Emergency Chinese — Ask for Help and Give Your Location

Prioritize safety and local emergency procedures. These phrases help you state the immediate problem and be found; they are not a substitute for official assistance.

In mainland China the emergency numbers are:

110 — police
119 — fire
120 — ambulance

Elsewhere in the Chinese-speaking world the numbers change: Taiwan uses 110 for police and 119 for both fire and ambulance, while Hong Kong and Macau use 999 for all three. Check the current numbers for the specific place you are in — your own government’s travel advice page for that destination is the reliable source — and save them alongside your accommodation address in Chinese characters.

The first three sentences

In an emergency you will not compose sentences — you will reach for whatever is already memorized. Keep it to three.

Chinese	Pinyin	Meaning
请帮帮我。	Qǐng bāngbang wǒ.	Please help me.
我需要帮助。	Wǒ xūyào bāngzhù.	I need help.
我在这里。	Wǒ zài zhèlǐ.	I am here.

请帮帮我 (Qǐng bāngbang wǒ) works with anyone nearby; the doubled 帮帮 (bāngbang) makes it sound urgent but not aggressive. If you can only say one thing, say this and show your phone.

Saying what happened

Chinese	Pinyin	Meaning
我的手机被偷了。	Wǒ de shǒujī bèi tōu le.	My phone was stolen.
我的护照丢了。	Wǒ de hùzhào diū le.	I have lost my passport.
有人受伤了。	Yǒu rén shòushāng le.	Someone is injured.
请叫救护车。	Qǐng jiào jiùhùchē.	Please call an ambulance.
请报警。	Qǐng bàojǐng.	Please call the police.

被 (bèi) marks something done to you — 被偷了 (bèi tōu le) is “was stolen”. For something you simply lost, use 丢了 (diū le) instead. Getting these two apart matters: they lead to different paperwork.

Conversation: ask for help and give a location

Traveller: 请帮帮我，我的手机被偷了。
(Qǐng bāngbang wǒ, wǒ de shǒujī bèi tōu le.)
Staff: 你现在在哪里？
(Nǐ xiànzài zài nǎlǐ?)
Traveller: 我在地铁站入口。
(Wǒ zài dìtiě zhàn rùkǒu.)

你现在在哪里？ (Nǐ xiànzài zài nǎlǐ?) is almost always the first question you will be asked, so prepare the answer as a landmark rather than a street name: 地铁站入口 (dìtiě zhàn rùkǒu, metro station entrance), 医院门口 (yīyuàn ménkǒu, hospital entrance), 酒店大堂 (jiǔdiàn dàtáng, hotel lobby).

Conversation: make the immediate request

Staff: 你需要我做什么？
(Nǐ xūyào wǒ zuò shénme?)
Traveller: 请帮我联系警察，我的护照也不见了。
(Qǐng bāng wǒ liánxì jǐngchá, wǒ de hùzhào yě bú jiàn le.)
Staff: 好，我们先去服务台。
(Hǎo, wǒmen xiān qù fúwùtái.)

Name one action you want — contact the police, call an ambulance, come with me — rather than describing the whole situation. 请帮我联系… (Qǐng bāng wǒ liánxì…) fills in with 警察 (jǐngchá, police), 大使馆 (dàshǐguǎn, embassy) or 我的公司 (wǒ de gōngsī, my company).

Prepare this before you need it

Your accommodation address written in Chinese characters, saved offline as an image.
One emergency contact’s name and number, plus your embassy’s number.
Your passport details photographed and stored somewhere you can reach without your phone.

Takeaway

Move to a safe place before trying to explain everything.
Lead with a request, then the location, then the details — in that order.
Keep an emergency contact and your address available in writing; official channels come first, phrases second.

Related: describe symptoms and get treatment with medical care and pharmacies, and see administration, police and insurance for what follows a report.

By the end of this chapter, you can say

请帮帮我。我的护照丢了。 (Qǐng bāngbang wǒ. Wǒ de hùzhào diū le.)

Practical note for this chapter

From arrival to transport, meals, housing and getting help when something changes. In this chapter, practice giving a short response and then checking what matters.

Use it in context

A: 发生什么事情了？ (Fāshēng shénme shìqing le?)
B: 请帮帮我。我的护照丢了。 (Qǐng bāngbang wǒ. Wǒ de hùzhào diū le.)

Phrase map for this chapter

Question or situation: 发生什么事情了？ (Fāshēng shénme shìqing le?)
Central response: 请帮帮我。我的护照丢了。 (Qǐng bāngbang wǒ. Wǒ de hùzhào diū le.)
Another natural way to say it: 我的护照丢了，我需要帮助。 (Wǒ de hùzhào diū le, wǒ xūyào bāngzhù.); Use this variation in a situation you genuinely expect to handle.
How to use it: Listen to the model once, then say it again with one detail from your own situation.

Turn the model into three conversation turns

1. Open the situation发生什么事情了？ (Fāshēng shénme shìqing le?)
2. Say the central response请帮帮我。我的护照丢了。 (Qǐng bāngbang wǒ. Wǒ de hùzhào diū le.)
3. Add an alternative我的护照丢了，我需要帮助。 (Wǒ de hùzhào diū le, wǒ xūyào bāngzhù.)

Before acting, check the point most likely to cause a misunderstanding. This dialogue is for practice. For important decisions, confirm official guidance as well.

A useful variation

Keep the same purpose, then change the person, time or place to make it your own.

我的护照丢了，我需要帮助。 (Wǒ de hùzhào diū le, wǒ xūyào bāngzhù.)

Use this variation in a situation you genuinely expect to handle.

Listen to the model once, then say it again with one detail from your own situation.

A common trap

For important details, do not decide from what you think you heard; check written information when needed.

紧急时先说发生了什么和你在哪里。 (Jǐnjí shí xiān shuō fāshēng le shénme hé nǐ zài nǎlǐ.)

This dialogue is for practice. For important decisions, confirm official guidance as well.

Three-step practice

Open the situation in one short phrase
Say the central response
Add one detail of your own