Language & Meaning
Can a sentence leave out who did it?
Mandarin can sometimes leave a person unspoken when the conversation makes them clear.
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Language & Meaning
Which way do you read a vertical page?
A vertical page changes more than the direction your eyes travel.
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Language & Meaning
Where did the tone marks go?
A Mandarin lesson may show tone marks that ordinary typing leaves out at first.
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Language & Meaning
How do you look up a character you can’t read?
A dictionary can begin with what a character looks like, not what it sounds like.
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Everyday China
Who imagined “Chinoiserie”?
A European fashion for China-inspired decoration tells us as much about Europe as about China.
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Everyday China
What does a museum label leave out?
A short label can tell you what an object is and still leave its journey unexplained.
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Chinese food
Who gets the dish when the table turns?
A rotating table changes how shared food reaches everyone.
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Chinese food
Can a menu word tell you how food was cooked?
A translated menu can lose the cooking method that makes a dish interesting.
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Everyday China
Why is there a river on the board?
In xiangqi, a river changes what pieces can do.
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Everyday China
How did blue and white travel?
Blue-and-white porcelain became famous in China while drawing on and inspiring wider exchanges.
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Everyday China
Who helped write the big book of Chinese science?
Joseph Needham's famous project was built with collaborators, not one heroic discoverer.
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Everyday China
Who makes Lunar New Year in Britain?
A big public parade is only one way communities celebrate.
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