Flowers of Shanghai 1998
海上花
At the end of the 19th century, Shanghai is divided into several foreign concessions. In the British concession, a number of luxurious “flower houses” are reserved for the male elite of the city. Since Chinese dignitaries are not allowed to frequent brothels, these establishments are the only ones that these men can visit. They form a self-contained world, with its own rites, traditions and even its own language. The men don’t only visit the houses to frequent the courtesans but also to dine, smoke opium, play mahjong and relax. The women working there are known as the “flowers of Shanghai”.
Vocabulary
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| 菜 菜 | dish (type of food); vegetable; cuisine; (coll.) (one's) type; (of one's skills etc) weak; poor | Colloquialism |
| 山 山 | mountain; hill; (coll.) small bundle of straw for silkworms to spin cocoons on | Colloquialism |
| 块 塊 | lump; chunk; piece; classifier for pieces of cloth, cake, soap etc; (coll.) classifier for money and currency units | Colloquialism |
| 花 花 | flower; blossom; fancy pattern; florid; to spend (money, time); (coll.) lecherous; lustful | Colloquialism |
| 吗 嗎 | (coll.) what? | Colloquialism |
| 那 那 | (specifier) that; the; those (colloquial pr. [nèi]); (pronoun) that (referring to persons, things or situations); then (in that case) | Colloquialism |
| 上海 上海 | Shanghai municipality | Proper Noun |
| 广东 廣東 | Guangdong Province, capital Guangzhou | Proper Noun |
| 打下 打下 | to lay (a foundation); to conquer (a city etc); to shoot down (a bird etc) | Proper Noun |
| 十月 十月 | October; tenth month (of the lunar year) | Proper Noun |
| 七月 七月 | July; seventh month (of the lunar year) | Proper Noun |
| 不是 不是 | no; is not; not | |
| 不好 不好 | no good | |
| 这个 這個 | (pronoun) this; (adjective) this | |
| 一点 一點 | a bit; a little bit; (used in negative expressions) (not) the least bit; (after an adjective, used to form the comparative) a bit more, -er; a point (in a discussion etc); (calligraphy) dot stroke (、); one o'clock (abbr. for 一點鍾|一点钟[yi1 dia | |
| 一个人 一個人 | by oneself (without assistance); alone (without company) | |
| 一个 一個 | a; an; one; the whole (afternoon, summer vacation etc) | |
| 快点 快點 | to do sth more quickly; Hurry up!; Get a move on! | |
| 三元 三元 | (old) first place in civil service examinations at three levels: provincial, metropolitan and palace | |
| 喜 喜 | like, love, enjoy; joyful thing | |
| 小菜 小菜 | appetizer; small side dish; easy job; piece of cake; see also | |
| 你妈 你媽 | (interjection) fuck you; (intensifier) fucking | |
| 几个 幾個 | a few; several; how many | |
| 想想看 想想看 | to think about it | |
| 一下 一下 | (after a verb) a bit; a little (indicating brief duration, or softening the tone, or suggesting giving sth a try); all at once; suddenly | |
| 有点 有點 | a little | |
| 不到 不到 | not to arrive; not reaching; insufficient; less than | |
| 好几 好幾 | several; quite a few | |
| 我去 我去 | (slang) what the...!; oh my god!; that's insane! | |
| 有了 有了 | I've got a solution!; to have a bun in the oven | |
| 十六 十六 | sixteen; 16 | |
| 怎么了 怎麼了 | What's up?; What's going on?; What happened? | |
| 做错 做錯 | to make an error | |
| 坏话 壞話 | unpleasant talk; malicious words | |
| 一口 一口 | readily; flatly (deny, admit and so on); a mouthful; a bite | |
| 老鸨 老鴇 | female brothel keeper | |
| 妈的 媽的 | (taboo curse) damn it!; fucking | |
| 做大 做大 | arrogant; to put on airs; (business etc) to expand; to enlarge; to do sth on a big scale | |
| 从来没 從來沒 | have never; has never | |
| 不着 不著 | no need; need not | |
| 上菜 上菜 | to serve food | |
| 看不出 看不出 | can't discern | |
| 起先 起先 | at first; in the beginning | |
| 到了 到了 | at last; finally; in the end | |
| 不明 不明 | not clear; unknown; to fail to understand | |
| 这下 這下 | this time | |
| 不比 不比 | unlike | |
| 这就 這就 | immediately; at once | |
| 三十 三十 | thirty; 30 | |
| 不想 不想 | unexpectedly; to one's surprise |