Welcome to Best Chinese Websites



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N.B. -This site is designed for educators and students. Here you will find numerous links that can be helpful in learning chinese and about the culture. Many sites link to others. If you know of usefu laddresses for this site, I ask that you send them to me at the bottom of this page. Xiexie!

Languages: Standard Chinese or Mandarin (Putonghua, based on the Beijing dialect), Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghaiese), Minbei (Fuzhou), Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang, Gan, Hakka dialects and other minority languages.


Webmaster / Professor Emeritus
University of Northern Iowa


5 May, 2008
Join the Olympics in Beijing next year on:
/ / 2008




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Test Your Level of Chinese Here
  • 40 short multiple choice questions
    We suggest you take 20 minutes to complete the quiz
    A great link for evaluation of your skills




  • ...

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  • China according to the BBC/more info below


    * * * * * * * * *
    China's People
    There are about 55 million ethnic minorities in China, each with their own distinctive customs
    costumes and, in many cases, languages. Though rich in culture, and varied, together they
    make up only about seven percent of the population, with the main group, know as Han Chinese,
    accounting for rest. Modernization of society and intermarriage are inevitably leading to the
    dilution of these differences, but many groups remain proud of their heritage and retain their
    traditional beliefs and customs. Many have beautiful styles of dress (especially of the women),
    and these costumes and cultures have become a major attraction to visitors, who bring trade to communities.
    Dorling Kindersly Travel Guide (2005) p. 24

  • For more facts about China --> [Press Here]

    Years: ...1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008, 2020
    Rat personality traits:
    People born in the Year of the Rat are one of the most industrious and hardest working in the zodiac.
    The Rat [2008] is welcomed as a clever protector and bringer of wealth
  • Geography
    China covers an area of about 9,572,900 sq km (3,696,100 sq miles), making it the third-largest country in the world.
    In many respects, its development has been shaped by its geography. The East Asian country has deserts,
    mountains and fertile river basins as well as the highest and one of the lowest places on Earth.
    It is high in the west and low in the east. Most of China's recent economic development has taken place in the eastern
    coastal provinces, leaving the rural interior underdeveloped.

    Ethnic issues
    The Han Chinese make up over 92% of the population of China, which is also home to 55 other official ethnic groups.
    Most of the minority groups live in sparsely populated border areas. Beijing faces two separatist
    conflicts in the western region - the Tibetans in Tibet and the Uighur in Xinjiang. Although
    tensions between other minority groups and the majority Han have mostly been hidden they
    have always been sensitive. And, after an outbreak of violence in Henan province in 2004, there
    are fears they could further deteriorate.

    Population
    China's 1.3bn people make up one-fifth of the world's population. But strict rules and changing
    lifestyles have led to lower growth rates. Most urban couples are bound by the "One Child"
    policy. Rural families are allowed a second child if their first-born is a girl. Many go to great lengths
    to ensure they have boys which officials believe is leading to a growing gender imbalance.
    China is seeing a great movement of population from the rural interior to the cities in the east. In 1950,
    the urban population represented less than 13% of the total - it is now about 40% and is
    expected to reach 60% by 2030.

    Economy
    Since the communist regime decided to open up to foreign investment in 1978, China has become
    one of the world's fastest growing economies and is among its 10 largest. But, with
    growth rates close to 9%, some experts warn the Chinese economy may be overheating and that
    should it falter the rest of the world could suffer.
    In recent years, China has also become a trading giant - it is the world's fifth largest exporter of
    merchandise after the US, Germany, Japan, and France.
    The economic boom has, however, created new social and environmental problems.


    Ethnologue Survey (1999) lists the following as the top languages by population:
    (number of native speakers in parentheses)
  • Chinese 1,321,851,888 (July 2007 est.)
  • Spanish (332,000,000)
  • English (322,000,000)
  • Bengali (189,000,000)
  • Hindi/Urdu (182,000,000)
  • Arabic (174,950,000)
  • Portuguese (170,000,000)
  • Russian (170,000,000)
  • Japanese (125,000,000)
  • German (98,000,000)
  • French (79,572,000)



  • Please send useful chinese sites to me below


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    ...

    Zaijian...Thank you for spending time here. Do come back and check out the many useful chinese sites above. Jim Becker, Webmaster ... Guo nian hao!
    A few of the easier things about learning Chinese:
    - Unlike many European languages, Chinese has no irregular verbs or noun plurals to learn, because
    words have only a single form, with no suffixes for tense, number, case, etc. (There are some particles
    which work somewhat like tense endings, but they always take the same form, no matter what
    they are added to.)
    - It is said that Chinese speakers are usually tolerant of a foreigner's mistakes--perhaps because
    so many Chinese themselves speak standard Mandarin Chinese as a second language.

    If you would like to know a few of the harder things about learning the language... go to:

  • How hard is Chinese?

    or

  • Why is Chinese so damn hard?