Niubi! The Real Chinese You Were Never Taught in School

Literally “drop” and “decline,” respectively. Both can describe dropping, crashing, or a comedown.

大麻 dàmá (dah ma)

Marijuana, hashish.

呼 hū (who)

Smoke (as in weed or hash). Literally “exhale.” More common in northern China. Southerners tend to say chōu (page 150).

咳 hāi (high)

High (on marijuana). Literally, this is the onomatopoeic word for “sigh,” but it is used to mean “high” since it sounds just like the English word.

可乐 kělè (kuh luh)

Coke. Slang for cocaine (and also the Chinese brand name for Coca-Cola). The formal words for cocaine are 古柯碱 gǔkējiǎn (goo kuh jinn), the scientific name more often used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, and 可卡因 kěkǎyīn (kuh ka een), a transliteration of the English.

吸 xī (she)

Snort. Literally “suck in.”

道 dào (dow)

Line (in connection with coke use). Literally “road” or “path.” “A line of coke” is 一道可乐 yī dào kělè (ee daow kuh luh).

摇头丸 yáotóuwán (yow toe wahn)

Ecstasy (official name). Literally “shake-head pill.” Unlike the English term, no user would ever use this full name to refer to the drug. Most people either say “E” or one of the two slang terms below.

药 yào (yow)

Pill (slang for an ecstasy pill). Literally “medicine” or “drug.” Doing or swallowing a pill is 吃药 chī yào (chih yow), literally “eat medicine.” There is no direct Chinese equivalent to “rolling” to describe being on the drug, but you can instead use some of the words mentioned earlier, such as fēi or dà le.

丸仔 wánzǎi (wahn dzigh)

Southern Chinese slang for ecstasy. Northerners usually just say “E,” though 药 yào (yow) is common too.

开他敏 kāitāmǐn (kigh tah meen)

Ketamine. A transliteration of the English. As in many other countries, Special K is fast usurping ecstasy as a popular club drug in China. This is exacerbated by the fact that several factories within its borders produce ketamine for legitimate veterinary use, and thus the drug is cheaper in China.

K 粉 K fěn (K fen) or, more commonly, just K

Slang for ketamine. The first term literally means “K powder.”

麻黄碱 máhuángjiǎn (mah hwahng jinn)

Ephedrine. Widely available and abused in China because ephedra, the plant from which ephedrine is derived, is native to southern China (and used in traditional Chinese medicine), and the production and export of the drug is a massive industry.

冰 bīng (bing)

Ice (slang for crystal methamphetamine). Ice use is growing by leaps and bounds in China, for the reasons discussed in the previous entry (ephedrine is a precursor chemical for methamphetamine).

溜冰 liūbīng (lyew bing)

Doing ice. Literally “ice skating.”

致幻剂 zhìhuànjì (jih hwun gee)

Hallucinogen. 致幻 Zhìhuàn means “hallucination” or “hallucinate.”

有幻觉 yǒuhuànjué (yo hwun jreh)

Hallucinate. Literally “have a hallucination.”

蘑菇 mógū (mwuh goo)

Mushrooms. There isn’t any direct equivalent to “trip” or “tripping” in Chinese, but you can use some of the words mentioned at the beginning of the drug section, like fēi or dà le.

L

Slang for LSD. Pronounced like the English letter. The verb for doing LSD is 贴 tiē (tyih), literally “to stick” or “affix.”

邮票 yóupiào (yo pyow)

Slang for LSD. Literally “postage stamp.”

镇静剂 zhènjìngjì (jen jing gee)

Tranquilizer or depressants. Literally “calm drug.”

笑气 xiàoqì (shyow chee)

Laughing gas.

止疼药 zhǐténgyào (jhh tung yow) or 止疼片 zhǐténgpiàn (jhh tung pyinn)

Painkillers.

麻醉药 mázuìyào (mah dzway yow)

Narcotics.

吗啡 mǎfēi (ma fay)

Morphine. A transliteration of the English.

美沙酮 měishātóng (may shah tohng) or 美沙粉 měishāfěn (may shah fen)

Methadone. A transliteration of the English.

可待因 kědàiyīn (kuh die een).

Codeine. A transliteration of the English.

神仙水 shénxiānshuǐ (shen shin shway)

Slang for codeine. Literally “celestial water.”

海洛因 hǎiluòyīn (high lwuh een)

Heroin. A transliteration of the English. Heroin is by far the most abused drug in China. The country borders the world’s top opium-producing countries (the Golden Triangle of Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand; as well as Afghanistan and Pakistan), making it an important transit route for trafficking of the drug. Moreover, poppy fields are also cultivated in some of China ’s most rural provinces. Ironically, heroin first took hold in China during the 1920s because it was considered a cure for the widespread problem of opium addiction.

粉儿 fěnr (fenr)

Northern Chinese slang for (powder) heroin. Literally “powder.” The verb for doing it is 吸 xī (she), “suck in.”

欣快 xīnkuài (sheen kwhy)

Euphoria. Literally “happy fast.”

俚]追龙 zhuī long (jway lohng)

Literally “chasing the dragon.” Refers to smoking heroin. Used in Hong Kong only.

安眠药ānmiányào (ahn myinn yow)

Opiates. Literally “sleepy medicine.”

鸦片 yāpiàn (yah pyinn)

Opium. A transliteration of the English. Opium, which was more or less forced on the Chinese by Britain during the late 1800s to deal with a trade imbalance caused by sky-high demand for Chinese porcelain and tea, has been an extraordinarily widespread problem for the country. The 1949 Communist revolution wiped out the drug almost completely, but inevitably, given that the drug is largely produced in countries that border China, it has, since the late 1980s, begun to spread once again.

安定 āndìng (ahn ding)

Diazepam (most commonly marketed as Valium). Literally “calm” or “stable.”

苯环利定 běnhuánlìdìng (ben hwun lee ding)

Phencyclidine (PCP).

天使粉 tiānshǐfěn (tyinn shih fen)

Angel dust. Slang for PCP (phencyclidine).

强奸药丸 qiángjiān yàowán (chyahng jin yow wahn)

Roofies. Literally “rape pill.”

FM2

Roofies. Pronounced like the English.

十字架 shízìjià (shih dz jah)

Roofies. Literally “cross” because of the cross shape that is sometimes scored into Rohypnol pills. It’s more common to simply say FM2 in English, however.

类固醇 lèigùchún (lay goo chwen)

Steroids.

戒毒 jièdú (jyih do)

Kick the habit, rehabilitate, quit taking drugs. Literally “get rid of drugs.”