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Speaking of China’s Top 5 Friday Posts for 2011

J.T. Tran, the Asian Playboy
J.T. Tran tops the 2011 Friday posts with his exclusive interview with Speaking of China, where he doles out his dating advice for men. (photo from theotherasians.com)

Once again, we’re revisiting the best of 2011 by views for our Friday posts. Whether you’re new to this blog or looking for some classic articles, check out these top five posts:

  1. Ask the Yangxifu: Dating Advice for Chinese Men from J.T. Tran, the Asian Playboy. My conversation with J.T. Tran early in 2011 still remains one of the most popular posts on this site. A must-read for any Asian men wondering how to find the Western women of their dreams.
  2. Six Western Women of the Past Who Married Chinese Men. My post on these “yangxifu grandmothers” of the past inspired many of you.
  3. Ask the Yangxifu: Chinese Boyfriend Seems Too Chinese to Western Girlfriend. When a Western woman tells her Chinese boyfriend he’s “too Chinese,” he wonders — is “too Chinese” unattractive to Western women?
  4. Ask the Yangxifu: Staring in China at Couples of Chinese Men-Western Women. A Chinese man loves the Western woman he just started dating, but not the stares and attention from his fellow Chinese when they’re in public.
  5. Ask the Yangxifu: Western women in China are NOT all sluts. Despite what you might have seen Samantha doing in “Sex and the City,” all Western women are not sluts.

Happy Holidays and Happy 2012!

P.S.: Don’t forget to check out my Favorites page, with my own hand-picked list of the best posts on Speaking of China.

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Sharing the Sweetness and the Sorrows

A couple of two bears, comforting each other in time of pain
In Chinese, they call it tónggāngòngkǔ (同甘共苦), sharing the sweetness and the sorrows, something my Chinese husband and I know well after his recent misfortune. (photo by Aleksandra P.)

“I just, you know, can’t take this any more,” I said, trailing off into tears in that office, as the advisor passed me a box of kleenex.

“This situation has been very hard on my wife too,” my husband said, referring to what happened over two weeks ago. Technically, it happened to him — but not according to my tears.

These past couple of weeks, we’ve knocked on doors together, even if John did the talking. We’ve discussed next steps, even though John will have to take them alone. We’ve held each other in the dark, and taken turns crying in offices. Continue reading “Sharing the Sweetness and the Sorrows”

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Mandarin Love: Chinese Phrases On Love and Destiny

A night sky filled with stars and glowing with possibilities
In this first installment of Mandarin Love, I share some of my favorite Chinese idioms that invoke love and destiny. (photo by Billy Frank Alexander)

Love and destiny, love and destiny. In China, they’re as inseparable as Chinese New Year and fireworks. So if you want to talk love in Mandarin Chinese, some of the best phrases invoke or suggest destiny. Here are some of my favorite idioms:

有缘千里来相会 (Yǒu yuán qiānlǐ lái xiānghui)
“We have the destiny to meet across a thousand miles.”

This is my favorite phrase combining love and destiny in Chinese, probably because my Chinese husband uses it all the time to refer to our marriage. It’s no wonder either — the use of distance perfectly captures how a foreigner and a Chinese, separated by thousands of miles and geography, came to love one another. Continue reading “Mandarin Love: Chinese Phrases On Love and Destiny”

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