Names for places
I realized recently that the last textbook I used was published around 1985, and that the names for things in China might have changed since then. [You think?]
So I asked my language mentor what are the current names for various places. Here's what I was told. Or, at least, I think I was told. This was all in Chinese, so I assume my understanding accuracy is around 50%.
饭店 -- restaurant (fancier, nicer environment, more expensive)
饭馆 -- restaurant (less fancy)
餐馆 -- restaurant (not used)
餐厅 -- restaurant (used only for "foreign" food, e.g. 西餐 (western food), 茶餐厅 (Hong Kong style food -- how foreign is that?))
食堂 -- cafeteria
大锅饭 -- type of cafeteria (no longer used to mean "communal eating", now used to refer to really big cafeteria where the food is served from large containers without much choice, e.g. employee sponsored companies)
小炒 -- type of cafeteria (smaller, pay as you eat type)
旅馆, 旅店, 旅(行)舍 -- cheap, typically not rated (no stars), similar to our "hostels"?
(大)饭店, 酒店, 宾馆 -- hotels. Has star rating (星级). May also (or only!) serve food (!).
小别墅 -- villas, bungalows (i.e. small individual places)
连锁 -- chain (as in hotel chain)
百货公司 -- department store (old name, no longer used except in names of old stores)
百货大楼, 百货商场 -- department store (modern name)
商场 -- mall or department store
商店 -- individual store
大悦城 -- destination shopping "city"
只逛不买 -- useful phrase
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