Food is a big deal in China. In fact, food and eating are so important that a common greeting is “你吃了吗？(Nǐ chī le ma?)” This means, “Have you eaten yet?” Want to find out about one of the most delicious, regional cuisines in China? Keep reading to feel the heat!

Chinese cuisine is categorized into four major groups: 鲁菜(lǔ cài), 粤菜(yuè cài), 淮扬菜(huáiyáng cài) and 川菜(chuān cài). Today we’ll talk about “四川菜(Sìchuān cài),” which means “Sichuan cuisine” and is known for “川菜(chuān cài)” in short. It’s quite common in China for groups of friends and family to go out for a bite to eat together. If you’re lucky, you might even get to have Sichuan-style “火锅(huǒguō), or hot pot”, a communal stew filled with...(Read more)

Dialogue:

Jié Kè: Tiānna, tài là le,  wǒde shétou dōu má le.
杰 克： 天哪， 太 辣 了，我的  舌头     都   麻 了。
Jack: Wow, It's so spicy, I can't feel my tongue. It's gone numb!

Língling: Hāha, zhè kěshì yǒumíng de sìchuān huǒguō, dāngrán là.
玲玲：    哈哈， 这   可是    有名     的   四川      火锅，    当然     辣。
Lingling: Haha, It is the famous Sichuan hot pot, of course it's spicy.

What happens when you combine spicy and numbing? You end up with spicy and numbing sauce, or “麻辣酱(Málà jiàng)”. The sauce mixes Sichuan’s unique...Read more. It's an extremely popular sauce all throughout China.

Example:

Wǒ fēicháng xǐhuan chī chuāncài.
我    非常        喜欢   吃   川菜。
I like Sichuan food so much.

The United Nations gave Sichuan’s capital, 成都(chéngdū) the award “City of Gastronomy” for its cuisine. So if you want taste some delicious food, especially something spicy, visit Sichuan!

The idiom "纸上谈兵(zhǐshàngtánbīng) armchair strategy" refers to people who engage in idle talk, but are unable to act on their high minded theories. It is usually used to urge people to combine theories with practical knowledge and not be bookworms. Let's read about the origin of the idiom below.

Zhàoguó jiāngjūn Zhào Kuò cóng xiǎo jiù xuéxí bīngfǎ, tánlùn bīngshì.
赵国         将军      赵      括    从     小   就 学习  兵法，  谈论    兵事。
The general Zhao Kuo of Zhao Dynasty studied military strategy and tactics from childhood.

Dàn tā zhǐ huì zhǐ shàng lùn bīngshù, cóng méi shàng guò zhànchǎng, 
但    他 只  会  纸   上      论   兵术，     从    没     上      过     战场，      
bìng bú shànyú yòng bīng.
并    不    善于     用     兵。
But he could only talk about military strategies on paper; he never went to the battlefield. So he was not good at the art of war.

Dāng Zhào Kuò zuòle jiāngjūn yǐhòu, quánbù biàngēngle jūnfǎ, qīngshuài de rènyòng jūnguān.
当        赵    括    做了   将军      以后，全部     变更了        军法， 轻率       地   任用      军官。
When Zhao Kuo became a general, he changed all the military laws and appointed officers thoughtlessly.

Read the whole story

Example:

Xuéxí bù néng zhǐshàngtánbīng, yào huó xué huó yòng cái xíng.
学习   不  能       纸上谈兵，        要   活    学   活    用     才  行。
Learning is not about empty talk. You need to use what you learn.

Yào chénggōng jiù yào fùzhū xíngdòng, zhǐ kào zhǐshàngtánbīng shì bù xíng de.
要     成功          就  要  付诸    行动，      只  靠     纸上谈兵           是  不  行   的。
You must act if you want to succeed. It is no use to be an armchair strategist.