In Chinese, when we point out someone hold a post without qualifications or make up a number without active work, we use the idiom “làn yú chōng shù”. The direct meaning of this idiom is that pretend to play the Yu (a wind instrument) in order to make up the number for an orchestra. In today’s story, we are going to learn the original story behind this idiom. 

Join other motivated learners on your Chinese learning journey with maayot. Receive a daily chinese reading in Mandarin Chinese in your inbox. Full text in Chinese, daily quiz to test your understanding, one-click dictionary, new words, etc.
Got a question or comment? Reach out to us at contact[at]maayot.com

There are many famous mountains in China, such as the Five Sacred Mountains and the four Famous Buddhist mountains. They all have their unique landscape and historical stories. In today’s story, we are going to look at two of the most famous mountains in China--Mount Tai and Mount Huangshan. They all have been listed as World Cultural and Natural Heritage sites.

Join other motivated learners on your Chinese learning journey with maayot. Receive a daily chinese reading in Mandarin Chinese in your inbox. Full text in Chinese, daily quiz to test your understanding, one-click dictionary, new words, etc.
Got a question or comment? Reach out to us at contact[at]maayot.com

When we travel to other places, accommodation is a very important issue. We always want to pick a comfortable, convenient hotel with an affordable price. In today’s story, our protagonist Xiao Li travelled to a city during the summer. He had picked up a hotel that has no air-con. The most unexpected thing is that he was asked to pay additional fees on top of the accommodation charges. Let’s take a look how did it happen? 

Join other motivated learners on your Chinese learning journey with maayot. Receive a daily chinese reading in Mandarin Chinese in your inbox. Full text in Chinese, daily quiz to test your understanding, one-click dictionary, new words, etc.
Got a question or comment? Reach out to us at contact[at]maayot.com

In ancient China, there were four famous beauties. Xi Shi was one of them. There are several legendary stories about Xi Shi, and some idioms are also related to her. In today’s story, we are going to look at how did Xi Shi become one of the most famous femal figure in ancient China, and also learn a few of idioms that related to her. 

Join other motivated learners on your Chinese learning journey with maayot. Receive a daily chinese reading in Mandarin Chinese in your inbox. Full text in Chinese, daily quiz to test your understanding, one-click dictionary, new words, etc.
Got a question or comment? Reach out to us at contact[at]maayot.com

In Chinese, people using the word of “Bo Le”to describe the talent scout, and the word of “swift horse”to describe people who are talented and capable of doing things. In today’s story, we are going to look through an ancient Chinese story, it is where those two words are originated. The story also shows us how important it is to have a talent scout to explore people’s strength and capablities.

Join other motivated learners on your Chinese learning journey with maayot. Receive a daily chinese reading in Mandarin Chinese in your inbox. Full text in Chinese, daily quiz to test your understanding, one-click dictionary, new words, etc.
Got a question or comment? Reach out to us at contact[at]maayot.com

With the development of social media, many people are willing to share what they see and hear during their daily life. Some people also like to post what do they have for meal. In today’s story, our protagonist recounted his experiences of having dinner with his college mates. We will see that his classmates have some habitual behavior before the dinner, and he didn’t quite enjoy it. 

Join other motivated learners on your Chinese learning journey with maayot. Receive a daily chinese reading in Mandarin Chinese in your inbox. Full text in Chinese, daily quiz to test your understanding, one-click dictionary, new words, etc.
Got a question or comment? Reach out to us at contact[at]maayot.com

It's winter time, and it's relatively warm when there's no wind. The temperature drops a lot when the wind blows. The power of wind can benefit many things, but it can also damage buildings and crops etc. Since ancient times, people's feelings towards wind could be very contradictory, it is a mixture of respect and fears. So people deified the wind, and developed the image of “God of Wind” during the Warring States Period. In today’s story, we are going to look at the history of “God of Wind”. We will see that in different regions, his looks are also differed. 

Join other motivated learners on your Chinese learning journey with maayot. Receive a daily chinese reading in Mandarin Chinese in your inbox. Full text in Chinese, daily quiz to test your understanding, one-click dictionary, new words, etc.
Got a question or comment? Reach out to us at contact[at]maayot.com

Today is the “Beginning of Winter”, which is one of the 24 solar terms in China. In each of the solar term, Chinese people have some traditional customs. Of course, these customs are differed in the north and south of China. In today’s story, we are going to look at a special custom for people from north China on the day of ”Beginning of Winter”. 

Join other motivated learners on your Chinese learning journey with maayot. Receive a daily chinese reading in Mandarin Chinese in your inbox. Full text in Chinese, daily quiz to test your understanding, one-click dictionary, new words, etc.
Got a question or comment? Reach out to us at contact[at]maayot.com

Today is the “Beginning of Winter”, which is one of the twenty-four solar terms. It used to be an important festival for Chinese people because in the past, Chinese people believes that winter is the season of rest and recuperation, people who have been working hard all year need to have a good rest. In today’s story, we are going to look at the climate changes and the traditions during “Beginning of Winter”. 

Join other motivated learners on your Chinese learning journey with maayot. Receive a daily chinese reading in Mandarin Chinese in your inbox. Full text in Chinese, daily quiz to test your understanding, one-click dictionary, new words, etc.
Got a question or comment? Reach out to us at contact[at]maayot.com

Today is the “Beginning of Winter”—one of the twenty-four solar terms in Chinese lunar calendar. In the north China, majority of the houses have turned on the heating because it is pretty cold already. In today’s story, we are going to walk into the most well-known palace in China—The Forbidden City, and take a look at how the heating system worked in the palace. People who visit the palace always feel quite curious about how did people lived in the palace spend the winter because there is no single chimney can be seen in the palace. 

Join other motivated learners on your Chinese learning journey with maayot. Receive a daily chinese reading in Mandarin Chinese in your inbox. Full text in Chinese, daily quiz to test your understanding, one-click dictionary, new words, etc.
Got a question or comment? Reach out to us at contact[at]maayot.com