The Complete Guide to All the Directions in Chinese 🚀

A Complete Guide to 51 Different Directions in Chinese

Fair to say your first challenge in China is going to be directions in Chinese.

• Where is the shop?
• Where is the restaurant?
• Why on Earth did I leave the comforts of home?

All good questions. Well, we can’t help you answer the existential questions but maybe we can get you to the local cafe.

⬇️⬇️⬇️ Don’t miss our Directions Quiz below ⬇️⬇️⬇️

Left in Chinese

Right in Chinese

Go straight in Chinese

Go back in Chinese

Up in Chinese

Down in Chinese

Over in Chinese

Through in Chinese

Go back in Chinese

Go past in Chinese

Stop in Chinese

North in Chinese

East in Chinese

South in Chinese

West in Chinese

Across in Chinese

Next to in Chinese

Traffic lights in Chinese

Let’s start with the simple left and right in Chinese.

Left in Chinese

• “Left”
• zuǒ biān
• 左边

Right in Chinese

• “Right”
• yòu biān
• 右边

Straight in Chinese

• “Go straight” 
• zhí zǒu
• 直走

Backwards in Chinese

• “Go backwards”
• xiàng hòu zǒu
• 向后走

Great so you’re turning right and left in Chinese! Now let’s get a little more specific with going up and down in Chinese.

Up in Chinese

• “Up”
• xiàng shàng
• 向上

• “Go up the stairs”
• shàng lóu tī
• 上楼梯

Down in Chinese

• “Down”
• xiàng xià
• 向下

• “Go down the escalators”
• xià diàn tī
• 下电梯

Over in Chinese

• “Over” 
• guò
• 过

• “Go over the bridge”
• guò qiáo
• 过桥

Through in Chinese

• “Through”
• tōng guò
• 通过

• “Go through the park”
• tōng guò gong yuan
• 通过公园

Arriving at your destination? Might help to be able to tell the driver to stop in Chinese.

Try these helpful phrases.

Go back in Chinese

• “Go back”
• huí qù
• 回 去

• “Go back to the restaurant”
• huí dào cān tīng qù
• 回到餐厅去

Go past in Chinese

• “Go past”
• lù guò
• 路过

• “Go past the police station”
• lù guò jǐng chá jú
• 路过警察局

Stop in Chinese

• “Stop “
•  tíng
• 停

• “Please stop here”
• qǐng tíng zài zhè lǐ
• 请停在这里

Camping on the Great Wall? Make sure you know North and South in Chinese.

京 jīng in Chinese means capital city. Add these to North, East and South and see what happens 😉

North in Chinese

• “North”
• běi
• 北

East in Chinese

• “East”
• dōng
• 东

South in Chinese

• “South” 
• nán
• 南

West in Chinese

• “West”
• xī
• 西

Did you spot it?
• Beijing
• Dongjing
• Nanjing

Xi’an doesn’t have Jing included in the name but as a stand-alone character means safety or peace. Once being the capital of China it was a relatively safe place for merchants to come and trade goods within the city walls.

Travelling to Beijing? Get away from the tourist traps with these hidden gems.

Across in Chinese

• “Across”
• chuān guò
• 穿过

• “Go across the road”
• chuān guò mǎ lù
• 穿过马路

Next to in Chinese

• “Next to”
• páng biān
• 旁边

• “The apartment is next to the train station”
• gōngyù zài huǒchē zhàn pángbiān
• 公寓在火车站旁边

Traffic lights in Chinese

• “Traffic lights “
• hóng lǜ dēng
• 红绿灯

• “At the traffic light turn right”
• zài hóng lǜ dēng wáng yòu guǎi
• 在红绿灯往右拐

Helpful Sentences for Directions in Chinese

• “Could you help me?” Nǐ néng bang wǒ ma 你 能 帮 我吗 ？
  
• “Excuse me, where is ___?” Duì bu qǐ, qǐng wèn zài nǎ 对不起, 请问在哪
  
• “Where am I on this map?” Wǒ zài dì tú shàng de shén me dì fang 我在地图上的什么地方

Before we end directions in Chinese, you might need to know buildings in Chinese?!

House in Chinese
Apartment in Chinese
Airport in Chinese
Train station in Chinese
Restaurant in Chinese
Supermarket in Chinese
Hospital in Chinese
Library in Chinese
Cinema in Chinese
Park in Chinese
Police in Chinese
School in Chinese
Street in Chinese
Tunnel in Chinese
Bridge in Chinese

House in Chinese

• “House”
• fáng zi
• 房 子

Apartment in Chinese

• “Apartment”
• gōng yù
• 公寓

Airport in Chinese

• “Airport” 
• jī chǎng
• 机场

Train Station in Chinese

• “Train station”
• huǒ chē zhàn
• 火车站

Just How Large is China Really 😲 Size Matters

How Big is China? 🐲 Size Matters – China is huge. We have some incredible facts just to prove how large China really is, 48 facts to be precise!

Restaurant in Chinese

• “Restaurant”
• cān tīng
• 餐厅

Supermarket in Chinese

• “Supermarket”
• chāo shì
• 超市

Hospital in Chinese

• “Hospital” 
• yī yuàn
• 医院

Library in Chinese

• “Library”
• tú shū guǎn
• 图书馆

Cinema in Chinese

• “Cinema”
• diàn yǐng yuàn
• 电影院

Park in Chinese

• “Park”
• gōng yuán
• 公园

Police Station in Chinese

• “Police Station” 
• pài chū suǒ
• 派出所

School in Chinese

• “School”
• xué xiào
• 学校

Street in Chinese

• “Street”
• jiē dào
• 街 道

• “Cross the street”
• guò mǎ lù
• 过马路

Tunnel in Chinese

• “Tunnel”
• suì dào
• 隧道

• “Walk through the tunnel”
• chuān guò suì dào
• 穿过隧道

Bridge in Chinese

• “Bridge”
•  qiáo
• 桥

• “Turn right and cross the bridge”
• yòu guǎi guò qiáo
• 右拐过桥

Well done on reading all the directions in Chinese, you’ll be running around China with no problems! If you’re interested in more spoken Chinese check out our Spoken Chinese Classes.

If you fancy starting your Mandarin journey online, why not get involved with our online Chinese courses?

Directions in Chinese – QUIZ

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Directions in Chinese – FAQ’s

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