Skip to content

Chapter 6 of 7

Travel, Transportation, and Getting Around

Travel vocabulary includes 飞机 (fēijī) for airplane, 火车 (huǒchē) for train, 出租车 (chūzūchē) for taxi, 地铁 (dìtiě) for subway, 机场 (jīchǎng) for airport, and 火车站 (huǒchēzhàn) for train station. The verb 坐 (zuò) is used to mean to take a vehicle, as in 我坐飞机 (wǒ zuò fēijī, I am taking a plane) and 我要坐火车 (wǒ yào zuò huǒchē, I am going to take a train). The word 飞机场 is a longer version of 机场, but both mean airport. Hotels include 酒店 (jiǔdiàn), which refers to more commercial or upscale hotels, and 旅馆 (lǚguǎn) or 宾馆 (bīnguǎn), which refer to guesthouses or state-run hotels. To check in, say 我要登记入住 (wǒ yào dēngjì rùzhù).

To ask for directions, use 请问 plus 怎么走, as in 请问火车站怎么走 (qǐngwèn huǒchēzhàn zěnme zǒu, excuse me, how do I get to the train station). The phrase 怎么走 literally means how to walk, and you can also say 怎么去 (zěnme qù) for how to go. To ask where something is, use 在哪里, as in 酒店在哪里 (jiǔdiàn zài nǎlǐ). The adverb 一直 (yìzhí) means straight or continuously, as in 一直走 (yìzhí zǒu, go straight ahead). The verb 左转 (zuǒ zhuǎn) means turn left and 右转 (yòu zhuǎn) means turn right. To ask how long something takes, use 需要几分钟 (xūyào jǐ fēn zhōng), where 分钟 means minutes.

Airports and stations are located using 在, and answers typically include a place name, as in 机场在北京郊区 (jīchǎng zài Běijīng jiāoqū, the airport is in the suburbs of Beijing). To specify destinations, use 去, as in 我要去机场 (wǒ yào qù jīchǎng). For traffic and other transportation needs, taxis can be hailed by waving or by calling out 出租车.

All chapters
  1. 1Pronunciation, Tones, and Basic Numbers
  2. 2Greetings, Family, and Personal Identity
  3. 3Everyday Phrases, Polarity, and Basic Grammar
  4. 4Measure Words, Locations, and Possession
  5. 5Food, Drink, and Daily Activities
  6. 6Travel, Transportation, and Getting Around
  7. 7Time, Weather, and Building Longer Sentences

Drill it

Reading is not remembering. These come from the Chinese Basics deck:

Q

What is the pinyin and tone for 你好 (Hello)?

Nǐ hǎo. The first syllable nǐ uses the third tone (falling-rising), and hǎo also uses the third tone. When two third tones meet, the first often changes to a se...

Q

How do you say 'Thank you' in Chinese and what tone pattern does it have?

谢谢 is pronounced xiè xie. Both syllables use the fourth tone (a sharp falling tone). The phrase literally means 'thanks' and is used in most casual and formal...

Q

What does 一 mean, and how is its pronunciation special?

一 means 'one.' On its own it is pronounced yī (first tone). However, before a fourth-tone syllable it becomes yì, before any other tone it becomes yí, and it i...

Q

Count from one to ten in Chinese with pinyin.

一 yī, 二 èr, 三 sān, 四 sì, 五 wǔ, 六 liù, 七 qī, 八 bā, 九 jiǔ, 十 shí. Note that 二 can also be pronounced liǎng when used with measure words like 两本书 two...