Language still 'Big Mountain' to climb

RELATED • Fluency in the impossible: View Da Shan's Web site

I recently had a breakthrough in my Chinese and all I got from it was this lousy friend Da Shan

Da Shan, a foreigner like me, speaks fluent Mandarin, much to the surprise of the Chinese and much to the chagrin of other foreigners. Born in Canada, his Chinese name Da Shan means Big Mountain, while his English name, Mark Henry Rowswell is a common colloquialism for unremarkable white guy.

The only thing that makes this 44-year-old Ottawan special is his apparent fluency in an impossible language. For this thought-to-be-inconceivable accomplishment, he was rewarded with a TV show called "Sports Chinese," on China Central Television and the coveted position of dancing poodle on Spring Festival TV shows.

Read the rest of my most recent column on the Post-Tribune site here.