(that day I put it in my space but I did not read the whole thing)

When finishing reading below Chinese paragraphs, I burst into laughter. Beijing dialect of Mandarin and Beijing slang are really good and vivid enough for describing things and people. Many of the words here are the first time for me to know (what a shame!) 

When people talk to me, sometimes they would say: “you have a strong Beijing accent.” I think, they refer to tones and “er”. I would happily tell them “yes, I was born in alleys and lived in alleys.” “.. am not an Old Beijingner or  Hutong chuanzi(string of sub-alleys)” mmm… maybe now you can say that.  I do not care cause AM a Hutong chuanzi! Many of my neighbors who are Old Beijingners impacted me a lot on my accent when I started to speak in Siheyuan(the quadrangal). But I do seldom use dialect and slang. With a southerner's face, when i open my mouth to speak, am a totally Beijingner! Oh, my Siheyuan, it was gone for ages even the alleys are still there… Siheyuan culture is in danger!!!

It is true that Beijing dialect of Mandarin has a good sense of humor and it is sarcastic and ironic. Also here people even do some sort of self-mockery while making fun of others/things … that is how we are.  Many of Beijingners are nice and good hearted but with a sharp tongue. Am one of that type?? But many non-Beijingners who do not understand our humor feel unhappy and even hurt. That is why I always had a “fight” with Iris( I wonder ) in IBS…Many people may think Beijingners are arrogant and posh… Aha,  You should remember that we grew up under the imperial root( in the imperial city)! What a pride!  And we use Nin (a polite way to say “you”) instead of Ni( means you) to call/greet you guys. That makes you treated like a noble…hehehe..)) But if Beijingners are called stupid assholes… I would say: “ yes I am ! Am a stupid asshole and you definitely are as well”...))

Characters of Old Beijingner: courtesy is their first; Nin( a polite way to say you) is always first word in greetings/speaking... Dafang(a kind of generous), not-exclusive, nice and helpful, love chatting.

胡同串子(hutong chuanzi, string of sub-alleys ): people idle all day long, no work, hang around in alleys..

[转载]

     都说老北京话温情也损，既幽默也自嘲。

     老北京人说女人，说这个女孩儿漂亮就用“尖果”，如果难看的女孩儿呢，就是“苍果儿”或“涩果儿”，如果老和女孩儿膘在一起，就是“戏果”。那被泡的女孩呢？就是“果儿”。您看，通过果子把女人的那么多方面形象地表达出来。那时候老北京还没有女权主义者，还能这样拿女人比来比去而畅通无阻。后来北京人比喻这些，也像他们的前辈。六七十年代，说女人漂亮，就牌儿亮条儿美，是飒妞儿，说女人难看就是困难户，男人总爱追逐女人，就是媳妇儿迷、花儿匠、拉蜜。女人和男人相好，就是“靠人儿”“情儿”“小蜜”。文革中一些男青年总想在大街上勾搭女孩儿，就是“拍婆子”。如果女人身材好脸不漂亮，就是“从后头看想死人，从前头看吓死人，一会儿就两条命”。可是也有人维护女人的利益，不许总拿女人开心，您看新京味儿作家徐坤，说话那个损那个幽默：“女人勇敢地把混蛋们卸下来，挖出那些昏聩不清的字迹一个个地进行重组、解析：嫉妒一男疾 男户 (与“吃醋”、“决斗”相关)，娼妓一男昌 男支(与“牛郎”、“面首”同义)妖媚一男夭 男眉(与“人妖”、“奶油小生”类似)”。幽默中把扣在女人头上的“罪名”全部戴在了男人的头上。

    老北京人说话不仅损（但是损也讲究度，不能让人家下不来台），而且逗，逗得还很形象。比如形容男人怯懦，胆儿小，就用忤窝子。那些总想巴结主人总是点头哈腰的，就是“哈着”。想讽刺一个人就会伺候人、为人奔走、拍马屁，就比喻为“碎催”。拍马屁过分儿了，就是“马屁塞子”。有种人天生小气，吝啬，自私，那就是“鸡贼”。与之相反，这个人仗义，大方，够朋友，就是“局器”。两人关系不错，就是铁和“瓷器”。没见过世面不开眼还土头土脑的人，就是“土鳖”。

北京人的幽默常常带点损，那嘴就像锋利的小刀。有次一位女新手开车上路，在慌忙中把车开进没有盖井的坑，一位路过司机主动下车帮忙。他用经验帮助女司机把车推出来，还没等女司机感谢，做好事的他冒出一句：“这么大坑都能掉进去，你今天手气真好，可以去买彩票。”其实，北京人的心地比较善良，而且道德规则意识在国内也算不错，但就是嘴不让人，常常做了好事，还让受助人因为受“教育”而不高兴。也难怪，老北京住在四合院或者大杂院，从小父母街坊邻居的大爷大妈就是这样对自己的。北京人小时候常常乖乖地听长辈的街坊邻里的“教育”，小孩也不会因为不是家长而说出“你管不着”的话来。北京人从小受大人教育，到大了又喜欢教育别人甚至挖苦别人。这“损”里面有时不是单纯的刻薄，而是有一种“打是疼、骂是爱”的亲切感在里面。有人说，北京人是典型的“刀子嘴豆腐心”，这个评价没错儿。

但是北京人说话的“损”可绝不是损人抬高自己，而常常是讽刺别人与自我嘲笑相结合。北京几年前经常看到一些轿车后面贴着“面瓜”的标语，一些外地人会不解地问：“这么新的车还卖瓜？”北京人会哄然大笑，也会告诉外地朋友：“那是新手，开得慢而且‘面’，所以自称‘面瓜’”。新手的标语还有“手潮，离我远点”，“新手，别吻我”……北京人习惯用“作践”自己来让大家都乐，在这种文化里，人们在很多时候，是并不在意话语是否正确的，而是品尝这种幽默文化的乐趣。

（本文摘自我出版的新著《当代北京语言史话》，由当代中国出版社出版）

See Lanterns

In the years of Yongle (58A.D to 75), Han Dynasty, Ming Emperor promoted Buddhism highly. A famous monk named Cai Yin came back from India. He told Ming Emperor that monks in India get together and look the Buddhist bones with reverence on 15th of January. Ming Emperor ordered to light lanterns in the court and temples on 15th of January according to the Chinese lunar calendar. He did this to show his sincerity to the Buddhist and this deeds spread to the folk places. From that time on, people light lanterns in the night of 15th of January according to the Chinese lunar calendar to celebrate the Lantern Festival.

Guessing lantern riddles is a popular activity added during the Lantern Festival. It appeared in the Song Dynasty. In the very beginning, some people wrote riddles on the lantern and people guess them. Because the lantern riddles are good for brain exercising and it is very interesting, this activity formally formed in Southern Song Dynasty.

Eat Yuanxiao

Eatin Yuanxiao is the long lasted tradition in China. Yuanxiao is also called as Tangyuan in some places. It is a kind of stuffed dumplings made of glutinous rice flour served in soup. Suger, rose, sesames, bean paste, walnut kernel, jujube powder can be stuffed in Yuanxiao. Yuanxiao is also a symbol of staying together.