Chinese Course

Symbols

Chinese art is full of symbolic images -- you will often see dragons, or peaches, or plum blossoms on paintings, architecture, textiles, and decorative objects. What do these motifs stand for? Below are some of the traditional symbols and their meanings.

	bat: luck	peach: long life, immortality
	chrysanthemum: nobility, purity	peony: wealth, honor
	crane: longevity	phoenix: the empress
	dragon: the emperor; China	pine tree: longevity
	lion: power, dignity	plum blossom: transience, delicacy
	lotus: purity, continuity	tiger: guardian against evil
	mandarin ducks: marital harmony	tortoise: longevity

Zoo Animals

When you visit zoos in China, you will see a few animals that are not often found in Western zoos. The all-time favorite, of course, is the giant panda. Here are the names of some animals particular to China.

da xiong mao

giant panda

dan ding he

red-crowned crane

jin si hou

golden-haired monkey

tan yang

argali sheep

xiao xiong mao

lesser panda

What You Will Hear

We're all here.	Dou dao le.	admission ticket	men piao
It's closed.	Guan men le.	postcard	ming xin pian
Today is the day off.	Jin tian xiu xi.	foreign guest	wai bin
foreigner ( slang )	lao wai	Careful!	Xiao xin!
foreigner	wai guo ren	Photography prohibited.	Yan jin pai zhao.