Monday, February 25, 2008

eChineseLearning & SINA.com Online Launch Co-Branded Effort

BEIJING, Aug. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- eChineseLearning, an online Chinese language school specializing in one-to-one live video instruction and supplemental education programs, today announced its marketing partnership with SINA.com Online, located in San Mateo, California.

"Due to the increased impact of the Chinese marketplace - an output of $2.7 trillion in 2006 - we at eChineseLearning have seen a tremendous demand for Chinese education across all professional fields, ages, geographies, and cultures. There are in fact over 30 million people throughout the world studying Chinese," explained Fred Rao, founder & CEO of eChineseLearning. "There is also a strong desire to learn within Chinese communities. In the United States alone there are currently over 700,000 children of Chinese descent whose native language is English or another first language. Many children of native Chinese parents - and by that, SINA.com Online readers - are using eChineseLearning to help them communicate better with their families. As a SINA.com Online partner, our services can be used by over one million of these individuals."
eChineseLearning students come from over 25 countries in the world and include business owners, students, actors, professors, and professionals from corporations such as HP, Nike, and Motorola. The company provides students with customized programs to gain a competitive edge; professionals seeking advancement and positions overseas; and families planning a trip in China. The eChineseLearning courses include Standard Chinese for all levels, Business Chinese, Travel Chinese, Business Etiquette, and Culture Training.
To view more at: http://www.echineselearning.com/media/forbes/eChineseLearning%20&%20SINA-Forbes.htm

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

The origin of Chinese lunar New Year.

It is said that there was a monster called 年(nian 2)in the ancient time of china. The年(nian 2) monster was huge in size and with antenna in his head. Usually, it lived in the deep bottom of ocean, but in the New Year Eve, it will come out into villages to devour livestock and lives. However, people found that the年(nian 2)monster was afraid of red color, bright light and slam-bang after they were hurt many years. So in the New Year Eve (which is called 除(chu 2)夕(xi 1)in china), Chinese people put up couplets written on red paper on their gate, hung red lantern on gate beam, set off fireworks and stay up all night , which was called 守(shou 2)岁(sui 4) in china and people still stick to this tradition now. 守(shou 2)岁(sui 4) tradition tells the deep lingering about the passing old year and the nice longing for the coming new year. If you are living china now or going to spend the new year 2008 together with your Chinese friends, you can experience守(shou 2)岁(sui 4) by yourself.