Chinese for the trip
You land in three months. You want street food without pointing, taxis without panic, and prices without the calculator app.
You do not need three thousand words for a great trip. You need about two hundred, spoken clearly, plus the nerve to use them. The nerve is your job; the two hundred are ours.
Your first ten minutes
- 1 Open the street-food card
Six lines that get you fed today. Scan, pay, thank, leave happy.
- 2 Tame the big numbers
Wan means ten thousand and it will ambush you on every price tag. Ten minutes here saves real money.
- 3 Train your ear on real words
A word plays, you pick the meaning. Your ear sharpens before the plane boards.
Say this at the stall tonight
老板，可以扫码吗？ Lǎobǎn, kěyǐ sǎomǎ ma? Boss, can I pay by scanning?
少放辣。 Shǎo fàng là. Go easy on the chili.
太贵了，便宜点吗？ Tài guì le, piányi diǎn ma? Too pricey, a bit cheaper?
Here for a different reason?