# China Trip Survival Mandarin: Pay, Ride, Eat and Check In You ask for the Wi-Fi password, give your driver the last digits of your phone and find your carriage on the high-speed train. Made for beginners heading to mainland China for the first time, starting from zero. Source: https://www.saymei.app/resources/downloads/china-travel-survival-mandarin ## At a glance - Level: Beginner · HSK 1 - Format: Workbook · PDF · 34 pages · US Letter (prints on A4) - Price: Free · free with a saymei account · updated Oct 27, 2026 ## Download Free with a SayMei account, on the workbook's page: https://www.saymei.app/resources/downloads/china-travel-survival-mandarin. SayMei emails a copy too. ## A line from the workbook 可以扫码吗？ (Kěyǐ sǎomǎ ma?) — Can I pay by scanning the code? ## By the end you can - Get online when you land. Buy a SIM card, say your phone has no internet, and ask for the Wi-Fi password with 多少, the word for asking a number. Wi-Fi密码是多少？ (Wi-Fi mìmǎ shì duōshao?): What is the Wi-Fi password? - Pay by phone and sort out who scans the code. Ask if a shop takes Alipay or WeChat Pay, or cash, and use 还是 to ask which of two ways it will be. 我扫你还是你扫我？ (Wǒ sǎo nǐ háishi nǐ sǎo wǒ?): Do I scan you, or do you scan me? - Find your ride-hailing car and tell the driver where you are. Say you've booked a car, ask for the plate number, and give the last digits of your phone, which drivers ask to check they have the right rider. 我在门口等你。 (Wǒ zài ménkǒu děng nǐ.): I am waiting for you at the door. - Find your station, gate and carriage. Ask for the high-speed rail station and the ticket gate, and use 几号 for a carriage, a gate or a metro line. 我在几号车厢？ (Wǒ zài jǐ hào chēxiāng?): Which carriage am I in? - Check in and ask about the deposit and breakfast. Say you've booked a room and how many nights, then ask about the deposit, breakfast time and check-out with 几点. 押金是多少？ (Yājīn shì duōshao?): How much is the deposit? - Order from a QR menu and ask for changes. Scan to order, ask for an English menu, leave something out with 不要, and ask for a take-away box. 不要香菜。 (Bú yào xiāngcài.): No coriander, please. - Ask prices and bargain politely. Ask how much something is, browse without pressure, and ask for a better deal at markets and shops. - Get help when your phone dies, you're lost or you feel ill. Say what went wrong with 了 for a change, ask someone for a moment of help, find a pharmacy and say how you feel. 我的手机没电了。 (Wǒ de shǒujī méi diàn le.): My phone is out of battery. - Chat with locals and reply to kind words. Say where you're from, say you like it here, and answer a compliment on your Chinese with a modest thank-you. 谢谢，我还在学。 (Xièxie, wǒ hái zài xué.): Thanks, I'm still learning. ## What's inside - Arrive: Getting Online · Practice: Getting Online - Pay: Paying by Phone · Practice: Paying by Phone - Ride: Ride-Hailing and Taxis · Practice: Ride-Hailing - Trains: Metro and High-Speed Rail · Practice: Trains and Metro - Review: From the Airport to the Hotel - Hotel: Checking In · Practice: Checking In - Eat: QR Menus and Ordering · Practice: Ordering - Shop: Markets and Shops · Practice: Shopping - Problems: When Things Go Wrong · Practice: Problems - Health: At the Pharmacy · Practice: Health - Locals: Talking with Locals · Practice: Small Talk - Review: A Day Trip Goes Wrong - Signs: Signs to Recognise - Phrases: Must-Have Phrases - Show cards: Show This to a Driver or Shop - Planner: Pre-Trip Checklist ## How to use this book Ten topics in the order a trip happens, each a Learn page with four lines and a Practice page. Two topics a day takes a week. Leave a few days before you fly to say them all again. - Days 1–2: Arrive, pay and get around. Getting online, paying by phone, ride-hailing and trains, then the airport-to-hotel review on page 11. - Days 3–4: Hotel, food and shops. Checking in, QR menus and ordering, then markets and bargaining. - Days 5–6: Problems and people. When things go wrong, the pharmacy and talking with locals, then the day-trip review on page 24. - Before you fly: Get ready. Work through the pre-trip checklist on page 28, look over the signs on page 25 and say the must-have phrases on page 26. - On the trip: Keep the show cards. Print or save page 27 on your phone, and point at a card when you can't find the words. ## Who it's for Beginners and first-time visitors to mainland China who want the phrases for daily life on the trip: phone payment, ride-hailing, trains, hotels and QR menus. Before you start: Nothing. Every line has characters, pinyin and English, and the Practice pages use only the lines on the page before. ## What does the book cover, and in what order? Ten topics in the order a trip happens, each a Learn page with four lines and a Practice page: getting online, paying by phone, ride-hailing, trains and the metro, checking in, QR menus, markets and shops, problems, the pharmacy and small talk with locals. Two reviews act out the ride from the airport to the hotel and a day trip that goes wrong. ## Do I need any Chinese before my trip? No. Every line has characters, pinyin and English, and each Practice page uses only the lines on the page before. Two topics a day takes about a week, and the book suggests leaving a few days before you fly to say them all again. ## Does it explain how to set up Alipay or DiDi? No. It's a language book: it gives you what to say when you pay, ride or check in, with short notes on how things work, like drivers asking for the last digits of your phone. The pre-trip checklist on page 28 helps you get your phone and cards ready. ## What if I freeze and can't say it? Page 27 has eight show cards to point at, such as "Please take me to this address" and "I'm allergic to peanuts". The book also suggests saving your hotel's name and address in Chinese as a photo. ## Is there audio? The PDF has no audio. Every line has pinyin with tone marks, so you can practise each scene aloud before you go. ## Do I need a SayMei account? Yes, to download the PDF, and the account is free: sign up with Google, Apple or your email address. With it we email you a copy of the workbook, keep every workbook you download on your account on all your devices, save your place in the free online practice, and you can practise speaking with Mei Lin, SayMei's AI tutor. ## How do I print it? The PDF is US Letter size. On A4 paper, choose "Fit to page" (or "Scale to fit") in the print dialog so nothing is cut off. Print the whole workbook or only the pages you need; colour looks best, and black and white works too. Version 2026-10, updated Oct 27, 2026.