You can avoid potential embarrassment and frustration if you understand these important signs in Chinese.
Most of the time you’ll probably only need to recognize the written Mandarin Chinese word or phrase, but we’ve included audio so you can listen to the Chinese pronunciation. This way you’ll be able to ask if something is open or closed, or more importantly, on sale!
What does the sign on the door of the restroom say? What does “营业中” mean? You are about to find out…
女
Nǚ
Female
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男
nán
Male
---
拉
lā
To pull
---
推
tuī
To push
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营业中
yíngyèzhōng
Open
---
停业中
tíngyèzhōng
Closed
---
营业时间
yíngyè shíjiān
The opening hours
---
请勿停车
qǐngwù tíngchē
No parking
When you buy food in a supermarket and don’t intend to eat it straight away it might pay to check the ‘best before date’ to avoid nasty surprises…
最佳日期
zuìjiārìqī
The best before date
---
在……前使用最佳。
Zài……qián shǐyòng zuìjiā。
Best consumed before......
Most restaurants have a smoking and a non-smoking area. Nowadays, first-tier cities like Beijing and Shanghai are beginning to ban smoking in restaurants and public areas altogether. So it is very helpful to learn what “Qǐngwù xīyān(请勿吸烟)” means.
吸烟区
xīyānqū
The smoking area
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无烟区
wúyānqū
The non-smoking area
---
请勿吸烟
Qǐngwù xīyān
No smoking!
Sometimes you will see big bright colored signs in nearly every store window. There must be a sale on…
季末大甩价
jìmò dàshuǎijià
The end of season sale
---
减价
jiǎnjià
Price reductions
---
便宜货
piányihuò
Bargains
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