This week, we are going to look at the Chinese names of popular Western chains, famous among locals and foreigners alike.

But first, let’s see what names you already know – or perhaps can guess.

Look at the first picture and try to put a name and a label of the chain together:

Exercise

You can check your answers with the following picture:

Answers

Now let’s have a closer look at each.

1. Starbucks

Do you like coffe, 咖啡 (kāfēi)?

The name of this coffee shop was translated in Chinese by sound. Try to read it out loud:

☕ 星巴克 xīngbākè

And you’ll see that it’s very close to the original name!

2. McDonald’s

The most popular fast-food restaurant, McDonald’s, in Chinese is:

麦当劳 màidāngláo

This name copies the sounds of the name McDonald. Sounds kinda similar, right?

3: KFC

As all we know, ‘KFC’ is an abbreviation of ‘Kentucky Fried Chicken’, and a ‘chicken’ in Chinese is 鸡 jī:

🍗肯德基  kěndéjī

So, the last character in the Chinese name for KFC is”chicken”, giving us a hint of this restaurant’s signature dish – fried chicken.

4: Burger King

This example wasn’t translated by sound like the other names – it was translated by meaning. This method is called “tracing”: you translate a lexical item by components:

Burger into 汉堡 hànbǎo; King into 王 wáng.

That’s how we get:

🍔👑汉堡王 hànbǎowáng 

Literally, “burger-king”!

5: IKEA Restaurant

Perhaps you’re thinking “What is IKEA doing in this list?” The answer is –  because of its food court!

You can visit IKEA whenever you crave some comfort food like meatballs with mashed potatoes.

The IKEA’s food court in Chinese would be:

宜家餐厅 🍝 yíjiā cāntīng

It might be useful to know that 宜家 means a “harmonious family”, so this word was translated with the help of two methods at the same time: transcription and tracing.

That’s all so far! What other Western restaurants or any other chains do you like to go in China?

Let us know about your preferences on twitter!