Life in Mainland China

Chinese conversations with pinyin and English

Friends talk through China's provinces, its food, its festivals and the phone in everyone's hand. Every line has its characters, its pinyin and its English.

North China

BeijingThe capital, a city of palaces, hutong alleys and the Great Wall within a day trip TianjinA port city half an hour from Beijing by high-speed train, known for snacks and stand-up comedy HebeiThe province that wraps around Beijing and Tianjin, from the Bohai coast to the mountains ShanxiA high, dry land of noodles, vinegar and some of China's oldest wooden buildings Inner MongoliaA long crescent of grassland, desert and forest along the northern border

Northeast China

LiaoningThe southern gateway to the northeast, with a long coast on the Yellow Sea and the Bohai JilinForests, rime-frosted trees in winter, and a strong Korean heritage in the east HeilongjiangChina's northernmost province, where winter lasts half the year and the cold is a festival

East China

ShanghaiChina's largest city, a port at the mouth of the Yangtze JiangsuCanal towns, classical gardens and a delicate, slightly sweet cuisine ZhejiangLakes, tea hills and water towns south of Shanghai AnhuiMisty granite peaks and villages of white walls and black tiled roofs FujianA mountainous coast facing the sea, home of oolong and white tea JiangxiA green, hilly province of rice terraces and porcelain kilns ShandongThe peninsula where the Yellow River meets the sea, home of Confucius

Central China

HenanOn the Yellow River plain, where several of China's oldest capitals stood HubeiThe province of lakes, where the Yangtze runs through the Three Gorges HunanA province of rice and rivers whose cooking is famously hot

South China

GuangdongThe Pearl River Delta, the home of Cantonese food and language GuangxiKarst peaks, river valleys and the home of the Zhuang people HainanA tropical island of coconut groves and long beaches

Southwest China

ChongqingA mountain city where the Jialing River meets the Yangtze, built in layers up the hills SichuanA fertile basin ringed by mountains, known for its pandas and its numbing heat GuizhouGreen karst mountains, waterfalls, and the villages of the Miao and Dong YunnanFrom snow peaks to rainforest, home to many peoples and languages TibetThe high plateau, with an average elevation above 4,000 metres

Northwest China

ShaanxiThe Guanzhong plain and Xi'an, a capital for over a thousand years GansuA long corridor of oases between mountains and desert, the Silk Road's main route west QinghaiHigh plateau and wide lakes, where the Yangtze and the Yellow River begin NingxiaA green strip along the Yellow River, home to many of China's Hui Muslims XinjiangThe largest division, about a sixth of China's land: deserts, oases and the Tianshan

Cuisine

Famous dishesThe dish each province is known for The eight cuisinesEight great kitchens, each with its own taste BreakfastEaten walking, and gone by mid-morning NoodlesPulled, shaved, slapped and tossed Spicy foodChilli, Sichuan pepper and asking for a little At the tableDishes are shared: where to sit, what to do with your chopsticks, how a toast goes and who pays The six teasGreen to dark, by how far the leaf oxidises Pouring teaWho pours, how full, and how to say thanks with two fingers DrinksHot water from the tap, soy milk at breakfast, milk tea on the way home, and at a banquet, a toast

Festivals

Lunar New YearLunar New Year (Spring Festival): 1st day of the 1st lunar month Lantern FestivalLantern Festival: 15th day of the 1st lunar month QingmingQingming (Tomb-Sweeping Day): about 4 or 5 April, by the solar calendar Dragon Boat FestivalDragon Boat Festival: 5th day of the 5th lunar month QixiQixi, the Double Seventh: 7th day of the 7th lunar month Mid-Autumn FestivalMid-Autumn Festival: 15th day of the 8th lunar month Double Ninth FestivalDouble Ninth Festival: 9th day of the 9th lunar month Winter SolsticeWinter Solstice: about 21 or 22 December, by the solar calendar Laba FestivalLaba Festival: 8th day of the 12th lunar month The twelve animalsYour year, its animal and its element The five elementsWhat feeds what, and what overcomes what Numbers and luckNumbers are chosen by how they sound NamesThe surname comes first, most surnames are one character, and people are addressed by role: teacher, master, auntie

Tech

WeChatWeixin is the app for chats, group notices, Moments, Official Accounts, Mini Programs, red packets and payment, and Tencent counted 1,439 million monthly users at 30 June 2026 Paying by phoneAlipay and WeChat Pay run on two scan patterns, and the digital yuan (e-CNY) is issued by the central bank QR codes in daily lifeA QR code opens the menu, the bike lock, the power bank and the metro gate, and most shared power banks cost 1.5 to 3 yuan an hour Delivery and instant retailMeituan's daily orders reached a record 150 million in July 2025, and its drones had flown over 780,000 orders by the end of 2025 Online shopping and parcelsTaobao, Tmall, JD and Pinduoduo sell by app, Double 11 began in 2009, and China handled about 199 billion express parcels in 2025 Short video and social appsDouyin, Kuaishou, Xiaohongshu, Bilibili and Weibo each fill a different part of the day Getting aroundHigh-speed rail, metros, and taxis and bikes summoned by phone High-speed railChina's high-speed rail network, the Fuxing trains, the 12306 ticket app, the Beijing-Shanghai line and the Spring Festival travel rush MaglevThe maglev lines in service in Shanghai, Changsha and Beijing, and the 600 km/h train that is still in testing MetrosHow many Chinese cities have a metro, which systems are longest, and what riding one involves Tickets and payment rules12306 sells train tickets by real name, and a 2024 State Council guideline keeps cash usable Ride-hailing, taxis and mapsDiDi is the main ride-hailing app, street taxis are still hailed by hand, and Alibaba's Amap passed 360 million daily users on 1 October 2025 RobotaxisFully driverless paid rides from Baidu's Apollo Go, Pony.ai and WeRide, and where the public can ride them Bikes and e-bikesDockless shared bikes, what became of ofo and Mobike, today's brands in Shanghai, and the e-bikes of delivery riders Electric cars and chargingChina had 24.777 million charging points at the end of September 2026, and a NIO battery swap takes about three minutes Cars and car companiesThe size of China's car market, new energy vehicles and green plates, and the main carmakers Bridges, planes and busesDomestic flights, city ferries, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge and the Qinghai-Tibet railway Phones and smart homesHuawei ranked first in mainland China's 2025 phone market, and Xiaomi counted 1,079.2 million connected devices at the end of 2025 RobotsHumanoid robots danced on the 2025 Spring Festival Gala, and a robot ran the 2026 Beijing half marathon in 50 minutes 26 seconds DronesOver 600,000 DJI farm drones were in use at the end of 2025, and a Liuyang show in October 2025 flew 15,974 drones AI assistantsCNNIC counted 602 million generative AI users in China at December 2025, and chatbots now sit inside apps people already use Space and big scienceChang'e-6 brought back about 1,935 g of rock from the far side of the Moon on 25 June 2024, and FAST had found 1,152 pulsars by October 2025

Hear them read aloud in the app