Chinese

Part of A Better Guide to Běijīng

Mandarin essentials both for those who want to learn and for those who just want to know something about the language, plus essential vocabulary for travellers. (More specific vocabulary appears alongside relevant entries in the guide.)

Part of the Language section of A Better Guide to Běijīng

The Emperors once forbade their subjects to teach foreigners Chinese on pain of death. Never shy of considering their jurisdiction to be global, they also forbade…

Part of the Language section of A Better Guide to Běijīng

You may not want to learn Mandarin, and you certainly don’t need to learn the language in order to travel independently in China, but for those who’d like at least to have some idea how it works, here’s a rough…

From the Language section of A Better Guide to Běijīng

Here’s a story in Mandarin that’s intended to illustrate a point:

Shī Shì Shí Shī Shǐ.

Part of the Travel section of A Better Guide to Běijīng’s Practical A–Z

火车票 huǒchē piào train ticket
时刻表 shíkèbiǎo timetable
来回票 láihuí piào return ticket
硬座 yìng zuò hard seat
软座 ruǎn zuò soft seat
硬卧 yìng wò hard sleeper
软卧…