Grammar
北京的文化
Běijīng de wénhuà
Beijing Culture
我们只在上海两天，就坐火车去北京了。
Wǒmen zhǐ zài Shànghǎi liǎng tiān, jiù zuò huǒchē qù Běijīng le.
After staying only two days in Shanghai, we took the train to Beijing.
- Here "to stay" could have been expressed by 留在 liúzài "to stay at", but the emphasis is on 只 "only".
- Note that 两天 is a duration and is placed at the end of the sentence.
- 就 indicates that the action is coming sooner than expected and refers to "only two days".
- 了 indicates that the situation is new and enhances the notion of change (we leave Shanghai and go to Beijing).
现在火车的速度非常快，有时乘坐火车甚至比乘坐飞机更节约时间。
Xiànzài huǒchē de sùdù fēicháng kuài, yǒushí chéngzuò huǒchē shènzhì bǐ chéngzuò fēijī gèng jiéyuē shíjiān.
Trains' speed is very fast now, sometimes it even saves more time taking a train rather than taking a plane.
- 有时, contraction of 有的时候 "sometimes" starts at the beginning of the proposition. It must not be confused with the conjunction of subordination 的时候"when" which is placed at the end of the sentence.
- 乘坐 is equivalent to 乘 or 坐 alone: co-verb that introduces a transport.
- 甚至 is an adverb that indicates we want to go further than what we express. Here, with 更, it reinforces the comparison expressed with 比: literally, the sentence 有时乘坐火车甚至比乘坐飞机更节约时间 would be translated in "sometimes to take the train even compare to take the plane more save time".
因为一般来说，去火车站比去机场的距离要近得多。
Yīnwèi yībān lái shuō, qù huǒchēzhàn bǐ qù jīchǎng de jùlí yào jìn de duō.
Because in general, going to the train station is much closer than going to the airport.
- 一般 "in general / generally", 一般来说 "to say in general". It is not translatable as such, so we translate only by "in general". There is no difference from the point of view of meaning, but it will be necessary to pay attention at the place of these two expressions. 一般 being an adverb, it will stand before the verb while 一般来说 is in front of the subject:
冬天一般不太冷。 ""In general, winter is not cold."
一般来说, 这里的冬天不太冷。 ""In general, winter here is not cold." - Verb + 得多 "very / very much" to express a comparison 他比你高得多！ "He is much taller than you!"
- In this sentence 要 is used to express an estimate with a comparison. In this case, it is often used with 得多.
北京是中国的首都，各国的大使馆都在这里， 文化交流的活动非常多。
Běijīng shì Zhōngguó de shǒudū, gèguó de dàshǐguǎn dōu zài zhèlǐ, wénhuà jiāoliú de huódòng fēicháng duō.
Beijing is the capital of China, and the embassies of various countries are here. There are many cultural exchange activities.
- 各国 is the contraction of 各个国家 "each / every country". Please see Level 4 Lesson 2 for the difference between 各 and 每.
北京是个古老的城市，在北京才能感觉到外国人印象里的中国
Běijīng shì gè gǔlǎo de chéngshì, zài Běijīng cái néng gǎnjué dào wàiguórén yìnxiàng lǐ de Zhōngguó
Beijing is an ancient city. It is only in Beijing that we can find China as represented by foreigners.
- 才 here indicates the strict condition.
我们首先参观了故宫，这对法国学生了解中国历史很有帮助。
Wǒmen shǒuxiān cānguān le gùgōng, zhè duì fǎguó xuéshēng liǎojiě zhōngguó lìshǐ hěn yǒu bāngzhù.
We first visited the Forbidden City, which is very useful for French students to understand the history of China.
- "To be useful for / to": 对。。。有帮助. Literally: "towards ... to have help".
- Pay attention to the pronunciation of 了 le in the word 了解 liǎojiě.
晚上，我们和中国学生一起包饺子，这个过程增加了同学之间互相交流的机会，同学们更加熟悉了，大家甚至还会开玩笑呢！
Wǎnshàng, wǒmen hé zhōngguó xuéshēng yīqǐ bāo jiǎozi, zhè gè guòchéng zēngjiā le tóngxué zhījiān hù xiàng jiāoliú de jīhuì, tóngxuémen gèngjiā shúxīle, dàjiā shènzhì hái huì kāiwánxiào ne!
In the evening, we made dumplings with Chinese students, which increased the possibilities of communication between students. Students have become more familiar to the point of even making jokes!
- We saw the character 包 bāo at Level 3 in the sense of "bag" and in the word 面包 miànbāo "bread". 包 also means "wrap" and indicates here how dumpling is formed by wrapping the stuffing in the dough. It is a common activity very much appreciated by the Chinese.
- The final 呢 is here purely exclamatory.
我们还一起去茶馆看了一场精彩的京剧，演员唱得非常好，他们都接受过专门的教育。
Wǒmen hái yīqǐ qù cháguǎn kàn le yī chǎng jīngcǎi de jīngjù, yǎnyuán chàng de fēicháng hǎo, tāmen dōu jiēshòu guo zhuānmén de jiàoyù.
We also went to the tea room to watch a wonderful Beijing Opera. The actors sang very well. They all received a special education.
- 场 "place" that we have already seen in 飞机场 fēijīchǎng "airport" and 停车场 tíngchēchǎng "parking" is also the classifier of opera performances.
- In this sentence 过 guo is the aspect particle used to indicate that an action has been experienced.
好像同学们对他们的演出服更有兴趣，都想试一试，实在是太漂亮了。
Hǎoxiàng tóngxuémen duì tāmen de yǎnchūfú gèng yǒu xìngqù, dōu xiǎng shì yī shì, shízài shì tài piàoliang le.
It seemed that the students were more interested in their costumes and wanted to try it, they are so beautiful.
- 演出服 "theatrical costume" is the contraction of 演出 yǎnchū "performance" and 衣服 yīfú "clothe".
- In 实在是太漂亮了 the 是 is for the insistence.
我们还去了长城，长城距离北京大约八十公里，非常古老，在世界上很有名，可以说是中国的骄傲，风景也很好看，因此有很多的游客来这里旅游。
Wǒmen hái qù le Chángchéng, Chángchéng jùlí Běijīng dàyuē bā shí gōnglǐ, fēicháng gǔlǎo, zài shìjiè shàng hěn yǒumíng, kěyǐ shuō shì zhōngguó de jiāo'ào, fēngjǐng yě hěn hǎokàn, yīncǐ yǒu hěn duō de yóukè lái zhèlǐ lǚyóu.
We also went to the Great Wall, located about 80 km from Beijing. It is very old and famous all over the world. We can say that it is the pride of China and that the landscapes are very beautiful too, which is why many tourists come here to travel.
- We also can use 距离 jùlí distant / to be distant from" in place of the co-verb 离 lí "to be distant from" when the distance is relatively large and in general when it is specified.
可是长城有六千公里长，要花很多力气才能全部爬完呀！
Kěshì Chángchéng yǒu liù qiān gōnglǐ cháng, yào huā hěn duō lìqì cái néng quánbù pá wán ya!
However, the Great Wall is 6,000 kilometers long, and it takes a lot of effort to climb it all!
- To express a distance: 有 + distance + 长.
- "it takes a lot of effort" in Chinese: "to have to spend a lot of strength": 要花很多力气.
- In this sentence 才 indicates the strict condiction: "it is only by spending a lot of effort that we can climb it in full". This translation is not really correct because in our language, it means that it is feasible whereas in Chinese it is well understood that it is not.
一个星期很快就过去了，这次中国之行的活动，给同学们留下了美好的印象，还获得了中国学生的友谊。
Yī gè xīngqī hěn kuài jiù guòqù le, zhè cì Zhōngguó zhī xíng de huódòng, gěi tóngxuémen liú xià le měihǎo de yìnxiàng, hái huòdé le Zhōngguó xuéshēng de yǒuyì.
A week passed quickly and the activities of this trip to China left a good impression on the students and we also got the friendship of Chinese students.
- 就 works with 很快 to indicate that the week has passed very quickly (subjective).
- 中国之行 could also be written 中国的旅游, but 中国之行 uses an older form (之 for 的 and 行 for 旅游) so more literary.