Mǎmahǔhu is a Chinese word. If we dissect the word for it’s internal composition parts it becomes: horse horse tiger tiger. Translated from Chinese it means so-so,  mediocre. Not what you expected from horse horse tiger tiger…? Yeah, me too. And that is the word I chose to describe my level of Chinese after having studied it for… Read More Chinese is the ‘Yoda language’ or 7 most difficult things about learning it

If you want to go local – it’s time to go to the shop to get your first thermos. All the locals have one. Most frequently spotted in the cabs (in all forms and shapes…sometimes just green tea in jars), motorbikes, or other motored-vehicles… I guess this type of fuel is a must in the… Read More The Green Tea Thermos

The French institutions in Beijing are working well. Or so one is left to think, when you learn how Chinese people appreciate everything that is French. French people are perceived to be very elegant, refined, well-mannered, well dressed, experts of fine cuisine, have great expertise in wine, and most of all fashion… You can see… Read More What’s up with the French Obsession?

It’s been a week now since I have arrived to Beijing from Switzerland and, as promised by many of you,  it does feel like landing on another planet. The size of the city, the many-floor-roads, the time it takes to get from one tourist spot to the other, the taxi drivers who do not take… Read More Peculiar Things in Beijing