Chinese For Dummies (52 page)

Nǐ qù guò Měiguó méiyǒu?
你去过美国没有？
(
你去過美國沒有
?) (nee chew gwaw may-gwaw mayo?) (
Have you ever been to America?
)

Nǐ chī guò Yìdàlì fàn ma?
你吃过意大利饭吗
? (
你吃過意大利飯嗎
?) (nee chir gwaw ee-dah-lee fahn ma?) (
Have you ever eaten Italian food?
)

Finding the restrooms

After you have a bite to eat, you may be in need of a restroom. The need may be dire if you're smack in the middle of a 12-course banquet in Beijing and already have a couple of glasses of
máotái
茅台
(maow-tye), the stiffest of all Chinese drinks, under your belt.

Now all you have to do is garner the energy to ask
Where's the restroom?:
Cèsuǒ zài nǎr?
厕所在哪儿
? (
廁所在哪兒
?) (tsuh-swaw dzye nar?) if you're in mainland China or
Cèsuǒ zài nǎlǐ?
厕所在哪里
? (
廁所在哪理
?) (tsuh-swaw dzye nah-lee?) if you're in Taiwan. You can also ask
Nǎlǐ kěyǐ xǐ shǒu?
哪里可以洗手
? (
哪裡可以洗手
?) (nah-lee kuh-yee she show?) (
Where can I wash my hands?
)

If you're in mainland China, don't forget to take some toilet paper with you before you leave the hotel, because many public restrooms don't supply it there. In most cases, the pictures on the bathroom doors are self-explanatory, but you may also see
男
, the
pīnyīn
for
nán
(
nahn
) (
male
) and
女
, the
pīnyīn
for
nǚ
(nyew) (
female
) before the word
cèsuǒ.
Those are the words you want to pay attention to above all else.

You can also find the word
cèsuǒ
in the term for graffiti:
cèsuǒ wénxué
厕所文学
(
廁所文學
) (tsuh-swaw one-shweh) (Literally:
bathroom literature
). How apropos.

Finishing your meal and paying the bill

After you're through sampling all possible permutations of Chinese cuisine (or French or Italian, for that matter), you won't be able to just slink away unnoticed out the front door and into the sunset. Time to pay the bill, my friend. Hopefully it was worth the expense. Here are some phrases you should know when the time comes:

Bāokuò fúwùfèi.
包括服务费
. (
包括服務費
.) (baow-kwaw foo-woo-fay.) (
The tip is included.
)

fēnkāi suàn
分开算
(
分開算
)
(fun-kye swahn) (
to go Dutch
)

jiézhàng
结账
(
結賬
) (jyeh-jahng) (
to pay the bill
)

Qǐng jiézhàng.
请结账
. (
請結賬
.) (cheeng jyeh-jahng.) (
The check, please.
)

Qǐng kāi shōujù.
请开收据
. (
請開收據
.) (cheeng kye show-jyew.) (
Please give me the receipt.
)

Wǒ kěyǐ yòng xìnyòng kǎ ma?
我可以用信用卡吗
? (
我可以用信用卡嗎
?) (waw kuh-yee yoong sheen-yoong kah mah?) (
May I use a credit card?
)

Wǒ qǐng kè.
我请客
. (
我請客
.)
(waw cheeng kuh.) (
It's on me.
)

Zhàngdān yǒu cuò.
账单有错
. (
賬單有錯
.)
(jahng-dahn yo tswaw.) (
The bill is incorrect.
)

All the Tea in China

You encounter about as many different kinds of tea as you do Chinese dialects. Hundreds, in fact. To make ordering or buying this beverage easier, however, you really need to know only the most common kinds of tea: