We’ve been learning a lot about real Chinese food over the last few months, so put down the orange chicken and fortune cookies right now and go back to review the previous posts:
As you can see, there’s no shortage of delicious food available at all times of the day in China. Now the only question is, what do people wash it all down with? Today, we’re going to take a closer look at drinks in China. Since I’ve already made quite a few drink-related posts, here they all are in one condensed space with links and descriptions. Read these posts and you’ll learn a ton of useful Chinese vocabulary and grammar when it comes to drinks, as well as quite a bit about drinking culture.
Follow this video to learn 30 Chinese words for drinks in just two minutes. Click on the link to check out the blog post, where you can copy and paste all 30 words for future studying.
This post reviews just about all the vocabulary you’ll need for drinks so you can stock up at your local corner store. It also gets a bit more specific with grammar by teaching the most common measure words you’ll use for ordering drinks, and even includes a sample conversation to practice with a friend.
Without a doubt, the most popular and most famous drink in China is tea (茶 – chá). Learn all about the different varieties of tea along with the Chinese you’ll need to order it yourself by studying this post. Also, get schooled on the common tea scams found in big cities and how to avoid them.
While you may not exactly think of coffee (咖啡 – kā fēi) when you think of common drinks in China, it’s becoming more and more popular across the country. In major cities, you’ll see just as many Starbucks as you will tea houses. Learn how to order a coffee in Chinese with lots of useful vocabulary in this post.
Chinese beer is watered down, weak, and tasteless. Thankfully, beer lovers don’t have to suffer any longer in the Middle Kingdom. Craft beer has arrived in China, and in a big way. Get the scoop on Chinese craft beer here.
When it comes to hard stuff, it’s all about baijiu (白酒 – bái jiǔ) in China. Although many Chinese will call it “white wine,” this is far stronger than any wine, usually clocking in somewhere between 40-55%. Get schooled on Chinese rocket fuel and show us your baijiu face!
Culture shock is inevitable when traveling to China, no matter where you’re from. Read about my experiences with drinking-related culture shock in this post and prepare yourself.
With all of these posts at your disposal, you should be ready to eat and drink your way through China. I just hope you still have room for dessert!
Sasha is an English teacher, writer, photographer, and videographer from the great state of Michigan. Upon graduating from Michigan State University, he moved to China and spent 5+ years living, working, studying, and traveling there. He also studied Indonesian Language & Culture in Bali for a year. He and his wife run the travel blog Grateful Gypsies, and they're currently trying the digital nomad lifestyle across Latin America.
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