Travelling to China, Help with Signs?

[wavestation]

I'm travelling to China in September and have learned low intermediate Mandarin, but only pinyin/conversational. I have purchased the Tuttle 448 character flashcards and the 800 or so character book. However, it seems that most signs will require more advanced knowledge.

I tried a google search and found nothing specific. I need to read signs and restaurant menus. I took Japanese about 10 years ago and although i have mostly forgotten how to read, i still recognize maybe about 100-200 characters. I looked through a book with about 500 characters, it doesn't look horribly bad, but i'm pretty terrified that i won't be able to read anything in China.

Stuff like:

Admission is 60 yuan

Sichuan noodle restaurant

train and bus station

taxi

entrance/ exit

men's bathroom

entry prohibited

supermarket

closed

open

sale

sold out

Line

Please do (whatever) before entering this line

reservations

free (as in does not cost money)

temple

shopping center

all kinds of items in a restaurant menu

Any other useful signs that you have come across that you think would be useful.

Thank you very much for your help!!

[roddy]

I'd imagine a decent phrase book will cover a lot of that vocab.

[giraffe]

Some people might consider it cheating, but since you don't have enough time to learn many characters, one option (assuming you have a iPhone or Android smartphone) is to just buy the Pleco Chinese English dictionary software since it has character recognition (and presents you with the meaning). It probably wouldn't help with handwritten signs or highly stylized writing, but it seems pretty good for standard printed stuff.

[jkhsu]

Trying to read restaurant menus in China even if you were fluent in Chinese is hard because the name of a dish may not tell you much except maybe what kind of meat, etc. For vegetables and seafood, it is even harder because they may not be the same items available in your native country. If you really want to get the "local" experience, you should find a guide to help you.

[xiaocai]

Do you use an android phone? If you do,

may be helpful.

[Lu]

A phrasebook (or even just the glossary at the end of a Lonely Planet) will help, but mostly I think you need to stop worrying. The two things on your list that seem actually important to be able to read are:

men's bathroom -- 男

entrance/exit -- 入口 / 出口

And as luck would have it, those are pretty easy and you might even already know them.

The rest can be divided in:

- Things you will recognize even if you can't read them:

taxi

Sichuan noodle restaurant

bus stop

shopping mall

temple

supermarket

- Things you will find out as you go

sale/discount

sold out

free

- Things that people will (try to) explain to you if you get them wrong:

entry prohibited

please do x before entering

admission is 60 yuan

- And even a few things that will likely have English signage:

train station

taxi

Many restaurants have pictures or translations into something resembling English. You can also resort to pointing at what someone else is having, or learn how to say the names of a few dishes you like.

It won't hurt to try and brush up on spoken Chinese and characters a bit, but if you just stay friendly and open to communication, you'll be fine. With a few hundred characters under your belt already, you know vastly more than most tourists and travellers who come here.

Enjoy your trip!