Chinese Language Blog

When you arrive at an international airport in China, there’s no doubt that you’ll be going through 海关(customs) and you’ll have to 填表(fill out a table) which will determine your status in China.  Also, if you’re carrying a lot of items, then you’ll have to 申报(declare items) based on their 价值(value).  You’ll undoubtedly have to go through 边检(border control), whereupon somebody will 审核(review) your 证件(documents) and make sure that they 生效(are effective).  If everything checks out, then the person will 盖章(stamp [the documents]).  You’ll notice that some lines move faster than the one for 外国人（foreigners)， specifically those for 国民 (citizens) and 外交 (diplomatic) channels.  If you are a foreigner, make it your business to 登记 at a police station within 24 hours of arrival.  It will make a lot of things easier.

海关 hai3guan1 – customs
填表 tian2biao3 – fill in a table
申报 shen1bao4 – declare
价值 jia4zhi2 – value
边检 bian1jian3 – border control
审核 shen3he2 – review
证件 zheng4jian4 – documents
生效 sheng1xiao4 – be effective (used for documents)
盖章 gai4zhang1 – to stamp (used for documents)
外国人 wai4guo2ren2 – foreigner(s)
国民 guo2min2 – citizen
外交 wai4jiao1 – diplomacy/diplomatic
登记 deng1ji4 – register

There’s a word you can use to change the tone of a lot of situations, and that word is 先(first, xian1).  You can use it in a lot of situations to soften your tone.  Contrast the stark and brusk nature of 别(contraction of 不要) with the tender and mild nature of 先不要.  Take a look at the sentences below to get an idea:

你别走 – Don’t leave!
你先不要走 – Oh, don’t leave yet! (stick around; stay a while)

There’s another use of 先 which is important to know about, which you can see below:

我们先走了 – Well, ok, I guess we’re going to get going.
我们走了 – [flatly] We’re leaving (now).

Now that you have these, people will be pleased at your ability to soften your speech!

Before, we looked at some terms used while traveling.  Here, let’s go into a bit more detail about some other words we can use.  When you arrive at the airport, you may have to check some of your 行李(bags), but you can still carry a 手提包 , but make sure when you pack beforehand to not pack too much, or else your 箱子(large suitcase[s]) will 超载(be overweight).  When you’re on the airplane, make sure you’ve buckled your 安全带 (seatbelt) and that you can understand the directions of the crew if you’re seated in a seat near the 紧急出口(emergency exit).  After that, the plane should be ready to 起飞(take off).  Enjoy your flight, then get ready once the plane begins to 降落 (descend).  Before long, your plane should have 着陆(landed) at your 目的地(destination).  On your way out, don’t forget to 取行李 (claim your baggage)!
行李 xing2li3 – baggage
手提包 shou3ti2bao1 – carryon bag
箱子 xiang1zi3 – large suitcase
超载 chao1zai3 – overweight (exceed storage [limit])
安全带 an1quan2dai4 – seatbelt
紧急出口 jin3ji2chu1kou3 – emergency exit
起飞 qi3fei1 – take off
降落 jiang4luo4 – descend
着陆 zhao2lu4 – land
目的地 mu4di4di4 – destination
取行李 qu3xing2li3 – claim baggage