HSK 4Lesson 71
The Great Wall is China's best-known sight. Anne teases Liu Xiaoxue for never having been, two friends count their way up the steps, Li Wen and Liu Ming take in the view from the top, and Teacher Wang encourages a tired Liu Ming.
You will learn to talk about a visit to the Great Wall: what you know about it, climbing it step by step, describing the view from the top, and teasing a friend who does not live up to expectations.
Part 1 · 6 new words
Contains 4 words
ahead; the front
before one's eyes
deep
full; filled
Contains 2 words
step; pace
to shout; to call out
Part 2 · 6 phrases
前方路口向右转，请注意安全。
Turn right at the intersection ahead; please be careful.
一打开窗户，眼前就是一座大山。
As soon as I opened the window, a big mountain was right there in front of my eyes.
这条河很深，小孩子不能一个人下水。
This river is deep, so kids can't go in the water alone.
我累得一步也走不动了。
I'm so tired that I can't take another step.
我的书包里装满了书，太重了。
My bag is stuffed full of books and it's way too heavy.
妈妈在楼下喊我吃饭，我才发现已经六点了。
Mom called me down for dinner from downstairs, and that's when I saw it was already six.
Part 3 · 4 conversations
Anne finds out that Liu Xiaoxue, who grew up in Beijing, has never climbed the Great Wall, and they plan to go together.
安妮Anne
小雪，你去过长城吗？
Xiaoxue, have you been to the Great Wall?
刘小雪Liu Xiaoxue
说出来不好意思，我还没去过。
I'm embarrassed to say it, but I haven't been yet.
安妮Anne
Part 4 · 1 point
还X呢
Use 还hái + a noun for who someone is + 呢ne, then say how they fall short, to tease them for not living up to it.
Call yourself a …?
还hái + noun + 呢ne，how the person falls short.
还北京人呢，连长城都没去过！
Call yourself a Beijinger? You've never even been to the Great Wall!
刘小雪Liu Xiaoxue
所以这个周末我想去。听说长城有两千多年的历史，是中国最有名的地方之一。
That's why I want to go this weekend. I hear the Great Wall is more than two thousand years old and one of the most famous places in China.
安妮Anne
我跟你一起去吧。要爬很久吗？
Let me come with you. Is it a long climb?
刘小雪Liu Xiaoxue
要爬两三个小时。我们早点儿出发，人少，也不太热。
About two or three hours. Let's set off early, when there are fewer people and it isn't too hot.
Halfway up a steep section of the Wall, Wang Yixue encourages a tired Bai Jiayue to keep going.
白家月Bai Jiayue
这段长城太难爬了，我走几步就得休息一下。
This part of the Wall is so hard to climb. Every few steps I have to rest.
王一雪Wang Yixue
别急，一步一步往上走。你看，前方最高的那个地方，就是我们要去的地方。
Take it easy; go up one step at a time. Look, that highest point ahead is where we're going.
白家月Bai Jiayue
看起来不远，可是还要走多少步啊？
It doesn't look far, but how many more steps is it?
王一雪Wang Yixue
我数了，我们已经走了三百多步。听说这段一共六百多步，还剩一半。
I've been counting. We've done over three hundred steps. I hear this section has about six hundred in all, so half are left.
白家月Bai Jiayue
还有一半？我的腿都酸了。
Half still to go? My legs are already aching.
王一雪Wang Yixue
再坚持一下，到了上面，风景最好看。
Hang on a bit longer. The view is best from the top.
Li Wen and Liu Ming reach a high point on the Wall, look at the view, and decide to shout from the top.
李文Li Wen
终于到了！你看，眼前全是山，山上的长城长得看不到头。
We made it! Look, there are mountains everywhere in front of us, and the Wall on them is so long you can't see where it ends.
刘明Liu Ming
下面好高啊！我都有点儿害怕。
It's so high up here! I'm a bit scared.
李文Li Wen
别往边上走。听说秋天来，满山都是深红色的叶子，更漂亮。
Don't go near the edge. I hear that in autumn the hills are covered in dark red leaves, which is even more beautiful.
刘明Liu Ming
今天长城上站满了人，下次我们秋天再来。
The Wall is packed with people today. Next time let's come in autumn.
李文Li Wen
好。我们大声喊一下吧，听说在这儿喊，山那边都能听到。
Sure. Let's give a big shout. They say if you shout here, people on the other side of the mountain can hear it.
刘明Liu Ming
你先喊，我给你拍照。
You shout first, and I'll take your photo.
李文Li Wen
长城，我来了！
Great Wall, here I am!
On a class trip to the Wall, Liu Ming wants to stop early, and Teacher Wang teases and encourages him.
刘明Liu Ming
王老师，我太累了，走不动了。我在这儿等你们吧。
Teacher Wang, I'm too tired to go on. I'll wait for you all here.
王老师Teacher Wang
还年轻人呢，才走了一半就不行了？
Call yourself young? Only halfway and you've had enough?
刘明Liu Ming
这儿的路一直往上，比我想的难多了。
The path here goes uphill the whole way. It's much harder than I thought.
王老师Teacher Wang
再往前走几百步，前方就有休息的地方，到那儿喝点儿水。
Walk a few hundred more steps and there's a place to rest ahead. You can have some water there.
刘明Liu Ming
好吧，那我再坚持一下，一步一步走。
All right, then I'll keep going a bit longer, one step at a time.
Anne teases Liu Xiaoxue, who grew up in Beijing.
In sentences
A Beijinger
还北京人呢，连长城都没去过！
Call yourself a Beijinger? You've never even been to the Great Wall!
连……都…… (lián … dōu …) gives the shortfall.
Young
还年轻人呢，才走了一半就不行了？
Call yourself young? Only halfway and you've had enough?
才……就…… (cái … jiù …) gives the shortfall.
A student
还大学生呢，这么简单的字都写错了。
Call yourself a university student? You got such an easy character wrong.
A friendly tease about a mistake.
A fan
还球迷呢，连昨天谁赢了都不知道！
Call yourself a fan? You don't even know who won yesterday!
Any identity noun can fill the slot.
A：我是班长，我来拿。 B：还班长呢，连自己的书包都忘了拿！
A: I'm the class monitor; I'll carry it. B: Some monitor you are, you even forgot your own bag!
李文笑着说：还大学生呢，一座山都爬不上去？
Li Wen said with a laugh: Some university student you are, you can't even get up one mountain?
还X呢hái X ne puts a noun that names what someone is, such as 北京人Běijīngrén, 年轻人niánqīngrén or 大学生dàxuéshēng, between 还hái and 呢ne. It means you are X, and yet look at you: 还北京人呢，连长城都没去过！hái Běijīngrén ne, lián Chángchéng dōu méi qùguo!. The next clause says how the person fails to match what people expect of X, often with 连……都…… (lián … dōu …) or 才……就…… (cái … jiù …): 还年轻人呢，才走了一半就不行了？hái niánqīngrén ne, cái zǒu le yíbàn jiù bù xíng le?. The tone is teasing or mildly critical, fine among friends or from a teacher to a student, but rude towards someone you should respect. Here 还hái does not mean still, and there is no 是shì: 他还是大学生呢tā hái shì dàxuéshēng ne means he is still a student, a plain fact. A common error is to leave out 呢ne: say 还北京人呢hái Běijīngrén ne, not 还北京人hái Běijīngrén.
