Learn Chinese Language
to travel China

Let’s get familiar with the Chinese language before visiting China. On the golden route, you would need to master Mandarin (Putonghua) for the mainland and Cantonese for Hong Kong.

I am not going to help you learn the language. It won’t be possible to be done on the internet. However, I am here to help you jump the language hurdle for your China travel.

Language Golden Rule for
China Travel

Body Language + Keywords

To learn Chinese language is not easy, but learning keywords is easy.

Before we start learning keywords for travel purposes, let’s get to know some basic rules of Chinese language first.

Chinese Names
Knowing how to read Chinese names will help you read maps, road signs and address people.

Chinese Names of People

• Family name comes first, followed by given name.
• For example, President Hu Jintao. Hu (胡) is the family name, Jintao (锦涛) is the given name; NBA player Yao Ming, Yao (姚) is the family name, Ming (明) is the given name.
• Family names can be single or dual. Likewise for given names.
• Below please see examples of each combination.

Person	Family Name	Given Name	Greeting	English
President	胡 Hu	锦涛 Jintao	胡先生 Hu Xiansheng	Mr. Hu
NBA player	姚 Yao	明 Ming	姚先生 Yao Xiansheng	Mr. Yao
Ancient Military Strategist	诸葛 Zhuge	亮 Liang	诸葛先生 Zhuge Xiansheng	Mr. Zhuge
Ancient Literate	司马 Sima	相如 Xiangru	司马先生 Sima Xiansheng	Mr. Sima

Want a Chinese name for yourself?
Click here for a free Chinese name translation

How do we write Chinese names?
In mainland China, all Chinese names begin with family name, followed by a space and the given names are written together. For example, our President’s name is written Hu Jintao.

In Hong Kong, the general public writes all words separately. For example, Hong Kong Secretary for Justice is Wong Yan Lung. Wong is the family name, Yan Lung is the given name. However there are variations. Some people like to hyphenate the given name Yan-lung. My name on my Hong Kong ID Card is YUEN, Lai Wing.

Note:

• Mainland Chinese names are based on Mandarin phonetics. Hong Kong Chinese names are based on Cantonese.
• Mainland China use simplified characters, Hong Kong use traditional.

Chinese Names of Places

Formula for Chinese Names of Places

Name of Place + Description of Place (if any)
+ Nature of Place

Here are some examples:

Name of Place	Description of Place	Nature of Place	English
北京 Beijing		大學 University	Beijing University
北京 Beijing	師範 Normal	大學 University	Beijing Normal University
美國 America*		銀行 Bank	Bank of America
麻省 Massachusetts*	理工 Technology	大學 Institute	Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

* You would notice ‘America Bank’ in English is actually Bank of America. However in Chinese language, the rule of names is very strict, nature of the place must be at the end. Therefore we write in the order of ‘America Bank’ 美國銀行. Likewise, MIT must be written in the order of ‘Massachusetts Technology Institute’ 麻省理工大學.

Now let’s keep the rule of Chinese names in mind.

Reading A Chinese Map

I am going to introduce some terms in order for you to read Chinese maps and road signs.

Bear in mind, these are tools for you to use in mainland China. If you read and speak English, your language barrier in Hong Kong is minimal.

Let’s begin with directions.

東	Dong	East
南	Nan	South
西	Xi	West
北	Bei	North

Knowing the directions of Dong, Nan, Xi and Bei will make finding your way extremely easy.

Study this chart and practice reading the Beijing map below.

Chinese Word	Pronunciation	English
街	Jie	Street
大 街	Dajie	Main Street
路	Lu	Road
胡 同	Hutong	Lane
門	Men	Gate
中	Zhong	Middle or Central
前	Qian	Front
山	Shan	Mountain or Hill
海	Hai	Sea

Now let's try reading the above Beijing map.

East/west bound roads are named xxxx Dong Dajie or xxxx Xi Dajie. North/south bound roads are named xxxx Nan Dajie or xxxx Bei Dajie.

Wangfujing Dajie inside the red box is Wangfujing Main Street (王府井大街).

At the top left corner, Beihai Park is North Sea Park (北海公園).

Zhongshan Park, the park south of Forbidden City, is Central Mountain Park (中山公園).

At the bottom of the map, Qianmen Dong Dajie is Front Gate East Main Street. (前門東大行)

Beijing, the capital city of China, is actually Northern Capital (北京).

Anna's Notes
By now we know some basic rules of Chinese language and we are familiar with the structure of Chinese names. We can recognize some general terms on maps and road signs.

We’ll move on to speak the Chinese language. Remember we need to speak Mandarin for mainland China and Cantonese for Hong Kong.

Mandarin Phrasebook
This Mandarin phrasebook will prove more valuable on the road than a bicycle in Beijing.

My travel story about how I
learn Chinese Language (Mandarin) in Beijing

Have fun learning Chinese Language!

Do you Seriously Want to Learn Chinese? If you happen to land on my website looking for resources to learn Chinese, I am not going to let you down. Though my site is travel focused, I am always keen to look for effective language tools for my readers to learn Chinese. Here is one. Learn Chinese with ChinesePod Try this new way to learn Chinese. Chinese in China Learn Chinese at one of our Chinese language schools in China.