What you need to know about the language#
Mandarin (普通话, pǔtōnghuà) is the official spoken standard and is understood nationwide, though hundreds of millions of people speak a regional language at home — Cantonese in Guangdong and Hong Kong, Shanghainese in the Yangtze delta, Hokkien in Fujian, and dozens more.
Characters are shared across all of them. A Cantonese speaker and a Mandarin speaker cannot understand each other's speech but can read the same newspaper. The mainland uses simplified characters; Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan use traditional.
Pinyin is the romanisation system. It is not English phonetics — q is roughly "ch", x is roughly "sh", zh is "j", c is "ts", and i after zh/ch/sh/r/z/c/s is a buzzing sound rather than "ee".
Tones#
Mandarin has four tones plus a neutral one, and they are part of the word rather than an expressive layer on top.
| Tone | Mark | Sound | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| First | ā | High and flat | mā 妈 mother |
| Second | á | Rising, like a question | má 麻 hemp |
| Third | ǎ | Dipping down then up | mǎ 马 horse |
| Fourth | à | Sharp falling, like a command | mà 骂 to scold |
| Neutral | a | Light and short | ma 吗 question particle |
Getting tones wrong is the main reason a well-memorised phrase produces a blank stare. Do not let that stop you — context carries a great deal, and people are generous with foreigners who try.
The essential twenty#
| English | Chinese | Pinyin |
|---|---|---|
| Hello | 你好 | nǐ hǎo |
| Thank you | 谢谢 | xiè xie |
| You're welcome / no problem | 不客气 | bú kè qi |
| Sorry / excuse me | 对不起 | duì bu qǐ |
| Excuse me (to get attention) | 请问 | qǐng wèn |
| Yes / correct | 对 | duì |
| No / not | 不是 | bú shì |
| I don't understand | 我不懂 | wǒ bù dǒng |
| I don't speak Chinese | 我不会说中文 | wǒ bú huì shuō zhōng wén |
| Do you speak English? | 你会说英语吗？ | nǐ huì shuō yīng yǔ ma |
| How much? | 多少钱？ | duō shao qián |
| Too expensive | 太贵了 | tài guì le |
| This one | 这个 | zhè ge |
| I want / I'd like | 我要 | wǒ yào |
| Where is…? | …在哪里？ | … zài nǎ lǐ |
| Toilet | 洗手间 | xǐ shǒu jiān |
| Water | 水 | shuǐ |
| Delicious | 好吃 | hǎo chī |
| The bill, please | 买单 | mǎi dān |
| Goodbye | 再见 | zài jiàn |
Numbers#
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 一 yī | 二 èr | 三 sān | 四 sì | 五 wǔ | 六 liù | 七 qī | 八 bā | 九 jiǔ | 十 shí |
Beyond ten, the system is transparently logical: 11 is 十一 (ten-one), 20 is 二十 (two-ten), 25 is 二十五 (two-ten-five), 100 is 一百 (yī bǎi), 1,000 is 一千 (yī qiān).
Note the counting habit: Chinese counts in units of 万 (wàn, ten thousand) rather than thousands. 100,000 is "ten wan". This trips up almost every learner reading prices and populations.
Hand signs for 6 to 10 are one-handed and distinctive — worth learning, since vendors use them constantly in noisy markets. Six is thumb and little finger extended; eight is thumb and index like a gun.
Food and restaurants#
| English | Chinese | Pinyin |
|---|---|---|
| One person | 一个人 | yí ge rén |
| Menu | 菜单 | cài dān |
| Not spicy | 不要辣 | bú yào là |
| A little spicy | 微辣 | wēi là |
| I'm vegetarian | 我吃素 | wǒ chī sù |
| No meat | 不要肉 | bú yào ròu |
| No coriander | 不要香菜 | bú yào xiāng cài |
| Beef / pork / chicken / fish | 牛肉/猪肉/鸡肉/鱼 | niú ròu / zhū ròu / jī ròu / yú |
| Rice | 米饭 | mǐ fàn |
| Noodles | 面条 | miàn tiáo |
| Beer | 啤酒 | pí jiǔ |
| Hot water | 热水 | rè shuǐ |
| Takeaway box | 打包 | dǎ bāo |
Note that 我吃素 (wǒ chī sù) is understood as Buddhist vegetarianism and is the clearest way to say it — but dishes may still arrive with meat stock or oyster sauce. See vegetarian and vegan travel in China.
Transport and directions#
| English | Chinese | Pinyin |
|---|---|---|
| Airport | 机场 | jī chǎng |
| Train station | 火车站 | huǒ chē zhàn |
| High-speed rail station | 高铁站 | gāo tiě zhàn |
| Metro | 地铁 | dì tiě |
| Bus | 公交车 | gōng jiāo chē |
| Ticket | 票 | piào |
| Please use the meter | 请打表 | qǐng dǎ biǎo |
| Stop here | 停这里 | tíng zhè lǐ |
| Take me to this address | 请带我去这个地址 | qǐng dài wǒ qù zhè ge dì zhǐ |
| Left / right / straight ahead | 左/右/直走 | zuǒ / yòu / zhí zǒu |
Emergencies#
| English | Chinese | Pinyin |
|---|---|---|
| Help! | 救命！ | jiù mìng |
| Call the police | 请叫警察 | qǐng jiào jǐng chá |
| I need a doctor | 我需要医生 | wǒ xū yào yī shēng |
| Hospital | 医院 | yī yuàn |
| I am allergic to… | 我对…过敏 | wǒ duì … guò mǐn |
| I lost my passport | 我的护照丢了 | wǒ de hù zhào diū le |
Tools that do the work#
- Pleco — the best Chinese dictionary by a wide margin. Free, works entirely offline, and its camera OCR reads characters from a menu or sign in real time. Install it even if you learn nothing else.
- Google Translate with the offline Chinese pack downloaded — conversation mode and camera translation. The offline pack works without any connection.
- Baidu Translate or Youdao — work on any Chinese connection and handle photo-menu translation well.
- Screenshots. Save your hotel's name and address in characters, plus any destination you plan to reach by taxi. This is the highest-value five minutes of preparation you can do.
Frequently asked questions#
Do I need to speak Chinese to travel in China?#
No, but you should not expect English outside hotels, major museums and international districts of Beijing and Shanghai. Translation apps, screenshots of addresses in Chinese characters, and the word 这个 ("this one") cover the great majority of situations.
What are the most useful Chinese phrases for tourists?#
你好 (nǐ hǎo, hello), 谢谢 (xiè xie, thank you), 多少钱 (duō shao qián, how much), 这个 (zhè ge, this one), 洗手间 (xǐ shǒu jiān, toilet) and 买单 (mǎi dān, the bill). "This one" is the single most useful, because it lets you point at anything.
How hard are Chinese tones for beginners?#
Hard to produce accurately but less critical than learners fear, because context does a lot of work. Wrong tones are the usual reason a memorised phrase is not understood, but Chinese listeners are generally patient and will guess from situation.
What is the best app for translating Chinese?#
Pleco for dictionary lookup and camera OCR of characters, entirely offline. Google Translate with the offline Chinese pack for conversation and sentence translation. Baidu Translate or Youdao if you are on a Chinese connection without a VPN.
Is Mandarin spoken everywhere in China?#
It is the official standard and is understood nationwide, but many regions speak their own language at home — Cantonese in Guangdong and Hong Kong, Shanghainese around the Yangtze delta, Hokkien in Fujian. Written characters are shared across all of them.