It’s no secret that Chinese is a tough language. With its tricky tones and thousands upon thousands of characters, it can be an intimidating language to study. Oh yeah, and there are also vast differences in pronunciation depending on what part of the country you’re in. While it can be a very difficult language, you’ll definitely need some Chinese if you plan on visiting the Middle Kingdom. Get started with these Chinese survival phrases.

25 Chinese Survival Phrases

A little Chinese goes a long way.

If you’re new to Chinese, or are just traveling to China and need a bit of the language to get by, these 25 Chinese survival phrases will go a long way:

Of course, your tones will probably be off at first, and you won’t be able to read or write any Chinese characters. Don’t worry – those things will come with time. You have to start somewhere, and using these basic survival phrases will get you going. I’ll go ahead and add one more for good measure – Cheers! (干杯! – gān bēi). Having a drink with locals in China is a great way to loosen up and practice. Just be aware that it literally means “dry glass” in Chinese, or the equivalent of “bottoms up” in English.