Chinese For Dummies (103 page)

waw-men hun shyahng chyew joong-gwaw dah loo. nung boo-nung yew-deeng ee-guh lyew-gwahn?

We're very interested in traveling to mainland China. Would you be able to reserve hotels for us in advance?

Miss Lǐ:

Méiyǒu wèntǐ. Nǐmen shénme shíhòu yào zǒu?

mayo one-tee. nee-mun shummuh shir-ho yaow dzoe?

No problem. When would you like to go?

Michael:

Tīngshuō wǔ yuè fèn de tiānqì zuì hǎo.

teeng-shwaw woo yweh fun duh tyan-chee dzway how.

I've heard the weather in May is the best.

Miss Lǐ:

Duì le. Wǒ yě jiànyì nǐmen gēn yíge guānguāng tuán yíkuàr qù.

dway luh. waw yeah jyan-ee nee-mun gun ee-guh gwahn-gwahng twan ee-kwar chyew.

That's correct. I also suggest you go with a tour group.

Daisy:

Wèishénme?

way-shummuh?

Why?

Miss Lǐ:

Guānguāng tuán yǒu shuō Yīngyǔ de dǎoyóu hé yóulǎnchē. Nà zuì fāngbiàn.

gwahn-gwahng twahn yo shwaw eeng-yew duh daow-yo huh yo-lahn-chuh. nah dzway fahng-byan.

Tour groups have an English-speaking tour guide and a sightseeing bus. That's the most convenient way to go.

Michael:

Hǎo. Juédìng le.

how. jweh-deeng luh.

Okay. It's decided.

 Fun & Games

Fill in the missing words with one of the three possible answers. See
Appendix D
for the answers.

1.
Wǒmen jīnnián qù ____________.
我们今年去
____________. (
我們今年去
__________. ) (
This year we're going to Ireland.
)

a. Àiěrlán
爱尔兰
(
愛爾蘭
)

b. Éguó
俄国
(
俄國
)

c. Nánfēi
南非

2.
Tāmen _______________ zǒu.
他们
________
èµ°
. (
他們
________
èµ°
.) (
They're leaving on June
8.
)

a. sì yuè wǔ hào
四月五号
(
四月五號
)

b. wǔ yuè jiǔ hào
五月九号
(
五月九號
)

c. liù yuè bā hào
六月八号
(
六月八號
)

3.
Wǒmen yídìng yào kàn
_____________.
我们一定要看
________. (
我們一定要看
________.) (
We definitely want to see Buddhist temples.
)

a. xióngmāo
熊猫
(
熊貓
)

b. fó miào
佛庙
(
佛廟
)

c. yóuliè
游猎
(
遊獵
)

4.
Bié wàngle zhuāngrù
___________.
别忘了装入
______. (
別忘了裝入
________.) (
Don't forget to pack a toothbrush.
)

a. yáshuā
牙刷

b. yágāo
牙膏

c. huàzhuāng pǐn
化妆品
(
化妝品
)

5.
Méiyǒu wèntǐ.
____________.
没有问题
____________. (
沒有問題
____________.) (
No problem. Just kidding.
)

a. Juédìng le.
决定了
. (
決定了
.)

b. Kāi wǎn xiào.
开玩笑
. (
開玩笑
.)

c. Jiù wǎn le.
就完了
.

Chapter 15

Making Cents of Money

In This Chapter

Understanding Chinese currencies

Knowing how (and where) to change money

Cashing checks and charging to plastic

Exchanging money at banks and ATMs

Leaving proper tips

Q
ián
钱
(
錢
)
(chyan) (
money
) makes the world go around. People make their money in all sorts of ways. Most ways are legitimate. (If you've attained yours through nefarious means, I'm not sure I want to know, so don't tell me!) You may be one of those lucky people who win the lottery or receive a large inheritance you use to traipse to the other side of the world. Or perhaps you have a modest amount saved up from working hard and paying your bills on time, and you hope to make it go a long way. However you get your money, you find out how to change it (and then save it or spend it) with the help of this chapter.

Of course, family and friends are priceless, but you can't very well support yourself or help those you love, much less donate to a charity of your choice, unless you have something to give. And that's what life is really all about. (Unless, of course, your main goal in life is to buy a sports car, acquire rare works of art, and live in the south of France . . . in which case you need a lot of
qián.
All the more reason to read this chapter.)

In this chapter, I share with you important words and phrases for acquiring and spending money — things you can easily do nowadays all over the world. I give you some banking terms to help you deal with everything from live tellers to inanimate ATMs. I even give you tips on tipping.

Staying Current with Chinese Currency

Depending on where in Asia (or any place where Chinese is spoken) you live, work, or visit, you have to get used to dealing with different types of
huòbì
货币
(
貨幣
) (hwaw-bee) (currency), each with its own duìhuànlǚ
兑换率
(
兌換率
) (dway-hwahn-lyew) (
rate of exchange
). See
Table 15-1
for the Chinese versions of international currency and the following sections for the main forms of Chinese
huòbì.
I delve into currency exchange in the later section “Making and Exchanging Money.”

Table 15-1 International Currencies

Rénmínbì (RMB) in the PRC

In the People's Republic of China (PRC), the equivalent of the U.S. dollar is the
yuán
元
(ywan), also known as
rénmínbì
人民币
(
人民幣
) (run-meen-bee) (
[mainland] Chinese dollars
[Literally:
the people's money
]) or RMB. More than 1 billion people around the globe currently use this currency. As of July 2012, 1 U.S. dollar is equivalent to about 6.38 (mainland) Chinese dollars. Here's how you say that in Chinese:

Yì měiyuán huàn liù diǎn sān bā yuán rénmínbì.
一美元换六点三八元人民币
. (
一美元換六點三八元人民幣
.)
(ee may-ywan hwahn lyo dyan sahn ba ywan run-meen-bee.) (
One U.S. dollar is 6.38 (mainland) Chinese dollars.
)

The Chinese
yuán,
which is a paper bill, comes in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, and 100
in rénmínbì. One
yuán
is the equivalent of 10
máo
毛
(maow), which may also be referred to as
jiǎo
角
(jyaow) — the equivalent of 10 cents. Each
máo
is the equivalent of 100
fēn
分
(fun), which compare to American pennies. Paper bills, in addition to the
yuán,
also come in denominations of 2 and 5
jiǎo.
Coins come in denominations of 1, 2, and 5
fēn;
1, 2, and 5
jiǎo;
and 1, 2, and 5
yuán.

In addition to saying you have
yì yuán,
you can say you have
yí kuài qián
一块钱
(
一塊錢
)
(ee kwye chyan), which means the exact same thing — one Chinese dollar. The difference between
yuán
and
kuài
, and between
jiǎo
and
máo,
is that
yuán
and
jiǎo
are formal, written ways of saying those denominations and
kuài
and
máo
are the more colloquial forms.

Want to know how much money I have right now in my pocket, Nosy? Why not just ask me?

Nǐ yǒu jǐ kuài qián?
你有几块钱
? (
你有幾塊錢
?)
(nee yo jee kwye chyan?) (
How much money do you have?
)

Use this phrase if you assume the amount is less than $10.

Nǐ yǒu duōshǎo qián?
你有多少钱
? (
你有多少錢
?)
(nee yo dwaw-shaow chyan?) (
How much money do you have?
)