You don’t need Chinese characters — you need the right characters. The Allergy Card and Survival Cards in the toolkit pre-translate the 30 phrases you’ll actually use (food allergies, hotel address, taxi destination), and they fit on a phone screen.
1 Signs you'll see
| Chinese | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 出 | chū | Exit |
| 入 | rù | Entrance |
| 公共厕所 | gōnggòng cèsuǒ | Public toilet |
| 站 | zhàn | Station |
| 入口 / 出口 | rùkǒu / chūkǒu | Entrance / Exit (subway) |
| 禁止 | jìnzhǒ | Prohibited |
| 门 | mén | Gate / door |
2 Menu signposts
- 面 (miàn) — noodles
- 饮 (yǒn) — drinks
- 辣 (là) — spicy
- 粮 (liáng) — cold / cool (temp)
- 烧 (shāo) / 烹 (kǒo) — braised / roasted
3 How to use it
Point at the characters on a menu or sign to communicate, or show them to staff via your translator. The Allergy Card and Taxi Cards tools pre-build these for you.
4 Quick tips
- Recognizing 公共厕所 (toilet) is the single most useful sign.
- Menus often have photos — point rather than translate.
- Save a screenshot of this table offline.
You don't need to speak Chinese to travel well — but reading 出 (exit) and 公共厕所 (toilet) on a sign is oddly empowering.