Situational Mandarin: At the airport
Even though airports are usually international in nature and offer information in English, being able to navigate your way through an airport in Chinese-speaking areas of the world is still very useful. Why? Because...
This post deals with useful sentences for going to the airport, if you're after some basic vocabulary, please read this article. You can also find more general travel vocabulary here.
Getting to the airport
There are many ways of getting to the airport depending on in which city you are, but here are some common modes of transport:
When telling the driver the destination or when checking the bus or train timetable, make sure you go to the right terminal, ??? (???) hángzhàn. In Chinese, you put the number of the terminal before the word "terminal", so terminal three is: ????? (?????) sanhào hángzhàn. Here's an example of what you can say:
At the airport
Once you get to the airport you need to check-in, go through the security check, find your gate and board the plane. Here are some useful phrases:
English mixed with Chinese
Even though there are of course Chinese words that cover all kinds of airport vocabulary, it's important to know that the Chinese don't necessarily use them. For instance, the word "check-in" is very common in Chinese (i.e., they have borrowed the word from English). This is much more common than the ?????? included in the sentence above. The same is true for "terminal", which is more often called just "T" followed by the number of the terminal. Thus, the first example sentence is more likely to be said as ???T3.
Still, while being aware that this is the case is good, it certainly doesn't hurt to learn the Chinese versions of these words and phrases because you see them printed everywhere. In other words, borrowed English words are much more likely to pop up in colloquial Chinese than the official written language! You can read more about loan words into Chinese here.
- It makes you less dependent on English, which might be given with delay or with less precision.
- It enables you to speak about going to the airport with Chinese people, including those in the airport with you.
- If you already know basic spoken Chinese, it feels quite silly to have to switch to English as soon as you encounter any common word such as "luggage" or "gate".
- Speaking Chinese with airport staff is bound to give you bonus points in their eyes, so if you encounter any problems, you might be treated more favourably.
This post deals with useful sentences for going to the airport, if you're after some basic vocabulary, please read this article. You can also find more general travel vocabulary here.
Getting to the airport
There are many ways of getting to the airport depending on in which city you are, but here are some common modes of transport:
| taxi | ??? | ??? | chuzuche |
| airport bus | ???? | ???? | jichang dàba |
| train | ???? | ???? | jichang kuài gui |
When telling the driver the destination or when checking the bus or train timetable, make sure you go to the right terminal, ??? (???) hángzhàn. In Chinese, you put the number of the terminal before the word "terminal", so terminal three is: ????? (?????) sanhào hángzhàn. Here's an example of what you can say:
| I want to go to the airport, terminal 3. |
| ????????? |
| ????????? |
| wo xiang qù san hào hángzhànlóu. |
At the airport
Once you get to the airport you need to check-in, go through the security check, find your gate and board the plane. Here are some useful phrases:
| Excuse me, where is the check-in desk for Air China? |
| ????，??????????????？ |
| ????，??????????????？ |
| qingwèn yixià, Guóháng bànli dengjishouxù de guìtái zài nar？ |
| Can I see your passport please? |
| ????????? |
| ????????? |
| máfan chushì yíxià hùzhào ? |
| We're sorry, but your check-in luggage is overweight. |
| ???，????????? |
| ???，????????? |
| hen bàoqiàn, nide tuoyùn xíngli chaozhòng. |
| Make sure there are no prohibited items in your bag. |
| ??????????????? |
| ??????????????? |
| qing quèrèn nide xínglizhong méiyou wéijìn wùpin. |
| Excuse me, I can't find my gate. Can you help me? |
| ??????????，?????????? |
| ??????????，?????????? |
| keyi máfan nín bang wo yíxià ma, wo zhaobudào wode dengjikou. |
| The gate will be closed 30 minutes before departure. |
| ????????30????? |
| ????????30????? |
| dengjikou jiang zài qifei qián 30 fenzhong guanbì. |
English mixed with Chinese
Even though there are of course Chinese words that cover all kinds of airport vocabulary, it's important to know that the Chinese don't necessarily use them. For instance, the word "check-in" is very common in Chinese (i.e., they have borrowed the word from English). This is much more common than the ?????? included in the sentence above. The same is true for "terminal", which is more often called just "T" followed by the number of the terminal. Thus, the first example sentence is more likely to be said as ???T3.
Still, while being aware that this is the case is good, it certainly doesn't hurt to learn the Chinese versions of these words and phrases because you see them printed everywhere. In other words, borrowed English words are much more likely to pop up in colloquial Chinese than the official written language! You can read more about loan words into Chinese here.
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