If you have time, add Suzhou to the trip to Hangzhou, and could do a Pearl River Delta trip after Guangzhou, take the train down to Shenzen, subway down to HK border, ferry over to Macau, although that would eat up several days.
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As of today (February 07, 2026)
Character Progression
2026-02-07
| Unskipped | Skipped | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Learned | 1,367 | 90 | 1,457 |
| Non-learned | - | 917 | - |
| Total | - | 1007 | - |
My HH learning total: 2,374 characters ([learned] union [skipped])
| Level | Learned | Out Of |
|---|---|---|
| HSK 1 | 300 | 300 |
| HSK 2 | 300 | 300 |
| HSK 3 | 300 | 300 |
| HSK 4 | 300 | 300 |
| HSK 5 | 300 | 300 |
| HSK 6 | 300 | 300 |
| HSK 7-9 | 546 | 1200 |
| Non-HSK | 28 | 229 |
This table includes all of the ones I’ve skipped.
Learning
HelloTalk
I’m beginning to make a larger effort to force myself to speak more on HelloTalk. Granted, I only just finally replied to a voice message from over a year ago, and the guy was nice enough to not mind and still reply welcomingly.
I think I’ve talked about this before, but as a working adult, especially in the US (unless you’re in NYC or Chicago), it gets harder and harder to casually just make friends here and there. It’s not really a time issue as it is an energy issue.
HSK
I’ve slowed down a little bit in my progress, so this is more of a self-reminder to get on it lol.
iTalki
I have a “favorite” teacher on iTalki. She’s great, and we’ve been having lessons together for about 3 years now(?) Because she’s great, however, her calendar is SUPER booked!!! I ended up buying two 10-lesson packages with her, just so I could schedule a few months in advance.
The hard thing about classes is that it’s hard to feel like you’re making progress unless you’re taking classes regularly. Of course, since iTalki is a paid platform (understandably), the money adds up.
TokiMonki: thoughts??
There’s this guy I’ve followed on Instagram for a little while, and I think he has some great, bite-sized videos of natural/authentic Chinese phrases or points. He founded a site called TokiMonki which is supposed to pair serious Chinese learners with serious English learners, and essentially you’re provided a topic, video, article, etc. and there are different modes to practice on: summarizing the text, discussing your thoughts, asking questions, practicing reading out loud, etc.
It seems like a great idea since I think a lot of language exchange “partners” might struggle to focus on the learning aspect (if that’s what they’re looking for).
Once again, however, it’s a paid platform. There is a free tier! I might give it a shot. I was just curious if anyone else has tried it out.
China Trip
Thank you, these sound like great ideas! I have a pretty packed itinerary for my trip already, but I’ll definitely note it for future travel. I have a notebook where I’m noting things in lists and maps. On rednote, I also have a China travel collection lol.
As of today (March 09, 2026)
Character Progression
2026-03-09
| Unskipped | Skipped | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Learned | 1,373 | 96 | 1,469 |
| Non-learned | - | 921 | - |
| Total | - | 1017 | - |
My HH learning total: 2,390 characters ([learned] union [skipped])
Back in Consolidation Mode
I haven’t really learned much more since about a month ago. I’ve been feeling more easily exhausted lately. While I’m still going to work toward the HSK this year, I’m not sure if I’m going to end up taking it in 2026. Primarily because, while there is a clear curriculum for the HSK 5, I’m not proactive enough to study off of just the curriculum docs provided by the HSK department, and I have no idea when actually learning materials will be released. That, in combination with just needing more time to actually practice verbally, I don’t think I’d be ready within this year (unless I were able to practice diligently for 30+ minutes >=4 days a week).
China Trip
I realize I haven’t actually specified the dates for this trip with you all! And against the safety concerns running in my head, I’ll share them with you regardless lol
- Beijing Apr 5 - Apr 10 + Apr 12 - Apr 15
- with a side trip to Datong Apr 10 - Apr 12
- This whole Beijing + Datong segment is with a close friend of 6 years.
- Shanghai Apr 15 - Apr 21
with a side trip to HangzhouI was going to go to Hangzhou for literally only one day (take the bullet train in the morning and take a bullet train back the same day), but I already have 4 cities planned for this trip, and it’d be kind of a hassle to go for just one day, and not be able to explore too much. I’ll save it for a future trip.- I have at least 2 friends I could meet while I’m in
Shanghai. I think I’ll for sure meet one at least once, and he says he has other friends we could hang out with, but the other friend, idk lol
- Guangzhou Apr 21 - Apr 26
- no side trip
- I have 4 people I could meet! My iTalki teacher, two friends from HelloTalk, and a friend from college
HelloTalk
I’ve actually finally been using HelloTalk more! I’m trying to get more voice messages in, but baby steps.
It’s just a bit hard because of the time difference. Daylight savings aside, being in California has you in a 15- or 16-hour time difference with China at any point in the year. I usually calculate it “backwards” because it’s easier to subtract 8 or 9 hours rather than add 15 or 16 lol. But still, you can imagine, I’m getting ready for dinner and my friends are just waking up to go to work. Or, they’re about to go to sleep or are already asleep, and I’m barely waking up for my day. So, it’s harder to maintain convos with adults this way since people are not as likely to message during work (understandably). Also in the evenings (here) is probably the most active time for messaging, but I’m with my boyfriend so it’s awkward for me to be on my phone when I’m spending time with him. Just bad timing overall lol.
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lol i just wrote up that you should visit more of the yangtze and pearl river deltas then realized i had given the same advice a month ago and you declined… sorry newborn, zero memory.
which is contributing to my backlog in hanzihero…
anyway trip sounds great and you sound super prepared both itinerary and language-wise.
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As of today (March 13, 2026)
Character Progression
2026-03-13
| Unskipped | Skipped | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Learned | 1,397 | 98 | 1,495 |
| Non-learned | - | 922 | - |
| Total | - | 1020 | - |
My HH learning total: 2,417 characters ([learned] union [skipped])
lol I still appreciate the thought! and thank you
As of today (March 17, 2026)
Character Progression
2026-03-17
| Unskipped | Skipped | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Learned | 1,417 | 98 | 1,515 |
| Non-learned | - | 923 | - |
| Total | - | 1,021 | - |
My HH learning total: 2,438 characters ([learned] union [skipped])
| Level | Learned | Out Of |
|---|---|---|
| HSK 1 | 300 | 300 |
| HSK 2 | 300 | 300 |
| HSK 3 | 300 | 300 |
| HSK 4 | 300 | 300 |
| HSK 5 | 300 | 300 |
| HSK 6 | 300 | 300 |
| HSK 7-9 | 610 | 1200 |
| Non-HSK | 28 | 229 |
This table includes all of the ones I’ve skipped.
I have 791 characters to go (at the moment!)
No updates, which means it’s time for me to get back on it!
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