2009 Chinese Fulbright Teacher

Anhui University of P. R. C.

Why can’t you Fly?

All Chinese fly in the movies.

Do modern Chinese forget Kongfu or forget how to fly?

No, we can not Fly. We are walking on foot and only a

few people are practicing martial arts.

Shadowboxing (Tai Ji) is like an exercise that are taught in Chinese P.E. class to help strengthen your body and soul.

No, you cannot. Panda mostly lives in the Reservation Base in Chengdu City of Sichuan Province, southwest of China.

Panda is also unique in China, around 1,600 in total. We spent money to pet them or take pictures with them only in the base or zoos of big cities.

No, we not only eat herbs, but also drink water from specific time or place, such as dews, snow water or mineral water. We also take insects, snakes or some other “strange” things for medicine.

Most Chinese people believe in Chinese Traditional Medicine. It is accumulated knowledge and proved science. We witness too many “uncured” cases healed by it.

Mostly, young Chinese people, however, are impatient to take Traditional Medicine, acupuncture or have massage. We are sorry that those good things are so hard to swallow or difficult to take.

Instead, western medicine is easier to get and take as an alternative. There are good ones combining both Chinese traditional medicine and western medicine.

In 2003, Chinese drank herb tea “Ban Lan Gen” to guard against SARS.

Now, some are also drinking “Huoxiang Zhengqi Ye” or ginger soup to guard against H1N1.

We love to cook with some common and tasty herbs of the traditional medicine, and they are SO good for health. “Yao Shan” (royal medicine food) is both tasty and expensive in Chinese restaurants.

Chinese traditional medicine is used widely now in beauty industry, herb cosmetics, for example, are believed to be very natural and effective.

我能 (wŏ néng)！ Yes, we can. Each Chinese character has an

alphabetical sign to mark the pronunciation, similar as English with a tone (there are four tones). When you type the sign—pinyin, several characters will appear, so you can choose the right one.

Calligraphy is a unique art form in China. We use brush or even mop with ink to write characters. Governors will give some inscription as an honor to a place.

Chinese characters have strong influence on other Asian languages, such as Japanese and Korean. We share some similar characters as well.