Brooke Bagley
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How to Ask for Directions in Chinese: Everything You Need to Find Your Way
If you’re going to travel to China, odds are that you will feel a little lost at some point. This is why it’s so important to know a few key terms that will help you ask for assistance in Chinese!
In this blog post, you’ll learn new words for places to go, basic phrases you need to master and how to ask for, give and talk about directions in Chinese.
Let’s get a move on!
Contents
Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)
Basic Phrases
First, let’s take a look at a few phrases that’ll be critical in helping you form sentences related to placement, locations and directions in Chinese.
__ 在哪里?
__ zài nǎ lǐ? — Where is __?
__ 离这里远/近吗?
__ lí zhé lì yuǎn?/jìn ma? — Is __ far from/close to here?
从 __ 到 __ 要多长时间?
Cóng __ dào __ yào duō cháng shí jiān? — How long does it take to get from __ to __?
去 __ 怎么走?
Qù __ zěn me zǒu? — How do I get to __?
坐 __
Zuò __ — To take __
Vocabulary Essentials
Now that you know how to form basic sentences when it comes to asking for directions, let’s look at specific vocabulary terms that may come up:
指路/问路
zhǐ lù/wèn lù — to give/ask for directions
地图
dì tú — map
迷路
mí lù — to get lost
走路
zǒu lù — to go by foot
坐火车
zuò huǒ chē — to take the train
开车
kāi chē — to drive
坐飞机
zuò fēi jī — to take an airplane
街
jiē — street
在路上
zài lù shàng — on the way
Places to Go
Here are some of the most common locations that you might need to tell someone you’re going to:
银行
yín háng — the bank
医院
yī yuàn — the hospital
火车站
huǒ chē zhàn — train station
地铁站
dì tiě zhàn — subway station
超市
chāo shì — grocery store or supermarket
商场
shāng chǎng — shopping mall
博物馆
bó wù guǎn — museum
图书馆
tú shū guǎn — the library
餐厅
cān tīng — a casual restaurant
吧
bā — bar
公园
gōng yuán — park
机场
jī chǎng — airport
电影院
diàn yǐng yuàn — movie theater
Location or Placement of Things
When someone is giving you directions or you need to ask where things are in relation to other places, here are some location-based vocabulary that you may need:
前面/前边
qián miàn/qián biān — in front of
后面/后边
hòu miàn/hòu biān — behind
外面/外边
wài miàn/wài biān — outside
里面/里边
lǐ miàn/lǐ biān — inside
右边
yòu biān — to the right of
左边
zuǒ biān — to the left of
一直
yī zhí — straight
旁边
páng biān — next to
北方
běi fāng — north
南方
nán fāng — south
东方
dōng fāng — east
西方
xī fāng — west
So, what’s next now that you know how to talk about, ask for and give directions in Chinese?
It’s time to hit the streets!
Get out there and start asking your way around. You may look like a lost foreigner, but you’re on your way to sounding like a lost local!
Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)