First up, here’s a list of 25 common places that you’ll find in most cities.

This
will come in handy whether you’re just traveling in China or if you end up living
there.

airport 飞机场 fēi jī chǎng

bank 银行 yín háng

酒吧
bar jiǔ bā
厕所／卫生间
bathroom cè suǒ/wèi shēng jiān
公交车站
bus station gōng jiāo chē zhàn
咖啡馆
cafe 便利店
kā fēi guǎn

convenience store 加油站 biàn lì diàn

gas station 健身房 jiā yóu zhàn

醫院
gym jiàn shēn fáng
旅馆／酒店
hospital yī yuàn
自助洗衣房
hotel 图书馆
lǚ guǎn/jiǔ diàn

laundromat 电影院 zì zhù xǐyī fáng

library 博物馆 tú shū guǎn

movie theater 公园 diàn yǐng yuàn

药店
museum bó wù guǎn
警察局
park gōng yuán
餐厅／饭店
phamaracy yào diàn
学校
police station 购物中心
jǐng chá jú

restaurant 超市 cān tīng/fàn diàn

school 火车站 xué xiào

shopping mall 动物园 gòu wù zhòng xīn

supermarket chāo shì

train station huǒ chē zhàn

zoo dòng wù yuán

Save that list or make some flashcards with it – whatever it takes to get you
using and remembering those common places. Now let’s learn some words
related to location that will be useful.

Location Words
We’ll get into the nitty gritty for asking for and giving directions in Part Two.
Phrases such as “go straight” and “turn left in 2 blocks” will be taught in that
post. For now, we’re just going to focus on basic location words. Here are
some of the most common location words you’ll use in Chinese:

on/above shàng

under/below xià

in front qián

behind hòu

yòu
right
zuǒ
left
lǐ
in
wài
out
dōng
east
xī
west
běi
north
nán
south
When describing the location of places, you’ll usually have to add one of two
characters after the location word:

边/面 (biān/miàn)
Here are a few examples of how you use these to describe a location:

 in front of (前面 – qián miàn)

 to the north of (北边 – běi bian)

 outside (外边 – wài bian)

 inside (里面 – lǐ miàn)
Basically, you can use either/or for all of the words above. It’s not always
necessary, but you might as well get used to using them. In spoken Chinese
it’s rare to add either of these characters to 上(Shàng) or 下(Xià). Generally
speaking, though, it doesn’t matter which one you use. People will understand
you either way.

A Few Special Cases

There are a few other words we can learn here that are special cases:

 beside/next to (旁边 – páng biān)

 opposite (对面 – duì miàn)

 in the middle (中间 – zhōng jiān)

These only use one or the other and you can’t mix them up. For example,
people don’t say 旁面 (Páng miàn-sideways) or 中边 (zhōng biān-middle edge).

Some Examples

Inside the National Museum.

Now let’s look at a few Q&A examples asking for and giving the location of a
place:

博物馆在哪里？
Where is the museum?
bó wù guǎn zài nǎ lǐ

博物馆在酒店旁边
The museum is next to the hotel.
bó wù guǎn zài jiǔ diàn páng biān

银行在哪里？
Where is the bank?
yín háng zài nǎ lǐ

银行在医院对面
The bank is opposite the hotel.
yín háng zài yī yuàn duì miàn

动物园在哪里？
Where is the zoo?
dòng wù yuán zài nǎ lǐ

动物园在公园里面
The zoo is inside the park.
dòng wù yuán zài gōng yuán lǐ miàn