Getting around in Mandarin Chinese
Left, right, the station, one ticket, where is the toilet. Play the ten Mandarin Chinese words against the clock, with a note on how locals really use each one after every answer. All ten are written out below.
All 10 Mandarin Chinese phrases in this lesson
- 洗手间在哪里shee-shoh-JYEN dzai NA-lee
- Where is the toilet?
- 去...怎么走？chyoo ... DZEN-muh dzoh
- How do I get to...?
- 左边DZWO-byen
- To the left
- 右边YOH-byen
- To the right
- 一直走ee-jir-DZOH
- Straight ahead
- 这里JUH-lee
- Here
- 火车站hwo-chuh-JAN
- Train station
- 公交车gong-jyow-CHUH
- Bus
- 机场jee-CHANG
- Airport
- 一张票ee-jang PYOW
- One ticket, please
Xǐshǒujiān (wash-hands-room) is the polite word; 厕所 (tsuh-SWO) the blunt one. Carry tissues: public toilets often lack paper, and squat toilets remain common outside malls and hotels.
Literally "to go to ..., how do I walk?".
Directions arrive fast and with pointing. In taxis, the trio zuǒ biān, yòu biān, yīzhí covers everything, though showing a map pin beats saying anything.
Literally "straight walk". The most common instruction you will receive, delivered with a karate-chop gesture down the street.
Zhèlǐ (here) and 那里 nàlǐ (there). For taxis: 到这里 (dow JUH-lee), to here, while showing the map pin. The pin does the heavy lifting.
Literally "fire cart station". The high-speed rail network is the planet's best: 350 km/h, on the minute. Book on the 12306 app or Trip.com with your passport, which is also your ticket at the gate.
Zhāng is the counter for flat things: tickets, paper, tables. Metro tickets come from bilingual machines; for trains, your passport is the ticket. Hold onto metro cards, exits need them too.