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Make three calls at the thatched cottage
        In the third century, China was divided into three kingdoms: Wei in the north, Shu in the southwest and Wu in the southeast. Shu was a weak state. The head of Shu, Liu Bei, was searching for talents everywhere for the kingdom. He heard of a very wise and knowledgeable man called Zhuge Liang who lived in Longzhong in Hubei province. So Liu decided to invite him to be his prime minister to help strengthen the State of Shu. In the year 207AD, Liu Bei with his sworn brothers Guan Yu and Zhang Fei traveled to Longzhong to ask Zhuge Liang to assist him. But Zhuge was not at home. Thus they had to return disappointedly. Later, they came again. But again they failed to see Zhuge, because he had been wandering about for days and hadn't yet come back. This time, Liu Bei left a note expressing his meaning.
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Chinese language students
Overseas Chinese, especially 2nd generation
Ethnic minority groups in China
The HSK offers three different tests and is scored overall on a scale of 1-11:

HSK Basic (基础): level 1-3
HSK Elementary-Intermediate (初中等): level 3-8
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Chinese New Year Promotion - Register NOW for any 6-month program and receive a bonus month of lessons for FREE!
Promotion time: Promotion is current and will conclude on February 20th 2010.
Contents: To celebrate the beginning of 2010 and the Chinese New Year, MCL will offer you 7-months of lessons if you enroll for any 6-months Chinese course. That’s right, receive 1-month of free lessons with any 6-month enrollment. This web promotion lowers the net monthly price to $127USD for up to 20 classes per month or only $6.40USD per class. Those taking a 10-class package per month will pay $85USD, with each class costing only $8.50USD. - And the best thing is that you can still pay by the month.
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By Liu Dongchang –Director of Peking University Soft Power Research Centre

Modern life would be incomplete without all the “must haves”; the cars, air-conditioners, televisions, fancy clothes, and everything that disposable income buys.

Mapo Tofu (麻婆豆腐)

Mapo Tofu- a spicy Szechuan dish
Mapo tofu (má pó dòu fǔ 麻婆豆腐) is the most famous and easiest kind of Sichuan food and also the spicy taste also makes it very popular.True Mapo doufu is powerfully spicy with both conventional "heat" spiciness and the characteristic "mala" (numbing spiciness) flavor of Sichuan cuisine. The feel of the particular dish is often described by cooks using seven specific Chinese adjectives: numbing(má 麻), spicy hot(là 辣), hot temperature(tàng 烫),  fresh(xiān 鲜), tender and soft (nèn嫩), aromatic(xiāng 香), and  flaky(sū 酥). These seven characteristics are considered to be the most defining of authentic Mapo doufu. The authentic form of the dish is increasingly easy to find outside China today, but usually only in Sichuanese restaurants that do not adapt the dish for non-Sichuanese tastes.It is said that Ma Po bean curd introduced to Japan after the bags were made of fast food, "Mapo tofu."
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