Hao Hao ReportThe best China news and blog posts

Thank you to 'Electric Sinophile' blog for spotting this one on 'Wired'. An item about the development of Chinglish [Chinese English] and how one day it may take off as a language within its own right. Actually, I thought it had . . . .

If your understanding of Chinese is limited to takeout menus, you need a friend fluent in Mandarin. With a telephone interpreter and translation service, English-speaking visitors to China can get directions, make reservations and basically avoid embarrassment. We tested two interpreter services in the market: chinaONEcall, a British company started in 2006 that promotes itself as "the interpreter in your pocket," and Language Line Services, which was started by a former California police officer 25 years ago.

The number of Americans studying in China increased by 25 percent [from last year] … People used to go to China to study the history and language, and many still do, but with China looming so large in all our futures, there’s been a real shift, and more students go for an understanding of what’s happening economically and politically.

One of the problems with living in China is that you begin to feel disconnected with the culture from your home country. You don’t get up on the latest trends, and it can be hard to follow the news carefully, or at least as closely as you would like to.

Is China a developed, developing, or Third World country? The answer: all three at once. Also: everyone worries about culture shock- but what about reverse culture shock? The perils of returning home after a long stay abroad.

Language podcast, 40 free online lessons to learn mandarin Chinese. Vocabulary, grammar but also character writting.

Once upon a time, in a land far away, a land with millions of years of unbroken culture but many broken parts, there once lived three little bears - DD, Dan and Dawanr. They all lived in a little part of the great land called TTC that was forever...

The English language is the global Lingua Franca. How are countries that have their own native language, like the Chinese race, cope with this form of communication?

Leisure and business travel to China is booming, mobile phones services have caught up to developed world standards and the Olympics, which China is expecting to attract half a million foreign tourists, are two months away.