Hi, I am an American visiting china in a month. I have taken chinese for a year, and am comfortable speaking it (even though I know I am terrible I like doing it), but I don't feel like I know enough of the things I will need to get day to day things done. What are some phrases you use every day? Specifically stuff about: general traveling (cabs and trains), shopping/haggling, eating, etc. Thanks.
Posted Feb 10, 2012, 7:10 AM UTC
I got by a semester in Shanghai by mostly pointing and grunting. I'm not proud of it, but it's doable.
hahaha grunting
TIL a caveman can function in modern society
Popup Chinese is seriously the most useful tool ever for this. There are hundreds of different conversation scenarios (only a few lines long) at the beginner level that are all really helpful and applicable, and they break the conversations down and explain new vocab and grammar.
Three things I learned from my visit to Taiwan last year. Know how to ask for a bag (or bring your own) if you do any grocery shopping. Carry your own tissue/toilet paper. I had arranged with the hostel to schedule a taxi for the ride back to the airport and this included paying the hostel. Taxi driver never got the "memo". Luckily my friend at the last minute decided to see me off to the airport and was able to smooth things out. Honest mistake from the hostel, I think. I should have gotten a note. Smiling, pointing, and money worked pretty well. Fortunately, or unfortunately for my practice, I was escorted by my friend most of the time and never had to fend for myself. Enjoy!
Equally important as the bag: Ordering beverages with only "micro-sugar" (微糖) and cold, but without ice (去冰). Street-side tea suddenly became bearable :)
Not sure if either of that is common on the mainland though.
these are all great thanks everyone
[This thread in r/china had some helpful phrases.](http://www.reddit.com/r/China/comments/nlly1/i_move_to_china_in_a_couple_of_days_what_are_some/)
The most useful phrases that I use daily are...
不要 (bú yào): "do not want". The most important two words in Chinese you can ever learn. I use this whenever anybody is trying to sell me something or do something that I don't want. Related, 不用 (bú yòng): "don't need", or "no need".
这个多少钱？ (zhège duōshǎo qián?): "how much is this one?". Combine with pointing at what you want. If you know the word for what you want, put the word between zhège and duōshǎo, or just omit zhège altogether.
去 (qù) [place]: "go to [place]". Get in a cab, forget the pleasantaries, they just want to know where you're going. Give the intersection unless you're giving a specific, well-known place, e.g. 去永嘉路，茂名路 (qù Yǒngjiā Lù, Màomíng Lù): "Go to the intersection of Yongjia Road and Maoming Road"), or 去南京西路地铁站 (qù Nánjīng Xi Lù dìtiězhàn): "Go to West Nanjing Road subway station".
Speaking of cabs, 往右拐 (wǎng yòu guǎi): "turn right"; 往左拐 (wǎng zuǒ guǎi): "turn left"; 一直走 (yīzhí zǒu): "go straight on"; 掉个头 (diào gè tóu): "turn around"; 停车 (tíng chē): "stop the car". Combine these with 在 (zài) for more specific directions, e.g. 在路口往右拐 (zài lùkǒu wǎng yòu guǎi): "turn right at the intersection"; or 在红绿灯停车 (zài hónglǜdēng tíngchē): "stop the car at the traffic lights".
[place] 在哪里？ (zài nǎli?): "where is [place]?". You can also use ... 在哪儿 (zài nǎ'er) if you're more down with the Dongbei pirate accent. My most common usage of this construction is probably the phrase "卫生间在哪儿？" (wèishēngjiān zài nǎ'er?): "where is the bathroom?". There's a couple of other words for bathroom depending on what kind of bathroom it is, 洗手间 (xǐshǒujiān) is more like a washroom, and 厕所 (cèsuǒ) is more like a public toilet, but I generally just use 卫生间, they'll know what you mean.
I've gone past the point now where I'm thinking in terms of thinking in English, and asking politely for things. In Chinese there's rarely any need to go through the motions of "excuse me, can I please get ...". Greet them with a smile and a 你好 (nǐ hǎo) and just say "要" ("yào") followed what you want. If you don't know the word, point at it and say "要这个" ("yào zhège").
Something I used to use a lot before I knew any names for foods was 他们吃什么？ (tāmen chī shénme?): "what are they eating?", while pointing at somebody at a nearby table with a tasty looking dish. When they tell you, pull out the old friend 要这个 (yào zhège): "I want that". I discovered a lot of new dishes that way.
For drinking in bars, you can pretty much boil it down to 4 phrases: 服务员 (fúwùyuán): "waiter" (in China just shout this to get service, it's not considered rude); then 要一瓶啤酒 (yào yī píng píjiǔ): "I want a bottle of beer"; after that repeat 再来一瓶 (zàilái yī píng): "bring another bottle"; and later on, 买单 (mǎidān): "can I get the bill". Substitute 啤酒 for your drink of choice, if it comes by the glass rather than the bottle then substitute 一瓶 (yī píng) for 一杯 (yī bēi).
For haggling, learn the Chinese finger gestures for counting, it's useful and makes you look like you know what you're doing. When a salesman is trying to shaft me by giving me ridiculous prices I'll often say 虽然我是老外，但是我不傻 (suīrán wǒ shì lǎowài, dànshì wǒ bù shǎ): "I might be a foreigner, but I'm not stupid"; or 别给我老外的价格，给我中国人的价格 (bié gěi wǒ lǎowài de jiàgé, gěi wǒ zhōngguó rén de jiàgé): "don't give me the foreigner price, give me the price you'd offer to a Chinese person". If you can roll a few phrases like that off the tongue, they'll take it as read that you've lived in China long enough that you know the drill and you're not going to fall for their price gouging. Also, just saying 我住在这里 (wǒ zhù zài zhèlǐ): "I live here" will indicate that you're not just another tourist for them to scam.
If in doubt, 你会(说)英文吗？ (nǐ huì (shuō) yīngwén ma?): "do you speak English?", and 我的中文不太好 (wǒ de zhōngwén bú tài hǎo): "my Chinese isn't too good". Oh, and perhaps the most important of all (besides 不要 (bú yào)) is 听不懂 (tīng bù dǒng): "I don't understand (what you just said)".
I often tell my friends to come visit me in Shanghai, when they say they're scared because they don't know where to start with speaking Chinese, I tell them they can pretty much ting bu dong their way around the city.
Tai Gui La. - Too expensive! I used this a lot and still probably overpaid on everything.
I wish I knew those other lines for haggling. I also found if you walk away after some haggling the shopkeeper will almost always chase you down and offer a lower price.
Yep, the ol' walkaway trick. ALWAYS DO THE WALKAWAY. Always good if nonchalantly coupled with something like 在别的地方可以买 (zài biéde dìfāng kěyǐ mǎi): "I can just buy it somewhere else". They will follow you for MILES, and the further they follow you, the further the price will fall.
太贵了 (tài guì le): "too expensive" is a very useful one too, good call. Nowadays I like to ask them 为什么这么贵？ (wèishéme zhème guì?): "why so expensive?" rather than flat out telling them it's too expensive. If they can't come up with a viable reason straight away (they usually can't... it's not like they can just tell you the truth, "because you're white"), it gives you even more leverage in knocking down the price.
The lines I quoted above for haggling have definitely worked for me in the past. In fact, once I started getting more confident with my Chinese, I noticed that people definitely tended to give me better prices straight off the bat. It just shows that you've been in China long enough that you're not going to fall for the same shit a lot of the tourists do.
I believe the tone of 'li' in zai nali? is neutral, apart from that a good beginners guide. If you wanna haggle, there are some good basics to follow. First of all find out the rough price. It's tricky but go some place, fire your bid along the way and if they really don't want to give you and don't call you back, you know you're too low. Also, if they become genuinely offended you'll know you've probably bid too low.
After you've figured the rough price, find a stand with the thing you want. If they approach you tell them you're just browsing a bit. Here in the SW we tend to use "Wo zhe zai kan yi xiao" (or ,,kan yi dianr)(sorry, my hanzi is abysmally bad). They'll generally leave you alone until you're ready to contact them again. Point to what you want and ask "Zhe ge/Na ge ____ duo shao qian?" (around here we say hao instead of shao). If you know they're trying to overprice you, wait for them to make a second offer before you give your bid. Again, if he's rolling his eyes and look disgusted, you've probably gone too low. Then you both do a bit of gesturing, slightly raised voices and re-bids and everyone is happy. Remember to ask for a discount and they'll virtually always abide, around here we say "Gai xiao idianr?" but don't use that in Beijing, it's hill-people speak around these parts. I'm honestly a bit uncertain of the correct way to ask for a discount hehe.
I know some foreigners don't care about the following point (I don't really either) but in China it's considered a bit rude to ask for a price just for the novelty/info. Asking a price is considered an invitation to deal here. You can get around it a bit with a "Ah, a bit expensive, thank you" and walk away though.
Also, many real shops these days simply don't haggle about price. Markets, stalls and small-size vendors are fine but don't go into, say, a real Nike shop and expect to cut the price in half.