While in Beijing, I did a lot of dining out. There were some great experiences and one questionable one.

• Huajia Yiyuan Restaurant - frequented by Cathay Pacific flight crews when in Beijing, this restaurant is close to the top of my list for Beijing. With a wide variety of food on the menu and a tea list longer than most wine lists, there is much to like. The atmosphere is wonderful, nestled in the midst of Ghost Street, without succumbing to the surrounding commercialism.
• Da Dong - Modern way to experience Peking Duck, Beijing style. The mini “hamburger” variant was interesting to try, with its heavy garlic. The classic duck was classic. Extensive menu allows for a wide array of choice for accompanying dishes, beautifully photographed. I considered enquiring to buy a copy of their menu, given the print quality, typography and photo budget; it bordered on food porn.
• Quanjude - Classic roast duck. The most famous in Beijing and for a good reason. Established over 130 years ago, this is where government officials go to eat, with many private rooms available, if you book in advance. We had a set menu that included just about every part of the duck. Duck hearts were the big surprise in how tasty they were. Duck feet were edible, but not quite to my taste. The roast duck itself was classic and delicious.
• Sichuan Restaurant - if you’re staying near the Hard Rock Cafe in Beijing, keep walking. There is a great Sichuan style restaurant just around the corner from it. They have English menus (with pictures), but not much English for the staff. Very good food considering the lack of price. The staff were fascinated by Super Monkey Ball, which was playing on my iPhone while I waited for my meal. Not sure of the name of it though, so may be tricky to find.
• Local food - there were many local food places I dined at that had wonderful food. Requires a bit of enthusiasm to try some of it, but many more hits than misses. Don’t turn your nose up at something without at least trying it first. You may find something you really love.
• Hard Rock Cafe - ok, so I caved on my last night in Beijing. After many hours walking around the Great Wall, I was not feeling adventurous. I regret this decision. I thought a burger would cure my woes. The burger was average and overpriced. The service was classic American style; not a good thing. I was interrupted three times while trying to eat, each time to ask if my meal was okay. Certainly wasn’t improved by hassling me about it.

I’m open to suggestions for future visits. I’m not staying in Ningbo long enough to write too much about it, although I did stumble across a place with traditional local food that struck me as quite strange; they did not serve tea! The food here is quite good from the little I’ve tried. I am not holding out much expectation for Shenzhen; hopefully I will be surprised.

After almost two years of study, there are many different approaches I’ve tried for learning Chinese. These are the ones that stuck the most. I’m putting them into order of terms effectiveness, however I do get excited about ones I most recently discovered. My aim is to be able to speak Chinese via MSN with friends. This is going to take time.

I am biased towards the iPhone for software. Access to a dictionary, to learn on the go, is invaluable.

1. ACCS - I recommend attending class. It helps for motivation. It helps to learn with a teacher. It helps to be encouraged by peer pressure if you fall behind your classmates. ACCS helps me learn to speak and to learn how to read & write characters. Try and find a class in your local area.
2. ChinesePod - useful for both their regular podcast and forums. The best podcast on the internet, although now mostly hidden behind a paid wall. I’m yet to consider paying as am still working through their back catalogue. Jenny and Ken provide a lively dynamic that make learning fun.
3. Dianhua Dictionary - comprehensive Chinese/English dictionary on a phone for free. Hard not to like. Combined with native input methods and can search using pinyin or by drawing characters. I also use a hard copy Oxford Chinese/English dictionary on occasion, but it mostly stays on the shelf.
4. iVocabulary / ProVoc - flash card system with a Mac based desktop app(free) and an iPhone client. Creating paper flash cards was never going to happen. Putting this on the computer helped. Getting it to my phone means I actually study.
5. Visiting China - at the moment I feel quite swamped by almost everything being in Chinese. That said, two weeks in China is doing great things for my Chinese. Hopefully, it provides motivation to continue. Spending time without a translator helps too.
6. Chinese movies - watch many, in Mandarin. If you’re enthusiastic, watch with Mandarin subtitles instead of English. You understand less of the film, but learn more of the language.
7. Chinese books / newspapers / etc - Aim to read something written by native speakers that doesn’t live in a text book or language course. I find the educational material can be contrived.
8. italki.com - social networking site for meeting people to exchange language with. Still not fully sure of the usefulness, but seems to be an easy way to meet people who want to learn English and are native Chinese speakers. There are other sites that offer similar features.
9. Lonely Planet - phrase book is helpful, iPhone app is useful if you’re stranded or forget the basics. To be honest though, I rarely refer to it anymore.
10. Twitter - Adding people from China is helpful, but hasn’t led to as much learning of language as I had thought. That said, I’m learning a heap about culture and current events. Try following @YoukuBuzz for video content.

Note: I just found some MIT courses that are published online that include a few with Chinese. One even comes with a free text book in PDF form. I have not spent much time with it, but it looks promising.

Some of the resources will be useful for whichever language you are learning. If you aren’t learning a language other than your own, ask yourself why not? Learning a language will teach you a new culture and broaden your horizons. Worth the time. My challenge is not getting confused between English, German and Chinese.

See also:

• China Road
• Language Bots in IM
• Programming Fonts Revisited

I start a two week trip through China today; mostly for business, and mostly not sharable in public (pesky NDAs again). However, I will post a bunch of things as I go.

We start in Beijing for a week. Since I was here two years ago, things have changed. Arriving last night into the new terminal at the airport was an experience of space and light. Two things missing during the construction going on during 2006. The new structure is vast and impressive, however does invite comparison to Hong Kong and Singapore airports. Not a bad thing, given those are two of my favourite.

After meeting with a colleague from HK, we grabbed a late dinner at a HK diner near the hotel. It felt good to taste HK food again, especially milk tea. Not really a China experience, but it reminds me of many trips to Hong Kong visiting friends and working with SCMP.

The flight over was long, but not too long. As always, Cathay makes for a pleasant flight. Dragon Air was a bit more chaotic to Beijing, but was at least on time unlike anything Qantas can do of late.

Trying to stay awake, I lasted through four films:

• Babylon AD - Good distopian future action romp. Nice sci-fi trappings, and good byplay between the characters. More than I was expecting from the trailer. Vin Diesel & Michelle Yeoh work well together. Reminded me a bit of a flashier Children of Men.
• Wall-E - Unhappy watching this film. I missed it at the cinemas and now regret it. Absolutely brilliant. Classic Pixar and well worth a watch. Amazing what happens when film makers take risks. A feature film with limited dialogue? Yes, it absolutely works.
• Kung Fu Hip Hop - Good filler on a plane, but not that great by HK film standards. An odd mix of the recent American dance type movies with a classic HK style kung fu movie.
• The Love Guru - Mike Myers has done better. Felt a little too much like his previous films, which made for entertaining filler but no real brilliance. Go watch an old Austin Powers movie instead.

Internet connects work, with obvious firewall fun. Might be good to skip Facebook for a week. My Australian mobile also works, although I’ll get a local SIM card today. Not sure if I get internet with a local SIM, so Twitter updates are likely to be more sporadic.