If you have a Chinese friend, you will often hear them say :"Next time, I will invite you to come over to my place"Most of your Chinese friend will tell you that, but how many really did invite you to come over the next time?One, or two...a few, if you're luckyOne day in Chinese Culture class, I asked my teacher about this and she laughed at me"Being polite is a part of common courtesy in China...but it doesn't mean that they will really do it"The next night, I met a Chinese. We became friends and he said, "next holiday, I will invite you to come over to my hometown"A few weeks later, national holiday, I call him again and ask "so what is the plan? when will we go?""What plan? Where are we going?" he asked me, looking confused."You said you gonna take me to your hometown" I told him."Oh yeah...about that..." and after a hundred excuses later...we are not going.Lately, I learned it again in a hard way. 3 months ago, on my university's New Year's party, I met this Chinese man, a boss of my university's canteen. He told me that he was interested in foreign students' activity and as I was a vice-president of the student committee, he was hoping that I will come and invite him to be a sponsor if we ever have any events or activity.We will have a football competition for foreign students next month and we need some money for the activities. I call Mr.Wei (not a real name), the restaurant boss, and arrange to meet him last Friday at 4pm. He show up 3 hours late from the appointment and we only talked for about 5 minutes. He told me that he will think about it and call me later. Two days later, still no answer from him and I send him a text. The next night, I called him, his wife answered the phone and told me that they can't spare any money for the activities. Damn!I told our supervisor (a teacher) about this and he laughed"They just being polite by saying that...but it doesn't mean that they will really do it"Do you guys ever have any experiences about this matter? How do you differentiate whether the speaker really means it or just being polite?Please share your opinion in the comment below.

Hello everyone. Some of you might know me, but I'm sure most of you don't.I'm a former participant in the first expat blog contest together with ColinSpeakman, Anming, mutafire, Maierwei (how are you guys?) and my blog(s) used to headline the mainpage of Chinadaily Blog back in the days.You want proof? Here it is :I have been away from this forum for almost 6 months now. What happen? Well, LIFE happens. I started my Master Degree in Guilin and everyday was busy as hell. Papers, assignments, research projects, traveling, etc...time flies and it's 2015 already.Today after I finished sending some reports to my teacher, I saw an email from China Daily informing me that they started another blog competition...And here I am.In the first competition I was doing great, but I lost in the voting.This time, I plan to win.I don't have many friends who can help me vote so I don't think I will ever get the iPad, but the prize that I wanted was to somehow become a STAR BLOGGER on this forum. China has been a huge part of my life these past three years, and when I graduate next year, I want to leave behind some great stories about China for the next generation of expats. Being a Star Blogger, will let my stories reach more people, and that way, the memories will live forever...So, nice to meet you everyone!Feel free to read my previous blog entries and I hope we can have fun and learn a lot of things from each other =)

Zhinü (weavergirl) is a goddess whose job is to weave colourful clouds in the heaven. One day she feels bored and decided to have some fun in earth. There, she met a Niulang, a young cowherd. They soon fell in love with each other, and decided to secretly got married without the knowledge of the Jade Emperor of Heaven. Zhinü proved to be a wonderful wife, and Niulang to be a good husband. They lived happily and had two children. But one day the Jade Emperor found out that Zhinü, a fairy girl, had married a mere mortal. The Emperor was furious and ordered Zhinü to return to Heaven. On Earth, Niulang was very upset that his wife had disappeared. Suddenly, his ox began to talk, telling him that he was actually a deity, and if he killed him and put on his hide, he would be able to go up to Heaven to find his wife. Crying bitterly, he killed the ox, put on the skin, and carried his two beloved children off to Heaven to find Zhinü. The Jade Emperor discovered this and was very angry. Using his power, the Jade Emperor scratched a wide river in the sky to separate the two lovers forever, thus forming the Milky Way between Altair (represent Niulang) and Vega (represent Zhinü). Zhinü must sit forever on one side of the river, sadly weaving on her loom, while Niulang watches her from afar while taking care of their two children. Feeling pity for them, Jade Emperor ordered that once a year, on the seventh night of the seventh moon, all the magpies in the world will fly up into heaven to form a bridge over the star Deneb in the Cygnus constellation so the lovers may be together for a single night.To celebrate this romantic legend, on the seventh night of the seventh moon, young girls will go to the local temple to pray to Zhinü for wisdom, burned paper items as offerings, they may also recite traditional prayers for dexterity in needlework which symbolize the traditional talents of a good spouse in traditional Chinese culture, and make wishes for marrying someone who would be a good and loving husband. This legend also inspired Tanabata Festival in Japan and Chilseok Festival in Korea.Thanks for reading, folks. I've heard this legend ever since I was small and I've read about it in many books and literatures. But still, I'm curious, how did modern Chinese society celebrate this festival? Because this festival always come on summer holiday and I always go back to my country during that time, hahaha. ChinaDaily friends, can you tell me?

I want to share with all of you my favorite Chinese song. This song is a song about love and destiny, how fate bring two people together. Have you ever felt how strange it is for one person to suddenly appear in our life but it feels like that we've waiting for their arrival all along? One day a stranger, lovers the next day.That's what this song's about. Enjoy.The lyrics are in Hanzi, Pinyin, English, and also Indonesian.If you are outside of China, you can find the song in Youtube.If you are inside The Great Firewall of China, you can find the song in Baidu or Youku.我的歌声里 (Wo De Ge Sheng Li) - You Exist Inside My Song / Kau Hadir Di Dalam Laguku[Verse1]没有一点点防备 也没有一丝顾虑Mei you yi dian dian fang bei ye mei you yi si gu lueWithout any precaution, and without a trace of apprehensionKau muncul dengan sangat tiba-tiba, tanpa pernah kuduga你就这样出 现在我的世界里 带给我惊喜 情不自已Ni jiu zhe yang chu xian zai wo de shi jie li dai gei wo jing xi qing bu zi yiYou appeared in my world, bringing a pleasant surprise, that I couldn’t resistTetapi duniaku, seolah telah lama menantikanmu可是你偏又这样 在我不知不觉中Ke shi ni pian you zhe yang zai wo bu zhi bu jue zhongBut soon after that, without me noticing, you quietly disappeared from my worldTetapi mengapa, tanpa kusadari, kau menghilang dari hidupku悄悄的消失 从我的世界里 没有音讯 剩下的只是回忆Qiao qiao de xiao shi cong wo de shi jie li mei you yin xun sheng xia de zhi shi hui yiWithout a word, leaving behind only memoriesTiada air mata atau perpisahan, semua hanya tinggal kenangan[Chorus]你存在 我深深的脑海里Ni cun zai wo shen shen de nao hai liYou exist, deep in my mind,Kau akan selalu hadir di dalam kalbuku我的梦里 我的心里 我的歌声里Wo de meng li wo de xin li wo de ge sheng liIn my dreams, in my heart, and in my songDi dalam setiap mimpi indahku, di dalam relung hatiku, dan di setiap dendang laguku你存在 我深深的脑海里Ni cun zai wo shen shen de nao hai liYou exist, deep in my mind,Kau akan selalu hadir di dalam kalbuku我的梦里 我的心里 我的歌声里Wo de meng li wo de xin li wo de ge sheng liIn my dreams, in my heart, and in my songDi dalam setiap mimpi indahku, di dalam relung hatiku, dan di setiap dendang laguku[Verse2]还记得我们曾经 肩并肩一起走过 那段繁华巷口Hai ji de wo men ceng jing jian bing jian yi qi zou guo na duan fan hua xiang kouI still remember the first time we walk side by side, passing that bustling alleyMasih ku teringat, saat pertama kita bertemu di tengah hiruk pikuknya jalan itu尽管你我是陌生人 是过路人Jiu guan ni wo shi mo sheng ren shi guo lu renWe were just strangers, passing by each other,Kita hanyalah dua orang asing, yg tidak sengaja berpapasan但彼此还是感觉到了对方的Dan bi ci hai shi gan jue dao le dui fang deWe still felt each otherTapi hati kita, seolah sudah saling terhubung一个眼神 一个心跳Yi ge yan shen yi ge xin tiaoOne look, one beat of the heart,Satu pandangan pertama, satu rasa di dalam dada一种意想不到的快乐 好像是Yi chong yi xiang bu dao de kuai le hao xiang shiOne unexpected happinessSebuah pertemuan yg tidak terduga一场梦境 命中注定Yi chang meng jing ming zhong zhu dingLike a dream, we were destined to meetTapi seolah di dalam mimpiku, aku telah lama merindukanmuRepeat Chorus世界之大为何我们相遇Shi jie da wei he wo men xiang yuThe world is so big, why did we meet?Di dunia yg begitu luas ini, mengapa kita bertemu?难道是缘分 难道是天意Nan dao shi yuan fen nan dao shi tian yiCould it have been chance? Could it have been destiny?Apakah hanya kebetulan? Ataukah ini memang takdir?Repeat Chorus

In China I've seen a lot of strange dishes : turtle soup, fried silkworm, deep-friend snake skin, dog stew etc etc but I'm afraid to try them. Some disgust me, and the other I just can't muster enough courage to try a bite. But when I'm studying in Shijiazhuang last year, I finally had a chance to try the local "special dish" : Donkey Meat (驴肉).It was a cold winter afternoon, just a few days after Chinese New Year, and everything was closed. Me and my Ukrainian roommate, Max, had to walked about 30 minutes away from the university just to find a small restaurant that was open. At that time, my Chinese is not that good yet and I can only few characters. Max, who had passed HSK 6, read the menu posted on the wall for a minute and then screamed in astonishment."Keven, this restaurant only served donkey meat!" he said. I was shocked. While vegetables is not my favorite food, but all my life in Indonesia I have never eaten any other meat except chicken, pork, cow, goat, and seafood. Sure, in some area of Indonesia they also eat horse, rabbit, and dog but I have never tried them. This is my first time to know that donkey also can be eaten.Usually, I will get out and try to find another restaurant without a second thought. But I hadn't eat anything but instant noodles since yesterday afternoon and my stomach is dying for some warm, delicious meat. Max looked at me, as if we're trying to read each other's minds. In the end, we ordered some noodles and meat loaves.After the food was served, me and Max looked at each other in astonishment. The food looked normal, just like some usual Chinese noodles and meat loaves with pork. I smelled the meat and it smells delicious. We hesitated a little but finally take the first bite. And hey, it was DELICIOUS. It turns out that donkey meat tasted a lot like pork, but less greasy. It was far more delicious than the scorpions in Beijing's Wangfujing Street (I will tell you this story next time)While it was not the most delicious food I've ever eaten, but I will definitely come back there to eat for the second time (which I did). I also want to recommend it to all of you, my dear readers. If one day you happen to visit Hebei or Baoding, you should definitely try donkey meat.Thanks for reading. See you in next article =)

3. Sophie's Revenge (非常完美)Approximately one month before her wedding to handsome doctor Jeff, pretty cartoonist Sophie (Zhang Ziyi) finds herself kicked to the curb and replaced by glamorous actress Joanna (Fan Bingbing). Devastated, Sophie comes up with a master plan to win Jeff back using "scientific methods," and walk down the aisle on schedule. To ensure her mission is a success she recruits Taiwanese photographer Gordon (Peter Ho) to be her right hand man.2. A World Without Thieves (天下无贼)Sha Gen (Wang Baoqiao), a naive young man who has just finished his job as construction worker in Tibet, was returning home to get married. Refusing to believe that thieves exist in the world, Sha Gen insists on carrying his five years of savings worth 60,000 RMB ($7,200 USD), with him rather than use remittance. He attracted the attention of Wang Bo (Andy Lau) and Wang Li (Rene Liu), a couple of highly skilled professional thieves. Wang Bo wants to steal the money as a last hit to end their career, but Wang Li, pregnant with their child and moved by Sha Gen's innocence, decides to protect the boy.1. Lost on Journey (人在囧途)This film is a realistic potrayal of Chinese society during the Spring Festival with a dose of romance comedy. Li Chenggong (Xu Zheng) is a wealthy businessman who treats his employees poorly and has a secret mistress. Although his mistress wants him to spend Chinese New Year with her in Shijiazhuang, Li feels obligated to return to his hometown Changsha to celebrate Chinese New Year with his wife, daughter, and mother. Apart from his flight was mistakenly booked in economy class, everything seems to go according to plan, until he met Niu Geng (Wang Baoqiang), a naive and gullible migrant worker who is also setting out to Changsha to claim his defaulted wages as a milk extraction technician. The duo experiences a seemingly never-ending streak of bad luck as they try to make their way to Changsha amidst the rush of the largest human migration crowds in today's mankind society.

So, what do you think, guys? Is SEX really that important? Can you accept if your wife only will do it with you once a year?Please write your response in comment section bellow =)Disclaimer : Scenes from the movie "If You Are The One" aka 非诚勿扰 starring Ge You and Shu Qi. If you are interested, look for it in Youku or Asiatorrent. I made the image by myself.

Met a lot of people in China, and when I asked them, where they have been in China, most of the answers are those five cities : "Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hongkong"Well, I've only lived in China for less than two years now and as an ordinary students from an average family, my income is limited to only scholarships and part-time jobs, but I could proudly say that I've traveled to at least 12 provinces in China and about 20 different cities. Some of them are because I participated in activities and programs, some of them are because some relatives or friends invited me to go with them, but most of them...I went there on my own, with one or two traveling companions.There are a lot of wonderful places in China and it's a pity if you don't at least see some of them. Next time you have a chance to be in China, don't waste your money shopping in "Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hongkong". Instead, take out your map, buy train tickets, and go visit these places :6. Xi'anMy Chinese teacher said that "If you have never been to Xi'an, you haven't seen the real China"And I agree with him. If you go and visit big cities in China, you will only see tall buildings, traffic jams, some crowded overly-commercialised fake "ancient towns", and also dark skies due to heavy pollutions. That's not the case with Xi'an. Compared to today's Beijing, Xi'an is much much smaller. As a capital for around 13 dynasties in the past, Xi'an still retain most of its ancient glory. There are a lot of historical sites around the city, ancient buildings, wonderful museums, tombs, pagodas, Terracotta Army, delicious cuisine, and most of all, The City Walls.Visit :- Terracotta Army- Xi'an Historical Museum in Small Goose Pagoda area- Muslim District near the Bell Tower- Hanyangling Museum- City WallsNote :Eat : Yang Rou Pao Mo (Bread Crumbs Soup with Goat's Meat), Rou Jia Mo (Chinese Hamburgers, found in Muslim District)Do : Ride a bike atop the city wallsThe taxi drivers in Xi'an is a jerk. Aside from refusing to use meter rates and giving you unreasonable prices, they could even drop you off in the street if they found another passenger with a more "beneficial" route. Try to use public bus more as Xi'an is quite a small city.5 Xining Chinese people call Xining "The Summer Capital". Most of hotels in this city doesn't have air conditioner. Why? Because they don't need it. Even in summer, the weather is cool, winds blowing all the time, and at night, you will need to wear blankets. There is not much to see in the city except for some mosques and islamic buildings. But if you get out from the city, you will experience the "Tibetan flavors" as Xining is the gateway to Tibetan plateau.Visit- Ta'er Si (Kunbum) Monastery -> a beautiful Tibetan monastery- Tongren -> a small Tibetan town just a few hours away from the city, go with bus- Xiahe -> a small Tibetan town, just a few hours away from Tongren, go with bus- Guide (Gui De) -> a small ancient Tibetan village located in Yellow River's bank, just a few hours away from the city, go with bus- Qinghai Lake -> the largest inland saltwater lake in China, just a few hours away from the city, go with bus- Qilian Mountains -> If you go on a road trip to this mountains, you can see a very impressive scenery and interact with a lot of Tibetan peoples on the road.4. DatongDatong is a small city located in mountainous Shanxi province. The people in this city have a very little experience with foreigners. When I visit Datong in Spring 2013, the city was under a heavy construction. Many streets are being torn up while buildings are being torn down; rubble and debris is littered all over the city. Other than the city walls, there is not much to see in the city itself. The main attractions in Datong, is not inside the city, but outside of it. The Hanging Temple is pretty impressive architecture wonder, and Yungang Grottoes is the second biggest grottoes in China, even bigger and better than Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang.Visit :- Hanging Temple- Yungang Grottoes3. GuilinGuilin is a beautiful city that is often portrayed in ancient Chinese paintings and poems. Surrounded by two rivers and four lakes and studded with sheer sided karst mountains, Guilin is a home to 12 ethnic minorities. Mountains, rivers, cities, and people, one in harmony. That is Guilin. There are many scenic places within short traveling distance in Guilin.Visit :Inside Guilin- Elephant Trunk Hill- Sun and Moon Pagoda (best visited at night)- Diecai Mountain / Fubo Hill (one of them is enough, just to see Guilin's scenery from above)Outside Guilin- Yangshuo -> Once a small beautiful backpackers town, now is heavily commercialised and jam-packed with Chinese tourist. Still, there are a lot of wonderful places around it. Just use it as base camp for your adventures in Li River area.- Xingping -> A beautiful places just one hour away from Yangshuo (by bus). Here you can see the beautiful scenery portrayed in Chinese 20 yuan paper bill.- Longsheng & Longji Paddy terraces- Xiang Gong Mountain -> Climb this mountain and see the beautiful sceneries of Li River from aboveNote :Eat : Guilin Rice Noodles, Shao Kao (Street BBQ), and Beer Fish. You can find the last one in Yangshuo.Do :- Ride traditional bamboo rafts in the river- Watch locals fishing using Cormorant bird- Ride a bike around Yangshuo to see beautiful sceneries on the countryside- Take a mud bath inside underground caves around Yangshuo- Visit ethnic minorities' parks and watch their performances- Guilin is famous tourism city in China, so there will be a lot of people who tried to scam you. Plan your trip carefully before you go.- Some places in Guilin is not worth a visit. The Jingiang Prince City for example. The ticket price is the same like Forbidden City in Beijing, but inside the parks, Only the city walls and some of the foundation of the original buildings are left, the buildings themselves are all new. Avoid this tourist' trap and do not waste your time here.- Be careful of pickpockets.Next time, I will write a more detailed guide for Guilin because I have lived in this city for almost one year now.2. HarbinKnown as the "Winter Paradise", Harbin is one of the coldest place in China. Located on the bordering province with Russia, Harbin is heavily influenced by it, especially in architecture styles and foods. The weather is cool in summer, and in winter, the city hosted the annual "International Harbin Snow and Ice Festival"Visit :- Harbin's International Snow and Ice Festival on January and February every year, when the weather is the coldest all year's around (minus 15-25). The festival was held in 3 different venue : Sun Island, Ice and Snow World, and Zhaolin Park. If you could only visit one of them, Ice and Snow World located in Songjiang River Banks is still the best out of three.- Zhongyang Dajie (Street) -> The most famous pedestrian only street with a lot of Russian buildings, restaurants, and shops that sells Russian stuff.- Siberian Tiger Preservation Area- Harbin Polar Land (located in Sun Island)- Yabuli Ski Resort1. DunhuangLocated on the crossroads of the ancient Silk Road, Dunhuang is one of the most important city in ancient China. Today it is a small beautiful town in the Gobi Desert with population less than 200.000 people. With a rich history of over a thousand years old, Dunhuang is a great place to visit for those who wishes to experience a life in the desert.Visit :- Mogao Grottoes -> The biggest and most important grottoes in China filled with exquisite Buddhist arts and manuscripts. To protect the artifacts, the number of visitors is limited and advanced booking is needed.- Yueyaquan National Park -> A great place for those who wishes to experience the desert. Go early in the morning and ride camels to see the sunrise. Climb to the top of sand dunes and slide down using a "giant wheel". The oasis itself is not too impressive up close, but very beautiful from afar.- Yadan Landforms / Devil City -> A beautiful landforms resembling an ancient city in the middle of the desert.Note :Do : Watch locals performances. Ask your hotels/guide. Some of them are good, some of them are bad. I watched the one about the Goddess of Dunhuang and I like it. Depends on your self preference.Eat : Lamb Meat Skewers. Very delicious.The people in Dunhuang seems nicer than any other places in China. The prices for fruits etc is more expensive than any other cities though because they need to import them from the South. Well, we're in the middle of the desert anyway.

June 2013, last year, was my first time celebrating Dragon Boat Festival / Duanwujie (端午节). Me and my foreign student friends were so excited about it. We would like to go eat Zongzi (粽子 - Glutinous Rice), watch the Dragon Boat Competition (龙舟赛), etc etc. But sadly, our plan didn't turn out well.First problem is, in Shijiazhuang, the place where I lived last year, they didn't have any special celebration for the Dragon Boat festival. No market fair, no lion dance, no parade in the street, no boat competition, nothing. My teacher told us that in northern China, they didn't really celebrate Dragon Boat Festival. We were so sad to hear that.The bad news came to us just a few days before the festival, so we need to make an emergency plan, fast. Me and my friends planned to travel to Pingyao. A beautiful ancient town, not too far from Shijiazhuang. But then we heard another bad news, that the holiday will be only for one day, not three days. We didn't have any choice but to cancel the trip. This was one of the bad side of being a scholarship student, we can't just skip classes and go travel wherever and whenever we like.So yeah, me and Max, my Ukrainian friend, decided to spend our one day holiday by watching movies inside my dorm room. We didn't even plan to buy Zongzi because last week one of our teacher gave us some Zongzi after class and...it tasted horrible. I have Zongzi in my country and it was very delicious. Chinese ones was different and we didn't like it. So yeah, let's celebrate Dragon Boat Festival without Zongzi, that's what we thought.We decided to watch Tsui Hark's adaption of Baishezhuan (The Legend of White Snake) titled "Green Snake (1993)" and yeah, it was horrible. Don't really recommend it. Halfway through the movie, Dany, my beautiful Moldovian friend, came and bring us one big watermelon for us. We split the watermelon in "Moldovian Style" (that's what she said) only to find out that the watermelon was not delicious at all, especially for me who has spent his entire life getting spoiled by delicious tropican fruit. The watermelon tasted like water, no taste, no smell, nothing. "But the Ayi (Aunt) in the shop said that this watermelon is delicious" Dany lament in agony. Well, it's okay, we didn't blame Dany. At least we learned one precious lesson today : when buying watermelons, trust your instinct, not the shopkeeper. "Maybe they sucked the taste from the watermelons and use it for ice cream" Max tried to lighten the mood by making a sarcastic remark how in northern China they could make a very delicious fruit ice cream, but couldn't provide delicious fruits.We canceled the trip, the watermelon was not delicious, and the movie sucked. It couldn't be worse than this, that's what we thought. But suddenly, I got a message from Mike, a 14 years old Chinese boy that we befriend in university's canteen last week. Mike said that he especially came to university today just to deliver some Zongzi for us. He said that he remembered my story about how I didn't like the Zongzi I ate last week, so he asked his Mom to made us some, special for today. I was so happy that tears almost flow from my eyes.Back to my room, I found out that today my HSK Level 4 result is out and I passed with a flying colors, 260 out of 300. Not bad for a beginner like me, right? And not long after that, Zhang Lin (a Chinese-American friend, my roommate) brought us Beijing Kaoya (Peking Duck) for dinner. Before dinner, the four of us ate Zongzi together, and it was very very delicious. Not because it had some special taste or ingredients, but because it brought us together to celebrate this special day.Today, one year after that, I woke up on Dragon Boat Festival day with a smile, remembering the precious memories I spent with my friends last year. And somehow, I can still taste the taste of Mike's Zongzi in my mouth. It was really, the most delicious zongzi I've ever ate.Happy Dragon Boat Festival, guys!大家，祝你端午节快乐！What makes a moment special is not about where you go or what you do, but with whom did you share that moment together with =)And meanwhile, don't forget to help us vote for the winner of the China Daily Blog Contesthttp://pub1.chinadaily.com.cn/survey/20140506/index.shtmlI'm not saying that you HAVE TO vote for me, just vote for those writer(s) whose blog you enjoy reading all this time. Thanks!PS : I still think that Indonesian's Zongzi (called : "Bacang") is averagely more delicious than Chinese ones. If one day you ever come to Indonesia, look for it.

Even though we are not Chinese, but there are some basic things we should know if we're going to live in China. One of the most important things is common courtesy or manners. Of course most of you maybe already know the basic courtesy such as presenting business card with both hands, stand when you are going to shake hands, etc etc. As a student who's studying Chinese language, I want to share with you some common courtesy in terms of language.When you first start studying Chinese, maybe your teacher will tell you that a Chinese word for toilet/restroom is 厕所 (Cèsuǒ, "toilet, lavatory"). But you know what? 厕所 is not a polite word to use in Chinese society, it sounds a little vulgar. So, the next time you want to excuse yourself to the toilet, you can say 洗手间 (Xǐshǒujiān, that means "washroom") or 卫生间 (Wèishēngjiān, that means "sanitary room") instead of 厕所. Your Chinese friend will respect you more. If you want to show off your Chinese ability, you can also say 我想去方便一下 (Wǒ xiǎng qù fāngbiàn yīxià - "I will go to washroom for a little bit"). Chinese often use this line to excuse themselves to go to the toilet. Remember, saying 我想去小便 (Wǒ xiǎng qù xiǎobiàn, "I want to pee") or 我想去大便 (Wǒ xiǎng qù dàbiàn, "I want to poo") is considered very rude in China.Marriage is a very important thing in China. You have to be careful if you gonna ask someone you just knew whether he/she is married or not because this one is a very sensitive issue, especially for a woman. You know, in China, if a woman is almost 30 and she is still unmarried, she will be considered as 剩女 (Shèng nǚ) aka leftover woman. So, if you want to ask someone whether he/she is married or not, you can use this line :"个人问题解决了吗？" (Gèrén wèntí jiějuéle ma? - "Have you solved your personal problems yet?")If you want to ask someone, when he/she is gonna get married, you can use this line :"什么时候请我吃你们的喜糖？" (Shénme shíhòu qǐng wǒ chī nǐmen de xǐtáng? - "When you will invite me to eat your wedding candy?")or"什么时候请我喝你们的喜酒？" (Shénme shíhòu qǐng wǒ hē nǐmen de xǐjiǔ? - "When you will invite me to drink your wedding wine?")Last but not least, if someone died, you can't just say "她的妈妈死了" (Tā de māmā sǐle - Her mother died) because for Chinese, death is a very rude and unlucky thing to say. You can say something like this instead"她的妈妈去世了“ (Tā de māmā qùshìle - Her mother has left this world)"她的妈妈走了” (Tā de māmā zǒule - Her mother has passed away)"她的妈妈不在了" (Tā de māmā bùzàile - Her mother is not with us anymore)Ok, that's all for today. I hope you enjoy learning Chinese language and culture as much as I do.And meanwhile, don't forget to help us vote for the winner of the China Daily Blog Contesthttp://pub1.chinadaily.com.cn/survey/20140506/index.shtmlI'm not saying that you HAVE TO vote for me, just vote for those writer(s) whose blog you enjoy reading all this time. Thanks!