296 Sugar & Milk

Do you take tea with milk and sugar? Or prefer a different combination? In David He’s Nanyang Tea House store you can choose the exact level of sugar and milk that you want in whichever kind of tea it is that you choose. ShaoLan takes the chance in this episode to teach a bumper amount of phrases including a number of different types of sugar and a number of different types of milk, such as dairy, soy, almond, full-fat, low-fat etc. After this episode, the next time you visit China you’ll be able to order the exact kind of drink you want, right down to the last detail!

The Chinese word for “sugar” is 糖, which includes the character for “rice” on the left and “tang dynasty” on the right. The word for “milk” is 奶 which includes the character for “female” on the left and “breast” on the right. If you add 牛 in front of 奶 then it becomes “cow’s milk” or 豆 in front of 奶 becomes “bean milk” (in this case soya milk).