In our story today, Wang Ming is on his way to Tiananmen Square, but gets lost with no internet on his phone. He has to ask for help from nice folks along the way.
王明在北京。他想去天安门，但是他不知道怎么去。他看了看手机，但是没有网。他很着急。
他看到一个女人。
“你好，”王明说。”对不起，天安门在哪里？”
“天安门？”女人说。”对不起，我不知道。”
“没关系，谢谢你，”王明说。
王明又走了一会儿。他看到一个老爷爷坐在那里。
“爷爷，您好，”王明说。”天安门在哪里？”
老爷爷笑了，说：”天安门在那里。你往前走，然后往左走。走十分钟就到了。”
“谢谢您！”王明说。
“没事，”老爷爷说。”你是哪里人？”
“我是上海人，”王明说。”我第一次来北京。”
老爷爷说：”北京很好！好好玩吧！”
王明谢了老爷爷，往前走。他往左走。十分钟以后，他看到了天安门。
Hover a word for its pinyin & meaning; click to pin it.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 着急 | zháojí | anxious, worried |
| 对不起 | duìbùqǐ | sorry, excuse me |
| 没关系 | méiguānxì | no problem, it doesn’t matter |
| 老爷爷 | lǎoyéye | elderly man, grandpa |
| 往前走 | wǎngqiánzǒu | walk straight ahead |
| 往左走 | wǎngzuǒzǒu | turn left, go left |
| 第一次 | dìyīcì | first time |
| 好好玩 | hǎohǎowán | have fun, enjoy yourself |
| 王明 | Wáng Míng | Wang Ming (1904-1974), Soviet-trained Chinese communist, Comintern and Soviet stooge and left adventurist in the 1930s, fell out with Mao and moved to Soviet Union from 1956 |
| 在 | zài | to exist; to be alive; (of sb or sth) to be (located) at; (used before a verb to indicate an action in progress) |
| 北京 | Běi jīng | Beijing municipality, capital of the People's Republic of China (short name 京[Jing1]) |
| 他 | tā | (third-person singular) (since the early 20th century, usu. male) he; him; his; (bound form) other; another; some other (as in 他日[ta1 ri4] and 他人[ta1 ren2]) |
| 想 | xiǎng | to think (about); to think of; to devise; to think (that); to believe (that); to desire; to want (to); to miss (feel wistful about the absence of) |
| 去 | qù | to go; to go to (a place); (of a time etc) last; just passed; to send; to remove; to get rid of; to reduce; to be apart from in space or time; to die (euphemism); to play (a part);… |
| 天安门 | Tiān ān mén | Tiananmen Gate, entrance of the Imperial City in Beijing |
| 但 | dàn | but; yet; however; still; merely; only; just |
| 是 | shì | to be (followed by substantives only); correct; right; true; (respectful acknowledgement of a command) very well; (adverb for emphatic assertion); variant of 是[shi4] |
| 不知 | bù zhī | not to know; unaware; unknowingly; fig. not to admit (defeat, hardships, tiredness etc) |
| 道 | dào | road; path (CL:條|条[tiao2],股[gu3]); (bound form) way; reason; principle; (bound form) a skill; an art; a specialization; (Daoism) the Way; the Dao; to say (introducing a direct quot… |
| 怎 | zěn | how |
| 么 | má | exclamatory final particle; variant of 麼|么[me5] |
| 看 | kān | to look after; to take care of; to watch; to guard |
| 了 | le | (completed action marker); (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now); (modal particle intensifying preceding clause); (bound form) clear in one's mind; to understand clearly |
| 手 | shǒu | hand; (formal) to hold; person engaged in certain types of work; person skilled in certain types of work; personal(ly); convenient; classifier for skill; CL:雙|双[shuang1],隻|只[zhi1] |
| 机 | Jī | surname Ji |
| 没有 | méi yǒu | haven't; hasn't; doesn't exist; to not have; to not be |
| 网 | wǎng | net; web; network; to net; to catch with a net |
| 很 | hěn | very; quite; (also, often used before an adjective without intensifying its meaning, i.e. as a meaningless syntactic element) |
| 看到 | kàn dào | to see |
| 一个 | yī ge | a; an; one; the whole (afternoon, summer vacation etc) |
| 女人 | nu:3 rén | woman |
| 你 | nǐ | you (informal, as opposed to courteous 您[nin2]); you (Note: In Taiwan, 妳 is used to address females, but in mainland China, it is not commonly used. Instead, 你 is used to address both males and females.) |
| 好 | hǎo | good; appropriate; proper; all right!; (before a verb) easy to; (before a verb) good to; (before an adjective for exclamatory effect) so; (verb complement indicating completion); (… |
| 说 | shuì | to persuade; variant of 說|说[shuo1] |
| 哪 | nǎ | how; which |
| 里 | lǐ | variant of 裡|里[li3]; lining; interior; inside; internal; also written 裏|里[li3]; surname Li |
| 我 | wǒ | I; me; my |
| 谢谢 | xiè xie | to thank; thanks; thank you |
| 又 | yòu | (once) again; also; both... and...; and yet; (used for emphasis) anyway |
| 走 | zǒu | to walk; to go; to run; to move (of vehicle); to visit; to leave; to go away; to die (euph.); from; through; away (in compound verbs, such as 撤走[che4 zou3]); to change (shape, form… |
| 一会儿 | yī huì r | a moment; a while; in a moment; now...now...; also pr. [yi1 hui3 r5] |
| 坐 | Zuò | surname Zuo |
| 那里 | nà li | there; that place |
| 爷爷 | yé ye | (coll.) paternal grandfather; grandpa |
| 您 | nín | you (courteous, as opposed to informal 你[ni3]) |
| 笑 | xiào | old variant of 笑[xiao4]; to laugh; to smile; to laugh at |
| 然 | rán | correct; right; so; thus; like this; -ly |
| 后 | Hòu | surname Hou; back; behind; rear; afterwards; after; later; post- |
| 十分 | shí fēn | very; completely; utterly; extremely; absolutely; hundred percent; to divide into ten equal parts |
| 钟 | Zhōng | surname Zhong; a (large) bell (CL:架[jia4]); clock (CL:座[zuo4]); amount of time; o'clock (CL:點|点[dian3],分[fen1],秒[miao3]) (as in 三點鐘|三点钟[san1 dian3 zhong1] "three o'clock" or "three hours" or 五分鐘|… |
| 就 | jìu | (after a suppositional clause) in that case; then; (after a clause of action) as soon as; immediately after; (same as 就是[jiu4 shi4]) merely; nothing else but; simply; just; precise… |
| 到了 | dào liǎo | at last; finally; in the end |
| 没事 | méi shì | it's not important; it's nothing; never mind; to have nothing to do; to be free; to be all right (out of danger or trouble) |
| 里人 | lǐ rén | person from the same village, town or province; peasant (derog.); (of a school of thought etc) follower |
| 上海 | Shàng hǎi | Shanghai municipality (short name 滬|沪[Hu4]) |
| 人 | rén | person; people; CL:個|个[ge4],位[wei4],名[ming2] |
| 来 | lái | to come; (used as a substitute for a more specific verb); hither (directional complement for motion toward the speaker, as in 回來|回来[hui2 lai5]); ever since (as in 自古以來|自古以来[zi4 gu3… |
| 吧 | bā | bar (loanword) (serving drinks, or providing Internet access etc); to puff (on a pipe etc); (onom.) bang; abbr. for 貼吧|贴吧[tie1 ba1] |
| 谢 | Xiè | surname Xie |
| 以 | yǐ | old variant of 以[yi3]; abbr. for Israel 以色列[Yi3 se4 lie4] |
Wang Ming is in Beijing. He wants to go to Tiananmen, but he doesn’t know how to get there. He looked at his phone, but there was no internet. He was very anxious.
He saw a woman.
“Hello,” Wang Ming said. “Excuse me, where is Tiananmen?”
“Tiananmen?” the woman said. “Sorry, I don’t know.”
“No problem, thank you,” Wang Ming said.
Wang Ming walked a little further. He saw an elderly man sitting there.
“Hello, Grandpa,” Wang Ming said. “Where is Tiananmen?”
The old man smiled and said: “Tiananmen is over there. Walk straight ahead, then turn left. Walk for ten minutes and you’ll arrive.”
“Thank you!” Wang Ming said.
“No problem,” the old man said. “Where are you from?”
“I’m from Shanghai,” Wang Ming said. “This is my first time in Beijing.”
The old man said: “Beijing is great! Have fun!”
Wang Ming thanked the old man and walked forward. He turned left. Ten minutes later, he saw Tiananmen.