Language and communication

What to expect, honestly

Outside big tourist hotels and international airports, English is rare. In Beijing, Shanghai and Xi'an it appears on metro signs, at hotel front desks and on menus in the most visited districts. Step one street away from the main square and it disappears completely.

This is not unfriendliness. It is simply a country of 1.4 billion people where English has never been a working language outside the tourism and export trades. People will help you, often generously, but they will do it with gestures, a phone screen or by finding a younger relative who studied some English.

Once you accept that, the trip gets easier. You stop expecting conversation and start using the tools that make it unnecessary.

The translation tools that actually work

Translation apps have changed travelling in China more than anything else in the last decade. The two worth having are Microsoft Translator and Baidu Translate, which both work without a VPN; Google Translate is excellent but is blocked unless you already have a VPN running.

The camera mode is the feature you will use most. Point it at a menu, a sign or a ticket machine and the characters become readable in real time. The voice mode handles short spoken exchanges, and the handwriting mode rescues you when you cannot type a character you can see.

Download the offline Chinese language pack before you fly. It means the app still works in a tunnel, on the plateau with no data, or on the one day your eSIM decides to misbehave.

• Download an offline Chinese pack before you fly, so the app works without data or a VPN.
• Use the camera mode to read menus and signs in real time.
• Use the voice mode for short exchanges, and keep your sentences simple.
• Save the phrases you use most as favourites for one-tap access.

Show, do not say: the address trick

The single most useful habit for a visitor is to keep your destination written in Chinese characters and hand the phone over. Characters are unambiguous; a spoken or romanised address usually is not.

Screenshot the Chinese name and address of your hotel from your booking, and keep a second screenshot of any place you plan to return to. When you get into a taxi or ask for directions, show the screen rather than trying to pronounce anything.

If you book with us, the itinerary we hand you already carries every address in Chinese characters, printed and saved to your phone, so the driver reads the screen and simply drives.

Four phrases that carry you a long way

You do not need tones to be perfect. Say these slowly, with a smile, and even a rough attempt is received warmly.

• Ni hao — hello. The universal opener, and it softens everything that follows.
• Xie xie — thank you. You will say it a hundred times a day.
• Duo shao qian — how much is it. Useful in any shop or street stall.
• Bu yao — I do not want it. The polite way to decline a tout or a seller.
• Xi shou jian zai na li — where is the toilet. Learn it before you need it.
• Bu la — not spicy. The two words that will save a meal if you do not handle chilli.

Reading a menu you cannot read

Restaurants with photographs on the menu are a gift, and in tourist areas most have them. Otherwise the camera mode of your translation app will get you most of the way through, even if some dish names come out as poetry rather than information.

Two things are worth knowing. First, mild in China is not always mild, so ask for bu la at the start of the meal and be ready to say it again. Second, if you have an allergy, do not rely on spoken language: have a card printed in Chinese that states it clearly, and show it before you order.

A safe fallback anywhere is to look at what a neighbouring table is eating and point. It is understood, it is never rude, and it frequently gets you the best dish in the room.

• Vegetarian: su shi.
• No coriander: bu yao xiang cai.
• Not spicy: bu la.
• No MSG: bu yao wei jing.
• An allergy card in Chinese, printed before you travel, for anything serious.

Numbers, gestures and the small courtesies

Chinese hand-counting for the numbers one to ten is different from the Western version, and you will see it constantly at markets. Do not worry about copying it: point at a calculator or type the number on your phone and the meaning is instant.

Tipping is not expected in restaurants or by drivers, and it can even cause mild embarrassment. Handing over money and waiting for change is the normal way. Gifts and business cards are offered and received with both hands, which is a small gesture that is always appreciated.

When someone goes out of their way for you, a simple xie xie with a nod does more than any sentence you could construct.

When a real conversation is needed

There is a line beyond which apps and pointing stop working: a medical question, a change of plan, a problem with a booking, or a conversation you actually want to have with someone about their country. That is where an English-speaking guide earns their keep.

ChinaTour.es, the English-language site of the JoyoTour group, places licensed English-speaking guides with every itinerary, not improvised translators, so that when something needs explaining it is explained properly and in your own language.

JoyoTour has been designing tailor-made trips since 1999 and works with 150 itinerary designers worldwide, which is why the guide who walks you through the Forbidden City in the morning can also sort out a pharmacy or a restaurant booking in the afternoon.

A phrase list to keep on your phone

Save these in your notes app, or better, as favourites in your translation app. They cover the overwhelming majority of what a week in China actually requires.

• Wo bu dong — I do not understand.
• Qing bang wo — please help me.
• Wo yao zhe ge — I want this one.
• Zhe ge duo shao qian — how much is this.
• Wo de jiu dian zai zhe li — my hotel is here, for showing a driver.