This is the ideal text for anyone who needs a wealth of reliable information in a portable format. It contains all the everyday words and phrases used in today s Chinese and English that you will need to know, with a practical supplement for travelers. It offers extra help with essential vocabulary, and thousands of useful phrases to guide you to the correct translation. Offering help with the pronunciation of Chinese words, the dictionary includes pinyin for all Chinese headwords, translations, phrases and examples. Pinyin is the official phonetic system for transcribing Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet, and is accepted in all Chinese-speaking countries. In addition, the dictionary also includes both simplified and traditional or complex Chinese characters. Simplified characters are generally used in mainland China and Singapore, while traditional characters are mainly used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau. The radical index is a clear guide to looking up Chinese characters, helping the user to navigate the dictionary and find Chinese characters without knowing their pronunciation."