Chinese Language Stack Exchange
Chinese Language Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [mainland-china]

Mainland China is the area under the control of People's Republic of China, excluding Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao. Use this tag for questions specifically related to language and culture in the PRC.

The term "mainland China" usually refers to China proper, i.e the People's Republic of China.

It includes:

  • the 23 provinces, including autonomous regions and municipalities

It excludes:

  • Taiwan
  • Hong Kong and Macao (although both are included in the term 大陆)
  • the Chinese diaspora and other Chinese-speaking countries, as Singapore
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How polite is too polite?

I've noticed in China that people don't tend to use as many 'polite' words as we do in western languages, like 'please' or 'thank you'. I want to make it clear that I'm not complaining about this; I find that such niceties are often overused in…
Cocowalla
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Analog of Hong Kong grade level for Chinese characters?

The Unihan database lists a kGradeLevel for each entry. This is the primary grade in the Hong Kong school system by which a student is expected to know the corresponding character. Is there a similar categorization of characters into grade levels…
Drux
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Is there a comprehensive list of vocabulary differences between 台湾国语 and 大陆普通话？

I've found many articles about differences in certain sentence structures regarding 台湾国语 and 大陆普通话, but does anyone have a large list of commonly-used vocabulary that are different? I spend a lot of time on the mainland and Taiwan, and sometimes I…
Kurtz
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Which IMEs (input method editors) are actually most used in each of PRC, ROC, and Hong Kong?

Because there are many kinds of input method and many implementations of each kind of input method, it's not really practical to learn many. PRC, mainland China uses simplified Chinese characters, as does Singapore. I assume most people in these…
hippietrail
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Is there a traditional Chinese New Year greeting?

I know people often say 新年快乐 to mean happy new year, but is there a traditional greeting used in Chinese to express your good wishes for the new year? If so, what, and how did it originate?
Ciaocibai
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What is the correct way to write 'niu bi', and how did it get its meaning in Chinese?

'niu bi' (牛逼? like the bees knees in English) is one of the more amusing expressions I learnt in my time in China. The literal meaning in English is quite colourful, so I won't describe it here, but I'm curious to know more about this term. What is…
Ciaocibai
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Is there a politically neutral Chinese term for Greater China that is acceptable to all Chinese speakers?

By "China," I am referring to the Mainland, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan collectively, without regard to geopolitics. Is there a word that refers to this entire region that would not offend any Mainlanders, Taiwanese or citizens of the Special…
K Man
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Job requirements for typing Chinese

Many government positions in Taiwan have typing speed requirements. In Taipei city job announcements I've found which mention this requirement, the minimum runs from 40-60 characters a minute. This is not that far from the US. California's state…
wpt
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Is there a Chinese equivalent song of 'auld lang syne'?

In Western countries (or New Zealand at least), auld lang syne is a very common song over the the New Year holiday. Is there an equivalent song in Chinese that everyone instantly associates with Chinese new year? Or are there a range of popular new…
Ciaocibai
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Did 劵 and 券 become variants in PRC/simplified in 1995?

The topic of 劵 vs 券 came up a couple of months ago and I did some Internet research at the time. I turned up a document about an orthographic reform in China in 1995 which included, among many other tweaks, that these two are now considered variants…
hippietrail
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how to translate this slogan '向前一小步，文明一大步' and the like in almost every public toilet in China

the other one is '靠近方便, 贴近文明', both of which have different versions of English translations, most of them, though, suck. they go like: One small step forward One giant leap toward civilization A small step for man, A giant leap for mankind Near…
Jim River
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What's the difference between 主任 and 主管?

As per title, what's the difference between these 2 terms? My teacher said that in China, 主任 is considered as low position, and 主管 is higher. But looking at the translation 主任 means director, which is generally a high ranked position, whereas 主管…
rcs
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How do I say 'excuse me'?

So, I just found myself in a spot of bother. I decided to go to learn how to make some Chinese knots, but everything there was Chinese, so I had to speak Chinese. I understood the instructions that the teacher was telling me, etc. and it was all…
Featherball
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Size of vocabulary of highly educated Chinese person

I've read in various places on the internet that the average vocabulary of a Chinese person is around 5,000 words. How about highly educated Chinese people? E.g. those with PhD's or holding top positions in the government or corporations. Estimating…
jdods
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What's the significance of Tangut?

With the preparation of the Tangut script for Unicode there seems to be extra added attention on the language, recently. Tangut being a dead, sinitic language with a script all of its own. What is the significance of the Tangut language?
Mou某
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