五金少女 - wǔjīn shàonǚ, Hardware Girls - Home and small space Makeovers in Chinese!

[Ruben von Zwack]

Hey all,

 

if anyone out there is addicted to watching home makeovers, as I am, you might enjoy this Guangdong-based show, 五金少女, wǔjīn shàonǚ, English: Hardware Girls.

It is two craftsy girls, who do low-budget, realistic home makeovers for ordinary young Chinese.
The show features some seriously tiny homes, like, a young couple who live in a 15 squaremeter hutong home, a bachelor who has the insane luxury of having a staggering 20 squaremeter condo for his own, etc. The episodes even include building cat balconies!
I think the show gives a fascinating realistic insight into the lives of ordinary Chinese and their apartments. And it is great for learning pretty useful vocabulary you might need if you spend time renting in China (screwdriver, electric wires, fixing cracks in the walls, etc.).
The 五金少女's  channel on Youtube:
https://youtu.be/W26ZNZ23c2o

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I once rented an apartment that featured one of the "traditional" wood sofas 红木沙发 that the girls are talking about in the linked segment of this show. I thought it was quaint and probably wouldn't matter. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wrong! Never again!

 

[matteo]

ahah that is a park bench, most definitely not a sofa ?

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True that it felt like a park bench or a church pew. But mine was designed for a living room. This furniture is popular in traditional homes. One usually puts throw cushions on it to make it more comfortable. But it never quite works. Perhaps my western bones were too decadent. 

 

This is particularly popular in traditional homes that have a true 客厅 in which to receive guests. This deep burnished reddish-brown wood, 红木，is the material of choice. It's a type of mahogany. Lots of it is grown in the mountainous areas of SE Asia, where illegal logging still thrives.  

 

My inexpensive Kunming apartment was not a grand place that really called for such a piece. But the landlord had furnished it with left-over odds and ends, as is often the case. 

 

     

 

 

I had a friend in Kunming who worked part time for a company which sold this magnificent mahogany furniture. She once invited me to a big expo with displays of it from all over China. Some of the best came from the southwest border provinces. Her company bought the raw lumber from forests in Burma 缅甸 then made the actual furniture in Chinese factories. Some of it was magnificent, especiall the long conference tables made from a single tree. Some would seat 10 or 12 people on each side. Just right for a corporate board room. Smaller ones could also be used as formal dining tables in a suitable setting (not my apartment.)

 

 

 

Funny thing about the wood furniture expo is that it turned out to be great for tasting and studying tea. Each furniture merchant displayed samples of his wares next to a temporary employee, hired for the weekend, brewing tea. He would invite prospective buyers into his area to look at the furniture and have a cup of tea. They always served very good tea, properly brewed by someone with some tea master training 茶艺师。

 

I moved around most of the mornings looking at magnificent wood pieces and sampling tea. Since this was in Kunming, there were dozens of first-rate Pu'er teas available. 普洱茶。 When the tea person wasn't busy, they enjoyed telling you about the tea: where it was grown, how it was cured, the best way to brew it and so on. They didn't know anything about the furniture.  

 

 

 

Most of these tea ladies wore traditional silk qipao 旗袍 dresses with flowing lines and a high collar. They were often bored, just sitting there waiting for someone to drop in and have tea. So they tended to be glad to have someone to talk to. That someone was me. 

 

 

 

[roddy]

I had that exact same sofa medieval torture device.

 

That's a really good idea for some listening practice. I often think a neglected, but very useful, area of language, is... physical manipulation, for want of a better term. "Twist the cap while holding in the two catches", that kind of thing.

 

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The episodes even include building cat balconies!

We have a catio. It's lovely, and occasionally they even use it.