Chinese For Dummies (33 page)

Decorating Your New Digs

Whether you've bought a condo or a co-op, have rented an apartment, or are spending a semester in a
sùshè
宿舍
(soo-shuh) (
dormitory
), you probably want to start buying some
jiājù
家具
(jyah-jyew) (
furniture
) or to otherwise
zhuāngshì
装饰
(
裝飾
) (jwahng-shir) (
decorate
) your new digs and put your individual stamp on the place.

Does your new place have a
hòu yuànzi
后院子
(
後院子
)
(ho ywan-dzuh) (
backyard
) with a pretty
huāyuán
花园
(
花園
) (hwah-ywan) (
garden
), perhaps? How about a
yángtái
阳台
(
陽台
)
(yahng-tye) (
balcony
) or a more romantic little
zǒuláng
走廊
(dzoe-lahng)
(
veranda
)? You can put some really nice
zhíwù
植物
(jir-woo) (
plants
) out there, or even some
huā
花
(hwah) (
flowers
), like
júhuā
菊花
(jyew-hwah) (
chrysanthemums
) or
lánhuā
兰花
(
蘭花
)
(lahn-hwah) (
orchids
), or even some
méihuā
梅花
(may-hwah) (
plum blossoms
). Wouldn't that be nice?

Is there a
lóushàng
楼上
(
樓上
) (low-shahng) (
upstairs
) as well as a
lóuxià
楼下
(
樓下
) (low-shyah) (
downstairs
)?
Do you have a grand
ménkǒu
门口
(
門口
)
(mun-koe) (
entrance
) or at least a
diàntī
电梯
(
電梯
)
(dyan-tee) (
elevator
) if you're on the top floor? Does the place have lots of floor-to-ceiling
chuānghu
窗户
(chwahng-hoo) (
windows
) with great views, or do they look straight into an air shaft, forcing you to cover them with
chuānglián
窗帘
(
窗簾
)
(chwahng-lyan) (
curtains
) the first chance you get? No matter. At least you finally have a place you can call your own.

With all these new things to buy, just try not to run up too much of a
xìnyòng kǎ
信用卡
(sheen-yoong kah) (
credit card
) bill, or you may regret having made that move from Poughkeepsie to Pudong in the first place.

Wondering what to plant in your new garden? Consider one (or all) of the
suìhǎn sānyǒu
岁寒三友
(
歲寒三友
) (sway-hahn sahn-yo) (
the three friends of winter
): plum, pine, and bamboo. When other plants have long withered away, these three still thrive in the winter months. Representing both resilience and the possibility of renewal, they're often depicted in Chinese literature, painting, and garden design.

Appointing Your Rooms, Fēng Shuǐ Style

Literally translated as
wind and water,
the goal of
fēng shuǐ
风水
(
風水
) (fuhng shway) is to create harmony between the flow of
qì
气
(
æ°£
) (chee) (
energy
) in the environment and the good fortune of the person who is in it. Buildings, rooms, and even graves are all built with
fēng shuǐ
principles in mind.

Fēng shuǐ
is no joke in Asia. Entire buildings depend on the expert placement and location chosen by
fēng shuǐ
geomancers, and an entire industry is booming as a result. (Not the construction industry, silly; the
fēng shuǐ
consultant industry.) Even U.S. realtors are sure to make houses and apartments they show
fēng shuǐ
friendly. Ideally, the building should have some kind of elevated landscape in back of it and a water feature in the front, like a pond, river, or well.

Check out the rooms that you may need a
fēng shuǐ
master to help you organize in
Table 6-1
.

Table 6-1 Areas of the Home

According to
fēng shuǐ
principles, color helps balance the energy of a room. So the color of the décor of each room is pretty important. Bathrooms, for example, should reflect
yīn
qualities of peace and seclusion (for self-explanatory reasons).

The Chinese associate colors with one of each of the
wǔ xíng
五行
(woo sheeng) (
five elements
)
:
wood, water, fire, earth, and metal.
Table 6-2
lists each of these elements.

You can think of the five elements as different phases of nature. For example, wood creates fire; fire creates earth (ashes); elements from the earth create metal; objects made of metal (such as buckets) carry water; and water nourishes wood, bringing the cycle right back to the first element again.

Table 6-2 The Five Elements

The bedroom

After you move in and discover how much empty space you really have, you probably want to go out and buy at least the bare bones basics as far as furniture is concerned. How about some of these for the
wòshì
卧室
(
臥室
) (waw-shir) (
bedroom
)?

bèizi
被子
(bay-dzuh) (
quilt
)

chuáng
床
(chwahng) (
bed
)

chuángdān
床单
(
床單
) (chwahng-dahn) (
sheets
)