Tip: Save the phrase cards you may need before you go out. If a translation app fails, you can show the image directly to a hotel clerk, driver, cashier, restaurant staff member, or police officer.
Save this before you ever need it. In an urgent moment, show the Chinese line first. Use pinyin only if there is time and someone asks you to say it.
This card is for urgent communication only. If there is danger, injury, theft, or serious uncertainty, ask a nearby staff member, hotel front desk, police officer, airport worker, or another adult for help immediately.
Open this when you need police, medical help, hotel staff, station staff, or any short urgent sentence.
Open this card if you are lost, feel unsafe, lose important items, need police, need an ambulance, or need help contacting your hotel or embassy.
How to use these in a bad moment
- Show the Chinese sentence first, then point to your location, injury, passport, phone, or payment screen. Written Chinese is more reliable than pronunciation when you are stressed.
- Use pinyin only as a backup. Do not worry about sounding natural. In an emergency, clarity beats grammar.
- Keep the emergency sentence very short. When people are rushing to help, long explanations slow everyone down.
- Screenshot these cards before you need them. This helps with police, ambulance, hospital, hotel staff, lost passport, lost phone, and asking nearby people for help.
Emergency phrases worth saving
Use it when: You need immediate help.
请帮帮我。
Pinyin: Qing bangbang wo.
Please help me.
Use it when: You need police.
请帮我找警察。
Pinyin: Qing bang wo zhao jingcha.
Please help me find the police.
Use it when: You need someone to call police.
请帮我打110。
Pinyin: Qing bang wo da yi yi ling.
Please help me call 110.
Use it when: You need an ambulance.
请帮我叫救护车。
Pinyin: Qing bang wo jiao jiuhuche.
Please help me call an ambulance.
Use it when: You need someone to call emergency medical help.
请帮我打120。
Pinyin: Qing bang wo da yi er ling.
Please help me call 120.
Use it when: Your passport is missing.
我的护照丢了。
Pinyin: Wo de huzhao diu le.
I lost my passport.
Use it when: Your phone is missing.
我的手机丢了。
Pinyin: Wo de shouji diu le.
I lost my phone.
Use it when: You are lost.
我不知道我在哪里。
Pinyin: Wo bu zhidao wo zai nali.
I do not know where I am.
Use it when: You need to go to a police station.
请带我去派出所。
Pinyin: Qing dai wo qu paichusuo.
Please take me to the police station.
Use it when: You need to show your hotel.
这是我的酒店。
Pinyin: Zhe shi wo de jiudian.
This is my hotel.
Use it when: Something was stolen.
我的东西被偷了。
Pinyin: Wo de dongxi bei tou le.
My things were stolen.
Use it when: You need embassy contact help.
请帮我联系我的大使馆。
Pinyin: Qing bang wo lianxi wo de dashiguan.
Please help me contact my embassy.
Where short wording matters
- Do not treat this page as a replacement for emergency help. Use it to get attention and explain the basic problem.
- If your passport is lost, you may need your embassy or consulate and a local police report.
- If your phone is lost, your payment, maps, and hotel information may also be affected. Ask hotel staff for help as soon as possible.
FAQ
Should I try to pronounce these emergency phrases?
Show the Chinese first. In an emergency, clear text is better than imperfect pronunciation.
What should I keep offline?
Keep screenshots of your passport copy, hotel address in Chinese, emergency contacts, insurance information, and this page.
Before anything goes wrong: save police, ambulance, hotel staff, lost passport, and urgent-help cards. You do not want to search for these under stress.
Next: Keep the emergency help page bookmarked on your phone.