If you are not very interested in learning Chinese, you should not spend too much time on it, especially if it is for a short time or if you have a travel guide. If you are completely new to Chinese, you should know that the Chinese “alphabet” called pinyin is not the same as English. So it is important to pay attention to how words are pronounced. A few years ago, I took a few weeks off from writing for the Chinese office to travel around China with my parents and husband. The following suggestions are for absolute beginners in Chinese or for those who need basic knowledge for traveling in China. You can see Chinese characters and pinyin and learn how to pronounce it correctly. These Chinese phrases for asking for directions may be for those who already know a little Chinese, but they can also be tried in a cab if you know the route. Learn more phrases for booking a hotel in Chinese. If you want to learn Chinese characters from scratch, check out our worksheets for learning Chinese characters. The word “Hello” in Chinese consists of the words “you” and “well”. To ask someone “How are you?” add the character “吗”. Sometimes someone speaks to you in Chinese and you don’t understand what “he” or “she” is talking about. I’m Chinese. You can read more about how to give instructions in Chinese here.