Goodbye Friends, Goodbye Nanjing – 南京我的任务完成了！

I don’t like saying goodbye and maybe you also don’t but I have to this time. My time in Nanjing has been close to a year and I have to wind up and head back to Kenya. Its been a time of learning Chinese language and culture in the best way I can and all…

Chinese Family Visit – Wuxi, Huishan District (无锡，惠山区)

It is not the veryday thing to get a chance to visit a Chinese home invited by your Chinese firend so every opportunity that comes my way I value it completely. I have visited 3 Chinese homes so far and I have come to admire and appreciate the Chinese culture. Their way of life and…

Graduation Day – 我们毕业了

Graduation comes around once in a year in our school and today was that day. Finally after a year’s study of Chinese full dose each and every day, today we graduated. Together with the rest of Chinese students, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine was swarming in glown-clad graduants. Graduation ceremony in China is quite different…

The Ordinary Prefecture – Welcome to Changzhou

After visiting Changzhou I took back my words and have never called it “The Ordinary Prefecture” again. Changzhou is like a strong glass of concentrated Chinese culture take all in a gulp without breathing. And yes we had it all in one day. Welcome to Changzhou. The city lies some few kilometers from Nanjing so…

HSK & HSKK Exams (汉语水平考试和口语考试) in China

The HSK Exams  are very important to anyone studying Chinese. With the recent introduction of a Speaking Test, test takers can gauge themselves on how well they can converse in standard Mandarin. In Nanjing, my city the HSK Test centers are quite many and most are located in universities which have a major in languages….

The Nanjing Garden Government Offices – 花园官署

The rising temperatures in the city has caused a stir as people take this opportunity to travel around Nanjing and its environs. The temperatures will rise till August making Nanjing very hot and humid place to live in. To most of Chinese this is okay but some foreigners would rather fly back to their countries…

The Confucius Institute Scholarship (孔子学院奖学金)

For the purpose of supporting the development of Confucius Institutes, facilitating international promotion of Chinese language and dissemination of Chinese culture, as well as cultivating qualified Chinese-language teachers and excellent Chinese-language learners…  You have probably read that line a million times if you have been to the CIS website, but am not going to bore…

Notice for Foreigners Living In Nanjing – Nanjing Public Security Bureau

Nanjing is regarded as one of the safest cities in China, and because of that security is an important matter to the Nanjing Police department. Today a team from Nanjing Public Security Bureau of the Exit-Entry Administration Division of Nanjing. The came to put some things clear and provide a level playing field to be…

Immersion – Playing Football

Someone once asked me which is the best way to study Chinese in China and I could only think of one answer – Immersion. The answer despite being very brief holds alot of importance which I have come to appreciate. Immersion comes from the word, immerse which means to dip something wholely into another. This…

Banking in China – Misplacement of ATM Card (挂失)

In recent times, banking in China has greatly improved and most of the cash movement systems are similar to the West.  Most foreigners who come to China have always had an experience worth talking about when they went to a Chinese bank. Mine is somewhat different since though it rarely happens but it is worth…