We continue our quest to inform you about Chinese online social media networks by introducing Douban, a user-content site focusing on the exchange of music, movies, literature and other forms of media. Think MySpace music, Amazon.com and RottenTomatoes all rolled into one (kind of confusing) site. It’s in Chinese and does not have an English option, but we will attempt to help you navigate through the hieroglyphics as long as you are willing to step into the pyramid. This article is for those who are really interested in what the young adults of China are listening to, reading, and watching.

Choosing the right international school

Moving to a new country is hard enough, and moving to Shanghai – where ‘bustle’ takes on new connotations – can be downright daunting. Finding the right school for your children is always a challenge that expat parents face.

In my opinion learning Chinese is not an easy task; it’s actually very difficult. In Chinese, one character can have multiple pronunciations and meanings. And it’s common that characters have the same pronunciation but different meanings. Chinese is so complicated that even native speakers of Chinese sometimes have difficulties understanding a character’s meaning. So naturally, for foreigners it’s much more difficult. Therefore I thought it would be best to study single characters and simple characters. I ignored a lot of characters, especially those with complicated structures and multiple meanings. So when I started learning Chinese there were a lot of good laughs.

As the Chinese economy continues to boom, an increasing number of university business students, both Chinese and foreign, are opting to seek a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) at Universities within China to increase their knowledge beyond the bachelor’s degree level.