Tintin Forums

Nautilus wrote: but you must have mistaken "秦(qin)" and "泰(tai)". they're different.

Hello and welcome, Nautilus. Thank you for spotting the typo - it is fixed now.

marsbar
Traditionally, Chinese writing runs vertically from right to left. (Single-column text may be written horizontally from right to left; e.g., text on horiztonal signboards.)
Today, the Western-influenced horizontal left-to-right style is common practice in China. Last year the government of Taiwan decided to adopt the Western horizontal style for its publications.

In The Blue Lotus, are there any other posters or signboards written from right to left, such as the one on page 26?
Thanks in advance.

Yes, there are - just look out for horizontal banners, posters, road signs and signboards in the book. Here are two good examples (those that actually bear meaningful messages):
a) the road sign (Pu-Bin Road) on the left side of page 6, frame 4/B1; and
b) the red poster (Down with imperialism) on page 7, frame 1/A1.

hello, everyone! interested in Chiese characters? here i've found 2 good sites:
http://ramou.net/index.htm
http://www.zapchinese.com/
the first one is in French, while the second one is in English.

[7 Mar 2006]
上海 is Shanghai in Chinese and in Japanese ... translated as "upriver to the sea"...
see also http://www.regit.com/regitour/china/intplace/shanghai.htm
Does it mean that Shanghai's river has antigravitational properties?

The other day I met a girl from Shanghai who told me it's not really so, but the Chinese say they go 'upwards to the sea', not just 'to the sea', nor 'down to the sea'. Can anyone confirm this?

Thanks in advance.

"Shang" (the first character that forms the name "Shanghai") has quite a number of meanings, including: supreme, top, summit, first, best, previous, before, to ascend, to go up, to go to, to go on, to send to, to pay in... and so on. Examples of 'shang' used to mean 'to go to':
a) shang hai bian = go to the seaside
b) shang xue = go to school.
BUT, as far as I know, it is chu hai (out sea - out to sea) for "go to sea".

Let's try not to veer off topic!