Top 10 tips for newcomers

3. There are a few handy phrases you'll want to learn in Chinese: the name of your country, "sorry", "it's okay" and "where is…?"

About 90% of the time, the first question a Chinese person asks you will be "Which country are you from?" If you can't say anything else, at least learn the name of your country. It will put a very satisfied smile on the asker's face when you respond. Other phrases that I found very useful when I first came were "sorry", "it's okay," and "where is…?" (The last one comes in really handy. Whenever I'd be trying to get somewhere, I would just walk up to a random person on the street, point at an address on my phone, and say "Where is….?")

Foreign tourists pose for photos on the Mount Huangshan in east China's Anhui province on August 12, 2012.[Photo/IC]