Re: OT -- Learning Chinese

From: "Patrick Dunn"

> How can I get a cheap but fairly hefty sample of Chinese text, like a
> newspaper or magazine, preferably published in China, without writing a
> large check?
Depends on where you're located (and if you're looking for simplified or
traditional characters). Boston's Chinatown is relatively small, but offers
a decent selection of stuff in traditional from Taiwan and Hong Kong (not as
cheap as native prices but certainly not unaffordable). You might also, as
someone else mentioned, look online. I was told

http://www.njstart.com

gives you freeloads for reading Chinese and Japanese off the web, but I
haven't tried it yet. If you're looking for simplified, Shanghai Yebao (say:
Zzang2he2 Nga2bo3 and really impress the natives) has an aura of prestige
around it (à la New York Times), from a mainland perspective. I found the
Beijing papers a little dry.

There is also Shijie Ribao, published out of New York (there's a sub-office
out of Boston). Fifty cents a day? Monthly, semiannual, yearly discounts,
and more, if you *really* want to commit (hey, maybe even a free taoster out
of the deal). In traditional characters; reads like a Taiwan or HK daily.

Kou