Glossary

Food & Drink

Food & Drink Chinese Glossary

This food & drink glossary groups 10 practical Mandarin words and phrases that learners are likely to hear in real conversations. Instead of treating each item as a translation pair, study the pinyin, example sentence, English meaning, and related practice route together so the word becomes usable in speech.

Start with high-frequency items such as 水 (shuǐ), 茶 (chá), 咖啡 (kāfēi), 饭 (fàn), 菜 (cài), 肉 (ròu). Read the example aloud, notice the surrounding measure word or sentence pattern, then reuse the phrase in a restaurant, travel, shopping, listening, or HSK scenario.

Practice plan for food & drink phrases

  1. Step 1: Pick three food & drink phrases and say each example sentence twice: once slowly with pinyin, once at normal speed.
  2. Step 2: Replace one detail in each example so the phrase becomes your own sentence.
  3. Step 3: Use the related practice links to test the phrase in a short dialogue.
  4. Step 4: Review the phrase again tomorrow and focus on the correction that felt least natural.

Food & Drink

水

shuǐ · water

水 means water. It is one of the most fundamental words in Chinese and appears in countless compound words, from 热水 (hot water) to 水平 (level/standard).

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Food & Drink

茶

chá · tea

茶 means tea and is deeply embedded in Chinese culture. You will encounter it in restaurants, business meetings, and social gatherings.

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Food & Drink

咖啡

kāfēi · coffee

咖啡 is a loanword for coffee. Coffee culture is growing rapidly in Chinese cities, and knowing coffee-related vocabulary is useful for social and business settings.

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Food & Drink

饭

fàn · rice / meal

饭 literally means cooked rice but is also used to mean "meal" in general. 吃饭 means to eat a meal, not just to eat rice.

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Food & Drink

菜

cài · dish / cuisine

菜 can mean a specific dish, vegetables, or cuisine style. Combined with country names, it forms cuisine types like 中国菜 (Chinese food) or 四川菜 (Sichuan cuisine).

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Food & Drink

肉

ròu · meat

肉 means meat. Common combinations include 牛肉 (beef), 猪肉 (pork), 鸡肉 (chicken), and 羊肉 (lamb). Knowing this character helps you read menus.

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Food & Drink

辣

là · spicy

辣 means spicy or hot. This is an essential word for ordering food in China, especially in Sichuan and Hunan regions where spicy food is the norm.

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Food & Drink

热

rè · hot (temperature)

热 means hot in temperature. Do not confuse it with 辣 (spicy hot). In restaurants, 热的 means hot (fresh/warm), while 凉的 means cold/room temperature.

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Food & Drink

冷

lěng · cold

冷 means cold. For drinks, 冷的 means cold/iced. In weather, 冷 describes cold temperatures. It is the opposite of 热.

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Food & Drink

饮料

yǐnliào · beverage / drink

饮料 means beverage or drink. It covers everything from water and tea to soft drinks and juice. In restaurants, 酒水饮料 refers to alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks.

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Common questions about food & drink vocabulary

What is the best way to learn Food & Drink Chinese phrases?

Learn each phrase with pinyin, context, and a reusable sentence. Food & Drink vocabulary becomes easier to remember when you immediately use it in a realistic prompt instead of memorizing the English gloss only.

Should I memorize every glossary entry at once?

No. Pick a small group, practice it in sentences, and review it over several days. Depth is more useful than a long one-time list.

How do the related practice pages help?

They turn static vocabulary into active output. You can reuse the phrase, get corrections, and save words that still need spaced repetition review.