Learn how to check into a hotel room in China
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| INTRODUCTION |
| David: Welcome to ChineseClass101. I’m David. |
| Echo: Hi. Da jia hao! 我是(Wǒ shì) Echo. |
| David: We are here with Lesson 42 today in our Beginner series. |
| Echo: 第四十二课。(Dì sìshí'èr kè.) |
| David: Yeah. This is our progressive series teaching you Chinese if you have not studied Chinese before. We’ve got a great lesson. It’s all about checking into a hotel. |
| Echo: Right. |
| David: So if you haven’t done this before by the end of this lesson, you’re going to be an exper I bet. |
| Echo: Okay. |
| David: Okay. So we’ve got the dialogue for you. Before we talk you there, we want to remind you. There are some hotels in China without internet access. |
| Echo: Exactly. |
| David: Many of which are [*]. If you get into that hotel, there’s nothing better than having our lessons printed out on paper beside you. Right, Echo? |
| Echo: Right. |
| David: But to do that, you’re going to need a premium subscription. So if you haven’t picked one up, give it some thought. But now, let’s listen to the dialogue. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| 甲: 请问，这儿一天多少钱？(JIǍ: Qǐngwèn, zhèr yī tiān duōshǎo qián?) |
| 乙: 您几位？(YǏ: Nín jǐ wèi?) |
| 甲: 就我自己。(JIǍ: Jiù wǒ zìjǐ.) |
| 乙: 您想要单人间还是标准间？(YǏ: Nín xiǎng yào dānrén jiān hái shì biāozhǔn jiān?) |
| 甲: 我要标准间。(JIǍ: Wǒ yào biāozhǔn jiān.) |
| 乙: 标准间250元一天。(YǏ: Biāozhǔn jiān èrbǎi wǔshí yuán yì tiān.) |
| David: One more time, a bit slower. |
| 甲: 请问，这儿一天多少钱？(JIǍ: Qǐngwèn, zhèr yī tiān duōshǎo qián?) |
| 乙: 您几位？(YǏ: Nín jǐ wèi?) |
| 甲: 就我自己。(JIǍ: Jiù wǒ zìjǐ.) |
| 乙: 您想要单人间还是标准间？(YǏ: Nín xiǎng yào dānrén jiān hái shì biāozhǔn jiān?) |
| 甲: 我要标准间。(JIǍ: Wǒ yào biāozhǔn jiān.) |
| 乙: 标准间250元一天。(YǏ: Biāozhǔn jiān èrbǎi wǔshí yuán yì tiān.) |
| 甲: 请问，这儿一天多少钱？(JIǍ: Qǐngwèn, zhèr yī tiān duōshǎo qián?) |
| David: Excuse me, how much for a day here? |
| 乙: 您几位？(YǏ: Nín jǐ wèi?) |
| David: How many people? |
| 甲: 就我自己。(JIǍ: Jiù wǒ zìjǐ.) |
| David: Just myself. |
| 乙: 您想要单人间还是标准间？(YǏ: Nín xiǎng yào dānrén jiān hái shì biāozhǔn jiān?) |
| David: Would you like a single or standard room? |
| 甲: 我要标准间。(JIǍ: Wǒ yào biāozhǔn jiān.) |
| David: I’d like a standard room. |
| 乙: 标准间250元一天。(YǏ: Biāozhǔn jiān èrbǎi wǔshí yuán yì tiān.) |
| David: The standard room is 250 RMB per day. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Echo: Okay. So… |
| David: I think the wording in China is a bit confusing. Like, what’s the difference between a standard room and a single room? |
| Echo: For a standard room, you will have two single beds but for single room, you only have one single bed. |
| David: Yeah. So why not they call the standard room a double room and make the single room standard room? |
| Echo: I don’t know. |
| David: I caught confusing. This is confusing. |
| Echo: Because I think they expect that… |
| David: You’re Chinese, Echo. Answer this. I don’t understand the hotels in China. |
| Echo: I can’t. |
| David: See, Echo can’t answer it. It’s illogical. |
| Echo: Also, actually I would like to introduce you one more type of the rooms. It’s 大床房.(Dà chuáng fáng.) |
| David: I’ve rented that big bedroom. |
| Echo: Yes, you have. |
| David: Well, I may have used one but… |
| Echo: It’s very useful. I think usually people don’t want to have a small or single bed so they can go for 大床房.(Dà chuáng fáng.) |
| David: Okay. Echo, you were straying into new vocab, so why don’t we just go to the vocab section. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Male: Now, the vocab section. |
| Echo: 请问(qǐngwèn) [natural native speed]. |
| David: Excuse me. |
| Echo: 请问(qǐngwèn)[slowly - broken down by syllable]. 请问(qǐngwèn)[natural native speed]. |
| Echo: 一天(yìtiān) [natural native speed]. |
| David: One day. |
| Echo: 一天(yìtiān)[slowly - broken down by syllable]. 一天(yìtiān)[natural native speed]. |
| Echo: 您几位 (nín jǐ wèi)[natural native speed]. |
| David: How many people? |
| Echo: 您几位(nín jǐ wèi)[slowly - broken down by syllable]. 您几位(nín jǐ wèi)[natural native speed]. |
| Echo: 就(jiù) [natural native speed]. |
| David: Just. |
| Echo: 就(jiù)[slowly - broken down by syllable]. 就(jiù)[natural native speed]. |
| Echo: 自己(zìjǐ) [natural native speed]. |
| David: Oneself. |
| Echo: 自己(zìjǐ)[slowly - broken down by syllable]. 自己(zìjǐ)[natural native speed]. |
| Echo: 单人间(dānrénjiān) [natural native speed]. |
| David: Single room. |
| Echo: 单人间(dānrénjiān)[slowly - broken down by syllable]. 单人间(dānrénjiān)[natural native speed]. |
| Echo: 标准间 (biāozhǔnjiān)[natural native speed]. |
| David: Standard room. |
| Echo: 标准间(biāozhǔnjiān)[slowly - broken down by syllable]. 标准间(biāozhǔnjiān)[natural native speed]. |
| Echo: 还是(háishì) [natural native speed]. |
| David: Or. |
| Echo: 还是(háishì)[slowly - broken down by syllable]. 还是(háishì)[natural native speed]. |
| Echo: 元(yuán) [natural native speed]. |
| David: Chinese dollar. |
| Echo: 元(yuán)[slowly - broken down by syllable]. 元(yuán)[natural native speed]. |
| KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES |
| David: Okay. A lot of great vocab today, especially about checking into a hotel. |
| Echo: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
| David: Although you know what they missed? They missed the haggling part. |
| Echo: Right. You can always get discount. |
| David: Yeah, because if you use the hotels in China, you walk in and they’ve got this big board behind the desk with a list of the prices, don’t trust that board. |
| Echo: Right. |
| David: You’ve always got to go and ask the people how much for a room. |
| Echo: 一个房间多少钱？(Yīgè fángjiān duōshǎo qián?) |
| David: They’re going to give you a price that’s lower. |
| Echo: Right. |
| David: If they don’t, you just repeat asking, “how much for a room” until they give you a price that’s lower. |
| Echo: Yeah. |
| David: Right. That’s the board of hope. I don’t think anyone ever pays that much. You can normally get, what? You can normally get, at least, 20% off. |
| Echo: Yeah. Definitely. |
| David: Yeah. For the high-end stuff, you can sometimes get 25% or even more. |
| Echo: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
| David: We’ve got a lot of interesting vocab. First things first, though. This dialogue is taking place in a hotel. We’ve got three words for hotel. The first is… |
| Echo: 饭店。(Fàndiàn.) |
| David: Which could also be a restaurant. |
| Echo: Right. |
| David: The second word is a lot more specific. |
| Echo: 宾馆。(Bīnguǎn.) |
| David: And finally… |
| Echo: 酒店.(Jiǔdiàn.) Yeah. This is a new word. |
| David: Yeah. |
| Echo: 酒店。(Jiǔdiàn.) |
| David: So there are three different ways to ask for a hotel. First is, “where is a hotel?” |
| Echo: 饭店在哪儿？( fàndiàn zài nǎ'r? ) |
| David: The second is, “where is a hotel?” |
| Echo: 宾馆在哪儿？ (Bīnguǎn zài nǎ‘r? ) |
| David: The third is, “where is a hotel?” |
| Echo: 酒店在哪儿？(Jiǔdiàn zài nǎ’r?) |
| David: So you ask this question and you get to the hotel. When you walk in, you’re going to want to ask for a room. |
| Echo: Right. 房间.(Fángjiān.) |
| David: Do you have a room? |
| Echo: 你们有房间吗？(Nǐmen yǒu fángjiān ma?) |
| David: Another way to ask that is… |
| Echo: 有没有房间？(Yǒu méiyǒu fángjiān?) |
| David: Right. If you remember the two words we covered in our dialogue were different kinds of rooms. |
| Echo: Right. |
| David: There was the single room. |
| Echo: 单人间。(Dān rénjiān.) |
| David: Literally, single person. |
| Echo: Right. |
| David: Tiny bed. Really tiny. |
| Echo: Yeah. |
| David: Yeah. Don’t be over six feet. Then there’s the standard room. |
| Echo: 标准间。(Biāozhǔn jiān.) |
| David: Where you also should not be over six feet. |
| Echo: So I recommend you guys get a 大床房。(Dà chuáng fáng.). |
| David: Although that is going to be expensive. |
| Echo: A little bit. |
| David: Yeah. |
| Echo: But sometimes, it’s actually cheaper than 标准间.(Biāozhǔn jiān.) I don’t know why. |
| David: Really? |
| Echo: Yes. |
| David: When I ask for the cheap ones, they put in the closet. Anyway, when you get to the front counter, you may want to ask, “Do you guys have Wi-Fi?” |
| Echo: 你们有Wi-Fi吗？(Nǐmen yǒu Wi-Fi ma?) |
| David: Do you have television? |
| Echo: 你们有电视吗？(Nǐmen yǒu diànshì ma?) |
| David: Or do you have the mini-bar? |
| Echo: 你们有小冰箱吗？(Nǐmen yǒu xiǎo bīngxiāng ma?) |
| David: In China, it’s the little fridge. |
| Echo: 小冰箱。(Xiǎo bīngxiāng.) |
| David: Not mini-bar. |
| Echo: Right. |
| David: Okay. With that stuff under your belt, you should be able to get a hotel without any problems. Make sure to haggle them down on the price. |
| Echo: Right. |
| David: Take at least 20%. With that, let’s go to the grammar section. |
Lesson focus |
| Male: It’s grammar time. |
| David: Echo, how easy is our grammar point today? |
| Echo: Really easy. |
| David: It’s really easy. |
| Echo: 非常简单。(Fēicháng jiǎndān.) |
| David: This is possibly the easiest grammar section we’ve ever given you guys. Our grammar point for today is all about the word for “or”. |
| Echo: 还是。(Háishì.) |
| David: Or. |
| Echo: 还是(Háishì) |
| David: Listen to the tones on that – rising second tone and then a falling fourth tone. |
| Echo: 还是。(Háishì.) |
| David: As in the sentences, “Do you want coffee or tea?” |
| Echo: 你想要咖啡还是茶？(Nǐ xiǎng yào kāfēi háishì chá?) |
| David: Are you American or British? |
| Echo: 你是美国人还是英国人？(Nǐ shì měiguó rén háishì yīngguó rén?) |
| David: Do you want the expensive one or the cheap one? |
| Echo: 您想要贵的还是便宜的？(Nín xiǎng yào guì de háishì piányí de?) |
| David: That’s right. Actually, no one has ever asked that question: do you want the expensive one or cheap one? I have frequently said though, “I want the cheap one.” |
| Echo: Right. 我要便宜的.(Wǒ yào piányí de.) |
| David: Yeah. Anyway, this word for “or”. |
| Echo: 还是。(háishì.) |
| David: As in English, we put it in between the two things that are our choices. |
| Echo: Right.A还是B.(A háishì B.) |
| David: Coffee or tea? |
| Echo: 咖啡还是茶？(Kāfēi háishì chá?) |
| David: American or British? |
| Echo: 美国人还是英国人？(Měiguó rén háishì yīngguó rén?) |
| David: Single room or standard room? |
| Echo: 单人间还是标准间？(Dān rénjiān háishì biāozhǔn jiān?) |
| David: If someone is asking you this question using the word… |
| Echo: 还是(Háishì) |
| David: …makes the choice exclusive. |
| Echo: Right. |
| David: So they’re going to be giving you one of the two but not both, although I guess there isn’t any reason you couldn’t say, “I want both”. |
| Echo: Right. |
| David: 我都要。(Wǒ dū yào.) |
| Echo: You can say that. 我都要.(Wǒ dū yào.) So a little tip here. Remember when you use 还是(Háishì) to ask a question, don’t add 吗(Ma), our question marker, at the end of the sentence. |
| David: Right. Because we only use that question marker when we’re turning statement into a question. |
| Echo: Right. |
| David: It is true. So it’s like, “do you want A or B?” |
| Echo: Right. |
| David: Okay. So let’s review those three questions one more time. “Do you want coffee or tea?” |
| Echo: 您想要咖啡还是茶？(Nín xiǎng yào kāfēi háishì chá?) |
| David: Are you American or British? |
| Echo: 你是美国人还是英国人？(Nǐ shì měiguó rén háishì yīngguó rén?) |
| David: My favorite, “Do you want the expensive one or the cheap one?” |
| Echo: 你想要贵的还是便宜的？(Nǐ xiǎng yào guì de háishì piányí de?) |
| David: If you take nothing else away from this lesson, you can use that in a hotel, too. They ask you, “What kind of room you want?” you can say, “I want the cheap one.” |
| Echo: 我想要便宜的。(Wǒ xiǎng yào piányí de.) |
| David: So that’s a pretty simple grammar point, right? So that’s a really simple grammar point, right, Echo? |
| Echo: Uh-hmm. |
| David: Simple than usual. |
| Echo: 非常简单。(Fēicháng jiǎndān.) |
| David: Speaking of simple, we’ve got a lot of ways to make learning Chinese simple in our premium learning center on ChineseClass101.com. |
| Echo: Exactly. |
| David: So no matter if you’ve learned for a few days now… |
| Echo: 还是(Háishì), if you have already learned for years. |
| David: And you understand everything Echo was saying in Chinese. There are tools and resources there that are going to help you get this vocab down, get this grammar points down. |
| Echo: Right. |
| David: So check it out. With that, we’re at the end of our podcast for today. Thanks for listening. From Beijing, I’m David. |
| Echo: 我是(Wǒ shì)Echo. |
| David: And we’ll see you guys next week. |
| Echo: 下周见吧。(Xià zhōu jiàn ba.) |
| David: Bye-bye. |
| Echo: Bye-bye. |
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Comments
HideWhat were the nicest, and worst hotels you've had the pleasure of staying in during your stay in China?
你好 robert groulx！
不用谢。(Bú yòng xiè.) = No need for thanks. You're welcome. 😇
谢谢 (Xièxie) for studying with us, it's great to have you here!
Let us know if you have any questions.
Kind regards,
雷文特 (Levente)
Team ChineseClass101.com
thanks for the lesson
my favorite words are 个房间多少钱？
robert
Hello Gerald,
Thank you for your comment. 😄 If you want to say 'stay in a big hotel, in a big room.', you can say '住进一间大酒店，一间大房间', using 留在 (only one 在 is needed) is not appropriate here. Yes you can use 从未 to say 'never'.
As always, let us know if you have any questions.
Ngai Lam
Team ChineseClass101.com
Hi everyone! Thanks for the lesson. I've never been to China either, but i would like to and stay in a big hotel, in a big room.
大家好！
谢谢你的课。我也从未去过中国，但我想和我想留在在一个大酒店，在大床房。
1. I realized I don't know how to say ''I want to stay in a hotel'' so I just search 留在 in the dictionary for ''stay in'', is it ok to use it here?
2. Is ok to use 从未 to say ''never'' and 留在在 to say ''to stay in''? or just ''留在一个大酒店'' is enough?
Thanks!
Sabrina yan is stupid and she's useless and she speaks Chinese and English She is not an nice
Girl
谢谢！
你好，卫力，
Well done. You did the most.
在欧洲，在北美，我都住过好的酒店。I stayed in some good hotels. (I have several experiences.)
Cho
Team ChineseClass101.com
大家好，
This lesson was quite easy. I have never been to China. I do not know about Chinese hotels. In Europe and North America, I stayed in some good hotels.
这个课非常容易。我没去过中国。 我不知道中国的酒店。在欧洲，在北美，我住宅在好的酒店。（Zhège kè fēicháng róngyì. Wǒ méi qùguò zhōngguó. Wǒ bù zhīdào zhōngguó de jiǔdiàn. Zài ōuzhōu, zài běiměi, wǒ zhùzhái zài hǎo de jiǔdiàn.）.
I am sure my 在 are a bit mixed up.
卫力
Hi Jimmy,
Rats running in the corridors? That's horrible! 太可怕了！I would tell the hotel staff that: 你们酒店有老鼠。我以后不来了. (You have rats in your hotel, I'm not coming back.)
But I'm glad to know you also have some nice hotel experience in other parts of China :wink:
Yinru
Team ChineseClass101.com
I stayed in a nice hotel Huadu area. Xin Dong Hao Hotel. Not far from the airport, nice, big and clean rooms around 350 RMB a night but later i stayed in Liezhi Hotel in Shenzhen, near Futian area. Horrible!! There were rats running in the corridors!!!
i have not had a bad hotel experience in China - granted I'm traveling on business and we stay in some nice places. In Hong Kong I've stayed at the InterContinental (simply amazing) and the Sheraton on Nathan. In Taipei I stay at the Sherwood. This is a great little hotel that I would highly recommend to anyone - super staff and nice rooms. If you stay there make sure you go to my favorite bar "My Other Place" right around the corner and tell them I said "Ni Hao!" In Shenzhen (Chang An) we stay at the Haiyatt Garden. Nice hotel - not a great location. Good restaurants and super cheap foot massages.
i used to live in a nice hotel in sichuan province, it was a big room with bathroom and tv and ac and everything, but just cost 40 RMB per night...:smile:
好玩 !
David否认用大床间 不过Echo知道一包堆。 :wink:
Oddly enough, both the best and worst hotels I've stayed at in China have been in Hong Kong. Can be hard to get into some of the cheaper hotels in places like Shanghai because of the registration requirements.... :(