Note: The spoken Chinese Mandarin language has 4 spoken tones. We have attempted to re-create those below where after each syllable we tell you (1), (2), (3), or (4) as they correspond to each of the 4 tones. We encourage you to complement your Xianzai.com Emergency Chinese newsletter with a good offline study program.

Buying Rice: mai(3) da(4) mi(3)

NEW WORDS
Rice (uncooked): da(4) mi(3)
Boiled Rice: mi(3) fan(4)
Fried Rice: chao(3) fan(4)
Sticky Rice: nuo(4) mi(3)

LESSON

• How much for one jin of rice?
  yi(4) jin(1) da(4) mi(3) duo(1) shao(3) qian(2)?
  
• Do you prefer boiled or fried rice?
  ni(3) geng(4) xi(3) huan(1) mi(3) fan(4) hai(2) shi(4) chao(3) fan(4)?
  
• Can I have fried rice with egg please?
  gei(3) wo(3) lai(2) ji(1) dan(4) chao(3) fan(4) hao(3) ma?
  
• Do you sell sticky rice?
  ni(3) men(2) mai(4) nuo(4) mi(3) ma?
  
• How long should I cook this rice for?
  zhe(4) zhong(3) da(4) mi(3) wo(3) ying(1) gai(1) zhu(3) duo(1) chang(2) shi(2) jian(1)?

* Tip: Rice, rice, rice. Rice everywhere. One of the main food staples of China (and many other countries) is rice. Of course rice comes in many shapes, sizes and colors and making the decision can be tricky.

You need to make sure that you buy the right rice for the recipe or cooking method or your sticky rice pudding could end up being a real flop.

Rice is usually sold by the jin - roughly 500 grams or half a kilogram. An average family of three can eat up to 25 kilos of rice per week!