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Page 12 of 17 · 133–144 of 204
Story · 2 min audio一片草叶Lu Ban and the saw: a Chinese legendChina's greatest carpenter has a palace to build and not enough time to cut the trees. Then a blade of grass cuts his hand.HSK 4
Story · 2 min audio牛的舌头Judge Bao and the case of the cut ox tongueSomeone has cut out a farmer's ox's tongue. Judge Bao Zheng gives the strangest advice: go home and kill the ox.HSK 5
Story · 2 min audio1985年的信The letter from grandpa: a Chinese short storyGrandma gets a letter from Grandpa, written in 1985 and lost in the post ever since. It asks her one question, and she answered it forty years ago without knowing.HSK 4
Story · 3 min audio陈老师的新名单The retired teacher: a Chinese short storyAfter thirty-eight years in the classroom, Teacher Chen wakes on her first day of retirement with nothing to do. Then her old students start turning up everywhere.HSK 4
Article · 2 min audio家族群里都有什么？Chinese family WeChat groups: red packets, good-morning pictures and health rumoursSix thirty in the morning, and the family group sends you a glittering lotus that says “Good morning!” What else goes on in China's family chats?HSK 5
Article · 2 min audio胡同是什么？What is a Beijing hutong?Your map app tells you to turn into a hutong, and the lane is barely wide enough for a bike. Where did these alleys, and their strange name, come from?HSK 6
Article · 2 min audio二十四节气是什么？What are the 24 solar terms?The Beijing Winter Olympics opened with a 24-second countdown, one second for each solar term. What are these 24 named days, and why do they follow the sun?HSK 6
Article · 2 min audio四大发明是谁说的？Who named the Four Great Inventions of China?Every Chinese child can name the four great inventions. The idea began with an Englishman who praised three of them without knowing where they came from.HSK 6
Article · 2 min audio拼音是谁发明的？Who invented pinyin? The story of Zhou YouguangThe pinyin you learned on day one was led by a former Wall Street banker who called himself an amateur and lived to 111.HSK 6
Article · 2 min audio中文为什么要用量词？Why does Chinese have measure words?Everyone learning Chinese has said 一个马 and been gently corrected. Why does Chinese squeeze a little word between the number and the noun?HSK 6
Story · 2 min audio伯乐和千里马Bole and the thousand-li horse (伯乐相马)An old horse hauls a salt cart up a mountain road until a stranger climbs down, weeps, and covers it with his own coat. The horse answers with a cry that reaches the sky.HSK 6
Article · 2 min audio高考是什么？What is the gaokao?One week in June, China goes quiet: building sites stop, horns fall silent, and mothers wait outside the gates in red qipao. All for one exam.HSK 6
