ChinaConnectU had its official, soft (very soft) opening on 19 February, and we are all extremely excited about our new project. The first date we considered for the soft launch was Friday, 17 February, but, we thought, just in case, that it might be wise to check with a Chinese almanac to see whether that was a good day. Although not all of us believe in the idea of auspicious or inauspicious days, we all agree that hedging your bets can never hurt, and so we looked at various sources online to see what benign or malicious influences might be waiting for us. It didn’t take long to find out that 17 February (also known as “danger day” might not be the best starting date for our new project. In fact, the only thing recommended to do on that day was to “start demolition.”

19 February was much better. “Success Day” : 成庚戌日 Success day 一月 廿八 雨水 Spring Germination. What could be more appropriate for a new enterprise like ChinaConnectU than “spring germination”? After all, new shoots of information will constantly be sprouting forth from the branches of ChinaConnectU, and lovely blossoms of knowledge will bloom, sending new seeds of understanding throughout the ChinaConnectU community and beyond. (Stopping the flowery metaphor now, I promise.)

ChinaConnectU will have many uses for many people, but there are certain people who might benefit more than others. As an example, I would like to offer the following video from The Big Bang Theory, a program that is popular with the more (self-confessed) nerdy types here at ChinaConnectU. We applaud anyone who tries to learn Mandarin, but don’t forget,  practice makes perfect.  熟能生巧 shúnéngshēngqiǎo !