Nanjing travel vocabulary: 100 English words and useful expressions with simplified Chinese writing, Hanyu Pinyin pronunciation and practical sightseeing context.
Nanjing offers a rich journey through walls, waterways, museums and layers of remembered history. These 100 English-to-Mandarin words and expressions help you enjoy the city while keeping its different periods and places clear.
Start with a few words you will use today. Say them, recognise the Chinese characters, and try one friendly question. You do not need perfect Mandarin to make a thoughtful beginning.
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Your Top 100 English–Chinese Travel Vocabulary
These 100 entries explore Nanjing through its places, food, history, crafts and visitor experiences. Each group opens a different conversation. Translations match the English sense shown; Hanyu Pinyin represents standard Mandarin. Some entries are useful expressions or place names. Choose the scenes you plan to visit, and check current visitor information when arranging an activity.
For greetings, transport, hotels and basic food questions, keep the shared Mandarin travel essentials guide alongside this city list. Start with a few words that match your own itinerary, then add another group when you are ready.
1–10: Ming imperial history
Imperial history becomes clearer when you identify the ruler, period and purpose of a structure. Check the site’s interpretation for each.
| No. | English word / expression | Chinese writing | Hanyu Pinyin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Founding emperor | 开国皇帝 | kāiguó huángdì |
| 2 | Imperial tomb complex | 皇家陵园 | huángjiā língyuán |
| 3 | Dynastic founder | 王朝创建者 | wángcháo chuàngjiànzhě |
| 4 | Imperial burial | 皇家安葬 | huángjiā ānzàng |
| 5 | Stone guardian | 守陵石像 | shǒulíng shíxiàng |
| 6 | Funerary architecture | 陵寝建筑 | língqǐn jiànzhù |
| 7 | Tomb inscription | 墓碑铭文 | mùbēi míngwén |
| 8 | Historic capital period | 建都时期 | jiàndū shíqī |
| 9 | Imperial symbolism | 皇家象征 | huángjiā xiàngzhēng |
| 10 | Dynastic chronology | 王朝年表 | wángcháo niánbiǎo |
11–20: Along the Sacred Way
Along a ceremonial avenue, notice the arrangement of figures and trees. Record what is paired or repeated before explaining its symbolism.
| No. | English word / expression | Chinese writing | Hanyu Pinyin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Stone elephant | 石象 | shíxiàng |
| 12 | Stone camel | 石骆驼 | shí luòtuo |
| 13 | Stone lion | 石狮 | shíshī |
| 14 | Stone horse | 石马 | shímǎ |
| 15 | Stone qilin (mythical guardian) | 石麒麟 | shí qílín |
| 16 | Tree-lined avenue | 林荫大道 | línyīn dàdào |
| 17 | Autumn foliage | 秋叶 | qiūyè |
| 18 | Symmetrical arrangement | 对称布局 | duìchèn bùjú |
| 19 | Paired guardian statues | 成对守陵石像 | chéngduì shǒulíng shíxiàng |
| 20 | Tomb approach | 陵墓入口通道 | língmù rùkǒu tōngdào |
21–30: The city wall
A wall brick can carry evidence about construction. Look for labels that explain inscriptions and maintenance.
| No. | English word / expression | Chinese writing | Hanyu Pinyin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | Wall brick | 城砖 | chéngzhuān |
| 22 | Brick inscription | 砖铭 | zhuānmíng |
| 23 | Inner barbican | 内瓮城 | nèi wèngchéng |
| 24 | Defensive gateway | 防御城门 | fángyù chéngmén |
| 25 | Wall section | 城墙段 | chéngqiáng duàn |
| 26 | Wall thickness | 城墙厚度 | chéngqiáng hòudù |
| 27 | Fortification plan | 城防图 | chéngfángtú |
| 28 | Historic masonry | 历史砌体 | lìshǐ qìtǐ |
| 29 | Wall maintenance | 城墙维护 | chéngqiáng wéihù |
| 30 | Gate fortification | 城门防御设施 | chéngmén fángyù shèshī |
31–40: Museum interpretation
An exhibition timeline and an archival photograph answer different questions. Name the source when you use a historical fact.
| No. | English word / expression | Chinese writing | Hanyu Pinyin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 31 | Collection catalogue | 藏品目录 | cángpǐn mùlù |
| 32 | Exhibition timeline | 展览时间线 | zhǎnlǎn shíjiānxiàn |
| 33 | Historical document | 历史文献 | lìshǐ wénxiàn |
| 34 | Provenance | 来源记录 | láiyuán jìlù |
| 35 | Archival photograph | 档案照片 | dàng’àn zhàopiàn |
| 36 | Historical map | 历史地图 | lìshǐ dìtú |
| 37 | Reconstructed historical scene | 复原历史场景 | fùyuán lìshǐ chǎngjǐng |
| 38 | Curator | 策展人 | cèzhǎnrén |
| 39 | Caption | 说明文字 | shuōmíng wénzì |
| 40 | Documentary evidence | 文献证据 | wénxiàn zhèngjù |
41–50: Remembering difficult history
At a memorial, use respectful language and follow the venue’s guidance. Testimony deserves careful reading and accurate attribution.
| No. | English word / expression | Chinese writing | Hanyu Pinyin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 41 | Remembrance | 追思 | zhuīsī |
| 42 | Victim | 受害者 | shòuhàizhě |
| 43 | Survivor | 幸存者 | xìngcúnzhě |
| 44 | Testimony | 证言 | zhèngyán |
| 45 | Historical responsibility | 历史责任 | lìshǐ zérèn |
| 46 | Moment of silence | 默哀 | mò’āi |
| 47 | Peace education | 和平教育 | hépíng jiàoyù |
| 48 | Commemorative inscription | 纪念铭文 | jìniàn míngwén |
| 49 | Respectful conduct | 庄重举止 | zhuāngzhòng jǔzhǐ |
| 50 | Memorial wreath | 纪念花圈 | jìniàn huāquān |
51–60: Qinhuai evenings
An evening by the Qinhuai can combine boats, lanterns and waterfront activity. Describe the scene you actually encounter.
| No. | English word / expression | Chinese writing | Hanyu Pinyin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 51 | River lantern | 河灯 | hédēng |
| 52 | Lantern display | 灯会 | dēnghuì |
| 53 | Painted pleasure boat | 画舫 | huàfǎng |
| 54 | Evening waterfront | 夜间河畔 | yèjiān hépàn |
| 55 | Riverside restaurant | 河畔餐馆 | hépàn cānguǎn |
| 56 | Historic commercial street | 历史商业街 | lìshǐ shāngyèjiē |
| 57 | Confucian learning | 儒学 | rúxué |
| 58 | Temple fair | 庙会 | miàohuì |
| 59 | River cruise departure point | 游船出发点 | yóuchuán chūfā diǎn |
| 60 | Lantern reflection | 灯笼倒影 | dēnglong dàoyǐng |
61–70: Duck dishes and dumplings
Duck, vermicelli and dumpling fillings need precise names. Ask about ingredients and enjoy a hot filling carefully.
| No. | English word / expression | Chinese writing | Hanyu Pinyin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61 | Duck meat | 鸭肉 | yāròu |
| 62 | Brining liquid | 卤水 | lǔshuǐ |
| 63 | Duck gizzard | 鸭胗 | yāzhēn |
| 64 | Glass noodles | 粉丝 | fěnsī |
| 65 | Tofu puff | 油豆腐 | yóu dòufu |
| 66 | Bun dough wrapper | 包子皮 | bāozi pí |
| 67 | Bun filling | 包子馅 | bāozi xiàn |
| 68 | Hot broth | 热汤汁 | rè tāngzhī |
| 69 | Vinegar dip | 醋碟 | cùdié |
| 70 | Bamboo steamer | 竹蒸笼 | zhú zhēnglóng |
71–80: Local places and cultural names
| No. | English word / expression | Chinese writing | Hanyu Pinyin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 71 | Nanjing | 南京 | Nánjīng |
| 72 | Jiangsu | 江苏 | Jiāngsū |
| 73 | Southern capital | 南都 | nándū |
| 74 | Six Dynasties | 六朝 | Liùcháo |
| 75 | Qinhuai River | 秦淮河 | Qínhuái Hé |
| 76 | Confucius Temple area | 夫子庙 | Fūzǐ Miào |
| 77 | Ming Xiaoling | 明孝陵 | Míng Xiàolíng |
| 78 | Ming dynasty | 明朝 | Míng cháo |
| 79 | Zhu Yuanzhang | 朱元璋 | Zhū Yuánzhāng |
| 80 | Sacred Way | 神道 | shéndào |
81–90: More words for exploring Nanjing
| No. | English word / expression | Chinese writing | Hanyu Pinyin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 81 | Stone statue | 石像 | shíxiàng |
| 82 | Mausoleum | 陵墓 | língmù |
| 83 | Purple Mountain | 紫金山 | Zǐjīn Shān |
| 84 | Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum | 中山陵 | Zhōngshān Líng |
| 85 | Ming Palace | 明故宫 | Míng Gùgōng |
| 86 | Zhonghua Gate | 中华门 | Zhōnghuá Mén |
| 87 | Imperial examination | 科举 | kējǔ |
| 88 | Nanjing Museum | 南京博物院 | Nánjīng Bówùyuàn |
| 89 | Republic of China period | 民国时期 | Mínguó shíqī |
| 90 | Presidential Palace | 总统府 | Zǒngtǒng Fǔ |
91–100: Regional detail and practical questions
| No. | English word / expression | Chinese writing | Hanyu Pinyin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 91 | Xuanwu Lake | 玄武湖 | Xuánwǔ Hú |
| 92 | Memorial hall | 纪念馆 | jìniànguǎn |
| 93 | Historical source material | 史料 | shǐliào |
| 94 | Commemoration | 纪念 | jìniàn |
| 95 | Quiet / silence | 安静 | ānjìng |
| 96 | Salted duck | 盐水鸭 | yánshuǐ yā |
| 97 | Duck blood and vermicelli soup | 鸭血粉丝汤 | yāxuè fěnsī tāng |
| 98 | Soup dumpling | 汤包 | tāngbāo |
| 99 | Rain Flower Terrace | 雨花台 | Yǔhuā Tái |
| 100 | Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge | 南京长江大桥 | Nánjīng Cháng Jiāng Dàqiáo |
How to Pronounce the Mandarin
The tone mark tells you how the pitch moves. First tone stays high and level: mā. Second tone rises: má. Third tone is low and may dip then rise when spoken alone: mǎ. Fourth tone falls sharply: mà. A neutral-tone syllable has no mark and is lighter, as in the second syllable of xièxie.
Start by listening to a reliable Mandarin recording and repeating a complete short phrase. Pinyin letters do not all behave like English letters: x, q and zh need listening practice. The ü sound in lǜchá is different from u. Say an ee sound while rounding your lips to begin exploring it.
Tones change in connected speech. For example, the first third tone in nǐ hǎo normally becomes a rising tone; bù commonly changes to bú before another fourth tone. This guide uses familiar citation forms for many vocabulary entries and marks common 一 / 不 changes in several ready-to-say phrases. Listen to the whole phrase rather than forcing every syllable into an isolated dictionary tone.
Recognise the Chinese place name as well as practising the sound. Showing a full written destination is often more useful than repeatedly guessing its pronunciation.
Useful Phrases You Can Say Today
Add 请问 at the beginning of a question and 谢谢 after receiving help. A little politeness travels beautifully.
| English | Chinese writing | Hanyu Pinyin |
|---|---|---|
| How do I get to Nanjing Museum? | 请问，去南京博物院怎么走？ | Qǐngwèn, qù Nánjīng Bówùyuàn zěnme zǒu? |
| Which gallery contains the Six Dynasties exhibits? | 六朝展品在哪个展厅？ | Liù Cháo zhǎnpǐn zài nǎge zhǎntīng? |
| Which section of the Nanjing city wall can we visit from here? | 从这里可以参观南京城墙的哪一段？ | Cóng zhèlǐ kěyǐ cānguān Nánjīng chéngqiáng de nǎ yí duàn? |
| Is this duck salted or roasted? | 这只鸭是盐水鸭还是烤鸭？ | Zhè zhī yā shì yánshuǐyā háishi kǎoyā? |
| Does this boat tour go along the Qinhuai River? | 这趟游船是游览秦淮河的吗？ | Zhè tàng yóuchuán shì yóulǎn Qínhuái Hé de ma? |
六朝 means the Six Dynasties, so it is a useful label to show a museum attendant. For a city-wall visit, confirm the accessible section and entrance rather than assuming the whole wall forms one continuous visitor route.
What to Notice and Visit in Nanjing
Let the place name come before the historical claim
Nanjing’s attractions belong to different periods. 明孝陵, 中山陵 and 总统府 do not tell the same story. The first is a Ming imperial tomb destination, the second a mausoleum associated with Sun Yat-sen, and the third a historic governmental site. Read the relevant interpretation before connecting them.
Keep a small timeline with only the periods you encounter. Add a site when you have checked its label. This is more useful than calling every impressive building “ancient.” A good history sentence identifies its subject and period before making a claim about what it meant.
Ming Xiaoling is a specific heritage destination
UNESCO’s Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties property includes the Xiaoling Tomb in Nanjing. The broader property covers sites in different locations; it is not a single attraction you can walk through in one afternoon. Use 明孝陵 when confirming this particular visit.
UNESCO: Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties
神道 and 石像 help you describe a ceremonial approach and the stone figures along it. Ask what each feature does within the site’s arrangement. A tomb landscape has routes, boundaries and symbols. Observing them carefully gives you a way into its history without guessing at the meaning of every object.
Walls, water and museums invite different questions
中华门 and 城墙 provide a route into defensive architecture. 秦淮河 and 夫子庙 provide another route through a river-area setting. 南京博物院 offers a collection-based approach. Check each destination separately; a city guide’s chapter heading is not evidence that all its stops are close together.
At a wall, ask how people moved through a gate. At a river, ask how the waterway relates to the surrounding streets. At a museum, ask how the label identifies an object’s period. Three different questions can produce three clear paragraphs instead of one long list of things you saw.
Enjoy lively places and respect places of remembrance
A holiday can include cheerful food discoveries and serious historical reflection. At a memorial hall, follow the site’s guidance, speak with consideration and allow the subject to set the tone. Do not turn a place of mourning into a playful photograph backdrop.
盐水鸭, 鸭血粉丝汤 and 汤包 are useful local menu words. The second explicitly includes duck blood in its name, so understand the ingredients before ordering. Good travel vocabulary helps you choose thoughtfully. In your journal, separate a meal’s sensory details from a memorial visit’s reflection rather than forcing both into the same mood.
A Happy, Practical Way to Plan the Day
Choose one main visit and a smaller nearby activity. Save your hotel address in Chinese, check the return journey and keep the full destination name available offline. Knowing where you will finish gives you more freedom to enjoy where you are.
Before booking, check the attraction’s own visitor information for the date you intend to go. Confirm its opening arrangements, reservation requirements, entry documents, departure point and cancellation conditions. Prices, timetables and access arrangements can change; this page teaches vocabulary rather than promising current availability.
For a meal, learn one dish name and one ingredient question. For a museum, learn one object word and one history question. For a landscape, learn one feature and one process. Three useful words attached to a real experience often stay with you longer than a page learned in a hurry.
Turn the Journey into Better English Writing
Choose a city gate, museum object or historic site. State one observed feature, identify its period from a source and explain a question it helped you ask.
Illustrative travel-journal paragraph: I stood beside the stone figure and traced its outline with my eyes. The information board placed it within a larger ceremonial route. Once I understood that connection, the path felt less like a line of separate objects.
Now build your own version. First name what you observed. Add a precise action. Explain why it caught your attention. Finish with a reflection or a question. Use a source for historical claims and keep imagined scenes clearly separate from your actual memories.
Use the Fencing Method for a museum description. These are invented practice examples: “We read the caption.” Expand it to “We read the caption beside the stone elephant.” Add a purposeful action: “We checked the exhibition timeline before describing the object’s historical period.” Keep the imagined scene clearly labelled, and do not turn it into a claim about a particular museum display.
For bilingual learners, distinguish 史料 (shǐliào), “historical source material”, from 说明文字 (shuōmíng wénzì), “caption”. A caption explains an object or image; it is not the same thing as all the source material supporting an account. Try saying what a caption tells you, then identify the source it cites, if one is provided. That is a useful habit well beyond this Nanjing list.
For parents, ask one warm question at the end of the day: “What did you notice that I missed?” Let the child describe it before you suggest vocabulary. For teachers, ask pupils to label an observation, a sourced fact and a personal response in different colours. The exercise develops precise writing and careful thinking at the same time.
A Small Practice Plan Before, During and After Travel
Before: Select ten words from the city-wall, museum and food groups. Read their Hanyu Pinyin aloud and match the characters to their meanings. Practise “Which section of Nanjing’s city wall can we visit from here?” and “Is this salted duck or roasted duck?” For a memorial visit, also learn the words for quiet, commemoration and respectful conduct.
During: Choose one brick inscription, museum caption or historical map to examine carefully. Note what you can read and what still needs explanation. At memorial sites, follow the visitor guidance and keep your language and behaviour respectful. Do not invent testimony or treat someone else’s suffering as a playful writing prompt.
After: Write a short account of one object, wall feature or river scene. Separate your observation from information supplied by a museum or another checked source, and name that source when discussing history. Keep memorial writing factual and respectful. If you have not travelled, label your work as a source-based study rather than a personal visit.
Questions Travellers Often Ask
Do I need to learn all 100 entries?
No. Use the shared essentials guide for greetings, directions, accommodation and assistance. In this city list, start with the scenes and local names that match your itinerary. The full list is a reference you can return to.
Is the pronunciation the local dialect?
The pinyin here represents standard Mandarin. Local speech may sound different, and not every person speaks in the same way. Written Chinese names and a map can help when listening is difficult.
Why are some entries phrases rather than single words?
Travel often calls for an action: asking permission, finding an entrance or explaining that you do not understand. A short expression can be more useful than a noun by itself. The list includes both.
Can I show someone the Chinese writing?
Yes. Show the relevant words together with a full address, booking or map when appropriate. A place name alone may refer to more than one entrance or branch. Confirm the exact destination.
Continue Learning with eduKate
Use the Visit China Learning Hub to connect this Nanjing activity with the wider travel-learning project. The Education Hub helps you develop the reading and writing habits behind careful historical explanation. Then choose a small set from the Vocabulary Lists and practise a new museum description. Return to the Nanjing list to check that your vocabulary and tone suit the subject.
Families exploring learning support can also visit eduKatePunggol, eduKateSengkang, Bukit Timah Tutor and eduKateOrchard. Choose the route that fits your learning question; a travel vocabulary page is a starting point, not a course requirement.
Continue the China series with Chengdu, Xi’an, Hangzhou and Guilin. Compare each place’s distinctive words rather than assuming every destination shares the same culture or landscape.
Enjoy Nanjing, ask kindly, notice carefully and bring home a story that sounds like you.