maayot | Learn Mandarin Chinese with Stories

The story of Songtsan Gambo and Princess Wencheng is not only familiar to Chinese people, but also to many foreign friends. People would like to think of their marriage as a fairy tale story, but it might not be the case. However it laid the foundation for the communication between Tibet and the Central Plains. In today’s story, we are going to look at the signficance of this historical event and what is the true identity of Wencheng Princess. 

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For some people, the main motivation to learn a foreign language may be the interests in a country's culture. In today’s story, we are going to meet an English teacher who is working in Shanghai. He made a plan for his vacation in Beijing and Xi’an. He is a big fan of Chinese culture. 

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In Chinese people’s perception, peace and safe has significant value. There are many blessing phrases related to peace and safe. Also, there are several things had become the symbols to represent peace and safe. In today’s story, we are going to take a look at what did people use to express the blessing of peace and safe during ancient time. 

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There are many idioms in Chinese associated with animals, such as monkeys, dogs, chicks, and tigers etc. To look at the words, it is hard to guess the meaning. In today’s story, we are going to learn an idiom, called “the horse month of the monkey year”. In addition to the actual meaning of the idiom, we are also going to discuss the relations between horse and monkey in Chinese culture. 

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Since the invention of the smartphone, for some of us, we've spent far more time looking at our phones than we've ever looked at anything else. We all know that we should not spend too much time on it. In today’s story, our protagonist recounted a frightening experience of her. It reminds us why we should not always look at the phone while we are outside. 

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In mid of April, a group of Asian elephant has “ran away” from their original habitat in Xishuangbanna Nature Reserve and started to head to north. It is a very unusual incident for Asian elephants to move from south to north, therefore, it has attracted great attention from public. In today’s story, we are going to look at what happened for the elephants and the neighborhood along the way they are travelling and discuss what the possible reasons are caused the elephants to leave their “hometown”. 

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Nowadays, the meaning of word “sir” is quite straightforward to us and it is also a basic word for our daily communication. However, the original meaning of this word is different to what we perceive today. In today’s story, we are going to discuss the meanings and the use of the word from ancient to modern times. 

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As China enters the aging society, the large population base obviously forms a huge market, and without any doubt that this market has great potential for growth. However, for the elderly service industry, there are limited companies able to enter the market. In today’s story, we are going to discuss how is the market segmented and why there are limited players in this specific market. 

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When we were a child, we may not have known the meaning of ideal, but that doesn’t stop us from imaging what we would like to do when we grow up. In today’s story, we are going to listen to a conversation between a mother and her daughter regarding to the topic of ideal. We will see that from the little girl’s point of view, her ideal is quite interesting and realistic. 

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In Chinese, there are many terms that are related to business contain the character of “Shāng”. In today’s story, we are going to discuss the origin of the merchant in Chinese history. We will see that there is a reason for these words contains the character of “Shāng”.

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In a typical Chinese family, there are usually three generations, grandparents, parents and the children. In today’s story, our protagonist introduced his family members to us. We will see that his family is an ordinary and typical Chinese family, also quite interesting one. 

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Mencius was one of the most famous philosophers in Chinese history. He has developed many theories in the field of education and social politics etc. In today’s story, we are going to discuss a famous saying of Mencius-- the people are more important than the ruler. It not only had a profound influence in ancient times, but also became a theoretical basis for China to absorb democratic thoughts in modern times. 

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To many people, the topic of true love sounds a little old-fashioned since people have become more rational towards relationship. However, it is undeniable that true love still exists in reality. In today’s story, we are going to discuss how to define true love and how could we find true love. 

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Several years ago, when China introduced the two-child policy, the birth rate for second child has increased considerablly. It has a positive impact on solving the Chinese aging population issue. Last month, when Chinese government introduced the three-child policy, it has caused a hot discussion in some of the Chinese social media platforms and many people believe this time, the new policy might not has the same impact as last time when the two-child policy introduced. In today’s story, let’s take a look at why the launch of this new polcy requires many other initatives to suuport it. ...

During an exam, we always try to write as much as we can on the exam paper in order to achieve high scores. Therefore, the exam timing could be very tight. In today’s story, our protagonist Xiao Wen had an exam at school. He was also trying to figure out what he should write on the paper when there were only few minutes left before the exam is over. 

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Today is Father’s Day, many country celebrate it in the same day. However, there are countries celebrate Father’s Day at different dates. In today’s story, we are going to discuss the origin of Chinese Father’s Day, and also going to look at how Chinese people celebrate the Father’s Day nowadays. 

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Speaking of “Guanzhong” region, many people may mistake it with “Guangzhou”, the latter is much well-known by foreigners nowadays. But they are two different regions and far away from each other. Guanzhong region indicates the region of Xi’an and surrounding areas nowadays and there were 13 dynasties built their capital in this region. In today’s story, we are going to discuss the significance of “Guanzhong” from historical and geographic point of view. It will help us to understand why those 13 dynasties choose the same place to build their capital. 

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It is quite normal that when a person reaches to certain age, when he or she does not have a girl friend or boyfriend, their relatives or friends would persuade and encourage them to go for some blind dates. In today’s story, our protagonist has finally met someone he thinks attractive, Let’s take a look what happened afterwards. 

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The development of character has gone through a long history of evolution. In China, there are many ethnic minorities and some of them have their unique written characters and speaking languages. In today’s story, we are going to look at the characters on the Chinese paper currency, which involved several minority scripts besides the standard Chinese character. It is interesting to see all of them reflect the history of character’s evolution and dissemination. 

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With the rapid development of cities, sometimes we find that we seem in a different place, although the place we were really familiar with in the past. In today’s story, our protagonist visited a place where he had been there for many times. He found that he could this place has changed a lot and he could hardly recognize. 

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The word of “ha” in Chinese has a few of different meanings and could be used in different circumstances. In today’s story, we are going to look at the use of “ha” as a modal particle word. We will see that it really makes some differences with or without using this word.

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In Chinese, there are many linguistic forms, such as set phrases, proverbs, sayings, and two-part allegorical saying etc. In today’s story, we are going to learn a phrase that describes the weather by using a special linguistic form.

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For people who have been to China, they may find the names of some places in north China sound a bit strange and funny and the place’s names in south sound poetic. In today’s story, we are going to discuss the differences between the names of places in south and north china and the reasons behind the differences. 

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In many people’s perception, the conditions of camping tours are very rudimentary. Due to the epidemic of COVID-19, people couldn’t travel really far away from where they are living and they want to enjoy the wildness as well as quality accommodations, therefore, a new way of camping has been developed among Chinese people-luxury camping. In today’s story, we are going to discuss what is luxury camping, its impact on the environment and how it impact on people’s life. 

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When we learn a language, we always try to pronounce the words as accurate as possible. However, it is not easy at all, even native speakers could find some difficulties to pronounce the words in a 100% accurate way. In today’s story, we are going to hear a conversation between David and Xiaohong about speaking Putonghua with accurate pronunciation. Xiaohong is a native Chinese speaker. Let’s see why Xiaohong advised David not to be too strict with him on the pronunciation.

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In the era of Internet, all kinds of new words and expressions emerge one after another. Most of them are quite creative and there would always be some reasons behind the creation of words. In today’s story, we are going to look at a new way of expression that is quite interesting, it often reflects two different meanings in one sentence and therefore, the form of the expression is different compared with other structure of sentences. Let’s take a look what it is. 

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In every country, there are beautiful and moving stories about love, and even if some of the stories are sad, they are unforgettable and passed down for many years. Today, we are going to hear a beautiful love story of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai. Their faithful and loyal love story is one of the most popular dramas on stage for Chinese people. You might have heard of the violin concerto "Butterfly Lovers" before, if you haven’t heard it before, we definitely recommend you to do. 

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Mountain climbing has become a quite popular leisure activity nowadays. Some mountains are easy to climb and some are difficult. In today’s story, we are going to see that our protagonist went for mountain climbing with his friends. Although it is not an easy one to climb, luckily they have some advantage on their side. 

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Speaking of friendship, the perception towards it is varied among people. It is intangible and hard to measure, therefore, people do believe it is important for everyone, but normally we don’t have clear idea to describe it. In today’s story, we are going to discuss the topic of friendship from scientific point of view and take a look how to make our friendship sustainable. 

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For people who had been through tough time with shortage of food and other supplies, it is understandable that they could be very frugal. In fact, frugal is definitely something should be encouraged, but under some conditions. In today’s story, our protagonist tells that why she felt that sometimes frugality with the wrong perception can also lead to waste.

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5 years ago, the stock market is the main investment channel for Chinese people in general. The trend has changed in recent years and public offering of fund become very popular among Chinese investors, especially for young people. However, when people invest their money into the market without any knowledge and experience, it is something really should be concerned. In today’s story, we are going to discuss the trend of Chinese market fund investment in recent years. 

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When we go hiking with friends, it could be a fun experience, and make us feeling relax and enjoyable. However, in today’s story, our protagonist finds some problems to complete the trip. Let’s take a look why she felt that she wanted to stay alone for a while. 

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Wechat is a very popular application for Chinese people’s daily communication. The development of voice message function seems to be very convenient for people who are not convenient to type messages. However, some people also find it would be very inconvenient to listen to voice messages from the receiver’s point of view. Let’s take a look what are the pros and cons for the voice message function. 

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Beijing Botanical Garden is a unique tourism site in Beijing in addition to those famous historical sites. In today’s story, we are going to take a walk in the garden and find out why it has become a unique site for tourists. 

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Today is Mother’s Day, which is celebrated internationally. But not many people know that there is also a Chinese Mother’s Day since 2006. In today’s story, we are going to discuss how Chinese people celebrate the international Mother’s Day, and the creation of Chinese Mother’s Day. 

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In our perception, when we feel hungry, we may find it is hard to concentrate on a task and eager to find something to eat. However, scientists find something interesting—hunger actually could make people smarter, of course, the feeling should not exceed a certain level. In today’s story, we are going to discuss why the feeling of hungry could make people smarter. 

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The fairy story of eight immortals is one of the most popular and widely distributed stories in China. It has derived into a proverb that still has been widely used. In today’s story, let’s take a look at what does this term mean under different circumstance. 

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No matter we are working in a large company or small firm, one fact is that the number of meetings we have at work is increasing. People have different perceptions towards meetings and majority of us don’t really enjoy meetings. In today’s story, we are going to discuss the possible reason of why we have more and more meetings at work and how do inefficient meetings impact on our work and life. 

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During the weekend, it has become some kind of tradition for some families to going out for lunch or dinner. In today’s story, our protagonist recalled her experiences of going out for lunch with her family. They are quite happy with what they had in the restaurant, let’s take a look. 

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If you have visited China or live in China, you must notice that there is a unified standard time called Beijing time in China. In today’s story, we are going to discuss the concept of world time zone and what Beijing time is. It would be interesting to know what does the Beijing time to do with Beijing. 

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