After reading our declaration of solidarity with the workers of the world, Naomi Klein dropped by Popup Towers the other day for a solidarity march to Wangfujing, where we mobilized the masses in protest of oppressive capitalism in general, and the replacement of sensible, logo-free clothing with rhinestone-encrusted t-shirts and pleated stonewashed jeans in particular. And then we went shopping.

Learning Chinese? Our elementary Chinese lesson is like most of the others at this level: it features a fast and colloquial dialogue that's representative of the sort of Chinese that is rarely featured in modern textbooks, but is the way people actually speak here in China. So if you haven't created an account at Popup Chinese yet, be sure to signup for a free account and get immediate access to not only this lesson, but our archive of literally thousands of other great shows to pull your Chinese up into fluency.
丹尼
 said on
September 7, 2012
Great lesson. Did Brendan call David a homo at the end? I think he did.
trevelyan
 said on
September 7, 2012
I think he was recommending 淘寶. I actually like Vancl as well if we're keeping track.
murrayjames
 said on
September 7, 2012
In the popup transcript, the 種 of “哎喲，他們這兒就這一種”is pronounced zhong4. Shouldn't it be zhong3?
丹尼
 said on
September 7, 2012
Ahhhh I hear it now. Putting the 的 on the end of 没有 just turns it into an adjective, yeah?
Elementary
 said on
September 7, 2012
@murrayjames,

Thanks! You are right! Fixed now.

@赢正龙,

Hmmm... we would call that entire phrase 没有（商标）的 adverbial phrase.

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com
Xiao Hu
 said on
September 7, 2012
I agree with the way Echo likes to shop, it's also the way I roll.

No logo = All Good

Big Logo = Big Problem

I'm curious to know Brendan, how have you been screwing these things up for years?

Brendan
 said on
September 8, 2012
@Xiao Hu - For some reason, I got it into my head early on that 完 had a third tone, and for years I was in the habit of reading 完全 as wǎnquán. Might be the sort of problem I could have avoided if I'd ever used flashcards or some other kind of study tool, rather than just relying on my memory. I do know better now.

I'm with you on logos -- not sure why I should be paying brands for the privilege of advertising their product for them.

@赢正龙 - You can't prove that I called David a homo. (I was indeed recommending Taobao, my go-to source for basically everything from books to clothes to food. )
minghan
 said on
September 8, 2012
Hey what's the deal with “你们这个", "他们这儿" etc. Is there a rule for this kind of construction? Can you also say ”他们那儿"? How does it work?
Xiao Hu
 said on
September 9, 2012
@Brendan,

I have the same problem as well. Although I know in my head that it's second tone wan2, but it, even still, often comes out as third tone, wan3.

It's probably got to do with my time in Chinese class when the professor would have us practice pronunciation. I was practicing the four tones, wan1, wan2, wan3, wan4, and professor stopped me and asked me to repeat second and third tones. I repeated them again and he told me there was no difference between the two. I swore up and down that there was, he snapped back, "I heard third tone, repeat again"!

Even with all of my proessor's work on pronunciation, I'm still as confused today as I was back then.
Xiao Hu
 said on
September 9, 2012
@Brendan,

I concur about the logo issue. People pay premium prices for a logo on a product, which, in China has become a kind of "face" thing. What people don't realize is that in truth, very few people really care about which brand of shoes or clothes you wear, or which kind of purse or phone you carry. But people walk around proudly advertising a brand, when the company should be paying us.

He he, while on the subject of adverting others, what kinds of things can I find on Taobao anyway?
Echo
 said on
September 9, 2012
@minghan,

It's just about the difference between 这儿 and 那儿. As you may have known, if you are talking about somewhere near, you usually want to use 这儿. Otherwise it's 那儿. And you add 你们，我们，他们 before 这儿 or 那儿, depending on the context.

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com
minghan
 said on
September 9, 2012
Ah ok, I want to rephrase my question. I guess I'm just asking, why the 这儿/那儿 is there. How is it different than saying just 你们， 我们， etc. I want to sound more natural when I speak Chinese and I know that for the second line, if I wanted to say "They only have this one type." I would probably say "他们只有这一种“ and maybe that's not the most natural way to say it.
Echo
 said on
September 10, 2012
@minghan,

Either adding 这儿/那儿 or not is natural. Adding it is a bit more polite. You are not saying "they don't have sth", but "their place don't have sth".

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com
Xiao Hu
 said on
September 10, 2012
@Echo,

很久没有你脱离泡泡金字塔而给我们泡泡中文粉丝听听你的表演啊！我每一次听你的表演都会联想到你演特别迷茫的求职者的角色。那时你的台词大部分是“啊？”这一个字。还好这次你的台词比较丰她富哈！

我投票让Echo老师多一点给我们泡泡中文的粉丝听听她录的播客吧！
Xiao Hu
 said on
September 10, 2012
@Brendan,

I guess what I meant is, what other kinds of gems could I find on Taobao? Anything like 漫画, 动漫，任天堂/SNK/Sega 电玩,古董，复古之类的产品?

Or would it just be the everyday assortment of T-Shirts, I Phones, Apple Computers and shoes?

I've never looked closely into Taobao. Which stores would I need to go to to find something interesting?
Echo
 said on
September 11, 2012
@Xiao Hu,

哈哈哈哈，谢谢捧场，我继续努力 :)

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com
Brendan
 said on
September 11, 2012
@Xiao Hu - Don't know about Sega games, but I'm pretty sure you'd have no problem finding Nintendo goodies, retro-wear, and anime and manga galore. It's also not bad for cooking ingredients, books, grey-market electronics (I got my e-book reader there - easily the best money I've spent in years), etc. etc. And more or less anything else you can think of: pets, furniture, recharge cards for your phone balance, and assorted trinkets, gages, gewgaws, and knickknacks. A while ago I was sorely tempted to buy an old Chinese typewriter -- only 45 kgs! Only RMB 2,000! -- but was dissuaded by my more sensible better half.
Xiao Hu
 said on
September 15, 2012
@Echo,

只要你多一点录播客就好了。我早就觉得你有当演员的范儿！:)
Xiao Hu
 said on
October 13, 2012
@Brendan,

Thanks again for the info, I'm going to hit the Taobao stores hard and see what goodies I can dig up.

BTW: I think it was a good move on your better half's part.
itsanthonyhere
 said on
November 25, 2012
I don't know if it's just me, but..

in line four, "也不是完全没有啊" isn't being spoken.

My listening skills aren't that great, but I'm hearing, "你看在logo还在哪儿呢."

What am I missing?
rvvanni
 said on
October 21, 2013
I thought you guys would enjoy what I find a very funny logo-free world related story.

My brother lives in London in a very touristic neighborhood called Camden Town. He told me that every weekend, when the neighborhood is packed with tourists, a man stands on the corner of the street and every time someone who is wearing a very large logo on his clothing goes by, the man standing on the corner start asking with a very loud voice: "Hey you.. yes you. Please tell me who did this to you and transformed you into a walking advertisement! It's so sad! I feel so sorry for you!" Once, one of the tourists yelled at answered "actually I am American..." and the man on the corner replied "oh... that explains everything!"
MAC.JAMIE
 said on
October 26, 2013
Hasnt he been sectioned yet?
sasha
 said on
July 30, 2014
Same problem as @itsanthonyhere, but the entire line. I'm trying my best to hear it, but it sounds like "这个也就是稍微小了一点儿，你看这logo还在那儿呢" to me.
rjcaste
 said on
July 1, 2015
Yeah, @sasha, I hear it too. Could it be one of the "incorrect and offensive things in 1 of 5 podcasts" they talk about sometimes with the premium subscription? Could it be???
agnibhandari
 said on
July 9, 2015
hey guys I am new her best & quicker way to learn... please .... :))