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China Adoption Blog

06/04/07

Link roundup: Traveling, Learning Mandarin, Mr. Rogers & more.

Posted by : grant in China Adoption Blog at 08:09 am , 437 words, 116 views  
Categories: China Today, Adoption Process, Family Life, Irrelevancies, Academic Studies & Personal Memoirs

  • Going to China, but running around in a panic trying to figure out how and what and where? Journeywoman.com's "GirlTalk China" presents a big list of tips for women traveling in China.

    Topics include: what to pack (and how), where to shop, how much things are worth, the etiquette of dinner invitations, and a whole bunch of other stuff. As the name implies, it's all geared toward woman travelers, but men can learn a thing or two, too.

    There are also some sweet anecdotes (I like the "Will my adopted granddaughter remember?" series.)




  • Having trouble mastering Mandarin? According to a new study, learning Chinese is in the genes.

    Well, sort of. Dan Dediu and Robert Ladd of Edinburgh University found a pair of genes that seem to have something to do with learning tonal languages - that is, languages like Mandarin in which "ma" can mean mother or horse or rope depending on how you pronounce it. Oddly, it seems like the non-tonal versions of the two genes evolved more recently.

    SPONSOR


    I wonder if these genes are also responsible for musical ability - there've been studies about tonal languages and perfect pitch in the past.

    The researchers, by the way, refuse to let me off the hook. They say anyone can learn any language - it's just that these genes might make it easier.




  • I grew up watching Mr. Rogers. I'm not entirely sure why he seems to be popping up all over the internet lately, but I couldn't be happier. I found a fun blog entry on Fred Rogers trivia in which I learned something I hadn't known: Check out #7. Not only did he call for silent contemplation during the Daytime Emmy Awards. Not only did he address the Senate about the value of public broadcasting. He's an interracial family hero.

    Won't you be my neighbor?




  • And last, more not-terribly-cheerful news from China.

    A Noah's ark of endangered animals was discovered en route to the dinner tables of Guangdong. Local fishermen noticed the smell first. Officials found 5,000 of the world's rarest animals, including pangolins and leatherback turtles (two of my favorites), aboard an abandoned wooden ship that lost power off Qingzhou island.

    That's like a floating zoo.

    There were also some wrapped-up bear paws.

    The story has a somewhat sensational pangolin recipe which you probably don't want to read, but also says that the animals - all 13 tons of them - wound up at Guangdong Wild Animal Protection Center, where presumably they won't be cooked and eaten and may, in fact, wind up being sent back to the jungles of Southeast Asia. One can hope.







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