Well, you didn't answer my question about Peking Duck, but that's okay. <vbg>
I didn't know that Peking was Cantonese, though. I thought it was an English bastardization of Beijing, since I did once see Peking referred to as the city's "colonial" name. Thanks for setting me straight.
I also didn't know that Mandarin is spoken in Taiwan. I knew that Mandarin is spoken in Beijing and much of China, and that Cantonese is from around Hong Kong.
Believe it or not, two of my children took Chinese (Mandarin) classes for a couple of years. They were actually "heritage language classes", I think intended more for children of Chinese descent to learn (or re-learn) their mother tongue. But, they were done by the school board, and as such were free and open to anyone - in fact the more students of any ethnicity, the better chance the classes had of surviving funding cuts.
I just love taking my kids with me to Chinatown here in Toronto, and getting them to say "thank you" for me in restaurants and the like. We always get extra fortune cookies that way!
cheers, frank
"The optimist thinks this is the best of all possible worlds. The pessimist fears it is true." -J. Robert Oppenheimer
From: "Alan Chan" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re:OT - Chinese Ducks-was: Happy Holidays to All Date: Fri, 26 Dec 2003 22:07:35 -0800
Believe it or not, Peking & Beijing are the same in Chinese writing (although the Chinese Communists made a mess and invented the Simplified Chinese writing, and distorted the usage of many Chinese words along the way), just different pronunciation. Peking is Cantonese, Beijing is Mandarin. Just in case you might not know, Taiwanese speak Mandarin and use Traditional Chinese writing. The mainland China use Mandarin but simplified Chinese writing, while HK people speak Cantonese and use traditional Chinese writing. So it is possible that 2 Chinese spoken people might not be able to communicate depends on where they came from. Great huh!!
Yours regards, Alan Chan http://www.pbase.com/wlachan
I've always wondered,
Now that we no longer call the capital of The People's Republic of China by it's colonial name of Peking, and now call it "Beijing", must we do the same for the duck?
Is it now Beijing Duck?
Just curious.
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