Well...where are you guys from?

[Optimus Crime]

Thank you. I am still a learner though, with a long way to go. . .

I do love Chinese 'long/lung', I have one for luck on my shelf. I have drawn them in the past, playing with the mystic pearl, and I do plan to make one at some point, definitely. I have a book of Taoist stories that features them quite a few times, I think.

So glad to hear that. You can find more stories about them in many folk myths. We spell it as "long" by the way, but it sounds a little different from the English word "long". I guess maybe that's why some of you spell it as "lung". Long is a symbol of royal blood and absolut power in China. We called the Emperor “真龙天子”in old times. It means he's a real Long in human form and also is the son of heaven. BTW, my birthpet is also Long.

 

[V]

Thanks for explaining that. I thought it was 'long' too, but when I was reading up on Chinese characters and Cantonese in the past, some books had it as 'lung'. (It might be the English-speaking writers' interpretation of the tone of voice used. They used accent characters and extra letters put into the phonetic spelling in English of the Chinese words, to show which of four tones in Mandarin it is using, and which of six in the Cantonese. Otherwise the English writing can't show a voice pitch, I guess).

...Or maybe some people just got it wrong. XD

 

[Autumn]

Isnt it like a cornish pie?
I'm from beyond down under. Below the butt of the world. Where they have flightless birds that hop about, and king kong used to hide out, and the hobbits roam about the fern trees, and where it's every boys dream to become an All Black, with no racial connotations whatsoever. (New Zealand)

I'm going to NZ in February! Please tell me it’s as lovely as the internets tell me it is! I'm going to be a geek and go to Hobbiton too. It’s going to be my first time renting a car abroad since you dive on the right side of the road… By right I mean left…

Oh, saying that, when I got to NZ, i have a stop off in Hong Kong so I get to see a little bit of your contry too Optimus!

Ooo, VB the pastry on that pasty looks de-lish!

 

[Optimus Crime]

Thanks for explaining that. I thought it was 'long' too, but when I was reading up on Chinese characters and Cantonese in the past, some books had it as 'lung'. (It might be the English-speaking writers' interpretation of the tone of voice used. They used accent characters and extra letters put into the phonetic spelling in English of the Chinese words, to show which of four tones in Mandarin it is using, and which of six in the Cantonese. Otherwise the English writing can't show a voice pitch, I guess).

...Or maybe some people just got it wrong. XD

Yeah, tones are very important to Mandarin. And in most situations you have to pronounce every single word just right. It's quite different from English. Mandarin is kind of difficult to learn but also very interesting. It's funny because we call Mandarin "普通话", which means Common Language. And the word "Mandarin" is because during the World War I it's the nation "Man" which rules in China, and "darin" is what we call the goverment officers with respect.It means big people(you know, big also means powerful). I guess it's some misunderstanding lead to this.
Seems I've gone too far...

 

[Captain Ren]

Well, I live in Quebec. sometimes, i wish i would live somewhere else. really.

 

[Keyur]

I am form India

 

[Optimus Crime]

Well, I live in Quebec. sometimes, i wish i would live somewhere else. really.

Why? I heard that's quite a beautiful place

I am form India

I like Indian paratha and the movie 3 Idiots. India and China have quite a history. You can find a lot of Chinese myths came from Indian myths. Such as Cakravarti-raja which you have no idea how beautifule it sounds in Chinese. It's called "遮迦越罗".

 

[DeamonslayeR]

Hey im from pakistan but soon to move to australia or canada

 

[Optimus Crime]

Hey im from pakistan but soon to move to australia or canada

So you must be going to college or high school?

 

[Dark Drakan]

As long as you drink tea, you will be redeemed

Yeah I drink plenty of that, though started to drink more coffee lately too and as ive never really been a coffee drinker it must be a sign im getting old.

 

[DeamonslayeR]

So you must be going to college or high school?

college actually and not movin only for studies but permanently movin

 

[MetalCookie]

Born and live in Australia. c:

 

[Laurence Barnes]

england

 

[Keyur]

I like Indian paratha and the movie 3 Idiots. India and China have quite a history. You can find a lot of Chinese myths came from Indian myths. Such as Cakravarti-raja which you have no idea how beautifule it sounds in Chinese. It's called "遮迦越罗".

Yeah India and China have many similarities in culture and history. You are most welcome to visit India to test Parathas; umm actually sending mass invitation to all fellow gamers. From China side I like their different type of fighting style, movies, foods and heros- Kung Fu, Wong Fang Hung(meh cant spell name properly but it is hero- Jet lee in Once upon a time in China movie) and all.

Hey im from pakistan but soon to move to australia or canada

Happy to hear that and enjoy your new life. I have been in UK for 2 years and now in India.
But seriously its trend to go in other country at our side( talking about India, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh) Dont get me wrong just my thoughts.

 

[Meg]

I'm from the Philadelphia area in Pennsylvania.

 

[Optimus Crime]

Yeah India and China have many similarities in culture and history. You are most welcome to visit India to test Parathas; umm actually sending mass invitation to all fellow gamers. From China side I like their different type of fighting style, movies, foods and heros- Kung Fu, Wong Fang Hung(meh cant spell name properly but it is hero- Jet lee in Once upon a time in China movie) and all.

Huh, a lot of friends are so into Kung Fu. I guess the guy you said is probably Huang Fei Hong. Huang is his family name, means yellow which is a symbol of grandness in ancient China. Fei means flying. Hong means a swan. The most famous Kung Fu star in China now is a guy called Donnie Yen. You've probably seen a movie called Yip Man which he act as the hero Ye Wen himself. But what I like most is Kill zone (USA DVD box tittle) and Flash Point. You will know why if you had seen them.

 

[Optimus Crime]

I'm from the Philadelphia area in Pennsylvania.

Pity I don't know a lot about your home( you will know how ignorant I am once you get to know me ). But I do like Lightning

Born and live in Australia. c:

Many of my friends chose to continue their study there and they all told me it's realy a beautiful place.

 

[Keyur]

Huh, a lot of friends are so into Kung Fu. I guess the guy you said is probably Huang Fei Hong. Huang is his family name, means yellow which is a symbol of grandness in ancient China. Fei means flying. Hong means a swan. The most famous Kung Fu star in China now is a guy called Donnie Yen. You've probably seen a movie called Yip Man which he act as the hero Ye Wen himself. But what I like most is Kill zone (USA DVD box tittle) and Flash Point. You will know why if you had seen them.

Thats nice meaning of that name. Btw how do you guys give name to new born child? Is there any difference in Chinese, Japanese, Korean and all similar country - talking about appearance of people and names. All looks similar to me
Sorry I didnt know about movie star you mentioned but will check it out- you know being gamer means...
But my favorite Martial Art movie star is - Bruce Lee, Jakie Chan, Jet Lee, Chow Yun Fat and Tony Jaa

 

[Haven]

I'm from England, and I like my share of tea and crumpets now and then

 

[Optimus Crime]

Thats nice meaning of that name. Btw how do you guys give name to new born child? Is there any difference in Chinese, Japanese, Korean and all similar country - talking about appearance of people and names. All looks similar to me
Sorry I didnt know about movie star you mentioned but will check it out- you know being gamer means...
But my favorite Martial Art movie star is - Bruce Lee, Jakie Chan, Jet Lee, Chow Yun Fat and Tony Jaa

Well the naming is kind of complicated, the situations is depend on many reasons. In most situations Korean and Japnese names could be translated in to Chinese and be just like Chinese words. Beacause in ancient times these two contries were even closer with China than India. Such as Japanese, their words are all Chinese words or taken apart from and be used as complete ones. I don't know about these two languages. All I can tell you is that Chinese names usualy have 2 or 3 words, some times 4 or 5. But mostly 2 or 3. The family name is usualy 1 word, sometimes 2. You have to pronounce each single word dividely.

Also, we don't think Chow Yun Fat as a Martial Art movie star although he did fight a lot... BTW, Chow is the family name but it doesn't sound right. It's more like Zhow. And it's also my family name.