market, this is the main concern here.  I am still waiting for Herman to write a Harpoon scenario where the Marines are sent in to evacuate me.  :)

The Mainland Affairs Council yesterday reiterated President Ma Ying-jeou's (馬英九) "three noes" policy — no unification, no independence and no use of force — in response to China's call for both sides of the Taiwan Strait to negotiate and sign a peace agreement.

Speaking at the opening of the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) 18th National Congress in Beijing yesterday, Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) also warned Taiwan against any moves toward independence and said that China would stick to the principle of "peaceful unification" with Taiwan under the "one country, two systems" model.

"We resolutely oppose any separatist attempt for Taiwan independence. The Chinese people will never allow anyone or any force to separate Taiwan from the motherland by any means," he said.

"We will agree to interact with, conduct dialogue with and cooperate with any political parties in Taiwan, as long as they do not advocate Taiwan independence and as long as they identify with the 'one China' principle," Hu said, adding that peaceful and stable development across the Taiwan Strait is a must if China is to achieve peaceful unification with Taiwan.

[LongBlade]

Aside from the economy and an overheated real estate market, this is the main concern here.  I am still waiting for Herman to write a Harpoon scenario where the Marines are sent in to evacuate me.  :)

The Mainland Affairs Council yesterday reiterated President Ma Ying-jeou's (馬英九) "three noes" policy — no unification, no independence and no use of force — in response to China's call for both sides of the Taiwan Strait to negotiate and sign a peace agreement.

Speaking at the opening of the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) 18th National Congress in Beijing yesterday, Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) also warned Taiwan against any moves toward independence and said that China would stick to the principle of "peaceful unification" with Taiwan under the "one country, two systems" model.

"We resolutely oppose any separatist attempt for Taiwan independence. The Chinese people will never allow anyone or any force to separate Taiwan from the motherland by any means," he said.

"We will agree to interact with, conduct dialogue with and cooperate with any political parties in Taiwan, as long as they do not advocate Taiwan independence and as long as they identify with the 'one China' principle," Hu said, adding that peaceful and stable development across the Taiwan Strait is a must if China is to achieve peaceful unification with Taiwan.

Good point. I remember chatting with a guy from Taiwan 10+ years ago and being surprised when he told me most Taiwanese expected to be at war with China in their lifetime. Do you think that attitude has changed?

[MarkShot]

Personally, I think the likelihood of anything serious beyond rhetoric is less now than any point in the past.

Earlier in this thread, I discussed some of my impressions of the "two Chinas" situation and why I believe this.

[MarkShot]

Also, if you read that statement carefully, you will see that there is a warning to the USA to not involve itself in China's internal affairs meaning Taiwan and Tibet.

[MetalDog]

Caught that in regards to Taiwan.  Did not extrapolate that to Tibet.

[MarkShot]

From today's news:

Although head of the Tibetan government-in-exile Lobsang Sangay repeatedly said that his administration would not challenge China's sovereignty over Tibet amid a rising number of self-immolations by Tibetans, Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC) secretary-general Tenzin Norsang reaffirmed the group's stance that only independence would be a solution to the issue.

Since 2009, as many as 70 Tibetans have set themselves aflame — one in exile and 69 living on the Tibetan Plateau — to protest against the Chinese occupation of Tibet and calling for independence, religious freedom and the return of the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama. The latest of these cases took place on Thursday as the 18th Chinese Communist Party Congress opened in Beijing.

"I would like to say that no matter how mighty you [China] are, you are powerless, you are powerless to stop the Tibetans' struggle for freedom and you are powerless to stop the self-immolations for the cause of Tibetan independence," Tenzin Norsang told a news conference in Taipei yesterday.

[MarkShot]

BTW, Google was just banned (disabled) by the Great Firewall as the People's Congress meets in the PRC to decide the country's future and new leadership.

[MarkShot]

True Tibetan independence is day by day becoming less feasible despite political and cultural issues.  The PRC has effectively been altering the society (or colonizing) Tibet.  There are now probably more Han Chinese living in Tibet than ethnic Tibetans.

Although China has national minorities, 90% or more of the population is of the Han race.

For the PRC, Tibet is considered to be Chinese territory, and the Tibetans an ethnic minority.

---

Is the USA living up to some lofty principles with regards to Taiwan and Tibet or is it just Geo-Politics?  What would most Americans think of the PRC taking an international position on independence for Puerto Rico or citizenship for the 20 million Mexican nationals residing in the USA (as large parts of the West were acquired by questionable politics/war).

Politics looks very different from here ...

[Toonces]

I'm eagerly awaiting your trip to the fish market so I can see some aquarium fish pictures!   ;D