Terracotta Typewriter

Pop Tastes

admin — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 16:01:04 +0000

The Pop-Tarts store that opened in Times Square recently has me thinking about the fruit-flavored breakfast treats. I never saw Pop-Tarts for sale in commercial markets in China–they were only available in foreign import stores at inflated prices.

It also got me thinking about flavors of Pop-Tarts. Many foreign snack brands have flavors available in China that aren’t available elsewhere. For example, Lay’s makes potato chips with lychee and blueberry flavors (I still haven’t found anyone who likes those flavors of potato chips). If Pop-Tarts were sold in the larger stores around China, what flavors would they have?

Please think of some creative Only-In-China flavors and post them in the comments. And if you can write a story or poem that somehow connects Pop-Tarts and China, we’d love to read it.

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Meet Up for Mandarin

admin — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 21:28:40 +0000

Last week I found another way to enjoy Mandarin Monday–with a group meet up. Apparently there are a few hundred groups around the world that meet up on Mondays to speak Mandarin. The groups that I’ve come across are listed on the site meetup.com, which is a social networking site that gets people to meet in person. Most of the groups are in the U.S., but it looks like there are a few in Europe, Australia, and Asia.

If you’d like to get involved, check out the Web site to find a group near you. Or you can start your own group to find people interested in studying Mandarin. The publisher of Terracotta Typewriter is now participating in the group in New York City.

There are also other Mandarin language groups that do not participate in Mandarin Monday, but we won’t hold that against them.

Taking Heat

admin — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 19:18:08 +0000

We’re experiencing simultaneous heat waves in the US and China. It’s very unpleasant for those without decent air conditioners.

Because the heat is making us lethargic, we’re giving you a Mandarin Monday post dedicated to this weather.

Heat wave: 热浪 (rè làng)

The heat wave broke my air conditioner.

这热浪毁掉我的空调。

zhè rè làng huǐdiào wǒde kōngtiáo。

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Making Noise

admin — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 00:50:31 +0000

Today we have another Mandarin Monday post to go with the World Cup, despite the English-speaking countries being knocked out of the competition. This is probably one of the more difficult words for which to find a translation, but it defines this year’s World Cup in South Africa (南非 nánfēi) and provides a nice China connection.

Vuvuzela (that loud plastic horn that is now invading countries around the world): 呼呼赛拉 hūhu sàilā

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World Cup Metaphor

admin — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 15:31:03 +0000

In case you’ve been living under a rock, we’d like to remind you that the World Cup has kicked off in South Africa. We’ll give you a few useful words and phrases to go along with the event.

Soccer (football to you non-Americans): 足球 (zúqiú)

World Cup: 世界杯 (shìjièbēi)

Goal: 进球得分 (jìnqiú défēn)

Getting published is like scoring a goal at the World Cup.
出版一本书就好像在世界杯进球得分。(chūbǎn yìběn shū jiùhǎo xiàng zài shìjièbēi jìnqiú défēn.)

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Two for One

admin — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 23:36:40 +0000

That’s right, you get two holidays for the price of one this Wednesday. Across China, the people are celebrating Dragon Boat Festival (端午节 duānwǔjié) with glutinous rice snacks known as zòngzi (粽子). For the poet in us, it’s a day to mourn the death of Qū Yuán (屈原).

As it follows the lunar calendar, Dragon Boat Festival falls on another important literary holiday this year: Bloomsday. It’s a day to commemorate James Joyce’s (詹姆斯乔伊斯 zhānmǔsī qiáoyīsī) novel Ulysses (尤利西斯 Yóulìsàisī). There will be plenty of readings of the novel around the world–there’s even a Yiddish reading of it in New York. For the most ambitious of us, there is a Chinese translation of Ulysses (no word on if there’s a public reading of the Chinese version anywhere).

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Holiday Forgetfulness

admin — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 15:13:12 +0000

These Monday holidays in the US always throw us off our schedule. The Memorial Day weekend was full of barbecues and fun.

Today’s Mandarin Monday (Tuesday) phrase:

I forgot it was Monday because of the holiday. I’ll get it to you on Tuesday.

星期一我忘了因为是节假日，我星期二答复你。(xīngqīyī wǒ wàngle yīnwèi shì jié zuò rì. Wǒ xīngqīèr dáfù nǐ.)

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The Excess

admin — Mon, 24 May 2010 15:29:27 +0000

Welcome back to Mandarin Monday. This week we have an idiom for you that can be applied to writing.

画蛇添足 (huà shé tiān zú) means to add feet to a snake. It is used to describe someone who adds something unnecessary, thus ruining the original work (the remakes of Star Wars come to mind…).

Your novel is well written. If you write more it will be adding feet to a snake.

你的小说写得很好。别再多写了不然就是画蛇添足了。(nǐ de xiǎo shuō xiě de hěnhǎo. bié zài duō xiěle bùrán jiù shì huà shé tiān zúle.)

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Spring into Issue No. 5

admin — Tue, 04 May 2010 20:04:27 +0000

Welcome to Terracotta Typewriter’s fifth issue. This marks the beginning of our second year of publication.

Download your PDF copy here.

In this issue we have a feature interview with Peter Hessler, the author of Country Driving, Oracle Bones, and River Town. We have poetry from Kate Bergen, Joanne Olivieri, and Jim Davis, Jr. We also have an exquisite corpse experiment with a few of our poetic friends: Rob Schackne, Susi Niedbalski, Andrew Carpino, Doug Johnson, and Prasanna Surakanti. We have fiction from Jack Frey, Jennifer Hecker, and Kevin Wu.

You can download our previous issues from the Issues Page.

Time for Poetry

admin — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 14:37:38 +0000

In the U.S., April is National Poetry Month. It was introduced in 1996 and deserves much more recognition than it currently gets. For those of you currently in the U.S., The Academy of American Poets has an interactive map on its Web site that lists events for the month (and beyond). You can access the map at http://www.poets.org/page.php/prmID/382 .

We encourage our readers to write at least one poem every day for the month of April. That should give you enough for a chapbook by the end of the month. You should also read poetry daily no matter what month it is.

Old Poetry Books