A week of reading Chinese
Seven short Chinese texts about everyday life in China, one a day, with the hard words explained.
边吃边读。Eating and reading.
Seven days, seven texts七天
煎饼
Day 1
Breakfast on the street
A crepe from a roadside stall, eaten on the way to work.
高铁
Day 2
Four hours to Shanghai
Beijing to Shanghai on the high-speed train.
现金
Day 3
Nobody carries cash
Coffee, taxis and the food market, all paid with a phone.
广场舞
Day 4
Seven o’clock, square dancing
Music starts at the gate of the housing complex.
外卖
Day 5
Lunch comes to the office
At noon, nobody wants to go downstairs.
春运
Day 6
The trip home
The Spring Festival travel rush.
奶茶
Day 7
Less sugar, no ice
How to order milk tea.
Read the first one第一课
This is the email you get first, as it arrives. If you like it, one click in it sends you the rest.
Leon from Dengdeng
A week of reading Chinese, day 1: breakfast on the street
Hey, I’m Leon, the founder of Dengdeng.
For the next seven days I’ll send you one short text about everyday life in China. Each one takes about five minutes. Today’s is about breakfast.
Read it once before you look anything up. Notice how much you get.
北京的早上，很多人在路边买煎饼。煎饼很便宜，做得也很快：一个鸡蛋，一点儿酱，再放一片薄脆。两分钟就好了。很多人一边走路一边吃，因为上班快来不及了。
- 煎饼 jiānbing
- a thin savoury crepe
- 路边 lùbiān
- the roadside
- 便宜 piányi
- cheap
- 酱 jiàng
- sauce
- 薄脆 báocuì
- a thin crispy cracker
- 一边……一边…… yìbiān … yìbiān …
- doing two things at once
- 来不及 láibují
- not enough time, too late
Now read it again.
Show the translation
In the mornings in Beijing, lots of people buy jianbing at the roadside. Jianbing are cheap and quick to make: one egg, a little sauce, then a piece of crispy cracker. Two minutes and it’s done. Many people eat it as they walk, because they’re about to be late for work.
One question: what do you read in Chinese now, if anything? Reply and tell me.
Leon
