Tuesday, December 22, 2009

冬至 (Dongzhi, The Winter Solstice) and Chinese Children Song "賣湯圓" ( Mai Tangyuan, Selling Rice Balls )


December 22, 2009

Today is 冬至 Dōngzhì (The Winter Solstice Festival), one of the most important festivals celebrated by the Chinese and other East Asians, a time for the family to get together. Many families are making and eating 湯圓 (汤圆 tāngyuán rice balls) which symbolize reunion.

I didn't get a chance to eat 湯圓 today, I'll have to go to the Asian market to shop some.
Here are some 湯圓 photos which make me 流口水 ( liú kǒushuǐ drooling):
1. 汤圆
2. 茼蒿 豬肉 鹹 湯圓
(茼蒿 猪肉 咸 汤圆 Tónghāo Zhūròu Xián Tāngyuán Crowndaisy Pork Salty Rice Balls)

Here's a Children song "賣湯圓" ( 卖 汤圆 Mài Tāngyuán Selling Rice Balls ) I'd like to share with you. Thanks to Bananaz reminded me the song.


The 小二哥 ( xiǎoèr gē, long time ago in China, people called the server in restaurants
小二 or 小二哥. 小二哥 is more polite.) in the video is cute. The way he throws the rice balls in the pot is pretty cool though it's probably edited.
There's a white flag with "酒" ( jiǔ wine ) on it in the video. It means a place that serve food.
In the beginning of the video, it says
卖汤丸 Mài Tāngwán. 丸 wán is also balls or pills.
Click the 圖片 ( 图片 túpiàn image ) below to open the video page:


歌詞 簡體 中文, 拼音 和 英文 翻譯:
Gēcí jiǎntǐ zhōngwén, pīnyīn hé yīngwén fānyì:
Lyrics in simplified characters, pinyin and English translations:

1.
卖 汤圆, 卖 汤圆
Mài tāngyuán, mài tāngyuán
Sell rice balls, sell rice balls. (Rice balls for sell, rice balls for sell.)

小二 哥 的 汤圆 是 圆 又 圆
Xiǎoèr gē de tāngyuán shì yuán yòu yuán
The server's rice balls are round and round.

一 碗 汤圆 满 又 满
Yī wǎn tāngyuán mǎn yòu mǎn
One bowl rice balls full and full. ( One bowl of rice balls are full and full.)

三 毛 钱 呀 买 一 碗
Sān máo qián ya mǎi yī wǎn
30 cents buy one bowl. ( 30 cents for a bowl.)

汤圆, 汤圆, 卖 汤圆
Tāngyuán, tāngyuán, mài tāngyuán
Rice balls, rice balls, sell rice balls. ( Rice balls, rice balls, rice balls for sell.)

汤圆 一样 可以 当 茶饭
Tāngyuán yīyàng kěyǐ dāng cháfàn
Rice balls same can be used as tea rice. ( Rice balls can be used as meal as well. )

嘿...哟Hēi...yō
Hey...yo ( Yo is used at the end of sentence as exclamation.)

汤圆, 汤圆, 卖 汤圆
Tāngyuán, tāngyuán, mài tāngyuán
Rice balls, rice balls, sell rice balls. ( Rice balls, rice balls, rice balls for sell.)

汤圆 一样 可以 当 茶饭Tāngyuán yīyàng kěyǐ dāng cháfàn
Rice balls same can be used as tea rice. ( Rice balls can be used as meal as well. )

2.
卖 汤圆, 卖 汤圆
Mài tāngyuán, mài tāngyuán
Sell rice balls, sell rice balls. (Rice balls for sell, rice balls for sell.)

小二 哥 的 汤圆 是 圆 又 圆
Xiǎoèr gē de tāngyuán shì yuán yòu yuán
The server's rice balls are round and round.

一 碗 汤圆 满 又 满
Yī wǎn tāngyuán mǎn yòu mǎn
One bowl rice balls full and full. ( One bowl of rice balls are full and full.)

三 毛 钱 呀 买 一 碗
Sān máo qián ya mǎi yī wǎn
30 cents buy one bowl. ( 30 cents for a bowl.)

汤圆, 汤圆, 卖 汤圆
Tāngyuán, tāngyuán, mài tāngyuán
Rice balls, rice balls, sell rice balls. ( Rice balls, rice balls, rice balls for sell.)

公平 交易 可以 包 退还Gōngpíng jiāoyì kěyǐ bāo tuìhuán
Fair trade can guarantee return. ( Fair deal with money back guarantee.)

嘿...Hēi...yō
Hey...yo ( Yo is used at the end of sentence as exclamation.)

汤圆, 汤圆, 卖 汤圆Tāngyuán, tāngyuán, mài tāngyuán
Rice balls, rice balls, sell rice balls. ( Rice balls, rice balls, rice balls for sell.)

公平 交易 可以 包 退还Gōngpíng jiāoyì kěyǐ bāo tuìhuán
Fair trade can guarantee return. ( Fair deal with money back guarantee.)

3.
卖 汤圆, 卖 汤圆Mài tāngyuán, mài tāngyuán
Sell rice balls, sell rice balls. (Rice balls for sell, rice balls for sell.)

小二 哥 的 汤圆 是 圆 又 圆Xiǎoèr gē de tāngyuán shì yuán yòu yuánThe server's rice balls are round and round.

要 吃 汤圆 快 来 买Yào chī tāngyuán kuài lái mǎi
Want eat rice balls fast come buy. ( If you want to eat rice balls, hurry come to buy.)

吃 了 汤圆 好 团圆Chī le tāngyuán hǎo tuányuán
Eat rice balls so reunion. ( Eat the rice balls so you can have a reunion.)

汤圆, 汤圆, 卖 汤圆Tāngyuán, tāngyuán, mài tāngyuán
Rice balls, rice balls, sell rice balls. ( Rice balls, rice balls, rice balls for sell.)

慢 了 一 步 只怕 要 卖完Màn le yī bù zhǐpà yào màiwán
Slow a step only afraid will sold out. ( I'm only afraid that they will be sold out even if you are only one step behind.)

嘿...Hēi...yō
Hey...yo ( Yo is used at the end of sentence as exclamation.)

汤圆, 汤圆, 卖汤圆Tāngyuán, tāngyuán, mài tāngyuán
Rice balls, rice balls, sell rice balls. ( Rice balls, rice balls, rice balls for sell.)

慢 了 一 步 只怕 要 卖完Màn le yī bù zhǐpà yào màiwán
Slow a step only afraid will sold out. ( I'm only afraid that they will be sold out even if you are only one step behind.)

Practice writing: CLICK HERE and hit the brushes next to each character to see the stroke orders. Grab a piece of paper and write them down.


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12 comments:

Kelvin said...

Nice, got hanyu pinyin^^

CheaHSan said...

Merry Xmas & A Happy New Year

Unknown said...

我喜欢吃湯圓 Wo xihuan chi tangyuan!

Unknown said...

The photos of the tangyuan makes me hungry! haha!

Unknown said...

What's the meaning of "呀" in this sentence?
三 毛 钱 呀 买 一 碗
Sān máo qián ya mǎi yī wǎn

Can I leave it out and just say 三 毛 钱 买 一 碗?
Sān máo qián mǎi yī wǎn

இ Baŋäŋaz இ said...

Jeannie, Not too sure is this an idiom and if there is a story for this.
1. One kind of rice feed 100 kind of people.
TQ

Unknown said...

Yup, I was lucky that I was in Penang and have chance to eat Tangyuan made by my mum, which I have not taken for years. This time, I enjoyed it very much as my mum didn't cook as sweet as before.

Hope you manage to find some in Asian Market. Thanks for sharing this lovely song.

May 2010 bring you success, health, wealth, joy, happiness and everything you dream of, Jeannie.

Gin said...

Thanks to all of you for dropping by.

Kelvin, I hope it's helpful for you.

CheaHS@n, same to you!

Foong, somehow I can't access to your blog. We both like 湯圓, great!
"呀" is just a particle with no meaning and yes, you can just say 三 毛 钱 买 一 碗.

Bananaz, 一樣米養百樣人 One kind of rice feed 100 kind of people is a proverb. Idioms usually have historic story background. I will pick an idiom for this month then.

James, wow...glad you got a chance to eat Tangyuan made by your mom. Didn't have chance to get to market yet. Best wishes to the new 2010!

இ Baŋäŋaz இ said...

Jeannie, Thanks for telling the difference between proverb & idiom. You go ahead for this round maybe could give me inspiration to add-on from your idiom. Have a blessed New Year 2010. Xiexie

Lee said...

Hi Jeannie, happy new year and the very best of 2010.
Wow, I wish I can read and write Chinese.
Took up French and German long ago but never thought of Chinese.
I understand there's 7000 characters in the Chinese alphabets. And the media only use 3000?

Anyway, you stay young, and keep a song in your heart and have a great new year. Best regards, Lee.

Gin said...

Uncle Lee, thanks for visiting and commenting.
You can still start to learn Chinese if you like. Start from "Pinyin" which will tell you how to pronounce. I have a post about pinyin you can find it in the Labels in my side bar.
There are 85,568 Chinese characters according to a Chinese dictionary "Zhonghua Zihai" and about 3500 to 5000 commonly used characters depending on different areas.

Wish you the best and wonderful new year. Hope to see you often here. Cheers!

Viagra Online said...

I would like to assit to the festival this year. For a couple of year I couldn't go due to the fact I had a lot of job and also I get married, but this year there are not excuses to lose it.