Have you ever gone into a market in China and embarrassed yourself trying to use body and sign language to get across the items you’re looking for? I know I have! In an effort to make your trips to the local Chinese market a little more efficient and stress free, we’ve been teaching some useful shopping vocabulary here on the Chinese blog. In case you’re just joining us, here are links for the last few posts:

• Vegetables
• Fruit
• Meat/Seafood

You don’t just go to the market to buy stuff to eat, though – you also need everyday items for cleaning your apartment and (hopefully) yourself.

Don’t be afraid if you can’t read the labels!

To help you build your Chinese vocabulary more and increase your confidence when shopping in China, here are 20 useful words for everyday items: