Chinese Phrases for Travel: Why Your Tip Comes Back and the Bill Never Arrives
Leave a few notes on the table after dinner in China and watch what happens: the waiter hands them back, or looks puzzled about what they are for. Nobody is offended. There is simply no tipping in China, not for waiters, hotel staff or taxi drivers, and the payment apps do not even have a screen for it.
The phrases below are part of the free Chinese Trip Kit, and each one fixes a habit that catches first-time visitors.
"Xièxie" is the whole tip
Say 谢谢 (xièxie, roughly "shyeh-shyeh", second syllable light) clearly and you have done everything a local would do. The reply you will hear is "bú kèqi" (don't be polite) or "bú yòng xiè" (no need to thank). Rounding up or pressing a note into a hand only gets it handed back. "Duō xiè" or "fēicháng gǎnxiè" is thanks a lot, though friends find that stiff.
Call the waiter, do not wait for the waiter
不好意思 (bù hǎoyìsi, "boo how-yee-suh", last syllable toneless) is the all-purpose excuse me: stopping a stranger, a small bump, interrupting staff. For a real apology the word is "duìbuqǐ". But at a restaurant table it will not get you served. In China you do not wait to be noticed; you call "fúwùyuán!" (waiter) clearly across the room, or press the call button on the table. That is normal, not rude, and waiters will not come otherwise.
"Kāfēi" alone gets you a question
Ask for 来一杯咖啡 (lái yì bēi kāfēi, "lye yee bay kah-fay") and you will be asked which kind. The plain black one is "Měishì" (Americano), the milky one is "nátiě" (latte), and "rè de" or "bīng de" is hot or iced. The trap is at the counter: the big chains, Luckin, Manner and Cotti, are built around app ordering with big discounts, so walk-in prices are higher and the staff will point you at the QR code, though they do take orders. Tea is the real default drink, and free hot water comes with it.
The bill never comes on its own
The bill does not arrive unasked either. When you are done, call "fúwùyuán, 买单" (mǎidān, "my-dahn") or "jiézhàng", or catch an eye and mime signing. Mind the tone: "mǎi" (dipping) is buy, "mài" (falling) is sell. If you ordered by QR code you may have paid up front already; if not, tap mǎidān in the same mini-program, scan the code they show you, or pay at the "shōuyíntái" (till) by the door. No rounding up.
There is no cover charge in China either. The one line that can change the total is 服务费 (fúwùfèi, "foo-woo-fay"), a service charge of ten to fifteen percent that upscale restaurants and hotel dining rooms print on the menu. Two smaller ones surprise tourists but are normal: "chá wèi fèi", a per-person tea charge in Cantonese and dim-sum restaurants, and "cānjù fèi", a yuan or two for the sealed set of plates and bowls.
Two receipts, and a refund you must ask for at the till
Say 麻烦给我小票 (máfan gěi wǒ xiǎopiào, "mah-fahn gay wo shyao-pyao") and you get the till slip, the xiǎopiào. With phone payment your proof is the record in the app, and many places print nothing. The other receipt is the "fāpiào", the official tax invoice. Staff will ask "yào fāpiào ma?", and unless your employer needs it the answer is "bú yòng". Where it matters is the tourist tax refund, "tuìshuì", roughly 9% back. It only works at shops with the 退税 / Tax Free sticker: spend at least 200 yuan there in one day, ask for the refund form ("tuìshuì shēnqǐngdān") and the fapiao at the till, and claim at the airport within 90 days. It cannot be done later.
Tap in, then tap out
There are no stamping machines in China. On the metro you 刷卡 / 扫码 (shuākǎ / sǎomǎ, "shwah-kah" / "sao-mah"), tap a card or scan a code, at the gates on the way in and again on the way out, because the fare is by distance. Buy a single-journey ticket at the machine, or use the transport code inside Alipay (Transport, under your city), which works with a linked foreign card in most big cities and on buses too. The trap is leaving without a record: no exit record means paying the maximum fare at the service desk, and fare dodging is fined at several times the fare, five times in Shanghai. Trains are the opposite: nothing to validate at all, just your passport at the gate.
A shoulder through the crowd is not rude
让一下 (ràng yíxià, "rahng yee-shyah") is "make way a moment", and 借过 (jièguò, "jyeh-gwoh") says the same in one breath; put "máfan" in front to soften either. Say it at the metro doors and people part. Personal space is smaller than at home and a silent shoulder through the crowd is not rude here, so do not take it personally. Stand aside from the doors before they open, because passengers pour off first, in theory.
The other forty-two
These phrases are days one to four of the Chinese Trip Kit: ten phrases a day for five days, each with a readable respelling, a tip like the ones above and audio. Day one works in the browser without an account, and the sheet prints on three pages for the plane.