Useful Phrases for Clothes Shopping

While shopping for clothes in China used to be a major gripe for many expats due to the lack of variety, quality, and larger sizes, nowadays Beijing has a pretty good range of stores for all styles and preferences, from international chains like H&M to homegrown brands like JNBY. Nevertheless, there does not seem to be a standardized sizing system for clothes in China – you may find clothes labeled with European sizes (for example, at Zara), American sizes, or Chinese sizes (in centimeters, as used at Forever 21).

The chart below gives conversions for different sizing systems for women's clothes:
Chart above taken from the blog The Further Adventures of Bennett (thefurtheradventuresofbennett.com)

Basic small to large sizes are usually translated as below:

XS - 加小号 jiā xiǎo hào
S - 小号 xiǎo hào
M - 中号 zhōng hào 
L - 大号 dà hào 
XL - 加大号 jiā dà hào XXL - 超大号 chāo dà hào 

Wherever you are shopping, often the best thing to do is just ask (if you can hunt down an elusive sales assistant, that is):

What size would you suggest I buy? 
你推荐我穿多大号？
Nǐ tuījiàn wǒchuān duōdà hào?

MORE USEFUL PHRASES

Can I try this on?
可不可以试一下？
Kě bú kěyǐ shì yīxià?
Fitting room
试衣间 
shìyījiān

What size is this?
这是多大号的？
Zhèshì duōdà hào de?
It's a little too small/large
这个有点太小／大 
Zhègè yǒudiǎn tài xiǎo／dà
Do you have this in a size ___?  
这件有__号吗？
Zhèjiàn yǒu __ hào ma?
Do you have this in any other colors?
这件还有别的颜色吗? 
Zhèjiàn háiyǒu biéde yánsè ma?
I would like to return this
我想把这件退回去 
Wǒxiǎng bǎ zhèjiàn tuì huíqù

Key Words: Clothes shopping, clothes in mandarin, buy clothes in mandarin 

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