Mandarin Chinese

Stand at the first window of the market-regulation bureau with Lan: say you'd like to register a company, give its name, hear that the name is already taken, offer another one, and hear that it can be used.

Sit with Lan's father over the company's registered address: hear that the village house won't do, that you must rent an office, ask what a year's rent is, hear the price and that he knows the landlord, and agree to sign the contract tomorrow.

Fill in the company's business scope at the bureau's window: hear the officer ask whether it is filled in, say what the company does, hear the words to write for tea sales and import and export, and ask about that one item.

Meet the accountant with Lan: say you've just opened a company, hear that a company must keep accounts and, under the regulations, file taxes every month, ask whether that holds with no business, ask about invoices, and hear that he'll issue them for you.

Collect the business licence at the bureau with Lan: say what you've come for, give the company's name, hear who the legal representative is asked, hear the formal word for approved, ask about the company seal, and hear when to collect it.

Open the company's account at the bank: say what you'd like, be asked whether the legal person is you yourself, say she arrives at three, hear what to bring, ask about online banking, and hear it's done as soon as she's there in person.

Ask the accountant how to get your work permit: hear that the company applies for you and the papers must be complete, ask which papers, hear the list, say you have the health report, and hear that the file then goes through review.

Change your residence permit at the exit-entry office: say what you've come for, give the reason in the written register, hear that the papers are complete and the case accepted, ask how long, hear fifteen working days, and ask about collecting it.

Stand at the wok on the fourth spring: hear Master Chen say that this year you fry, ask whether he isn't, hear that his hands have got slow and he will watch, take the wok, hear the fire is too big, hear Missus Wang say he won't admit his age, and hear that tea doesn't wait.

Climb to the family grave with Master Chen and Lan on Ching Ming: hear that today you sweep the graves, be asked whether you brought the new tea, say it's the first cup, pour it for his parents, say you fried this year's tea, hear that Grandpa taught you, and learn the first four-character saying.

Sit with Lan at her laptop in May: hear that the tea expo is on in Hangzhou, say you want to sign up for a booth, ask the fee for exhibiting, hear twelve thousand yuan for three days, and say that when the day comes the buyers will be there.

Set up the booth with Lan and her father the morning before the expo opens: say where the table, the samples and the brochures go, ask where the poster hangs, and have it hung a bit higher.

Stand at the booth and present the company in Chinese: greet the visitors, say when it was founded and what it mainly deals in, say you grow and sell the tea yourselves, and welcome everyone to taste.

Meet a buyer from a Seattle coffee chain at the booth, through her Chinese colleague: hear who she is and how many stores they have, pass on what she wants to know, give your yearly supply, and promise her a quotation.

Sit down with the buyer's colleague over the contract: open the clauses, read clause one, hear two tons a year, bring it down to one ton for the first year, and settle the grades, special and first, half and half.

Go through the testing clause with the buyer's colleague: say you have a test report, hear it must come from a third-party laboratory, ask what is tested, hear pesticide residue and the American standard, and agree to test every batch.

Settle the money clauses with the buyer's colleague and the accountant: give the delivery date, hear the way of payment asked, say thirty percent in advance, and hold that the balance is paid before shipment.

Read the breach clause with the buyer's colleague: ask what counts as breach, hear that late delivery means a penalty, ask what happens if frost ruins the tea, hear that frost is force majeure, and agree that both sides talk it over.

Sign the contract with the buyer and her colleague: hear it is in two copies, ask where to sign, sign and stamp, hear when it takes effect, call it black on white, and wish everyone happy cooperation.

Send the first batch off with the accountant: hear it can clear customs, ask whether it passed inspection, ask what other documents are needed, read the certificate of origin down to its last four characters, and give the word to ship.

Sit with Lan and Missus Wang over the list of papers a foreigner needs to marry: name the household register, the passport and the certificate of being single, explain what it proves, say it needs notarising and translating, and say you're still short one.

Stand at the notary's counter alone: say what you want notarised, hand over the original, swear in the written register that you are unmarried, ask for authentication and a translated copy, and ask when you can pick it up.

Go with Lan to the civil affairs bureau: say you have an appointment for a marriage registration involving a foreigner, hand over the papers, hear that they are complete, ask how long the wait is, and hear that the check has been passed.

Go back to the registration window with Lan: say you've come to collect the marriage certificate, ask whether you may sign your Chinese name, take the two red booklets, one each, hear congratulations, and say you're married.

Plan the wedding banquet with Missus Wang and Lan: say the banquet is settled at twenty tables, hear that the whole village must be invited, ask how many people that is, add five tables, and say the invitations are written and the menu looked at.

Call Missus Lin in Seattle with Lan: tell her the wedding is in October, ask her to come without fail, hear that she hasn't been back for forty-five years, offer to book her plane ticket, and hear her say she's coming back.

Meet the master of ceremonies the evening before the wedding: ask for the running order, hear that first the groom and bride enter, then the tea is served and last come the speeches, ask whether you must speak too, and hear that it's three minutes, in Chinese.

Meet Missus Lin at the airport with Lan: greet her after her long journey, hear that Hangzhou has changed so much in forty-five years, say that the hills and the tea haven't changed, answer whether Master Chen has, and take her straight back to the village.

Fetch the bride on the wedding morning with Little Wu: shout for the door, pass the door-opening red envelopes, go in, serve tea to Lan's father and mother, calling them Dad and Mum for the first time, take the name-changing money, and promise to be good to her.

Stand up at your own wedding banquet: toast the whole room, hear Master Chen and Missus Lin wish you a hundred years of harmony and old age together, say they are sitting side by side at last, and answer that the first batch ships next month.