China travel · 到达前
China travel phrases: what to learn before you arrive
Ten lines you can say twice beat a hundred you can only recognize. Learn the tasks you will do in the first two days, then add the rest.
Written October 20, 2026. The pinyin below is written for the way the line is said, not for a dictionary entry.
China travel phrases are useful when they are attached to a task. "Hello" and "thank you" are polite, but they do not check you into a hotel or tell a taxi driver where to stop. The ten lines below cover the tasks most travelers repeat in the first two days: arriving, paying, moving, sleeping, and eating.
Learn them as spoken lines. Say each one twice, once as written and once with the tone trap from the sentence bank. A line you can say twice is a line you can use under pressure.
The ten lines that do the most work
| Chinese | Pinyin | English | When to use it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 你好 | nǐ hǎo | Hello | Opening any exchange |
| 谢谢 | xièxie | Thank you | Closing any exchange |
| 请问 | qǐngwèn | Excuse me, may I ask | Before a question to a stranger |
| 我不会说中文 | wǒ bú huì shuō Zhōngwén | I do not speak Chinese | When the other person starts a fast answer |
| 请说慢一点 | qǐng shuō màn yìdiǎn | Please speak a little slower | When you catch one word but not the sentence |
| 请写下来 | qǐng xiě xiàlái | Please write it down | An address, a price, a platform number |
| 多少钱 | duōshao qián | How much is it? | A shop, a taxi, a ticket counter |
| 可以刷卡吗 | kěyǐ shuākǎ ma | Can I pay by card? | Before you order or get in the car |
| 洗手间在哪里 | xǐshǒujiān zài nǎlǐ | Where is the bathroom? | A station, a mall, a restaurant |
| 我需要帮助 | wǒ xūyào bāngzhù | I need help | When the task is beyond your Chinese |
A seven-day plan for the week before you fly
For example, 你好 is written nǐ hǎo in standard tone-mark spelling, while the first syllable usually sounds ní in this two-third-tone phrase. Listen and imitate the connected phrase rather than treating the written marks as a complete pitch transcription.
Use the seven-day schedule as a practice plan. Repeat a small set of phrases and check whether a listener understands them before adding more. Adapt the pace to what you can use; seven days is not a promised learning result.
| Day | Task | What to practice |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Greetings and repair | 你好, 谢谢, 我不会说中文, 请说慢一点 |
| 2 | Numbers and money | 1 to 10, 多少钱, 太贵了, 可以刷卡吗 |
| 3 | Hotel | 我有预订, 我要办理入住, 这是我的护照 |
| 4 | Taxi and train | 我要去这个地址, 请在这里停, 高铁站 |
| 5 | Food | 我要这个, 不要辣, 买单, 打包 |
| 6 | Payment and receipts | 微信支付, 支付宝, 现金, 请给我收据 |
| 7 | Rehearsal | Say the ten lines twice each, then run one full exchange out loud |
The numbers 1 to 10 are worth the extra day because they appear inside prices, platform numbers, and room numbers. If you can say the number and the measure word, you can understand more of the answer than a beginner usually can.
The numbers you will hear
Prices, platform numbers, and room numbers are where a beginner loses the answer. Learn 1 to 10 and the two money words, and you can catch more of what the other person says without understanding the whole sentence.
| Number | Pinyin | Number | Pinyin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 一 | yī | 六 | liù |
| 二 | èr | 七 | qī |
| 三 | sān | 八 | bā |
| 四 | sì | 九 | jiǔ |
| 五 | wǔ | 十 | shí |
The money words are 块 (kuài) for a yuan in speech, 元 (yuán) for the formal unit, and 毛 (máo) for a tenth of a yuan. A price like 三十块 is sānshí kuài, thirty yuan. If the number is too fast, ask the person to write it down with 请写下来 (qǐng xiě xiàlái). At a market, 太贵了 (tài guì le) means that is too expensive, and it is the start of a negotiation, not an insult.
A first exchange at the hotel
You arrive with a booking. Put the confirmation on the counter and say: 你好，我有预订。 (Nǐ hǎo, wǒ yǒu yùdìng. Hello, I have a reservation.) The clerk asks for your passport. Say: 这是我的护照。 (Zhè shì wǒ de hùzhào. This is my passport.) If the clerk speaks too fast, say: 请说慢一点。 (Qǐng shuō màn yìdiǎn. Please speak a little slower.) If you need the room price or the deposit, ask: 需要押金吗？ (Xūyào yājīn ma? Do I need a deposit?)
You do not need to understand every sentence. You need to recognize the question words and the numbers. The clerk will usually point at the passport, the key card, or the payment terminal. Your job is to hand over the document and ask the one question you prepared.
If you cannot say it yet
Show the Chinese on your phone. A screenshot of the address, the hotel name, or the dish you want does more than a sentence you cannot pronounce. Use a translation app for the reply, and ask the person to write the answer down. If you are at a counter, point to the number on the screen and use a calculator for the price.
Keep the written phrase and the spoken practice together. The spoken line is faster when it works, and the screen is more reliable when you are tired. Carry both.
What to put on your phone before you fly
Save a screenshot of your first hotel's Chinese name and address. Save the Chinese for "I am allergic to peanuts" if that applies to you. Save a picture of your passport page and your visa. Download the offline dictionary or translation pack you already use. None of this replaces a spoken line, but it keeps a bad moment from becoming a long one.
The full set of food phrases is on how to order food in China, and the front-desk lines are on hotel check-in in Chinese.
What to learn after the trip
If the trip showed you that you can order food but cannot understand the answer, the next step is listening, not another phrase list. If it showed you that you can read a menu but cannot say the dish, the next step is speaking. The one-line start page and the speaking practice page take the next step without turning the trip into a course.
Questions that still sit on the table
What are the most useful Chinese phrases for travel?
The ten that cover the tasks you will repeat: hello, thank you, excuse me, I do not speak Chinese, please say it slowly, please write it down, how much, can I pay by card, where is the bathroom, and I need help. Learn them as spoken lines, not as a reading list.
How many Chinese phrases do I need before a trip?
Ten lines you can say twice are more useful than a hundred you can only recognize. Start with the tasks you will do in the first two days: the airport, the hotel, a taxi, and a meal. Add the rest when you arrive.
Do I need to learn characters before traveling to China?
You do not need to write characters to say a line. You do need to recognize a few signs and your hotel address. Put the Chinese address on your phone as a screenshot, and learn to recognize the characters for entrance, exit, cashier, and bathroom.
Can I travel in China without speaking Chinese?
Translation apps, saved addresses, and written phrases can help with tasks you cannot yet say. Prepare the Chinese name and address of your hotel before departure. Ask for a written answer when speech is too fast. Use a few practiced phrases alongside those backups rather than expecting the phrase list to cover every situation.
What should I practice first for tones?
Practice the tone pairs in the words you will actually say, not the whole pinyin chart. 请问 (qǐngwèn) and 多少钱 (duōshao qián) are better first drills than a list of isolated syllables because you will use them.
Take the ten lines, say each one twice, and put the hotel address on your phone. That is the preparation that survives the airport.
Version 1. Recheck when the sentence bank changes its lines, or every six months.