China’s most popular spirit brand, Moutai, wants to set up a college to teach wine-related science. Already approved by the Ministry of Education, Moutai College will have five undergraduate programs, including wine-making, viticulture and enological engineering, food quality and safety, resource recycling sciences and marketing. The college aims to enroll 5,000 students and will emphasize […]
Visitors to China will soon see public signs in more standardized English. Authorities have issued a national standard for the use of English in the public domain, in efforts to bring in translations that are grammatically and politically correct. Linguists have pointed out that poor translations block development of a multilingual society, and can create […]
In an ambitious undertaking, Beijing is building a new international airport that may become the world’s biggest aviation hub when it is done. The new airport is under construction south of the capital in Daxing district, near the border with Hebei province. It will be completed in 2019 and run concurrently with the present airport […]
Italy’s Order of Merit for Legarda Senator Loren Legarda received the award of Cavaliere nell’Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana (Knight in the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic) from Italian Ambassador Massimo Roscigno during ceremonies on July 13 in Makati City. The prestigious Order of Merit of the Italian Republic is awarded for […]
Who were afraid of the mestizos? Answer: The Spanish colonizers during the 19th century. We are not kidding. Referring again to Alfredo Roces’ Adios Patria Adorada: The Filipino as Ilustrado, the Ilustrado as Filipino, which I cited in the July 4-14, 2017 issue on “The great role of mestizos,” Sinibaldo de Mas in 1842 penned […]
That’s the mantra of tour operators and tour guides to visitors who go to either of the Unesco World Heritage sites. Indeed, with over 3,000 limestone outcroppings spread over an area of 4,810 hectares, Zhangjiajie in Hunan province in China is a mystical glimpse into times long past. Looking down into the tangled spaces between […]
During ancient times, letter writers were called scribes. Nowadays, with improved literacy, it’s hard to imagine why letter writers were necessary a century ago. My first encounter with the profession was at the Bahay Tsinoy, a museum of Chinese in Philippine life. One prominent life-sized figure depicted a late Spanish or early American era man […]
Hokkien, on the tongues of Tsinoys, has grown and evolved, taking on a life of its own. Sometimes words simply fail us. With some creativity, Tsinoys have strung together words to form colorful phrases that simply hit the bull’s eye. Here are some expressions unique to Hokkien as favored by Tsinoys. 唐山婆 téng suan po […]
For many parents involved in their children’s schooling, annual rites include buying school supplies. With so many goodies available from large retailers at the mall, children tag along with parents to shop for supplies and all have a grand time. All, that is, except the wallet. On average, the price markup at large chains is […]
Also known as the Ding Ding cars because of the sound of their bells, Hong Kong’s 100-year-old tramcars received a new logo and visual identity. The background color of the new visual identity of the tramcars is green, to indicate that they are environmentally sound and safe. The new slogan, “Catch a ride, catch a […]