Have you learned any Chinese tongue twisters or palindromes? Getting a few of these under your belt can help improve your Chinese, not to mention that they also make great party tricks. 
This tongue twister is the one that I heard most often during my time in China: 吃葡萄不吐葡萄皮，不吃葡萄倒吐葡萄皮, (chī pútao bú tù pútao pí, bù chī pútao dào tù pútao pí). This translates literally to “eat grapes (but) don’t spit out grape skins, don’t eat grapes (and) spit out grape skins”.
Another good one to check out is this one full of shí and shì sounds: 四是四，十是十，十四是十四，四十是四十；谁把十四说“十适”，就打他十四；谁把四十说“适十”，就打他四十 (sì shì sì, shí shì shí, shísì shì shísì, sìshí shì sìshí; shéi bǎ shísì shuō “shíshì”, jiù dǎ tā shísì, shéi bǎ sìshí shuō ‘shìshí’, jiù dǎ tā sìshí). This translates literally to “four is four, ten is ten, fourteen is fourteen, fourty is fourty; whoever calls fourteen “shíshì” (you should) hit fourteen (times), whoever calls fourty “shìshí” (you should) hit fourty (times). I heard 大山 (arguably the most famous foreigner in China) recite this one or a modified version of this one once at blinding speed in a youtube video (if I remember right I think it was during the CCTV 春节联欢晚会 (chūnjié liánhuān wǎnhuì, Spring Festival Party tv program). If anyone has seen that video please post a link to it below in the comments.
The band S.H.E. from 台湾 (Táiwān, Taiwan) has a song with a couple of up-tempo rap style tongue twisters. The lyrics and music video are at the end of this post for you all to check out. Also for those of you into Chinese language podcasts, check out this one from Popup Chinese, where they recite some impressive tongue twisters. Listen at 5:50 to hear the king of Chinese tongue twisters as far as I’m concerned. It is so fast that it sounds to me almost like an audio track of someone speaking a weird dialect of Chinese played back at 4X.
回文 (huíwén, palindromes) are relatively easy to form in Chinese compared to in English. In English palindromes the spelling of each word is important and must be symmetrical. For example: “Was it a cat I saw?”, “A man, a plan, a canal – Panama!”, and “No “x” in “Mr. R. M.Nixon”?” It’s easier to create palindromes in Chinese because 汉字 (hànzì, Chinese characters) are word-units so there is no need to worry about symmetrical spellings like in alphabet based languages. Chinese 回文 are not usually symmetrical but instead can be read in either direction for two different meanings. This is particularly interesting considering that Chinese is sometimes written from right to left, especially on old placards hanging above doors at temples and other old buildings. There is a lot of potential for confusion on the part of the unseasoned Chinese student who might not know which direction the sign is meant to be read. Here are two Chinese palindromes for you to chew on: (thanks to the Chinesehour blog)
“我爱妈妈，妈妈爱我” (wǒ ài māmā, “I love mother, māmā ài wǒ, mother loves me”)
“上海自来水来自海上” (shànghǎi zì lái shuǐ – láizì hǎi shàng, “Shanghai’s tap water comes from the sea”)
Yellowbridge has a great list of a bunch of other palindromes with english translations here. These were my favorites:
人过大佛寺 (R to L: rén guò dà fó sì, A man walks past Big Buddha Temple, L to R: sì fó dà guò rén, The temple’s Buddha is bigger than a man)
僧游云隐寺 (R to L: sēng yóu yún yǐn sì, Monk travels to Cloud Hiding Temple, L to R: sì yǐn yún yóu sēng, The temple hides the clouds and traveling monks)
What other Chinese tongue twisters have you encountered? Do you know of any other Chinese music that uses awesome tongue twisters? Have you seen any palindrome signs or posters in China that make sense both ways?
To translate the lyrics, try Pera Pera Kun for Firefox or the Zhongwen plugin for Chrome.
中国话 (Zhōngguóhuà, Chinese Language)
扁担宽 板凳长
扁担想绑在板凳上
扁担宽 板凳长
扁担想绑在板凳上
伦敦玛莉莲 买了件旗袍送妈妈
莫斯科的夫司基 爱上牛肉面疙瘩
各种颜色的皮肤 各种颜色的头发
嘴里念的说的开始流行中国话
多少年我们苦练英文发音和文法
这几年换他们卷着舌头学平上去入的变化
平平仄仄平平仄 (仄仄平平仄仄平)
好聪明的中国人 好优美的中国话
扁担宽 板凳长
扁担想绑在板凳上
板凳不让扁担绑在板凳上
扁担偏要绑在板凳上
板凳偏偏不让扁担绑在那板凳上
到底扁担宽还是板凳长
哥哥弟弟坡前坐
坡上卧着一只鹅
坡下流着一条河
哥哥说 宽宽的河
弟弟说 白白的鹅
鹅要过河 河要渡鹅
不知是那鹅过河
还是河渡鹅
全世界都在学中国话 孔夫子的话 越来越国际化
全世界都在讲中国话 我们说的话 让世界都认真听话
纽约苏珊娜 开了间禅风Lounge Bar
柏林来的沃夫冈 拿胡琴配着电吉他
各种颜色的皮肤 各种颜色的头发
嘴里念的说的开始流行中国话
多少年我们苦练英文发音和文法
这几年换他们卷着舌头学平上去入的变化
平平仄仄平平仄 (仄仄平平仄仄平)
好聪明的中国人 好优美的中国话
有个小孩叫小杜
上街打醋又买布
买了布 打了醋
回头看见鹰抓兔
放下布 搁下醋
上前去追鹰和兔
飞了鹰 跑了兔
洒了醋 湿了布
嘴说腿 腿说嘴
嘴说腿 爱跑腿
腿说嘴 爱卖嘴
光动嘴 不动腿
光动腿 不动嘴
不如不长腿和嘴
到底是那嘴说腿 还是腿说嘴
全世界都在学中国话 孔夫子的话 越来越国际化
全世界都在讲中国话 我们说的话 让世界都认真听话
全世界都在学中国话 孔夫子的话 越来越国际化
全世界都在讲中国话 我们说的话 让世界都认真听话
全世界都在学中国话 孔夫子的话 越来越国际化
全世界都在讲中国话 我们说的话 让世界都认真听话