Love China

It would seem we go in phases here at Lost Laowai. We get heated posts about people being beaten, then we move into nerdier territory with computer stuff. Well, I’d just like to say – BRING ON THE LOVE.

At Lost Laowai, love is in the air. It’s months before Valentine’s Day, and months since Chinese Valentine’s Day, but that’s not stopping us from launching Hao Hao Friends – Lost Laowai’s friend-finder site. Basically, you sign up for free, check out all the good looking people (and skip past the non, ie. my profile). Find your match, a language parter, a friend, a travel buddy, someone to explore the finer points of navel spelunking – whatever steams your dumpling.

Got too many friends as it is? Chances are they don’t like you anyway… and the people on here don’t even know you yet. In all seriousness though, give it a try, if you’ve got enough time to read this, you’ve got enough time to meet some new people.And, in case any of it works out, here’s a little list that might prove useful:

Chinese Pet Names | 爱称

Hover over the Chinese for the tonal pronunciation and the Chinese characters
BF/GF I <3 U:
baobei – treasure, baby, hon, sweetheart, etc.
qinai – dear (lit. kiss love)
Or, commonly, boyfriends and girlfriends will simply repeat the last character of their love’s given name.

Married Mushiness:
mama / haizi de ma – These are both what a man can call his wife as a pet name. The latter being reserved for if the couple has kids.
baba / haizi de ba – These are both what a woman can call her husband as a pet name. The latter being reserved for if the couple has kids.

Geriatric Gushes:
Alright, these are a bit bizarre, but humorous…
laogui – old ghost (from an old woman to an old man)
sigui – dead ghost (again, from a woman to a man – and don’t argue the redundancy)
lao pozi – old woman (from an old man to an old woman)