Introduction

This book was written to introduce new learners of Chinese to the most essential 50 nouns in Chinese. Each page contains an essential word, along with its pronunciation, definition, method of use, and example sentences and phrases.

Knowing these 50 nouns will give you a foundation for moving your Chinese to the next level.

These words are not given in any particular order, so feel free to read this book in any way you wish.

Get Ready to Bring Your Chinese to the Next Level!

Quinn Cash’s Better Chinese Now! will help make everything about learning the Chinese Language easier. Quinn Cash and Heng Yen are experts in both teaching the Chinese language and the Chinese language itself. In Quinn Cash’s Better Chinese Now!, even the most complex subjects in Chinese will be presented in a simple, easy-to-understand way. Whether you want to improve your Chinese tones, brush up on the most useful Chinese vocabulary, learn traditional Chinese characters, or grasp Chinese grammar, you can depend on Quinn Cash and Heng Yen to reveal the secrets and shortcuts behind mastering these concepts. The emphasis on this book series is practical and useful skills, not textbook formalities.

Quinn Cash’s Better Chinese Now! Includes step-by-step guides, illustrated learning material, and the secrets to Chinese that they don’t teach you in school. Regardless of your level, Quinn Cash’s Better Chinese Now! can help you bring your Chinese to the next level!

Source: 50 Chinese Nouns You Must Know (quinn Cash’s Better Chinese Now)

The history of the Iberian Peninsula comes alive through the legends & stone architecture of Spain’s most treasured buildings & monuments. Visit these spectacular icons of the past dating to Roman, Moor, and Christian influences. Also visit the region where the ancient spice Saffron was developed by the Moors. These diverse cultures designed cathedrals and castles that contain some of Europe’s finest art collections and historical architecture.

Source: Discoveries Spain – Castles, Cathedrals & Roman Ruins

The finest guidebook ever written for Kaua‘i. Now you can plan your best vacation—ever. This all new eighth edition is a candid, humorous guide to everything there is to see and do on the island. Best-selling author and longtime Hawai‘i resident, Andrew Doughty, unlocks the secrets of an island so lush and diverse that many visitors never realize all that it has to offer. Explore with him as he reveals breathtaking trails, secluded beaches, pristine reefs, delicious places to dine, relaxing resorts, exciting waterfalls, colorful canyons and so much more. Every restaurant, activity provider, business and resort is reviewed personally and anonymously. This book and a rental car are all you need to discover what makes Kaua‘i so exciting.

• The most up-to-date and accurate information available anyplace with up-to-the-minute changes posted to our website

• Frank, brutally honest reviews of restaurants, hotels and activities show you which companies really are the best…and which to avoid—no advertisements

• Driving tours let you structure your trip your way, point out sights not to be missed along the way and are complemented by 100 spectacular color photographs

• 15 specially-created maps in an easy-to-follow format with mile markers—so you’ll always know where you are on the island

• Clear, concise directions to those hard-to-find places such as deserted beaches, tropical jungles, hidden waterfalls, rugged scenic coastlines, water-filled lava pools and scores of other hidden gems listed nowhere else

• Exclusive chapter on Kaua‘i’s beaches with detailed descriptions including ocean safety

• Unique Adventures chapter and over 60 pages of exciting activities from ATVs to ziplines

• Fascinating sections on Hawai‘i’s history, culture, language and legends

• Companion website with links to every business, events calendar, over 70 resort reviews complete with aerial photos—so you’ll know if oceanfront really means oceanfront

• iPhone app available with live, interactive detailed maps and precise GPS coordinates to help you find you way around the island, active business links, phone numbers and so much more

“The Ultimate Kauai Guidebook” covers it all—from the mile-high summit of Mt. Wai‘ale‘ale, to the sparkling underwater reefs. This is the best investment you can make for your Kaua‘i visit. Whether you are a first time visitor, or a longtime kama‘aina, you will find out more about Kaua‘i from this book than from any other source. Discover the island of your dreams with “The Ultimate Kauai Guidebook.”

What others are saying…
“…a must for any serious visitor.”
—New York Times
“…a terrifically useful handbook.”
—Travel + Leisure
“Best guide to Kauai.”
—National Geographic Adventure

Source: The Ultimate Kauai Guidebook: Kauai Revealed (in Full Color)

The Circumference of Home: One Man’s Yearlong Quest for a Radically Local Life

Source: The Circumference of Home: One Man’s Yearlong Quest for A

Novice cyclist Susie Kelly sets off across northern France, following the identical route of Marie-Antoinette and Louis XVI when they tried to escape the Revolution, and their journey back to their grisly executions. From Versailles, across Paris and through the Marne valley, Susie wobbles along behind her husband, visiting battlefields of WW1 and the vineyards and cellars of the Champagne region. In three weeks Susie cycles 500 kilometres through a little-documented area of France that is idyllic cycling territory, dining sometimes in luxury and often on weird makeshift meals in her tent. Along the way there are traumas, tantrums, epiphanies, occasional matrimonial disagreements and more than one glass of champagne. Tens of thousands of readers have already discovered the joys of accompanying Susie on her past adventures. These include Best Foot Forward (Bantam 2003), a 900km solo walk from La Rochelle to Geneva, and A Perfect Circle (Bantam 2006), a 10,000 kilometre drive around the perimeter of France. ‘It is unlikely that any other cyclist could be less competent than the author, nor be so unsuited to wearing skin-tight Lycra.’ Susie Kelly “I’ve bought other books by Susie Kelly before. Like the best travel writers, I find that time passes quickly in her company. When it’s funny it’s laugh-out-loud funny, and when it’s sad it is heart-breaking.” “This book manages to combine history, humor and the best of travel writing all in one. I loved it!” “So vividly written that you can almost feel the author’s sunburn!“ “Funny, touching, instructive and a darn good tourist guide.” “This book proved a terrific find! A seamless blend of information, entertainment, out loud guffaw inducement, and thought-provocation, Ms Kelly has the joyous knack of entwining story telling with enlightening education.”

The Valley Of Heaven And Hell – Cycling In The Shadow Of Marie Antoinette

Source: The Valley of Heaven and Hell – Cycling in the Shadow of Marie

When Jon Krakauer reached the summit of Mt. Everest in the early afternoon of May 10,1996, he hadn’t slept in fifty-seven hours and was reeling from the brain-altering effects of oxygen depletion. As he turned to begin the perilous descent from 29,028 feet (roughly the cruising altitude of an Airbus jetliner), twenty other climbers were still pushing doggedly to the top, unaware that the sky had begun to roil with clouds…

Into Thin Air is the definitive account of the deadliest season in the history of Everest by the acclaimed Outside journalist and author of the bestselling Into the Wild. Taking the reader step by step from Katmandu to the mountain’s deadly pinnacle, Krakauer has his readers shaking on the edge of their seat. Beyond the terrors of this account, however, he also peers deeply into the myth of the world’s tallest mountain. What is is about Everest that has compelled so many poeple–including himself–to throw caution to the wind, ignore the concerns of loved ones, and willingly subject themselves to such risk, hardship, and expense?

Written with emotional clarity and supported by his unimpeachable reporting, Krakauer’s eyewitness account of what happened on the roof of the world is a singular achievement.

Source: Into Thin Air: a Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster

“Not long after I moved with my family to a small town in New Hampshire, I happened upon a path that vanished into a wood on the edge of town.”

So begins Bill Bryson’s hilarious book A Walk in the Woods.  Following his return to America after twenty years in Britain, Bryson decided to reacquaint himself with his native country by walking the 2,100-mile Appalachian Trail, which stretches from Springer Mountain in Georgia to Mount Katahdin in Maine.  The AT, as it’s affectionately known to thousands of hikers, offers an astonishing landscape of silent forests and sparkling lakes–and to a writer with the comic genius of Bill Bryson, it also provides endless opportunities to test his own powers of ineptitude, and to witness the majestic silliness of his fellow human beings.  

For a start, there’s the gloriously out-of-shape Stephen Katz, a buddy from Iowa who accompanies the similarly unfit Bryson on the trail.  Once Bryson and Katz settle into their stride, it’s not long before they come across the fabulously annoying Mary Ellen, whose disappearance ruins a perfectly good slice of pie, a gang of Ralph Lauren-attired yuppies from whom Katz appropriates a key piece of equipment, and a security guard in Pennsylvania who, for no ascertainable reason, impounds Bryson’s car.  Mile by arduous mile these latter-day pioneers walk America, along the way surviving the threat of bear attacks, the loss of key provisions, and everything else this awe-inspiring country can throw at them.  

But A Walk in the Woods is more than just a laugh-out-loud hike.  Bryson’s acute eye is a wise witness to this fragile and beautiful trail, and as he tells its fascinating history, he makes a moving plea for the conservation of America’s last great wilderness.  An adventure, a comedy, a lament, and a celebration, A Walk in the Woods is destined to become a modern classic of travel literature.

Source: A Walk in the Woods

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