Your First 30 Days of Chinese in China: A Survival Plan for New Arrivals

Your first 30 days in China are not about finishing a textbook. They are about handling the situations that repeat: getting to your apartment, buying food, moving around, and managing the people you now live and work with. This plan prioritises those four areas week by week, so you build usable language before you build a broad vocabulary. Expect to sound rough. Expect to repeat yourself. That is the work.

Week 1: Arrival and Addresses

Your first job is to move from the airport or station to where you are staying—and to be able to say that address out loud. Aim for clear tones, but do not let the search for perfection stop you from saying the address. Slow, deliberate syllables are enough for the first attempt.

Start with these lines:

• I want to go to this address.
• Excuse me, how do I get to this place? · Qǐngwèn, zhège dìfang zěnme zǒu?
• I live in this compound.
• Which building number? · Jǐ hào lóu? · Which building number?
• My room number is 1203.

Note: 小区 (xiǎoqū) is the walled residential compound common in many Chinese cities. If you live in a traditional alley or a standalone building, you may not use this word. Ask your landlord or colleague what locals call your building.

Practice writing your address in Chinese characters on a card or phone note. Show it to a taxi driver or delivery rider. That single card solves a dozen problems.

Week 2: Housing and Repairs

By now you have keys. You also have things that don't work, or questions about bills. This is where beginner Chinese meets real consequences.

Useful phrases:

• My faucet is broken.
• 没有热水。 · Méiyǒu rèshuǐ. · There's no hot water.
• 电费怎么交？ · Diànfèi zěnme jiāo? · How do I pay the electricity bill?
• 可以帮我修一下吗？ · Kěyǐ bāng wǒ xiū yíxià ma? · Can you help me fix it?
• When can you come? · Shénme shíhou néng lái? · When can you come?

If you rent through an agent, they may handle repairs. If you rent directly from a landlord, you may need to call a repair person yourself. The phrase 物业 (wùyè) refers to the property management office in many compounds—they often coordinate repairs. Ask your neighbours or building WeChat group for the right contact.

Don't attempt to explain the problem in detail. Point, show a photo, and use the broken phrase. 坏了 (huài le) covers most malfunctions.

Week 3: Food and Transport

You need to eat and move. These two domains give you the highest return on practice because they repeat daily.

Food phrases to own:

• This one, one portion. · Zhège, lái yí fèn. · This one, one portion.
• 不要辣。 · Bú yào là. · Not spicy.
• Mildly spicy.
• Takeaway. · Dǎbāo. · Takeaway.
• 多少钱？ · Duōshao qián? · How much?
• 可以用微信支付吗？ · Kěyǐ yòng Wēixìn zhīfù ma? · Can I use WeChat Pay?

At markets or small restaurants, pointing and saying 这个 (zhège, this one) is acceptable. Don't feel you must construct full sentences. Vendors are used to it.

Transport phrases:

• I want to go to the subway station.
• How do I get to the nearest subway station? · Zuìjìn de dìtiě zhàn zěnme zǒu? · How do I get to the nearest subway station?
• 坐几号线？ · Zuò jǐ hào xiàn? · Which line do I take?
• I want to get off.
• We've arrived, thanks. · Dào le, xièxie. · We've arrived, thanks.

For taxis or ride-hailing, showing your destination in Chinese is more reliable than saying it. Keep a note with common destinations: your home address, office, nearest mall.

Week 4: People and Boundaries

You now have a routine. The remaining gap is the language of relationships—neighbours, colleagues, delivery riders, security guards. You don't need deep conversation. You need to be polite and clear about what you can and cannot do.

Useful lines:

• Hello, I'm new here. · Nǐ hǎo, wǒ shì xīn lái de. · Hello, I'm new here.
• My name is [name].
• 请多关照。 · Qǐng duō guānzhào. · Please look after me. (Common polite phrase when meeting neighbours or colleagues.)
• 我听不懂，请说慢一点。 · Wǒ tīng bù dǒng, qǐng shuō màn yìdiǎn. · I don't understand, please speak slower.
• 不好意思，我现在不方便。 · Bù hǎoyìsi, wǒ xiànzài bù fāngbiàn. · Sorry, it's not convenient right now.
• Thanks, no need. · Xièxie, bú yòng le.

Note: 请多关照 (qǐng duō guānzhào) is common in workplace and neighbourly introductions, but less so among close friends. Use it when you first meet someone in a formal or semi-formal context.

Delivery riders will call you. They may speak fast. Have a standard reply: 放门口，谢谢。 (Fàng ménkǒu, xièxie. · Leave it at the door, thanks.) Or 我马上下来。 (Wǒ mǎshàng xiàlái. · I'm coming down now.)

A Branching Dialogue: At the Building Entrance

You arrive at your compound with a delivery. The security guard stops you.

Guard: Who are you looking for? · Nǐ zhǎo shéi? · Who are you looking for?

You: I live here.

Guard: Which building? · Jǐ hào lóu? · Which building?

You: Building 3. · Sān hào lóu. · Building 3.

Guard: 登记一下。 · Dēngjì yíxià. · Register here.

If you don't understand:

You: 请再说一遍。 · Qǐng zài shuō yí biàn. · Please say it again.

If you still don't understand:

You: 可以写下来吗？ · Kěyǐ xiě xiàlái ma? · Can you write it down?

If you need to leave:

You: I live here, this is my access card.

What to Skip in Month One

You will be tempted to study grammar points, learn measure words, or memorise HSK lists. Those have their place, but not now. The official HSK 3.0 descriptors place basic survival language at the lowest levels, and that is where you are. Focus on the phrases above until they come out without thinking.

Skip: writing characters by hand, tone pair drills, formal introductions, and reading menus in full. You can add those in month two.

Do not skip: listening to how locals say numbers, addresses, and prices. Numbers are the backbone of daily transactions. If you mishear 十四 (shísì, fourteen) as 四十 (sìshí, forty), you will pay the wrong amount or miss your floor.

Your 7-Day Practice Plan

Use this week to lock in the highest-frequency lines. Each day, practise one category out loud, then use it in a real situation.

• Day 1: Address and building number. Write your address in Chinese. Say it aloud five times. Show it to a taxi driver or delivery rider.
• Day 2: Food ordering. Go to a small restaurant or market. Point and say 这个，来一份 (zhège, lái yí fèn). Add 不要辣 (bú yào là) if needed.
• Day 3: Transport. Take a subway or bus. Ask 坐几号线？ (zuò jǐ hào xiàn?) even if you know the answer.
• Day 4: Housing repair. Find one thing that needs fixing. Say 坏了 (huài le) and 可以帮我修一下吗？ (kěyǐ bāng wǒ xiū yíxià ma?).
• Day 5: People. Greet a neighbour or security guard with 你好，我是新来的 (nǐ hǎo, wǒ shì xīn lái de).
• Day 6: Clarification. In any conversation, use 请再说一遍 (qǐng zài shuō yí biàn, please say it again) or 请说慢一点 (qǐng shuō màn yìdiǎn, please speak a little slower).
• Day 7: Review. Record yourself saying the ten phrases you used most. Listen for clarity, not perfection.

For broader context on living and working in China, including administrative steps, see the Chinese government's Guide to Working and Living in China as Business Expatriates (2025 Edition). For official proficiency benchmarks, the HSK 3.0 descriptors show that survival-level communication is the foundation, not a detour.