Participation in "Seminar on Policy and Practice of Poverty Alleviation through Solar PV Power Generation for Developing Countries". By Serene Zawaydeh. August 11, 2026
In July 2026, I got the opportunity to participate in "Seminar on Policy and Practice of Poverty Alleviation through Solar PV Power Generation for Developing Countries”, "发展中国家光伏扶贫政策与实践研修班", sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce of People’s Republic of China, and organized by Gansu Natural Energy Research Institute, 甘肃自然能源研究所, from July 7, 2026 to July 27, 2026. Participants were from 8 countries: Jordan, Palestine, Honduras, Namibia, Samoa, South Africa, Tajikstan, Trinidad and Tobago. The training was held at the International Solar Energy Center in Lanzhou, 兰州, in Gansu 甘肃Province, steps away from the Yellow River 黄河, China’s mother river. In addition to knowledge shared by distinguished professors, site visits included the solar energy center’s labs; LongXing Group, CHINT Northwest Intelligent PV Operation and Maintenance Center in Gaolan County, Lanzhou City, Gansu Province; LONGi Green Energy Technology Co and Gsola Power in Xi’An city; in addition to Desert PV Power Station in Zhongwei 中卫, Zhongwei City, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. Wind and solar farms stretched along the way during the high speed train ride. CHINT monitors 1149 PV Power Stations in North West China. It uses cloud-based big data and IoT platforms to monitor massive, geographically dispersed photovoltaic (PV) power stations, including utility-scale solar installations across Northwest China. Through 20-25 years of photovoltaic poverty alleviation projects in China, impoverished households actively generate income and continue to engage in labor, fostering a mindset and habit of self-reliance. China's PV installations reached 1.2 Terawatt in 2025, becoming the first country to enter the Terawatt Era.
Are there any special numbers in Chinese? by Serene Zawaydeh. June 8, 2026
When I started learning Chinese, my teacher introduced us to idioms and famous Chinese sayings right from HSK1, which made learning Chinese more interesting right from the beginning. There is a saying: 三人行， 必有我师. This means when three people walk together, one must be my teacher. We should be around people who can teach us something. This comes from Confucius in the Analects (论语, Lún Yǔ), one of the most famous sayings in Chinese philosophy. The full quote is:
三人行，必有我师焉。择其善者而从之，其不善者而改之。 (Sān rén xíng, bì yǒu wǒ shī yān. Zé qí shàn zhě ér cóng zhī, qí bù shàn zhě ér gǎi zhī.) "When three people walk together, there is certainly a teacher for me. I select their good qualities and follow them. I take their bad qualities and correct them in myself."
As today is June 8, 2026, I thought of sharing some information about numbers in Chinese, and information that I did not know before learning Chinese.
Numbers 1 , 2, 3, and 10 are very easy to write. Number 8 is similar to ٨ in Eastern Arabic numerals.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
一
二
三
四
五
六
七
八
九
十
Yī
èr
sān
sì
wǔ
liù
qī
bā
jiǔ
shí
Number 8 八(bā)is viewed as the luckiest number in Chinese, and is related to wealth and prosperity发(fā)财(cái). The new year’s greeting in Chinese is 恭(gōng)喜(xǐ)发(fā)财(cái)May you be happy and prosperous.
China chose 8/8/08 at 8:08 PM for the Opening Ceremony for Beijing Summer Olympic Games 2008. The 2008 Olympics opening ceremony was held at the Bird's Nest in Beijing, on Friday, 8 August 2008. It was directed by Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou, who is considered as one of the most successful filmmakers in the world. The 2008 Olympics opening ceremony and movies by Zhang Yimou were featured in Chinese movie recommendations by teacher Ken from Chinese Zero to Hero.
The double eights (88) visually resemble the Chinese character for "double happiness" (囍). Additionally, it mimics the infinity symbol (∞), suggesting limitless wealth.
People and businesses are willing to pay massive premiums for addresses, phone numbers, and license plates that feature the number 8.
666 (六(liù)六(liù)六(liù)) is a popular phrase used to praise someone for being awesome, impressive, or highly skilled. It is the digital equivalent of saying "bravo," "well done," or "you rock”.
On the other hand, number 4 四(sì)in Chinese is considered an unlucky number in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, and is strongly avoided. Buildings often skip floor numbers containing 4 (4, 14, 24, 40-49).
Number 4 in Chinese is 四 (sì)，which is close to the the sound of 死(sǐ) which means death in Chinese. Number 14 十四would sound like 是死 would sound like saying “is death”, where 是 is the verb “is” and 死being death.
Number 4 is strictly prohibited at hospitals in South Korea, and number 4 may be replaced by F in elevators. Number 4 is also skipped in building floor numbering in Singapore and Malaysia, and can be avoided in Vietnam as well.
Number 4 is also considered unlucky in Japan. Number 9 (ku) is also avoided as it means suffering.
Examples of skipping 4 in China:
· Just as the 13th floor is sometimes skipped in Western hotels, buildings in China often omit the fourth floor, labeling it as 3A or jumping straight to 5. Number 13, it is viewed neutrally or even positively in China.
· Many Chinese individuals will intentionally pay a premium for phone numbers or car plates that do not contain the number 4.
· Major brands, including smartphone and tech companies, often skip releasing "Series 4" products in the Chinese market to avoid offending consumers or deterring sales.
· When offering gifts—such as flowers, fruit, or money—it is highly inappropriate to give 4 of anything. Even numbers are generally preferred, but 4 is strictly taboo.
Bigger Numbers in Chinese
Certain characters are associated with numbers that have zeros. In English, three zeros separate big numbers, such as Thousand and Million and Billion. In Chinese, the character万 is Ten Thousand, and 亿 is a hundred million. So to say one million, we have to say one hundred ten thousand; to say ten million, we need to say one thousand ten thousand; and to say one billion, we should say ten hundred million in Chinese.
10
Ten
100
Hundred
1000
Thousand
10,000
Ten Thousand
Million
1,000,000
Ten Million
10,000,000
Hundred Million
100,000,000
Billion
1000,000,000
十
百
千
万
百万
千万
亿
十亿
It is easy for Chinese kids to say the bigger numbers, as demonstrated in this video.
Why does Chinese language stay away from R in many
names of Places? By Serene Zawaydeh. June
3, 2026
国家: Country
Thousands of characters that need be learnt to
understand written Chinese. As for the spoken Mandarin, more and more words
keep appearing that sound like words previously learnt. There are also
different dialects, which seem to be mixing up the sounds that the student
learns. With a different dialect, shan would turn into san; while shi would
turn into si. Chinese focuses on the written language, with characters
conveying meaning. More advanced spoken language would be rich in
four-character idioms and expressions which together convey a specific meaning.
Chinese names of countries give an idea about
how words in Chinese transform names compared to the original names. For
example, many names of places that have R in English and Arabic, turn into L in
Chinese, or the R is totally dissolved and does not appear in the Chinese name.
This gives Chinese people the impression that people in other countries change
the L into R, as was noted by a Chinese student. Staying away from “R” might make it difficult
for Chinese native speakers to pronounce words in other languages. For example,
a Chinese student learning Arabic found the letter ر R very difficult to pronounce and made a lot of
effort trying to pronounce it in different way.
It should be noted that the Chinse language has
R in many words, such as 如果，然后，然而; 让, 让步；认识，人，热; 儿，而，二，尔，耳. There is a different R which sounds like “ir” as in 日. The pronunciation of 人，and让by a
native Chinese teacher, sounds different than the normal “r”, and seems to have
a “j”.
Following are examples of names of countries
and cities in Chinese along with the Arabic and English names.
Name in Chinese
Name in Arabic
Note
摩洛哥Móluògē
المغرب
Morocco. Chinese changes R into L in country name.
Japan. The name in English and Arabic do not have “r”. Japan is Nippon
in Japanese.
尼日尔Nírì'ěr
النيجر
Niger. Only three countries have the character 日in Chinese: Japan, Niger, and Nigeria.
尼日利亚nírìlìyǎ
نيجيريا
Nigeria. The G does not appear in the Chinese name in Niger and Nigeria.
阿根廷Āgēntíng
الأرجنتين
Argentina.R removed from country name.
挪威Nuówēi
النرويج
Norway
法国
فرنسا
France
旧金山Jiùjīnshān
سان فرانسيسكو
San Fransisco
新加坡Xīnjiāpō
سنغافورة
Singapore
加拿大Jiānádà
كندا
Canada
卡萨布兰卡
Kǎsàbùlánkǎ
الدار
البيضاء
Casablanca
利雅得Lìyǎdé
الرياض
Riyadh
安曼Ānmàn
عمّان
Amman, the capital of Jordan. Chinese name is “An-man” while the
original name does not have “n”.
阿曼Āmàn 阿曼苏丹国
Āmàn sūdān guó
عُمان
سلطنة عُمان
Oman. Oman’s country name Āmàn in Chinese sounds like the name of
Jordan’s capital, Amman. The name of Sultanate is like Sudan苏丹السودانwith added 国, which adds more confusion.
The following website provides the full list of
country names in English and Chinese with Pinyin, and the way they are
pronounced in the local language.
In Chinese, the word for Kingdom is 王国，and the king is called 国王.
Many country names in Chinese have the word “国”. For example, France is 法国，Germany德国, 美国USA, 英国UK , 中国China.
Meanwhile, there are countries that are
Kingdoms, but do not have the word 国.
The following countries are all kingdoms, but
do not have the word 国 in the
country’s name: Jordan 约旦；沙特阿拉伯Saudi Arabia； Morocco 摩洛哥；Bahrain 巴林.
Saudi’s name includes the character 沙which appears in the word desert, which is 沙漠while the name in Arabic has the “s” sound, and
does not refer to the desert.
中国means China. The word 中means middle.
国家means country. 家alone
means home or family.
One of the first questions that Chinese learner
has to answer, is:
Which country are you from? 你是哪国人? Nǐ shì nǎ guórén?
Where do you come from? 你来自哪里？Nǐ
láizì nǎlǐ?
The answer for this question would require knowing the country name in Chinese.
The word 人 means person. It is added after the name of the country, to say
that the person is from that country. For example, 中国人means Chinese person. Adding the word 人 after the name of the country, indicates
the citizenship of the person.
Question: 你是哪国人？Which country are you from?
Answer: 我是【Country Name】人。
我 means I 是means am.
Japan is called日本 in Chinese，while the country’s name in Japanese is Nippon, without R, and in
Arabic it is اليابان Al-Yaban. So why is
Japan referred to as 日本？The word
日means Sun, and 本means root.
I looked up some information about Japanese
language. The Japanese writing system uses three sets: Hiragana, Katakana and
Kanji. Kanji characters look like Chinese characters, which are called 汉字 in
Chinese. Having a different pronunciation for Chinese characters would be very
confusing if someone is learning Chinese. As for the Chinese Katakana, it looks
so much simpler than Chinese characters.
Katatkana system has ra, ri, ru, re, ro. The Japanese
variations for letters and having a, u, i, as in Ka, Ki, Ku are similar to
having the Diacritics or Harakat in Arabic language.
Could having the R’s in Japanese language be
the reason why Japan is called 日本 in
Chinese, although Japan’s name in Japanese, English and Arabic, does not have R? Could historical conflicts between the two countries, be the reason behind staying
away from R in names of many places in Chinese; transforming the R into L or
completely avoiding the letter R? Afterall, thousands of Chinese characters are available, and Chinese language already has the letter R in Chinese words, as highlighted at the beginning of this blog.
