Learn How to Discuss Shopping in Chinese

If you're traveling to China, you'll likely be shopping at some point. Here are some useful phrases for discussing shopping in Chinese.

All of these Chinese phrases are written using pinyin. If you are unfamiliar with pinyin, read a pinyin tutorial first.

Shopping in Chinese is, "mai dong xi." You can shop in a variety of different places, such as a store ("shang dian"), a supermarket ("chao shi"), a department store ("bai huo shang dian"), a shopping center ("gou wu zhong xin"), or a small outdoor stand ("xiao tar").

To ask how much something costs in Chinese, say "Zhe ge duo shao qian?" Or to just ask how much it is, say "Duo shao qian?"

In most places where you shop in China, you'll be able to at least to try to bargain down the price. Bargaining is even expected at small outdoor markets. So, you can say, "That's too expensive" by saying, "Tai gui le." You can ask, "Can I get a discount?" by saying "Pian yi yi dianr ba" or by saying "Zai da dianr zhe kou." Or you can ask, "Do you have something less expensive?" in Chinese by saying, "you geng pian yi de ma?"

You can ask the sales representative to show you an article of clothing by saying, "Gei wo kan kan." If you want to know if the store has an item in another color, ask, "you bie de yan se ma?"

To ask, "may I try this on?" you can say, "ke yi shi chuan ma?"

If you don't want a sales rep to help you because you are just browsing, you can say, "I'm just looking" by saying, "sui bian kan kan."

To ask whether an item is genuine, say "Zhe shi zhen de ma?," although it's highly unlikely someone will tell you an item they're selling is fake.

At the end, you have to make the decision of whether you want the item or not. To say "I'll take it," say "yao." To say "I don't want it," say "bu yao." Or, you can say, "Please give me this one," by saying, "qing gei wo zhe ge." You can say, "I'll take both" by saying, "Liang ge dou yao."

Those are some useful phrases for learning to discuss shopping in Chinese. Chinese is a difficult language to master, but it is definitely possible with perseverance. The most important thing is to practice! Good luck!