The Virtual Picture Album -- China

The grid below is an annotated index to part of the Virtual Picture Album compiled and distributed by the Less Commonly Taught Languages Project at the University of Minnesota. The pictures in this section of the VPA are of people, places and objects in the People's Republic of China. Each of the pictures is represented by a thumbnail-sized image in the grid, and is accompanied by:

  • a list of vocabulary items corresponding to elements in the picture
  • some suggested lesson topics and grammar points for which the picture might be useful. (These categories are summarized at the bottom of the page.)

There are also suggestions for ways to use certain pairs or groups of pictures.

Due to the number of pictures in this section, the VPA index for China is divided into three parts.

Part 1 in English (this page) in Chinese
Part 2 in English in Chinese
Part 3 in English in Chinese
To view or download a full-sized picture from the VPA, click on its thumbnail representation below. You may also view the table with the list of vocabulary items in Chinese.

Photo (Thumbnail) Vocabulary Items Topics Grammar Points
egg.jpeg eggs (different types), food, markets shopping; food; everyday life measure words; comparatives
tofukid.jpeg tofu (different types), food, markets shopping; everyday life measure words; comparatives
chillies.jpeg chillies, food, markets, agriculture, food distribution system shopping; selling; buying action verbs; comparatives
streetfood_1.jpeg street food food; everyday life "ba" construction; prepositions; relative pronouns
streetfood_2.jpeg street food food; everyday life "ba" construction; prepositions; relative pronouns
streetfood_3.jpeg street food food; everyday life "ba" construction; prepositions; relative pronouns
sanlunche_1.jpeg "san-lun-che", bicycle, building materials transportation; construction; employment prepositions; locatives/spatial relations
bikes_1.jpeg "da-zi-bao", bicycle, poster, parking lot, sidewalk, wall advertising; transportation locatives/spatial relations; conjunctions
streetscene_1.jpeg bicycle, tree, oranges, parents, child, car, street transportation; everyday life locatives/spatial relations; conjunctions
hangzhou_zhan.jpeg train, luggage, relatives, station, platform, cloudy travel; transportation; greetings; weather locatives/spatial relations; prepositions; measure words
forbidden city palace, Qing dynasty, square history; buildings; monuments locatives/spatial relations;near/far
great wall Great Wall, hill, sky, tree, famous history; monuments plural;conditional
front door garlic, door, window, wall buildings; housing locatives/spatial relations
courtyard courtyard, street buildings; housing locatives/spatial relations; ordering of process/event
european architecture in Shanghai Republican period, laundry buildings; history; housing "ba" construction; conjunctions
lumber for sale in Shanghai building materials, economic boom construction; unemployment/employment progressive; ordering of process/event
teapots from Yixing teapots, tea, Yixing ceremonies; drink transitive/intransitive; measure words
crowd at Guangzhou train station, 1 crowds, station, "lao-bai-xing" population growth; travel motion verbs; directions
crowd at Guangzhou train station, 2 crowds, station, "lao-bai-xing" population growth; travel motion verbs; directions
interior of a sleeping car train, "hard-class","soft-class", population growth; travel locatives/spatial relations; motion verbs



TOPICS   GRAMMAR POINTS
advertising   "ba" construction
animals   comparatives
buildings   conditional
celebrations/ceremonies   contrast
children   directions
clothing   following a map
colors   locatives/spatial relations
construction/economic development   measure words
culture   near/far
direction signs   numbers (cardinal)
everyday life   ordering of process/event
family   particles
food   progressive
geography   reflexive
greetings   subordinate clause
historical/religious elements  
housing  
how-many?  
kitchen appliances/utensils  
landscape  
materials  
nature  
numbers  
occupations/professions  
pastimes  
politics  
school  
school activities  
seasons  
shapes  
shopping  
store interior  
traffic signs  
transportation  
travel  
unemployment/employment  
urban/rural  
weather  

Grouping Suggestions



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