This is part xià 下 of a two-part series about common things that are uncommonly difficult for the Chinese in their own language. In part one, we talked about talking. Now on to writing.The following is inspired by (read: directly stolen from) David Moser's article "The 'Invisible' Writing on the Wall."How Do You Write the Hanzi for "guànzi" (tin can)? The correct answer is 罐子. Oh believe me, I can't write that. But the goal isn't to stump me (that would be way to easy). The point Moser makes is many Chinese don't know how to write that first character.I know, there are commonly misspelled words in English too. I'm not ranting against the Chinese language (this time).Just for fun, here's Moser's list of common hanzi characters that he found Chinese adults with advanced degrees often had trouble writing (not meant to be complete or conclusive):

1. guànzi 罐子 (tin can)
2. yàoshi 钥匙 (key)
3. qī 漆 (paint)
4. dǎ pēntì 打喷嚔 (sneeze)
5. lǎoshǔ 老鼠 (mouse)
6. sàozhou 扫帚 (broom)
7. gēbozhǒu 胳膊肘 (elbow)
8. zhòuwén 皱纹 (wrinkle)
9. áizhèng 癌症 (cancer)
10. ménkǎn 门槛 (threshold)
11. qí 鳍 (fin)
12. chǐrǔ 耻辱 (shame)
13. xǐdícáo 洗涤槽 (kitchen sink)
14. Lúndūn 伦敦 (London)

How many out of 14 did you know how to write?How many did your Chinese friend's get correct? Tell us some scores in the comments. I'll start.