A Chinese podcast · Same story, 4 levels
Photo: Roger Wo · CC BY 2.0
唱北京奥运会主题歌《我和你》的歌手刘欢去世，享年63岁
Liu Huan, Who Sang the 2008 Beijing Olympics Theme 'You and Me,' Dies at 63
About this story
Liu Huan, one of China's best-loved singers, died of illness in Shanghai on September 25, 2026, at 63. A French major who taught himself piano on an unused campus piano at lunchtime, he became famous for TV theme songs — 'Hero's Song' from Water Margin among them — and sang 'You and Me' with Sarah Brightman at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He also taught Western music history at a Beijing university for more than 30 years, and asked for a funeral with no ceremony. Chinese listening practice at four levels. HSK 2 Chinese listening practice.
This is an HSK 2 Chinese listening episode that runs about 2 minutes. The full Mandarin script is shown with tap-for-pinyin and a line-by-line English translation, so you can listen and read at once — comprehensible input in the sense of Stephen Krashen's i+1 theory. It teaches 12 key vocabulary words such as 唱歌、第一、开始 and walks through 3 grammar patterns, each explained in English with examples. The same news story is retold at 4 difficulty levels — use the level selector above to find the version that is challenging but still understandable for you.
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原文Read the complete story in Chinese. Reveal pinyin and English only when you need them.
English transcript reference
In China, lots of people can sing Liu Huan's songs.
On the morning of September 25, the singer Liu Huan died in Shanghai. He was only sixty-three.
When they heard the news, many Chinese people were very sad.
Who was Liu Huan?
Why was he so famous?
Liu Huan was born in Tianjin in 1963.
At eighteen, he came to Beijing for university.
At university he studied French, not music.
The university had a piano that nobody ever played.
Every day at noon, Liu Huan ate lunch quickly and went to play the piano, from twelve until two.
He had no teacher, so he taught himself.
In 1985, he entered a singing contest for university students in Beijing.
He sang in English and in French, and won first prize in both.
Two years later, he sang the theme song for a TV drama.
The song quickly became a hit, and many people learned Liu Huan's name for the first time.
After that, Liu Huan sang for many more TV dramas.
In 1998, he sang "Hero's Song."
Adults can sing this song, and little kids can too.
In 2008, Beijing hosted the Olympics.
At the opening ceremony, Liu Huan and a British woman singer sang the theme song, "You and Me," together.
That night, people all over the world heard the song on TV.
Liu Huan was a singer, and also a university teacher.
From 1991, he taught at a university in Beijing, all the way until 2023.
He taught students Western music, and also wrote a song for the university.
Once, someone asked him to go and sing, but he had a class that day.
He didn't go to sing — he went to teach his students.
After Liu Huan died, the university said it was his own wish: keep everything simple.
There was no big event, and no crowd came to see him off.
But many people went online and listened to his songs again.
They miss this singer, and they miss this teacher.
Which of Liu Huan's songs have you heard?
Listen again
Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.
What vocabulary does this episode teach?
词汇HSK 2. 北京大学生的唱歌比赛.
HSK 2. 都得了第一名.
HSK 2. 从一九九一年开始，他在北京的一所大学教书.
HSK 1. 很多人第一次记住了刘欢的名字.
HSK 1. 刘欢是歌手，也是一位大学老师.
HSK 1. 每天中午，刘欢很快吃完饭，就去弹钢琴.
歌 (song) + 手 (person skilled at something).
歌手刘欢在上海去世了.
很多中国人听到这个消息，都很难过.
HSK 3. 唱歌比赛 — his first win.
他给一个电视剧唱了主题歌.
大家想念这位歌手，也想念这位老师.
* beyond level超纲词
What grammar patterns appear in this episode?
语法从……到……
From… to… — time.
每天中午，刘欢很快吃完饭，就去弹钢琴，从十二点弹到两点。
A 是 B，也是 C
Gives two identities.
刘欢是歌手，也是一位大学老师。
一直 + V + 到……
All the way until.
从一九九一年开始，他在北京的一所大学教书，一直教到二零二三年。
Proper Nouns
专有名词Free account
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