A summary of this summer’s popular classic, The Odyssey.
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Author: Kendra
This great Chinese myth is like two fables in one. It tells the story of how the king of heaven created the Chinese zodiac, and it also tells the story about why cats hate mice.
Ever bluffed your way into a job you couldn’t actually do? Well, meet Mr. Nanguo, who faked playing an instrument for years and got paid handsomely for it.
Ever gotten so many parking tickets you wanted to give up driving forever? Well, that’s exactly what happened to Li Ming. But trading driving for walking turned out to the best decision Li Ming ever made.
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Short story: 幸运的抢劫犯 – The Lucky Robber
Li Ming spent ages plotting the perfect bank robbery, but on the big day, fate had a different plan in store.
The phrase we’ll learn today is used to describe a situation when someone tries so hard to hide or deny something that they basically point a giant arrow at it.
Ever met someone who loses a fight but still walks away feeling like the winner? Meet Ah Q, Lu Xun’s unforgettable everyman who turns every humiliation into a personal victory through sheer mental gymnastics. In these opening chapters, we watch a narrator struggle just to name his subject—and then witness Ah Q’s legendary ‘spiritual victory method’ in glorious action.
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Essay: 什么是家? – What makes a home?
Ever bought all the furniture and still felt like something was missing? This little story tells us it takes more than tables and chairs to make a house feel like a home.
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Idioms: 对牛弹琴 – Playing the Lute to a Cow
Ever tried explaining something brilliant to someone who just didn’t get it? This classic Chinese story proves that knowing your audience matters more than knowing your art.
This idiom, which means “to make an example of someone,” comes up a lot in conversations about power, politics, and the workplace.
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Essay: 学切菜 – Learning to Cut Vegetables
In this wax-on, wax-off lesson, our narrator picks up the most important basic skill in Chinese cooking.
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Short story: 姑姑的马拉松 – Auntie’s Marathon
Think you’re too old to start something new? This fifty-year-old auntie would like a word.
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Dialogue: 打错了 – Wrong Number
Ever dialed the wrong number and just hung up in embarrassment? What if you didn’t? This gentle little story shows how one tired phone call and a lonely stranger turned a mistake into something warm.
Ever complained about a gloomy, sunless week? Try a whole year of it. Back in 536 AD, the sun dimmed to a mere ghostly glow, and no one alive had any idea why.
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Science: 捕蝇草 -The Venus Flytrap
A plant that eats bugs and can count to two? Sounds like science fiction, right? Meet the Venus flytrap, a tiny green hunter that fascinated even Charles Darwin. Let’s find out how this clever little plant catches its dinner. Also, quick FYI: CRP will be off for the July 4th weekend, see you next week!
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Jokes: 两个坏消息 – Two Pieces of Bad News
These two jokes prove that bad news has a way of getting worse.
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Joke: 成功的秘密 – The Secret of Success
Ever wonder what the secret to success really is? A curious student keeps digging for answers, but the teacher’s answer wasn’t what he was expecting.
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Fable: 叶公好龙 – Lord Ye Loves Dragons
In this classic short story, it turns out Lord Ye (叶公) doesn’t like dragons as much as he thinks he does.
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Famous story: 《故乡》- Hometown by Lu Xun
If you’ve ever returned home after many years of absence to find that you had changed and grown, while everyone else had stagnated, this famous short story by Lu Xun, one of China’s greatest all-time writers, is for you.
Prayer, patience, and a clever workaround for fasting season gave birth to some of the world’s finest beer. This piece of non-fiction describes how and why the monks of medieval Europe were so fond of brewing.