Thurston, Anne F., Turner-Gottschang, Karen, Reed, Linda A.. "Glossary of Chinese Terms." China Bound, Revised: A Guide to Academic Life and Work in the PRC. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 1994.
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CHINA BOUND: A Guide to Academic Life and Work in the PRC
Laowufei
work compensation fees (in field research)
Liuxuesheng bangongshi/liuban
The Foreign Student Affairs Office
Luxingshe
China Travel Service
Mao
Chinese dime (colloquial)
maotai
a strong Chinese liquor
mian'ao
cotton padded jacket (same as mianyi)
mianbaoche
mini-buses (literally, "bread trucks," named for their shape)
miandi
yellow minivan taxis
neibu
"internal" or classified materials that cannot leave the country
neiwai youbie
difference between "insiders" and "outsiders" and the treatment thereof
paidui
to line up
pipa
a Chinese guitar-like musical instrument
renminbi
local currency, Chinese dollar (same denomination as yuan)
shaobing
Sesame-seed cake
shifu
Term of address used for Chinese service personnel
suibian
Casual
taijiquan
a kind of traditional Chinese shadowboxing
tiaojie jia
the "adjusted rate" of monetary exchange, higher than the official rate available at the Bank of China
tongxue
Schoolmates
waihuijuan
Foreign Exchange Certificates (FEC) (no longer printed)
waishi banshichu/waiban
The Foreign Affairs Office
wen ya dian yuan
Surge protector
xian
County
xiang
Township
xiuxi
rest, as in the rest period from noon until 1:30 or 2:00 p.m.
xitong
the larger system of which the danwei is a component, such as the CAS, CASS, or SEDC
youtiao
fried dough sticks, most often eaten with shaobing and/or doujiang (soybean milk) for breakfast in North China
yuan
local currency, Chinese dollar (same denomination as renminbi)
