The story behind the name

People always ask where the name Falafelinhotpot comes from.

The short answer is: I love eating falafel and hotpot!

The long answer is:

I’m Chinese. I’ve spent years living in the Middle East, and somewhere in the space between Mandarin and Arabic, between two scripts that run in opposite directions, two cultures that rarely get compared, I found something I didn’t expect: a bridge that most people don’t know exists.

On the surface, Chinese and Arabic seem worlds apart. But the more time I spent with both languages, the more echoes I kept finding. Feelings in Arabic that map almost perfectly onto Chinese words. A grammatical logic in Mandarin that Arabic speakers grasp faster than anyone else. A shared way of thinking about time, hospitality, and family, so quietly alike that nobody’s really written about it.

That’s why this newsletter exists.

I’m a polyglot who speaks seven languages, and Arabic holds a special place among them — not just as a language, but as a window into a culture I’ve grown to love as my own. Falafel in Hotpot is my way of bringing these two worlds together through what both cultures understand instinctively: food, language, and the warmth of sharing both.

Every issue, I’ll bring you one piece of Chinese language, culture, or the long and surprisingly rich, history between China and the Arab world. One word, one story, one connection at a time. Nothing overwhelming. Just one thing, well taught.

Welcome. I’m glad you’re here.