Travelling outside of China has seen huge growth over the last few years—and many people are foregoing traditional group tours, although many of the older generation still prefer this way of traveling. Make sure you can explain where you want to go, and for how long…
In this Podcast, you will learn:
(i) To enquire about taking a trip overseas
(ii) How to explain what sort of trip you’d like to arrange
Dialogue:
(在旅行社）
(zài lǚ xíng shè)
(at the travel agency)
A: 您好！您有去欧洲的团么？
Nín hǎo! Nín yǒu qù ōu zhōu de tuán me?
Hello! Are there any tour groups to Europe?
B: 有。您是想去几天？都想去哪些城市？
Yǒu. Nín shì xiǎng qù jǐ tiān? Dōu xiǎng qù nǎ xiē chéng shì?
There are. How many days do you want to stay? And what countries would you like to visit?
A: 我想去两周，主要想看的城市是法国和意大利。但我不喜欢有购物的团。而且，我喜欢行程稍微轻松一些的团。
Wǒ xiǎng qù liǎng zhōu, zhǔ yào xiǎng kàn de chéng shì shì Fǎ Guó hé Yì Dà Lì. Dàn wǒ bù xǐ huān yǒu gòu wù de tuán. Ér qiě, wǒ xǐ huān xíng chéng shāo wēi qīng sōng yì xiē de tuán.
I want to go for two weeks. The main countries I want to visit are France and Italy. But I don’t like tours that have shopping destinations. Also, I prefer tours that have more relaxed schedules.
B: 哦，这样的团价格会高一些。您介意么？
Ò, zhè yàng de tuán jià gé huì gāo yì xiē. Nín jiè yì me?
Okay, but the price will be a little higher for tours like that. Do you mind?
A:我不介意。
Wǒ bù jiè yì.
No, I don’t.
B: 好。这个团正适合您！
Hǎo. Zhè gè tuán zhèng shì hé nín!
Good. This group tour may be for you.
Chinese words and phrases mentioned in this Podcast:
旅行社：travel agency
欧洲：Europe
旅行团：tour group
几天：how many days?
城市：city
两周：two weeks
法国：France
意大利：Italy
不喜欢：don’t like
购物：shopping
行程：schedule/itinerary
稍微：a little bit
轻松：relaxed
价格：price
高一些：a little higher
介意：mind
适合：suit
Cultural/Grammar notes:
Nowadays, for the younger generation, using a travel agency is not their first choice. More and more Chinese people are making travel plans on their own, as these are more flexible in terms of money and time. However, for the older generation, they still like to go with a tour group. Unfortunately, there may be some unforeseen issues in lower priced packages offered by travel agents as they often take tourists to many shopping destinations where they may be obliged to spend money on things they do not want.