Pink Frog Chinese Fashion!

Designer, radio host, and CLSC faculty member Lin Lan has created a series of adult and children's clothing based on Chinese zodiac themes.

For more info, please see http://www.pinkfrognyc.com/ or email her at pinkfrognyc@gmail.com.

10% goes to CLSC for each tee; 20% goes to CLSC if one order is more than 12 tees.

For information on Chinese zodiac signs, please see below!

Rat:
It says that "Those born under the Chinese Zodiac sign of the Rat are quick-witted, clever, charming, sharp and funny. They have excellent taste, are a good friend and are generous and loyal to others considered part of its pack. Motivated by money, can be greedy, is ever curious, seeks knowledge and welcomes challenges. Compatible with Dragon or Monkey."
Years Corresponding to RAT:
1900 1912 1924 1936 1948 1960 1972 1984 1996 2008 2020

Ox:
It says that "Another of the powerful Chinese Zodiac signs, the Ox is steadfast, solid, a goal-oriented leader, detail-oriented, hard-working, stubborn, serious and introverted but can feel lonely and insecure. Takes comfort in friends and family and is a reliable, protective and strong companion. Compatible with Snake or Rooster."
Years Corresponding to OX:
1901 1913 1925 1937 1949 1961 1973 1985 1997 2009 2021

Tiger:
Tiger are authoritative, self-possessed, have strong leadership qualities, are charming, ambitious, courageous, warm-hearted, highly seductive, moody, intense, and they’re ready to pounce at any time. Compatible with Horse or Dog."
Years Corresponding to TIGER:
1902 1914 1926 1938 1950 1962 1974 1986 1998 2010 2022

Rabbit:
It says that "Those born under the Chinese Zodiac sign of the Rabbit enjoy being surrounded by family and friends. They’re popular, compassionate, sincere, and they like to avoid conflict and are sometimes seen as pushovers. Rabbits enjoy home and entertaining at home. Compatible with Goat or Pig."
Years Corresponding to RABBIT:
1903 1915 1927 1939 1951 1963 1975 1987 1999 2011 2023

Dragon:
It says that "A powerful sign, those born under the Chinese Zodiac sign of the Dragon are energetic and warm-hearted, charismatic, lucky at love and egotistic. They’re natural born leaders, good at giving orders and doing what’s necessary to remain on top. Compatible with Monkey and Rat."
Years Corresponding to DRAGON:
1904 1916 1928 1940 1952 1964 1976 1988 2000 2012 2024

Snake:
It says that "Those born under the Chinese Zodiac sign of the Snake are seductive, gregarious, introverted, generous, charming, good with money, analytical, insecure, jealous, slightly dangerous, smart, they rely on gut feelings, are hard-working and intelligent. Compatible with Rooster or Ox."
Years Corresponding to SNAKE:
1905 1917 1929 1941 1953 1965 1977 1989 2001 2013 2025

Horse:
It says that "Those born under the Chinese Zodiac sign of the Horse love to roam free. They’re energetic, self-reliant, money-wise, and they enjoy traveling, love and intimacy. They’re great at seducing, sharp-witted, impatient and sometimes seen as a drifter. Compatible with Dog or Tiger."
Years Corresponding to HORSE:
1906 1918 1930 1942 1954 1966 1978 1990 2002 2014 2026

Sheep/Goat:
It says that "Those born under the Chinese Zodiac sign of the Goat enjoy being alone in their thoughts. They’re creative, thinkers, wanderers, unorganized, high-strung and insecure, and can be anxiety-ridden. They need lots of love, support and reassurance. Appearance is important too. Compatible with Pig or Rabbit."
Years Corresponding to SHEEP:
1907 1919 1931 1943 1955 1967 1979 1991 2003 2015 2027

Monkey:
It says that "Those born under the Chinese Zodiac sign of the Monkey thrive on having fun. They’re energetic, upbeat, and good at listening but lack self-control. They like being active and stimulated and enjoy pleasing self before pleasing others. They’re heart-breakers, not good at long-term relationships, morals are weak. Compatible with Rat or Dragon."
Years Corresponding to MONKEY:
1908 1920 1932 1944 1956 1968 1980 1992 2004 2016 2028

Rooster:
It says that "Those born under the Chinese Zodiac sign of the Rooster are practical, resourceful, observant, analytical, straightforward, trusting, honest, perfectionists, neat and conservative. Compatible with Ox or Snake."
Years Corresponding to ROOSTER:
1909 1921 1933 1945 1957 1969 1981 1993 2005 2017 2029

Dog:
It says that "Those born under the Chinese Zodiac sign of the Dog are loyal, faithful, honest, distrustful, often guilty of telling white lies, temperamental, prone to mood swings, dogmatic, and sensitive. Dogs excel in business but have trouble finding mates. Compatible with Tiger or Horse."
Years Corresponding to DOG:
1910 1922 1934 1946 1958 1970 1982 1994 2006 2018 2030

Boar/Pig:
It says that "Those born under the Chinese Zodiac sign of the Pig are extremely nice, good-mannered and tasteful. They’re perfectionists who enjoy finer things but are not perceived as snobs. They enjoy helping others and are good companions until someone close crosses them, then look out! They’re intelligent, always seeking more knowledge, and exclusive. Compatible with Rabbit or Sheep."
Years Corresponding to BOAR:
1911 1923 1935 1947 1959 1971 1983 1995 2007 2019 2031
Also, there are 3 more dragon tees($28.00/each) & dragon babies bodysuits($12.00/each) (please see the attachment):
Happy Year of the Dragon, 2012!

Dragon-themed Rolls-Royce for the Year of the Dragon

From: http://www.epmchannel.com/2012/03/01/rolls-royce-year-of-the-dragon/

European luxury manufacturers have discovered a fresh new audience: China. The booming economy in the far-east has awoken a desire for European upper-class splendour. Huge names like Ferrari, Bentley, and Rolls Royce are now successfully positioning themselves in the Chinese market with great success.

Exclusive for China

The importance of the Chinese market is perfectly illustrated by Rolls Royce’s new “Year of the Dragon” special-edition model. It’s a new version of the Rolls Royce Phantom (in production since 2003) aimed specifically at far-eastern buyers. The British manufacturer's venture into the far east is further testimony to the widespread appeal of their 400 000 to 470000 Euro luxury limousines.

Rolls Royce in red

Perhaps the most obvious characteristic of the “Year of the Dragon” edition is its specially developed metallic red paint. A golden stipe with a striking dragon logo stretches over the length of the limousine. The interior is finished in matching red leather, and the dragon logo is also found on the seating headrests - quite a change from the normally subtle Rolls Royce colors. A “Year of the Dragon – 2012” script that runs along the door panels provides the finishing touch.

Specifications remain unchanged

The technical aspects of the “Year of the Dragon” edition Phantom remain unchanged: a 12-cylinder motor (6740 cm2) provides 338 kw/ 460 hp at 5350 rpm, with the maximum torque of 720 Newton meters reached at 3500 rpm. Details about when the special edition will go on sale and what it will cost remain a mystery. We can however assume that it will be released sometime during this, the year of the dragon.

CLSC's 10th Annual Chinese New Year Festival!

For more pictures please visit us on Facebook at Chinese Language School of Connecticut.

Chinese New Year Movies to Watch

http://blogs.wsj.com/scene/2012/01/20/chinese-new-year-movies-to-watch/

With the coming Year of the Dragon, Hong Kong is getting into the festive mood with the release of two Chinese New Year comedies.

“All’s Well Ends Well 2012” (八星抱喜) and “I Love Hong Kong 2012” (2012我愛HK喜上加囍) continue the time-honored annual tradition of wrapping all-star casts, zany antics, singing and dancing into feel-good family movies.

The long holiday break is typically a major movie-going period in Hong Kong, with the Chinese New Year comedy tracing its origins back more than 70 years. Much of the comedy is derived from poking fun at local pop culture and current events.

In “I Love Hong Kong 2012,” for example, there’s a take-off on a memorable scene from the hit Taiwan movie “You Are the Apple of My Eye,” recently crowned the highest-grossing Chinese-language film in Hong Kong history.

It’s also an opportunity for stars best known for dramatic roles to kick off their shoes and have some fun. In “All’s Well Ends Well 2012,” martial-arts star Donnie Yen (甄子丹) plays a washed-up rock singer (yes, he sings and plays guitar), turning his image as an action hero on its head. And Chapman To (杜汶澤) delivers a bull’s-eye impersonation of Hong Kong director Peter Chan, one of the industry’s most recognizable filmmakers.

Actor-producer Raymond Wong, a three-decade veteran of local comedies, is the creative force behind the “All’s Well Ends Well” series, which began 20 years ago with stars such as Maggie Cheung (張曼玉) and Stephen Chow (周星馳). This year’s movie is the seventh in the series, four of which have been produced since 2009.

Mr. Wong told The Wall Street Journal last year that he expected to give the series a break after “All’s Well Ends Well 2011,” but nothing speaks louder than success. Last year’s entry pulled in 167.7 million yuan ($26.5 million) at the mainland China box office, according to media-research firm EntGroup, making it a holiday hit. Mr. Wong says now that he couldn’t ignore the approval from an eager audience and plowed ahead to produce this year’s entry.

More In Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year Movies to Watch
Weekend Plans in Singapore: CNY at Marina Bay
Weekend Plans in Beijing: CNY Ballet
A Dragon's Year, From Cufflinks to Kicks
Preparing for the Year of the Dragon, in Pictures
Eric Tsang, another veteran of Hong Kong movies, is the star of the “I Love Hong Kong” movies — this is the second in the young series — and numerous other Lunar New Year comedies. The success of last year’s “I Love Hong Kong” — it came in at No. 8 on the top 10 box-office films for 2011, earning 26.7 million Hong Kong dollars (US$3.4 million) — guaranteed the production of this year’s movie.

Messrs. Tsang and Wong have a long history with Chinese New Year comedies. They have even collaborated on several movies, including on one of the most memorable and commercially successful New Year comedies ever: “Aces Go Places” in 1982. That movie and four others are part of a retrospective at the Hong Kong Film Archive next week celebrating the Chinese New Year comedy.

This year, Mr. Wong says that he is again ready to give the “All’s Well Ends Well” franchise a break. So what can audiences expect from him next year? He’s contemplating a return to the “Aces Go Places” series.

Like Scene Asia on Facebook for the latest updates.

10th Annual Chinese New Year Festival!

photo caption: Greenwich High School sophomore Grant Wang, 15, Greenwich, leads his Dragon Troupe, including Derek Wang, 10, Greenwich, Jack Rowley, 8 Bedford, NY, Kyle Lum, 5, Harrison, NY, Brandon Lum, 8, Harrison, NY, Henry Lagani, 6, Mamaroneck, NY, Ryan Chang, 9, Pelham, NY.


Chinese Language School of Connecticut Celebrates
10th Annual Chinese New Year Festival

-- Anniversary event will showcase Chinese food, art, and culture --

“We are excited and thrilled to be able to offer this wonderful event to the community, and celebrate our school’s 10th anniversary at the same time,” Anita Lai, Chair, Chinese New Year Festival 2012


Riverside, CT, January 10, 2012 – A host of special VIP guests, Chinese acrobats, martial artists, dancers and traditional Chinese musical performers will pay tribute to ten years of Chinese language-learning at the Chinese Language School of Connecticut at the school’s 10th Annual Chinese New Year Festival.

This year’s Festival will be held Sunday, January 22, 2011, from 12:00-3:00pm at the Stamford Plaza Hotel and Conference Center, 2701 Summer Street, Stamford, CT. For information and tickets please visit: www.ChineseLanguageSchool.org.

Chinese New Year Festival Chair, Anita Lai, of Greenwich, CT, said, “It’s especially fortunate that our 10th anniversary falls in a ‘Dragon’ year. In Chinese culture, the sign of the Dragon is a very auspicious sign. It represents wealth, strength, leadership, passion, bravery, and innovation, a good year to celebrate in!”

CLSC Board co-Chair, Pelham resident Jeffay Chang, said, "The Chinese Language School of Connecticut understands the importance of having children experience the culture to better appreciate the language. We are again looking forward to our school’s 10th Annual Lunar New Year Festival!”

New Canaan resident and Chinese New Year Parents Committee Chair, Janet Leung Fonss, exclaimed, “Food, culture, entertainment, and FUN!! The annual CLSC New Year's celebration showcases everything wonderful about our school. There is no better way to experience Chinese culture and language. Our children look forward to this fabulous event every year!"

New Canaan resident and Chinese New Year volunteer, Samantha Connell noted, "My children have been students at The Chinese Language School of Connecticut for six years now and they love attending the annual Chinese New Year Festival. Being part of the rich cultural heritage makes learning the language come alive for my children.”

This year’s Chinese New Year Festival will usher in the year of the dragon with musical performances, martial arts, and Chinese acrobatics by the Chinese DBA Performing Arts troupe http://www.chineseperformingarts.us and will feature a lion dance, traditional dancers, children’s activities, children’s arts and crafts, Asian vendors, and an all-you-can-eat, authentic Chinese buffet luncheon included with the price of admission.

CLSC President and Board member Susan Serven, of New Canaan, said “It’s been an honor and a privilege working with such a wonderful team of volunteers on each of our last 10 Chinese New Year Festivals. We’ve gone from a small, CLSC-family event, to an elegant, large scale gala, with fabulous food and top-tier entertainment. I know I speak for everyone when I say we wish CLSC another wonderful 10 years!”

The non-profit, fully accredited Chinese Language School of Connecticut (CLSC) (www.ChineseLanguageSchool.org) teaches Mandarin Chinese as a second language to children and adults in their weekday and weekend classes, private and small group tutoring, iVuChinese online distance learning, Before and After School programs, cultural workshops, summer classes, and AP Prep sessions. CLSC is the only fully-accredited supplemental Chinese language program in the U.S. which uses U.S. teaching methods in order to engage children in learning Chinese.

For information on the Chinese Language School of Connecticut’s programs, please visit www.ChineseLanguageSchool.org or email them at info@ChineseLanguageSchool.org. For interesting articles on Chinese language learning and Chinese culture, please visit http://GreenTeaPop.blogspot.com and on Facebook at facebook.com/ChineseLanguageSchoolofConnecticut

* * *

"Control" is Character of the Year in China

Interesting that the Chinese character for "control" is the word of the year in China. This seems to indicate a growing expectation that inflation and price hikes should be kept under control.

You can listen to the following piece at http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/language_tips/cdaudio/2011-12/16/content_14278789.htm

New character took control in 2011
[ 2011-12-16 15:43 ]


进入英语学习论坛下载音频

The Chinese character kong 控, a word that generally means control, has been selected as the 2011 character of the year in China.

The word was chosen after recommendations from Internet users, expert reviews and online polling that was jointly organized by the National Language Resource Monitoring and Research Center under the Ministry of Education, the State-run Commercial Press, and the China Youth Daily, a report in the newspaper said on Thursday.

Two million Internet users took part in the selection, the report said.

Kong, replacing the character zhang (meaning price hikes)from last year, symbolizes a logical consequence of the government launching proper macro-economic policy to keep the hikes under control, said a statement issued by the organizers.

A statement on Wednesday after a three-day central economic work conference attended by senior leaders said the country would maintain the steady macro-economic policy and measures to control inflation, stabilize prices and regulate the property market.

The selection of kong indicates the public's expectations and the government's efforts to respond to the expectations, the organizers' statement said.

Moreover, the use of kong as shorthand for a homophone of the English word "complex" to express a special liking, is also getting popular this year, which reflects a more diversified lifestyle of the Chinese people, the statement said.

In this respect, the word kong usually follows a noun or verb. For instance, weibo kong refers to those people who like to use micro blogs very much and spend a lot of time micro-blogging.

The phrase shang bu qi, which means too delicate to bear a blow, was chosen as the phrase of the year, revealing the public's sensitivity to personal and social problems, and their call for justice and equity.

Also, "debt" and "euro debt crisis" were voted the international word and phrase of the year, showing the public's growing awareness of a globalized world, the report said.

.....................................................

Carter recalls his lifelong fascination with China

BEIJING - When a 7-year-old farmboy in Plains, Georgia, opened a package from his seafaring uncle nearly eight decades ago, he found a delicate model of a wooden Chinese junk - and at that moment a lifelong fascination with China was born.

From: http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2011-12/15/content_14267665.htm


Occasional friction won't derail ties between China and the US, former US president Jimmy Carter said in an interview with China Daily in Beijing on Wednesday. [Photo by Wu Zhiyi / China Daily]

"My uncle was in the US Navy here," former US president Jimmy Carter told China Daily on Wednesday, "and he would send me souvenirs from seaports where his ship visited. I got that package from Hong Kong, and others from Shanghai and from Qingdao. I still have that ship, it's in the bedroom of my boyhood home.
"Then later when I was in the submarine force in 1949, I came here as a young naval officer to visit the same seaports, and I was intrigued with the people of China," he said, noting that when he became president he began the process of normalizing relations with China that began in the Nixon administration.

"So it's been a long process in my life, involving China and my love for the Chinese people."

That sort of exchange was the reason Carter has been in China for the past week, marking the 40th anniversary of Ping-Pong Diplomacy at a series of events.

At a ceremony in the Great Hall of the People that he attended with Vice-President Xi Jinping, Carter said: "It was a very historic moment. But it was that breakthrough just with ping-pong players - that is people-to-people - that was really more important than the decisions of political leaders. And I think that is a stability that is going to prevail in the future."

On Wednesday morning the former president was taping a television spot at the US embassy to support President Barack Obama's campaign for 100,000 Strong - a push to have 100,000 US students studying in China four years from now.

"Now we have 165,000 Chinese students in American universities, and about 13,000 American students in Chinese universities. And in the future, they will be the leaders of our two countries. And they will also be knowing more about each other and the reasons for harmony and cooperation and mutual respect."

Carter said that despite his decades of interaction with China, he's learning about it all the time.

He said one reason for his current visit is China's interest in working with the Carter Center in Africa, for instance, in healthcare programs.

A meeting with a Chinese official, who is in charge of healthcare assistance to Africa, informed Carter of the many programs that China has in Africa to improve healthcare there, involving malaria and many other diseases.

"This was a surprise to me, and I think this is one thing that the rest of the world doesn't acknowledge - or know about - is how extensive China's programs are in improving the quality of lives of people in Africa and in poor countries elsewhere."

Carter is not overwhelmed by issues of discord between the two countries, from regulating the value of the renminbi to US arms sales to Taiwan.

He noted that rhetoric gets ratcheted up from time to time, "especially during US election years". And while some in Congress want to punish China for not moving as far as the United States would like on currency revaluation, Carter said flatly that such a bill would not pass both houses of Congress. "And if it did, President Obama would veto it."

"I think the more rational people in the US Congress - and in the White House - understand that this slight difference of opinion over the value of the Chinese currency is relatively insignificant. I've observed this very closely myself. Five years ago, it took about eight RMB to equal one US dollar. Now it just takes six of them. That's a 22 percent change in the value of the Chinese currency just in the last five years. So change is taking place - not because of comments from Washington but because the Chinese leaders in politics and economics agreed this is best for China.

"Decisions about the US currency should be made in Washington, and decisions about the Chinese renminbi, the yuan, should be made in Beijing."

"We'll always have differences, with our cultural approaches and our political backgrounds, our ancient histories," Carter said.

"But still, the ties that bind us together are much more important than any differences that might arise."