Another name for the Lunar calendar is Nong Li. Nong is the same word used to express rural areas - words such as farmer, farming, countryside, all have the word nong in it...which brings me to a story about one of my first language lessons.
Nongcun was one of the first words I learned shortly I arrived. It means countryside, but for a long time, I thought it was the name of a city. Being unfamiliar with the local area and its surrounding cities, when people told me that they were from "nongcun", I automatically assumed they were talking about another city. It wasn't until I was chatting with my ayi (or helper) about her hometown that my ignorance came to light. She mentioned that she wanted to show me her hometown which was in the countryside, or nongcun. And so I responded with an enthusiastic, "Yeah, I've heard of that place! How far is it from our city?" And I got a funny look from her, a repeat of the same conversation, and another funny look. After some charades, I got it. Nongcun - the countryside, any countryside, all countrysides. NOT a city.
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