Basic Chinese I - Ordering Food and Drink

Being polite

Here are a number of expressions used in polite conversation:

To say 'thank you' you can use 谢谢 xièxie 'thank you'.
The reply will often be 不客气 bù kèqì 'you are welcome' (literally 'not guest spirit').

To get somebody's attention you can say 对不起 duìbuqǐ 'excuse me', and to make a polite request you can start by saying 请 qǐng 'please'.

If you need to ask somebody to wait briefly you can say 请稍等 qǐng shāoděng 'please wait a moment' (literally 'please moment wait').

After being served your food or when leaving a shop you might hear the following:

慢用 'enjoy your meal' (literally 'slow use') and
慢走 'take care' (literally 'slow walk').