Hot Chinese words in August

八月中文词汇

August 2008 is a great and lucky month for Chinese people and all the Olympic family members. To help you learn Chinese characters for this month, the teachers from ChineseHour.com have selected the most popular Chinese expressions and celebrity names used during this month and especial at the Beijing Olympic Games. Anything you don’t understand, please turn to Chinese teachers online at Chinesehour.com, we are ready to help all the time.

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奥运会 àoyùn huì，Olympic Games
开幕式 kāimù shì，opening ceremony
鸟巢 niǎocháo, Bird’s Nest （China’s National Stadium）
水立方shuǐ lìfāng, Water Cube （National Aquatics Center）
金牌 jīnpái, gold medal
冠军 guànjūn, championship
志愿者 zhìyuàn zhě，volunteers
同一个世界, 同一个梦想 One World One Dream
tóng yī gè shìjiè, tóng yī gè mèngxiǎng
 

两个奥运 一样精彩
liǎnggè àoyùn, yíyàng jīngcǎi
Two Olympics, equal splendor!
— Two Olympics, equal splendor”, this is China’s commitments to the world. 2008 Beijing Olympic Games has achieved great success and left rich material and spiritual wealth which will become the foundation of the smooth operation of Beijing Paralympic Games.
加油! Jiāyóu, Cheerio! (Go Go Go!)

— JIA YOU!! JIA YOU!! That is what Chinese people say when they are cheering a team on.  “Jia you” is literally means “ADD OIL” or “REFUEL” just as you get your car refueled at the refueling station. But this Chinese expression are widely used as a metaphor to chant a sporting team “GO GO GO!” in the sports games, and also used to encourage people to CHEER UP who they are in depression (such as during 5/21 Sichuan Earthquake).

北京欢迎你 Welcome to Beijing, Běijīng huānyíng nǐ

— Fuwa (a set five little children) serves as the Official Mascots of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Each of Fuwa has a rhyming two-syllable name — a traditional way of expressing affection for children in China. Beibei is the Fish, Jingjing is the Panda, Huanhuan is the Olympic Flame, Yingying is the Tibetan Antelope and Nini is the Swallow. When you put their names together — Bei Jing Huan Ying Ni — they say “Welcome to Beijing,” offering a warm invitation that reflects the mission of Fuwa as young ambassadors for the Olympic Games.
—- Also, “Beijing Huan Ying Ni” (Welcome to Beijing) is a well-received pop song for Beijing Olympic Games, which was ritten by Hong Kong lyricist Lam Jik, were performed by 100 Chinese artists as part of the celebrations to mark the 100-day countdown to the Beijing Olympic Games.

张艺谋 Zhāng Yìmóu

— Zhang Yimou (born November 14, 1951) is an internationally acclaimed Chinese filmmaker and former cinematographer. It was Zhang Yimou who directed the amazing opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Olympic Games.
刘翔 Liú-Xiáng

— Liu Xiang, the defending Olympic champion of men’s 110m hurdles and icon of Chinese sport, the entire nation of China looked forward to this moment for years, but he limped out of the Bird’s Nest stadium after just managing a few awkward steps in his opening heat.
菲尔普斯 fēi ěr pǔ sī, Phelps

— Michael Fred Phelps (born June 30, 1985), an American swimmer who has won 8 gold at Beijing in 2008.
博尔特 bó ěr tè, Bolt

—Usain Bolt (born 21 August 1986) is a Jamaican sprinter. Usain Bolt won the Men’s 100m gold medal at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in a world record time of 9.69 seconds.