Travel Essentials: Tipping

Overview

During the Communist era, tipping in China was frowned upon. The Westernization of China has brought the custom to a few areas of business (tour guides specializing in foreign groups, high-end restaurants, etc.). However, people working in most establishments will neither require nor expect a gratuity.

If you decide to give a tip, do so in the local currency, the renminbi (RMB). Renminbi, translated "people's currency," is the official title of the yuan (you-ANN). Prices will be marked with ¥ or RMB, since they are interchangeable.

Tipping Guide

Setting	Gratuities
Transportation	Metered taxi drivers do not expect a tip and will typically give change back to the nearest yuan. Private drivers negotiate a set price and mostly do not expect a tip. If the car is arranged by your hosts (e.g., to and from the airport, or sightseeing with your Chinese counterparts), payment will be made by your Chinese host, possibly before the ride.
Hotels	Porters and other hotel staff members are not usually tipped.
Restaurants, Bars, Cafés	High-end restaurants may add a service charge to the bill. They may also give printed receipts with English translations of all charges. Most other restaurants will not expect a gratuity and will give change back to the nearest yuan. Note that waiters/waitresses will work as a team instead of having a single server for each table.

Terms for Payment and Tipping

Mandarin Chinese is the official language in China, although China is famous for its plethora of mutually unintelligible dialects. But most Chinese people will understand Mandarin even if they only speak their local dialect. Cantonese is centralized in the Hong Kong-Guangzhou region of China, and unknown throughout most of the mainland. The written Chinese language consists of simplified characters, the official written language taught throughout China, and traditional characters, used only in Cantonese-speaking areas.

Terms in Mandarin that you might encounter and find useful for point-of-payment situations are below. Chinese people rarely speak in odd-numbered syllables or phrases. Thus the Mandarin words for money, please, yes, and no are repeated or spoken in phrases that include contextual words to both to clarify and round out the phrase. Examples of these are provided below.

English	Mandarin Chinese	English Transliteration	Phonetic Pronunciation
The bill, please.	请给我账单。	Qǐng gěi wǒ zhàngdān.	ching gay woh jahng-dan.
How much is it?	这个多少钱？	Zhège duōshǎo qián?	juh-guh dwoh-shaow chyen?
Is service included?	服务费包括在内吗？	Fúwù fèi bāokuò zàinèi ma?	foo-woo fay bao-kwoh zai-nay mah?
Money	钱	Qián	chyen
Please	请	Qǐng (Mandarin speakers rarely use "please" in any context and use of this word may take them by surprise.)	ching
Thank you	谢谢	Xièxiè	SHE-AH she-ah
Yes	是的 (lit. "is")	Shì de	SHUR duh
No	不是 (lit. "not is")	bù shì (Mandarin speakers use "bù" to negate the verb immediately following—in this case, "is.")	BOO shur