LEARNING CHINESE PROVINCES: PART ONE (Latest YouTube version)

[@anglophileRVK]

I am on a quest to learn and memorize Chinese provinces as part of a broader goals of learning Chinese history and culture. This video was extremely helpful. Thank you so much!

[@johntynes2466]

Impressive. I've been studying Mandarin for a year or so, and I recently started learning the names of the provinces. This video is extremely well-researched and logically organized. It put into place a number of things that I found really helpful. FYI, there's also a geography game/app called Seterra where you can test your knowledge of Provinces, cities, etc. You can even make your own custom test to quiz yourself on ...oh, I don't know...the provinces you learned in this video. There are options for English, Mandarin, and other languages (no pinyin that I have found yet). I don't have any stake in Seterra. I learned about it from my 14-year-old granddaughter. That is one helpful kid.

[@robertjohnson5838]

THANK YOU for this very clear presentation!!!!

[@nataliekor5573]

this is the best learning technique! really helped me out for my Chinese geography course at the uni. thanks a lot!

[@jiayi2650]

In primary school, we need to name all the provinces. And from high school, all abbreviations of them too :D

[@polyky]

I love the way there's not only the English names, it's so helpful for me since I'm learning Chinese

[@ericlee704]

Recently there’s a funny name in Chinese internet called “山河四省” pronounced as “ Shan He Si Sheng”. Direct translation is “ Mountain River 4 provinces” which describes the 4 provinces of Shandong, Shanxi, Hebei and Henan because they have very similar cultural background and food habits.

[@iy9219]

Brilliant. Well thought out and fun.

[@louiselu6757]

Wonderful! Love your tips. I didn’t realize how easy it was to learn the provinces of China until I saw your videos. Thank you!

[@TheXanian]

Very well researched and articulated. Even as a Chinese myself, I didn't know that the word 陕 Shaan in the Chinese province Shaanxi is the name of a mountain pass situated in the Taihang Mountains.

[@Pere-X]

Thank you for your kind comment.

[@theophonchana5025]

太行山

[@karloku8987]

Though "on the sea" can be very helpful to remember Shang-hai easily, the actual meaning of Shang-hai is "the *upper(Shang)* branch close to the *sea(hai)*". It was named after one of two branches of a large river (ancient Wusong River) running into the East China Sea, with another branch called "Xia-hai (lower branch)". The upper branch today is called Huangpu River, where the Bund locates.

[@TheGretaoto]

Simply perfect!

[@NG-fq5lf]

Thank you so much. I just started learning about China and this is fascinating

[@mnash3]

Wow! That was alot of fun! Overall, I did alright. Thanks for sharing.❤

[@richardmactavish2018]

Great job! The most effective way to learn names of Chinese provinces!

[@Pere-X]

English-language subtitles are available for this video. KZbin automatically generates a "base" English version. I have cleaned up the inaccuracies (Their automated system does have a few weaknesses), and published the corrected subtitles. The subtitles are especially useful if English is not your "first language", or if you have trouble understanding my American accent. :-)

[@Pere-X]

Not just English! Part One of "Learning Chinese Provinces", is also available in three other languages. Spanish (Castellano): kzbin.info/www/bejne/lam8f3d7r8eghLs French: kzbin.info/www/bejne/d3vUmIeqmMhlrLc Italian: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mWLPp6SnfsSXgKM Check them out!

[@tonykhong]

You helped me learn the provinces so easily with your logical format. Thank you.

[@gunawanprabowo7291]

Interesting. Thanks for sharing. Long time I have looked for know the meaning of same province's names in China

[@diliasuriel3457]

Well-done and extremely helpful! Grateful to you for helping us to learn these Chinese provinces ... and a little Chinese 🙂

[@bjb0808]

This is amazing. Thank you SO much for making this.

[@EpicBlooFox]

Thanks Pere! Is part two coming soon? This was great! I visited guangxi in the summer and I thought it was a province haha, I’m glad to be corrected

[@Pere-X]

I am glad you enjoyed the video EpicBlooFox. A version of Part Two that was published about a year ago is currently available on my channel (as well as Part Three of the series.) An improved version of Part Two should be available for release "around" July. The upcoming version will include the "Pinyin with tones" boxes like the 2019 revision to Part One. Guangxi is lovely. I was there (again) this last summer also. I find it interesting that within the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, there also exist regions with significant populations of several other ethnic minorities, including the Dong. In August I visited Chengyang (of "Wind and Rain Bridge" fame) which is in the Sanjiang Dong Autonomous County (within Guangxi). Have a great day.

[@EpicBlooFox]

Looking forward to the updated release 😁谢谢你

[@Pere-X]

Please excuse the delay of the promised revision to Part Two. Work on that video will resume after my return from China in late October.

[@lukanest]

Thanks!

[@bachopinbee5991]

Such an amazingly instructive video. Xie xie brother

[@casualmajestic9223]

So nicely done!!! Thanks a lot!!

[@JustinMonts-p9c]

Great help. Thanks!

[@KJ-yises]

The three capital cities have the word north, west and south. The 4th capital city with the leftover direction east is Tokyo :)

[@Pere-X]

Thank you for your comment. This is an interesting topic to be sure. It is true that Tokyo is well known globally. It is also true that the name literally means East Capital, and that in its written form 東京 it has the same meaning in Japanese and Chinese. HOWEVER: Knowing the Japanese words for Eastern Capital does not help us at all when we need to learn the CHINESE word for "East", which we will need repeatedly as we study the names of Chinese cities and provinces. Also note that Tokyo takes its name from the combined context of Japanese geography and history, being east of the previous Japanese capital. Shifting back to China, over its long history, there have been several cities named 東京 East Capital (Pinyin: Dōngjīng). However Chinese cities have a rather inconvenient habit of changing their names over the centuries. Two cities that were at times called Dongjing are now known as Luoyang and Kaifeng. Taking this just a bit further- note that the well known city Xi'an has also been known as Chang'an and Xijing. Yes! Xijing meaning literally West Capital. At times it was "West Capital" concurrently with Luoyang (as "Dongjing") being the East Capital! OK, now relax... to an extent, all that is trivia. The important point in "Part One" of "Learning Chinese Provinces" was to learn the (Chinese!) words for North East, South, and West, and use them as the building blocks for various place names! :-)

[@bowenzhou5264]

Pretty darn good with the mnemonics !

[@TuringPablo]

Great video! Thank you

[@habibarabiai4184]

Perfect ❤🙏

[@abdouboukha9600]

Very helpful! Thanks for sharing

[@ljme7554]

Luv it. Thanks a lot

[@Pere-X]

You're welcome 😊

[@nafeesahmad2973]

sir you have nailed it

[@meilianxiao1257]

I have a test this week and i have to list them all, this video is very well explained! My chinese is fluent but i have trouble remembering the provinces and this video is very helpful! Thank you! *xie xie*

[@corinneduffy2129]

Helped me learn really quickly, best video I've found by far!

[@pierretanguay6891]

Welcome back with this improved version. 谢谢你！

[@nancypop9250]

It is of great importance for forigners to learn about China.

[@suitcasedsoul]

This is exactly what I was hoping for. It's peaceful, gives a chance to reflect, and the nmenonic association is clever (most things chinese are) yet your delivery enables it perfectly. I'm cured!!!

[@oanaanghelachi9251]

You are a great teacher, using mnemonic associations to remember the names of provinces! This is exactly what I was looking for and couldn't find anything close to this on the internet. Would you be able to make the same for South Korea or Japan?

[@Pere-X]

Thank you for your kind words. Your question/suggestion regarding Korea and Japan is a good idea. Unfortunately, for the foreseeable future I am overwhelmed with videos to which I have already made a commitment. (Several, but not all of these are mentioned in "Upcoming Videos: A Preview!" which is on my channel.) I will pass on the "Korea" part of your suggestion to a friend who is teaching at a university there. :-)

[@alihabashneh4385]

Thank you

[@Pere-X]

Hispanohablantes: "Aprender provincias chinas - Primera parte" disponible en KZbin - kzbin.info/www/bejne/lam8f3d7r8eghLs

[@carlstanford7607]

Excellent teaching

[@tomtom1003]

That helped me a lot; thank you for that! I would’ve liked the characters though.

[@Pere-X]

Thanks for your support! I am a bit confused though about your comment regarding characters. As each province is introduced, in addition to pinyin with tone marks in the lower left corner, the Chinese characters for the province name are displayed (Using "simplified characters", as outlined in the notes). Did I miss a province? or are you referring to something else? Thanks again.

[@tomtom1003]

Hey, I watched it again and indeed the characters are not missing, sorry for that false complaint. I somehow missed many of them at first and looked them up by myself.

[@nini-wi7jb]

love this! thanks

[@LECityLECLEC]

十分完美！😊

[@Pere-X]

Thank you so much!!

[@martinnasom5864]

despite knowing most of this already love that way it was taught and it followed the logical way a native kid would have been taught

[@nafeesahmad2973]

at least, I was able to understand few things

[@king-of-kings2335]

I wonder why there is no "save" button under your video, only "share" one, also no "download", "clip" and "report" buttons? Something in the settings? I found your videos long time ago, I remember saving them, and just today I was able to find it again. I was searching "chinese geography" and "chinese administrative" and on one of the videos I've noticed your video in the sidebar. So that's "chinese provinces", ha...

[@Pere-X]

The functional framework of KZbin videos is controlled by Google/KZbin. They change features at their own discretion. Due to functional limitations of the KZbin model as it relates to publishing updates and corrections, in general only the initial version of these videos gets published on KZbin. The latest, most up-to-date versions of these videos can be found at www.Pere-X.net and on Vimeo. Videos can be downloaded from Pere-X.net.

[@JaalNinetyfour]

This video is amazing!

[@the9263]

This video is amazing.

[@haopeiyang3443]

wow, this is great!

[@jjll9306]

If I ever go to China which province should I go to

[@Pere-X]

There are many provinces that are wonderful to visit. You should consider what you'd like to experience? Historic sites? Beautiful scenery? Vibrant modern life? Without knowing more about your preferences, two destinations you might consider are Xi'an in Shaanxi province, and Guilin in Guangxi province. Each of those cities has numerous places to visit both within the cities themselves, but also nearby.

[@jeffurmum5925]

Tokyo is east to all the chinese capital he described and tokyo in chinese litterally means east capital

[@Pere-X]

In Japanese "Kanji" characters, Tokyo is indeed written 東京. This means "Eastern Capital" in both Chinese and Japanese (although it is pronounced differently in the languages). But "Eastern Capital" is a bit tricky from a historical perspective. Videos in this channel have noted the two well known Chinese cities that use the combination of one of the four cardinal directions combined with 京 (one of two common placename words meaning capital)- Beijing and Nanjing. But historically a number of Chinese cities have been designated as 東京 (Eastern capital) during certain periods: Luoyang (Henan province), Qiaocheng (now called Bozhou, Anhui), Kaifeng (Henan province), Jiangdu (now Yangzhou, Jiangsu province), Yuezhou (now Shaoxing, Zhejiang), Lonogyang (now Liaoyang, Liaoning province), and Xingqing (now Yinchuan, Ningxia). There is information available on this topic on Chinese websites. Just be aware that if you use a "machine translator" (such as Google Translate) 東京 will always be rendered as "Tokyo". :-)

[@ToyoTheBear]

Ok not to be that one ninja in comments but i went to Google translator also know its 60% accurate as of now and i never got "expanse west" the way you put it together so guessing you using a synonym for "grow" or you matching them by sound and as that southern american i tend to do that but mmmm im just more curious not tryin throw no hate 😂

[@Pere-X]

First, thank you very much for patiently watching the video! It is very long! And I realize that it covers a lot of material. Thank you also for your comment. In the process of explaining Chinese place names, there are a variety of challenges. It is necessary to consider 1) The historical origin of a name, 2) its literal meaning and 3) What will best help convey a meaning that is easy to remember. For these videos, I must also recognize that viewers may become confused or doubtful if my explanations do not seem to correspond with those given on popular Internet sites such as Wikipedia. So, when my explanation differs, I may need to explain the issue. An added difficulty with “literal” translations is that a single word in any language may have more than one meaning. And as you translate to another language, the "translation" may be a word that also has more than one meaning. In the case of Guangdong and Guangxi, the important starting point is the meaning of "Guang" as a whole. Then we will consider "east" and "west". Otherwise the name does not make sense. The map of China has changed over the years, expanding, contracting, and adjusting. The area referred to as "Guang" was within the original core area of China. It was the result of southern "expansion". (Indeed, during the historical period known as the "Five Dynasties" the name of the region was "Guangnan": The "southern expansion") So, historically “expansion” should be considered the origin of the name. As for the literal meaning of the name: I have a variety of Chinese-English dictionaries which I consult when needed. The Chinese word "Guang" (广) by itself, is consistently translated to English as "broad, wide, vast, extensive". "Expanse" is just a conversion of this to a noun. Google Translate is useful, but sometimes "suspect". After seeing your comment, I checked its “translation” for “广”. It lists 12 different translations (as an adjective), including “wide, broad, extensive and vast”. Languages are fascinating. You mention “southern American”, from which I am supposing that you are from South America. I try to not make too many assumptions! But perhaps you speak either Spanish or Portuguese. (If you speak Spanish, I wonder if you know that this video series is also available in Spanish) In Spanish (based on the Spanish version of Wikipedia) “Guang” is translated as “expansión”. As I mentioned, that interpretation is historically accurate. We use that explanation in the “Aprender provincias chinas” video (kzbin.info/www/bejne/lam8f3d7r8eghLs). Part One of this series is available in English, French, Italian, and Spanish. Well, here is where as a Google Translate series of language-to-language-to-language translation, one might get to a translation as “grow” or “growth”. (Translating “expansión” to English) Thank you again for your interest in China and its place-names. I hope you enjoyed the series, and I hope this explanation has helped resolved your question about the names “Guangdong” and “Guangxi”.

[@自由民主-e9v]

东京，dongjing，is Tokyo，Japan 😅

[@Pere-X]

Thank you for your note! It is quite true that the Japanese characters 東京 ("Eastern Capital") have designated the current capital of Japan since the middle of the 19th century. (Written Japanese borrows heavily from written Chinese) This name blends nicely with the geographical tags we have discussed in Part One. As an additional interesting side note... at times in Chinese history various (Chinese) cities were known as 东京 (東京 in "traditional" Chinese characters) when political changes occurred and the capital moved. Cities that bore the name included Luoyang and Kaifeng. The map of China evolved quite a bit over its several thousand year history, and so strangely, at one time Luoyang was the "Eastern Captial", while at a different time it was the "Western Capital". History is fascinating!

[@SWIFTIESCHN]

东京在中国指的是开封

[@syedmdabid7191]

Largest state(area), smallest city?, the biggest state( populatio😊n), the smallest populous city. The most populous with moslem?

[@Pere-X]

Yes, those are all interesting questions, and I will add to my agenda a video to deal with those questions... Previously there had been questions about why the Chongqing municipality is NOT the city with the greatest population. These issues also call into play (both for China and in general!) the semantics of the term "City", and other administrative entities! Thanks for your comment!

[@warrawli7304]

谢谢你向世界介绍中国。

[@Somebodyintheworld44]

青海 香港 澳門 廣東 廣西

[@Pere-X]

Thank you for your comments. As outlined in the video description, for consistency these videos use the "Simplified" version of written Chinese and give examples of pronunciation in the "standard" Mandarin form. Likewise, although there are other forms of the "romanization" of Chinese, the videos use the versions found on current (English language) maps and in other literature. As I am sure you noted, pinyin is provided for students who are studying Chinese. All of this is to be most useful to the target audience. Have a great day.

[@uchoong]

Boooooooooorig

[@SWIFTIESCHN]

No one asked you to watch this