Location Words in Chinese I 　

Before we get into the vocab, a story from my first year of teaching, back when I didn’t know much about how things worked in China. A student asked me, “Tiffany, I’m going to Kenting next month to relax — do you know a nice ‘jiǔdiàn’ (hotel)?” I was floored. In Taiwan, we call hotels ‘fàndiàn’ — ‘jiǔdiàn’ means something else entirely: a mistress club. So in my head I’m just thinking, wait, you want me to recommend you a nice mistress club?? Turns out ‘jiǔdiàn’ is completely normal Mainland Chinese for “hotel.” Cross-strait vocabulary can really get you.

Where to shop and how to get there

Store and Street Words in Chinese

💡 “Restaurant” and “hotel” aren’t just script differences — Taiwan says 餐廳厅 (cāntīng) and 飯饭店 (fàndiàn); China (especially the north) says 飯館饭馆 (fànguǎn) and 酒店 (jiǔdiàn). That said, 餐廳厅 (cāntīng) is also commonly heard in southern China. And remember: in Taiwan, 酒店 doesn’t mean hotel at all.

Putting it all together

Examples

小孩子xiǎoháizi一yí個ge人rén過guò馬路mǎlù很hěn危險wéixiǎn小孩子xiǎoháizi一yí个ge人rén过guò马路mǎlù很hěn危险wēixiǎn It is very dangerous for a child to cross the road alone.

我wǒ的de夢想mèngxiǎng是shì開kāi一yì家jiā寵物chǒngwù咖啡店kāfēi diàn我wǒ的de梦想mèngxiǎng是shì开kāi一yì家jiā宠物chǒngwù咖啡店kāfēi diàn My dream is to open a pet café.

Finding your way around

Location Words in Chinese

Putting it all together

Examples

我wǒ公司gōngsī離lí車站chēzhàn很hěn近jìn我wǒ公司gōngsī离lí车站chēzhàn很hěn近jìn My company is very close to the station.

麻煩máfan請qǐng到dào國際guójì機場jīchǎng第二dìèr航廈hángxià麻烦máfan请qǐng到dào国际guójì机场jīchǎng第二dìèr航厦hángshà Please go to the second terminal of the international airport.

A little extra

Two Ways to Spell the Same Street

Street signs in China and Taiwan usually spell things out the same basic way — xx Road (路 lù), xx Street (街 jiē), xx Boulevard (大道 dàdào). What trips people up is Taiwan’s romanization: there are actually two competing systems, Hanyu Pinyin and Tongyong Pinyin, and the same place can end up with two different spellings depending on which one a sign uses. 信義, for example, shows up as both “Xinyi” and “Hsinyi.”

The reasoning behind Tongyong Pinyin is that it’s meant to be more intuitive for someone who’s never studied Chinese — without knowing Hanyu Pinyin’s rules, you’d have no idea how to pronounce a letter like “x” (it’s not the English “x” sound at all).

Test yourself

Vocabulary Quiz