Briefing Your Country ISP 2011 ASIA North Asia (The People’s Republic of) China (Cont.) “Delicious” in Mandarin Chinese: 好吃 (“fei chang hao chi”) or (The People’s Republic of) China 美味 (“mei wei”) Contributed by YangYi Food(s) and Drink(s): Dumplings (jiaozi); All kinds of dimsum; Cao, Haotian Wang, Spring rolls; Rice dumplings (zong zi); Fried rice; Rice cakes; Yang Zhang, Hongshan Congee; Peking duck; Green tea; Moon cakes; Soy milk; Fermented Liu, Li Guan, Yingtong and distilled alcoholic beverages; Hot pot; Steamed buns; Pork with Xie, Haisu Wang, soy sauce; Flower teas; Ginger tea; Huntun; Red pork; Steamed fish; Yangming Li, and Jian Black plum juice; White wine; Yuanxiao; Twice-cooked pork (hui Zhang guo rou); Ma po tofu; Beijing duck and Shandong pancakes in Capital: Beijing Northern China; Small steamed buns, Beef soup, Tangyuan, and Baozi in Southern China; Noodles Population: 1.3 billion Traditional Music: Chinese (i.e. Beijing, Sichuan) opera; Religion(s): Taoism; Buddhism; Christianity; Catholicism; Atheism Instrumental (i.e. bamboo flute, guzheng, erhu [a two-stringed Political Leader(s): Chairman/President Hu Jingtao; Xi Jingping; bowed instrument with a lower register than jinghu], dizi, pipa, Premier Wen Jiabao; Wu Bangguo yangqin); Kuaiban (快板); Revolutionary songs (all government workers are required to sing these songs on important Communist- Language(s): Mandarin Chinese; Cantonese; Other regional dialects party related days); Folk music; Ancient bell and drum music; The depending on the city Moon Over a Fountain; Mountain Stream; Saima (instructed by Erhu); Jasmine “Hello” in Mandarin Chinese: 你好 (“ni hao”) “Goodbye” in Mandarin Chinese: 再 (“zai jian”) 1 Briefing Your Country ISP 2011 (The People’s Republic of) China (Cont.) Hong Kong (Cont.) Sport(s): Table tennis (i.e. Ping-pong); Badminton; Volleyball; “Goodbye” in Cantonese: 拜拜 (“bye bye”) Chess; Soccer; Swimming; Tai chi; Basketball; Martial arts; Kung fu; Football “Delicious” in Cantonese: 好味 (“ho mei”) Celebrities: Yao Ming; Jay Chou; Daniel Wu; Fan Bingbing; Jet Li; Food(s) and Drink(s): Dim sum Liu Xiang; Jackie Chan; Li Na; Ma Yun; Lang Lang; Bruce Lee; Traditional Music: Canton pop Xun Lu; Zhong Guan; Qin Shi Huang; Confucius; Genghis Khan; Mao Zedong; Pandas; Ziyi Zhang Sport(s): Football and Basketball Hong Kong Celebrities: Andy Lau; Jackie Chan; Bruce Lee Contributed by Hin Li Japan Capital: Beijing Contributed by Daisuke Minami Population: 7 Capital: Tokyo million Population: 130 million Religion(s): Buddhism; Religion(s): Shinto and Catholicism; Buddhism Christianity Political Leader(s): Kan Political Leader(s): Donald Tsang Naoto; Yukio Hatoyama; Ichiro Ozawa; Sadakazu Language(s): Cantonese Tanigaki “Hello” in Cantonese: 你好 (“ni hao”) Language(s): Japanese 2 Briefing Your Country ISP 2011 Japan (Cont.) South Korea (Republic of Korea) “Hello” in Japanese: We do not really have a word similar to Contributed by Jin Haeng Lee and Hyun Uk Jeong “hello” in Japanese. We use “o-ha-yo-u-go-za-i-ma-su” Capital: Seoul (おはよございます) for morning, “kon-ni-chi-wa” (こんにちは) for noon, and “kon-ban-wa” for evening (こんばんは). (I often hear Population: 49 million foreign people using “kon-ni-chi-wa” as “hello”, but I think it does not sound right if used in morning or evening.) You can use “yo” Religion(s): Christianity; (よ) or “oh” (お) anytime as “hi”, although they sound very Protestantism; informal. Buddhism “Goodbye” in Japanese: For “goodbye”, we say “sa-yo-na-la” Political Leader(s): (さよなら). (I would prefer using L instead of R in Japanese, President Myung Bak though it is formally R, since we do not have the pronunciation of R Lee in Japanese.) Language(s): Korean “Delicious” in Japanese: “O-i-shi-I” (おいしい) or “U-ma-I” (まい) “Hello” in Korean: “An-nyung” Food(s) and Drink(s): Miso soup; Soba; Udon; Natto; Umeboshi; “Goodbye” in Korean: “An-nyung” Green tea (i.e. ryokucha, maccha); Sake “Delicious” in Korean: “Mat-it-da” or “Mat jot ta” Traditional Music: Nou and Minyou Food(s) and Drink(s): Kimchi; Bulgoggi (marinated barbecued Sport(s): Sumo-wrestling; Baseball; Soccer beef); Dduk; Shik-hye Celebrities: Comedian and movie director Takeshi Kitano; Baseball Traditional Music: A-Li-Rang players Ichiro Suzuki and Shigeo Nagashima; Novelist Haruki Murakami; Singer Akiko Wada 3 Briefing Your Country ISP 2011 South Korea (Republic of Korea) (Cont.) Taiwan (Cont.) Sport(s): Soccer and Baseball “Delicious” in Mandarin Chinese: “Hao chi” Celebrities: Rain; Yun Ah Kim; Ki Moon Ban; Tae Hwan Park Sport(s): Baseball and Badminton Taiwan Celebrities: Jay Chou and Jolin Tsai Contributed by South Asia Jeniffer Yuan India Capital: Taipei Contributed by Population: 23 Shivangi Pattnaik and million Amita Ramachandran Religion(s): Capital: New Delhi Taoism and Buddhism Population: 1.2 billion Political Religion(s): Hinduism; Leader(s): Islam; Christianity Current President Ma Ying-jeou; Former President (’00 – ’08) Chen Political Leader(s): Shui-bian; Su Tseng-chang; Lien Chan Manmohan Singh; Rahul Gandh; Prathibha Patil Language(s): Mandarin Chinese Language(s): Hindi, although each state has its own language “Hello” in Mandarin Chinese: “Ni hao” (including variations within states) “Goodbye” in Mandarin Chinese: “Zai jian” “Hello” in Hindi: “Namaskaram” 4 Briefing Your Country ISP 2011 India (Cont.) Philippines (Cont.) “Goodbye” in Hindi: “Vaanga” Political Leader(s): Benigno S. Aquino III “Delicious” in Hindi: “Ruchi” or “Nalle swad indu” Language(s): Filipino and English Food(s) and Drink(s): Rice; Chapatis (Rotis); Curries vary across “Hello” in Filipino: “Kumusta” the country; Dosa; Palm wine; Idl; Idyappam; Puttu “Goodbye” in Filipino: “Bye” Traditional Music: Carnatic tradition in Southern India and Hindustani tradition in Northern India “Delicious” in Filipino: “Sarap” Sport(s): Cricket and Hockey Food(s) and Drink(s): Lechon; Adobo; Sinigang; Tapa; Pancit; Lumpia; Halo-halo; Sago’t gulaman Celebrities: Aishwarya Rai; Amitabh Bachan; Abhishek Bachchan Sport(s): Basketball; Volleyball; Badminton Philippines Celebrities: Lea Salonga; Manny Pacquiao; Charice Pempengco Contributed by Singapore Charmaine Runes Capital: Manila Contributed by Zhe Yu Lee Population: 101 million Capital: Singapore Religion(s): Christianity and Population: 5 Roman million Catholicism 5 Briefing Your Country ISP 2011 Singapore (Cont.) Thailand (Cont.) Religion(s): Buddhism; Islam; Christianity Language(s): Thai Political Leader(s): Lee Kuan Yew; Lee Hsien Loong; Sylvia Lim; “Hello” in Thai: “Sa-wad-dee” (+ “ka” for girls and + “krub” for Chen Shaw Mao; Low Thia Khiang boys) Language(s): English; Mandarin Chinese; Malay; Tamil “Delicious” in Thai: “A-roi” (+ “mak” for “very”) Food(s) and Drink(s): Chicken; Rice; Skewered meats; Fishball Food(s) and Drink(s): Manprik; Long rua; Lemongrass juice noodles Traditional Music: Thai classical music with Thai instruments Sport(s): Soccer; Badminton; Table Tennis Sport(s): Soccer; Badminton; Volleyball Thailand Celebrities: Tony Jaa Contributed by Vietnam Pukitta Chunsuttiwat Contributed by Cuong Le Capital: Capital: Hanoi Bangkok Population: 90 million Population: 65 million Religion(s): None (but Buddha plays an important Religion(s): role in people’s beliefs) Buddhism Language(s): Vietnamese Political Leader(s): Prime Minister “Hello” in Vietnamese: “Chao” 6 Briefing Your Country ISP 2011 Vietnam (Cont.) Pakistan (Cont.) “Goodbye” in Vietnamese: “Tam biet” (or “Chao”) Language(s): Urdu; Punjabi; Sindhi; Pushto; Balochi; English (although very few people are fluent in English, in a typical “Delicious” in Vietnamese: “Ngon” sentence, up to half of the words may be in English) Food(s) and Drink(s): Pho; Rice cakes; Nem “Hello” in Urdu: “Assalaam alaikum” (Response to this greeting Traditional Music: Nhac tru is: “Walaikum as-salaam”) Sport(s): Soccer “Goodbye” in Urdu: “Khuda hafiz” Celebrities: Dam Vinh hung and My Tam “Delicious” in Urdu: “Zaiqaydaar” (although not commonly used) West Asia Food(s) and Drink(s): Tandoori chicken; Chicken tikka; Rogan gosht; Saag; Nihari; Biryani; Sarson da saag; Daal makhani; Bhujia; Pakistan Qeema; Sajji; Chargha; Daal chawal; Qorma; Koftay; Lassi; Sherbat; Rooh afza Contributed by Asad Zaidi Traditional Music: Classical; Ghazal; Qawwali; Sufi; Folk; Filmi; Capital: Islamabad Sufi rock; Bhangra Population: 175 million Sport(s): Cricket; Football (i.e. American soccer); Gilli danda; Field hockey; Polo; Squash Religion(s): Islam Celebrities: Former cricket captain and current politician Imran Political Leader(s): Asif Khan; Singer Ali Azmat; Singer Atif Aslam; Video jockey and Ali Zardari; Yousuf Raza actress Mahira Khan; Model Aamina Haq; Comedian Faisal Gilani; Maulana Fazal-ur- Qureshi; Standup comedian Sami Shah; Photographer Tapu Javeri; Rahman; Imran Khan; Nawaz Sharif; Shahbaz Sharif Singer Hadiqa Kiyani; Actor Shan; Talk show host Ayesha Tammy Haq 7 Briefing Your Country ISP 2011 AMERICA Canada (Cont.) North America Food(s) and Drink(s): Timbits; Butter tarts; Poutine; Canadian back bacon; Tourtierre; Beaver tail (not real beaver tail); Maple Canada syrup Sport(s): Ice hockey; Ice skating; Curling; Lacrosse; Rugby; Contributed by Basketball; Baseball YangYi Cao Celebrities: Justin Bieber; Avril Lavigne; Celine Dion; Rachel Capital: McAdams; Mike Myers; Nelly Furtado; Wayne Gretzky Ottawa Population: 3.4 Jamaica million Contributed by Religion(s): Damion Protestantism Prendergast and Catholicism Capital: Kingston Political Leader(s): Stephen Harper; David Johnston; Queen Population: 2.8 Elizabeth II (in