You are sitting in the salon chair, caped up, and the stylist is waiting. In English you would say “just a trim, shorter on the sides, keep the top.” In Chinese, nothing comes out. The word that unlocks the whole chair is 理发 (lǐ fà), and knowing how to say haircut in Chinese is the […]
The first time I walked into a Chinese bank, I stood at the counter for ten minutes while everyone ignored me. A guard finally pointed at a small machine by the door: I was supposed to take a number ticket first, and everyone else was sitting down because they had one. That day I learned […]
Six months into my life in China, a colleague got promoted and the whole office gathered around his desk. Everyone shouted two syllables I had only ever heard at Chinese New Year, and he grinned and cupped his hands in thanks. That was my first real lesson in how to say congratulations in Chinese: 恭喜 […]
My first week in China, a shopkeeper chased me down the street to return the five kuai I had overpaid. Breathless, I said 谢谢 (xiè xiè), and she waved her hand and said two words I did not catch. That was my first lesson in how to say you’re welcome in Chinese: 不客气 (bù kè […]
Two weeks after I moved to China, my office gathered around a cake, and everyone started singing, in Chinese, to the exact melody I had known since childhood. That was my first lesson in how to say happy birthday in Chinese: 生日快乐 (shēng rì kuài lè), literally “birthday happy.” I mumbled along, mangled the tones, […]
A colleague in Tianjin once asked me how I was settling in, and I proudly answered 我很快乐 (wǒ hěn kuài lè). She burst out laughing. My grammar was perfect, but I had just answered a casual “how are you” with something that sounds like a line from a poem. That is when I really learned […]
The first morning of my first hotel stay in China, I opened the wardrobe and found two white robes folded next to a pair of paper-thin slippers. That is when I learned how to say bathrobe in Chinese: 浴袍 (yù páo). It combines “bath” and “robe”, a robe for after your bath. You will meet […]
Six months into living in China, I bit into a piece of sugarcane and felt something crack that should not crack. That is the moment I learned how to say dentist in Chinese: 牙医 (yá yī). It literally combines “tooth” and “healer”, a tooth doctor. If you live in China long enough, you will need […]
The first week I lived in China, my cell phone rang three times a day with calls from numbers I did not recognize. Every voice on the other end said the same two syllables: 快递 (kuài dì). That is how to say express delivery in Chinese, and if you live in China, you will hear […]
When I first moved to Tianjin, I quickly realized that knowing how to say suitable in Chinese would save me from countless awkward moments. The word is 适合 (shì hé), and it literally means “fit” and “match” combined. You will use it almost every day, from telling a landlord the apartment is not right for […]
How to say subway station in Chinese is one of the first phrases you should learn if you are visiting or living in a major Chinese city. After twelve years in Tianjin, an HSK5 certification, and an Intercultural Studies background, I can tell you that subway station in Chinese is 地铁站 (dì tiě zhàn), and […]
Need to know how to say light in Chinese? The word is 灯 (dēng), and you’ll use it every single day in China – from hotel rooms to restaurants to navigating your apartment after dark. After twelve years in Tianjin, I still remember the night I tried to ask my landlord where the light switch […]
