Mandarin Cafe Blog

Aside from being the biggest manufacturer in the world, China is slowly starting to be a preferred working country for many foreign people. More and more people from all over the world are now coming to China to work and learn about its rich history and culture. But one of the biggest problems everyone has is the language. This is a problem not only for the tourists but also for the people that come to work, study or live in China. Some apps that help out tourist have been developed, but being an expat requires a whole other set of applications. There is a big difference between the simple tourist app and the expat app. Firstly and most important because if the app is more complex it requires you to have some reading Mandarin skills and understand at least some Chinese characters. Not to mention about the pinyin and knowing how to draw the characters. In this article, you will learn about the most useful Android apps for long-stay in China. 1. Baidu Map/ Amap for Geolocation (free of charge)...

China is the country that is developing faster and more efficient than any other in the world. And even though China is a Super-Power, the living costs are much cheaper than in other countries like USA, Canada, UK, and Russia. The local population has an average salary of 3000-5000 Yuan, depending on the region. This amount may not seem much, but the rent is quite cheap in China. For example, if you share your room with someone you can find a place for 1500 Yuan and if you want to rent a one bedroom apartment, the prices will range between 3500-5500 Yuan. Many Chinese people manage to have a good life with their salaries. English teachers in China Because the country is focusing on developing further and being more open to foreign investments, local people knowing English have a significant advantage. That is why the Chinese government is always opening new English teacher positions in the major cities and also in some rural areas. And because of its importance for the future economy of the country, English teachers are paid...

China is a country focused on culture. That is why the Chinese government has designed festivals for people to enjoy special events.  Everybody has the right to enjoy the free time in their appointed days off work.  That is why these holidays are either for all the citizens to enjoy or just for a part of the working force.  In this article, you will learn about the Chinese national (public) holidays, and compare them with the holidays in your home country.  New Year’s Day This is one of the grand occasions for the Chinese people. People in China celebrate the New Year like no one else. Since ancient times, the name of the New Year is “Yuandan” which means “the beginning day” or “first day of the year.” China is the twelfth country to celebrate this event and every person in China has a one day’s vacation for the New Year.  Spring Festival (The Chinese New Year)  This event is held on the first day of the first lunar month, and it lasts for two weeks.  It is considered to...

One of the hardest languages to write and read is Chinese. But there are a lot of Chinese translation apps that can help when you are in need. Without a little help from technology, you may feel like you can give up trying to learn Chinese. Everybody needs to use the right tools when they start learning a new language if they want to learn it faster and more efficient.  The Chinese language has thousands of characters and, even if you can manage with just 3000, when you find unknown characters you will need to translate them. That is why many Chinese learners just give up. But even if learning Chinese is a new challenge, with the help of modern technology you can be a master of Chinese.  These magic tools are Translation apps. In this article, you will learn about the best translation apps out there.   The four types of Chinese translation apps You can find four main types of Chinese translation apps. We are going to explain and explore each one of them, and you can decide...

Asia is now the world’s leading destination for high-achieving and ambitious expats. Shanghai, China, is the leading work destination for expats. China’s market offers a broad range of business perks, but also attractive lifestyles. In this article, you will learn about the seven reasons for working and living in China.  1. It builds your character Starting a career is an enormous challenge. Starting one overseas requires a lot of responsibility and maturity. If you get a job abroad, the chances are that you will be all alone there, with no friends or co-nationals. This means that you have to handle everything on your own. Sometimes, the recruitment agency that put you in contact with your new company can help you with more information about accommodation, paperwork, and other important things. In addition to this, you will have to connect with your new co-workers and form a team. And if you do not know the language this could prove difficult. 2. For the love of money  This is the first thing anyone wants to know about. Luckily, in China, this is...

Many people try to decide whether to volunteer or intern abroad. If you are thinking of doing this, you have to consider many things. Is this suitable to your personality? Does routine and structure appeal to you or you prefer the unexpected and unpredictable? Are you searching to become better in your industry or are you just taking a break from another type of work? Do you think there are skills you could learn from an internationally competitive company?  Many articles were written trying to convince you to volunteer. But this article is different. Often volunteer and internship positions overlap. In this article, you will learn the five reasons why you should consider becoming an intern in China instead.  1. Internships are often school or university affiliated Internships are mostly designed to train high schoolers and university students. Some universities even give extra credits for completing a specific number of hours. In addition to this, there are several options for internships and studying abroad. This includes the internship experience in the academic one. In this case, the university gives you...

In the first two months of 2015, China’s industrial profits returned to growth. This happened despite the weakening business conditions and the slowing economic growth in China, which is the second-largest economy in the world.  The year 2016 is so far highlighted by economic growth The profits earned by the Chinese industrial companies in January and February were higher with 4,8% than the previous year, totaling around 780.7bn CNY ($120bn), according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). This is a good thing, especially when compared with the annual fall from December 2015, which was 4.7%. This positive trend is the result of quicker products sales of the industrial firms and the decline of industrial producer prices, according to He Ping (NBS official).  The industries that contributed the most to this growth are electrical machinery, food sectors, and oil processing industries. The increase in profits was also the result of industry sectors benefiting from lower oil prices. The food industry has grown significantly as a consequence of the high demand and the price decline for some raw materials.  The National...

Students have the tendency of thinking about an internship, whether abroad or home, only as the perfect opportunity of building their skill sets and gaining experience in a particular field. Yes, this is true. But what students tend to forget and don’t even consider is that taking an internship at any company can be the first step in getting hired there. Even if your internship company does not have a position available, there is still a possibility of getting one of newly created posts for stellar interns who proved themselves to be precious team members.  In this article we offer you five tips on how you can turn your abroad internship into a job offer. 1. Have a career path in mind In some countries students feel the need to do an internship with a company to get a feeling about what real life is all about. And because of this, students tend to search for easy internships, which may not help them in the future. So before getting an internship you have to decide on the field you want...

China’s job market remains stable, despite the million job losses since 2008 due to economy crisis. But today the urban situation has stabilized and this year it will become even more stable. In just the three months of 2016, more than 3.18 million new jobs were created. The government had previously declared that 1.8 million steel workers and energy industry employees may lose their jobs as a result of excess capacity. China’s economy is slowing down, but it is still growing from last year, with the GDP growing 6,7% year on year reaching 15,9 trillion Yuan (~$2.4 trillion). And because the government wants to rejuvenate the economic growth, China is in big need for global talent, especially in high-end technical fields. Global talents needed As China has upgraded its manufacturing sector, the need of veteran technical engineers and workers with working experience has increased. Job seekers are scanning for new opportunities, and most of them are engineers in the manufacturing sector. The phone lines are red hot at the largest professional networking platform LinkedIn, China’s office. Cecilia Wang, the head...

It is better to move here when you are young and can adapt to the changes fast. China now is a permanent or a temporary home for more than 1,4 billion people, but surprisingly, sometimes you can feel utterly alone. Living here you will learn to appreciate the precious things in life, like family and friends. In addition to this, you will also become more outgoing and able to start conversations with strangers easily. After living in China for a short while building relationships will become something that comes natural to you.  China is completely different from anything you have encountered so far. The rich and old culture China has to offer is unique and makes people fall in love with it at first sight. Aside from the culture, the language and writing are completely different. There is no Chinese alphabet, only characters, and verbal language is phonetic and beautiful as music. China is also a very technologically developed country. Most people her are glued to their mobile phones, iPads, iwatches, segways and other electronics.  Come to China and be...

The Chinese government has recently decided that it time to end the era of outlandish international architecture that has invaded China’s skyline. This threatens the Western architecture companies that have been fighting over projects in China. Until now there were no rules so everyone could bring their fantasies to real life. Even in big cities, like New York, their desires were put in place because of the zoning codes, cautious lenders, vigilant preservationists and resistant neighbors. But in China, everybody was allowed to do almost anything. Because of this, we have sinuous towers, ovate concert halls, woozy museums and all sorts of organic-looking structures designed by Western architects for Chinese patrons. And if you want to do an architecture internship, this is the main reason why China is the perfect place for it. China is the perfect combination between New and Old This is visible just by visiting China, not to mention studying here. You will find here a lot of old traditional buildings, build with wood and pointy roofs. But aside from this, in the larger cities, you will...

If you managed with the hurdles of getting married to a Chinese citizen, you would see that getting a marriage visa or residence permit in China is an easy process. If you apply from outside of China, you will need to apply for a Q1 VISA (long-term reunion) first. Then, you will change that to a marriage residence permit during your allowed 30 days in China. But you will require a series of documents for this. In this article you will learn how you can get your marriage residence permit and what documents you need to get one. Bureaucracy first  If you want to apply for a marriage residence permit in China, you will need a series of documents: Registration form of temporary residence for visitors. The moment you enter China with your visa you have to register in 24 hours at the local police station. If you’ve booked a hotel room, the staff of the hotel will do that for you. Also, if you are a student, the university can help you with it. Each time you get a...

The Chinese language does not have an alphabet. Instead, it has characters. It is important to learn these characters and develop your Chinese writing abilities, be it by computer or by hand. For beginners, a major problem is the character composition and the stroke order. But more advanced learners find it more important to improve their writing accuracy. 

If you want to improve your writing skills and develop beyond speaking Chinese, you have to focus on two things: exposure to the written Chinese and practice, in that order if possible. In addition to this if you want to learn to write and read Chinese, you have to learn the components (parts of characters) and parts of words (characters). If you learn only a few combinations, it will be impossible for you to master Mandarin, because there is a high number of combinations you can make. 

Today it is not too hard to obtain a Chinese visa. There are many types of Chinese visas you can apply for, depending on the objective of your trip and the duration of your stay. The important thing is that you do not overstay that visa. In this article, you will learn about what happens if you overstay your Chinese visa and what are the best methods of approaching the authorities if you do. Getting a visa is easy If you have a valid passport (>six months of validity left + 2 empty pages) and all the necessary documents then it should not take more than 2-4 days working days to obtain your Chinese visa. Depending on the country where you apply for it, you can choose to receive it faster, in just one day, but only in cases of emergency and if the Chinese Consular Office approves it.  If you want to travel to China, the best time to apply for the visa is 60-15 days before your departure.  The Chinese visa is not expensive to get, and the...

A reasonable question would be: “hard for whom?” because Chinese people seem just fine with learning it. Little Chinese kids start learning Mandarin early, and in just a few years they can use those “impossible” Chinese characters to write down shopping lists and leave notes. So why do people who start learning Chinese find it so hard and complain about it?  1. Because of the writing system  The Chinese language has an entirely different writing system than a Western one. For some, it is beautiful, mysterious and complex while others find it ridiculous. But as soon as you start learning this system and find out more about Chinese characters, you will be more addicted and intrigued. For some, The Chinese writing has become a lifelong obsession, spending their day accumulating Chinese characters. It is almost impossible to learn enough characters to be functionally literate. In comparison to Greek, Russian, Romanian, Spanish and other languages which require only a few symbols to write it, the Chinese language has more than 80,000 characters. This may seem intimidating, but luckily you only have...

If you want to travel to China, you will need a Chinese visa. There are several exceptions, but in general you will require one. In this article you will learn about all the types of Chinese visas and how you can get one, depending on your need. General Information A Chinese visa does not take long to obtain. If you have all the documents necessary and have a passport with six months’ validity remaining (and two blank pages), you can get a visa between two (express service) and four working days. Some countries such as the US even have a rush service that provides a vise in one business day, but only in extreme cases, with the approval of the Consular Office.  If you want to obtain a Chinese visa, the best time to apply is between 2 months-15 days before your trip. You will not be able to apply earlier because the visa expires after 90 days (180 in some cases) from the time you obtain it even if you do not use it.  The prices may vary and...

The Great Wall of China is always fascinating for visitors, and rightfully so. It offers a pinnacle of authentic ancient architecture combined with beautiful scenery. The Great Wall is one of the Seven Wonders of the World, with Great Pyramid of Giza, The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, The Statue of Zeus at Olympia, Colossus of Rhodes, The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, and The Lighthouse of Alexandria. The Great Wall is more than 2000 years old and is about 21,196 kilometers in length.  The Great Wall of China offers more than ten magnificent places to see, and picking the right one for you defines half of your success. In this article, you will learn about the perfect places Great Wall has to offer its visitors. To help visitors pick the perfect spot, we put together 5 TOP places Great Wall has to offer.  1. Mutianyu (Mù tián yù – “Admire Fields and Valleys”) Mutianyu is definitely the most popular section of Great Wall. It is best-known, best-preserved, and the most beautiful part of the wall. In...

China had the bad reputation of copying everything and everybody. But after the year 2000, the government decided that it’s time to remove this label and focus on innovation. Over the last decade and a half, the country has been using its billion plus population to power the economic growth. In this article, you will learn what are the seven secrets that made China the global power it is today. 1. The Government Although the western media is presenting the Chinese government as a bad thing, the reality lays elsewhere. The government is focusing all its powers and has remained committed to economic growth and implementing good policy decisions. From the time of Deng Xiaoping, who set the tone, nothing was able to disrupt the flow, including changes in ideology, leadership, and community politics.  2. China’s high rate of savings The high rate of its savings is another reason why China is so successful. The country concentrates all the salaries paid to workers in just four big banks that are managed by the state. All the money are used by...

There are many reasons why you should start studying Chinese. Some people enjoy learning a new language while some people are just fascinated with the beautiful Chinese handwriting, poetic phrasing, and melodic spoken language. But aside from all this, there are a lot of very pragmatic reasons why you should learn Chinese, especially because it has become a language more relevant in the world of commerce. Nowadays China became a political, economic and social power. And even though people complain about how hard Chinese is, truth be told, Mandarin Chinese is a language you can learn in your spare time. Also learning Mandarin Chinese is the absolute best investment you could make. And here is why. 1. Chinese is not that hard as you may think  Most people, when they hear Chinese, start complaining about how difficult it sounds. It is true that languages easier than Chinese do exist, but it is not that difficult to learn. People think that Chinese is hard especially because of the writing system. Unlike other languages, Chinese is composed of semi-phonetic ideograms and pictograms....

Mandarin Chinese is a complex language. Because of this, the language can be quite hard to learn, especially for westerners and English speakers. But with daily practice and a strong commitment anyone can succeed in mastering it. Use your textbooks, practice alone and with your Mandarin-speaking friends (online or offline), and use the language as many times as possible. But if you want to learn it both fast and efficient, you have to remember what the most important things in Mandarin Chinese language are. 1. Master the basics Mandarin Chinese uses four tones (actually five) because it is a tonal language. This means that different tones change the meaning of the words, even when the spelling and pronunciation are the same. It is crucial for you to learn the difference between the tones if you want to speak Chinese correctly.  The first tone –  is a high and flat tone. The voice stays flat. No rise or dip of the way it sounds. The first tone is indicated by the symbol above the letter a: “ā“. The second tone – is...