- Baozi
- Travel to China
Travel to China
Chinese phrasebook for travellers
The phrases a traveller needs in China: getting around, ordering food, taking a taxi, paying, the hotel and emergencies. Each one in characters, with pinyin and the meaning.
Save it to your phone before the trip: it opens without the internet, and it prints on A4 or A5.
In big Chinese cities few people outside hotels speak English, but everyone reads characters. So the surest way to be understood is to show a phrase rather than say it: open the topic, find the phrase and tap “Show” — it fills the screen in large print.
Each topic is a short page you can read before the trip, and the whole phrasebook is a PDF to keep on your phone offline or print.
The Latin line is pinyin: it shows how to say the phrase. If you are not understood, show the characters.
Topics
- Basic phrases Greetings, thanks and the phrases that save a conversation when you don't understand each other. 你好 — Hello您好 — Hello (polite)谢谢 — Thank you
- Directions How to ask the way, understand the answer and read the signs you will see everywhere. 洗手间在哪里？ — Where is the toilet?地铁站在哪里？ — Where is the metro station?去这里怎么走？ — How do I get here?
- Restaurants and food From getting a table to paying the bill, with the phrases for spice, allergies and diets. 两位 — A table for two请给我菜单 — The menu, please有英文菜单吗？ — Do you have an English menu?
- Taxi Phrases for street taxis and ride-hailing cars: where to go, how much, where to stop. 请带我去这个地址 — Please take me to this address去机场 — To the airport去火车站 — To the railway station
- Metro, trains and buses Tickets, lines, changes and gates on the metro, high-speed trains and city buses. 一张去……的票 — One ticket to ……售票处在哪里？ — Where is the ticket office?去……坐几号线？ — Which line goes to ……?
- Shopping and paying Prices, bargaining at markets and the question you will hear at every till: who scans whom. 这个多少钱？ — How much is this?太贵了 — That's too expensive能便宜一点吗？ — Can you make it cheaper?
- Hotel Checking in and out, the Wi-Fi password, luggage and the things that break. 我有预订 — I have a reservation我要办理入住 — I'd like to check in我要退房 — I'd like to check out
- Health and emergencies Phrases for the pharmacy, the doctor and the police, and the numbers to call. 救命！ — Help!请帮帮我 — Please help me我不舒服 — I don't feel well
- Apps for China Payments, taxis, maps and translators that work in China.