It’s been a difficult time for many of us in Shanghai recently. And we all try our best to stay positive and cheer up others. On the other hand, we’ve got plenty of time for ourselves and we should use it wisely – take good care of ourselves, spend more time with our loved ones and learn new skills or improve our knowledge. Spend this time learning new vocabulary and lockdown keywords and using them while talking to your neighbors.

We’ve prepared a list of 10 useful keywords you can learn and use in lockdown. 👇

1. Supplies / Provisions

The word 物资 (wùzī), “goods/materials” is used to describe food during lockdown – mostly the free provisions distributed 发 (fā) by the government, but also the food you have left at home.

2. Snatching Groceries

The phrase 抢菜 (qiǎng cài), “to fight for food” went viral even before the lockdown thanks to the song. It describes the action of getting groceries online or offline (with some effort put into it).

3. Group Buy

The word 团购 (tuángòu), “group purchase”, became extremely popular in terms of food just last week – when a lot of 抢菜 apps stopped working. Now most people 团购 (tuángòu) together with their compound neighbors via apps like 快团团 (Kuài Tuántuán).

4. To Disinfect

消毒
xiāodú
to disinfect / disinfection

消毒 (xiāodú), or “disinfection”, is the action we all have to do once our 团购 (tuángòu) or 抢菜 (qiǎng cài) missions are complete.

5. Compound Parties

小区派对 (xiǎoqū pàiduì) are the merry events neighbors organize in their compound – coming out to their 阳台 (yángtái) (balconies), dancing, and singing songs together. The playlist is usually shared in the compound group in advance. Some compounds even Livestream 直播 (zhíbō) their parties.

6. Test QR Code

The new QR code is known as 核算码 (Hésuānmǎ) that’s been introduced last week for new tests. It’s now available in Alipay in the same menu as the old Health code, or in Alipay’s 随身办 (Suíshēn bàn) mini-program.

7. “To Poke”

捅
tǒng
“to poke”

The verb 捅 (tǒng) describes the action of taking a test, centralized or at-home. It went viral in phrases like “全家桶“ (quánjiā tǒng) (“whole-family poke”).

8. Lianhua Medicine

连花
Liánhuā
Lianhua Medicine

Popular Chinese medicine 连花 (Liánhuā) has been given out to Shanghai citizens several times. Great against common cold symptoms. Its full name is 连花清瘟胶囊 (Liánhuā Qīngwēn Jiāonáng), “Lianhua heat-clearing capsules”. Save it for fall-winter colds.

9. Group Buy Leader

团长
tuánzhǎng
group buy leader

It has been almost impossible to buy food online on any app during the lockdown. People tried their luck in ordering food in groups. They would have to rely on 团长 (tuánzhǎng) to have their food delivered to their door once it’s arrived at the building.

10. Opening Up

解封
jiě fēng
to end the lockdown / to open up

The word for release of lockdown. Easy to memorize with the phrase “My sister went crazy” 姐疯了 (jiě fēng le).

We hope this article on 10 Keywords to Learn in Lockdown was helpful! If you’re looking to learn some more Mandarin, have a read about Mandarin Chinese Words Used To Describe Quantity！