If you read my post:周璇 (Zhou1 Xuan2) and her songs, you might know a bit of this beautiful Chinese woman, an actor (演员) (yan3 yuan2) and singer (歌手) (ge1 shou3).
Today, I am going to talk about another beautiful Chinese woman Echo.
Echo was famous as a writer (作家) (zuo4 jia1), she was also a translator (翻译者) (fan1 yi4 zhe3) and novelist (小说家) (xiao3 shuo1 jia1).
Echo’s Chinese name is 陈懋平 (Chen2, Mao4 ping2).
To most of her readers, she was known as the pen name “三毛” (sanmao), which is actually a well known character (人物) (ren2 wu4) from a famous cartoon work 三毛流浪记 (san1 mao2 liu2 lang4 ji4).
By the way, 三毛流浪记 (Wanderings of Sanmao) is a popular Chinese children’s comic book all the time.
Echo wrote a lot of popular books mainly about her life experiences abroad.
Back to thirty years ago, Echo’s books opened a window to us, especially to readers from mainland China.
At that time, mainland China was still very closed. Few of us got chances to study (学习) (xue2 xi2) and live (生活) (sheng1 huo2) abroad (在国外) (zai4 guo2 wai4), let alone living in some remote places like the Sahara (撒哈拉) (san3 ha1 la1) desert (沙漠) (sha1 mo4).
In addition, Echo married a foreign Spain man Jose.
Echo’s international life experiences and marriage (婚姻) (hun1 yin1) were brand new to most of us, which makes her books so special compared to other writers during her time.
Echo’s writing style was very unique (独特的) (du2 te4 de). Reading her books was like listing to a friend’s close talking.
She shew her trivial but strange life experiences vividly and openly to readers who never got that kind of experiences.
No wonder Echo gained a lot of Chinese fans, especially a lot of women fans.
“撒哈拉的故事” (sa1 ha1 la1 de gu4 shi4) (The story of the Sahara) is one of Echo’s best works.
If your Chinese is at intermediate level, this book is a good choice to practice your Chinese reading.
Days ago, I found a post talking about Echo’s fashion (时尚) (shi2 shang4) taste (品味) (pin3 wei4).
If you like, click on the link to see a lot of her pictures. Try to read Chinese characters on the post as well to see how much you understand.
As a very popular writer, Echo got some invitations to write lyrics for the songs.
On the below is the theme song titled as 橄榄树 (gan3 lan3 shu4) (olive tree) for the movie 欢颜 (huan1 yan2) (your smiling face).
This song gained a big fame for the dreamy wandering feeling it expresses.
不要问我从哪里来
bu2 yao4 wen4 wo3 cong2 na3 li3 lai2
don’t ask me where I am from
我的故乡在远方
wo3 de gu4 xiang1 zai4 yuan3 fang1
my hometown is far away
为什么流浪
wei4 shen2 me liu2 lang4
why wander
流浪远方 流浪
liu2 lang4 yuan3 fang1 liu2 lang4
wander far away wander
为了天空飞翔的小鸟
wei4 le tian1 kong1 fei1 xiang2 de xiao3 niao3
for the birds flying in the sky
为了山间轻流的小溪
wei4 le shan1 jian2 qing1 liu2 de xiao3 xi1
for the brooks flowing around the mountain
为了宽阔的草原
wei4 le kuan1 kuo4 de cao3 yuan2
for the wide plains
流浪远方 流浪
liu2 lang4 yuan3 fang1 liu2 lang4
wander far away wander
还有还有 为了梦中的橄榄树 橄榄树
hai2 you3 hai2 you3 wei4 le meng4 zhong1 de gan3 lan3 shu4 gan3 lan3 shu4
and for the olive trees in the dream olive trees
不要问我从哪里来
bu2 yao4 wen4 wo3 cong2 na3 li3 lai2
don’t ask me where I am from
我的故乡在远方
wo3 de gu4 xiang1 zai4 yuan3 fang1
my hometown is far away
为什么流浪
wei4 shen2 me liu2 lang4
why wander
为什么流浪远方
wei4 shen2 me liu2 lang4 yuan3 fang1
why wander far away
为了我梦中的橄榄树
wei4 le wo3 meng4 zhong1 de gan3 lan3 shu4
for the olive trees in my dream
Note: Some characters need change tones. For example, 哪里(na3 li3) will read as: na2 li3.
For more information, check out my post: How to Pronounce Mandarin-Chinese Tones.
I didn’t change the tone in context because I hope it will help you know better of the original tone.
Now you get a better idea about this song, it is time to listen to this song. Please click on here to enjoy this song.
Since this song is so beautiful, several famous Chinese singers performed this song.
However, 齐豫 (Qi2 Yu4) or (Chyi, Yu) was the first singer and her version was regarded as the best so far.
By the way, the lyric on the screen are traditional characters. I am sure you will have no problem with it.
Note: This post contains affiliate links.