How to Order Bubble Tea in Chinese (Mandarin Phrases You'll Actually Hear in Taiwan)
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Your textbook taught you how to ask where the library is. Then you stand in a tea shop in Taipei, the person behind the counter fires off four questions in a row, and you point at the menu.
Ordering bubble tea in Mandarin is easier than it sounds, because every shop asks nearly the same questions in nearly the same order. Below is the whole exchange, taken line by line from the dialogue in Field Guide 002, set at a tea shop in Taipei, with characters, pinyin and English for every phrase.
Step 1: The greeting you'll hear the moment you walk in
The assistant says:
欢迎光临！请问要点什么？
Huānyíng guānglín! Qǐngwèn yào diǎn shénme?
Welcome! What would you like to order?
You don't need to answer 欢迎光临. It is a greeting, and you will hear it in every shop in Taiwan. The useful part is 要点什么, "what would you like to order?" (点 means "to order").
Step 2: Say what you want
您好，我想点一杯珍珠奶茶。
Nín hǎo, wǒ xiǎng diǎn yì bēi zhēnzhū nǎichá.
Hello, I'd like to order a bubble tea.
我想 + verb is the polite way to say "I'd like to". It sounds softer than the more direct 我要. 珍珠奶茶 is pearl (珍珠) milk tea (奶茶), and the pearls are the chewy tapioca balls.
Step 3: Hot or iced?
要热的还是冰的呢？
Yào rè de háishì bīng de ne?
Would you like it hot or iced?
还是 means "or" in a question. Answer with one word plus 的: 冰的 (Bīng de), "iced".
Step 4: Pick a size
您要什么杯呢？大杯、中杯还是小杯？
Nín yào shénme bēi ne? Dàbēi, zhōngbēi háishì xiǎobēi?
What size would you like? Large, medium or small?
Answer with 中杯 (Zhōngbēi), "medium". 杯 means cup.
Step 5: Ice level in Chinese
冰块呢？多冰、正常冰、少冰还是去冰？
Bīngkuài ne? Duō bīng, zhèngcháng bīng, shǎo bīng háishì qù bīng?
Would you like ice? Extra ice, regular ice, less ice or no ice?
Pick one and say it back: 少冰 (Shǎo bīng), "less ice".
Step 6: Sugar level in Chinese
甜度呢？全糖、半糖、少糖、微糖还是无糖？
Tiándù ne? Quán táng, bàn táng, shǎo táng, wēi táng háishì wú táng?
Would you like sugar? Full sugar, half sugar, less sugar, light sugar or no sugar?
Sugar is a scale, and each step has a percentage: 全糖 is 100%, 少糖 is 70%, 半糖 is 50%, 微糖 is 30% and 无糖 is 0%. Say 半糖 (Bàn táng) for half sugar.
Step 7: Toppings, then here or to go
还要加点别的吗？我们有红豆、珍珠、布丁、仙草和芋圆。
Hái yào jiā diǎn bié de ma? Wǒmen yǒu hóngdòu, zhēnzhū, bùdīng, xiāncǎo hé yùyuán.
Would you like any extra toppings? We have red beans, pearls, pudding, grass jelly and taro balls.
加珍珠就好了。
Jiā zhēnzhū jiù hǎole.
Just pearls, please.
Then comes 打包还是现在喝？ (Dǎbāo háishì xiànzài hē?), "Takeaway or drinking it here?" 打包 literally means "pack it up".
Step 8: Confirm, pay, collect
The assistant repeats your order: 一杯中杯珍珠奶茶，少冰，半糖，加珍珠 (Yì bēi zhōngbēi zhēnzhū nǎichá, shǎo bīng, bàn táng, jiā zhēnzhū), "one medium bubble milk tea, less ice, half sugar, with pearls." You say 对 (Duì), "That's correct." Then you hear 一共六十元 (Yígòng liùshí yuán), "That will be 60 yuan."
When the drink is ready: 您的珍珠奶茶好了。请慢用！ (Nín de zhēnzhū nǎichá hǎole. Qǐng màn yòng!), "Your bubble tea is ready. Enjoy!" Finish with 谢谢！ (Xièxie!), "Thanks!"
The one pattern behind most of these questions
Look at steps 3, 4, 5 and 6: nearly every question uses 还是, "or". The pattern is A 还是 B, and it is how Mandarin offers a choice. 要热的还是冰的 is "hot or iced?", 大杯、中杯还是小杯 is "large, medium or small?". When the question is A 还是 B, you answer by repeating the option you want. That is why 冰的, 中杯 and 少冰 are complete answers. Once you notice it, the shop's questions stop sounding like a stream of noise.
Bubble tea Mandarin cheat sheet
| Characters | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
| 欢迎光临 | huānyíng guānglín | Welcome! |
| 我想点一杯珍珠奶茶。 | Wǒ xiǎng diǎn yì bēi zhēnzhū nǎichá. | I'd like to order a bubble tea. |
| 要热的还是冰的呢？ | Yào rè de háishì bīng de ne? | Would you like it hot or iced? |
| 冰的。 | Bīng de. | Iced. |
| 大杯、中杯还是小杯？ | Dàbēi, zhōngbēi háishì xiǎobēi? | Large, medium or small? |
| 多冰、正常冰、少冰还是去冰？ | Duō bīng, zhèngcháng bīng, shǎo bīng háishì qù bīng? | Extra ice, regular ice, less ice or no ice? |
| 全糖 (100%) | quán táng | full sugar |
| 少糖 (70%) | shǎo táng | less sugar |
| 半糖 (50%) | bàn táng | half sugar |
| 微糖 (30%) | wēi táng | light sugar |
| 无糖 (0%) | wú táng | no sugar |
| 加珍珠就好了。 | Jiā zhēnzhū jiù hǎole. | Just pearls, please. |
| 打包还是现在喝？ | Dǎbāo háishì xiànzài hē? | Takeaway or drinking it here? |
| 中杯，半糖少冰。 | Zhōngbēi, bàn táng shǎo bīng. | Medium, half sugar, less ice. |
| 我要外带。 | Wǒ yào wàidài. | To take away, please. |
| 慢走 | màn zǒu | take care (literally "walk slowly") |
A note on how Taiwanese tea shops work
Bubble tea is one of Taiwan's most famous drinks and, for many visitors, a first step into Taiwanese culture. It started in the 1980s and spread around the world. The questions follow a fixed order, size, ice, sugar, toppings, so once you know the words for each step you can answer all of them. Shops often ask ice and sugar in one go (甜度冰块呢？). You can answer in one breath: 半糖少冰！
In Taiwan you will also hear 外带 for takeaway and 内用 for eat in. The characters here are simplified; Taiwan usually writes the traditional forms.
Practise before your next tea shop
Want to hear how this dialogue is built? The free sample shows how a Home of Characters Field Guide works: every new word comes with characters, pinyin and English.
The full dialogue in this article comes from Field Guide 002: Pearls, Ice & Sugar: Bubble Tea. It adds the complete vocabulary lists (79 words), the Field Kit for sizes, sugar and ice, five grammar patterns and exercises. The guide is €14, or €20 with the Writing Companion for handwriting practice.
Prefer more than one topic? Browse the full Field Guide collection.