Peking:

A conversation at the Post Office.

M:	Láojià, wàng Shànghǎi jìde hángkōng xìn yào tiē duōshao qiánde yóupiào?	Excuse me, how much postage do you need to put on an air mail letter to Shanghai?

F:	Yìmáo. Guónèide hángkōng xìn dōu shi yìmáo.	Ten cents. All air mail within the country is ten cents.

M:	Guówài hángkōng xìn ne?	And if you send outside the country?

F:	Jì dào guówài qùde hángkōng xìn shi qīmáo. Hángkōng yóujiǎn shi sānmáowǔ.	Air mail letters going out of the country are seventy cents; aerograms are thirty-five cents.

M:	Jì dào guówài qùde míngxìnpiàn ne?	And post cards mailed out of the country?

F:	Hángkōngde liǎngmáoèr.	Air mail ones are twenty-two cents.

M:	Guónèide píngxìn shi duōshao?	How much is regular mail within the country?

F:	Běnshìde sìfēn. Wàidìde bāfēn.	Within the city, it’s four cents. Outside the area (city), it’s eight cents.

M:	Qǐng ni gěi wǒ shízhāng yìmáode yóupiào, wǔzhāng hángkōng yóujiǎn, hái yào shízhāng qímáode hángkōng yóupiào.	Please give me ten ten-cent stamps, five aerograms, and ten seventy-cent stamps.

F:	Hǎo. Yígòng jiǔkuài qímáowǔ.	Okay. Altogether it's nine dollars and seventy-five cents.

M:	Zhèi shi shíkuài qián.	Here's ten dollars.

F:	Zhǎo ni liǎngmáowǔ.	Here’s twenty-five cents change.